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Posts Tagged Peak District

Peak Practice

Jun 8

Posted by Haydn in Outdoors | 1 Comment

I'm currently sat in the pub with about ten minutes until Ben arrives and is sure to lambast me for not keeping this blog up to date. In a desperate bid to fend off his relentless enthusiasm, I figured I'd better put up a little update about a run I did a couple of weeks ago.

In glorius sunshine, Greg, Sean and I set off from Nether Booth for a mini version of the Edale Skyline. We're all doing LAMM next weekend, so this was to be a quick training jaunt. From Hollins Cross we went around to Mam Tor, Rushup Edge, Brown Knoll, the Woolpacks and then down Grindsbrook Clough. FWIW, don't ever consider coming down Grindsbrook – it's way too rough, and I'd heartily suggest coming down from Ringing Roger instead. Injuries and the weather took their toll on our merry party; Sean had to cut back early, and I left Greg feeling the effects of the heat in Edale.

Most of the route - just follow the skyline. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

Most of the route - just follow the skyline. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

The route ended up being the furthest I've ever run, on or off road. At a length of about 23km, it was a good practice for a single LAMM day; I just need to double that performance next weekend, with a sack on my back! Nevertheless, I felt pretty reasonable at the end of it, despite forgetting to put my orthotics in my shoes before I set off (fool). I was also using a new pair of shoes, since my previous pair of Inov8's fell apart (they did replace them without any issues though). I got on OK with those, so everything's looking good. Stay tuned for a LAMM report early next week.

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Kinder Downfall by night

Jan 10

Posted by Haydn in Outdoors | 1 Comment

Well, as usual everyone's been getting very excited, and it seems that the cold weather has indeed brought Kinder Downfall into some kind of condition. So Hamish and I headed up last night for a look around…

After leaving Nottingham at 7pm, we set off from Snake Pass under a clear sky with a full moon. The temperature had been below freezing since Nottingham, and was -7C all the way from Ladybower. Headtorches weren't needed until we reached the Downfall, where there were already three parties climbing and another arriving at the same time as us. The 'Direct Route' up the main waterfall wasn't quite in, although the icicle was nearly reaching the floor. As a result, everyone was doing either the 'Downfall Climb' or 'Central Direct'; we plumped for the latter because Hamish likes taking the hard way up things. :)

<strong>A busy Kinder Downfall.</strong><br />Copyright Haydn Williams 2009.

A busy Kinder Downfall.
Copyright Haydn Williams 2009.

It was actually a really nice route – a little hacked up just through sheer traffic, but very enjoyable nonetheless. Everything went fine until just below the top. The UKC route description says "traverse leftwards, normally past a large icicle runner, then up a short vertical ice wall or corner to finish.". Rather than go past the runner, Hamish made the executive decision to lead up it instead, and had to search around a bit for foot placements. I'll give anything a go with a rope on, but just when I thought I'd got my feet up past the worst of it, my right axe popped and I was suddenly back down on the ledge. Worse still, the axe took a lob all the way to the bottom!

<strong>The Downfall the next morning, showing were I fell - about two feet up from where the top climber is.</strong><br />Thanks to Mat Galvin for the photo - copyright Mat 2009.

The Downfall the next morning, showing were I fell - about two feet up from where the top climber is.
Thanks to Mat Galvin for the photo - copyright Mat 2009.

I therefore followed the route as per the easier UKC description up to the top of the corner, until I could converse with Hamish, at which point I was lowered down to retrieve the fallen axe. He carried on and added another little icefall to finish off his night, and we met up again on the main path. The walk back to the car did drag, despite the clear night and lovely conditions, but we eventually made it back and returned to Nottingham about 04:15. Nice.

There was ice everywhere! Copyright Haydn Williams 2009.

There was ice everywhere!
Copyright Haydn Williams 2009.

Photos now online in the shiny new gallery.

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