Mother Scarey’s

This morning I said to my Mum, “I’m so glad I’m not in Barcelona, because the weather is nice and cool here”. So, of course, today both PJ and I went and got sunburnt!

The weather today was spectacular, and Pembrokeshire was at it’s very best – although it did mean the climbing conditions were a bit greasy and hot. St. Govan’s head was shut by the army today (it’s an army firing range) so we backed up the car and resorted to Plan B: Mother Carey’s Kitchen.

Mother Carey’s (or “Mother Scary’s”, as it’s also known!) has a deserved reputation for being quite a serious cliff. It is a little loose, quite committing, and all none of the routes are soft touches. PJ started up with the excellent The Straight Gate E1, and I ticked the fine arete of Herod E2, great climbing and position, but a bit little blocky and hollow.

Then we tackled the classic E3, Zeppelin. With the tide approaching high-water, it was a quite committing to ab in – sea-cliff climbing at it’s purest. We took a hanging belay off the Rock-Idol ledge and traversed in, to ensure I wouldn’t get wet feet. Zeppelin gets E3, but with the greasy conditions it felt much harder and PJ took a spectacular fall, fortunately onto good gear and into clear air – it’s really steep. Next time he had more luck and we topped out in the evening sun with the satisfaction of having had a bit of an adventure.

Tomorrow is a rest day, so we’re pleased that it’s forecast to rain. We’re driving up north and meeting Jo in Abergele. I spoke to him on the phone just now, and he said that he also took a whipper on Zeppelin when he tried it, which made us feel a little better!