Stanage (Newcomers Climbing Meet III)

Present in no particular order: Dan O'Brien, Graham Haselhurst, Christine Beeston, Gareth Williams, Dave Wylie, James Williams, Al Metelko, Roger Dyke,Dave Shotton, Kate Harvie, Dave Dillon.

Newcomers INPO: Naomi Malkin, Rich Sawyer, Katy Cairns, Jo Perry, Greg Nunn, Tim Howarth, Stuart Aston, Laura Bond, Jasmine Pitts, Emily Pitts, Emma Timmis, Kate Sparks, and possibly more that I missed, oops.

 

The day started well with a spot of curb crawling behind Piccadilly station netting the first of the day's haul. Slight detour and 4 up.Through Glossop drizzle, over the Snake in murk. Down to Hathersage Pool Café for a bacon butty. Up to a dry, midge free Stanage and an ill named Popular End where the routes were ours.

Reports floated in of steady rain from the Old Man of Hathersage, general piddlement in Manchester, and we could see Castleton Cement works vanish behind rain every now and then. With such a bevy of stars climbs fell like wild fire, possibly keeping most of the rain at bay. The top fifteen centimeters of each climb contained a compact turbulence zone resulting in 'leader hearing loss', big chalk streaks up the back and some small change sucked out of loose pockets.

A few snippets taken from the day ... Katy on her first ever rock climb. Rich bagged the second trad lead of his life, independently developing cold weld gear placement. Emily continually straying onto more challenging routes. Naomi sauntering up ever harder routes. Christine and Kate walking up from a wet Hathersage not believing the crag could be dry. Stuart reclined, Siren like, painting a water colour of the crag. Al, Gareth and Roger digging for booty along the edge. Dan stepping out over the void. The different ways of tackling Black Hawk Traverse Left. Graham basking in reflected glory. Kate sunbathing. Roger soloing on Black Hawk Hell Crack. The teasing sunshine and eventual brief sweep of rain across the crag. The run for pubs and cafés. Sampling cakes and ogling shiny gear. Setting the world to rights.

Thanks to all for coming, especially those who set out in the rain. A day of bravery against all the odds.

Dave Dillon