Twelve of us set off on the 6th September for this year’s CMC Lundy trip, with a mixed forecast! The week before and the week after was really nice, so I don’t know who picked those dates… but we had sun, showers, wind, and a big swell coming in of the Atlantic throughout the week! 

There were no excuses, especially from Paul Drew who managed to climb every day, but I’m not sure Barbara shares his levels of optimism though. She did however manage to wreck some of Lundy’s classic routes by pulling boulders off left right and centre, at times juggling them on her shoulders (she doesn’t know her own strength that lady and clearly spends too much time on that moonboard). 

We had a fairly strong team of runners who ran a lap around the Island. We got stuck in a deluge of rain on one day, with rain drops the size of marbles! One of the highlights of the trip was having our meals cooked in the evening for us, every team taking it in turns cooking once during the week, and having everyone around the table every evening is great! (good laughs had by all and plenty of them) ask Paul Tanton about his lucky legs!

We had had a really competent group a for the trip as usual, with no dramas… well, until me and Paul Bunker headed into goat Crag. I decided that I wanted to have a look at the E2 ‘Shagtastic’ and we’d done ‘Destiny’ a E1-2 on a previous day which Paul did well on so I thought let’s do it.

Leaving the house Paul asked me should we take the 2-way radios with us, and I was like ‘na we’ll be ok!!’ (I should have listened to Paul). It was really windy that day with 40mph plus winds but I was confident it would be sheltered. Anyway, we headed out there and got to the descent which was a pretty scary proposition with the fierce gusts at the top. Goat Crag looked well steep and with huge swell rolling in it was pretty exciting…

Bunker:

Andy and I headed for Goat Crag, confidently targeting a steep but juggy E2 called Shagtastic. The walk in was certainly character-building a grassy slope that was far better suited to the goats that gave the place its name.

Andy H:

We psyched ourselves up and headed down to the base of the crag. Sure enough the wind dropped off at the bottom and we racked up and I thought this would be a good moment to have a quick chat about how you prusik up a rope. The tide had gone out and there was a traverse just above the sea that was only accessible at low tide (committing) but a good belay at the end, with a steep wall above.

Bunker:

After that came a scramble to reach the belay, waves still crashing at our feet despite our careful low-tide timing. Andy set off up the route while a seal bobbed in the churning sea below, watching with quiet curiosity.

Andy H:

I set off pretty excitedly up the route, it was epic and steep and when I got to the top and the rock was loose and there was no belay… I headed back 10m and found a huge bolder, Bomber! I tied off the ropes and abseiled back to edge and set up a belay. There was no shelter from the wind here and I couldn’t see or hear Bunker. After a while, I pulled the ropes and started bringing him up.

Bunker:

I began to second the route optimistically. After a few big moves on decent jugs, I reached a tricky traverse and, after a brief Elvis impersonation, boldly went for it. Moments later I was dangling helplessly in mid-air, dreaming about the walkie talkies we’d left charging in the room.

Andy H:

At this point I’m praying our little chat about prusiking up a rope was going to pay off. 

Bunker:

What better time to practice prusiking up a rope than now? After a couple of false starts and desperately trying not to drop anything into the frothing sea below I managed to ascend a colossal two feet and was just about able to touch the rock.

Andy H:

At this point, Bunker had been hanging there for what felt like a very long time, with no communication possible I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t think Paul had got to the really steep bit. I thought if I can get him back to the easy traverse he could get back on, and traverse along a few meters back towards the bags on the beach and come up another easier route, 

Bunker:

“Do you want me to lower you?” came Andy’s voice from above. “NO!” I shouted back only to feel my hard-won progress slip painfully away as the rope eased.

I admitted defeat and just dangled there for a while, yearning for the initial ledge and any possible escape. The lowering continued excruciatingly slowly until a wave finally hit, giving me just enough momentum to swing back toward the cliff. I managed to get attached to the rock again albeit in a rather awkward position and called up, “Slack on blue, please.” “Just a minute,” came the reply. I was worried I would fall off again!

Andy H:

Yesssss, he’s back on the rock! But I had a snag in the blue rope which took a long time desperately trying to sort out, but the weight was on the rope… I eventually managed to move and hang out over the crag and I could see there were 2 ropes leading down to an overlap with Paul underneath, with the tide fast approaching. 

I start yelling “traverse back to the bags, head back to the bags” thinking once he moves we will be able to see each other and communicate properly.

Bunker:

Once I’d shuffled into a slightly more comfortable spot, I tried shouting up to check if I should untie, but communication was still hopeless. The only words I caught were “Go to the bags,” so I took that as a yes. I untied, watched the ropes vanish into the wind, and began a short but very memorable swim back to shore to collect the bags and meet Andy at the windy top.

Andy H:

I looked down to see one rope, then two ropes swinging in the breeze, and then I see bunker in the drink getting bashed around by the Atlantic ocean. I was terrified. Following the drama, the climb back out after was well sketchy!  We had to go back the next day to retrieve some gear but apart from a few bumps and bruises there was no harm done and hopefully some lessons learnt. 

We managed to get a few last climbs done before the ferry on the last day which made a nice end to a memorable trip. It was great to meet and climb some really nice people and definitely a trip to remember. Lundy is an amazing place it has a really wild feel to it and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for some very adventurous sea cliff climbing.