Pennine Lines w/c 27 November 2023
|| Cold & dry outlook || Gritstone DEFCON 2 ||
Careless Torque || Climber: Leon Joyce
|| Focus On... ||
Reframing the "perfect" grit day
There’s often a lot said about the ‘perfect gritstone day’, typically implying solid clear blue sky and the sun out. Even better; the crag bathed in the last orange light of day, with someone heroically questing up a highball spine-chiller, as above. Classic gritstone, you can’t knock it.
You’ll see a lot of these on social media, living your best life, inspirational content etc etc. You can’t move for it when it happens. During the long dark drudgery of winter that little window of sunshine can do wonders for the soul, and conversely it’s guaranteed to make the blood boil of anyone unable to get out, stuck at work or whatever. But it’s not all about the perfect. Perfect is the enemy of good.
There’s a lot to be said for the other types of winter gritstone day. For a start, we get a lot of ‘em. Assuming it’s not raining (not a safe assumption, granted), then whatever type of day it is right now always has a lot going for it. You can’t beat now. Now is actually happening. Those ‘perfect’ blue sky days are great but you could go an entire winter and not get one that lines up with you work/family/social/injury commitments (delete as applicable). Throw your three gritstone availability arrows at the dartboard of winter weather and the odds are you’re not hitting treble twenty.
Leaning Tower Arête, Crookrise || Climber: Rob Smith
So it’s maybe wise not to wish your life away waiting for those theoretical perfect days. Meanwhile, actual days are happening all the time, with all their faults and flaws. We seem to operate on a very narrow definition of what’s good, so sun = good weather, everything else = meh. What you don’t necessarily see shouted from the rooftops is the beauty of the dull ‘meh’ winter day. The overcast, dull day - if dry - can be a great thing.
Think of the dull day like an album with no hit singles - doesn’t mean it can’t be a great album. Talk of the perfect blue sky grit day always ignores the fact the conditions are better when the sun’s not out, so that works in our favour on the dull day. The flat even light of the overcast day is also a great leveller. With no sculpting being done by the light, a lot of big features in the rock don’t have that same smack-you-in-the-face quality. So it gives a chance for other more subtle features and nuances of the crag to be seen. The opportunity to look at the tiny details without squinting in the sun. That little rib you’ve always walked past, that bulge which isn’t photogenic but today you can see the textures, the crystals, the pebbles. That slab where the friction feels like it’s off the scale.
Ping Pong Rib at Bamford || Climber: David Mason
On those dull days the passage of time isn’t as apparent without the sun constantly reminding you, giving the illusion that time’s not really happening. No rush to get another attempt on the project in before the sun hits that sloper. Immersed in climbing, the level of skin wear, the numbness of toes, or the old reliable how-much-coffee-is-left-in-the-flask the only chronological metric available.
The sunny days are such crowd pleasers, both for climbers and walkers and the general public, that it’s sometimes eerily quiet on the dull days. Only yesterday one of the undoubted jewels in the Yorkshire grit crown, Crookrise, had only about two or three parties of climbers on it. You can easily imagine what it was like for Ron Fawcett back in the day, living down the road and having the entire crag to himself. Good times.
Contrast this with the Peak crag most closely modelled in the Crookrise mould - Bamford. All the hallmarks are there - close to a reservoir with fine grey grit, bold open slabs, a steep drop-off down the hillside, steep approach, and expansive views. A crag where at the turn of the millennium you still had to phone the gamekeeper be on the moor at all, and now even turning up at 7am on a winter morning pre-dawn won’t get you the place to yourself. You’ll be jockeying for position between tripods and folks doing TikTok videos, and what was once a faint path tracing the edge of the crag top is now a ten-lane highway with bare eroding earth several metres wide. And that’s before it gets busy! So yeah, a dull day taking in the air and sense of space on Crookrise has a lot going for it.
|| Vertebrate Discount ||
A reminder that our friends at Vertebrate have kindly shared with us a 30% discount code in the run up to Christmas. The code is valid until the 21st December, and should work on everything on their site including Grit Blocs, and all the other good books they produce, which is a lot!
The code is:
VPSUBS30
|| SUPPORTED BY ||
|| Recently Through the lens ||
Leon Joyce ground up on Careless Torque, something to aspire to - if not the legwear then definitely the style of ascent.
|| Fresh Prints ||
A reminder from me that in the runup to Christmas here's a discount code to help you sort out a few presents for family and friends. Valid on ALL prints. Huge thanks to those who've already ordered prints - your support all helps keep Pennine Lines running.
The code is:
GRASSYKNOLL20
The last order date for prints is looking to be about the 11th Dec, to be on the safe side, so this code is valid until then. So this week as it's really cold we're highlighting a couple of great winter shots from the Print Shop.
