A Kinder Surprise

Get your leg over. The lonely world of Kinder Scout is a wild and wonderous place. You feel at your most vunerable tackling these test peices which loom over the clough. The Northern edges of Kinder spark magic in your soul and the challenges are there to be taken. Its a world away from the cresche of Froggatt & Stanage - wild art taking you to a fulfillment that lingers.

The team hit the crag with gusto - and after many lessons - returned with new climbs and a respect for these barrren edges that slowly kick your derriere...

Life in Kinder is an experience in itself - seek it out & live it - its life affirming and shows you yourself for who you are - enjoy the silence.......

Job Sharing

A job shared is a job halved they say. Or they don't, but I do. Someones in a job share with me and I don't know who it is, least to say, we are doing a bloody good job so far - so all good!

I tool up to Yarncliffe Quarry today and arrive to see 2 more routes have been cleaned for me since last weekend. It all feels very Blair Witch set amongst the trees and I find it hard to be please as I'm so perplexed. But hey ho - onwards and upwards towards Inverted Jigsaw and then onto a climb which is a direct start to Angular Climb - which is VD tastic and a great alternative start to a well trod climb.

A great group of first time climbers are on the wall instructed by a seasoned experienced climber and banter gets going so much that Monty gets to grips with the heather as well as the rock and I have a novice cleaner helping me!

My Traverse "Highway 61 revisited" gets a good clean while the chaps climb and have an absolute ball - enjoying every move that is took in the spirit that it should be. I'm happy for them - they give me refreshments and look after Sara - what a great game this is when you have the kindness of strangers.

Job sharing today has been a great lesson in helping each other scratching backs - as good climbers do. Still I wonder, who is helping me from afar. No worries - its all good!

Piccy is of Grimer on Aphid's Wall - VS in 1991 guide - guess the grade now??

Chips

Chips were two road cops in the USA on bikes that solved crimes and all that in the 80's and they had names like Ponch and Jon and they were fairly craptastic. Even worse chips have been appearing at a bouldering venue near you and its getting worse when existing chips are not enough for folks and they have to add their own.

So who is doing this? Well judging by the additional Chipping at Cratcliffe - its not climbers - well one would hope not. In 1997 John Bradbury - a local to Cratcliffe - admitted he thought that chipping holds in gritstone was "how you climbed". He whacked a few jugs into an unclimbed slab at Robin Hoods Stride and went on his merry way, until Shawn Dance told him the big no no.

Meanwhile Big Al Williams was hard at work filling them in with his patented gloop and today - I still can't see where he did it - such is the genuis of the man.

That genius is needed again to help restore the poorly looking RHS & Cratcliffe - I would hope that the climbing community would be supportive of this - but you always get the nannies of the world that dissagree.

Its a debate that we are always happy to engage in, but the end of the day - Chips like that biker cop gun toating Poncherella, should be history.

Conflict

When you seek a new crag out - its yours - until the farmer tells you to go and do one.

Crookhill saw Aussie Shannon creating some great lines - untouched grit last year - we were free to go and send those cheeky grit suspects

The Farmer told us to do one - we were on open aceess land - a few words and we retreated - shotgun at the ready...

Its worth it - but only just!!

si

When I'm cleaning Yarncliffe

6am - gunmetal greay skies, Wednesday are at home to Wolves, Liverpool are at Chelsea and sara need a trip out. I know I'll go clean a route at Yarncliffe!

Train, breakfast at the caff and a short walk up the amazingly dry gorge running away from the hoards of gaitered up walkers to the quarry.

No one is here - great no abseilers to mock me and I'm free to look ludicrous, and I do, with wire brush, scraper, saw & chisel all dripping off me.

Zapples clean, so is Fall pipe, wow - that needs checking soon,. Cardinals slab's gopping and I would need a sandblaster for that. Inverted Jigsaw's (E1 5b) full of cack - never done that - looks goodif cleaned. Just then a chap brings his son into the quarry and doesn't even acknowledge me - how very rude!

Ab in and chop the 1st third off - which is good fun - until its then pisses it down for 15 minutes and I'm soaked through - still grimly ripping sods of grass from the crack and my feet can't get any purchase.

Albeit happy in the fact that Septembers DWS festival in the Costa Blanca is booked finally this morning and as I claw at earth and grass & cling on to the thoughts of azure skies and and the aqua marine Briny - plopping into the Med off perfect blanca limestone. Keep cleaning young jedi - soon - you never know I might even get to use a rockfax guidebook in anger (sorry Mickey - its ace - ground breaking etc etc...)

The ants are in my hair now, down my neck and probably my trousers. I find a great crimp which gets me to a tree. Tie in and relax, and drop the nut key - poo.

The ants are now into my eyes now and waters pouring off my noggin, Sara's scrattering and gyrating - switch to belay plate and lets get out of here.

Helens at Stanage in the rain - and not a happy gal. Grouse Inn? You knows it...

The Bleaklow Area Guide by Eric Byne 1971

This guide calls Hobson Moor - Hobson's Moor Quarry in the contents but Hobson Moor Quarry in the script. Dilema #1. Malc Baxter will know I'm sure - I'll leave it to the proffessionals!

I've been checking the Curbar script and its made my ears bleed in parts - is its such a higglydy pigglgy of a crag and what the teamsters have done is awesome - but mopping up is always a pain.

Pete Robbins has done a stirling job - but I have found & cleaned 2 boulders in the woods way below the bottom path. They have passed the Fiend test and really should be included. Or should they?

These are esoteric gems that I knew if I sniffed about I would find. Dilema #2 The next dilemma is Yarncliffe Quarry & which routes to focus on cleaning.



Fall Pipe, Zapple & the Cardinals slab are priorities - but what else? Dilema #3

Finally sticking grit holds on with glue that look like they will come off in the opening quarry? Dilema #4


The piccy is Mark on the classic arete at Curbar boulders - an erosion dilemma # 5 - but more of that later!

Si

The heat is on

Well yesterday ended up at Hobson Moor Quarry as the Moorland Grit team rumbled into Hobby. Big Chris dragged by sorry arse up a couple of mid graders before thankfully Ben Tetler arrived and gave Chris a taste of his own medicine - a Sandbag E1 5b (see left) which consensus might see it rise to E3 5c. That knocked our Chris somewhat - but he got back in form on the classic HVS of the crag - Parkers Eliminate. Meanwhile Martin K was hacking huge great lumps of earth (which landed on Sara's heed - ha that will learn young pup!) & greenery out of an E2 which he shunted. Elsewhere Julie, Sarah & Pirate Jim were hoovering up the routes with a now happier Chris and I took piccys with various camera's (my didgi died after this shot above - doh!) I managed a clean or 2 and some ace bouldering - which simply must go in the guide. The dogs ran about & exhausted themselves and we retired to the crown in Glossop for a pint of Samual Smiths before a nice journey home to the sun over the snake. A good day all round for the BMC peeps, well done all.

I don't know which way to go Saturday 4th August

Saturday early morning - the mobile wakes me up at 8am with a txt message - no lie in again for me it seems. One dogs on the bed and ones waking up - groggy as she does - like her old man. At least she's gone in the right place for once - good sara.

Items today - Shelfstones? Nah. Too far and after being team hard rock last weekend - I need a quiet one.

Big Chris fancies Hobson Moor Quarry later. Could do - get some piccys of him soloing some E2. Least I can watch then if its thro a lens.

Yarncliffe clean up maybe? Too much effort.

Froggatt checking the bouldering? Maybe if nowt else it gets the dogs out.

Finally Duncan wants clip ups in Cow Dale. Rubbish to that. Plus I need to get a script checked for a grit crag asap & I've done the work - I just need to put the Jacques shine on it before submitting it as its a bloody great mess at the mo.

Whats new.

Vamoose!

Hola

Hi - welcome to my blog. This was inspired by the Blogs at the BMC - www.thebmc.co.uk/blogs
and as I daily get involved with guidebook and access work - it may be interesting to keep a diary of sorts in my fuddled old age. Enjoy.