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Sunday 26 July 2015

Local stuff

Saturday 26 July

Bimble round Highcliffe



Levitating by the Monk's Seat

















New Sky Line




old skyline

Saturday 25 July 2015

Somewhere over the Raven

...Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true......

Thursday July 23rd
Juggling weather and diary since Monday, eventually all variables loaded for Thursday.  Not a great forecast anywhere, but #AT.NB.CB team good for a multi-pitch day so
Raven Crag Langdale
set as best fit as a dry-rock low-altitude hope for some sun sort of venue.  As it turned out coped well with a mixed day with some blustery winds and spitty spotty spells eventually brightening up quite nicely for the last route. Crag was busy with various teams but everybody relaxed and friendly.  Pretty much as to plan except last minute swap - finished off with Bilberry Buttress instead of Evening Wall.  Picked up some useful three men and a rope tricks from Mr B.  All good.


Superb pic of main crag © Rog Wilko
                                L-R
                                         Bilberry Buttress (~50m with Alt-LH finsih)
                                         Elevation (43m)
                                        Revelation (50m)
                                        Centipede (~70m)



NB gets the party started on P1 of Centipede (S4a)

CB bypasses the big flake and gets some good gear in under the overhang on P2

NB and AT make use of said flake, didn't seem to be any holds the way CB went?


AT roulez relax across to the fine arete on P3

Fabulous setting - all over too soon 


Belay cheeseville as usual



CB carries on in cruise mode

Rained a little whilst descending but pressed on regardless 



NB lifts a way up Elevation (HS)

Other climber firmly off route on Revelation P2

Won't get his A level grades that way





Worthwhile climbing, just deteriorates a bit at the top


Sixth former back on track




NB completing P1 Revelation (HS)


Another climber nearing the top of P2 in a stupendous position

The plan called for a wander across to Evening Wall

However couldn't pass by Bilberry Buttress without giving it another look, then CB made an offer - seemed churlish to refuse.  Before any chance of a fully thought out option appraisal he was racked up and off.


Bilberry Buttress VS 4b 4c 4a (Alt P3)
P1 starts with straight forward scramble
Rudely interrupted by this 4 metre monster of a fist jamming test piece.

4b?  Surely not!




Looks almost amenable from a less up close and personal viewpoint

One of those suck you in and spit you out sort of routes (UKC logbooks feature these outcomes)

© moreno (UKC)




CB engages with the difficulties


.... having dispensed with P1 with the aid of a little difficulty continues up the fingery cracks and small edges on P2


Col-lage..!
(click for expanded view)



AT gets stuck in with some sort of arm bar effort




Just gotta stick with it until more usable holds arrive

Voices in the head...
"Get on up there lardy!"



One more move and a rewarding jug awaits another grateful hand

Turned down opportunity to abseil off an in-situ loop in the interest of getting another pitch in

P3 option finishes at the oak tree on the descent path




Over 200m in a three-some - good going


Thursday 16 July 2015

Strictly Come Dandling

Wednesday July 15th

It's fair to say that this plan was cooked up well ahead.  The new FRCC "best of" guide has some excellent pics of many familiar crags and some less so.  The images of
Buckbarrow in Longsleddale 
were especially inspiring - so last week (whilst hanging out in Hove) resurrected a plan previously mooted by NB and got ourselves in gear.  Visited in October 2005 with the Gman and had a bit of an epic in the summit gale.  Some useful pics and recent comments on UKC gave pointers on descent path difficulties so figured we would be in for an adventurous day out.  The weather Gods did their bit, all we needed to do was to do ours.......

About 1 hour to base of crag along easy track then a steep slog up

NB carries gear and a rope, cyclo-fitness!!


Suffering scree chutes Batman!

Its a Big Day in the North.....!
Destination Dandle



Sadgill Wall (S)

P1 20m - two cruxes then up to spike belay


P2 20m, peerless rock, quite sustained





P3 30m - a hanging slab which feels out there, some fine positions, top 5m totally botanical but a welcoming thread belay

P4 20m(+) alternate LH finish avoids the gorse fest taken on the normal route just right of the belay. Finishes with a traverse part way along the pinnacled ridge that forms the crest of the Dandle

NB holds it together across the thrilling first six metres of P3



...and takes note of plea for a bomber belay

(AT only partly suppressing all visions of any kind of pendulum over the gulping void)




Prospecting P4, finishing up a testing shallow groove just left of the arete






Belays well back in a bed of bilberries above the plunging depths of Cleft Ghyll


The Dandle summit crest, kept on ropes given dramatic drops on both sides (out of shot)

Looking back along the Dandle Summit Crest
Cleft Ghyll on right

© James Kendal (UKC)



Down climbing this 7m or so looked a bit tenuous so rigged a bit of tat and abbed down

Getting off - detail
(Click image for best result)
Red circles - belays
White line - top pitch
Yellow lines - scrambling on rope (up to abseil)
Red line - abseil
Dotted yellow line, descent gully (hidden)
Black line - line intermediate ridge separate from main fell 
Approach shoes recommended


A quick freshen up in the River Sprint - next stop Black Swan Ravenstonedale


Walk in - 60 mins

Walk out - 45 mins

A really beautiful valley, idyllic

Yankee Doodle Dandles
(or not!)

Thanks to PM for the blog title

And finally, all the way from 2005, the Gunter tapes is proud to have dredged up yet more drivel

                         Dandle in the Wind



Gables in the air

Had a few suppers out in the garden room

Some interesting reflection and refraction effects on display

Where's Feynmann when you need him?












Friday 3 July 2015

Hove Hunting

July 2nd
Drive to Hove to check out possibilities
The 3 viewings for Friday all cancelled en route!



Phil and Hasu already bonded







Beach scene



Brighton boiling up



Mobile Philome




Saturday


Sunday shopping and a fish special dinner via Laguna, bass and bream with scallops starter



Monday

From Saltdean to Brighton

Cooked by concrete and cliffs




Tuesday
4 flats viewed, two possibles




Adelaide aspirations....





Wednesday 1 July 2015

Hot Lough

June 30th
Heatwave arrives, temperatures running at 25 plus and quite sticky
Looking for suitably cool venue, toss up between Corby's and Crag Lough.  Settled on the latter as we were heading in that general direction anyway, starting from Piercebridge meet up.





AT probes the holds on the very amenable West Corner (S) at the far right of this extensive crag.



Red trousers turned on and tuned in


BP tip toes across the traverse on Face Route (S4a)




Moving up to better holds

The plunging crack on the left is the next route

Gulp




CB follows quite colourfully


The unstoppable CB machine makes light of some slimy jams and dirty smears lower down and gets well into the finishing groove on Route 3 (VS 5a)


Having required two goes to get past the initial horrid jams, the route offers some entertaining shaping to get into the groove.


Following lunch and a bit of a cool off, AT gets hot and quite bothered on Hadrians Rib (VS 4c)

Arrange these words in the right order

chew
more
off
than
bitten


AT makes good an escape onto more familiar ground - Hadrians Buttress (HS and the rest!)

CB's crest falls a little.....



AT gets ready for the big rock over

Good to have to monster nuts in place......



The ubinkuitus CB sticks to the Rib at VS 4c

Superb pic thanks to BP
(Brilliant Pixels)


But whilst we were here....

Pinnacle Face had a powerful pull

So we sent CB up there!



One or two quite wild moves later....


Fabulous climbing




BP takes a walk on the wild side




Phew....






AT makes some similar moves up this difficult but pretty safe route



BP stretching the day out on Dexterity

A solid severe with a testing finale



BBQ moon at West House