An Poor End to an OK Month

We had already decided the Peak was the plan for the half term holidays. Looking at climbing all the classic VS's (probably solo) and HVS's/E1,2,3's that Franco had nailed on his previous Peak trips and i was after E4's in Jetrunner and The Strangler. Franco also had his sights on Black Hawk Bastion at Stanage and Life Assurance at Burbage.

I drove down on the Tuesday morning, it was cold and quite breezy but the conditions were good for Grit. We set to work, immediatedly Franco soloing Hargreaves Original at Stanage. I decided that Central Trinity was a better option but soon i found myself on Hargreaves as well. The slopey reputation seemed a tad exaggerated but it is a tremendous climb.

Next we did Inverted V which looks like such an immense line and it doesn't disappoint i opted for the righthand finish, but franco did the left hand as he had done the right hand finish before.

After this we did some short solos on 'Rusty Wall' and then i roped up for Flying Buttress Direct. A route i think everyone wants to do, however i was a tad cautious and climbed with some trepidation. The snow was falling at this point, which was quite cool and it was cold so my hands were numb. I thought to myself about all the unusual ascents we have had - climbing Seams the Same at 6am in the Slate Mines, ascending 'The Hot Line' at Rylstone in two pitches because we were arguing over who's lead it was!

This was different though, the cold and snow made this seem somewhat epic and Stanage almost had an 'adventurous' feel to it. I placed my largest nut at the back of the roof and then tested the holds. I could feel what to do, but i didn't trust my hands and i hadn't seen anyone climb the route so i wasn't too sure about how to overcome the roof... it certainly doesnt look HVS.

I reached and swung out. Hooked a heel on the the break and reached again. I couldn't feel anything. The snow was dampening the holds and it was bloody cold.

I rolled onto the next break and laid there for a bit, giggling at my lack of 'finesse' but i guess the route doesnt really take well to style.

I managed to stand up and ran it out to the top. Spot on route really fun move over the roof but i couldn't say it was HVS with a straight face!

The next day was too cold to climb, we bouldered at Plantation but we weren't particularly bothered about anything and the next day we called an end to it, after the start motor in the car stuck. I called the RAC and they fixed us and i drove home, under orders not to stop the engine!

An OK October - Lakes

October was always looking like a good month, initally because quite often it retains some dry weather allowing for climbing and also it has the College half term, which means we could go to the Peak District to get some classic Peak ticks. However, October didn't really work out as planned.

On the second weekend, Ian Moore, Franco and myself travelled to the lakes to climb some lakeland routes and franco and I wanted Prana... It was wet and quite chilly with a brisk wind. The first day we decided Shepherds would be as good as anywhere and Franco could remember a route called M.G.C that he wanted to do there and i quite fancied 'The Black Icicle' though i don't know why.

We started off with the Icicle and Franco soloed Little Chamonix. The first pitch i reckoned would be the crux and i wasn't sure what Ian was like on 5b territory, having had limited climbing with him. The crux move is a delight and is well protected with a big nut. After that came the upper pitch which is 5a.

However, the upper pitch is a 'proper' E1 5a. It was pretty run out and involved a reach for a good but very thin feeling hold. It probably wouldn't go, but it certainly feels like it could! Ian climbed this upper part well and i followed him up. It was a good effort and a good route im glad we did.

Franco was now intent on climbing M.G.C and he did so quite easily.

I then climbed after him, but i found the going was quite strenuous after Black Icicle and i tired on the central part. The reachiness of the climb had me stumped so i fell off.

I then retried the line two or three more times, quite content to fall onto the gear as it was good practice, as i have taken very limited lead falls in my time.

The next day started quite chilly and it had rained. We opted for a crag i had not heard of called Buckbarrow Crag, near Honister Pass. It is a crag of natural slate which i was interested about and it had some classic HVS's that Ian was interested in, it also had an E2 me and franco thought about.

Me and Ian climbed a route called Alexas, which i think i'd heard of before and i seem to remember hearing it was quite stubborn for the grade. Anyway, we read the guide and i set off and realised that my first pitch was just a choss scramble to a crappy ledge where i disappointedly set up a belay. Ian came up and then climbed over the overlap and up the wet corner. It was disappoint really as it would have been two stars in the dry, but the wet slate was ultra slippy in the wet and it made lots of hte smeary routes quite bold. Ian however didn't fancy the next section climbing leftwards under the roof on the waterworn slate.

I followed up and managed to have a rest and take his gear on a very very cramped stance. I then attacked the slate slab leftwards, the moist holds and lack of friction made me really think i was bound to come off.
Luckily i didn't i and i ran it out to the top of the cliff from there placing a sling over a spike now and again. Ian followed up and we walked down to attempt the E2.
It was beginning to drizzle and franco climbed the starting groove well, bringing me and Ian up to a decent stance. I then climbed the next section which was a tad loose and damp and it felt unpredictable however i made it up to a lovely ledge where i sat looking at the steep continuation crack.

Franco and Ian climbed up and we finished up the upper crack, which was delightful and felt quite exposed with the Honister valley behind.

A decent weekend considering what could have been but we were disappointed not to have 'ticked' any classics we really went there for.

That makes two lakes trips with a lack of progress, if im honest.

Henshaws 2 Antarctica

Please take a look at my blog and email me with any questions at tim.ralph@ntlworld.com
The blog site is www.henshaws2antarctica.blogspot.com

"Hi
I am leaving the UK for Antarctica on 16th November to climb Mount Vinson, one of the Seven Summits, (this will be my sixth). I am meeting 100% of the cost of the expedition myself, so all monies raised will go to Henshaws Yorkshire, Society for Blind People. I hope to be back in the UK by 18th December. The blog will be updated whilst I am both hiking/sled hauling and climbing and we hope to arrange a live satellite phone call from the summit. If you can post a link to my blog I’d be most appreciative.

The Just Giving site is www.justgiving.com/henshaws2antarctica For more information please don’t hesitate to contact me."

Kind Regards
Tim Ralph

Whitestone Cliffe and Ingleby Incline

Two amazing crags that myself and Franco have paid very little attention too really. Whitestone is the crowning jewel of Moors climbing, it encorporates everything that is to be expected from a quality venue; Looseness, Choss, sandbagging and most importantly, Death.

It stands facing the vale of York and anyone drivingup the A19 will be able to see it and it has a awesome attraction that can either lure climbers in or send them running never to return, im glad im not the latter.

It has an almost cult-following attracting all kinds of climbers from alpinsts and aspiring alpinsts such as Chris Woodal and Ian Jackson, to standard climbers like myself. It's towers of teetering choss, a mixture between Calcareous Sandstones, Dolomitic Limestone and the odd 'Dogger' make for an awe inspiring crag, the top section is apparntly Calcareous GRIT!.

The majority of visits are for the classic moors line, of 'The Nightwatch' which if you haven't done, you should. It's absolutely amazing and is solid taking as much gear as you would like although VS 4b may feel slightly sandbagged, if you are not familiar to the rock and it has an almost 'mountain crag' feel to it, which can be quite offputting considering the tame environment you were in 10 minutes before arriving!

I found myself being talked into Whitestone, which i was happy about but upon arriving found myself gearing up for 'Jurassic Scarp' an E3 5b on loose rock, with the odd sling runner for pro. I backed off the first pitch and franco gave it a determined attempt. He also decided against it, about halfway up.

Then it was my turn to climb 'The Nightwatch'. I have climbed on the moors, nearly a year and a half properly and i still hadn't climbed this line which is realistically 4 grades below my standard onsight level. However, it still felt up there and if i had climbed it onsight as an FA i would have been tempted to slap E1 on it! However, there are hunderds of holds in hindsight and all the gear you could want, especially thread runners...which lets face it are bomber! I think if you take your time and have ALOT of gear and quickdraws then it is an amazing route at the grade. Apparently, if Ken Wilson had known of its existance, he would have put it in classic rock.

After my ascent i walked off with the camera and took photos of Franco climbing the line Solo. He had climbed it previously and knew that there was always holds which is why, i said in hindsight it's probably VS+ rather than HVS or E1!!!.

Fantastic crag, with a superb classic line amongst others which are well worth doing. If you have ever considered going, but then carried on down the A19 to the Yorkshire Grit or the Peak, next time, spend the day here.

The next day, we travelled to a more local crag. Ingleby Incline is blessed with a 40minute walk in, which leads to a wonderfully located crag, which exhibits the legendary moors sandbag. Many of the grades, if below E1ish, are about 2 grades lower than they should be, many of hte VS's are possbly worth HVS and Extremes are about 1 less or so we've found so far!

I had been before with franco soloing many of the slightly sandbagged extremes, which are generally gearless or micro routes / unrope worthy.

However, this time i returned for another reason. This was to climbed YET another moors classic i was yet to attempt. Cozy Corner, tackles the superb wide crack just to the right of one of the largest roofs on the Moors. It goes at VD, which it probably would be if you have size 4 and 5 cams, however if illequiped with micro nuts and cams then you would probably find it a bit intimidating!

I soloed the line in true moors fashion, offwidth-ing and footjamming the central section. And topped out a happy chappy! It's a great line! :-)

After this i checked the other buttresses i was yet to see and also looked at Time Captain, a route on my wishlist. It looked doable, although i may resort to practice if its E4, but i'd rather not!Running around like a headless chicken, Franco, directed me in the direction of an idea of a new route he had. We swanned up the inital wall to the overhang and placed some gear. He then pulled around the roof and then had a minor epic topping out via a very thin crack which when i followed him up was jammed full of very poor Rp's. 'They'd be Reet' was his statement as i topped on on the slopey slab above It went at about E3/5 5c/6a.

I then set about on the same route, but with time running out and my inability to climb technically, i reached right before falling off!!! This lead into the Crack of a HardSevere, but the moves leading over the overlap and the balancy reach rightwards, meant it was still quite difficult, perhaps 5b. The gear was quite poor being shallow friends, so E2 5b seemed like a decent grade for the line however, it would probably be HVS if we stuck to moors principles.

I called it a cop out finish but renamed it on the way down as i was running to get back in time for my pickup for 5 a side football. It was a good route, as it incorperated the inital roof difficulty and the gear is dodgey (shallow cams) so we decided 'Five-a-Side Finish' was worthy of a low E2 5b.

Cringle Moor

It's a shame this crag is north facing, as it has some stunning looking lines. I had wanted to visit for sometime to look at the 'largest roof in Cleveland' which is climbed by an E4. However, when finally seeing this line i was disapointed. In all seriousness, its a great looking line! but it wasn't quite as i imagined. I expected overhanging jamming however its more like a 4metre roof over a corner. Fair do's, its a line i certainly want to do, but whether or not the start crack will ever dry with these crap summers we have, is another issue.

Franco and I decided to solo a couple of routes to warm ourselves up, as the freezing fog was doing its best to wet everything and make us cold. We soloed 'The Voice' a delicate E1 that stops half way up the crag and then climbed 'Tell Chris Cragg's Nowt!' a HVS F.A that we put up on the upper tier. The name originates from the old UKC days, when we made our dislike for Rockfax guides apparent - however, it was all in good humour.

After Franco then, annoyed about not being able to climb 'Wedge Route' set about on a First Free Ascent of 'Terry's Dilema'. The Dilema, was commiting to the overhanging crack off a very poor slopey, filthy ledge. However, the climbing is protectable and you fall into space. As i found out!

Rylstone

This was my first trip to the grit crags of Yorkshire, although i've been to Brown Beck crag and Slipstones, these are most definitely North East crags and don't count as Yorkshire Grit. (After recent events on UKC, i will clarify this. I believe Slipstones is a Moors crag, as it was pioneered by lads from Teesside and it doesn't have the feel of Yorkshire Grit at all. The Definitive guide is also the north East England guide, not the Yorkshire Grit guide. That is my arguement, you don't have to listen!)

I drove down to Rylstone, really really hoping to get a good day on the grit and hoping that my recent lack of climbing wasn't going to be too noticable.

Franco had been once before, with the Ian's and wanted a good day at the crag as his experiences last time were mainly wet and cold.

Looking up from the road i could see the monuments and i got a feeling it would be a good day for us, expecially with it facing north west the sun wasn't going to be too unbareable or reduce the friction.

We arrived at Monument buttress and i looked at 'Monument Crack' (E1) which i decided was probably a very good climb well worth doing. But it also looked like the kind of E1 which can give you are very hard time if you a tad out of practice. I left it alone.

Franco decided to 'warm up' on 'Pocket Battleship' a micro E3 to the right. It looked hideous, pulling on slopers around a bulge and i decided it wasn't for me. Franco persuaded me to climb 'Monument Crack' and i did really like the look of it.

I climbed to the roof and decided i was far too lazy to try and place some gear so i reached the jugs and pulled around the roof. I then 'scraped' my way up the next section to the rest and placed some gear.

No handed rest in the niche was very nice and franco walked around taking some photos. I chalked up and got ready for what i thought was going to be the crux. Electing to jam rather than pull on the side of the crack, i climbed the last section with ease getting lovely 'sinking' jams.

We then walked over to 'Dental Slab'. What a climb this is, seriously if you haven't done it, do it and if you have do it again. Currently loving jamming, i jammed all the horizontal breaks and rocked over onto them to reach the next. I don't know whether this is the way to climb it, but it certainly was enjoyable. The mantle to reach the flutings was good fun solo as well. A classic that definitely failed to disappoint!

We then climbed another couple of crag classics. 'Crazy Diamond' was a route i really wanted to do, due to the fact i like Pink Floyd and Shine on you, Crazy Diamond is such an amazing song and also the line looked challenging. The initially techincalities were quite straightforward and then the upper slab was good fun, standing on pebbles. It did feel abit E3- 5b while on it. (edit, we climbed the wall to the left of the arete)

We then climbed the 'easiest E1 on Yorkshire Grit' which is 'The Hot Line'. I decided to 'Jazz' it up abit so i alternate lead it with Franco, who actually quite liked the look of the route, so i was happy to sit on the big ledge and look at the view while he climbed. :-)

We then climbed Veteren, which was quite bold but at a 'just to say' friendly angle. Very escapable though.

Then over to Poetry in Motion, which was a bit disappointing really. We walked down in the dark and then drove to Harrogate to get a pizza! 2 for 1 in some overpriced shop, which worked out to be.... like buying two pizza's...

I drove home and franco snored, i was impressed with my navigational skills on unfamiliar roads and at night, with headlights (when dipped) which are absolutely shite!

Gehenna

This is a climb that is coverted as one of the best in the region and the fact it was a jamming line made it appealing. This would be a stuggle. UKC logbooks showed that there had been some attempts recently but non of them were clean leads. It certainly sounded like a classic moors sandbag.

We arrived for our first trip to Beacon Scar. I liked the look of the place, certainly need to go back and do Mongol, Tremor and no doubt franco will want Fat Bastards Last Fling, a bold looking E5.

Looking up at Gehenna, i liked the look of it. It was a proper jamming line, a nicely sized crack with very little either side for the feet. It certainly didn't have the 'feel' of getting on a HVS.

The climb starts with a Niche, which you can arrange protection in before exiting it up and leftways, via some rather awkward moves on shallow jams on slightly damp, green soft sandstone.

The jams kept going for longer than i was expecting and i reached the horizontal break after about 7 or 8 jams (i looked like 2 or 3 jams would have got me far enough from the ground!) I placed some gear here as the run out from the niche was too far for comfort and i was tiring.

Luckily, you can rest on a good jam here and after placing a nut and cam i got my final jam, gastoned the crack and reached into the lovely pockets at the top. A truly great climb. Harder than it looks and it looks hard! but funnily enough HVS doesn't seem too bad for it, perhaps E1.

Another moors classic ticked and i was happy that the climb was a struggle. We didnt have enough time for anything else and i was tired anyway, pleased that i felt i could jam. This inspired me to visit yorkshire grit the next day.