Rock to dust

We made a bad call on the weather the weekend before last, and ended up indoors on Saturday, but managed to make it to Rockdust in Perthshire on Sunday. What a glorious day. Weem was tempting after the previous weekend, but with various parties exhausted or unavailable, we opted for the sunshine of Rockdust instead.

I am sure I know people who would have thought it was too warm to climb that Sunday. Maybe it was, but not too warm to climb fun stuff. We basked in the heat of this south facing crag, hoping that this would be an indication of the summer to come, but expecting to have to absorb a full summer's worth of sunshine in one April day!

Our lovely afternoon was interrupted only by a jug of a hold coming away from the face en route, resulting in a short but mildly shocking fall for climber and belayer alike. Falling off a 6a was not part of the game plan. The said jug is now safely ensconced indoors as a trophy of a good day out and a brave moment in continuing up the route. On closer inspection it seemed that there were a number of dubious looking holds on the right hand side of the upper crag. In particular, the routes immediately to the left of the 7a on the right hand side appeared to offer the best potential for some unwarranted air miles.

The offending unattached piece of rock

So, if you're heading to Rockdust this summer, be warned. There are some very "new" looking patches on the wall....much bigger than the one we made.