PART 1: It was great to have some down time after a busy few weeks and I did what every self- respecting mountaineering instructor does on their time off - went climbing! (and a bit of biking). On saturday I joined some friends for a biking circuit around the Derwent Valley. This is one of my favourite biking venues in the Peak. Not too strenuous, but really fun technical riding in an awesome location. We passed by Howden Dam which has an interesting history relating to the famous Dambusters raid. It just so happens I had visited Brooklands Museum in Surrey earlier in the year (base of Barnes Wallis who invented the bouncing bomb) and I was able to bore my friends with technical information about the bombs, the raid, Barnes Wallis and the Brookl……..Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Oops. I wondered why they kept riding off at high speed! If you want to join us on one of our Peak rides I will happily bore you too - no extra charge! We rounded off the ride with some evening bouldering at millstone. Brilliant.
PART 2: On Sunday some friends and I climbed at Blurter Buttress on Stanage. This is generally a quieter section of the crag and between us we did some of the classics such as The Blurter (HVS 5b), Meddle (E2 5c), Typhoon (VS 4c), Three Calm Men (E1 5b), Lucy’s Slab (E1 5b) and Twinkletoes (HVS 5b). The weather was great and it was a superb chilled day. I have finally invested in a copy of the new BMC Stanage guide and having used it on Sunday I think it’s excellent. Superb quality topo photos, clear descriptions and very user friendly. Great effort by Niall Grimes and the team.
PART 3: On Monday we took the family climbing at Windgather Rocks. It was a bit overcast when we set off but luckily it stayed dry. Between the four families in our group we managed to dominate a fair section of the crag (only joking - as always we were very considerate crag users!) and had a great time. It has now become compulsory (according to our children) to have at least one ‘choccy button’ climb and today was no exception. Choccy button climbs are a great incentive for children and involve setting up a climb with buttons on the ledges which they ‘find’ as they climb up. Just don’t let greedy friends like Steve J.T place the buttons as he eats more than he places!
So there we are. A perfect weekend and even better when rounded off with a beer in the Swan at Kettleshulme. Now it’s back to work…….
Wow. I’ve just seen that parkour You Tube clip Cal posted. If you haven’t seen it it’s just under this post and well worth watching. I might try a bit of that around town tomorrow. Or maybe not!
Just got home from a busy 7 days. Last weekend Shaunna and Randi were with me on a learn to lead course in the Peak. On Saturday we went to the Roaches and had a great day looking at gear placements, belay building and loads of the other essential stepping stones to safe leading. Then we did several ‘mock’ leads using a rope backup. The weather played ball all morning but then it rained for most of the afternoon. Nonetheless, we kept at it and found some fairly sheltered climbs to keep us busy. A top day.
On Sunday I picked Randi up from his campsite to find he’d been kept awake by some guys having a ‘look how loud my car stereo is’ comp for most of the night. So, I proposed some slabby Froggatt grit to remind him that the countryside really can be peaceful. We ticked off several of the classics and Shaunna really got ‘on the sharp end’ putting in a model leading display enjoyed by a massive audience of …..zero (but it was raining!). A great weekend and a brilliant effort by Shaunna and Randi.
Then on Monday I blasted over to meet Alex and Jane for a Snowdonia Explorer week. We had days on Snowdon, the Glyders and Tryfan via North Ridge. Then we headed for a 2 day exped in the Carneddau which was fantastic. Neither of them had done any wild camping before but I think it’s safe to say they are now addicted! We even had some nice weather at times. Thanks for a great week guys.
Thankfully I’ve got a few family days at home now with a quick session at Stanage planned on Sunday - and the weather forecast is good. Yippee! Before I go here’s a quick kayaker joke that really does sum up our summer so far…………..
Australian kayaker: Did you have a nice summer?
Scottish kayaker: Yes indeed, we had a great paddle that afternoon.
But don’t worry. Autumn is going to be awesome. Honest!
Hi all. It’s cal here. Paul is away at the moment but I thought you might like a bit of inspiration to lead you into the bank hols. Just think. If you watch this at least you will 8 minutes closer to knock off time!
It’s fast, it’s cool, it’s parkour (and I’m sure they didn’t pre-practice a single move!).
I ran a 5 day Snowdonia climbing course last week which was brilliant. This is one of my favourite courses to run and this one was up there with the best. Bill and Rob were up from the smoke and after 5 full on days in Snowdonia I think they were ready to move to North Wales (it tends to have that effect on people!). We climbed a load of classics in the Llanberis Pass, Ogwen and at Tremadog as well as a day in the Moelwyns to round the week off. Thanks for a great week guys.
Then on Saturday, as a complete contrast, I climbed in Dovedale with a mate I’ve not touched base with for ages… the legendary Davy Palmer. Dave had suggested the venue and I was very keen because I haven’t been to Dovedale to climb in daylight for far too long. I say ‘in daylight’ because I did get dragged there last year by the mad adventure-meisters Stevie B and postie Dave (that’s a different Dave) for a nightime ascent of The Bat in the larger of the Doveholes - but that was aid climbing so doesn’t really count!
For this day Dave and I climbed on the Tissington Spires which is a great venue with quality climbing and a beautiful setting. It was a baking day so we sweated our way up some of the classics like John Peel, Brutus and Yew Tree Wall and also ticked the easier clutch of lines on Simeon Wall (which were far better than they had looked from a distance). A great day.
On Sunday I had an evening ride round the 16km Chinley Churn circuit. I love this ride for a quick evening blast - interesting climbs and quality descents with hardly anyone else around. If it hadn’t been getting dark by the time I finished I would have probably done it again (I did say probably!).
A strange thing happened as I was putting my bike in the car though. A man wandered up and asked if I could give him a lift. A strange request but I thought why not… so I told him I liked his clothes, he had a handsome face and he should feel good about himself! (sorry about that - blame Rob from the Snowdonia course for that one!).
Nothing was booked for this week as I expected to be in the Alps and so the fallback plan to paint our hall was put into place. Errrmmm….French Alps or emulsion paint - tricky choice! Phill and I had also decided not to head to Bregaglia as friends that were there were reporting stormy weather. So what happens, you pick up your paintbrush just as the weather clears and they all blast up the Cassin Route on the Piz Badile!
Anyway, I was saved by too much ‘paint therapy’ by a late booking by a couple that ‘wanted to climb some Welsh classics’. As a mountaineering instructor this is the cream of jobs - 2 days of classic rock. Yessss! Needless to say, it was down with the paintbrush and a great trip climbing on Idwal Slabs and then Tremadog. Thanks for the fun and flapjack Jenny!
Then, on Saturday I climbed with Phill in atrocious conditions on Slanting Buttress, Llewidd. As the rain soaked through our waterproofs and our sandwiches turned to mush we kept reminding ourselves how lucky we were to have not gone to the Alps! Slanting Buttress is a fun 700ft diff (although Llewidd isn’t a cliff to be underestimated in poor conditions) and I did have a great day.
Today I’ve been mountain biking in lovely weather in the Peak and I’ve really started to feel summer may have arrived and August will be a great month - painting can wait!
