Cold weather? dryish? strong wind? sounds like grit season to me! Infact the original plan was to go to wales with Sid, Claire and Matt, but that all fell through at the last minute. Instead I ended up in the Peak with Ronnie, Andy, Nat & Jake the dog and what a bloody good weekend of grit climbing it was.
Like all good climbing weekends for me it started with a beer in the pub the night before and then finding a couch to surf the night away on. This time I actually got a bed... shared with none other than my not-so-famous-trad-climbing-french-friend Sid (don't worry I was safely tucked away in my sleeping bag). I picked Andy Rainer up in the morning (affectionatly known as "old Andy" due to him being a little older than us when I was at uni) and off we set to the Peak, Nat, Ronnie and Jake following. The plan was for a day at Stanage Edge with a possible crack at the unconquerables however a much more important tasked needed doing first, breakfast. Climbing at Stanage to the cafe in Outside, Hathersage. This also meant we could all pick up vital supplies for the day (cheese) at the Spar.
Claire and Matt were already up at Stanage by the time we'd finished breakfast and got up there. They'd meet some other friends and were working thier way across from Plantation to meet near unconquerables area. We'd parked at the top and walked in eyeing up routes all across the base of the crag until we spotted line up what looked like a blank slab. The line was Morrision's Reboute (E1 5b) and apparently soft for the grade, which is good because you'll deck should you fail the first proper move. I jumped on the lead with Andy belaying me. This was the first route in the about 4 years of knowing each other that we'd shared a rope on. The block you started on threw me until Andy pointed out I'd missed a crucial hold, then a crimpy sidepull to gain the break that turned out to be unpositive and slopey! I crammed a cam in, clipped and off I set. The route remained interesting throughout with a couple more hard 5a moves till I could belay on top. Andy came up to join me with no problems, then Ronnie flashed it. I would have liked to have seen Ronnie climb it as he's much shorter to he's a lot more technical than me.
Andy's lead now and he'd been eyeing up the line of Mississippi Buttress Varient (HVS 5a). I deracked all my kit and Andy racked all his and set off up the slightly overhanging groove line. Seeing Andy climb was a real pleasure. He actually apologised for climbing slowly. He wasn't at all though. Andy seemed to consider every move before he made it, not setting off before he was sure of what he do and where he'd get to next. I thought this was a goof approach to climbing, and very safe. The Varient climbs its parent route to about half height then makes a tricky set right and then traverses diagonally upwards with a 5a move in the middle. I felt like I really struggled seconding it.
My lead and I jumped on Link (HVS 5b). I took a direct line up the overhanging arete next to Dark Continent. The Roof is split by a nice crack and good holds but it was just brutal. From the start it was hard, then a brief respite before tackling the overhang. Here I ran out of chalk and a random guuy named Wes threw me up a chalk ball. I then cursed, pulled and pumped my up over the overhang only to get stumped by the mantleshelf move. I was just so pumped! I managed it and arrived on top with screaming arms, out of breath with a smile from ear to ear. Andy came up with ease and then Wes tied on an came up. He was really grateful to be able to have a crack at this route and I thanked him for the chalkball.
Andy now lead Centre Stage (HVS 5a), another 2 star route. He gave it a little variation start which was pretty hard and the slab and roof seperatly where quite nice. However there was a big ledge below the roof you could have bivied on which took away from the route somewhat. It was still a good lead though. I then wondered around before deciding on the next route. Dark Continent (E1 5c) had been a bit of a white elephanthanging around for me all day. We'd seen a couple of teams attempt it (and bail) and we climbed routes around it all day. It also caught me eye as one of Andy Kirkpatrick's top 5 routes. Apparently it needed a large cam, so carrying both size 4's as they were the largest we had I set off.
The start was intesting moving along under a roof to make a big move round the lip. Forget a heel hook, I had a full leg hook going on. Me and Andy both thought that this would have been the crux, at the back of my mind my brain thought "that wasn't so hard, so where is the crux?". Onward and upward through sustained 5a ground to gain a break in the middle of the face. Here I needed the "big cam" a size 4. In all reality I could have gotten away with a size 3.5 but I guess the not everyone is carrying such big gear all the time. Then came the wild move in the middle of the face. Gaining the break with a left hand and getting my right foot in the break I smeared my left foot up the wall and reached my my right hand up and up and up! I took me a few goes ot work out exactly where I had to put everything but I snagged a really positive pocket with my finger tips and rocked onto my right foot. The route was sustained 5b climbing from then on but I was fly so I placed a cam and gunned it to the top.
By the time Andy got up there it was getting properly dark (not to say Andy climbed slow, it was pretty dark when I topped out). We had to nip down quick, pack up and walk out by torch light. This would have been simple if Jake hadn't ran off. We were staying at North Lee's Campsite, just below Stanage Edge, but decided that we'd all earned a beer and some decent grub, so going on Andy's suggestion we all met at the Jon's Pub.
Andy's lead now and he'd been eyeing up the line of Mississippi Buttress Varient (HVS 5a). I deracked all my kit and Andy racked all his and set off up the slightly overhanging groove line. Seeing Andy climb was a real pleasure. He actually apologised for climbing slowly. He wasn't at all though. Andy seemed to consider every move before he made it, not setting off before he was sure of what he do and where he'd get to next. I thought this was a goof approach to climbing, and very safe. The Varient climbs its parent route to about half height then makes a tricky set right and then traverses diagonally upwards with a 5a move in the middle. I felt like I really struggled seconding it.
My lead and I jumped on Link (HVS 5b). I took a direct line up the overhanging arete next to Dark Continent. The Roof is split by a nice crack and good holds but it was just brutal. From the start it was hard, then a brief respite before tackling the overhang. Here I ran out of chalk and a random guuy named Wes threw me up a chalk ball. I then cursed, pulled and pumped my up over the overhang only to get stumped by the mantleshelf move. I was just so pumped! I managed it and arrived on top with screaming arms, out of breath with a smile from ear to ear. Andy came up with ease and then Wes tied on an came up. He was really grateful to be able to have a crack at this route and I thanked him for the chalkball.
Andy now lead Centre Stage (HVS 5a), another 2 star route. He gave it a little variation start which was pretty hard and the slab and roof seperatly where quite nice. However there was a big ledge below the roof you could have bivied on which took away from the route somewhat. It was still a good lead though. I then wondered around before deciding on the next route. Dark Continent (E1 5c) had been a bit of a white elephanthanging around for me all day. We'd seen a couple of teams attempt it (and bail) and we climbed routes around it all day. It also caught me eye as one of Andy Kirkpatrick's top 5 routes. Apparently it needed a large cam, so carrying both size 4's as they were the largest we had I set off.
The start was intesting moving along under a roof to make a big move round the lip. Forget a heel hook, I had a full leg hook going on. Me and Andy both thought that this would have been the crux, at the back of my mind my brain thought "that wasn't so hard, so where is the crux?". Onward and upward through sustained 5a ground to gain a break in the middle of the face. Here I needed the "big cam" a size 4. In all reality I could have gotten away with a size 3.5 but I guess the not everyone is carrying such big gear all the time. Then came the wild move in the middle of the face. Gaining the break with a left hand and getting my right foot in the break I smeared my left foot up the wall and reached my my right hand up and up and up! I took me a few goes ot work out exactly where I had to put everything but I snagged a really positive pocket with my finger tips and rocked onto my right foot. The route was sustained 5b climbing from then on but I was fly so I placed a cam and gunned it to the top.
By the time Andy got up there it was getting properly dark (not to say Andy climbed slow, it was pretty dark when I topped out). We had to nip down quick, pack up and walk out by torch light. This would have been simple if Jake hadn't ran off. We were staying at North Lee's Campsite, just below Stanage Edge, but decided that we'd all earned a beer and some decent grub, so going on Andy's suggestion we all met at the Jon's Pub.
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