the Severe climber

Highlights of my North York Moors trip

March 16, 2019the Severe climber

On my trip to the North York Moors last weekend I saw snow, rain, high winds and bright sunshine. I was disappointed that the snow and the rain meant I couldn’t go bouldering, but I still had a great time walking along the coast, in wooded valleys and over the moors. Here are the highlights of my trip –

The beautiful view of Robin Hood’s Bay from Ravenscar.

I was amazed to find a lizard hiding from the cold on a standing stone on Howdale Moor. The cold was probably the reason he stayed very still.

I always really like visiting waterfalls on rainy days. This is Mallyan Spout, in the valley below Goathland.

Mallyan Spout and West Beck.

The stone row (AKA stone alignment) on Simon Howe Rigg in the snow.

Simon Howe – a round barrow (burial mound) on Simon Howe Rigg. Round barrows such as this date from the Late Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age.

Thomason Foss near Beck Hole.

Windy Kinder

January 19, 2019the Severe climber

Windy, wet and grey – last weekend had a lot in common with other weekends I’ve spent in the Peak District at this time of year. It was still fun though, particularly as I set out to go to bits of the Peak District I’d not been to before. This meant heading around the edge of the moors to the East of Kinder Scout on Saturday.

My route up Grindsbrook Clough.

Walking up Grindsbrook Clough to get onto a windy Kinder Scout.

Looking down Grindsbrook Clough.

One of the many fords I crossed when walking around the edge of Kinder.

Looking across to Grindsbrook Clough from the edge of the moor.

Look towards Jaggers Clough, with Ladybower Reservoir just visible in the distance, from Crookstone Out Moor. I didn’t get much further than this before I got the full force of the wind and decided to turn around.

By Sunday the wind had become so strong that walking around the tops looked impractical (and certainly like a lot of hard work). Read more →

My Climbing 2018 in Pictures

December 28, 2018December 26, 2018the Severe climber

With a knee injury (and resultant surgery) I didn’t get out as much as I would have liked in 2018. But I still had some great days climbing and walking. These photos give a sense of days.

Abandoned Grit

A view of the Derwent Valley from Derwent Edge.

The trig point on Back Tor with Derwent Edge in the distance.

Ladybower Reservoir.

Trying unsuccessfully to do a dyno on the problem Steep Side (V0+ 5a) on the Lone Boulder at Stanage Plantation.

Me trying to climb Centre Whale (V1 5b) on The Whale boulder at Burbage South Valley, and not getting much higher than I am in this picture.

Climbing Peasy Flake (VB) on The Useful Boulder at Burbage South Valley.

My first outdoor climb in a year – Bore-hole Wall (V0 4b) at Curbar Field.

Snow covering the path up Waun Fach.

Aber Falls in North Wales.

A rainbow above Nant y Geaullt, near Capel Curig.

KletterRetter Review

December 15, 2018the Severe climber

My hands dry out really easily after climbing and in cold weather (two things that often go together in the UK). This means that I’m always interested in hand care products for climbers. When I came across adverts for KletterRetter hand cream, I decided to give it a go.

KletterRetter is German made and has been selling there since 2013. It relatively recently started being sold in the UK. The name apparently roughly translates into English as “climbing saver.” Read more →

Low Autumn Sun

December 2, 2018the Severe climber

Sometimes the day works out better than you expect. The forecast last weekend was for low clouds and showers. That’s certainly how the day started out, but by the time I’d walked up to the edges and tors above the Derwent Valley a low autumn sun had broken through to create one of the best days I’ve had in the Peak District. Read more →

Working on my Weaknesses

November 5, 2018the Severe climber

Rock climbers are advised to work on their weaknesses in order to get better. The trouble is, since my injury, I’ve had quite a few weaknesses.

Me climbing the problem Wall End Slab Direct Start (V0 4c) at Stanage Plantation.

A piece of advice that I’ve read in lots of different places is that you should work at getting better at the things you are weak at if you want to become a better rock climber. The thinking behind this is that people tend to avoid the things they’re not very good at. A lack of practice means that you don’t get better at the thing they’re shunning and so continue to avoid it. In rock climbing, you could be avoiding something because you find it’s too physically hard and/or you cannot master the technique. For the first few years after I started climbing my particular weakness was smearing. It felt insecure, unnatural and unsafe. So, I tried to climb routes using as little smearing as possible. This was a bit of a challenge as I was doing a lot of gritstone climbing at the time. However, somewhere along the way I did enough smearing to get the hang of it. It went from being unnerving, to being another useful way of getting up a climb, to being fun. I now really enjoy smearing up a featureless gritstone slab. Read more →

I’m Finally Back

October 1, 2018October 1, 2018the Severe climber

It’s been a year since I climbed on real rock and six months since the accident. After lots of physio exercises, surgery and weekly sessions at climbing walls to remind my body how to climb, last weekend I finally got back to climbing outside. It brought a smile to my face and reminded me of why I love to climb.

The accident was stupid. One of those seemingly minor things that have surprisingly big consequences. Read more →

The End of Winter

March 12, 2018March 12, 2018the Severe climber

A view of the Dragon’s Back ridge from the ruins of Castell Dinas.

Winter was ending by the time I turned up. The weather system nicknamed The Beast from the East by the media had combined with Storm Emma to bring freezing conditions, blizzards and strong winds to the UK. This late season storm had been the last blast of winter. It had been gone a week when I visited the Black Mountains in the Brecon Beacons, but I could see the remnants of this wild weather. Read more →

Rainbows and Waterfalls in Snowdonia

February 17, 2018the Severe climber

A rainbow above Nant y Geauallt, near Capel Curig.

Forecasts of 45mph winds, with gusts up to 65mph, meant that it didn’t seem like a good idea to climb a mountain in Snowdonia last weekend. So I decided to do some fairly low level walks. On the Saturday I walked from Capel Curig to the pass near Crimpiau, and down to Llyn Crafnant. I then walked around the western shore of the lake, before heading over the ridge to Llyn Geirionydd. From there I walked through the woods back to Capel Curig. Every so often bright sunshine broke through to create more rainbows than I have ever seen on a hike. Read more →

My Climbing 2017 in Pictures

December 30, 2017December 28, 2017the Severe climber

Me climbing Bones (V0 4c) at the Cioch Top Boulders at Curbar Edge.

Snow falling on the tops above the Vale of Edale in the Peak District.

Climbing problem number 12 on the yellow circuit at Canche aux Merciers.

Me trying to do the crimping and smearing start of problem 7 on the orange circuit at Roche aux Sabots. This photo was taken by my 3 year old son.

Climbing Eeny (VB 4a) at Stanage Far Right.

Me climbing at the Stronghold Climbing Centre.

Me trying to climb Easy Groove (V0 4c) on The Grooves boulder at the Roaches. Seconds after this photo was taken my left foot slipped and I flew off the rock.

Climbing Joe’s Portholes (V0+ 5a) on Joe’s Boulder at the Roaches.

Me climbing Clammy Wall (V0 4c) on the Clammy Hands boulder at Newstones.

Me climbing an unnamed 4C problem on the Wavelength Boulder in Llanberis Pass, while Katrina spots me.

The Llanberis Pass, with the Wavelength, Pieshop and Utopia bouldering areas on the mountain side.

Me climbing Tiny Slab Left (V1 5b) on The Tiny Slab at Burbage North.

An icy Corn Du in the Brecon Beacons.

Me on the summit of an icy Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons.

Sgwd yr Eira (a beautiful waterfall that you can walk behind).

Ice and Waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons

December 18, 2017December 18, 2017the Severe climber

I had a fun weekend of contrasts in the Brecon Beacons, with snow and ice on the tops and waterfalls and rain in the valleys.

The views and the snow got better and better as I walked up Corn Du from the Storey Arms car park. This is a view of Fan Fawr and (in the distance) The Black Mountain.

From the NW ridge of Corn Du you had an amazing view of Llyn Cwm Llwch and the countryside beyond.

Heading up a snowy and icy ridge to the summit of Corn Du.

There was a great view of Pen y Fan from the summit of Corn Du. It lasts for another two minutes after this before the cloud (and a snow flurry) came down.

Me enjoying the snow, ice and trying out my new ski goggles on the way up Cribyn.

Sgwd Clun-Gwyn in the Waterfall Country of the Brecon Beacons.

Sgwd yr Eira (a beautiful waterfall that you can walk behind).

Me standing behind Sgwd yr Eira. I got a lot wetter than the last time I stood here because of the rain and the melting snow on the tops.

Sgwd Gwladus.

Why is the best weather the weekend before?

October 5, 2017the Severe climber

Why does the best weather always seem to happen the weekend before I go on a climbing trip? Sunshine, clear skies and low winds bless the destinations of my long-planned climbing trips on the weekends before I try to go climbing. The weather forecasters often refer to “unseasonably good weather” when talking about those weekends, before going on to say “but the weather will change mid-week.” This means that by the time I try to go climbing the weather is rainy, unsettled, changeable or in some other way not really ideal for rock climbing. That preceding weekend feels like a teaser of what might have been. It makes not being able to climb because it’s raining that little bit more annoying.

Me climbing Route 3 (VB 4a) on The Chant section of Burbage North.

This is what happened last weekend. A weekend of good weather in the Peak District was followed by an intermittently rainy weekend. After a couple of abortive attempts, Read more →

Trying out the new North Wales Bouldering guidebook

August 18, 2017August 23, 2017the Severe climber

It was a fantastic coincidence. I was due to go on a weekend climbing trip to North Wales and on the Monday before my trip the new North Wales Bouldering guidebook was published. I’d been waiting a long time for this book.

The first edition had been out of print for years and it seemed that only the quick and lucky (and possibly wealthy) could buy a 2nd hand copy. From reading the periodic UKClimbing threads asking when the next edition would be published, I had the tantalising impression that the reason the second edition was still not available was because the author, Simon Panton, just kept finding more and more bouldering delights in North Wales that he could not leave out. Read more →

Roaches and Newstones Bouldering

July 31, 2017the Severe climber

I’ve been climbing at the Roaches many times and never bothered to look at the other climbing venues just next door. The Roaches is just so big and has so much great climbing that I never felt the need. I did some brilliant bouldering there on Saturday, climbing problems I had wanted to do for a while and pushing my grade a little. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for Sunday morning showed that it would begin and end with showers (plus “the chance of thunder”). I therefore looked through my guidebook for a bouldering venue with a very short walk-in so that I could walk-out quickly if need be and I found Newstones. It’s a small series of boulders and little buttresses a few miles from the Roaches. The rock has great friction and some strange veins running through it that I’ve never seen before on gritstone and which made for sharp edges and flakes. This helped make the bouldering interesting, varied and fun. Despite the great climbing and a pleasant location, Max and I had the place to ourselves the whole time we were there.

This weekend showed me that the big climbing venues are brilliant, but that I need to flick through the pages of my guidebooks more.

Me trying to climb Easy Groove (V0 4c) on The Grooves boulder at the Roaches. Seconds after this photo was taken my left foot slipped and I flew off the rock.

Climbing Joe’s Portholes (V0+ 5a) on Joe’s Boulder at the Roaches.

Me climbing the fun problem Slab Dancer (V0+ 5a) on the Upper Tier of the Roaches. The problems along here involve stopping and coming back down again before the climb turns from being a boulder problem into a solo rock climb.

The Upper Tier of the Roaches.

Me reaching the top of the Arch (V0+ 5a) problem on Pine Tree Slab on the Lower Tier of the Roaches.

Climbing Easy Slab Right-hand (VB) on the Top Block boulder at Newstones.

This is me trying to work out the best way of getting from the good footholds I’m standing on to the good hand holds at the top. The problem is Nutmeg (V0 4c) on the Hazel Barn boulder at Newstones.

Newstones crag in Staffordshire.