My brother David called me late one night to tell me that a mate of his had been waxing lyrical about a certain climbing route in the Lake District. This particular mate knows his onions. He has an extensive climbing portfolio including several trips to the alps. For him to describe this route as one of his all time favourites grabbed our attention. The route? Troutdale Pinnacle.

Black Crag from the approach

It follows an interesting line up black crag, Borrowdale in the Lake District. It’s graded severe and is a total of 114m (375ft).

After hearing the second hand description of the route from David, I checked my favourite coffee table climbing book ‘Classic Rock‘ for pictures and a bit more information. Sure enough the route was in there, with an inspiring write up and some really impressive pictures. That was it – sold!

I called my mate Justin, knowing he’s a big fan of Lake District climbing, especially the bigger routes, and asked him if he wanted to come along. He was well up for it, and arranged to meet David and I en-route.

We parked at the side of the road about half a mile down the road from the entrance to the walk-in to the climb. The walk was extremely pleasant, passing through an open meadow with a stream running through it, Black Crag looming ominously above the tree line ahead of us. We tramped our way up the steep, stoney path through the wood to the base of the climb.

The start of the climb

We arrived to find 2 teams gearing up at the base of the crag. It turned out that they were climbing the ‘Super Direct’ route, next to us. We waited for them to clear the first pitch as we geared up.

I started the proceedings. Pitch 1 was pretty easy really. I placed 3 pieces of gear, one of which popped out as I moved past it. I soon found myself in a good belay position. David climbed the next pitch which finished on a small but pleasant slab, he brought Justin and I up from his position next to a huge block which served as a useful belay spike. We must have been pretty steady away because as we readied ourselves for the next pitch, our belay stance was starting to get busy. A team of 3, lead by an experienced lass, used to climbing in Scotland were stacking up behind us.

Justin set off up the next pitch, with a view to ending up under a large rock roof at the edge of a nicely exposed slab. Only 15 metres, but instead of heading slightly left, Justin somehow managed to wander off to the right and got completely stuck. After about 30 minutes and some bush whacking he eventually got back on track and found the desired belay position.

As I made my way up as the second, Justin shouted “STOP! Gareth, it’s come off!” What he meant was that the coiled rope near his feet had slid down and off the end of the slab. I thought he meant that his belay had come to pieces! Anyway, I found a comfortable position while he sorted it out. As we waited for David to arrive I looked across the exposed slab. I was looking forward to moving across, but I felt a bit nervous about the steep moves moving off the slab to the next belay stance. I had a picture of it in the ‘Classic Rock‘ book, and thought it looked a bit ‘out-there’ then.

Me moving up from the exposed slab

Once we were all assembled, I set off across the deliciously exposed, but well protected slab. The going was pretty easy and I quickly found myself beneath the steeper part of the pitch, the part I had felt slightly nervous about. I stepped up and placed a piece of gear, I then moved up and to the left, finding myself in a position where protection for the next couple of moves would be difficult. I did try a couple of options for gear placement. Neither were any good so I decided to move on instead, slightly nervous, as a fall at this point would have meant decking out on the slab then probably slithering off the edge! I needn’t have worried, a change in position revealed a bomber hold which I gratefully used to hoist myself to a more secure position. I moved up to a large block which I used a spike for a kind of hanging belay (which after a good half hour of belaying from it, I came to regret).

David Nearing the top (and the reported crux)

I belayed Justin and David across the slab together, then tied David’s rope off as Justin climbed the steep part. Justin clipped into the belay system and I belayed David the rest of the way.

We elected to combine the last 2 pitches, as the next pitch in our guide book seemed little more than a short scramble. This meant that the final pitch fell to David, he made short work of most of it, only stalling for some huffing and puffing (and a quiet word with himself) for the final exposed move. Once he had set a belay up, I shot up after him (shot being the operative word, the fullness of my bladder was starting to reach emergency status). Justin came up after with a big grin on his face, a fitting tribute to how we all felt about the climb we had just completed.

I sat for a moment looking out over Derwent water, totally at one with myself. It’s a state that only adrenaline sports allow me to achieve. What a fantastic day and a truly awesome climb. Next time we’ll take the super direct route for a tougher challenge!

Lake District climbing: Troutdale Pinnacle 107m Severe, Borrowdale is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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3. Snowdonia climbing – Flying Buttress 87m VD, Dinas y Gromlech area, North Wales

Don’t let the fact that this climb is only a moderate (or a grade 3 scramble depending on who you talk to) put you off. It keeps you involved and interested from the word go, and the exposure up the ridge is fantastic!

I offered to take some people from work on a climbing expedition so they could experience what climbing is all about, and why I go all misty eyed every time I talk about it. We had planned to do some single pitch cragging in the Peak District, but the weather was looking hit and miss and the forecast was better for the west of the country. I opted for Wales to give my colleagues the opportunity to try a nice big mountaineering route in some (hopefully) reasonable weather. As it transpired, only one person managed to come along, so it turned out to be just Reg, My bro and me.

The approach

As we approached the Ogwen Valley in the car, it was quite a surprise to see that pretty much all the peaks were covered in snow. I started to question my wisdom of attempting a big route as we would almost certainly have to top out onto snow, which none of us had come prepared for. Once parked, we debated for a few minutes and decided to approach the climb and see how it looked.

Walking toward the ridge

As with all the best mountaineering routes, there’s a bit of a walk-in. Parking is at the Idwal Cottage in the Ogwen Valley, it costs just £4 for the full day – bargain! The approach starts on the cobbled path leading up behind Idwal Cottage. We followed the path until we reached Llyn Idwal, turning left and working our way along a stony path with the Llyn on our right. We passed through a gate and then headed up the hill to our left. Once we reached the top of the hill, we could see the Arête off to the right in the distance (see picture). As you can see from the picture we had to stomp through a fair bit of snow, which made some of the steeper traverses a bit sketchy.

The climb

Me near the top of pitch 1

Once we reached the foot of the Arête, it was obvious where to start, from the highly polished rock. I arrived first and took a couple of pictures of David and Reg as they scrambled up behind.

After all that walking, we eager to get stuck in. Well at least David and I were, Reg looked more than a little apprehensive. I had selected the route as a moderate grade to give him taste of a proper mountain day out, without the climbing being technically difficult. However, standing at the foot of the route made me feel a little uneasy for him, what if he just found the whole thing terrifying and couldn’t proceed? I considered this for a moment and decided that we could always abseil off from the top of pitch 2 if it wasn’t working out.

I climbed first. As I made my way up pitch 1, I placed a couple of pieces of gear to show Reg how it works. The guidebook, Scrambles and Easy Climbs in Snowdonia suggests this pitch is 26 metres. We had decided that Reg should follow next so that I could coach from above and David from the ground. Reg huffed and puffed his way up to a nice big ledge, just below my belay point. He still looked pretty white, but relieved to have the first pitch under his belt.

Reg about halfway up

Once David joined us at the first ledge, it was decided that I would continue to lead. I started climbing the sloping chimney above us. After a few easy moves I decided not to bother placing any more gear, I felt very confident and decided that adding gear would slow us down and cause a lot of rope drag (though I was very careful not to leave David and Reg exposed). I kept the pitches reasonably short, mostly setting up belays from the many spikes available.

We took a full rack with us, which was completely unnecessary. If you plan to do this climb just take nuts 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, a few slings and some carabiners. Route finding was never a problem, I just stuck to the top of the ridge wherever possible.

The climb is really easy but keeps you involved. My favourite part was the exposed ridge. I tried to strike a balance between concentrating on the moves while not losing sense of the occasion. After all what’s the point of all that exposure if you’re so focused that you don’t notice it?

When we reached the top we were met with a good 6 inches of snow and truly magnificent views. Reg looked genuinely happy and I got a buzz from his obvious sense of achievement.

The descent was tricky, steep stony paths covered in snow. In some places, sliding down on your bum was the only option. We arrived back at the car a bit weary but completely satisfied.

Conclusion

The Cneifion expedition was a brilliant mountain day. I think there’s something for both experienced climbers / scramblers and beginners. I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

If you fancy it, I would recommend purchasing Scrambles and Easy Climbs in Snowdonia as a guide.

Snowdonia Climbing – Cneifion Arete 130m Mod, Ogwen, North Wales is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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3. Snowdonia Climbing – Milestone Buttress, Ogwen – Nasty rock climbing fall

Like many sports, rock climbing carries an element of risk. When you move from indoor climbing to trad climbing outdoors that risk becomes a little greater. You hope that when gravity wins the day and you do fall off, that the protection you placed prevents you from making contact with terra firma. Unfortunately for me, last weekend I fell off, my protection failed and I made a very firm connection with the ground!

All started well on this trip to Wales. David had booked us in for kite surfing lessons in Kinmel Bay (more hobbies – seriously my wallet can’t take it). We didn’t have to start on the Saturday until 1:30 so it made sense to fit a climb in, early doors. We booked 2 nights at the excellent Idwal Cottage YHA and drove over Friday evening with a view to climbing around 8am Saturday morning.

Now I would ordinarily have liked to have gone for a really big multi-pitch route, and Tryfan was tantalisingly close. Unfortunately there was no way we would have been able to walk-in, climb and then walk-out in the time we had, so we opted for Milestone Buttress (just 15 minutes walk-in from the side of the A5 at the wide end of Llyn Ogwen).

David and I have been confidently leading to HS level outdoors this summer (and about 5b/E2 indoors – crazy huh), but for the bigger routes over 50m, we have pretty much stuck around VDiff (well it’s only our 1st year outdoor climbing). I told David that I fancied going for a big HS, so we decided we would tackle Wall climb, Soap Gut Chimney Route 79m HS (North Wales Rock, by Ground Up). We arrived at the foot of the climb and geared up. As usual I would be first to lead.

When I stepped up to make my first moves, three things became evident:

1. The beginning of the route had a LOT of polish on the footholds
2. The rock was a bit damp
3. The first gear placement was rubbish

Anyway, I gingerly stepped up and tried to place a small nut in a shallow crack to protect me over the next couple of moves. The nut sat awkwardly, only half in the crack. I wasn’t happy with it, but it looked like it was the best I could hope for (please tell me if you have climbed this and found better). The next move required me to place my left foot onto a sloping hold a few feet to the left, and pull up on a crimp. I didn’t feel too uncomfortable with that so off I went. As I pushed from my right foot (which rested on a tiny, polished foothold) it all went belly up. I slipped and fell, landing painfully on my chest on the boulder that I had stood on to start the climb. The nut I had placed had popped straight out and left David holding a slack handful of rope – I knew that nut was crap when I placed it!

It took me a good 2 minutes to get back to my feet after that fall. David was pretty concerned until it was clear that we were not going to require a ride in the Sea King helicopter, he then found it pretty amusing.

A nasty bruise to complement the cracked (or bruised) ribs

I spent the next 5 minutes trying to analayse what went wrong and find an alternative start. There was an alternative just a couple of metres to the left but while it looked better for holds it required a good deal more commitment and would have resulted in a far worse fall had I not made it to the first point of protection a good few metres up. Eventually David and I agreed that we should move round to the right and climb a VDiff. I hate to be beaten, but I was in pretty considerable pain which kept my ego in check.

So what have I learned?

I’m not sure I have learned anything. I would probably make the same mistake again given half the chance. The first few moves of any outdoor climb are the riskiest, especially when you can’t place a good piece of protection. Perhaps the moral of the story is that; if your first piece of protection is poor and the move to get past it requires a commitment near the limit of your ability, walk away and try a different climb (or get someone else to lead that pitch).

It’s now 4 days since that fall.  I did go on to climb a nice big VDiff straight after and another fantastic multi-pitch climb the following day (both of which I took my usual turns to lead). I’m sore as hell and I’m not sure if my ribs are cracked or just bruised, but my enthusiasm for rock climbing remains.

I would be interested to hear your experiences of falling off, whether you managed to escape uninjured and how you dealt with it psychologically.

Snowdonia Climbing – Milestone Buttress, Ogwen – Nasty rock climbing fall is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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3. Snowdonia climbing – Flying Buttress 87m VD, Dinas y Gromlech area, North Wales

It was a warm and bright Sunday morning, but a short downpour the night before left us with a fair bit of moisture on the ground. Still recovering from my fall on Milestone Buttress the previous morning, my ribs and arm were extremely sore and as such served provided a constant, throbbing reminder of what can happen when you fall off when rock climbing. The sun appeared to be drying the rocks in the Ogwen Valley, but I still felt a little apprehension at the idea of climbing on less-than-dry rock.

David and I had elected to head down the Llanberis pass and have a crack at a medium sized VDiff. We had risen a bit late (due to being completely destroyed by Saturday’s climbing and kite surfing antics) and we had to be in Kinmel Bay for another kite surfing lesson at 2pm, so anything bigger or more difficult was out of the question. A quick look in the climbing book revealed the ideal candidate; Rib and Slab, a 79 m VDiff, divided into 2 convenient pitches and just a short 5 minute walk-in from the road – lovely!

The view back at the Rib part of Rib and Slab (middle distance)

We scrambled up to the foot of the climb which is just to the right of the black rock of Crag Ddu (the first slab on the left) on entering the Llanberis Pass from the Nant Peris end.

I always lead the first pitch, and I’m always happy to do so but this time I threw the question in just to be sure “Who’s leading first bro?”. The response was as expected “You are, as usual, get on with it”. No getting out of that one then!

The first pitch was a pretty steep 30m. The first few moves were pretty easy and I soon got that reassuring first piece of gear in. After that things started to get interesting, I found myself faced with a large block to negotiate. The block sloped to the right with a wide crack running down it, where I was able to rest my foot and place some more protection. The spot where my foot was wedged was pretty uncomfortable and I found myself feeling a bit uneasy by the time the gear was in. The block required that I climb up some very small toe ledges and move out to the right onto its arete. This part of the climb served up some of the best exposure I have experienced to date, and I felt pretty relieved to reach a small ledge on which I could traverse right to a good gear placement – whew!

From here I made my way up a steepish wall to a ledge with a Holly Tree. I chucked a sling around the trunk of the tree and clipped my rope in. There appeared to be 2 ways around the tree, one to the left which required getting wedged in a crack but had little exposure, and one to the right which meant heading out into super exposure on very small holds. After a bit of umming and ahhhing I elected to take the exposure (I hate getting wedged into cracks). I thrashed my way past the branches of the hollybush and out onto the exposed rock. A couple of moves put me onto a nice mellow ramp leading to a big tree root belay – once again…whew!

Once I had the belay set up and David had started climbing, I reflected on the pitch and how nervous I had felt (almost throughout). There had been several times where David had tried to engage me in conversation and I had ignored him completely as the climb required such intense concentration. I hoped he wouldn’t just breeze up it and tell me how easy he found it. I had a nagging suspicion that I might have just been a bit of a wimp (following my fall the previous day). I needn’t have worried, David had major problems on the exposed block. He finally appeared on the ramp after a good deal of cursing with a big smile on his face, “bloody hell, that was nippy. I was bricking it, even as a second!”

David on the Slab part of Rib and Slab

We gathered all the gear up and prepared for David’s pitch, a nice slab with small but positive holds – hmmmm, typical! David made short work of the slab until he reached the top, where it became a very steep grassy slope. Patently aware that his last piece of protection was a good 10m below he nervously edged his way up the wet, slippery grass to a belay position. I quickly followed, happy to be able to focus entirely on the moves without worrying about falling off. Once I reached the grass David instructed me to veer off to the escape to the left where I could provide a body belay for him to move across. I moved on hands and feet like Smeagol from Lord of the Rings, managing to find every warm patch of wetness within the cool grass along the way (hmmm, sheep urine – lovely).

The walk off was pretty uneventful (unlike the treacherous descent of the previous day). We made it to Kinmel Bay in plenty of time for out kite surfing lesson, just to find there was not a sniff of wind – BUGGER!

Snowdonia climbing – Llanberis Pass, Crag Ddu – Rib and Slab 79m, Vdiff is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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Having climbed a few decent outdoor routes, my brother David and I were really keen to try multi-pitch climbing on something BIG! We had so far managed outdoor lead climbs up to a grade of VS, and around a 5C indoors.

David’s mates Paul and Stuart showed us a pretty easy route called Middlefell Buttress, 97m Diff at Langdale in the Lake District. The climbing was easy, but in some places exposed which made for really enjoyable climbing. Needless to say, we were hooked!

I decided to start trawling the internet for big multi-pitch climbs, and came across one or two blogs describing a climb called the Amphitheatre Buttress, in the Ogwen Valley, Wales. The pictures posted on these blogs made my jaw drop, and at 294m, it was to be out biggest climb to date (by a long way). What’s more it’s only graded as V Diff, so well within our technical ability. I told David about the climb and we started to make plans for our Snowdonia climbing expedition.

At this point I had only managed to find blogs and log books referring to the climb, so the first thing we had to do was find a guidebook; to enable us to locate the crag and pick the right climbing route. We settled on Scrambles & Easy Climbs in Snowdonia, which turned out to be an excellent purchase (more about that later).

We opted to go one weekend in May. David owns a butchers shop and has to work most Saturdays so we had to plan well in advance so he could arrange to take the Saturday off. The weather, the week leading up to the chosen weekend was dubious at best, and the forecast looked pretty ominous. Every day of that week we checked the met-office forecast, hoping for the best. By Thursday night, it looked like it could go either way, so we agreed to just go for it.

Late Friday afternoon, we set off from my place in East Yorkshire, scanning the sky for BBCs. The journey was pretty uneventful apart from the fact I hadn’t actually booked anywhere to stay which meant David had to start calling his way through a list of potential bunkhouses I had hurridly put together. Unfortunately, trying to book a bunkhouse for that evening in North Wales, so late in the day, was futile. We eventually gave up and decided to have a look once we got there.

Betws Y Coed is a few short miles from the Ogwen Valley, so we started there. It’s a beautiful, lively village and by the time we got there we were pretty desperate for a pint and some food. Driving past a load of busy pubs with people sat outside again and again while we searched for accommodation was a real bind. Eventually we struck gold at the Dragon Hotel which was pretty reasonable motel style digs. After that well needed pint and fodder we settled down early doors, agreeing to get up at 6am to begin our expedition. The walk-in to the Amphitheatre Buttress is 5K, and the guide book suggests a climb time of up to 6 hours, an early start is a good idea.

We got up at 6am as planned and made ourselves some porridge, using David’s camping stove. We chatted excitedly about the task ahead of us as we devoured our breakfast with the obligatory nice cup of tea. Once the bags were packed in the car, we set off to Tal-Y-Bont, where we were to start the 5K walk-in to the climb. Unfortunately we ran into 2 problems:

1. We had forgotten to pack any lunch, and couldn’t find anywhere open at 6:30am to buy some.
2. Once we got to Tal-Y-Bont we didn’t have a clue where to go to start walking (the guide book is pretty vague in this respect)

For the first problem we had no solution, we were going to have to eat cereal bars and some dates I had left in my pack from previous cycling trips. The second problem was sorted by asking a local (we were lucky there was one available). If you’re planning on doing the climb, and you drive from Betsw Y Coed to Tal-Y-Bont, you need to turn left just before the pub. The road is a steep single track which you have to follow for a couple miles and through two gates. eventually you come to a small car park with a locked gate, here’s where the walk-in starts.

The walk-in was absolutely fantastic. The Ogwen Valley’s dramatic rock formations loomed above either side of us, giving a tantalising glimpse of what was to come. Passing through the broken dam, we stopped for photographs and discussed how the owners of the nearby farm must experience incredible isolation, especially in the middle of winter.

I like big Buttress and I can not lie - view of the climb

After the dam we picked up a narrow, stony path which took us down the valley toward the buttress, which at this point was out of sight. We followed this for a couple of miles, and as we rounded the corner the amphitheater buttress came into view. It looked pretty huge and just a little bit menacing. “Are you frightened?” asked David, I considered the question and responded “No, I’m just excited” which was completely true. I have started to identify the feeling before I climb as a nervous energy with a hint of butterflies in my stomach. I’m always keen to get my hands on the rock and get started. I always lead the first pitch, and this time was no exception.

We walked past the remnants of an old slate quarry to the foot of a very steep approach to the foot of the crag. From here to the foot of the actual crag was extremely steep and left us both huffing and puffing as we finally reached the foot of the climb.
We agreed that I was to go first and proceeded to get our harnesses, rock shoes and gear on. We tied in to either end of the rope, David put me on belay and I started to climb.

The first pitch is an easy slab climb. I made short work of it, set up a belay and sat down on a grassy ledge while David followed, clearing the gear I had placed. So far, so good. By now the sun was out and it was shaping up to be a beautiful day, life doesn’t get much better.

David took the lead for the second pitch. Again pretty easy, but with a couple of interesting moves. We were moving pretty slowly as we had to keep checking the guide book to make sure we were on route. The second pitch ended beneath a large, leaning block which was to be the start of pitch 3.

Now I was lucky enough to be the one to lead this pitch, and I have to say it is one of the most enjoyable leads I have done to date. If buckets of exposure at a decent altitude on fairly easy climbing is your thing, then you will absolutely love it!  I stepped out right, onto a block then onto a steep slab with nice little holds and nothing but fresh air below – brilliant! From the top of this pitch I Belayed for David from a spike. We then moved a short distance to a steep wall for the start of pitch 4.

It was now David’s turn to take the lead again, and he was pretty nervous about this pitch as the climbing book described it as the crux of the climb, with a super-exposed move as you step around onto the Amphitheatre wall. As it happened, it was a lot of fuss about nothing. Yes the step around onto the Amphitheatre side sees you a long way above the ground, but it is really well protected. David used a huge sling over the spike on which you hold onto to move around, so there was absolutely no risk of serious injury!

Pitch 5 started with a reasonably challenging 10m wall, which I thoroughly enjoyed. This lead onto an easy path up to a belay point. Pitch 6 is more scrambling and walking than climbing, for 65 metres. We elected to move alpine style, roped together with the rope looped over our shoulders.

Next up was what I believe to be the most exposed (and fluttery) part of the climb. A sharp alpine crest with a drop of 50 – 60 metres either side. We continued, alpine style over this, wrapping the rope around the spikes for protection. Just before the ridge is a large gendarme which I was keen to climb onto for a good picture opportunity. I passed David my iphone, clambered up and posed for my picture. David took the shot from the other end of the ridge. Unfortunately I discovered, in the pub, much later that day, that David had actually taken a picture of his hand – grrrrrrr!

David crossing the alpine style ridge

After the ridge we reached a series of blocks (pitch 8). Full of confidence, I set out to solo this part, only to discover it was tougher than I had anticipated. I had to stand on a block while David passed gear and the end of the rope up so I could tie in and do it safely. Turns out I was trying to climb the wrong side of the block, I got really stressed out and frustrated trying to make a move that was clearly not vdiff. I was relieved when I finally figured out the correct route and moved up to belay David, who had found the episode highly amusing.

Pitch 9 looks a bit menacing as you approach, but turns out to be a really easy climb up a flake. Reaching the top of this pitch (and the climb) left me feeling elated, worn out and a little bit sad that it was over.

This climb is an absolute must for anyone seeking a big multi-pitch, mountaineering experience. I would recommend it to anyone, and I’m sure I’ll be heading back for a second at some point.

Snowdonia climbing – Amphitheatre Buttress 294m VD, Ogwen, North Wales is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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Snowdonia climbing – Flying Buttress 87m VD, Dinas y Gromlech area, North Wales is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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2. Nova HS 4b, Lawrencefield, Peak District

Date of climb: Sunday 2nd August 2009

This was our second trip to Lawrencefield, and it didn’t start too well. We got all the way down to the crag and I realised that I had left the guidebook in the car – doh! I had to run all the way back to the surprise view car park.

We started on the Gingerbread Slab, David kicked things off with a pretty easy V Diff called Snail Crack, which we had climbed on our previous visit. I decided the raise the stakes and go for a HS called Nova.

Nova is a really cool climbing route which requires a variety of techniques to reach the top. The first couple of moves are pretty straight-forward, then it gets interesting as you try to work your way over to an upward crack. One of the moves had David stumped for about 10 minutes as he came up second (it probably didn’t help that I was chuckling at him from the top). There’s a couple of small but comfy ledges on which you can stand to place gear, and the route is pretty well protected all the way up. I found the crux move to be the second to last one on the final crack, I had to jam my fingers as I placed some gear to protect me over the top. The awkward stance combined with faffing around to find the appropriate piece of kit had my arm (and heart pumping).

In summary, I can recommend this as a very rewarding climbing route for all you HS leaders out there. I can also highly recommend the fantastic 3 Tree Climb (HS) over at the Great Harry area. I’ll cover that in more detail soon.

Let me know how you get on.

Nova HS 4b, Lawrencefield, Peak District is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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