Friday glee has gritstone

[rydra_wong]

The Friday post of glee is where you get to tell us about your climbing-related happiness this week.

It can be a new achievement or adventure, or just that you climbed and had fun; it can be that your favourite climbing wall is expanding or that you bought new rock shoes or that you found a cool ice-climbing vid on YouTube. No glee is too small -- or too big.

Members are encouraged to cheer each other on and share the squee.

To enhance this week's glee: a gorgeous little vid of Conan The Librarian, a classic V4 on Peak gritstone. For reasons which my comment will make clear.

N.B. Feel free to post your glee in the comm on any day of the week. The Friday post is just to get the ball rolling.

Comments

SO MUCH GLEE

[rydra_wong]

Yesterday, halfway through my morning coffee, I realized I had the day free, looked at the weather forecasts, thought fuck it, printed out a sheaf of timetables and maps from the internet, ran out of the house and got on a train to Sheffield.

Several hours (and a bus ride and a walk) later, I was at Burbage South Boulders, climbing on gritstone for the first time in my life. It was one of the better days I've ever had in my life.

I think by pure luck I got perfect gritstone weather, cold and frosty and dry, and people are not kidding when they say the rock becomes like Velcro. It's completely different from anything I've ever climbed on before; it tends not to have holds as such, but you hold onto the rock and it's like it grips you back.

I fell in with some local boulderers and got use of their mat and their sage advice on gritstone footwork, and my mind is suitably expanded.

And the light across the valley and the moorlands turned everything gold. The colours in that vid are not a lie. Good god, it's an extraordinary piece of landscape.

Re: SO MUCH GLEE

[emperor]

That's pretty cool. I've never climbed on grit (Wales seems short of it), but ukclimbing seem to think it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Re: SO MUCH GLEE

[rydra_wong]

Wales seems short of it

Yeah, but you get all that amazing slate and rhyolite! *g* I really need to climb in Wales at some point too.

The gritstone is freaky-wonderful stuff, though. The friction is so extreme I was using slopers and smears that I'd never have dreamt of being able to stick to on any other type of rock/plastic/concrete I've experienced.

Which is good, because you don't really get anything except slopers and smears. Well, and hand-jams, I gather, but I didn't venture into those arcane mysteries this time.

It feels like a whole new climbing style in some ways.

Re: SO MUCH GLEE

[emperor]

Rhyolite is lovely rock - it feels really grippy, and has lots of little pockets you can stick a finger or two into. Slate has a bit of a reputation, but I've not actually climbed on it yet.

[wpadmirer]

My climbing glee this week is that I'm starting to get my climbing schedule back to three times a week, but not this weekend. ARGH! This weekend I'm actually in the Atlanta, Georgia area -and I won't be able to go to the new fantastic rock gym here because this is a writers' conference - so it's work.

WOE! I finally get to Atlanta and I can't go to the gym! WOE!

But I'll climb again on Tuesday. So life ain't too bad. (grin)

[rydra_wong]

Woe for not being able to attend the new gym! But yay for getting back to your schedule otherwise!