I think I would have enjoyed my day rock climbing at Birchen Edge if it hadn’t been the consolation prize for what should have been a full weekend’s climbing in North Wales. David and I had driven over to the Llanberis Pass on the Friday night, only to leave on Saturday morning after a night of torrential rain and gale-force winds. The weather was OK on Sunday morning so we opted for a trip to the Peak District.
We decided to call off at Hathersage and visit the Outside climbing shop as we needed some new kit, so we looked in our climbing book for routes nearby. We had already climbed at Millstone and Lawrencefield, so we elected to give the fairly nearby Birchen Edge a try.
The walk-in to the crag is about 10 minutes up a clear, sandy path which brings you out around The Promenade area.
It’s a fairly busy crag, which is probably due to the wealth of climbing routes available in the lower grades (up to severe). The rock is quality gritstone which offers a good deal of friction (apart from the initial moves on some of the climbs, which were very polished).
You won’t find any multi-pitch routes here, most of the routes are only between 10 and 16 metres. This actually makes me nervous, I prefer to be a LOT further away from the ground.
We took it in turns to lead:
- Me: Promenade Direct HVD 10m. Easy but very exposed route (first piece of gear around 6 metres)
- David: The Bow S 14m. Thrutchy start with an exposed move from first ledge, then easy climbing on an arete
- Me: Tried to lead Roger the Cabin Boy VS 14m, but couldn’t get make the super exposed move over the bulge 2/3rds of the way up – disasterous!
- David: Sail Buttress 14m HS – same start as Roger the Cabin boy, but an altogether friendlier traverse move 2/3rds up
- David: Nelson’s Slab HS 14m. Very tricky 5a move to get started (would be easy if not for polished foot holds). I tried to redeem myself by seconding the adjacent VS – Almost the same, but smaller, more delicate holds
Overall I think Birchen Edge is a nice little climbing venue with some interesting routes on good quality rock. It’s not my usual sort of venue as I prefer my crags taller with less people. Having said that, they were a friendly crowd, and I would definitely go back for another go.
I would love to hear your peak district climbing stories and views.
The picture, top-right is by Mikey Bean – Check out his FlickR photo stream.
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