Pennine Lines w/c 30 September 2024
This is actually potentially one of the strengths of climbing in particular - alongside photography, which is often overlooked. Once the pads are down under the project, or once the clips are in, or the tripod is up waiting for some fleeting light, you’ve got time to look around, hear the sounds, watch the weather pass, see the light change, feel the breeze blowing. You don’t necessarily get this with all outdoor pursuits, as you’re often moving from place to place. I can think of a few where you don’t, but the more mainstream stuff like walking, running, mountain biking, skiing you tend to be on the move. Again, this is not ‘wrong’, and as someone who’s climbed at Sean’s Roof recently I concede that not all places reward efforts to sit and quietly contemplate, but often climbing can give you space to find a subtley different way of experiencing a place.
Pennine Lines w/c 2 October 2023
There’s also something to be said for sensing when the prevailing winds are blowing in your direction and allowing yourself to be carried along on the breeze. This is true of Raven Tor as much as anywhere. Make hay while the sun shines etc etc. When things align and it goes your way, sometimes you’ve got to go with it - and sense when it’s time to move on.
Pennine Lines w/c 8 May 2023
You have to wonder that in a media-rich world, ultra-connected, if climbing is now almost too global, to the point where we don’t really value what’s on our doorstep? Are we are all now so accustomed to being fed an eye popping diet of cutting edge boulder problems that the humble glue-covered limestone of Miller’s Dale can’t compete with huge glowing-orange ‘king lines’ in South Africa? Live-streamed history-in-the-making from Finland and massive steep problems - or ‘rigs’ to use the correct terminology - in Switzerland with bottles of champagne being popped upon success are great, but where does this leave the monumentally unsexy shattered grey polished rock of the Tor? Out in the cold it seems (ironic given the crag is a sun trap).