2nd May East Face of 61 Burrell St, Surreal Route (Hard Very Severe)

The weather was not encouraging. After an early breakfast of condensed oatmeal I made steady progress up the 28 foot aluminium extension ladder. Suddenly I felt a horrible tremor and moments later a 2 foot flake of old red sandstone cleaved off the face falling straight down into a tub of decorative shrubbery. But from my high viewpoint I could see there was no other route. Compared to the risks hundreds of people take every year on the other side of the mountain in the Khumbu icefall, it seemed quite reasonable. Now I was on a band of cast iron guttering. trailing over 5 metres of heavy roof ladder; it was starting to drag me down but I could not bear to stop, revelling in the next set of steep moves, impatient to see over the top of the headwall...
I had always been inspired by the great fighters- Hermann Buhl pushing on alone to the summit of Nanga Parbat, Bonatti on the Walker Spur in winter... The next section was an exciting pitch of 45 degree slates; behind me cloud shadowed the wall of number 58 and as I glanced nervously up to the zinc ridge and beyond, the final pinnacle of the chimney stack beckoned... There was no doubt it was a dangerous game...