Bouldering at Caley Crags, Yorkshire

Members Present: Dan O'Brien (ML), Heather Brooke, Susan Brooke, Al Metelko, Dave Dillon, Dave Wylie, Duncan Lee, Kevin Anderson, Anna Neubert, Julie O'Regan, Scott Sadler, Rob Allen. Guests Present: Graham Haslehurst, Stuart Lucas, Miriam Alcaraz-Stapleton, Alex (sorry about the surname, lost my sheet of paper), Jesper (See lost piece of paper).

 

The weather was very, very, very cold and snow was in the air. It looked like bouldering would be the ideal choice of activity. The walk-in was made easier by the usually boggy ground being frozen solid and we were soon all huddled beneath a rather high looking boulder looking longingly at Almscliff on the horizon bathed in sunshine.

After wrestling with the intricacies of the Yorkshire bouldering grading system (using grades such as "Benign Bumbles and "Masterful Manouvers") we set about exploring. Guest Stuart impressed by nailing a very high 5c first go whilst the bulk of the group moved further down the hill out of the wind.

The next location had boulders even bigger than before but by this time everyone had wrapped their heads around the scale of the place and settled down to tick the areas obvious challenges. Notable ascents included Wavey Dave climbing a nasty looking offwidth in gloves and Julie dancing up a slabby arête that turned out to be less easy that she made it look when Rob and I tried to follow!!

A good day was had by all (though some of us wimped out at about 3pm and headed for the pub) and we have all learned a lesson about bouldering in Yorkshire. It is not for the fainthearted.

Daniel O'Brien