Peak Road Trip

Here is a fairly late post about the Easter weekend road trip Serena and I went on.

Well with the four day easter weekend approaching we made plans to travel south and meet up with friends in the Peak District. We had planned to head down after work on Thursday, but seeing the weather forecast we decided that we probably wouldn't miss to much waiting till the following day. So after a short(ish) lie in and 5.5 hour drive we arrived in a very windy Nottingham, luckily Mark's fridge was well stocked with beer so we didn't have to go out that night!

Poking our noses through the curtains on Saturday morning we found the weather was still very windy, but there was breaks in the sky. We hadn't driven 300 miles from Glasgow not to get any climbing down so we pack our bags and headed out to the Burbage Valley. We drove through several snow storms on the way, but decided it would be best to ignore them - it would be fine. Parking at the Fox House Inn and stepping out of the car we quickly found this to be mistake. Up on the moor the wind was even stronger making the temperature plummet. So wearing about about 4 layers we turn our backs on the cosy pub we headed towards the boulders. It soon became very apparent that is was far to cold to achieve much on the climbing front. Serena and Vicky both decided it was too cold to climb but Mark and I decided to have a bash at a few problems, none of which went very well. As much as I love climbing and being out in a beautiful part of the country, when is get too cold my motivation does tend to drop. I had half and attempt at The Sheep, a short Font 6c+ problem, but didn't get very far. After dispatching this Mark moved on Little Pig (Font 7c), which he came very close to sending. It looks far too hard, a dynamic movement to a mono is not for me. After this it started to snow so we made a quick exit to the Outside cafe of a nice cup of tea.

Mark on Little Pig with Serena looking very cold

As the warming cuppa brought feeling back into parts of our body we forgot we had, we stupidly started to think the weather wasn't that bad, and we should try another crag. Burbage is an exposed crag so if we went to one that was more sheltered from the wind it would be warmer – wouldn't it? Gardoms was selected so Mark could continue his battle with Mark's Roof, a classic Font 7b problem that starts at the back of a cave, traverses the roof and manteling the short head wall. I can just about get to the lip of the cave. Unfortunately, sooner than we had put our mats down and got our shoes on than it started snowing again!! The critical hold for getting over then lip quickly filled with snow making the problem impossible that day. Slightly dejected we headed back to Nottingham for a beer and curry.

Mark on Mark's Roof

Being a typical British Bank holiday weekend the weather was even worst on Sunday so we head to the Nottingham indoor wall. Monday dawned with blue skies and no wind. We wolfed down breakfast before jumping in the car and heading to the Roaches for a quick session before heading back up the M6 to Glasgow. I've been to the Roaches once before, in June 2006. That day I have several attempts at the classic Three Pocket Slab. That being almost 2 years ago, and having done a lot of climbing since, I was confident of dispatching it with easy. As I parked the car and headed up the path to the lower tier it started snowing again!! The top pocket started filling with snow that the top of the slab quickly started to become damp. Things where not looking to good. After a few attempts remembering the sequence and identifying which pebbles to use for feet before gaining the pockets. The snow was starting to get heavier and so I had to get a move on. Mark gave the top pocket a dry with cloth and I was off. All went well but the final rock over onto the top slab while hanging onto a small pebble felt much harder than it should over as my foot felt like it was going to skid out at any moment. Very happy to get this. It is now well within my grade, but it is nice to finally tick something I failed on 2 years ago.

Me on Three Pocket Slab

Mark had a go at one of his projects at the crag – Mushin, a Font 7c+ on the overhanging main crag. Most of it had remained dry, apart from the higher holds, which prevent him from making much progress. We headed up to the upper tier to have quick play on the boulders there as the snow continued to come and go. I managed to hang on the slopey holds and tick Coppers Traverse (Font 6b) before we jumped back into the car to head back to Glasgow.

Mushin in the Snow

All in all an enjoyable weekend, even if there wasn't much climbing achieve. Hope you enjoy the photos, please leave a comment. Thanks.

A British Bank Holiday.......