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Monday, 16 October 2023

Scot Crags All Stars

 Sunday 15th October

Third day of glorious starlight nights and blue sky days in a row, simply had to some sort of outside excursion.  A quick confab and set up a visit to sun soaked walls and corners of;

Scot Crags, Scugdale


BP midway up Romulus after CB's opening lead.

Group under supervision next door


BP watches the birdie on the delightful Woodpecker Wall.


Two more stars ticked off.  


CB follows making use of some techniques from the toolbox.


Plenty more where they came from.

Whilst we are in the neighbourhood there are more stars to collect on adjacent routes.

AT on Wolf Wall - a long reach comes in handy and the red BD cam pops in just right

L - Woodpecker Wall

R - Romulus




CB Defying Gravity.

Further up it was quite dusty and friction rather hard to find



BP at the same spot from the other side


From here a handrail leads right to a reachy skittery finish


OK to second but a very precarious lead.



CB seconds BP's lead on Drunken Buttress


Hangover at VS4c is all about getting out of bed and off the ground.


AT nails the opening moves on the next lead.


The red friend takes care of the finish up the jamming crack.

Memo from CB 

The wire in the break by the knee needs to be a 6 or 7 for best results


BP romps out 



An archetypal Autumn day on the moors


CB on Pet's Corner Arete


AT comes up third 


Something seems amusing.

Couldn't have been AT's Paper Bag Kid joke then.



Another classic added to the afternoon's best of Scot Crags


BP clips the bomber friend in the top break.

It's that Red BD again!




Video below best watched in full screen, BP makes it all look so simple.





AT bringing CB up route number nine - Pups Climb


A stupendous star studded afternoon session in the very best  Autumn conditions.












Thursday, 28 September 2023

Hove Action

When you're in Hove
You know you're in Hove
No matter what you try to do

 21 - 27 September

The weather window opened up for the trip south we'd been waiting a few weeks for, always knew it would be September so long as the forecast was half decent.  As per the visit in May three nights in Brooker Street with V & P and three at the Princes Marine.


Decent drive down just over six hours leaves time for a sally forth on the front before heading out to the Flamenco at the Brunswick.


Terrific show


Friday train trip "up to town" for the McCartney photo exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, brilliant.


Through a limo pane


Hundreds of pictures

All FAB


Florida 1964


London - full of photographs


As is the promenade

Back in time for a walk out


Princes Marine

See you Sunday

Time to seek shelter

No place better than the Better Half!



Walking out for a shared plates supper at the Connaught


Saturday - shopping!  

Fish and Chip Supper with some "Strictly" added

Sunday - up to Dorking for lunch at Aroma (Italian) with R & S



Monday

Morning breakfast venue



Obligatory plate photo

Eggs Florentine


Walking it all off




Afternoon walk on the Downs with V and friends D and S





Errr

No caption comes to mind.....


Fabulous walking about six miles up and down




Evening repeat viewing of SCD at Brooker


Tuesday DIY at Brooker then a general mooch before early supper at the Urchin


Away 8am Wednesday Briar by 2pm


Great holiday!

I miss your

Hove Action!








Saturday, 9 September 2023

Bowden Bake Off

Friday  8th September

Phone pinged on Thursday, CB says he's free tomorrow, so three days out in a week must be some sort of record, at least as far as separate trips go.  Looking for a user friendly easy access shortish drive option, put that through the algorithm and out popped....

Bowden Doors

Drove up in bright sunshine then ran into the coastal mist north of Alnwick.  Already starting to burn off on arrival so another warm one in prospect.




Locals making most of cool mist moments



Eponymous climbing on Grovel Groove (S 4a).  Better than it looks.


Sun burning it all off by 11.30

AT on belay above Deception Crack




CB romps up the steep start of Black and Tan - rather oddly graded at S 4c.

Mystery of AT's missing chalk bag solved.  It was already on his waist....






Scot/Spanish team on The Scoop next door

Graded VS 4c and much tougher than its neighbour

Maybe S 4b would be about right for B&T



AT tip toes up Russet Groove

A County V Diff



Delightful climbing up the flanges of the exit ramp



Another team on The Scoop

An hour or so earlier Archie (here on belay) provided essential combined tactics to get the lardy AT off the ground on this route.




AT deals with the awkward exit of The Scorpion (VS 4c).  

Two offsets take care of the fall potential.

Faith in friction returning after the whoops at Corby's. 










Castle Crack a go-go all the way.


CB fries a way up there.

Fantastic castellations to finish 

The heat takes its toll and the bells are ringing at the Black Swan Belford, just a short walk and drive to a cold one.

Time to call it a draw!




Depart 08.30

Arrive 10.20

Climbing 10.45 

Finish last route 15.10

Leave crag 15.30

Home 17.55