More Coastal Additions from Varian

Written by Greg Chapman Monday, 20 December 2010 08:57

At St Bees' Northern Head Dan Varian has added a few quality looking additions to the boulders at the Fisherman's Steps sector.

Right: Dan executing one of the crux moves of his new line, Floating Points, Fisherman's Steps.

The most notable addition is that of Floating Points, which climbs the appealing direct sit start to Drop Off on Block D and goes at around the 7c/V9 mark: start sitting on the platform just left of a step, pull on with difficulty and climb the smooth board like face via some big moves heading toward the good pocket at just over ¾ height and finish direct. Another good new problem climbs the left side of the seaward face of Block C, this is Sick! Double Drop! (7b/V8ish) and whilst this block can be a bit sandy in places, this line appears to climb well and be a worthy addition. Finally, Dan finished off another obvious probable project on the Block F; that of the sitter to The Other Arete. This may well have been done before and was almost sent by Dan a while back although his redpoint attempt was thwarted by some overly excitable wave activity, causing his pads to be almost swept out to sea! Thus the grade was known to be around the 7c/V9 mark and we added the information to the guide, which appeared last summer. Any who Dan returned to finish the climb off, and quickly dispatched this excellent little number, and christened it Swept Away, presumably as a reminder of the sea's sometimes less than favorable approach to rock climbing.

VIDEO: Dan has put together a video featuring all the climbs listed above, this can be viewed via the Beastmaker Vimeo site here.