Peak District Trad Leading Course
It has been really enjoyable to get back to the Peak District and onto the gritstone this weekend. It was also great to meet two new and friendly clients! Colm and Lisa drove up from London and I drove down from the Lake District. We aimed for the Peak District as the weather forecast for the Lakes was looking so wet.
Stanage was rather damp on Saturday so we went to Froggatt and enjoyed 4 good leads on Trapeze Direct, Sickle Buttress Direct, Diamond Crack and Sunset Crack. Colm and Lisa have plenty of sport climbing experience so they were well set to jump in at the deep end and tackle the Very Severe grade for their first leads on grit.
Sunday brought more sunshine so we went to Stanage for a wild and windy morning on Heather Wall and Black Hawk Traverse. Plenty of learning was had by Colm on Heather Wall in the pumpy first few metres, where it’s necessary to hang on the arms a little whilst arranging protection. Hanging on the gear for a rest was good for building confidence in the trad placements.
After some chilly hands and two very windy belays at the top of the crag, we retreated back to its base and spent some time practising different belay set ups: two, three and four anchors in reach, two and three anchors out of reach, linking two and three anchors with a sling, tying in with a clove hitch and tying in with a figure of 8.
Since it was trad leading course on gritstone, here are some examples of good gear placements on grit:
Cheers to Colm and Lisa for two very enjoyable days at work!