Birchens climbing meet

Members:  Dave Wylie, Midge Castick, John Castick, Peter Walker, Alan (Liverpool) Jones, Roger Dyke  (6)

 

On Thursday, the forecast was for sunshine: by Sunday morning it was for cloud, showers at lunchtime, followed by rain. Peter, Alan and Roger drove out through steady drizzle. But the crag was dry and stayed dry!

Lunch was enlivened by tales of visits to Birchen long ago by Peter, and highlights of the Tour de France from John and Midge.

After the wet drive out, Peter had left his climbing gear in the car so he went off with John and Alan for a walk along the edges.

Dave and Roger zipped up ten routes in total, followed on most by Midge in her walk-and-climb shoes, which mysteriously gripped better than Roger’s ancient rock boots. (Midge: “Weren’t those made before sticky rubber was invented?”)

Most of the 96 vertical metres we clocked was VD, but our best two routes were our last two: our hardest: Dave’s lead of ‘Visitors Only’ - a Hard Severe none of us had done before – and our easiest, a mass solo of Roger’s favourite Mod, ‘The Gangplank’.

Back at the cars just as the rain arrived……

Roger Dyke