We were up visiting Katie, and as it was a hot sunny day thought about going for a stroll in the peak district.
Katie was doing a lot of climbing wall work but not a lot of outdoor "proper" stuff, so it was an opportunity to climb some grit.
The cliffs are just over an hour form her on a good day, however on a hot Good Friday there was lots of traffic and we did not get there until 11am, and the parking was stretched down the side of the road.
We parked up and walked in, then started to find out where we were .. I only had the summary "best of" guide book with selected routes. The old techniques soon came back and after walking along fro the end for a while to find the Flying Buttress.
The place was busy and a lot of the routes had people on them, it was sensible to get ready then pick one.
Thinking about where to start I settled on a classic VD .. Crack and Corner. The guide book said "polished holds" at the bottom ... and it was not wrong. I set off and promptly slipped, held only by a hand jam in the crack, repeating this got me past his point, btu then the next set of polished holds brought on the doubts ... not happy and a little uncertain whether it would get worse further up I chickened out and settled for an easier route to the right.
So, suitably chastened .. settled for Grotto Slab - up the sloping boulder and the wall above. there were a couple of awkward moments but the muscle memory on how to mantle shelf soon came back. Katie got some practice in removing gear ..
After this lunch, in the shelter of a boulder .. Bertie hovering up the crumbs. Just above this was black hawk area ... and a crack and corner group that had steady traffic.
Blizzard chimney and Black Hawk Hell Crack.. Starting in the corner but climbing the left wall... of all the cliff this was a nice cool area and although there were a few tricky moves, it all flowed better.
Katie followed up ...
One thing that I noticed was that the obsession with gear has got worse and everyone seemed to have huge racks of shiny stuff hanging off them ... as well as the clothes, even my tired rock boots looked out of place.
Enough for one day ... I had revisited an old haunt, and discovered I was not a capable as I used to be .. and also the lower grade climbs do require much more grunt than the harder face climbs .
Back through chesterfield to see the spire and and sculptures, for Katie's house.
Bertie was worn out too.
