Commitment to climbing

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Unknown climber clearing the cornice!!??!! before topping out on a classic Severe on Birchens Edge

Just how far do you go to get out cragging in the winter? I popped out on a November day in 2010 to have a look if anything was climbable on Birchens Edge. Nothing was (IMHO).

However, these guys weren’t gong to let a couple of feet of snow stop them. When I arrived, they were attacking a classic Severe in fine style. The top picture shows the leader breaking through the cornice to a challenging and very slippy top-out.

I made my excuses and headed off for an afternoon session in the ClimbingWorks. Well done chaps!

Ideal rock climbing conditions on Birchens Edge, Derbyshire. Apparently.

Noodle looking singularly unimpressed by the day's bouldering potential

My home bouldering wall

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Part of my home bouldering wall

Back when I arrived in Sheffield in 1986, there were no proper indoor climbing training facilities, so everyone built their own. These were generally in cellars, and a whole new generation of Sheffield cellar-dwelling ‘troglodytes’ was born. Even though Sheffield led the way, and now possesses some of the best indoor facilities anywhere (ClimbingWorks, The Foundry, The Edge, The Matrix), it’s still a tradition to have your own at home.

Here’s mine, which is in my garage, and is the first thing I did when we bought the house. It’s set up with relatively large holds at the moment for early season stamina training. It converts with an alternative set of holds into a ‘School Room’ type facility.

For more information on building your own wall, and plans for the ‘School Room’ layout, see Ben Moon’s excellent site:

http://www.moonclimbing.com/

The Roaches (Staffordshire Mar ’11): Very Far Boulders

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Problems 2-7 BMC Roaches definitive guide 2009. The obvious problem up the middle of the slab is 'Two Pocket Slab' V2 (5C)

Classic bouldering in solitude away from the crowds on the lower/upper tiers. Lovely pink-tinged gritstone with brilliant friction, sharp edges and no polish!

Sends

  • Rounded Arete VO- (4b)
  • Open Groove VO+ (5b)
  • Two Pocket Slab V2 (5c)
  • Wall and Rib VO- (4b)
  • Leek Hills V4 (6a)

Bouldering team from Liverpool on 'Two Pocket Slab'

The Roaches Upper Tier: climber on the roof of the Joe Brown Uber Classic 'The Sloth' from the 1950s

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