Birchen Edge, 20th July 2009

After struggling to get on some routes last time at Birchen on a Saturday, we decided to pay a visit to the crag on an evening to see if it was any quieter. We arrived at the crag face by 6:45pm where there were a couple of groups just wrapping up for the day leaving the whole place for us. The climbers out today were Rich, Tim, Zlatan and John.
Our first climb was Trafalgar Crack with a grade of VDiff 4a. I think the 4a moves are the start because the route is easy to protect and the climbing is easy once you get off the ground.

To speed up proceedings and with everyone up the route we decided to move the belay across and top rope Trafalgar Wall, a VS 4b. A very difficult start with no opportunities to protect the route that I could see. It would be an interesting lead!

We changed the belayer over at the top so everyone got a climb then moved across to top rope Camperdown Crawl, a VS 4c. Getting off the ground on this one was OK but then you we faced with a bulge and a finger crack as your only progress. Zlatan went first and suffered serious arm pump trying to pass the bulge. He was about to give in before declaring ‘one last go’! With some scrabbling on the polished foot holds and some desperate looking moves, he made it. John had decided that he would perform belay duties on this one as his shorter stature wouldn’t allow him to make the moves past the bulge. I went next then it was Tim’s go. Tim, similar in height, proved that John had been right to miss this one out. The moves past the bulge needed either average height plus an inch or two, or the athleticism of a gymnast. Tim had neither!
Although it was getting late we decided one more route was possible and head over to the Crow’s Nest area to see what was there.
I suggested a nice VDiff but the initial moves put the other guys off. They had spotted a route with a fist width crack most of the way to the top and thought that looked better. The route was Emma’s Dilemma, a S 4a and I would lead it and set the top rope for everyone to follow. As we inspected the start moves we could see an area of different coloured rock suggesting that a foot hold, perfect for the first step, had broken away. The only way up was some torturous jamming which left me minus skin on both hands. By two thirds height I was struggling again with difficult jams and polished foot holds. The last piece of protection I had placed was a 3 out of 10 at best and, from nerves, I started to suffer a little washing machine leg making the final moves. With a final mantle shelf I was out on top.
We had enjoyed clear skies so far but the wind on top of the routes had been quite strong.

With the sun going down, the wind had completely disappeared leaving me in a wonderful belay spot watching the sun go down. However, with the change in conditions came the bloody midges.
John made the first attempt to second the route but fatigue got the better of him and he just couldn’t perform the jams necessary to get off the ground. Tim followed next and again was defeated by the jams but this wasn’t going to stop him having a go at the rest of the route. He moved about 2 metres to his right and used the start on Emma's Temptation, a VDiff 4c before traversing back to complete the route. Next up was Zlatan. After the hard work he put in earlier he was struggling to get going. The jamming wasn’t happening so he followed Tim’s start and traversed back. As he arrived at two thirds height and the second difficult jams, his arms just wouldn’t allow him to climb any further. By now the sun had just about set so we decided to knock this one on the head and come back another time when everyone was fresh to give it another go!
We arrived back at the car park by 10:45pm in complete darkness and completely knackered! A great evening!