After my Peak district adventure I spend a couple of days in Harrogate a lovely little town in the Yorkshire dales surrounded by small bouldering area’s. We stayed there with a friend we know from way back when there were no boulder gyms yet and we used to hang around 3 nights a week at the famous Globe boulder cave. That is were we met Saj, better known to me as the candy-man.
The weather was not great in Harrogate. The first day we drove around in the rain checking out some of the bouldering area’s. At the end of the day it stopped raining and I did a couple of 7A’s at Alms Cliff. Great but windy place. I want to come back here for the Keel, a cool problem that I was not able to do in the little time we were there.
The second day was a bit better. It started out with a clear
blue sky and we hit the road for Brimham Rocks. Of course this is the UK and
after sending some more 7A’s and a 7B+ it started snowing again. Luckily enough
the skies cleared after 30 minutes and the grit dries very quickly. Dylan
joined us for a couple of hours and together we worked in some problems. At the
end of the day after sending nine 7th grade boulders I went back to
the Grouch, a 7C boulder according to the topo, in which I made good progress
in the morning before it started snowing. The crux of the boulder is the
top-out. After some more fails at the top I figured out a sequence that worked
well for me and was able to send it.
After a relaxing third day at Saj’s with plenty of food and
well deserved rest we hit the road for the overnight ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge and a
4-hour drive to Fontainebleau where I will spend the rest of my spring break.
Below are some pictures and a movie from my day at Brimham
rocks.
Bouldering on the Yorkshire grit is nice and I definitively
want to return. The areas are small but the problems are really good.
I like grit a lot, but my skin doesn’t.
