Forsinain Motspur D. Start F7c+, Slate
Bus Stop Quarry Promontory Photo/Topo: Si Panton
The irrepressibly keen Calum Muskett has been busy on the slate again. This time he has added a hard, bouldery direct start to Trev Hodgson’s thin test piece, Forsinain Motspur in Bus Stop Quarry. The original route is regarded as a sturdy F7c and the new climbing bumps the grade up at least a notch.
“It starts a few metres left of the normal route at the left hand end of a small roof. It involves a hard pull up to a good crimp just left of the big flat holds below the first bolt, somewhere in the realms of V4 to V7? It’s worth having bouldering pads or pre-clipping the first bolt. Probably at least F7c+ like this, maybe F8a?” said Calum.
Calum also climbed a couple of decidedly esoteric lines with Nick Malone in the little visited Wall in the Hole Quarry at the top of the Gideon Quarries above Llanberis.
“The first route I climbed was A Big Wall Climb MXS (probably the best grade) very easy and quite solid climbing up the huge retaining wall at the back of the hole, probably the biggest of its type I know of, good novelty value!”
Explained Calum, before adding:
“The second route we did was an E2 5b, Friendly Argument, which climbs up the first wall and groove on the left that you come to as you walk down towards the back of the hole. The climb involves some yarding on big holds up to a ledge and some gear and then out up the left arete to the top.”
