June - Quarry Quandary

Up until now I've not been a big fan of sports climbing. Most of the climbing I do outdoors is trad climbing, and indoor it's top roping.

For any non-climbing readers; Top roping is where you set up a rope at the top of the route, and then climb without needing to set up any protection as you go since there is always a rope above you. Trad climbing is where you use tools, such as nuts and hexs, and set up protection as you go, which is a much scarier process since you're often above your last piece of protection (so you can fall furthur), you have to rely on your ability to place protection and you can spend quite some time clinging to the rock with just one hand trying to get the right size nut for the crack!

Sports climbing is the middle ground between top roping and trad climbing, it takes away the need for too much equipment by having fixed bolts on routes, but feels like trad climbing because you are still setting up your own protection as you go (and it still has the scary fall factor!). I really enjoy placing my own protection, but it does make individual climbs last a long time if you're not very quick at it, like me. Sport climbing can at times be even more scary than trad, since the bolts are often well spced out and, unlike many trad routes, you can't 'over protect' (put in more protection then you need to just to make yourself feel better). Since sports climbs need to have already been set up for you, there are only a limited number of places in the UK where it is possible.

So, as somebody who wasn't a big sports climbing fan, my trip to Bector Quarry in June managed to totally change my mind. The weather was wonderful, the quarry was deserted, and so after a reatively late start, we were still able to get a full 7 hours of climbing in (before the rain came) without spending too much time messing around with equipment. We managed 8 different routes with most of those routes repeated, and as such were really able to push up our outdoor grade! The final climb of the day, Vicious Eyes, was at the same time one of the most wonderful and most scary outdoor experiences I have had.


So, I was wrong. Sports climbing is fantastic.

That is all.

May - Castle Crag

Summit Height:
Tiny! 290m, the smallest Wainwright

What?
Castle Crag (from Keswick), and 8 other Wainwrights

Where?
Lake District

Another 'Wainwright' trip this month, this time based in Keswick. Nine more Wainwrights to add to my lovely growing collection, which as always I'm listing here on my Wainwright Blog.

My favourite this time round was a tough call, but I've gone with 'Castle Crag' because, despite it being the shortest Wainwright, it probably has the most interesting summit I've seen so far. The collection of rocks in the quarry initially make you feel like you're walking on an alien landscape, and the summit itself is impressive in both view and structure. I was much more impressed by Castle Crag, the shortest Wainwright, then I was by Scafell, the tallest.  It's easy to see why Wainwright gave the Crag it's own seperate entry.

And also...

Avon Gorge

Determined to get the 2011 outdoor trad climbing season off to a start, Seb and I headed for Avon Gorge to complete and challenging and very fun 85m multi-pitch called The Arete/Bob's Climb (VDiff 4a). I don't usually mention individual climbing routes on this blog (I have a lovely brown note-book to write all those in) but the height of this multi-pitch made it a full day exersion thats worth a mention!