Pennine Lines w/c 5 August 2024
Mountain scrambles are one of the few facets of climbing which is still fairly untainted by tech, gear, and the superfluous paraphernalia. There’s a real freedom to be had, a raw and total experience, even on something as well travelled and busy as the Yr Wyddfa / Snowdon horseshoe, or some hidden exposed ridge tucked away in quiet corner of the Lakes. It requires some focus, some effort, and it’s always repaid with a day out to linger in the memories.
Pennine Lines w/c 29 July 2024
It's a short one, due to various logistical headaches this weekend, so I thought this was a good opportunity to simply direct everyone to the Crag Clean Up day that Outside are once again running this summer. Sat 17th August is the date for your diary. These are great events for the local crags and climbing community (and it IS a community) and a great use of a day which, lets be honest, will be too warm for any serious hard pulling. So it’s worth checking out if you’re in the Peak that weekend; get involved and make a bit of a difference. Big shout out to Outside for taking the initiative to organise and run these days year in year out. It would be great if more brands / walls in the Peak and further afield followed Outside’s lead with stuff like this (nudge nudge…).
Pennine Lines w/c 22 July 2024
Warming up, brushing the scrittle off the topout, sorting out the pads, doing a few of the moves, making sure the droppable top section is dialled in, getting the spotters in the right place, and wafting away the final few midges. A quick chalk-up, the crag chatter pauses for 20-odd moves, and it’s done. A short distance above, walkers and runners circuit the rim the Kinder plateau, oblivious to the tiny bit of Peak climbing’s continuing and ever-evolving history being written just below.
Pennine Lines w/c 31 July 2023
We talk a lot about friction when discussing gritstone climbing, and it’s never better than when dry grit takes a hit from a passing shower, then dries off in a keen breeze. Something happens there; the friction goes sky high, even in summer. Maybe it’s just the fact that it cleans off the surface chalk and debris and just refreshes the holds. Maybe the water evaporating off actually cools the surface a little. But whatever it is it’s real and you know it when you find it. And find it you certainly can at this time of year in this sort of weather.