Peaks Trip 14th-16th Aug
David Appleing, Jeremy Axford, Sarah Gibbs, Olga Greenslade, Pete Hadfield, Andy Main, Kate Oldershaw and Tim Simpkins
The destination for our climbing weekend was the Peak District, centring around Stanage. We all arrived at North Lees campsite (Hathersage) on the Friday night, and were joined by a couple of my mates, one of which was of the canine variety-Ben the black lab!
Sleeping in was not on the agenda for the weekend-the boys had climbing firmly imprinted on their brains. 7am saw Pete wriggling out of his bivi bag (getting his mole impression down to a tee), Andy and Tim jumping out of their tent full of enthusiasm, my mates cooking bacon while Jeremy, Olga, Sarah and David slept on, oblivious to the early birds.
We split into four groups, Pete drew the short straw, being left with Andy, Tim et moi-climbing in a four is the new two don’t you know! Luckily the routes were fairly short so it didn’t seem too tedious. We were star bagging and planned to only climb three star routes, starting with Hollybush Crack VD, then Manchester Buttress HS, Christmas Crack HS (after which the rain), then Mississippi Buttress Direct VS 4c, Balcony Buttress S, Heaven Crack VD and finally Inverted V VS 4b. Our day was interrupted by a brief rain spell where we darted through the bracken (Tim being swamped by the tentacles and spending more time on his bum than feet) and were rewarded by a coffee and Kit Kat at the lay by café by the crag.
Olga and Jeremy copied us by doing Heaven Crack but then went on to climb Verandah Pillar HS, Mississippi Buttress Direct VS, Robin Hood’s Right Hand Buttress Direct HS
Sarah and David broke the climbing trend and headed to Curbar village and walked along the top of the crags at Froggatt edge, admiring the views of the Millstone while dodging the rain showers and gusts of wind! They descended into Grindleford, stopping for lunch in the pub and returning by the river along the derwent valley.
Climbing into the dusk meant that we (me, Pete, Tim and Andy) had to run from the campsite to the pub at Hathersage in order to get there before 9, we were starving and couldn’t risk not getting our fish and chips! Of course they served food until 10 making our run a bit futile We all drank and played pool (I ducked out due to being rather rubbish-hitting the ball would have been an achievement!!) Tim was surprisingly good and left Pete and Andy standing. Sarah and David played against my mates while Ben went around everyone sniffing for food.
There was no rest on Sunday, we continued in the same groups, Black Hawk Hell Crack S being our first route, followed by Crack and Corner S, April Crack HS and finally Helfenstein’s Struggle HVD. This final route provided us with a lot of entertainment. Tim was held within the “rat hole” that had originally gripped Helfenstein like a vice, for a considerable time before he decided to retreat and do the exposed “outside” exit (apparently this is ‘an exposed S 4a’ variant, so nice one Tim!). We decided to nickname the route Simpkins Struggle!
Jeremy and Olga continued to climb in a pair, conquering Right Twin Crack VS, Hargreaves Original Route VS and Byne’s Route HS before heading home.
A blooming blustery weekend!
Hello there one and all
All in all I'm having a lovely time, the weather is amazing and I think I could quite happily stay down here forever.
