Quick Climbing Update - Cioch Top and yet another visit to Burbage

In amongst the recent running it has been far too hot to climb indoors, so we have headed outside instead.  On Saturday Andy took Liz, Kelly and me out to Burbage to meet Ed and Kelly and their friend Alex, where the plan was to head to some of the boulders we didn't get to last time although we ended up revisiting Cobra, Pock, Lamb and Sheep before then moving on to Armoured Car and Tank.  It was quite hot, and I was running the next day, so I was fairly gentle about the whole thing and there wasn't really anything to write home about.

After work on Monday we decided to head to the Peaks again, making it three days in a row I had been in the Peak District. We wanted to head somewhere we had not seen before, and aimed for Cioch Top Boulders at Curbar Edge.  When we got there we had a long walk in including a bit of scrabbling, and then searching for the rocks - turns out the picture in the book is deceptive and what looks like one rock is actually two, with an awkward boulder in front of the one we were aiming to climb, and with worse than expected landings with the drop off not far away.

Oh, and it was a lot steeper than it appeared in the book which made it look far more slabby...  Left Arete was an easy climb  but with a quite high and balancey top out, where you get over and realise it's not much better than the face you just came up.  Crispy Roof was a really nice climb, and for the first time this year I felt I was pushing into the space I should be climbing outside in rather than coasting and taking it easy. I didn't like the look of Crispy Noodling or Crispy Rib though, and this particular boulder felt quite loose and fragile.

The area is clearly a lot less climbed than some of the peak crags, the rock having a lot of loose sand and grit all over it making for some careful climbing. Chekov, Scotty and Bones were all simple enough, moving on to Mister Spock and Uhuru was a bit more intimidating as the top was quite a bit higher. Despite being the lowest grade on this face no one fancied Sulu, but we worked Uhuru for quite a while to no avail.

Kelly attempting to find anything on Uhuru

Picture by Liz

Having exhausted the area we moved back to Moon Buttress, initially looking at Dog Leg Crack before deciding that crack jamming was a silly idea and dropping around in to The Trench where the landings were good and the tops not too high. A nice easy Left Arete (common name...) and then it was time to work at Trench Hole where there are a few good hands and then a lot of slopers, which eventually went.  The neighbouring Ringworm was less pleasant, some nice undercuts and ledges low down and then a barren sloper that I just couldn't stick to right where you really wanted a tiny pebble or sharp crimp just so you had something to work with!  Others got it, but I just could not make it work however I tried it, but I gave it a really good go.

With daylight fading it was time to head home, and we were treated to a really great peak district sunset.  There were plans to head out again on Wednesday but we were tired and the weather was threatening rain so I went for a swim then hosted a solstice barbecue instead, with only a few periods of hiding from rain :)

Burbage Birthday Boulder

It's my Birthday today, and in the run up I was wondering what to do for it. In the end I decided that I would really like to be out in the Peaks enjoying the fact I live in The Outdoor City. I'd also been planing to take my son out climbing again as he enjoyed himself at The Three Ships last month even if some of it was a little challenging for him.  After we got in last time we looked in Peak Bouldering and spotted that above Burbage South Quarries is an area named  "The Kindergarten" with two described problems in a large baby boulderfield great for getting kids started, so I decided to head out here with a view to dropping down in to the valley later.

As well as the usual Liz, Kelly and Andy we also had my friend Becky and her partner with their young kid, who I was passing on a pair of my boys outgrown climbing shoes to.  We all played around in the Kindergarten for a bit and the kids got up plenty of things easily before exploring the area for a bit, and then we headed down on to the valley floor.  This area is one I always have fond memories of as it was my first experience of outdoors bouldering; many years back now we headed here after work one evening and after finding Pock Block a little intimidating I got my first problem sent on Fat Cobra, so that's where we started.

Several problems fell easily here, and Becky got to pop her outdoor bouldering cherry. We attempted Cobra Mantel but it was just too intimidating with the mass of Pock Block right where you are likely to smash yourself , so it was time for a little play on some of the easier problems on the aforementioned block such as Pick and Wall Past Slot, then we decided to move on again. Lamb and Sheep have some nice gentle aretes which are a great introduction to Peak Grit, so we headed thataway.

We climbed Lamb Slab and Sheep Slab on many different routes, F really impressing with his commitment and footwork - those new shoes are really paying off as they have been described as "more comfy than his trainers" and he was smearing fantastically, walking up some slabs with no hands.  At the top of Sheep Slab we found a big hairy caterpillar which appeared to be trying to build a cocoon out of grit, which attracted quite a bit of attention.

I also managed to get a few more here - The Sheep's Backside, Sheep Easy, The Crook and The Crook Traverse - before making a weak attempt at The Shearing while others tried much harder at it.  Finally it was time to head to The Brick where many easy climbs went up Briquette and the the Short Arete went on Brick itself before decamping to Fox House for a pint and tea. It was a great birthday, nothing too hard but a lot of fun and even a touch of sun.