Fun times at the Dewerstone

Monday 12th March 2012

Well the sun was out again today and the temperature around South Devon was almost hitting twenty one degrees Celsius, with weather like this it would be rude to not to visit the crag!

So after deciding to go to the Dewerstone for a day of climbing fun me Joel and Sam girl all decided to meet up at our college outdoor ed store room, the local adventure sport students hangout. From here Sam borrowed a helmet from Jon, our tutor, and then headed to the car and set our sights for the stone of the dewer! A quick rally down the A38 towards Shaugh Prior by Joel had us in the car park within an an hour and by this time we were all eager to start climbing so we grabbed the kit and headed straight for the crag. The walk in to the crag is a spectacular trek through Shaugh Prior woods and along the majestic river Plym, quite a stunning location to climb at! But enough about the walk in, on to the climbing...

Having lost out on the 1st climb of the day on both Saturday and Sunday I wasn't letting this happen to me for the 3rd day running so I quickly grabbed the chance at pointing out a route that I fancied the look of. After gearing up I set off up Caesar's Nose and quickly reached the top where I belayed Sam and then Joel. Quite a tricky climb considering it is only a Severe 4a, fine by me and another on-site for the logbook.

Me on Caesar's Nose, S 4a

Having now ticked off the 1st route of the day it was Sams turn to have a go at her 1st lead climb! Sam picked out Agag's Slab as her intended route and got geared up at the base of the route. A few minutes later she set off and I climbed along side her guiding her on the route and showing her the most effective way to place protection. It wasn't long before we topped out and a quick congratulations on her 1st lead climb before Joel was belayed up for his 2nd route of the day.

Me guiding Sam on her 1st lead climb, Agag's Slab (Diff), belayed by Joel. Congrats Sam.

Having now all climbed our 2nd route of the day I suggested that we should get on one of the classic routes on the main face of the crag, not for the faint hearted. So we grabbed our kit and wandered round to the main face. When we go there we paused to look up at the soaring tower of granite that rises well over 100foot from the river Plym which covers grades from V-Diff to E3, very breathtaking to say the least. The route I had in mind is a spectacular line called Leviathan, a 26 metre grooved arete that has been on my 'to do list' for several months now and a route that deserves the three stars that it has been given. After convincing Joel that we had enough time to climb it he eventually agreed and so began another round of gearing up.

By this time I was mega keen and rushed to the start of the route and made my way up the initial blocks and headed for the groove. Quickly getting in a few wires for protection I started bridging and made good progress up the arete finding plentiful 'bomber' gear on the whole way up. After around 15 minutes on the route I finally topped out in the sunshine and took in the amazing views of the venue before picking some anchors and putting Joel on belay. Joel decided that he was game for seconding and slowly made good progress up the route which he very much enjoyed, suffering from a case of 'disco arms' and 'granite rash' and even going as far as saying it was the 'hardest climb i've ever done'.
Well I think its safe to say that Leviathan is one of the best single pitch climbs that I have ever had the pleasure of climbing, good effort Joel on the second.

Joel in the groove of Leviathan, VS 4c, whilst I belay from the top.

All photos curtosy of Sam Ramsey.