Sandy, Sporty Times

It's not often that a new piece of rock is discovered in Cumbria that hasn't been touched by a climber's sticky shoes until recently, but that was the case for Coudy Rock, which is just outside Appleby-in-Westmorland. This crag was developed last year by the team behind the Cumbria Bolt Fund and because of this all of the routes are bolt protected, which is a good thing because the soft sandstone cliff is devoid of features for natural protection.

Top roping Buffalo Bill (F6a+) after leading the route.

I only had a couple of hours at the crag for a number of reasons; I needed to clean the house; I wanted to see a bit of the tennis; and it rained on Thursday night so I wanted to give the rock a chance to dry out. I think I made the right decision as we definitely caught the best part of the day and this meant that we were able to explore the bolted routes in glorious, albeit windy, conditions.

In Spielberg mode; setting up the camera ready to film my assent of Two Pints and a Packet of Crisps (F6b).

And the finished product.

As for the climbs: they were really enjoyable and well put together. The bolted lines certainly forced you into some interesting positions to make the moves and for this very reason I can see myself visiting the crag on a frequent basis even though I ticked four of the routes.

Getting a no hands rest on Resisting Chiptation (F6c).

Finally, I ticked my hardest onsight sports lead today. The route was Resisting Chiptation (F6c) and this alone made the short session extremely worthwhile.

More pictures of the afternoon can be found here.

Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...
Iain