Focus Mountaineering Blog » Rock Climbing

Autumn Grit

Andy — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 18:16:55 +0000

I’ve had a few days climbing on the Eastern Edges this week. In between the occasional showers the grit has dried quickly in the breezes and the friction has been superb in the cooler temperatures. We ticked off a number of classics including the awesome Goliath’s Groove.

The photo on the left shows me leading Saul’s Arete at Stanage. This is graded VS 4b in the guide but I’ve done easier E1 5bs! Thanks to Gwyn Arnold for the photo.

Stanage

Andy — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:05:15 +0000

I met Crispin, Mat and Nat at the Stanage Plantation car park yesterday and had a successful day on a number of superb routes. We started with a viscous warm-up by climbing Right Unconquerable (HVS 5b FA Joe Brown 1949) followed by ascents of Paradise Arete and Namenlos as well as a great top rope of Comet by Crispin. The grit was a bit greasy in places from recent rain and the midges where a nuisance once the breeze eased off but we stayed dry and aren’t too far off the grit season.

North Wales, Lundy and Baggy Point

Andy — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:43:34 +0000

I’ve been trying to do a lot of climbing over the last few weeks but its been a challenge with the weather. We seem to have been dominated with a stream of Atlantic lows which has made finding consistently dry rock a challenge. First there was a trip to North Wales with Charlie to tick off some classics where we climbed at Tremadog (damp), Clogwyn y Grochan (drying) and Dinas Cromlech (until it started to rain). Regardless, we managed to climb Ivy Sepuchre and the 1st pitch of Cemetry Gates on the Cromlech before finally being washed home.

Then there was the much anticipated trip to Lundy with Crispin and Mat. This small Island in the Bristol Channel has an awesome reputation for adventurous granite climbing on its sea cliffs. Unfortunately the weather had other plans. The gales started as soon as we arrived and for the duration of our stay, torrential rain was only interspersed by light showers. After 3 days, all attempts at climbing had been twarted and with only one reasonable day forecast in the next 5 we escaped to the mainland.

The following day was that 1 reasonable day and so we spent the day climbing at Baggy Point before heading North. The headland between Croyde bay and Putsborough Sands is a great venue with slabby routes from VDiff upwards on grippy sandstone. We climbed a couple of the harder classics on ‘The Promontory’ before heading a bit further along to ‘The Long Rock’.

Eastern Peak Climbing continued

Andy — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 11:24:49 +0000

Last week’s climbing with Michael and Steven continued with visits to Horseshoe Quarry, Millstone and a return to Stanage. The boys progressed extremly well and by the end of the week were competently leading trad routes with very little input from me. The quantity of accessible quality routes in the peak makes it an excellent learning environment and a fun playground for the more experienced.

Peak District Climbing

Andy — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:32:23 +0000

Michael and Steven have joined me this week for five days of outdoor climbing around the Peak District. The guys already have a fair bit of experience climbing indoors and I am working on giving them the skills to operate safely outdoors as well as having some great days on the crags! We’ve had two successful days so far climbing at Stanage on Monday and Froggatt yesterday. This morning’s rain has provided a welcome break for the arms to recover whilst we wait for the crags to dry. We’ll be out again this afternoon when it clears…

Rock Improver Course

Andy — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:19:11 +0000

I’ve spent the week with Ian running a Rock Improver Course for Glenmore Lodge. Ian is a well travelled and experienced mountaineer who was looking for an enjoyable week of climbing and coaching on technique and rope work. We had a great week climbing lots of routes at a number of different venues (Cummingston, Coire an t-Sneachda, Logie Head, Huntely’s Cave and Kingussie Crag) whilst working on efficient movement over the rock and safe protection systems. Despite a showery and blustery week across Scotland, Ian and I stayed dry and sheltered until the final morning when we were rained off the crags which give a welcome opportunity to head back to base and look at a range of important self rescue skills (ascending ropes, assisted hoists, unassisted hoists, escaping the system, abseiling past a knot).

Horseshoe Quarry

Andy — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:47:59 +0000

Crispin and I have had a great day of bolt clipping at Horseshoe Quarry today. This great venue on the Eastern Edge of the Peak District offers range of quality sports climbing (if you ignore the lose chossy bits). We spent most of the day on the upper tier climbing a number of routes up to 6c. Its been another warm day here in the Peak but I’m heading back up to Scotland tomorrow where it sounds like things have been a bit damper.

Polldubh Cragging

Andy — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:57:43 +0000

I had a day off from work on Thursday so headed into Glen Nevis with Adam to spend the day on the extensive Polldubh crags. We headed up to the Styx Buttress warming up on a number of routes before Adam made a great attempt fighting to the top of Black Friday (E4/E5 depending on who you believe). We finished the day with a quick ascent of Storm; the 4* uber-classic on Cavalry Crack Buttress. A slight breeze and brilliant sunshine kept the midges away.

Creag Ghlas

Andy — Tue, 18 May 2010 11:24:26 +0000

James and I visited Creag Ghlas in Strathconan yesterday and climbed Chameleon (E2, 5c), Toad Hall (E2, 5b) and Spoils of War (E1,5b).

The crag is often used as a nesting site for Golden Eagles but we were led to believe that the nest is not being used this year. However, I can confirm that there is an occupied nest and so the crag is best avoided for the time being. More info on the MCofS site here and here.

Ross of Mull New Routes

Andy — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 23:04:36 +0000

On Wednesday I had a day productive day exploring some unclimbed crags on the Ross of Mull. Despite a damp start to the day the gamble paid of and we found dry rock. The pink granite is superb to climb on with excellent friction and crack lines. The south-west corner of Mull is a great spot with big sandy beaches, blue seas and loads of quality unclimbed rock to go at.

We climbed 7 routes between VDiff and HVS 5b,6 of those being new. Not a bad effort for 2 1/2 hours climbing.