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).
Pennine Lines w/c 1 May 2023
Travelling south through the eastern Peak the gritstone gradually fizzles out, the long snaking crag escarpments giving way to more isolated outcrops. And just as it seems all the rock has turned decidedly pale and chossy, one last big finale remains, one last huge island of dark gritstone in a sea of limestone. Black Rocks; its name enough to scare off many, but it remains something of a hub of the climbing scene in this part of the Peak.