Some not so scary trad limestone at Pot Scar

For 2013 one of my goals is to climb at five limestone crags that I haven't visited before. Having ticked routes at the more popular crags of Malham, Kilnsey, Giggleswick and a few others, this goal was to lead me to explore new parts of Yorkshire limestone. So after a flick through the guidebook, I settled on Pot Scar, which had a wide range of grades and a number of starred routes. I had however missed the paragraph which mentioned "short ground falls can have serious consequences" and "bad accidents in the past" with the following sentence being; "you have been warned!" Sounds good to me!

Hopefully all the loose stuff has fallen off with that amount of scree at the bottom

I haven't always been a fan of limestone trad climbing, and I'm only just coming around to the idea. I've found it to be insecure, with poor protection, and suspect rock, with the combination of all 3 providing a pretty terrifying experience. So visiting a new limestone crag with only traditional routes, i was feeling a bit nervous on the way over. However on arrival, the main area of Pot Scar looked a solid, clean wall of limestone. 

In the past I've struggled to read limestone, and end up feeling my way up the wall searching for holds and then better ones. So as I started up the first route, Piers said to me; "this is the most scarred I've ever seen you whilst climbing." I didn't find the route bad at all, it flowed really well, there was good gear, solid rock. Pot Scar was the exact opposite of my stereotype of a trad limestone crag. 

A brilliant days climbing followed this rather shaky start. Every route continued to surprise me, good gear and great climbing in the winter sun. We climbed several of the clear grooves and walls, which gave quality obvious lines. I finished up the day climbing Sunspot, which is the only 3 starred route in the guide, although I believe some of the others are of similar quality for their grade. Sunspot followed a thin groove that was on a steeper wall than the rest of the crag. Using thin flakes barely big enough to fit your fingers into, that were really square making protection a nightmare, I worked my way slowly up the groove. After a couple of shaky moments where wires and imps just pulled through when trying to set them, a lot of relaxation breathing was required at these points. I reached the overlap two thirds up the route, and a solid thread and wire, I now felt at ease. The overlap was turned, by a big rock over to reach another thin flake leading to larger holds above. It was the hardest traditional route I'd climbed on limestone, and the whole experience was exhilarating and definitely showed I've still got a good head for bold moves heading into this season.

I've learnt to take what you read in the guidebook with a huge pinch of salt as there are such quality crags and routes within such a small area. After visiting Pot Scar, I am now looking forward to visiting the next 4 new limestone crags to complete my goal, and maybe more, if we get the weather. After just climbing at one new crag, I think this goal is definitely going to take me on a journey to explore and discover some more hidden, less traveled gems of Yorkshire limestone, and will probably mean more to me than climbing harder routes.