A summer dawn at Almscliff

The other morning I watched the sunrise at Almscliff. This was unusual and unexpected. Between early spring and late autumn I am rarely awake at dawn. The evening before, making the best of good weather, I visited the crag to do some bouldering with friends. On return home I was unable to find my wallet and became convinced that I had dropped it while bouldering. One sleepless night later, during which I dwelt on all the problems that come with losing and replacing the contents of a wallet, I found myself in my car on the road to Almscliff.

Although most of my attention was devoted to scouring the ground  for my lost wallet, I did manage to take few photos.

Sunrise from Almscliff

In the East the sun rose into a hazy sky.

Looking West

To the West the farmland was covered by wisps of mist, reminiscent of casually draped lace. The sun quickly burnt this off, revealing the more substantial forms of a few sheep.

Great Western buttress, Almscliff

Different aspects of the crag's character were revealed by the dawn light. Great Western buttress was lit from behind. With its features in shadow, the buttress was a dark monolithic lump of gritstone, even more imposing than usual.

I didn't find my wallet at Almscliff. After a frantic search, and a drive back to Leeds, during which my mind went over every card that I would have to cancel and replace, I got home, walked through the door and decided to check my climbing bag one more time.

My wallet was in the top pocket.

The coming Spring and cold climbing at Froggatt

Crocuses flowering beneath a tree in Harrogate

Over the last few days I have seen more and more bulbs flowering, probably due to the unseasonably warm temperatures the UK has seen over the last week.

Besides clumps of snow drops, with their monochrome flowers that bring to mind the passing winter more than coming spring, there are large patches of colourful crocuses, like those in the above photo, and even a few daffodils tentatively starting to flower.

I admire the optimism of these plants, and I hope that they herald the arrival of spring for one reason: it is the perfect time to get out and rock climb on the gritstone crags found around Leeds and the nearby Peak District. Then I will be ready for more adventurous climbing on mountains and sea cliffs just as the warmth and long days of summer arrive.

Indeed, enthusiasm got the better of me this weekend and I visited Froggatt in the Peak District to try and kick start my rock climbing season. Although my climbing partner and I managed a couple of great routes (including the notorious Three Pebble Slab), the temperature had fallen from the mid-week high, and, combined with a bitter wind, made the experience of placing hands on cold rock an unpleasant one. By lunchtime we admitted defeat and were back on the road home.

Come soon spring!

Brimham Rocks: Bouldering

Brimham Rocks are a collection of boulders and crags near Harrogate in North Yorkshire. The rocks, made of gritstone, have been sculpted by erosion into unusual shapes including rounded towers, loaf shapes, and rocks are balanced in surprising locations.

The grippy nature of the rock, and the shapes it is formed into, make Brimham Rocks a great place to go climbing and bouldering. There are climbing routes up to about 14 metres long across the grades, and a similar range of bouldering problems scattered across the formations. Jamming cracks seem to be a common feature here.

The second weekend of January was blessed with sunny, still conditions - a perfect opportunity to make my first visit to Brimham and try and work off the excesses of christmas.

Sculpted shapes: around Castle Rock at Brimham Rocks

We started by doing some boulder problems and routes on Castle Rock, the most impressive large rock formation at Brimham. Despite the frosty conditions the rock faces in the sun were warm to the touch, making climbing pleasant. Lots of walkers stopped to watch as we soloed some of the easier routes, although some of the parents with young children were not impressed by the example we were setting.

Cubic Block, Brimham

We then tested out a few boulder problems in the Cubic Block area of Brimham. The problem in the photo above goes from a lying down start, at full stretch, into big pull up the arete to the break at the top of the photo. The big pull defeated Neil and I despite repeated attempts. One for next time!

Heather Wall, Brimham

As the sun dropped towards the horizon, the temperature fell rapidly. We kept moving to keep warm, accomplished by soloing some easy routes on Cubic Wall. In the photo above Neil is climbing Heather Wall (severe).

Cubic Corner, Brimham

Neil climbing Cubic Corner (Hard Severe 4b). The route follows the arete on Cubic Block and had a tricky move at about 2/3rds height that gave a touch of excitement to my solo attempt. When the rock became to cold to climb we called it a day. A great start to 2012!