A very respectable turnout of 10 for this meet. Blessed with sunshine and a slight breeze to keep the midges away we virtually had the crag to ourselves. Presidents Slab was done by all at some point and most if not all of us also got our teeth into Dental Slab. Falcon crack also thrutched up by at least 4 of us.

Shirley, Steve and I decided to tackle Twin Cracks, it looked a little bit green but dry and at only 8m and severe I mean how hard could it be!. I set about this route and after much bridging, laybacking, lunging (see below), cursing and testing my belayer for alertness (see below) I made the first move!. The cursing got slightly less as upward progress was made and much gear was placed and a little bit of horticulture at the top revealed a hold and finally I emerged into sunshine. I was informed by Shirley and Steve to make sure a good belay at the top was the order of the day and having done that all was left was for me was to watch my partners “enjoy” a traditional gritstone experience.

Lunging: To launch oneself vertically up a rock face towards what you believe and hope to be a good hold.

Belayer alertness: What is hoped for when lunging goes wrong.

Thanks to everyone for making this a fine day out.

A select foursome made their way to Stanage on Sunday, with the expectation of chilly weather, but were pleasantly surprised at the improving conditions which made climbing rather pleasant. Sociology (S) and Physiology (VD) were the warm-up routes, with which the leaders were quite satisfied, but the seconds were not, with one complaining about the awkwardness of Physiology and the other going ‘ology crazy by sampling sections of both Physiology and Anotherology during her ascent of Sociology.

Things settled a little on Black Hawk Hell Crack and Little Ernie, both (S), then the top rope was deployed for Townsend’s Variation (HVS 4c). To describe the upper section of this route as exposed would not do it justice as it really is out there, even on a top rope it’s quite scary, and with no runners, plus 18m ground fall potential, the method of ascent felt entirely justifiable. Having caught the top-rope bug, we then decided to have a look at The Kirkus Original (HVS 4c). This is less serious than Townsend’s, but still has an unprotected crux, which is definitely not 4c, in fact, I would suggest 5b, and the top rope was fully utilised as we worked out the moves.

After these challenging efforts, Leaning Buttress Crack (VD) and Soft Shoe (HS) provided a more gentle finale to a satisfying day.