Well a few of us were fairly cheesed off and fed up with the British Summer. It looked like Friday was going to be our best chance of escape to get some climbing, we may even get some decent weather. So the Internet was alive with Emails and instant messages, what else is the works internet connection and Email used for ?
So there I was waiting at traffic lights on the Hull Road on my way to meet Rob and Peri. I was a bit slow of the mark, as a very professional looking lady crossed the road in front of me, it took me a few moments to realise it was Peri. She does look a lot different in her "cragging clothes".
After picking up Rob we arrived at Peri's to find her ready and raring to go ( must be some sort of "Super Hero" to change that quickly ).
Plan A
Do you have the NT membership card ? Yes it is in my purse ( we are cheap skates and didn't want to pay for parking ). So racing away from York, to try and miss the traffic, Rob had me go up the outside and do the 360 degree trick on the roundabouts. Somewhere along the A59 Peri realised the NT card was actually in the boot of her car, so that led to …….
Plan B
So about 700 metres past the entrance to Brimham rocks there is a small parking area on the right where you can get 3-4 cars. We dragged the bags out of the trunk, sorry boot, and started walking across the moor into Brimahm rocks. It did not look good, it was very wet and slippery on the path, looked more like bog trotting.
As we hit the main tourist path we were right in front of Castle rock. Rob said "what's that?" Jabberwok HS, MVS, VS 4b ** was the reply, "hmm never done that".
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Rob leading Jabberwok or is that Jibberwok !!!
So Rob started up Jabberwok, he decided to lead it the "original way", start 2 metres left of the obvious crack and head straight up the wall. There is very little solid gear until you get up to the overhang and the holds are not all the friendly. I am pretty sure that he was a lot more relaxed and comfortable when he got to the following position.
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Rob relaxing in the chimney
Whilst Rob was leading up this route Dave arrived ( unclub ) and he headed off to find Peri over at Duggie's Dilema area. Simon and Carmen also came past, took some photos and then Simon announced that Carmen was going to lead Lancet Crack VS 5A **
So Rob set up a belay on top and I started to follow, I didn't remember the climb being this hard ( I had led it many years ago ). He had a good laugh at the "moves" I had to make removing the gear and thrutching up through the chimney. It was a very interesting belay setup on top. The way down was to scramble off the back of the rock
We packed up an headed over to where Simon and Carmen were climbing. Carmen was having a taxing time on Lancet Crack and she decided to "hang around"
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Carmen taking a breather on Lancet Crack
So after some advice and barracking, Rob and I had a look in the guide book and moved over to the Cyclops area. We soloed Centre Point Diff, Slab Arete VDiff, I led Cyclops S 4A*. Rob led up Acme Error HVS 5A*, Gordon's Proffer HVS 5A.
We heard some thrashing through the undergrowth and out popped Simon and Carmen. They soloed some of the routes we had and Carmen got her revenge giving me some grief whilst I attempted to get up Gordon's Proffer. If you follow the picture links at the end then you can see my attempts at getting up Gordon's Proffer. The midges soon decided to come out with a vengeance as the light was falling ( the midges were particularly vicious as they has not been fed in the past 36 hours with all the rain around ), S & C were just starting up their last climb for the night. Rob and I decided to call it a night and head off to the New Inn pub. We had a bit of wander to find a path out of the Brimham undergrowth and then a quick route march back to the car.
Team Peri & Dave
Peri led up Duggie's Dilema VS 4c * a bold lead, where the only place to get any gear is 3 feet before the top, a cool head is needed. They then went over to the Druid's Idol area where Dave led up Indian's Arete S 4b a thin hanging arete. The belay on the top is a bit thin and the descent needs some thinking about, here are Peri thoughts on it "The belay at the top is a bit of a bugger though, and you can either abseil off and leave gear, double abseil (always a bit scary) or alternatively, lead from one side, lower down the other and belay the second from there, then lower them off again". She has also told me to say that this route is really worth doing and should see more traffic, I am under the penalty of a severe beating or 2-5 metres of penalty slack if I don't give it a Big Up.
Rob and I arrived just behind Simon and Carmen at the New Inn, as we walked in we found that Dave and Peri had left a bit early to head for the Pub and food. The beer was good And they said the food was great, another place to add to the list of Pubs to visit.
More photos …
My superpowers are Faffing, Inventing Excuses, and Eating Sticky Toffee Pudding. The Butternut Squash Risotto in the New Inn was fabulous.