Autumn has decided to pick up where summer let us down raining down glorious rays of sunshine and an ambient temperature of 25 degrees C! Shocking but greatly appreciated. To make the most of the weather I headed to the shaded Cratcliff with the Stride very close by its an three star boulder venue for any grade range. I was joined on my travels by Mr Colin Egar, Mr Alex Salt and Mr Nick Andrews.
Me and Col arrived first so we tooled around the razor roof area taking in all the problems apart from razor arete and RZR roof. It was way too hot for the arete, as for RZR, well we just didn't get round to it before moving on to meet Mr Salt and Mr Andrews at the cave problem which despite warm conditions on the slopper was achieved by col, Salty and myself, I even managed to get out on the bobbles. Psyched! I found out when we got back to the car that you cant go out to the slopper on the right for the full tick...but this is gritstone not limestone...
We moved over to stepped arete area and I got spat off Bens wall repeatedly despite reaching the rock on with my left foot (one to go back for). We had to escape the heat after this and dropped into the Egg area and mooched about on Jerrys Traverse and T-crack for a bit before deciding to cool it down on the Egg. It seems that little problem on the arete despite its small stature is quite tricky so I had a great laugh watching Nick, Alex and Colin fall off it, repeatedly. great end to a great day.
long live the sun!
Campfour is a technical independent outdoor store based in Macclesfield, only about 15 minutes from the Roaches. Established in 2003, we specialise in climbing and mountaineering equipment as well as stocking a large range of hiking, walking, travel and camping gear. Our online store www.campfour.co.uk was launched in 2006. At Campfour we pride ourselves on service. We spend time with our customers, offering friendly and expert advice gained from personal experience.
Friday, 30 September 2011
Saturday, 3 September 2011
Deep Play
A 'gentle' holiday down south to visit the renowned locations of Swanage, Lulworth Cove and Portland with the explicit desire to climb hard above some deep water and maybe fall in...in this I succeed, I fell of Mark off the Beast at Lulworth while I had the tide in my favour. A very steep, very cool route with exciting climbing from the word go.
I also wanted to spend some time having adventures, for this Swanage provided the perfect playground, abseiling into platforms and having to down climb problems to get to the start. setting off knowing the only way out is 100 meters away and with every crash of the waves below your heart beats a little faster. Basking in the sunshine at the top was always worth the work. An unusual adventure took place at lulworth cove after a sea level traverse was done with Mr Dom Bridgewood, we spied a boulder, quite a large one at that and head to it. on our travel there however we got distracted. the boulders grew around us till we had to walk underneath them as the leant against each other. We had to stop. A good few hours were spent playing, not knowing names, lines or grade but enjoying the natural lines of the rocks, seemingly untouched* we named our problems as we went after what we saw. Mostly it revolved around the shrimp that crawled all over the rocks.
Finally I went there to enjoy some time with my friends, this was done at all the venues as well as the campsite, afternoon cricket and hiding from rain storms. The pinnacle for this though has to be the open plan, easy access Deep Zawn on Portland. Probably the best place to christen DWS virgins in its enjoyment. Standing only 5 meters out of the water (at most) the problems are short, but still very interesting, the water, always deep and clear and an easy escape just over the other side. perfect.
That was 10 days on holiday for me, 10 days relaxing by the sea, 10 days with my friends! Thank you to everyone who came, We will be ready for girt season, I can smell it coming...on that note I did venture through the haze of midgies recently to bag an accent of Nosferatu second go which I was chuffed with. Roll on Autum.
I also wanted to spend some time having adventures, for this Swanage provided the perfect playground, abseiling into platforms and having to down climb problems to get to the start. setting off knowing the only way out is 100 meters away and with every crash of the waves below your heart beats a little faster. Basking in the sunshine at the top was always worth the work. An unusual adventure took place at lulworth cove after a sea level traverse was done with Mr Dom Bridgewood, we spied a boulder, quite a large one at that and head to it. on our travel there however we got distracted. the boulders grew around us till we had to walk underneath them as the leant against each other. We had to stop. A good few hours were spent playing, not knowing names, lines or grade but enjoying the natural lines of the rocks, seemingly untouched* we named our problems as we went after what we saw. Mostly it revolved around the shrimp that crawled all over the rocks.
Finally I went there to enjoy some time with my friends, this was done at all the venues as well as the campsite, afternoon cricket and hiding from rain storms. The pinnacle for this though has to be the open plan, easy access Deep Zawn on Portland. Probably the best place to christen DWS virgins in its enjoyment. Standing only 5 meters out of the water (at most) the problems are short, but still very interesting, the water, always deep and clear and an easy escape just over the other side. perfect.
That was 10 days on holiday for me, 10 days relaxing by the sea, 10 days with my friends! Thank you to everyone who came, We will be ready for girt season, I can smell it coming...on that note I did venture through the haze of midgies recently to bag an accent of Nosferatu second go which I was chuffed with. Roll on Autum.
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