I can't remember exactly how it happened but a trip to Derbyshire to see family also aligned with Steve coming up to the Peak District for a few days. I was excited about the thought of seeing the family, Steve and also the climbing.
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| old faves at Cratcliffe before the drizzle |
I haven't done as much climbing as normal this year so thought that this would be an opportunity to get well stuck into it. The first day we had a good dry few hours bouldering at Cratcliffe before the drizzle came so we quickly (cough... top roped) climbed Suicide Wall - one of the best HVS's that exists! It got wetter so we retired to the pub in Youlgrave for a pint.
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| positive ape index.. |
Day 2 was forecast to be completely dry so we headed West to the Roaches. I always think of the Roaches as more dramatic than the Eastern gritstone edges, with fiercer climbing... so when we arrived at Hen Cloud and everything was damp, green and it was a bit drizzly it wasn't ideal!
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| Hen Cloud |
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| Some slimy damp route on the upper tier! |
Steve was keener and more determined than me. He explained that his £2 charity shop waterproof wasn't actually waterproof so he used it to keep his precious 15-20 year old ropes clean on the ground and set off up a classic VS in the rain showers. It was fairly desperate given the conditions and we both lost skin on it. After this we went along to the Roaches upper tier and did 3 other routes, the grades really dropped as the damp, at times green climbing felt quite unpleasant if I'm honest.
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| The dramatic Roaches cut into the sky |
With a forecast of sun we headed to Stanage on the last day... arriving in a grey Hathersage with the car thermometer noting a temp of 5 degrees, but at least no drizzle.. even Steve agreed to a quick (mediocre) coffee at Outside. But because Steve had driven in Sam's car which doesn't lock, we had to take 'everything' into Outside to prevent it being stolen - classic!
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| Stanage - home of gritstone! |
It's funny because arriving at Stanage and climbing the first route (a severe) and losing feeling in my hands on the top third I really questioned why I was there, and whether I even liked climbing anymore!
But the temperature slightly crept up to around 8-9 degrees, and for 30 mins at least there was sun, and in these brief magical moments, moving on dry clean and aesthetic classic climbs I remembered how great gritstone climbing can be.
