Mosh Pit

Written by Greg Chapman Friday, 17 February 2012 12:43

Had a nice session down St. Bees last week and noticed that some kindly soul had terraced the landing directly below Red Snapper on the Head Banger block, at Apiary Wall. Whilst this doesn’t prevent the top move from still feeling very precarious (due to the drop directly behind) it does make trying the rest of the moves more pleasant.

Imge: The tough opening move of Mosh Pit 7b+/V8.

As there are plenty of small potential paving blocks lying about I took the opportunity to extend the terrace all the way around the block, which opened up another couple of good problems and a variation. The most obvious line was the central prow, which can now be climbed from a low sit start (starting off a sloping LH side pull at the base of the pod and RH crimp down to the right), this features a tough opening move followed by a steady but enjoyable sequence direct up the prow. This is Mosh Pit and it goes at around the 7b+/V8 mark. The next most notable addition is a really cool lip traverse, involving a great sequence, which starts at the base of Red Snapper and follows the lip of the block left into Mosh Pit. This is Scaly Man-Fish and it goes at 7b/V8. Finally, the improved landing also improves a variant possibility of the area classic Head Banger: whereby having dispatched the first move of the original you move rightward through the pod to the prow and finish up this. This is a touch harder than the original problem, at 7a+/V7ish, and may have been done before. None the less, it’s certainly worth a look if you are climbing on the boulder.