There’s something about sea cliff climbing that strips away the cares of everyday life, but I guess that’s true of climbing generally. Battered by wind and sun, with the waves crashing in below, it certainly focuses me on the here and now. This was doubly true of our weekend in Gower, where events elsewhere reminded us how close to the edge we are on a daily basis.
The Gower trip will be remembered by all who were there as the weekend when we heard the tragic news about Jono Shaw. He was due to join us on Saturday morning, and we were left bereft and devastated that we would not see him again.
We planned to arrive in Gower on Thursday evening with a possibility of climbing in the evening, but traffic and weather conspired against us and a meal in the Worm’s Head Hotel at Rhossili was all we managed. On Friday morning, we all headed to the Boiler Slabs near Port Eynon. Set high above the rocky shoreline, and non-tidal, this was a good place to settle in. Twenty-one ascents were added to the club log, most notably Poppy Smith seconding Dave up a VDiff. In the afternoon, we drove west to Rhossili and walked down to the Fall Bay area and the steep cliffs of Lewes Castle. The approach was quite intimidating along a narrow path, and the exposure put some off climbing. James and Dave went for the 3* VS Osiris, but this turned out to be highly polished and a bit of an adventure. Chris and I walked further around the corner to Lewes Castle East and found the limestone to be rougher and sharper, and no less exciting.
On Saturday morning, with Jim having left for Bristol, we drove to Southgate and made our way along the headland to Three Cliffs Bay. Three Cliffs is the iconic rocky promontory that features in tourism adverts for Gower. The climbs are on the seaward walls, which rise straight off the sandy beach. James and Chris entertained us with an ascent of Under Milk Wood, which finishes through a hole in the top of the crag. Again, Poppy Smith seconding this 3* VS must be the ascent of the day. Dave G was persuaded up the amazing Scavenger (VS 3*) by that old trick of leaving him stranded on the beach with the tide coming in. In the afternoon, Keith and I drove round to Great Tor and climbed the East Ridge, the longest route on Gower at 71m. Meanwhile, James, Dave and Chris did battle with Super Direct (E1, 5c) at Little Tor, possibly one of the shortest routes, but a stiff test nonetheless.
On Sunday morning, a decision was made to try the newly-opened sport climbing crags on Rhossili beach. These are tidal, some only accessible for 3 hours a day, but very popular – much busier than the other crags we’d visited. It turned out to be a magical venue, very atmospheric and with excellent rock. It was a great way to finish the trip.
To finish, here’s a poem wot I wrote in Gower, summing up how I feel about climbing there.
Scavenger
Scavengers both, the rock, the sea, from shell
And soup and bone descended, ice-defined,
By age eroded. Somewhere in that swell
Of evolution, cell and cell combined
At random, turning fins to hands and feet.
And, reaching up, now we, in turn, ascend
The lines where essence past and future meet –
Vertical ribs of skin and scale. We bend
And twist and stretch ourselves, and imitate
That salt horizon, crashing biting waves
Of change, destroying as we recreate.
This growth tide will not end with us. It saves
Its secrets. Here and now, we live and learn
And shape the rock to which we all return.
