Flutted Buttress Direct

Craig, Guy and myself were headed east again today, following the weather forecast. It was a very leisurely walk into the crag and we were able to gear up before the crowds started coming in.

I was very keen to take the crux pitches so Craig and Guy were nice enough to let me have them. Having nearly the whole crag to ourselves we decided on Flutted Buttress Direct (IV,5). The conditions made the climbing a bit more challenging in that it wasn’t easy to get good axe placements in the powder covered slabby rock. However you could get good feet which helped make the progress quite steady.

Once we had finished the first pitch the rest of the teams began to come in their masses, which was quite surprising considering it was a week day. 

Many teams were over in Hells Lum reporting that conditions were quite good over there.