So (Hodge) Close!


Jon two thirds of the way up Behind the Lines

The weather forecast for the weekend looked great on Tuesday. Every day since then it has deteriorated and opening the curtains this morning revealed the truth, it had – grey and damp. Not the best weather for the adventure Jon and I had planned… We thought we’d make a visit to Hodge Close to see what slate horror shows we could throw ourselves at!

When we got there all the rock looked very dark and slippery! In fact it didn’t just look it, it was! 😉

But being solid adventurous types we thought, “how hard can the HVS Behind the Lines” be? Well, with the dampness, lots of greasy moss, a fair bit of autumnal leaf litter in the cracks and little rain shower thrown in half up the pitch for good measure it was quite hard! At the crux (in the damp) one of my feet slipped from a tiny smear! I was so close to a fall onto my last gear, a micro wire. 😯 But I stayed on – mostly due to luck I think, but I kidded myself that there was some skill and a calm head mixed into that luck. All in all, a great route (in less than great condition).

After all that effort and excitement we retreated to Tilberthwaite Quarry and added a few more routes to our day’s tally. A good day out. 😛


Jon pulling hard on the problematical start to The Rib at Tilberthwaite Quarry

9 thoughts on “So (Hodge) Close!”

  1. That’s a weird picture of Jon. Is this a new arty farty style of Pete’s pictures and web design?

    It also looks a little too steep for my liking. I think Leatitia did the right thing and stayed at home entertaining.

  2. Yes, the picture actually came out almost black due to poor light! So with the help of Photoshop I’ve managed to salvage a reasonable picture and disguise it as one that gets some way to looking like it was supposed to be “arty”… 😉

  3. “So (Hodge) Close” – yeah, I get it, that’s clever that 😐 (which smiley face do I use for sarcasm?!).

    Great day all things considered 🙂 , I couldn’t help laughing 😆 as Pete made his way up Behind the Lines – somewhere logic had been thrown out the window ➡ . It was overcast, there was no wind and it was a bit damp having rained overnight, conditions were evil 😈 – I know, 💡 let’s climb on slate! We needed a raid from the decision making police I think. :angry:

    Anywho, good lead from Pete 😎 – certainly made for exciting belaying! 😮

    Is there a prize for using the most smileys?! 😉

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