Black Crag from the approach

It follows an interesting line up black crag, Borrowdale in the Lake District. It’s graded severe and is a total of 114m (375ft).

After hearing the second hand description of the route from David, I checked my favourite coffee table climbing book ‘Classic Rock‘ for pictures and a bit more information. Sure enough the route was in there, with an inspiring write up and some really impressive pictures. That was it – sold!

I called my mate Justin, knowing he’s a big fan of Lake District climbing, especially the bigger routes, and asked him if he wanted to come along. He was well up for it, and arranged to meet David and I en-route.

We parked at the side of the road about half a mile down the road from the entrance to the walk-in to the climb. The walk was extremely pleasant, passing through an open meadow with a stream running through it, Black Crag looming ominously above the tree line ahead of us. We tramped our way up the steep, stoney path through the wood to the base of the climb.

The start of the climb

We arrived to find 2 teams gearing up at the base of the crag. It turned out that they were climbing the ‘Super Direct’ route, next to us. We waited for them to clear the first pitch as we geared up.

I started the proceedings. Pitch 1 was pretty easy really. I placed 3 pieces of gear, one of which popped out as I moved past it. I soon found myself in a good belay position. David climbed the next pitch which finished on a small but pleasant slab, he brought Justin and I up from his position next to a huge block which served as a useful belay spike. We must have been pretty steady away because as we readied ourselves for the next pitch, our belay stance was starting to get busy. A team of 3, lead by an experienced lass, used to climbing in Scotland were stacking up behind us.

Justin set off up the next pitch, with a view to ending up under a large rock roof at the edge of a nicely exposed slab. Only 15 metres, but instead of heading slightly left, Justin somehow managed to wander off to the right and got completely stuck. After about 30 minutes and some bush whacking he eventually got back on track and found the desired belay position.

As I made my way up as the second, Justin shouted “STOP! Gareth, it’s come off!” What he meant was that the coiled rope near his feet had slid down and off the end of the slab. I thought he meant that his belay had come to pieces! Anyway, I found a comfortable position while he sorted it out. As we waited for David to arrive I looked across the exposed slab. I was looking forward to moving across, but I felt a bit nervous about the steep moves moving off the slab to the next belay stance. I had a picture of it in the ‘Classic Rock‘ book, and thought it looked a bit ‘out-there’ then.

Me moving up from the exposed slab

Once we were all assembled, I set off across the deliciously exposed, but well protected slab. The going was pretty easy and I quickly found myself beneath the steeper part of the pitch, the part I had felt slightly nervous about. I stepped up and placed a piece of gear, I then moved up and to the left, finding myself in a position where protection for the next couple of moves would be difficult. I did try a couple of options for gear placement. Neither were any good so I decided to move on instead, slightly nervous, as a fall at this point would have meant decking out on the slab then probably slithering off the edge! I needn’t have worried, a change in position revealed a bomber hold which I gratefully used to hoist myself to a more secure position. I moved up to a large block which I used a spike for a kind of hanging belay (which after a good half hour of belaying from it, I came to regret).

David Nearing the top (and the reported crux)

I belayed Justin and David across the slab together, then tied David’s rope off as Justin climbed the steep part. Justin clipped into the belay system and I belayed David the rest of the way.

We elected to combine the last 2 pitches, as the next pitch in our guide book seemed little more than a short scramble. This meant that the final pitch fell to David, he made short work of most of it, only stalling for some huffing and puffing (and a quiet word with himself) for the final exposed move. Once he had set a belay up, I shot up after him (shot being the operative word, the fullness of my bladder was starting to reach emergency status). Justin came up after with a big grin on his face, a fitting tribute to how we all felt about the climb we had just completed.

I sat for a moment looking out over Derwent water, totally at one with myself. It’s a state that only adrenaline sports allow me to achieve. What a fantastic day and a truly awesome climb. Next time we’ll take the super direct route for a tougher challenge!

Lake District climbing: Troutdale Pinnacle 107m Severe, Borrowdale is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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3. Snowdonia climbing – Llanberis Pass, Crag Ddu – Rib and Slab 79m, Vdiff

I’m assuming that you have done some indoor lead climbing on sport routes, and that you’re comfortable with clipping into quick draws, but that you haven’t yet placed any gear (wires, nuts, cams, hexentrics etc).

Here’s a few tips to make the transition as smooth as possible:

1. Go with someone who has some outdoor experience
   The first time you climb outdoors, you’ll find there’s a lot to think about. It’s really easy to miss things and compromise your safety. An experienced outdoor climber will spot the potential pitfalls and keep you on the straight and narrow. If you can’t find an experienced climbing partner to go with, consider investing in an outdoor lead climbing course.
2. Practice placing gear
   Ask someone to show you how to place the various pieces of protection that you’ll be using. It is imperative that you know how to place them properly. Gear placed by even the most experienced climbers can work its way loose. Walk around the foot of the crag and find spots that you can practice placing and removing gear (with one hand).
3. Start with something very easy
   You might be able to comfortably climb a 5c sport route indoors, but please don’t attempt anything like that on your first outdoor expedition. Start with adjective grade Diff or V Diff (these are both below 4a), preferably with some nice ledges to stand on for placing your gear and clipping in. You’re likely to find that you end up climbing a good 3 grades below your indoor lead grade. I consistently lead around 5b on indoor sport routes, but I only confidently lead around HS (4c) outdoors.
4. Learn as many climbing techniques as you can. Mother nature will throw challenges you will rarely face at an indoor climbing wall. Lay backs, finger jamming and bridging will all come in very useful. Learning to mantle shelf will be very useful as almost every outdoor climb will involve climbing over the top (rather than the lowing off that you’re used to). This can feel quite scary the first time you do it, and you may end up performing a move more akin to a baby seal (from one who knows).

If you’re careful and keep your risks to a minimum, outdoor climbing is no more dangerous than climbing indoors. It is hugely rewarding and places you in some very beautiful environments.

I hope to see you out there.

Moving from indoor to outdoor rock climbing is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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2. Snowdonia climbing – Amphitheatre Buttress 294m VD, Ogwen, North Wales
3. Peak District climbing – Birchen Edge