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.