Right Hand Route (starts at the chalk marks)

I’ll start this review by explaining that I’ve done nowhere near the level of outdoor climbing this season that I had hoped to have. This will hopefully go some way to explain why a day at The Roaches resulted for us in such a low number of climbs at low grades. That’s my excuse anyway!

Introduction

The Roaches is a popular venue which resides in the far west of the Peak District. Along with its immediate neighbour, Hen Cloud it offers some extremely diverse and atmospheric climbing for all levels of climber, from newbies trying their first moves on rock at The Prow area, seasoned intermediates pulling over the roof of ‘The Sloth’ HVS 5a, to battle-hardened rock warriors squaring up to ‘Painted Roof’ E6 6a.

The Crag can be viewed as 3 distinct tiers, the Lower Tier, The Upper Tier and The Skyline. There’s also some excellent bouldering. This all makes for a really interesting day’s climbing.

The Roaches features some popular and well photographed gritstone classics. In fact The Roaches hosts 27 of the Top 50 routes in the Rockfax guide books! Watch out for the guidebook / magazine cover, 2-pitch classic: ‘Valkyrie’ VS 4c, be prepared to take a ticket and join the back of the queue though.

If you’re planning to have a day at the Roaches and you can’t be bothered to take a pack-up, fear not there’s a cafe by the roadside on the way in, and another one right there in the middle of The Lower Tier! Awesome!

Our session

HS that David led, name to follow

Having not done a great deal outdoors in the UK this year, we elected to start really easy. We headed over to The Prow area and I led ‘Prow Corner’ VDiff (I said we started easy!).

After quickly dispatching said route we moved over to the left, behind the tea room. David elected to lead a HS (the name of which escapes me and David has the guide book. I’ll fix this as soon as I get it back), This was really interesting, a steep little wall below a roof, where you traverse out to the right, round a corner and onto a block. From here it’s up onto a platform where you move up over a big bulge and into a wide body-jamming crack to complete the route. An entertaining climb.

I decided I might have a bash at climbing ‘Rhodren’ HVS 5b, described as a mini version of ‘The Mincer’. I’m afraid I ended up only getting a third of the way up it and having to down-climb. A disappointing effort which I’m still annoyed about now!

After my crushing defeat at the hands of Rhodren, we decided to give the Upper Tier a go. Seeing as I only managed a paltry 1/3rd of a route it was down to me to pick another lead. I chose ‘Right Hand Route’ HS 4c on the Blushing Buttress, not to be confused with the V Diff named ‘Right Route’ on the adjacent ‘Sloth’ buttress (I only say this because I overheard someone telling his friend that in his guide book it was listed as a VDiff). Actually in the guidebook we were using, the climb was graded Severe but on the Rockfax web site it gets a HS (I’m going to assume that the hike in grade is due to the polish at the foot of the route). It actually took me three duff attempts to start this route before getting properly established, the third leading to a string of expletives being screamed at the rock. I was finding it hard to place a cam with my right hand whilst lay-backing the crack with my left. Once the cam was in place I was off and completed the route without further incident (despite some bloke stood behind us, telling a youngster he was with about someone falling off the route and dying. He managed to span the story out for my full ascent – thanks mate). It was an interesting route with a pretty airy finish over a kind of mini-roof. Overall highly entertaining.

The view from the skyline

By this point we were surprisingly a bit tired (early start perhaps). David chose to lead the VDiff (or so we thought), to the left of the route we just climbed, aptly named ‘Left Hand Route’. In our guidebook this was graded VDiff, it has now been elevated by Rockfax to HS. David made light work of the first part but got inexplicably stuck in the middle due to some kind of minor mental meltdown. He lowered off and I finished up. Not a bad little route!

All that was left by this point was a play on the boulders. We didn’t have a mat and the boulders at The Upper Tier are highly polished so we didn’t do anything too brave.

Access and approach

The Roaches and Hen Cloud sit on Blackshaw Moor, just off the west side of the A53 (Buxton Road) between Leek and Buxton (about 1m from Leek, 8m(ish) from Buxton). The road in is a bit odd, and it’s easy to drive straight back round onto the A53 if you’re not careful. Drive past the Engineering company then bear right, you should be able to see Hen Cloud at this point. Keep heading toward it, you’ll pass Roaches Tea Rooms on your left (excellent spot BTW, well worth calling in for refreshments), keep going past Hen Cloud until you see The Roaches on your right. Pull up in one of the marked laybys at the side of the road and follow one of the obvious paths up to the crag.

Enjoy!

The Roaches, An Atmospheric And Challenging Gem is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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A couple of weeks ago my brother David and I found ourselves heading toward the Peaks with ominous clouds looming above us and a forecast of showers and a bitterly cold wind. While David drove, I scoured our well thumbed copy of Eastern Grit for a suitably sheltered venue. My first thought was to head for Lawrencefield, but right next to it in the guidebook “Eastern Grit” is Yarncliffe Quarry. I read the guidebook description to David and we mused “Why on earth have we not climbed here before?”

I suppose on reflection we probably dismissed it on earlier occasions because it’s quite a small venue, and when we were complete newbies the lack of routes under the severe grade might have been off-putting.

As always, we took turns to lead:

• David: Outdoor Centre Route HVD 20m – a nice easy warmup
• Me: Ant’s Crack S 16m – very pleasant little jamming route. Made light work of it.
• David: Latecomer HS 16m – Another nice crack. We both took the optional 5a boulder problem start.

Neither of us had lunch so after that we drove to Hathersage for a toastie at the Outside Cafe, then shot over to Lawrencefield, Roadside Bay area. I finished off by climbing: the last Wet Wednesday VS 10m – Easy start and finish with a couple of trickier moves in the middle.

So back to Yarncliffe. A really nice little venue; sheltered and quiet. Great crack routes, small but positive holds – brilliant. We had a really enjoyable couple of hours there. I spoke to a guy who had just come from Stanage, he said the cold wind was unbearable up there – so we made a good choice.

Give Yarncliffe a try, but be gentle with it and don’t tell anyone you like it – shhhhh!!!!

Crags: Yarncliffe Quarry – A small but surprisingly good climbing venue is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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With it’s lowly aspect overlooking the steel rolling mills of Stocksbridge, and the fact that most of its routes are only between 8 and 14 metres you might be forgiven for overlooking it as a decent rock climbing venue. I urge you to take another look, I climbed there last Sunday and I have to say I thought it was actually really rather good.

The crag features a wealth of routes across a very wide range of grades and the rock is excellent quality. Unlike many of the Peak’s gritstone crags which have large but rounded holds, Wharncliffe features much smaller, sharper holds (which suits me just fine). There was literally no polish on any of the routes that we climbed, which, I suspect, is due to the fact that it was really quiet. In the whole time we were there we only saw 2 other climbing parties on the entire crag! Compared to the “take a ticket and queue” scenarios we have experienced at many other crags in the Peaks it was a welcome change.

David getting to grips with Slab and Corner (HS)

You can park closer, but we elected to park on Station Road outside the pub and walk up. If you decide to do the same; just head up the hill, take the first little path on your left, walk through a small tunnel then look out for an unofficial but well trodden path on the right, follow that path, passing a huge electricity pylon, through a gate and eventually you reach the foot of the crag at the Prow Rock end.

We didn’t have a huge amount of time as David had to get back to Scarborough, but here’s what we climbed (As usual, taking it turns to lead):

• Me: Hamlet’s Climb HVD what a bloody lash up! If you decide to do this climb, please don’t do what I did and climb into the horizontal chimney, keep your hands in it and traverse across on the outside. Once you’re in, it’s a bugger to get back out
• David: Slab and corner HS Not much in the way of protection until you reach the corner on this one. It’s pretty easy climbing though
• Me: Cheese block HS I really enjoyed this one. It looks like it’s going to be really fluttery but it isn’t. Just really nice climbing on small but edgy holds
• David: Puttrell’s progress S This one was a really interesting climb. We picked it because the guide book showed a great full-page image of someone in a cool position on it. It was hilarious to watch David on the first part of the climb, he got stuck in the crack on his belly, baby seal style

Me on Cheese Block (HS)

The climbers we did meet on the crag were really friendly and we enjoyed chatting with them after our last climb.

Would I visit Wharncliffe again? Hell Yeah! Only next time I would like to stay a bit longer.

If you require a guide book for this crag (and pretty much any other gritstone crag in the Peak District), I would strongly recommend Eastern Grit by ROCKFAX. Available at Amazon at a discounted £15.99, usually £20.95 (bargain).

As always I would love to hear your experience. Please feel free to comment.

Peak District climbing – Wharncliffe is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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1. Lawrencefield – The Peak District
2. Peak District climbing – Birchen Edge
3. Climbing book review: Eastern Grit (ROCKFAX)

We decided to call off at Hathersage and visit the Outside climbing shop as we needed some new kit, so we looked in our climbing book for routes nearby. We had already climbed at Millstone and Lawrencefield, so we elected to give the fairly nearby Birchen Edge a try.

The walk-in to the crag is about 10 minutes up a clear, sandy path which brings you out around The Promenade area.

It’s a fairly busy crag, which is probably due to the wealth of climbing routes available in the lower grades (up to severe). The rock is quality gritstone which offers a good deal of friction (apart from the initial moves on some of the climbs, which were very polished).

You won’t find any multi-pitch routes here, most of the routes are only between 10 and 16 metres. This actually makes me nervous, I prefer to be a LOT further away from the ground.

We took it in turns to lead:

• Me: Promenade Direct HVD 10m. Easy but very exposed route (first piece of gear around 6 metres)
• David: The Bow S 14m. Thrutchy start with an exposed move from first ledge, then easy climbing on an arete
• Me: Tried to lead Roger the Cabin Boy VS 14m, but couldn’t get make the super exposed move over the bulge 2/3rds of the way up – disasterous!
• David: Sail Buttress 14m HS – same start as Roger the Cabin boy, but an altogether friendlier traverse move 2/3rds up
• David: Nelson’s Slab HS 14m. Very tricky 5a move to get started (would be easy if not for polished foot holds). I tried to redeem myself by seconding the adjacent VS – Almost the same, but smaller, more delicate holds

Overall I think Birchen Edge is a nice little climbing venue with some interesting routes on good quality rock. It’s not my usual sort of venue as I prefer my crags taller with less people. Having said that, they were a friendly crowd, and I would definitely go back for another go.

I would love to hear your peak district climbing stories and views.

The picture, top-right is by Mikey Bean – Check out his FlickR photo stream.

Peak District climbing – Birchen Edge is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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Because it focuses entirely on the Eastern gritstone crags, it shows a lot more routes on those crags than some of the other Peak District guides that include the limestone crags.

My brother David bought this book, mainly to gain access to more routes on the crags that we were climbing than could be found in the book I bought (Peak District Climbing by Vertebrate Graphics, which covers limestone crags and gritstone Crags in the Peaks).

Eastern Grit covers 19 Crags in total and presents them in a nice, easy-to-follow layout with full colour photographs. Where the climbs are a “must-do”, they have given them a 1, 2 or 3 grading. ROCKFAX have come up with a nice way of telling you what type of climb to expect for each route, by creating some symbols. Things like a bulging forearm to show that the climb is “pumpy” or a heart with wings indicating a “fluttery” climb (you know, those ones where you can’t help feeling a little relieved when you reach the top).

There’s a map at the back of the book but it fails to mention the names of the B roads that you need to follow to reach some of the crags. This isn’t a big problem as it’s still pretty clear from the drawing how to get there. I’m nit picking really.

The climbing routes are well described and easy to follow, and I can wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who wants to climb trad routes on the best gritstone crags in the Peak District. If you want to buy a copy, I would recommend buying from The Climbing Book Shop.

Climbing book review: Eastern Grit (ROCKFAX) is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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• It’s quiet
• It’s tall (for the Peak District) – some of the climbs are almost 30m
• There’s some really fantastic climbs, whether you’re a V Diff or E1 leader

If you can lead up to HS standard, you will absolutely love this venue as there are some really pleasurable and rewarding climbs in the lower grades.

Don’t get me wrong, if you’re looking for a massive venue with a lot of climbs you may be disappointed, but if you like smaller venues without the crowds and some first rate rock then Lawrencefield is definitely for you. Millstone is also just a short walk away if you need to make a long day of it.

Fantastic VS corner crack

To get to Lawrencefield crag, you should park at the Surprise View car park at the Sheffield side of Hathersage. From the car park, cross the road and walk about a hundred metres up the path to the corner. You’ll spot a little path leading off to the left, follow that through a gate then over a stile to your right and bingo, you’re stood at the top of the crag. Follow the rocky path in front of you which veers around to the left to get to the climbs.

You’ll be greeted by a sheltered area with the rock face curving around a central pool.

To the left of the pool there is a nice V Diff for beginners to experience a nice big climb, called Pulpit Groove. For those with a bit more experience there is a wonderful HS called Three Tree Climb, with a delightfully exposed move around a flake in the middle. VS leaders will love the crack in the corner, called Great Harry.

I haven’t yet climbed anything behind the pool, but they look pretty interesting. Once I have done them I’ll let you know.

The climbs to the right of the pool are steep slabs and most have some nice hand and finger jamming. Every climb has obvious belay points at the top. There’s everything from V Diff right up to E2 along this wall.

I have reviewed a couple of books that feature Lawrencefield (so you can identify the routes):
Eastern Grit and Peak District Climbing

How to get there:

Lawrencefield – The Peak District is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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3. Gareth Hanson – Editor

This was our second trip to Lawrencefield, and it didn’t start too well. We got all the way down to the crag and I realised that I had left the guidebook in the car – doh! I had to run all the way back to the surprise view car park.

We started on the Gingerbread Slab, David kicked things off with a pretty easy V Diff called Snail Crack, which we had climbed on our previous visit. I decided the raise the stakes and go for a HS called Nova.

Nova is a really cool climbing route which requires a variety of techniques to reach the top. The first couple of moves are pretty straight-forward, then it gets interesting as you try to work your way over to an upward crack. One of the moves had David stumped for about 10 minutes as he came up second (it probably didn’t help that I was chuckling at him from the top). There’s a couple of small but comfy ledges on which you can stand to place gear, and the route is pretty well protected all the way up. I found the crux move to be the second to last one on the final crack, I had to jam my fingers as I placed some gear to protect me over the top. The awkward stance combined with faffing around to find the appropriate piece of kit had my arm (and heart pumping).

In summary, I can recommend this as a very rewarding climbing route for all you HS leaders out there. I can also highly recommend the fantastic 3 Tree Climb (HS) over at the Great Harry area. I’ll cover that in more detail soon.

Let me know how you get on.

Nova HS 4b, Lawrencefield, Peak District is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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1. Climbing book review: Peak District Climbing (Vertebrate Publishing)

The book is beautifully laid out with full colour pictures overlaid with dotted lines to show the routes. Vertebrate haven’t tried to cram too many routes onto each page so the text is nice and clear and it’s easy to find the route you’re looking for. This is a godsend when you’re climbing and you need to keep referring to the book.

There are over 850 routes and bouldering problems in the book. Over 400 of the routes are within the mere mortal range of Mod to HS.

The grading for each climb is well presented, shown in both the UK adjective grade and the sport grade e.g VS, 4b.

Unlike the other Peak District climbing book that I have reviewed, Eastern Grit, this book not only has gritstone crags but covers the limestone crags and quarries too.

The book is choc full of inspirational climbing shots, advice on choosing your first rack, techniques, climbing terminology and best of all a really useful map of the peaks area with all of the crags clearly marked.

Here’s where you can buy a copy of Peak District Climbing. Let me know what you think to it.

Climbing book review: Peak District Climbing (Vertebrate Publishing) is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.