Reiko Elliott writes:
3 AM, got to Caseg at last! Traffic on the M25 was not good and Stuart had to have a nap before we set off from Croydon. The weather forecast was good for both Saturday and Sunday in North Wales, but arriving so late, doing anything hard on Saturday did not appeal. “Well, we’ll see how we feel in the morning.” I thought as we crawled into our sleeping bags.
John Hampton walked into our room looking for a bat. “Crikey, what time is it?” I thought and opened one eye to look at my watch. “Goodness, it’s only 9.30 AM! That’s it….doing anything hard is out of the question and anyway, Stuart won’t be up for it. Damn!” I thought.
It was a glorious morning. A perfect day for doing something hard. Stuart announced that he felt that a cold was coming on and that he was not up to going for Cenotaph Corner but would be happy to second Cemetery Gates if I was thinking of doing it.
Cemetery Gates. Yes, I’ve been wanting to do it for the last couple of years but the weather was never right. Often we would drive past it with me straining my neck to look at it thinking, “One day, I will lead it!” and today, on this perfect day for the climb, I felt groggy, my body felt sluggish, and the feeling of frustration was slowly building up inside!
We decided to go to Dinas Cromlech anyway to have a look. We could even do something like Sabre Cut we thought and if it’s too hot we could always do something on Dinas Mot.
Got to Llanberis Pass at around midday and we were lucky to find a parking spot near Dinas Cromlech. We began the long steep approach to the bottom of the routes. Half way up, I noticed someone on Cemetery Gates. Wasn’t sure if it was a man or a woman but as we got closer, I saw that it was a young woman leading. Suddenly, my earlier thoughts were replaced with “If she can do it, so can I! It’s a perfect day to do it….I would be stupid not to give it a go….Okay, I’ve only just recovered from a lower back ligament injury and my physiotherapist did say that he preferred that I didn’t climb this weekend….but if I can’t do it, I could always retreat…..I’ve got to give it a go……I do feel strong enough …I’ve got to give it a go!”. By the time we got to the bottom of the Cenotaph Corner Area, I had convinced myself that I was up for it….that it was going to be today….my appointment with Cemetery Gates.
After lunch, we geared up and made our way to the start of the climb. Stuart was not pleased about my decision at all! He had allowed himself to feel relaxed about the day as he thought that we were going to take it easy….he no longer liked the idea of seconding Cemetery Gatesl…it was not his idea of taking it easy! I ignored his moaning noises. I’d already made my mind up.
The first pitch felt surprisingly do-able…I was really enjoying it. “This is great! It doesn’t feel half as hard as Manzoku (at Stennis Head, Pembroke) that I did last year!” I thought.
The young woman before me had done the route in one pitch choosing to go directly up joining the last few moves of The Grim Jim and Right Wall. When I got to The Girdle ledge, it made sense to go straight up, so I carried on as well after letting Stuart know of my intentions. A guy was struggling on the last 10 metres of Cenotaph Corner, grunting and talking frantically to his belayer…he eventually made it by pulling up on a cam and I think the relief of getting to the top made him go into a ranting overdrive … he just carried on babbling loudly. By this time, I was wondering why on earth I had opted for the direct route…for I had reached a tricky point ….a man was babbling loudly…..I could not hear myself thinking ….I need to focus…oh God, my arms are getting pumped…quick, I need to put something in….oh, please, shut up, I need to focus…..”Stuart, can you hear me, I can’t concentrate…I can’t hear myself thinking!” I bellowed down, hoping that the man would get the message….I heard the second say “I think she’s having a hard time there …”. “That’s it!” I thought, “I’m going up. I’m not going to put up with this!” I somehow found renewed energy at that point and I powered myself up to the top.
At the top, I came face to face with a familiar face. “Libby?” “Yes” “Stuart, Libby’s up here!” “Yes, I know” he said. Libby Peters, she taught us gear placement five years ago on one of our ULMC meets….what a coincidence to bump into her again at the top of Cemetery Gates!! Now it was my turn to start babbling with elation!
My Cemetery Gates project was complete. Strangely, I did not feel as overjoyed as I did when I “conquered” The Sloth (Roaches) last year. That’s probably because The Sloth project involved several months of continuous roof traversing training in the Monkey Room at Mile End and there was a build up of emotion of anticipation before the day of the climb (23 July 2005) unlike today when events simply crystallised per chance…..but I was happy….what’s my next target on Dinas Cromlech….Left Wall, maybe.