Saturday

Members: Emily Pitts, Clare Hodgson, James Williams, Dan O'Brian, Dave Wylie, Roger Dyke, Dave Dillon, Mark Pilling 

Guests: Jasmine Pitts, Rosie Clayton, Adele Doran, Clay Conlon, Juan Antonio Marquez, Beth Thomas, Jim Smith, Emma Timmis, Sam Arnold, Carrie Marr, Katy Cairns, Anna Reeves, Aysha Madha, Hong T, Anisa Aslam, Alex Cardus, Katarina Lauer 

Our order of glorious sunshine was well received on this splendid trip out to the central reaches of beautiful Stanage Edge.  

Friday night saw a select group of women collecting together at the local midge encampment - AKA North Lees Campsite.  Emily, Jasmine, Emma, Hong, Kat, Adele and Liz braved two nights of Woman Vs Midge and came out alive to fight another day, albeit looking like they had caught a bad case of measles.  Clay joined the clan and became an honorary woman Vs midge contestant on Saturday night.

Saturday morning saw us Start off at the 'Away from it all' area, where we managed to steer well away from the crowds and gain exclusive rights to our particular enclave.  At the same time a group of four headed off to High Neb where they enjoyed a one day learn to lead course with womenclimb on Saturday, put to the test with a few first leads on Sunday.

Saturday night brought a lovely pub meal with a few well-earned pints and a lift home to the swarm in Aysha's car. 

Sunday

Members: Emily Pitts, Dave Shotton, Dave Wylie, Roger Dyke, James Williams, Alice Bows, Kevin Anderson, Jo Stratford, Andy Stratford, Phillipa Maye, Jim Symon, Cathy Gordon.

Guests: Jasmine Pitts, Clay Conlon, Emma Timmis, Beth Thomas, Jim Smith, Geri Mihalkova, Adele Doran, Alex Cardus, Rosie Clayton, Katarina Lauer, Aysha Madha, Nic Beck, Jack Plum, Meirion Tanner.

As the sun rose again on Sunday, Aysha had the pleasure of her first seconding experience outdoors on the glorious starred crack of Via media on rusty wall.  Jim and Beth smashed their way through an array of HVS routes including the Tippler and The Flange. 

Hargreaves Original gave a good amount of fun for James, Emma, Beth and Jim.  Whilst The Groper, led by Beth and Clay, seconded by Emily, Emma and Jim, provided most splendid entertainment for all onlookers and the climbers themselves.

Several hundred screams, grunts, gasps and thrutches later, a whole new climbing grading system was created, starting with RBH (Really Bloody Hard) and finishing with NKJA (Nice Knee Jam Action).  More to follow at next year's exciting Stanage meet. 

Drinking tea
Meeting people
Eating cake
Camping

If you like any of the above in association with climbing then this meet is for you.  Being a newcomer is not a pre-requisite, but if you are you will be welcomed warmly for a day or two at the Peaks’ most popular climbing venue, where you can test your mettle on routes from Vdiff up to high E’s. 

The evening will see us retiring to the campsite for some obligatory toasting of marshmallows and a pot of delicious food, which I’m happy to knock up for those who wish to tuck in. 

In short this will be a fun weekend, which you can dip into and out of as you wish.  It would be great to see a good show of experienced members to get some pointers for those of us stuck at leading VDiff!  Contact me if you want to find out more or arrange to meet beforehand. 

Practicalities

Camping: 

North Lees Campsite,

Birley Lane,

Hathersage,
Hope Valley,

Derbyshire S32 1BR

£6 per person // £1 per car

Friday night:  I will be there around 6pm

Saturday:  after climbing, with beverages of choice and good food

At the crag:

Saturday:  from 10am at the Away from it All area – Quieter than the other parts of Popular End and a good place to start out, with routes including Delightful, Delicious and Delovely – I’ll bring some cake to complement the route names.  Bring a flask of your poison and cake will be yours. 

Sunday:  from 10.30am - April Crack, Rusty Wall and Hollybush Crack as a starter for ten, then out towards Plantation End as the day and our skills progress!

On both days I will be sporting the yellow jersey, grey helmet with name emblazoned upon it and signature red spectacles.  In the event of seriously inclement weather (I have ordered glorious sunshine, so this shouldn’t be required), I will be found in the café of Outside in Hathersage, probably eating a hearty breakfast.  In either event my phone will be on, but reception is unreliable.