Don’t mix beer and route choices

After some lovely climbing (7 pitches of 6a type stuff at Dent D’aire) we headed down to the campsite for a stolen shower and some washing up. However, we were busted and had to pay to stay the night. So we went into town for a beer instead. There was a huge storm so we had to take refuge in the pub for quite a while. Several buckets, yes buckets of Hoeegarden later – we met some crazy Dutch climbers from Amsterdam. Well they recommended us a good route for the following day - L’Eperon Sublime. It had an aid pitch and neither of us had done that before so we thought that it would be an adventure!!
And it certainly was, we managed 2 pitches of climbing before another storm raged in, we had to take cover in a cave some 200m above the canyon floor. After 90 minutes or so in cave the rain stopped so we ventured out to find the way down. Only to miss it entirely and have to retreat back into the cave before another soaking. After a nap in the cave, we woke up cold and hungry so went for the exit again. We eventually managed to abseil to the safety of Gorge and walked to the road to hitch back up to the van. What an adventure – 12 abseils for 2 pitches of climbing on polished limestone! And the moral of that story is best adventures come after too much beer!