Cef, Debbie and friend Liz, on her first ever outdoor trip set off for Stanage, followed by Alan and Peri. Weather looked somewhat iffy but managed to hold off raining for the day.
Cef lead Black Hawk Traverse Left – VDiff/Severe ***. I went second and found this a bit unnerving with the wind which got stronger the nearer to the top. I had a nut key on sale or return from Rob which I had chance to use, and must say, it is a smashing key because I managed to get gear out on all of the climbs without getting annoyed with stuck stuff! Liz took a bit of a swing on this route when her foot slipped off but it turned out she swung to the exact spot she needed to be to complete the climb, so that was ok and not cheating at all.
Then we did Physiology VDiff 1* which was nice. We then moved further on to do Right Hand Trinity Severe 4a ** which was also a great climb, with a couple of unexpected tricky moves. At this point Liz downclimbed the descent, then went off in the wrong direction unbeknown to me and Cef. After a short while I thought I'd better go and look for her, and eventually found her wandering around looking puzzled at the far end of the crag. Yes to the untrained eye one area of crag does look much like another!
We then did Leaning buttress crack VDiff ** and were going to call it a day when Peri and Alan met up with us and said they would do one more climb. Peri and Cef went off to do Via Media VS * and Alan led Leaning Buttress Direct HVS 5b *. I then went up second but cheated at the beginning and went round the side, which wasn't good and I was cross with myself that I didn't even give the proper beginning much of a try. Alan told me off further up the route for trying to get my leg up too high which was justifiably right as when I took smaller steps I managed to do the bit I was stuck on ok.
Then we all left, except Alan who stayed to camp over.
Thank you all for a great day.