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Just woken the neighbours again having total hysterics... The reason is that I’ve just borrowed Richard’s new digital camera (don’t worry, he’s still keeping his Nikon film one) and am getting some pictures off it which he took of me last Sunday. We’ve taken to going to the famous Cow & Calf rocks on Ilkla Moor Bar t’at to scramble the various easier routes there... Anyway these are pics you probably thought you’d never see of a mountain coward scrambling some reasonable routes – the reason I can do these is ‘cos there’s no 3000 foot drop off them! I actually found I was a pretty good scrambler and led all the routes as Richard couldn’t figure them out...
Anyway, these pics are most unflattering as, being me climbing up things, are mainly of my bum and I have on my best old and knackered clothes (as you do if you’ve any sense for clambering up gritstone) - I didn't do my hair either - sorry!
But the reason for the total hysterics was when I opened the first pic and saw this:
Once I’d stopped laughing, I rotated them all and the rest are here. The first ones are what I call the ‘Subterranean Climb’ as it goes up a short external bit (mainly an awkward leaning crack) into the bowels of the rocks where you find yourself in a pit which you have to climb out of – luckily it has superb holds. There will be more photos later when I get my film processed – Richard took all the pics as this was our second visit and he didn’t feel like doing any scrambling so just did the photography. His digital kept playing up and saying the battery was done (it’s brand new) so I kept setting mine up for him at the foot of each climb so he could use either.
![Starting the Leaning Crack.jpg]()
- Start of the 'subterranean route'
The next photos are one of the climbs in a quarry which is cut inside the rocks – looks exciting but is actually easier and shorter than the other climbs (pics to follow on those – Richard’s camera had given up altogether by then).
Don't forget to cool down properly afterwards
Last edited by mountain coward on Wed Dec 22, 2010 11:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
