Helaena makes her way up the centre of the Capricorn buttress 
Goats patrol the western approachesArmed with a Mahindra (& Mahindra) Scorpio SUV, Helaena and I ventured out to the aforementioned quarrying site for some 4 a.m. starts in late June/ early July. On our second trip a couple of Helaena's workmates joined us, as well as our dog Lhotse. The weather was gorgeous and breezy on both days; the heat was tolerable until the late morning, at which point we retreated to our vehicle and a cool-box of chilled soft drinks. We climbed several routes:-
- Capricorn Buttress, left of centre crack route, 5-6 toproped, 30ft
- No. 4 slab, Prow area, centre route through first- and last- move 'minor overhangs', 5-5 lead by Steve, 5-2 if the overhangs are circumvented, 55ft
- Unrecorded route 'Japser' 100m to the right of No.4 slab, up easy gully then left to top (and into the sunrise!), 5-2 to 5-4 lead by Steve, 70ft
No. 4 slab, with it's initial overhang in the foreground; Steve is above-right the last overhang
Charles seconding on Jasper
Roshni on her way to surmount the last mini-overhang on her first ever climb, Slab No.4
Charles and Steve with the Mohit Oberoi guide of 2001
That's all for now.
