Meet report from one of our great new members Kitty.

A sunny evening in August meant plenty of CMC members came out to bake on the grit, warming the blood like geckos, but, not quite sticking to the rock so well. The 29 Celsius heat presented a challenge when it came to grip on grit! while most stuck to Low Man, others venture up to High Man.

Some HVDs were prime in the evening glow. Fluted Columns and Stew Pot provided straightforward but somewhat bold climbing, with plenty of gear if you had cams galore. Fluted Columns, a 3 star, has the geological feature as it’s very pleasing finish. Other climbs were tackled including Fluted Crack. On High Man, we tried a few HSs – Birds Nest Crack was the highlight with a couple of teams taking a crack at it. It’s a jammers utopia, a cracking good climb, one to really sink your whole arm into. With the sun cream and sweat providing the worst grip possible, this HS was starting feel a little more very than hard.

A great evening finished in the Hunters Inn, where we all went over our grit battle scars. Grit is marmite, but that’s what makes climbing fun. Love it or hate it, Almscliff is a cracking location.