Cracked Out

 Tuesday 7 September

An Indian Summer befalls most of the UK, so far not much gritstone action this year, the Peak felt too far given the amount of traffic down the A1/M1 these days.  However just an hour's drive away stand the imperious monoliths and extended edges of;

Brimham Rocks

The sun was already up to the power of three on the upper reaches of Cubic Block.

Some welcome shade

AT followed in identical attire to this lead effort from July 2018, in identical weather.

AT's turn to lead on the magnificent monolith of Cannon Rock.

Maloja gets VS 4c **

Probably owing to the descent off the back.

Although having a long reach helps a lot.

Another move along to the Triple Cracks sector

The classic RH Crack goes at 

VS 4b ***

Except it's much harder than Maloja, and has a horrendous swim out at the top.  

© Rockfax  "It's a relief to find that the exit is reasonably straightforward. "

Bollocks!

BP arrives to follow the action on Cracked Corner which is comparatively very pleasant.

AT on the tricky starting moves 

© BP with thanks

Another climber, another day on the jamming testpiece of Right Wall.

CB executes perfect technique with unbroken skin.

14.30

AT now fully Binksinated

A cold lager at the Water Rat will make everything good again......

A finishing hold

Not much but it's the only exit.

You just have to love it.

Same as these rockers

Trussed Up

 August 31st

The last day of August and a distinctly Autumnal feel is in the air.  CB's suggestion from last week put into action with a drive west to the varied climbing at;

Gouther Crag

Parking no longer possible at the water works, the large area further up the road was almost empty and added about 15 minutes to the walk in. About 40 minutes in total.  

No rain reported for over a week and the normal route up the buttress was bone dry

Delightful climbing up clean rock at a friendly angle, no stress so far!

Cool breeze out of the north east makes for a chilly belay.

The diagonal line of Scabby House starts from the descent path and proves a tempting option.

CB on the 5a bit.

The good hold is just out of reach.  

All done in good order, time to move on the the Fang Buttress

AT on Kennel Wall.  A 3 star classic.  One big pitch.

The Fang would have been a logical next lead for CB, but the wind was up and there were signs of rain heading our way.

Time to call it a draw.  

A shorter day but top quality climbing.

Attemire Pale Ale hits the spot

Lunedale Bank Holiday

 Saturday August 28th

After a dull Darlo week glorious weather both east and west of Pennines.   Time for a sneak over to Casterton for the standard fix.

Glorious weather - tick

Cornish pasty for lunch - tick

Easy walking just under 5 miles - tick

Swift half at the Pheasant - tick

White Wedding in Progress

Toad in the Hole Supper!

Shepherd's Party

 Wednesday August 25th

Last week's outing cancelled due to a bad bout of norovirus.  Recovered sufficiently to consider a low stress day in Borrowdale.  Plenty of mist driving over but as forecast all glorious past Penrith.  Even at 9.45, Borrowdale had a Mediterranean feel with paddleboards galore out on the water, just enough space for us at the NT car park with much frantic inflation of various leisure craft in progress.  So a short walk from there led to the alternate playground of;

Shepherd's Crag

Blencathra behatted.

AT gets P2 on Brown Slabs Arete

CB lead on Brown Slabs Face

A most amenable start, some very sociable company on the crag.

Plenty people arriving, time to move on.

Views from Brown Slabs belay quite glorious today

Borrowdale on Sea buzzing with sounds of families having fun on the lakeside

Perfect for the holiday-making hordes!

Moved on to Ardus.  A pair just left on Evil Knievel retreated after a leader fall, AT made some excursions on Ardus P1 to retrieve their gear.  In the process used too many qds to run P1 and P2 as plan, so CB combined P2 and P3 from AT's P1 belay.

Climber is on Finale taken from Ardus belay.

A slick abseil down left plenty of time for late lunch and a chat with the Finale party.

Time for another classic, Fishers Folly, CB leads as one pitch in great style.

AT followed without folly.

Another climber - another day, disguised as CB with artistic blog license.

© Roger Chaldecott with thanks

All routes three stars, a bit more stress than planned, hey ho that's Binksworld!.

Next stop

The Sportsman!

More County Capers

August 10th 

Once again left in doubt by the fickle forecast, flirted with a trip to Frogatt Edge but we went with the BBC and looked north for the second week running.  In keeping with last week's return to a venue that had been ignored for a while, a fast drive up the A1 led us to the fascinating formations of the sandstone edge at;

Bowden Doors

In fact the last visit on record is 2013. (AT with the Gman) and it was tough going.   Details here

In a burst of optimism (fantasy?), AT set out a HIT LIST of  target routes for the day.

A total of 14 was pretty much a work of fiction for a six hour session, although CB could no doubt have managed that given the right partner.

Managed 11 on the day.  Twice as many as last time.

AT got into gear on a Diff and Vdiff double.

Second Staircase (L) required an unorthodox facing out solution to the exit overhang problem.

Deception Crack (R) gives great 3D climbing with excellent protection.  Now gets a star on UKC.

The Cheviot provides a magnificent setting.

Black and Tan has a hard start but both CB and AT despatched first go.

The Scoop (VS 4c) is pretty run out in the middle third.

CB makes short work of the fingery laybacks on 2nd Leaning Groove.

Despite the absence of any rests until high up, placement of perfect gear was managed with speed and economy as usual.

AT's facsimile ready to tackle the sting in the tail on Scorpion

Banana Wall is a sea of rippling rock with little worthwhile gear.

But CB managed to find a spot for a friend that might have held.

Next week - Frogatt?

Sounds by a Geordie boy

And the mighty Zep

 

County Lines

August 3rd

A few weeks back CB mooted the prospect of a return to a venue up in Northumberland (a.k.a "the County" to local inhabitants).  After a mixed week with occasional heavy showers the forecast for Monday started improving from Thursday onwards.  Sunday evening was glorious so we were all set for heading north to the less frequently visited ramparts of Hadrian's Wall and the blocky buttresses of;

Peel Crag

As expected, there was a bit of an amphitheatre atmosphere going on with a continuous stream of walkers and sight seeing types coming along the path to the crag and up over the side path to the Roman Wall.  So the climbs were interspersed with pleasant banter with the invading hordes.  All adding to a really enjoyable day in glorious weather.

CB walking in behind another party.

Sunset (MS allegedly)

AT leads with suprising alacrity considering the weird Whinsill rock takes some getting used to.

Photo of another climber taken later in the day.

Next on the list of County Lines - Twin Cracks (r).

CB had a struggle with some slippery rock on the crux, managed to step right and make alternate moves.  AT on the other hand failed to manage either option.  Got up with some helpful ropework from above.  5b in the conditions today?

The line on the left is Grog, the last route of the day.  Sunset up the middle.

Pic from 2010.

After a rapid retreat down the grades for a pleasant ascent of Ulysses at VDiff, CB ups the ante again on Overhanging Crack (VS 4c).

AT follows much more capably this time.

CB shot up Tiger's Overhang.

(pic ©odox UKC)

Which promptly shot down AT's attempt at a clean second.

For future reference, commit to the rh high foothold and reach for the good spike handhold.

Two more routes left

AT back down the grades for a nip up Route 1

CB up Grog at Severe 

(A very good route left of Sunset)

CB took charge of  most nearly all rope coiling in the interest of leaving AT with enough in the tank for climbing.

Towards the end of the afternoon the walkers began to drop to just a few, at peak time it was a procession.

Sponsored by Troll pants.

Todays venue a glorious setting

Perfect spot for refreshments found in Corbridge, outside seats facing west.