A Day on the Grit

A hot Monday and a small team - Stanage far north was the chosen venue - it got it up to 29C in Sheffield, so shade was must. We wandered out beyond High Neb and settled on the Marble Wall area. After ticking a couple of of the popular classics I had a wander round and spotted a line or two that I was pretty sure hadn't been done. After the exceptionally wet spring, I was expecting the recessed area to be green but it wasn't too bad at all. A couple of hours later and we had six new (OK unrecorded) routes in the bag. The pick was Hidden Pleasures E2 5c (see photo) - a tricky little number. A bit of shoddy footwork and I was rewarded with the Gritstone Kiss, but it was worth it!
Further research has failed to find any mention of the routes so maybe they really are new - get in!

There and Back

The UKC/RF team have been and gone, the weather was kind and lots of excellent climbing got done. Overall impressions of the area appeared to be very positive; great scenery, brilliant routes and as ever, it was lovely and quiet. There were several highlights but the BBQ at Chez Arran (photo above) went down particularly well after a long hot day on the rock. The next few days are forecast to be showery so it looks like they timed it pretty well.
Our original booking runs out at the end of the week and Chez Arran is fully booked (a group of 16, including lots of children - arggghh!) so we are set to be homeless  ;-( After checking our options - the simplest thing appeared to be booking a flight back to the UK for 10 days; RyanAir: Carcassonne to East Midlands €12:99 each - all in - unbelievable!

Change Over

Colin has just had another six days with us and has climber ever one of them (I farmed him out to John Arran one day to give me a breather) and now he is trekking back north, with a big bag of butties and a song in his heart - UK bound. Today was really hot (35C briefly) to we went bouldering at Orlu which was a great call, a bit of a breeze from the river, and shade from the trees. It was really idyllic - even though we don't 'do' bouldering.
Tomorrow the UKC/UKH/RF team arrive for their weeks 'jolly' in the Ariege - the forecast is set fair - I am sure they will have a cracking time, with loads of climbing, partying and sun bathing - bloody holiday makers!

End of the Line?

The forecast was for rain later so a quick job was in order; check-out Roquefixada and had a look at a couple of other crags in the area - time well spent - the rain arrived bang on time.
The Ariege guide is progressing well, maybe another six months work should see it done.  It has been great living in the area and working on the book - so much easier then jetting backwards and forwards, especially considering this is such a lovely part of the world to spend a bit of time.
I wrote my 1st guidebook in 1991 - 21 years ago - I don't think I'll be taking on any new books, I must have done around 20 titles now - nor bad for a slow learner! That doesn't mean I am stopping just yet mind, those UK titles still need nurturing as does the Blanca, Lofoten and Cote d'Azur.