Lost on a Missile Range, Paying Respect to Glow Sticks and a Win by
Gav Symonds at Pembroke's Deep Water Soloing Festival

By Daimon Beail

I knew I was in for a good weekend when a parking lot attendee directed the first arrivals out into the Ministry of Defence’s no-go firing range.

Signs were everywhere warning us of the possibility of unexploded ordnance and live fire.

After we realized our mistake and the other cars that followed us realized we were more clueless than we looked, we made our way to the Fat Face banners and tents overlooking Newton Head at Pembroke, Wales, for the annual Deep Water Soloing festival.

The sun was out. It was about 25 degrees. By all accounts the weather was supposed to be complete crap. It was too good to be true.

The early arrivals got a chance to soak up some sun at Stennis ford and try some easy warm-ups before the competition and the tide came in. The Slackjaw film crew were there shooting footage of a new XS film.

Legends Neil Gresham, Mike Robertson, and an eager-eyed Steve McClure were checking out what Neil was hoping would be the next big thing. He made a mad one-day dash to Pembroke to attempt a hard new line. Unfortunately, Neil discovered a crucial hold was wet, making the route a no go -- For now. He’s vowed to return.

Just before the speed competition started, the dark clouds on the horizon that had been ignoring us, started to roll in and a light drizzle began.

Mike Weeks knew he needed to keep the festival’s spirit alive. And what better way to do that then to entice the competitors with a free and very sexy Jazz Apple t-shirt. And of course a few crates of apples were on hand to help power up the crowd and power the climbers up Pembroke’s rain-soaked cliffs.

As the tide moved in, the competitors lining up at the bottom were getting soaked from all directions.

It was a fight for survival to reach the X1 Sports poster before the 12-meter plunge back to Pembroke’s chilly waters. Many competitors failed to reach the top after some massive slips and more massive falls. Even the legend Tim Emmet took the plunge before reaching the poster slap, but he had good reason since he is recovering from an injury. Gav Symonds clobbered the competition with 1:12, followed by Dan (last name unknown), who on-sighted the line in 2:04. And third place went to Jonathan Woods with 2:13.

Mike Weeks gave the final competitor some incentive to pick up the pace, enticing him and the crowd with news that a barbecue and a late-night rave awaited everyone.

Some of the crowd hit the local pub before the evening’s entertainment kicked off. Soloers and some bewildered trad climbers and even more bewildered locals all packed into the pub to escape the rain.

More than 100 people showed up to the rainy and muddy field. Bean Sopwith and her team of barbequers were cooking away delivering sausage, burgers, hot dogs and veggie burgers for the true hippies, including yours truly.

As the night drew on, DJs Ben West, Paul Twomey and Richard Collins emerged from the wet grass to put together an awesome section of pumping, progressive and tribal sounds. Fatface provided glow sticks and things started getting really trippy. Everyone was pounding the ground and grooving it up to the tunes, a laser light show and smoke machines.

Leah Crane tried to steal the show by stealing cameras and appearing in every photo. Steve McClure was down front paying his respects to the wheels of steel and throwing shapes and body positions to the crowd to demonstrate all the moves that went into his latest route, Overshadow 9a+ at Malham.

The tunes pumped harder and faster as the night progressed into the early hours. At some point, Mike Weeks got a tap on the shoulder as eight coppers and a member of the licensing department showed up and “threatened to lock me up and confiscate the kit, because I didn’t have the £21.50 licensing fee.”

Weeks called the event a complete success even with the weather – and the cops. Nobody was injured and the safety boats and divers weren’t needed.

"I was gutted that we had to shut down as early as we did -- at 3:00 a.m.", Weeks said, promising a license, a sound-proof tent and no rain for next year's festival.

When asked why he goes through all the effort for the event, Weeks said, "I guess I do it because I love a good party and an excuse to see lots of mates."

Finally Mike would like to say a big thank you to:
Trev Massiah, Babs Joungmans, Jonathon Woods. DJ's Ben West, Paul Twomey, Richard Collins. Simon and Josh (whose surnames I don't know) but who saved my ass on sat morning by putting up the slack line and banners with me. Charlie Obrhai and Jess Houlding for clearing up on Sunday.

And a big thanks to the Sponsors: