Day of Reckoning

Today was the day, after months of thinking about it and studying footage i was going down LPT to try Liquid Ambar. My expectations were obviously low, my greatest hope was that the route wouldn't be so beyond me that it wasn't worth trying. I wanted a hard project but not an impossible project. Firstly on a route like this you do the moves then think about small links then big links then the redpoint. I was fully expecting to be facing moves i couldn't comprehend. Me and Tommy went down on this damp afternoon after warming up in the cave. Looking up it looked intimidating, i was so excited just to get on this classic, so intrigued to see what the holds would be like, could i hang the positions? The first thing that went through my mind though was the state of the second bolt, so rusty i was scared. I clipsticked it and pulled up quickly to get the next bolt in, i had no intention of trying the vertical start yet, i knew i could do it, i wanted to try the meat! On reaching the good holds on the start of the steep section i was quite startled to find a lot of glue reinforcement! Oh well i didn't care about that. I pulled up to feel the first left hand crimp, it was small but had good friction, the next undercut was positive too. I had a few goes then ventured higher i wanted to see what the supposed crux was all about. I grabbed the pinch simpson used, it was quite good but it was obvious going up off it would be extremely powerful. There are three methods on the crux, Simpsons powerful pinching, Moony's small crimp or Jerry's undercut reach. I opted for the latter, it was at the limit of my reach but i could get it. Be like Jerry,I almost stuck the move! get in, i did the next move and almost the move after. This was going well, better than expected. I went back down to the first boulder problem, one move felt very hard, undercut into undercut. I couldn't do it and it felt dismaying. Hopefully this will get easier with time. Quality wise this route is superb as you would expect. I estimate that the two boulder problems are Font 7c one after another, font 8a for the whole 8 move sequence and the start is about fench 7b+ up to the steepness. I got home and put the footage of jerry on, mega, so psyched bring on the seige. Looks like i may be living in Llandudno for a few more years! In the next day or two i hope to get this route rebolted and then everyone can try it safely. Long live Jerry!