The not so Grim Industrial North - Wharncliffe

Autumnal shades offset by the black rock of Wharncliffe

 Well, if your not going to be catching a plane to Australia (damn you QUANTAS), what better way to spend your Sunday than once more hurtling up the M1 to the Peak District.  OK so we seem to go to climb on the grit every weekend I hear you say but, alas...Wharncliffe is not grit - well either is grit but lets not get started with my geological axe which I have been grinding on a metaphorical millstone (possibly of grit) for too long.  However, it has a slightly different stratigraphic position, within the Coal Measures, but it is still a sandstone (as is the grit) and it was laid down around the same time and in the same way.  It does weather differently and therefore does give a steeper more crimpy style of climbing.  It was my second trip there and it certainly had more to give.

Drew belaying on the Great Buttress

 As we arrived we were surprised to be met by those that departed early from Cambridge returning from the crag telling tales of great grimness and generally naysaying (although some naysayers claimed later, never to have said nay).  So it was time to galvanise the troops and steady the rout - well, basically say it will be sunny and the climbing will be ace.  Back up to the crag and using the path along the top, which avoids the grim and green boulder scramble below, we were soon on to the classics of Himmelswillen and Tower Face.  And a trip to Wharncliffe just wouldn't be complete without a traverse of Puttrell's Progress.

Only able to get half in to The Crack of Doom

Showing a natural flare for the flared crack of Doom

 It was then the north end of the north end of the crag that attracted me and the Great Buttress followed by its arete (with the help of Drew leading) soon fell.  Ed also went on to take Trapezium and Photo Finnish, which my fingers gave up on.  With tiring fingers it was time for the offwidth challenge of The Crack of Doom which was probably the highlight of the day, closely followed by Great Buttress Arete.  Handover Arete and Jimmy Puttrell is a Legend finnished the day for my party as everyone else secumbed to the temptation of an offwidth struggle in to which most of the group were eventually swallowed up as the sun set and darkness surrounded.

Pete throwing himself in to The Crack of Doom in the impending gloom

A confusing walk through the woods back to the car and a fine selection of takeaways, with and without lights, in Stocksbridge before back down the well trodden M1 to Cambridge with talk of sea cliffs and limestone enough to get me praying for my fight to leave on Wednesday!

Impeccable technique, as ever from Laurence on the Crack of Doom

Curbar, Black Lurcher & Burbage

Belaying atop the Cioch (no, not that one.........., at Frogbar)

 After a week to recover it's about time to look back on the introductory meet.  It does take about a week to recover from trying to organise over 50 climbers for a weekend trip to the Peak District.....and a similar amount of time for the body to recover from a night in the Three Stags Heads sampling their very fine Black Lurcher.  Around 20 of us headed north for the whole weekend and were joined by a further 30 for the Sunday.  As the Saturday was for new members to the club who had reasonable experience we plumped for the steep and intimidating walls of Curbar.

Just the place to encourage new members ( Straight Crack - Curbar)

Despite most of the group sticking round the classics of Peapod, Maupassant (a french author apparently), Bel Ami, Elder Crack, PMC 1 and Kayak Slab, which all saw attempts if not ascents a number of us decided to wander in to that middle ground of Curgott or Frogbar where the undergrowth gets wild and the holds become more rounded.  This didn't mean lower grades, well, not for everyone, with John and Howie making a fine ascent of Overtaker's Direct and I was pretty happy with the fine technical climbing of Baron's Wall.  Potter's Wall, Cioch Crack, Straight Crack, Calver Wall and Flying Buttress provided some interesting grit learning for the inexperienced. 

A helping hand with the learning experience which is the top out on Cioch Crack at Frogbar

After finishing with the sun setting it was on to the Three Stags Heads to get the genuine CUMC weekend trip experience of pitching tents in the darkness, consuming the strongest beer you can find and trying to ignore they guy wearing a vest in the corner sharpening knives.

The effects of the Black Lurcher setting in with the hare brandishing the shotgun starting to make the most sense

Learning just how rounded a 'hold' can be on Potter's Wall

Sunday morning saw us standing at the Burbage North car park in a state of mild confusion and panic at the prospect of a further 30 freshers arriving but luckily the 'wing it' approach worked, even being mistaken by some, for preconceived plan.  Almost perfect.....except for when I looked around to find myself lacking anyone to climb with.  The roving helper role seemed to suite my mildly lethargic Lurcher induced state which eventually eased as the day went on allowing some fun leads for me and hopefully some fun climbs for the new members to the club.  Ash Tree Wall provided my home for most of the afternoon and between a number of groups just about all the routes were climbed including Ash Tree Variations which gave me hope that I might actually be improving.  It's almost impossible to sum up what 50 people did on a crag like Burbage for a whole day but I do know that it never seemed like we were swamping any of the areas and there seemed to be smiles everywhere when I walked along to shepperd folk back to the bus so all in all a very successful trip.  I think that we may even returned with as many people as we left with.  Thanks to Vincent and Ed for helping organise the trip and all those that helped with leading and making it a great weekend.

Brimham Rocks - oh yes, it does.

Looking out over Brimham Rocks (photo: Ramsey Khalaf)

With Vincent making a great call on the location and weather it was some Yorkshire Grit that was on the menu for the second meet of term (16th Oct).  There were three cars making the journey north and quite a few new members to the club.  The first assault was on Birch Tree Wall with the eponymous route falling first to Ed and Felicity before I eventually made it up Right Wall which I am led to believe is not as hard as its Welsh brother.  Meantime Vincent and Ramsey were deeply involved with Nameless Chimney.  Drew was also in the area tying together a number of different routes in a fairly contrived but understandable way. 

Ramsey following Vincent up Right-hand crack and Ed approaching the horrific top out of Central Crack

We then moved round to Cracked Buttress where we ticked all the lines (but not the Rich), with central crack proving the most fun (for those watching) with its horrendous thrutching top out.  

No point hiding Ed, the top out ain't going anywhere

Ed demonstrating that alongside poise and technique he also can thrutch with the best of them

Not to miss out on the thrutching, udging and general traditional technique we were then followed round to the Fag Slab by Drew where he took on and eventually overcame the green tapering chimney of The Snuffer.  Meanwhile the rest of the group went up Allen's Crack (snigger, snigger), Fag Slab, Fag Slab Variant, Fag End and Pig Traverse.

Drew trying not to get stuck, or for that matter unstuck on The Snuffer

With the day nearing it's end we finished off with some of the fun offered by The Cubic Block and it's always harder than the grade suggests starts.

A great day and some excellent new characters in the club.  The only way to finish it off properly, and probably the main reason to go climbing in Yorkshire, was a stop at the Wetherby Whaler on the journey south.  A week of hectic organisation and it was the Introductory Meet for the freshers - post to follow shortly.

Shadow in Cracked Buttress

First Meet of the New Term - Stanage and a Retreat to Birchen

Sheltering under the tricky 5b start to Verandah Buttress - Stanage

A weather forecast for the optimists had us heading to the Peak District on Saturday.  Quick drying had been my thought and so we plumped for Stanage.  We completed one route, the oddly graded Verandah Buttress (HVD 5b), which set the precedent for the day of using teamwork to overcome the conditions,with both seconds utilising combined tactics of get off the ground.  Vincent made an impressing ascent of a route to the right with few positive holds and ever increasing dampness.  After taking some respite from the now swirling cloud and increasingly persistent rain we decided to retreat to the shelter of Outside in Hathersage and consider our position.

Eventually I went up to help out

We decided that Birchen offered a chance of some drier rock and if not some good damp-proof routes.  Starting of with the everdry and classic Topsail and Sail Chimney we moved on to Sail Buttress and some more slaby routes on Trafalgar Wall which seemed to gain a serious edge in the damp conditions.  The most fun was saved for last with Laurence starting to trust my advice on route choice he decided to have a go at Powder Monkey Parade, a route which is apparantly 'harder for the short who will have to dangle'.  It had been quite a while since he got his foot firmly stuck while attempting to lead Hollyash Crack at Burbage, which I had advised him was an easy and fun route.

After some concerted udging and a fair bit of thrutching (techniques I wholeheartedly approve of) he made it up the initial v diff hanging chimney.  This, for me is the toughest part of the climb.  But then alas an unwillingness commit to the 'dangle' meant no further progress was going to be made.  After much contribution of good advice from below, on the best options for extrication from the route, I decided that it best I climb on up and lead through while Laurence made himself safe by jamming in to the chimney.  The fun of the traverse was offset by some worrying moves on the rather wet upper slabs but soon Laurence was following on and made it up to the top.

Laurence stepping out on to the traverse of Powder Monkey Parade

It was then Sian's turn to have next a go but unfortunately her thrutching techniques were not up to it and so the honour fell to Vincent who 'cut loose' with some wild moves to gain the chock stone before waltzing up the upper section.  I think in the end we made the best of the conditions and certainly met Job's criteria for a worthwhile trip with most of us managing to climb more pitches than we had spent hours traveling to get there.  Looking forward now to some hopefully drier Yorkshire grit at Brimham this weekend.

Vincent cutting loose with a wild thrutch and reaching for the udge before overcoming the cock stone in the v diff chimney

Old News, New Routes

With winter approaching some of us have begun to think about the icy snow clad mountains and therefore started to flick through the guide-books to identify targets and potential adventures.  So the new North Wales Winter Climbing guide was an obvious purchase during a recent wet weekend in Wales.  It was with surprise that I saw a short route described which Juan and Drew had climbed in The Lost Cwm on the way to the Black Ladders back in the January of 2010.  It was with even greater surprise that I noticed the first ascent date given as March 2010.  We had considered this route and one adjacent, which Lucas, Rachel and I had climbed, as not likely to be of enough importance to be worth reporting.  Obviously someone else had, and named the left hand route The Scoop (V4, 40m).

Juan towards the top of his new route and Lucas on the crux of his offering (Memory Fails) - 10/1/10

Enquiries have provided a contact to inform of the new routes for inclusion in the next edition of the guide.  So a nice surprise of a new route for Juan and Drew which I think is likely to be nearer IV4 and awaits a possible re-naming (The Happiest Mexican in Wales).  Furthermore the route led by Lucas gives a nice III3, tentatively named Memory Fails.  This certainly helps to make winter feel closer and the blizzard of email checking who is prepared for the long drives north and the cold belay vigils has begun.

Adventures further afield - Climbers approaching Emerald Gully, Beinn Dearg, Wester Ross

Wet in Wales, scunnered in Scotland and ending up back In England

Well, it's been a while since a post has been made so a title to sum up Septembers climbing was in order. 

Idwall Slabs in rather damp conditions

The weekend of the 17th saw myself Rachel and James head to Wales to try to make the bast of pretty poor outlook across the whole of the UK.  The Ordinary Route on Idwall Slabs, with some scary off-route slab crossings and intermittent waterfalls disgorging from the fissures which formed the climb, provided a wet weather option for the Saturday. 

Waterfalls everywhere within the Dinorwig Slate Quarries

With deteriorating weather on Sunday we then put ourselves in the hands of the local girl Sian to lead us through the maze of Sakes and Ladders (and tunnels) in Dinorwig Slate Quarries which gave quite an adventure - scrambling through tunnels, aid climbing rusty chains of dubious attachment to the rock and climbing ladders of even more dubious attachment.  A fantastic way to explore the industrial landscape and take in some views of some truly stunning looking rock routes to be re-visited in the dry.

James aid climbing up the chain out of Tazmania

Rachel and James beneath the first set of ladders

It was then up to Scotland for me and taking a Sunday (25th) afternoon out from Aberdeen with Alena, Nico and Christina (the night out previous mitigated an early start).  With some impressive hitch hiking from Nico we all made it out to the Pass of Ballater for some fun routes on some perfect granite on the picturesque pine and larch clad hillside above the pass.

Readying for the climbs

The rain happily held off till the evening and allowed us up Jumbled Blocks Crack (VD), Razor's Crack (VS 4c) and Brut (VS 5a).  Not bad for the first outdoor experience for most of the group, although some dubious ethics including some very interesting combined tactics were employed.  It was great to climb with some new people and a really nice relaxing and fun day was topped off by our hitch hiking companion finding a lift back to Aberdeen with some friendly climbers we had got talking to on the crag.

Christina learning to belay with Nico keeping a watchfull eye on preceedings

Christina on the crux of Brute (VS 5a)

The next chance to get back to the rock was Friday (30th) and it was in to the Cairngorms with Rich to have a look at the classic Savage Slit in Coire an Lochain.  Starting up the first pitch, the rock was drying, but once in to the compelling crack line it was clear that this was going to be no fun so extricating myself carefully we settled for a scramble up the Great Slab and eventually we made our way up on to the corrie rim.

Savage Slit takes the obvious corner up the centre of the buttress

Frustratingly we passed a team topping out from Fingers Ridge which looked to be dry, and sheltered from the gales that we thought may have ruled it out.  However, the Northern Corries are a stunning place to spend a day exploring and so it was definitely not a waste of a day, instead just fueling the fire of interest in the sweeping summer lines available in this desolate range.

Looking south into the wilderness of the Loch Avon basin

Disappointment at the demise of Scotland in the Rugby World Cup on Saturday morning (1st) was offset by an enjoyable stop on the way south at Wainstones in the North York Moors and a chance to solo a number of routes while Rich and Nicola went for a run.  The Needle and the Steeple gave some fun routes - up and down - alongside a number of other fun slabs and cracks.  The Sphinx Nose Traverse will have to be returned for though as I decided the exposure may be a bit much for me on solo this time.

The Needle at Wainstones on the North York Moors

One last stop on Sunday afternoon (2nd) to introduce Rich and Nicola to the 'joys' gritstone for which we chose to explore the classics of Stanage.  Flying Buttress was the perfect introduction which we followed up with the steep, for V. Diff., Hollybush Crack.  I wanted to push the gritstone experience with a move on to Hargreave's Original Route on the Black Slab but unfortunately the lack of positive holds deterred Rich.  Nonetheless it was good to grab a few more climbs on the way back to the ever flat East Anglia and a surprisingly enjoyable trip in to London the following day.