KCLMC Portland Trip Report:
As drunken revellers slowly filtered their way out of the
Union, the hardy KCLMCers waited patiently, roll mats, sleeping bags and gear
in-hand looking perfectly out of place amongst the Friday night crowd. As the
full ‘Freshers Trip Vol.1’ contingent slowly arrived to meet outside the union
it soon became apparent that there were too many climbers and not enough cars
to transport them. As the minutes ticked by and our ETA edged closer to
Saturday morning and away from Friday night it became apparent that someone was
going to have to schlep to Brockley to meet up with the fourth car that we had
previously deemed surplus to requirements. Everyone being suitably ‘brassic’ (those
who are au fait with their cockney rhyming
slang and enthusiastic foodies will notice the complex wordplay on display
there…) there were no immediate volunteers. As loose change was slowly collected for
the intrepid Sally to make the eventual bus journey others managed, through a
mixture of engineering brilliance, brute force and resignation to the fate of
an uncomfortable ride, forge an extra seat in one of the cars. The journey to
Brockley had been spared and we were finally on our way, albeit with some
awkwardly placed roll mats and helmets!
As
midnight edged ever closer the bright lights of Weymouth slowly appeared below
us as we edged our down the A354, the spectacular sight of the Fleet lagoon
gently illuminated by the lights of the town. We passed along the only road
onto the Island (Wikipedia tells me it is an Island and not a Peninsula) and
the lights slowly faded behind us as we pulled into the youth hostel garden at
just gone midnight.
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| Portland Stone in its urban incarnation at Senate House. |
Up
bright (ish) and early (ish) the next morning we ate a relaxed breakfast of
cereal and coffee in the cool crisp sea air, looking back over the view of
Chesil Beach and the Fleet that the previous night’s darkness had denied us. As the hot water dwindled, we slowly made our way in convoy
towards our first crag of the trip, The Cuttings, eager for our first taste of
the indomitable rock that has bought us St Paul’s Cathedral, Somerset House the
University of London’s own Senate House (right).
The
Cuttings lent themselves perfectly to our purposes with short (less than 5 metres)
and easy (f2 to f3+) routes for beginners to practice the basics of leading
outdoors in a relatively comfortable area alongside, with everyone attempting at least
one lead, regardless of prior experience.
Whilst most routes were undoubtedly
heavily polished, hindering the enjoyment of some of the more popular routes,
the area proved to have a little something for everyone, including a very
exciting Top 50 4+ route. Aptly named, ‘Jam’, it consisted mainly of a
beautiful crack scoring its way across two thirds of the route. The crack was
wide enough to be either jammed or for appropriate holds to be located inside
and was skilfully led and top-roped by many as the day wore on.
Just to
the right of this was another great and gentle two-star route called Family Day
Out (f4+)which was led and top-roped by a large group of us just as the sun was
about to set. It provided beautiful views out over the English Channel, the
orange hue of the sun glinting delightfully off the surface to indicate the end
of a successful days climb. Here I am taking in the sights at the top of Family
Day Out:
Deciding we were in need of a little liquid refreshment and,
with darkness quickly descending and heavy winds gusting violently over Chesil Beach, we headed for the
beachside Cove House Inn. Still in our climbing clothes we supped a delightful
selection of local ales (including the frighteningly titled Jurassic, named
clearly after the coast we currently resided on and nothing to do with Jeff
Goldblum being rudely interrupted by a T-Rex) and brand-name lagers whilst
discussing the days climbing between bouts of cold wind provided by the coming
and going of patrons via the door by which we inconveniently placed ourselves
next to!
After a beautifully cooked chilli
con carne at the Youth Hostel we retreated to what we assumed would be a cosy
campfire that, despite a tremendous and pretty orange glow, just didn’t provide
ample heat for us all. We all retired in the early hours before facing our
final day on the rock.
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| Blacknor South looking spectacular |
Whilst the Cuttings were pretty
enough, nothing could prepare us for the spectacular views of Blacknor South.
A tricky hike in via some pre-roped scrambles proved worth it as we settled our
gear down on a narrow path high above to crashing waves below. The climbs were,
again, of mixed ability, with the delightfully named Hot Pants Explosion
providing a hardy challenge for the more experienced climbers in the form of a f6b+. Feeling weary and revelling in some glorious late October sunshine, no one
was feeling particularly up for anything too taxing and the gentle climbs of Do
Ixtlan (f4+) (with a perplexing final move that had me hovering on a tiny
foothold for what must have been a good fifteen minutes) and Well Done Poppet (f5)
providing most of the morning’s entertainment.
However, in keeping with the
relaxed theme of the day, the weekends highlight was to reveal itself in the
form of another Top 50 climb, this time graded a seemingly paltry f3. But to
dismiss this route on the basis of its seemingly easy grade is to make a grave
mistake. Seasoned veterans and freshers alike all agreed that this was a truly
spectacular route. Hugging an exposed arête all the way up with only the unbreakable
blue of the English Channel in the background one truly feels they are on the
edge of the world when doing this climb. Whilst not a technical challenge the
route feels very exposed and there are a couple of fluttery moves near the
middle. It also happened to be a badass photo opp! Some of the best are located
below (photo credits to Nicholas Chee)
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| Pierre Conquering the Fallen Slab Arete |
Due to everyone’s desire to conquer the arête we, again, didn’t leave till nearly 7pm, ensuring a late arrival back in London. Slowly the KCLMC contingent dispersed their way into a quiet London night to sleep off the past two day’s endurances, reflecting on a weekend that might not have been high on technical difficulty but was certainly a weekend for spectacular climbs in what was surely to be the last of this year’s sunshine.
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| My attempt at the Arete |
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| On the final day, perfecting our 'old-school-serious-climber-face' picture |
