Orange Top

This orange top rope climb was my favourite climb at Calshot and by far the highest grade of climb I am ever likely to achieve convincingly ...... until it was taken away!! The holds themselves are few and far between, and mostly very small and pinchy. The wall is slippery and smooth throughout, but 5 panels have been bolted onto the wall providing some useful features. It can take several attempts to get off the ground as the first proper foothold is 2 metres off the groud (which necessitates one toe being placed on a feature 1cm wide, whilst the other leg is bounced backwards onto the bridging wall. The hardest manouver on this route, however, comes 3/4 of the way up when, with both feet on the main wall and two fingers of the right hand pushing against a feature (also on the main wall, the left hand creeps backwards up the briging wall to reach an out-of-the-way hold which is achievable only by standing up on the left leg (complicated as this leaves the right leg with no hold, and the right hand needing to push with some force against the feature). After this hold on the bridging wall is reached, the right leg needs to be brought up to where the right hand is (see picture). If the foot is not lodged onto this feature sufficiently before removing the hand, you will certainly fall off!

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