Friday I met up with Stubbs in Leeds and drove south for a day on the Gritstone. The forecast wasn't looking too promising but we still managed to get a reasonable amount done, jumping from 3 star route to 3 star route.
To warm up, as it had been a while since wither of us had climbed on grit I lead off up Hollybush Crack VD*** which has some lovely bridging up a corner with massive jugs, just what we needed to get the muscles working. Stubbs then did the classic Christmas day number of Christmas Crack HS 4b*** which again was another good route, if a little worn in places. Next up I did Central Trinity VS 4c*** which starts off up a steep crack before a delicate traverse left leads you to another crack which you can jam, or layback your way up. There is a unprotected direct start whcih goes straight up the wall to the second crack at 5a. The climbing on this again was great, with some lovely hand jam crack climbing on the second crack, to offset the delicate traverse before it. We then moved left and Stubbs lead off up Hargreaves' Original Route VS 4c*** a definite gritstone classic, which contrasted our previous route well consisting of delicate slab climbing up a low angle wall following sloping horizontal breaks, well protected throughout with cams. This one is also in Ken Wilson's Classic Rock. After this I was about to start up inverted-v but the weather broke so we bailed to car.
We spent lunch eating a English breakfasts in the Outside Cafe in Hathersage and perusing expensive gear while we waited for the rain to stop. I picked a guide to iceclimbing in Washington state cheap in their clearance section and a copy of Supertopo's Alaska Climbing book by Puryear which has so far been a good read and proven to be quite inspiring! Theres definitely a trip in the making there...
The damp weather didn't really show much sign of giving up, so we took the chance that it may be better further to the south and headed over to Hen Cloud which was on our way home. Unfortunately when we got there it was still pretty wet, and Hen Cloud looked very green from the road so we sacked off the original plan to do the 3 pitch classic VS Central Climb and lowered our sights to do K2 S 4a,4b**, another classic rock number. Stubbs took the first 4a pitch which neither of us were too enamered with, the only good climbing being the moves at the top of the pitch to reach the belay. I then did the second pitch which start off up a steep crack section (4b) which took a bit thinking being wet, the pitch then eases off, disappointingly so to follow the VD ridge to the top of the crag. In all honesty probably not a route I'll be going back to do soon, but a good day nether the less.
Photos taken from UKC Gallery.
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