Pennine Lines w/c 4 December 2023
Nevertheless, even a hint of snow demands some thought when it comes to choosing your venues. Crags at a lower elevation are generally favoured, as they usually get less snow to begin with. If the crags offer some problem-at-the-base-of-a-trad-crag type action, not topping out and protected from above, then all the better when it’s snowy. On this side of the Peak that usually means the lower lying crags around Stanton and Cratcliffe are preferred, similarly the Amber Valley is at a lower elevation, along with Rivelin - often a winter sun trap - and Wharncliffe. Even opting for, say, Curbar over Stanage in heavy snow can be a winner, especially as such classics as Sean’s Arete and Walk On By are, barring dripping from above, completely snow proof.
Pennine Lines w/c 27 November 2023
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.
Pennine Lines w/c 25 September 2023
Hawkcliffe was a bit of a surprise really for more than one reason - I was not expecting such an impressive crag, for such a relatively obscure venue. The rock architecture is formidable; there’s some HUGE buttresses and big bold looking routes with the odd peg (pegs that I assume whoever placed them wouldn’t have gotten away with at a more popular grit crag). The ramparts of fine-grained rock emerge from a steep tangle of rhododendrons, moss covered bushes, slippy travelator-like mud and abandoned conference-venue chairs. It’s like Wharnecliffe meets Gladiators in a crack lounge.