Stoney Middleton..

Dave Hollinger and I decided to head to Stoney Middleton today in search of some shade.

The bays gave a bit of shade early on in the day allowing us to climb 'Fe Fi Fo Fum' HVS and 'Dead Banana Crack' E1 5c before moving to Horseshoe Quarry.

The crag has recently been the scene of a BMC crag clean up day giving it a revitalised feel. Check out the UKC News here for more information.

Hot on High Tor..

Dave Hollinger and I were at High Tor today. We opted for a fairly early start hoping that the crag would be in the shade.

We were able to climb the classic diagonal traverse line of 'Debauchery' E1 5b,5b; before the sun came round and the temperature went thermo-nuclear! Al and Guy braved the heat to do 'Delicatessen' E1 5c,5b,4c.

A quick change of plan resulted in a visit to Pic Tor which was shaded by trees, yielding the route 'Prognosis' E2 5c. This is well worth seeking out if you like well protected pocket pulling.

With high temperatures forecast tomorrow being out early in the morning or late in the evening is probably the best bet. Venues such as Staden Quarry, Willersley, Pic Tor, Stoney Middleton, etc are a good choice..

Introduction to Outdoor Climbing..

Darren Saxton (blog) and Katherine Schirrmacher (website) have been out over the weekend working with John Lewis Climbing Club in the Peak District.

This was a meet for members to experience climbing outdoors for the first time, many being confined to London's climbing walls. Over the weekend, the team have braved the midges at Stanage High Neb and visited the esoteric Harborough Rocks near Wirksworth.

If you haven't been it's worth checking out the solution pockets in this fantastic dolomitic limestone. In the warm weather prevailing at the moment the limestone crags are probably a good choice e.g Harborough, Staden Quarry, Pic Tor, Wild Cat, High Tor, Stoney Middleton etc.

Failing that it might be worth checking out the Northern Edges of Kinder and Wimberry if you are keen for the grit.

I have been up at Rockcity Climbing Centre in Hull today doing some Site Specific Training and Accreditation for visiting staff.

Busy on Windy Buttress..

Steve and I were out yesterday evening at Stoney Middleton's Windy Buttress. With good steep climbing close to the road this is a great choice for a quick evening session.

Frequently you can enjoy the solitude but it wasn't to be - three teams on windy buttress alone; which was great to see. The new enthusiasm for this awesome crag could be due to the proposed BMC crag clean up, see details here on the BMC website

We climbed 'Windhover' E2 5c, 'Inquistor' E1 5c and 'Dies Irae' E2 5c, other climbers were on 'Scoop Wall' E2 5c and 'Rippemoff' E1.

The Limestone could be a good choice at the moment as the midges have been abundant on some gritstone edges with no breeze..

Tremadog again..

With drizzly showers continuing in North Wales Tremadog was the obvious choice again.

On Saturday, the crag was busy with plenty of other teams enjoying many of the classic routes including 'Vector' E2, 'Cream' E4 and the usual classics of 'Christmas Curry' S and 'One Step in the Clouds' VS. One Irish pair were also particularly pleased to have spotted both Eric Jones and Mick Fowler in the same day!

Simon and I climbed 'Grim Wall' VS 4a,4c, the first pitch of 'Void' HVS 5b, 'Grim Wall Direct' E1 5b,5b and 'Yogi' VS 4a,4b. Sunday resulted in more damp climbing with a brief ascent of 'Hail Bebe' VD in the rain before retiring to the cafe. It looks like high pressure is returning over much of the UK next week so we should see and improvement in the weather.

Tremadog..

Ian Hey (Climb Mountains) and I have been fully engaged with the three dimensional dolerite weirdness at Tremadog.

This excellent North Wales crag has been busy over the last couple of days due to the windy and showery weather.

On Thursday we visited Craig Pant Ifan climbing the classic 'Falcon' E1 5b, and 'First Slip' E1 5c (pictured), with Ian making a final big effort on the soaring line 'Vulcan' E3 6a - quite possibly E4!

Today, we visited the crag again, climbing 'Weaver' E2 5b,5c,4b and Ian making light work of the strenuous and precarious 'Geireagle' E3 5c, 4a. The large flat holds creating a significant and lasting pump!

Problem Solving and Improvised Rescue at Wildcat..

Duncan, Angela and I were at Wildcat crags near Matlock today to practice problem solving and improvised rescue techniques.

With Duncan's Mountain Instructor Award Assessment coming up later in the year, we practiced some simple problems including: assisted hauling, 3:1 hauling out of the system, rescuing an unconscious climber from an abseil rope, traverse rescues and counter-balances etc.

Thanks to Angela for basking in the sun while dangling on the end of the rope, and good luck for the assessment Duncan..