Pennine Lines w/c 3 April 2023
|| Dry and still cool || Jump on those final winter projects ||
Pacific Ocean Wall Direct E7 6b || Climber: Tom Briggs
|| Focus on.... ||
The art of the after-work session
The narrative of modern rock climbing is often told in terms of the sponsored stars projecting on overseas trips, extended van-life tours, and famous trophy climbs. Which is all great, but climbing isn't all about the big names and big numbers. There’s a certain joy to be had as a local climber snatching a midweek hour or two at a local crag before it gets dark.
After a long cold grim winter it’s just an utter joy to be able to get out. We’re begging for some good weather, we NEED some time on rock. And after-work sessions feel like a freebie. Don't get me wrong, weekends are great, if you work full time that’s sort of when you’re supposed to climb, that’s your allocated slot of officially sanctioned recreation for the week - stay in your lane. So a snatched evening session feels like you’re beating the system somehow. And it has to be said that the evening teams at crags like Stanage are definitely more hungry for it than their weekend colleagues, making the absolute best of what light they have, climbing right till the edge of night. No early bailing off to the pub.
Local knowledge is key for these stolen bonus crag hits - where will the conditions be best? What will be clean - has anyone done this route recently? What’s the warmups like? Have we got enough time - what time can you get out of the office? I’ll see you there. This is the art of the after-work session.
As the evenings lengthen the returns on your expended effort increase, at least until it starts getting too warm. Right now it’s fairly optimum, being a comfortable temperature to stand belaying in the last sun of the day, but with the cool temps of the night waiting in the wings as soon as the sun drops. And drop it really does at this time of year, the sunsets happen fast.
Although in the heat of midsummer we’d often like a few more east- or north-facing crags, in the Pennines a quirk of geology has left us with the majority of the gritstone edges facing west, so sunsets are what these crags do particularly well. It has to be said a spring evening on a west-facing grit crag can be a real slice of magic. No midges, the bracken is yet to wake, and with frequent showers keeping atmospheric haze to a minimum the sunsets - although fleeting - bathe the crags in light of remarkable clarity. On those occasions where you manage to coincide this with a memorable route or a sought after problem - closing an old project, or maybe just pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and cut adrift in a ocean of gritstone, well, that can really be something special. Something to keep you smiling when you're back at your desk the next day.
Sunset over the Hope Valley
|| Recently through the lens ||
Magical conditions in the muted light of dusk at Stanage
