Day 105 - Classic Climbs

classic climb

We really couldn't miss out on an opportunity to get out on the grit again today.

I'm recovering at last from the shitty lurgy I've been carrying, and Anna is only just holding it at bay.  It's also a difficult times for those with allergies - the pollen count is high, and there seem to be lots of irritants in the air...yesterday, even I had a tight chest, for the first time in, like, ever! 

But the weather today was forecast to be warm and sunny, and it seemed that even high on the gritstone edges of the Peak District, it could be a nice day!

We kept our expectations in check, knowing that it's often 10-15C colder when you get up there in the wind...but as it turned out the weather was glorious!

It really was the perfect Spring trad climbing day.    

perfect day

Anna was feeling a little fragile, so we took it steady on the long walk in to the crag.  I generally dislike the walk in - I have a really heavy climbing pack on my back, and it's always uphill for what seems like forever.   I guess it's just my age, but I do seem to find walking up an incline really tiring.  

Even Kim seemed to find it effortless, in Spain, whilst I huffed and puffed and fought my way upwards... 

Oddly, when climbing it's a different ballgame, and I seem to have much more energy for climbing than I do for hard walking.

The crag was busy, lots of people taking advantage of the first lovely grit day for a while. 

The Peak District is built on a type of hard sandstone rock known as gritstone.  It has unique and distinct characteristics.   For instance the crags are known as "edges", and are rarely very high, usually no more than 20m or so, often a lot less.  The rock itself is rounded and rough.

A new climber on grit is struck by the apparent lack of holds, and just how hard it is to hold on to anything.   But gritstone is unusually rough, like coarse sandpaper, and this means that it is grippy.   You can grip fairly well with both hands and feet simply using careful contact strength. 

As the Peak is more or less our nearest climbable rock, we have spent much of our outdoor career on grit, and we've got the hang of it a bit...but we haven't climbed on it since November last year.

We've climbed on limestone (very different!), in both Spain and Monmouthshire (also very different), and of course on plastic holds indoors. 

So we were excited to get back to grit...it has something of a feeling of home about it.

In the photo at the top, Anna is rested from the walk-in, and ready to climb, pondering her first grit lead of the year. 

It's an emotional moment!

Anna was about to climb up the series of large cracks leading from where she's sitting, up to the top of the crag.

Grit is always harder to climb than you expect, and today was no exception.  But Anna showed true grit and made her way gracefully up to the top in a few minutes. 

I found it quite hard!   Everything seemed slippery, and I had no grip at all with either hands or feet...and you'll remember I told you there's nothing to hold onto?!

But by the next climb, I was getting a feel for it again, and the rest of the day was great, a bunch of interesting classic climbs ticked.

I just interrupted this blog for 60 minutes for Earth Hour...hope you joined in!

Anyway, we feel encouraged by a good start to the season's fun.  Now I just need to start getting into shape again, for my 50@50...I need to get my climbing-without-ropes head back on...

B-)