On Friday, the first of the cars had a bright and early 9am start to get a nice sunny day of gritstone climbing in the Peak District. The rest of the convoy left the Bath throughout the afternoon and arrived at the Thorpe Farm Bunkhouse just outside Hathersage in dribs and drabs, with some having climbing stories to share from along the journey. After a late-night meeting to finalise the plan of attack for the next morning; everyone drifted to bed for an early morning the next day.
The eagerly awaited Saturday morning came around and with it the anticipation of going climbing loomed nearer. The unlucky few who drew the short straw made their way up the slope from the car park up to Stanage Edge, which loomed ahead. These adventurers were ladened with the extra weight of kit to both set up top ropes and to go trad climbing. After the arduous walk and the awkward task of setting the top rope anchors, we decided to check the weather forecast - In that moment you could see water vapour drifting in the breeze. Low cloud temporarily put the climbing on hold as the anchors where dismantled and the heavy packs lugged back down towards the cars leaving the cloud behind. The decision was made to have a quick stop in Hathersage for a wander around Outside (a very typical Peaks Trip past-time). As the day progressed, the roped climbers split into 3 different groups. Sam P took some trad freshers back to Stanage and gave them a quick trad anchor lesson, with a small spot of climbing after the rock dried up and Alex B took some more competent climbers to a limestone crag near Stoney Middleton for some harder trad climbing. The main club party ventured to Horseshoe Quarry for some Sport climbing. Top ropes were set up but as there where more climbers than helmets and harnesses, kit was passed around the climbers and a game of pass the parcel was created. Nearby, the boulderers found some dry rock to do some bouldering on. As darkness began to fall, the top ropes were cleaned, and the groups reconvened at the bunkhouse. As the evening progressed a group run around the local area established. Overall, everyone had a great day doing (some) climbing, we crossed fingers and hoped the weather would improve for Sunday!
Spoiler alert, it didn’t.
Sunday started with the mad rush of getting bags packed, placed in a specific car and the cleaning of the hut. When the cleaning was finished, everyone congregated in the Stanage Edge car park, and a scout was sent up to assess the conditions. On return, he gave the news we were waiting for - the rocks were dry enough! After another ladened walk up the hill into the clouds, it was obvious that no climbing would be done for the near future as it turned out to be too wet so another failed attempt at grit climbing stared us in the face. A decision had to be made, for the boulderers an attempt at another crag (Curbar Edge) was made to see if it was dry enough. To no one’s surprise it wasn’t so a trip to a Sheffield climbing centre was enjoyed. For the trad climbers, they too tried another crag (Birchen Edge). On first arrival it seemed to be in good condition, however the weather decided to hinder our hopes as it began to drizzle. Over the cause of the day the drizzle was on and off, but it was enough to stop the rock drying up. This resulted in the teaching of trad skills such as anchor building and gear placement for some and how to ascend ropes for others. The lack of climbing got to some as Sam’s dragon, Cam, began to be found hanging by a cam in the rock on many occasions. Slowly the interest dwindled and an early return to the cars and pub meant a premature end to the climbing on the trip. This ended another eventful trip as everyone headed back to Bath. In classic British climbing fashion, we still await a completely dry trip to the Peak District, hopefully it will be next year!
