I'd done Flying Buttress and April crack before, Hannah having done Flying Buttress previously. Even though we'd climbed at Birchen on Tuesday I'd really forgotten just how challenging climbing on grit can be.
We warmed up on a great little severe called Bishops Route, S 4a *** Climbing an initial short crack takes you up to a ledge. This is followed by a few interesting moves to good flakes and finish direct.
Bishop`s Route. © deepstar, Aug 2012 - ukclimbing.com |
Hargreaves' Original Route, VS 4c *** - Image from Peterborough MC |
It's only 18m but looking up the slab the top seemed miles away. After some puffing and deep breaths I topped out and Hannah came up. I think retrospectively I really enjoyed the route, at the time I wondered if I still enjoyed the grit as much as I used to. I've come to the conclusion that grit is about a really confident approach and once you've got in to the groove things become much more enjoyable.
We finished off with a quick blast up Robin Hood's Right Hand Buttress Direct HS 4b *** A great route up the wide crack splitting the centre of the face. Low in the grade but intimidating. Climb to the large overhang and shuffle out right to reach a small ledge below the main crack. From here route finding is not a problem. © ROCKFAX
Robin Hood's Right Hand Buttress Direct HS 4b *** - © Chris wilson, Apr 2008 |
We called it a day as we were getting had by the midges. Not a bad little evening, 9 stars, 3 Top 50 climbs (Rockfax Top 50 Eastern Grit Guide) and 1 Classic Rock tick.
More climbing planned for the weekend so I'll put up our progress next week. Have a good weekend whatever you're doing!