Trip Report
Quick Trip to the Grit!
Thursday September 21, 2006 11:20pm
After listening to the hubby talk about (and drool over the prospect of) the U.K. Gritstone for a long, long time, we were finally able to get over there for a couple of days as part of a larger family trip (which included lots of eating, drinking and basically just indulging). Here are some photos (probably too many!) of the beautiful Peak District. We had the pleasure of climbing with and being guided by the extraordinary John Arran (who took us to the classics!), had really nice weather and saw the gorgeous purple heather in bloom. We didn't want to leave and hope to go back...

At Stanage:

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My first trad lead!

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These are from Froggatt Edge. The pocket with the wire in it is the only pro on this slab!
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Super cool arete. Being small I had a good ole time with this reach! Bill had it no problem...
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Check out the scenery
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"Brown's Eliminate" - double rope lead and awesome climb
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The village of Froggatt
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What the top looks like (add sheep, purple heather - gorgeous!)
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"The Rasp", Higgar Tor
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Beautiful scenery looking out from Higgar Tor bouldering to Burbage Edge
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...and some limestone at High Tor
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Missing photo ID#125101

Another excellent adventure - the Gravity Bar atop the Guiness brewery, post-tour with stellar views of Dublin. Yeah!
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  Trip Report Views: 2,759
crusher
About the Author
crusher is a climber from Santa Monica, CA.

Comments
alasdair

Trad climber
scotland
  Sep 22, 2006 - 12:45am PT
glad you had a good time, pics aren't working on firefox
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Sep 22, 2006 - 01:14am PT
How to fix that? They're on Kodak - jpegs. Any idea?
Curt

climber
Gold Canyon, AZ
  Sep 22, 2006 - 01:41am PT
The pics don't show up using the Safari browser either. Too bad, 'cause I really liked climbing at Froggat and would love to see them.

Curt
Howie

Trad climber
Calgary, Alberta
  Sep 22, 2006 - 11:50am PT
Fix the pictures, so I can get my fix from home ground!
Lived in the UK for over 45 years and the Peak for 15 of those years before emigrating to Canada. Great climbing! Great memories!
It used to be said that if you could climb Grit you could climb anything.
Climb safe.
Howie.
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Sep 22, 2006 - 12:23pm PT
Ok so if Kodak Gallery won't work for you guys what can you view? I've tried Photobucket and for some reason can't use it -what other picture websites work for mostly everyone on the Taco?

Sorry, I didn't mean to tease! : )


EDIT: For now, here's a link to the Kodak Gallery page:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=58842342211.68884501411.1158942717510&page=1&sort_order=0&navfolderid=0&folderid=0&ownerid=0
Bart Fay

Social climber
Redlands, CA
  Sep 22, 2006 - 01:49pm PT
Album Not Found
The link you are using is no longer valid. If this link was sent to you in an email and you would like to view the photos, you will need to contact the album owner and have them share the album using the Gallery's share feature.

If the link was to your own album and you would like to link your album from a personal web site or create a custom email message, please follow these instructions:

1. Share the album with yourself, from the "Share Photos" tab, with your own email address in the "To" field.
2. After you receive the share email, copy the URL, or web address, included at the bottom of the email.
3. This web address can be sent to friends or family with a custom email message, or you can use it to add to your personal web site.
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Sep 22, 2006 - 11:02pm PT
I think I've succeeded in fixing the pictures - they're on photobucket now - let me know if they work!

Thanks for the help. : )
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
  Sep 22, 2006 - 11:06pm PT
Far Fuchin' Out!
Now this is good Grit-y Cyber Surfin'

I want some 'a that action sumthin' fierce...
Ain't it somehow the birthplace of our whole silly striving escapade?
Thanks Fer Sharing.
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Sep 22, 2006 - 11:19pm PT
Thank God it worked this time. If I had to load these %^&# things again I was goin' to bed.

Sorry for the duplicate and the one that I can't get to flip right.

Here's the correct top shot for Brown's eliminate:

Some other fun stuff:

John A. soloing "Downhill Racer" at Froggatt (putting the rope up for us wankers):
Peter Haan

Trad climber
Wyoming
  Sep 22, 2006 - 11:30pm PT
HI Crusher,

Using cable conn. with Safari, all images appear... no problem at all... what's the problem. And by the way, thanks loads for your thread and the great images!! Just finished reading Whillans: the Villain by Jim Perrin, great detailed biography, make sure and read it.

best PH
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Sep 22, 2006 - 11:40pm PT
Thanks for the book suggestion Peter! The problem was I used the Kodak Gallery when I first posted and some people seemed unable to view the pictures so I went back and put everything onto the desktop and then into Photobucket and did an edit. I then wasn't sure how to change the title of the thread to "fixed"...

Tar B - if you've never been you've got to go. Place is amazing. The Grit is amazing. The stuff those guys did back when with no or old fashioned pro is really cool. The scenery and super nice people don't hurt either.

BV

Trad climber
Bay Area
  Sep 23, 2006 - 12:34am PT
Ahh, I remember my trip to the grit not so long ago. Looks like you had fun!
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
  Sep 23, 2006 - 12:19pm PT
Definitely want to go grit.
Plus, really good Scotch sometimes shows notes of heather.

Though I never met him,
John Arran made his mark out here:
He went soloing by a good friend of mine on his way up the Naked Edge.
'Good to know he still has the majik!
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
  Sep 23, 2006 - 11:31pm PT
Crusher, you know how I am.
Nice pix but when does the sun come out?
Phil_B

Social climber
CHC, en zed
  Sep 24, 2006 - 12:05pm PT
Way cool!

Thanks for posting.
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Sep 24, 2006 - 12:24pm PT
Ron,

It went in and out - our day at Stanage saw more clouds than sun and it rained hard on us at the end of the day. Luckily on the other days it was mostly sunny, nice puffy clouds, some wind. Not what we're used to being in SoCal but it makes for some awesome green scenery!

The good news about the gritstone is it dries really fast after the rain.

Crimpergirl

Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
  Sep 24, 2006 - 05:31pm PT
Cool looking rock. Thanks for the trip report. In my opinion, there can never be too many photos!
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
  Nov 13, 2008 - 03:15pm PT
bump!
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
  Nov 13, 2008 - 03:52pm PT
oh wow, great bump. Did I miss this the first time around? That or memory is flailing as bad as my wide skills.

Grieat Grit

crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Nov 13, 2008 - 08:18pm PT
Radical I'm at work right now but I'll look it up when I get home, we've got a list of which ones we did and I can't remember the names except for "Brown's Eliminate" - super memorable since there's no pro for the whole second half and it's a ground fall. Thank God Mr. Crusher was leading it and not me.

Those climbs were all SOOOOOOOOOOOOO fun. We got soaked towards the end of the first day out - total downpour. Got lucky for the next two days with great weather though.
Jeremy Handren

climber
NV
  Nov 14, 2008 - 01:07pm PT
I always try and go climbing in the Peak when I go home to visit family. Definitely one of my favorite climbing mediums. Here are a few shots from a trip in 2006.


Peering up at the crux of Profit of Doom. The gear placement is now all blown out (see the 1977 thread) and the piece is now pretty poor, making this a much scarier lead than it used to be.

Josh Horniac on London Wall, photo by Niall Grimes.

Strapadichtomy..looks like my heads about to explode in this one. This photo was also taken by Niall. He was doing a photo shoot with Michael Reardon, who was also milling around the base of the cliff that day. Michael was trying to get psyched up to solo Stapadichtomy, but after watching Josh, Ian and I take bunches of falls before we got up it, he got a little psyched out instead.
duncan

climber
London, UK
  Nov 14, 2008 - 01:53pm PT
radical, the second (and third) photos are of Robin Hood's Right-Hand Buttress Direct. "Hard Severe" or about 5.6, first climbed in 1922.

I last did this fine little route four years ago with a regular contributor to this forum.
HighGravity

Trad climber
Southern California
  Nov 14, 2008 - 02:22pm PT
Nice TR, I've got to get there. Maybe after the 2012 games in London.
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Nov 14, 2008 - 02:28pm PT
Thanks Duncan, didn't have time last night to look that up. I sorta thought it was one of the Robin Hoods but wanted to confirm.
crunch

Social climber
CO
  Nov 14, 2008 - 03:36pm PT
What's with all the cams and stuff? A real crusher don't need no gear....


Great Slab. One of Joe Brown's finest.

Fat Dad

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
  Nov 17, 2008 - 02:39pm PT
Thanks much for sharing your wonderful photos.

Reminds me of my only trip to the grit some 25 years ago to visit a friend I met and climbed with in the Valley. Nice you had a rope gun like John Arran to act as tour guide. Next time I go back, I'll see if Ron Fawcett's available.
micronut

Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
  Nov 17, 2008 - 02:46pm PT
Excellent. Like watching hard grit. Just less blood. Thanks for posting.
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Nov 21, 2008 - 01:37am PT
Micronut you're funny...there was, in fact, some blood. Not too much, nothing crazy, but me trying to climb the classic "File" at Higgar Tor was nothing short of an epic. The thing is, I think, about a 5.8 but it's a fist-sized slanted, rounded crack (and when I say "fist sized" that's for the average-sized man, and I'm a small-sized woman) - so I got about half way up it, then was out. Swung back to get into it, fell out...and so on, you get the idea. Cursing ensued, skin ripped off the back of my hands and fingers (no I wasn't taped), blood oozed and I think I gave up.

So the rest of our trip after climbing was a cruise with my family 'round the British Isles to celebrate my parents' 50-year anniversary. It was great. The first thing my Mom said when we hooked up with them in London was "my God what happened to your hands!"...well she was used to my bloodying and bruising exploits from childhood on, but you know, we were going on a cruise, with black tie nights and I looked, well, bloodied. Scabbed. Eeeiiiw. Good thing I hand lots of band aids with me...black slinky gown and Johnson & Johnson - the perfect accessory!

Anyway I realized there were some more nice pictures from the Quick Trip to the Grit, and in the spirit of posting about rock and nature...


The first glimpse of Stanage:

Fossils in the limestone of Castle Kilkenney:

On a hike above Dublin:

Where's the pot 'o' gold?

Sister and I at a favorite stop:

Waterford Harbor:

In county Kilkenney:

Near Inverness:

Some other cliffs (White Cliffs of Dover):
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Nov 21, 2008 - 01:41am PT

Dover Castle:
jbar

Mountain climber
urasymptote
  Nov 21, 2008 - 01:59am PT
wow, great tr! Love the heather pic and jealous of the Guinness.
The first few pics look fun. Like some of my local climbs. Bouldering up high and a small rack cuz there's no place for gear. Those are some great pictures.
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Author's Reply  Nov 21, 2008 - 10:44pm PT
Furry freinds at Froggat

Fossils

And feathered friends

This was really a great trip. I hadn't looked at the pictures in a while and now am thinking about what a great time we all had.
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  Jun 3, 2011 - 12:18am PT
BAD A$$ Y'all, love the beer pics!
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
  Nov 4, 2011 - 12:58pm PT
Looks like some great stuff.
chez

Social climber
chicago ill
  Nov 4, 2011 - 01:46pm PT
Do any climbing in Ireland?
Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
  Nov 4, 2011 - 01:54pm PT
wow - some great shots of what look like great climbs! Thanks!
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