Castleberg Crag, Settle

Members: Dan O'Brien

Guests: Tom Hart, Frankie Jackson

Three of us took the long ride up to Settle to a deserted crag, partly due to the marginal forecast and partly due to the England men's football team being in action that night.  We heard the cheers for the equaliser as we arrived at the crag.  Castleberg is a bit of an oddity, situated pretty much in the middle of Settle, it's generously bolted routes are all named after local companies who sponsored the equipping efforts.

Tom started with a swift ascent of Cave and Crag, a three-star 7a with steep moves on good holds and a generous rest at half height.  Dan and Frankie managed four bolts between them on their first attempts, a particlarly solid effort from Frankie whom had never attempted an outdoor 7 before.

Tom moved on to Spot-on, Health and Safety a two-star 7a+ with a hard start and a finish that gave him pause before figuring it out.  As Tom lowered off the first of two expected showers hit, the second folloing closely behind and looked to put an end to proceedings.  Tom volunteered to clean the gear from Cave and Crag as the angle had protected it from the bulk of the downpour.  This worked well until the final move when, forgetting about the rain, he grabbed for the top and took a lengthy swing.

The team decamped to a local establishment until it was time to drive home, wherein we got stuck in the traffic for the Take That reunion gig.  Pretty impressed overall with Castleberg and I can certainly say, I'll be back (for good).

Daniel O'Brien