• Laetitia and Richard following up Hargreaves' Original Route

  • Laetitia following up Latecomer

  • Richard at the starting of jamming on Central Trinity

  • Pete starting Ant's Wall at Yarncliffe Quarry

  • Pete on the crux of Queersville at Stanage

Shoulder-iffic Gritstone

After a weekend climbing gritstone in the Peak District my shoulders are tired. It seems that unlike crimpy rock like limestone, and even our local volcanic Lakeland rock, grit involves a far more all over body contribution. Specifically, finger strength is my usual weakness and my forearms are normally where I get pumped first, however, today on the gritstone at Stanage it was my shoulders that felt most tested…

We’d travelled to the Peak to escape the endless equatorial sunshine, heat, and midges we’ve been enduring in the Lakes this winter to seek out the fine drizzly weather that had been promised in the Peak. So luckily when we arrived on Saturday morning we were pleased to see it was indeed overcast and cold. In view of these conditions we selected the sheltered venue of Yarncliffe Quarry. But on Sunday we were very disappointed to be greeted with wall to wall sunshine and t-shirt climbing conditions at Stanage! 😉

Pete starting Ant's Wall at Yarncliffe Quarry
Pete starting Ant’s Wall at Yarncliffe Quarry
Laetitia following up Latecomer
Laetitia following up Latecomer
Richard at the start of the jamming on Central Trinity
Richard at the start of the jamming on Central Trinity
Laetitia and Richard following up Hargreaves' Original Route
Laetitia and Richard following up Hargreaves’ Original Route
Pete on the crux of Queersville at Stanage
Pete on the crux of Queersville at Stanage

Joking about the weather aside, Stanage was just about as wonderful as it gets today: warm; still; super sunny; grouse calling and fluttering about on the moor above the edge; dozens of walkers out aiming for or coming from Stanage Pole (which I’d never realised was an actual pole until I saw it in the distance in today’s crystal clear air); paragliders sailing up and down the edge; and impossibly sociable. We’d arranged to meet up with Richard and the crew from Nottingham ably led by one of the funniest guys around, Dave Wark. So we had an absolutely fantastic time climbing, joking, and catching up! 😀 We have resolved to visit the Peak more often…

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