Hart Crag Icefalls

Making the most of the last of the cold weather, Adrian and I headed to the Lakes. We, rather optimistically, hoped to find Black Crag Icefall still complete. A 5.30 start from Ali's floor and a sweaty rush up the hill saw us beneath the icefall, which sadly had a number of gaps in it. We then headed up to Hart Crag at a more leisurly pace, via a solo up Houndshope Beck.

Naughty soloing at the start of Hart Crag Icefalls.

The ice on Hart crag was fat and chewy, so we set about climbing it as fast as we could before the thaw ate it all. By 2pm the thaw was well underway, but we had climbed 350m of good ice at grades III and IV and were knackered so didn't mind going home.

Adrian leading a grade IV pitch.

Easy routes

As the title says, I've been catching up on some hiking and easy classics the last few months. My favourite was Bracket and Slab on Gimmer Crag. Here's a photo.

Sandstone Rocks!

Everyone knows Southern Sandstone is the finest rock known to man. Unfortunately I am often compelled to climb on inferior media such as Gritstone, Rhyolite or ice.

Last week we went to Yarncliffe Quarry and enjoyed some of the mid grade gritstone and sand slab routes. Cardinal's crack was especially enjoyable as the hairy one hates fist jamming, especially when it is wet and damp, even though he was seconding on a very tight rope. His Royal Hairiness made up for this with a couple of good leads on Latecomer and Cardinal's slab.

I must also admit to appplying Southern Sandstone ethics to the bold Ant's Arete, largely due to needing rescuing from a lead attempt.