Stanage – the Severe climber

Between the Rain

June 3, 2019the Severe climber

I climbed around the rain this weekend. Rain often either forces me to not go climbing at all, or forces me to finish climbing before I’m ready. This weekend looked like it was going to go that way again when it started raining after I had only done two problems at Stanage Far Right. It was particularly annoying as rain (and snow) had stopped me climbing in North Yorkshire a couple of months ago, and for some time I’d been wanting to go back to Stanage Far Right to see if I could finish the green circuit.

Me climbing Snout Groove at Stanage Far Right.

Climbing Snout Groove (VB 4a) at Stanage Far Right. This was my first climb of the day, and I got rained off after completing my second.

Me climbing the problem Steps at Stanage Far Right.

With the weather completely changed, I went back to Stanage Far Right. Here I’m climbing Steps (VB 4a).

Me climbing Front Flake at Stanage Far Right.

Climbing the fun Front Flake (V0+ 5a) at Stanage Far Right.

Climbing Pert Bloke at Stanage Far Right

Pert Bloke (V0+ 5a) is a really interesting, fun problem (I didn’t even mind the sit start).

Climbing the Gripple One problem at Stanage Far Right

Me climbing the problem Gripple One at Stanage Far Right.

The far right hand end of Stanage is a brilliant place for easier bouldering. The problems are varied, interesting and (usually) above good landings. The views are brilliant. It’s also only a ten minute walk from the car parking (which is a definite plus when there’s a chance you might get rained off). 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.

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 →

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).

My Climbing 2016 in Pictures

December 31, 2016the Severe climber

Me in Coire na Ciste on my first day of the course.

Me in a bucket seat that I had dug and attached to a buried axe.

Walking through Worthy Wood.

Climbing the absolutely brilliant Gargoyle Flake (VS, 4c) at Bamford Edge.

Climbing the boulder problem Big Slab Right (V0+, 5a) on a wonderfully sunny day at Higgar Tor.

Me on the top of the pinnacle on Pinnacle Buttress at Dewerstone (thanks to Peter for the photo).

Climbing Monkey Crack (VDiff) at Stanage.

Bouldering on the Marsh Boulder at the RAC Boulders.

Me on the summit ridge of Eldir Fawr.

Leading Wall Corner (HVD, 4a) at Burbage.

Me leading Hollybush Gully Right Direct (Severe, 4a) at Stanage.

Bouldering above the beach of Lon Isallt Bay.

Me learning how to do a hoist

Me climbing on The Cube boulder at Bonehill.

Me climbing The Runnel problem at Hound Tor.

Walking on The Black Mountain.

Peak Weekend

July 25, 2016the Severe climber

What a great weekend of climbing in the Peak District. I did a selection of varied and interesting climbs, the sun shone (mostly), it wasn’t raining (mostly) and there was enough of a breeze to keep the midges at bay.

Me seconding Ash Tree Crack (VDiff) at Burbage.

Leading Wall Corner (HVD, 4a) at Burbage.

Me at the start of my lead of Ring Climb (Severe, 4a) at Burbage

Stanage Edge

The Grand Hotel bouldering area and the Goliath’s Groove area of Stanage Edge

Me leading Hollybush Gully Right Direct (Severe, 4a) at Stanage.

Spring Climbing

May 19, 2016May 19, 2016the Severe climber

My climbing trips this Spring have had cold winds, some bright sun and (thankfully) no rain. This has given me the chance to really get back into climbing on rock and to do some great climbs. It feels like I’ve warmed up for the rest of my climbing year.

My first trad lead of 2016 on Recess Crack (VDiff) at Bamford Edge.

Climbing the absolutely brilliant Gargoyle Flake (VS, 4c) at Bamford Edge.

Climbing the boulder problem Big Slab Right (V0+, 5a) on a wonderfully sunny day at Higgar Tor.

Hound Tor and Haytor

The Dewerstone

Me on the top of the pinnacle on Pinnacle Buttress at Dewerstone (thanks to Peter for the photo).

A busy Spring day at Stanage Popular end.

The BMC Guidebook describes this climb (Mantlepiece RIght, HVD) as a “bit steep and scary.” The scary bit probably comes from how hard it is to get a second piece of gear in, but I finally managed it.

Climbing the fun Monkey Crack (VDiff) at Stanage.

Climbing Monkey Crack (VDiff) at Stanage.

My Climbing 2015 in Pictures

December 31, 2015August 22, 2016the Severe climber

Alice coaching me on how to climb using the open hand technique.

Me starting a problem on Badger Rock.

Longsleddale.

Autumn colours on the fell on Goat Crag in the Lake District.

Me climbing back along the traverse that leads to the bell on the Klettersteig Pfeilspitzwand.

Me climbing a ladder of stemples on the Klettersteig Knorren.

Valerie and me on the summit of the Knorren.

The Zillertal seen from the descent from the Klettersteig Huterlaner.

Me climbing the Klettersteig Huterlaner.

Me climbing Crack 1 on Tryfan Bach.

Me climbing JT (V0- 4b) at Robin Hood’s Stride.

Me climbing Pink Arete (V0- 4b) at Cratcliffe.

Climbing in the rain at Stanage.

Still getting rained on.

The summit of Mam Tor.

Climbing at Buthiers Piscine, Fontainebleau.

Me climbing problem number 6 on the orange circuit at Buthiers Piscine.

Me climbing problem yellow 28 at Buthiers Piscine.

Me climbing boulder problem 26 on the yellow circuit at Rocher des Potets.

This is how I found my knee when I unwrapped the bandages 48 hours after the operation.

Hopeful Climbing

June 15, 2015the Severe climber

Hoping the rain will stop while belaying at Stanage.

You need a lot of hope if you want to rock climb in the UK. Hope that it won’t rain on your weekend climbing trip. Hope that the rain will stop by the afternoon so that you can go climbing. Hope that the rock will dry out quickly from the last lot of rain because you’ve been sitting in the café far too long. Hope that the rain will hold off until you have finished your climb. Hope that the water slowly trickling down your sleeves as you climb is just a quick shower. Even hope that the patch of lighter cloud you can see in the distance is the “possibly clearing later” that the weather forecast mentioned. You need that hope, particularly if you are a London-based climber like me and every trip to a climbing venue is an investment of time and effort. It’s that hope that gets you in your car to drive to the Peak District or North Wales and it’s what gets you out of your tent when rain is pattering on it first thing in the morning. Read more →