Next Event: BMC Leading Ladder
Despite the cold and wet weather, the club trip to the Peak District was good fun, and everyone had a good time.
When we were all happy with the journey, the four cars set off to meet up again in Buxton. The ride in Dave’s car was a little cramped with all the club gear, so we were a little relieved to get on the motorway and have a service stop. After having not just food, but M&S food, we set off again. About four hours after leaving Swansea, we all met up again in a Tesco Express in Buxton for petrol and food shopping. Having purchased our essentials for the weekend, we set off again – under the gaze of the ‘locals’ in the shop who didn’t seem impressed with our little convoy of students. We reached the scout hut late at night without too many problems. After exploring the basements and attics we settled down to a night of drinks and preparing for the next days climbing.
We woke Saturday to a wet and miserable morning. We therefore decided to head to Awesome Walls in Stockport – the scout hut’s manager had kindly sorted us out with some instructions for rainy days. This time our navigating wasn’t as problem free, getting a little confused in the city. We eventually reached the wall after a few U-Turns and trips round roundabouts. After filling in all the forms, and Tom Dudley being told by the staff that body belaying wasn’t safe, we got down to doing some climbing. Most headed straight for the bouldering, where we were all feeling quite good being able to climb up to V6 Grade! We guessed they might be a bit generous with their grading… Connor and Ruben were the first to brave the massive 23m wall, doing quite a few routes on it during the day. Others enjoyed the featured wall, Gareth and I finding a nice chimney to struggle with. By 17.00 we were all pretty tired, so we headed off back to the hut. After a quick change of clothes, we walked down to the local pub for a meal. We must have chosen the most popular pub in the peaks, as there were no seats and dinner would have taken an hour and a half! Luckily the manager saw we were tired and hungry, so sorted us out with a table under heaters outside and a small selection of meals that we could have straightaway. After a good meal, some real ales and single malt whiskies, we headed back to the hut, where most had an earlier night than previous. Our Beer Rep Tom stayed up until late drinking as usual. Having heard good predictions for Sunday’s weather, we all waited on the morning in the hope of getting outside…
Sunday turned out to be brilliant weather, so we all got ready and headed off to Stanage Popular, after a few more missed turns, and Rachel and Gareth trying to hit a cyclist, we reached the car park and ‘walked’ to the crag. Mine and Thomas’ first route was an easy little chimney that was over too soon, so we headed along the crag to Flying Buttress. Whilst waiting to get on Flying Buttress we watched Connor leading Flying Buttress Direct, having a scary moment where he fell above the overhang and wasn’t sure on his Cams! Ruben had a good time seconding Connor up the route. Thomas and I had a great time on Flying Buttress, and having a little trouble removing a nut, we had a break for some coffee to warm up. After this we headed along the crag to the Robin Hood’s Cave area, where we found Gareth up a green chimney, almost being knocked out by a hex. We headed to a lovely little crack climb Bee, which although overgraded, was a great route. At the top we found Tom Dudley, Dave and Mel knocking a huge boulder down the crag, they managed to prop it up a bit in the end. By now the sun had set and it was getting colder, so we called last climb. Tom Dudley soloed something silly, which Dave was more sensible and led, whilst I headed up Tea Leaf Crack, which took a bit longer than expected and by the time Mel and I had finished the route it was rather dark, this made the descent scramble good fun! We all packed up and headed back to the car by torchlight, to find Rachel, Tim, Connor and Ruben waiting for us. We headed back to the hut, and after loading up the cars, we set off back for Swansea. After a food stop in Chapel en le Frith, we eventually all reached Swansea around midnight, where everyone seemed to be looking forward to a warm bed.
Thanks to everyone who came, and special thanks to Rachel, Gareth, Dave and Mel for driving.