Earlier this year I was running some courses on my local sandstone crags so jumped on some of my projects and to my surprise they both went!
The first was Stinging Nettle (at Stone Farm), quite a burly overhanging 6c boulder problem with big moves that I had previously struggled with. My real achievement, however, was 'Change in the Weather' at High Rocks Annexe, originally graded English 7a, but now commonly recognised as a 6c.
I had tried this challenging slab a few years ago before I went traveling and the moves began to go. After a year away and last years temperamental conditions it wasn't until the brief change in the weather in April (love the appropriateness) that I had a chance to try it again. Thankfully it was just about dry enough and I quite quickly did it clean on a rope so I decided to try it with out... luckily I didn't slip of the balancy top moves and was over the moon to make the first known female ascent of this route as well as join the relatively few people to have completed it without a rope.
I know the Southern Sandstone has mixed reviews but there really are some fantastic, challenging routes to be done. I really hope in doing some of these harder routes I can encourage some of the amazing female climbers out there to come and try and no doubt enjoy completing technical and balancy routes like Change in the Weather :-)
