Same pair as previous day. Climbed the first route in series to warm into the day and introduced the second to rating and placing of gear. Perfect/ideal placements discussed and rating using bomber, good, ok. Discussed TTPP with leader before she took the lead on Repton right wall.
I lead both pitches of right wall then lined as the leader went on the sharp end. A good lead with a psychological crux leaving the big flake above the tree. At this point I had a long sling around a small tree as a back up piece of gear if required and stayed close whilst she made the couple of delicate moves. For the second we looked at rating gear when building the belays and choosing between 1, 2 or 3 pieces of gear and also introduced IDEAS so that we could begin to look into belay building for her. With another day or more time, I would have started to get them swinging leads, with the leader in full lead move and the second 'leading' with the safety of my rope above.
With one hour remaining I guided them up pinnacle ridge in 3 quick pitches, taking the slightly steeper finish to offer them a fun and challenging move.
Reflections - swinging leads sooner to ensure the second was getting plenty of progression too (although I do feel she needed some time to get comfortable with the seconding role). Putting the leader on lead sooner (first day or first route of second day), although I held off because psychologically I did not think she was ready to accept that with trad climbing there will be times where she needs to be more than 1m away from her last gear placement. This did come together well in the route which she led.
Area :
Highland Outcrops: Glen Nevis and Poll Dubh
The Polldubh crags provide one of the most popular groups of outcrops in Scotland, with a range of excellent climbs suitable for climbers of all abilities. The cliffs on the other side of Glen Nevis and in the Steall Gorge are also included, as are all the other cliffs in the Glen Nevis section of the SMC HIghland Outcrops South guidebook. The sport climbs of Steall Hut Crag should be entered in the Sport climbing section of DLOG.
