Page 11 - RAFMA Winter 2003

The Roaches is a wonderful lump of classic gritstone that sits close to the A53 Leek to Buxton road at the western edge of the Peak District (turn left atYe Olde RockInn). On Peak Rock gives the crag four stars and saysthat it "...vies with Stanage for the World Gritcrown"'.
Having recently moved to Staffordshire, I ventured out on a sunny Saturday in early June, with Dave Tait and Stew Boyce, to explore my new 'local'. We had a great day in spite of the fact Dave and James had made me eat a kebab with extra chili at 2 o'clock that morning. It is an impressive setting and worthy, we thought,
of a bit of marketing in the Journal.
On Peak Rock divides the Roaches into 4
separate areas; the Main area, Five Clouds area, the Skyline area and finally the Upper Tier Boulders. We climbed that day at the Main area, which can be reached by a short 1 0 -minute puff
up a steep hill from roadside parking. The first rock you come across is the Lower Tier, which is steep and up to 30m high in places. The majority of climbs there are graded HVS and above and it is home to some classic starred routes. A few examples are
Via Dolorosa (VS 4b, 3 stars "ascend the polished slab...bold moves..."), Valkyrie (HVS 4c, 2 stars, "...one of the most popular routes on gritstone") and Matinee (HVS 5b, 3 stars
"...a good grim grunt...").7
It was to the Upper Tier that we puffed our way, Dave and I
cursed the bad pint we had obviously had the night before and Stew undergoing his own private sauna as he walked up to the crag wearing his leathers. The Upper Tier is a must, not least for the spectacular view. It offers a palatable selection of lower grade climbs, (much more my cup of tea), including Black and Tans (S, 3 stars), for those of you chasing the Classic Rock3 ticks. In fact that was where we started, with Dave leading us, and jolly pleasant it was too! Next we had a go at Hollybush Crack (VS 4b, 2 stars); every crag seems to have one these days and again, it was worth the outing.
It was at that point that we watched a nearby climber leading the impressive roof of the Sloth (HVS 5b, 3 stars). We decided to give it a miss this time (!) and Dave and Stew opted for Saul's Crack (HVS 5a, 3 stars) instead. Despite much effort Dave did not manage to pass the crux (it helped when the lad we had seen climb the Sloth said that Saul's Crack was harder!) and Stew took over. After a bit of a thrutch he made it. After 2 more climbs (Bachelor's Butress VS4b, and Jeffcoat's Buttress, HS 4c) we called it a memorable day and went to the pub.
Five Clouds area is designated an evening crag by On Peak Rock. It describes the area as "...a steep slab plus cracks (1 5m). .42 routes, middling to hard, plus a couple of technical nightmares".' The easiest climb it describes is Crabbie's Crack at HVS 4c; obviously some people have a different idea of 'middling'!
The Skyline area is more remote than the popular Main area. It offers some 125 routes on 20m slabs, with some steep buttresses, and the views are apparently fantastic on summer evenings. At last this has some really 'middling' routes, with Cracked Arete (HVD, 1 star) and Slab and Arete (S, 3 stars) although the names do lack a bit of imagination (take Karabiner Chimney and Mantleshelf Slab for example)!
Overall I'm rather glad to have moved into the area. It's a great crag and I hope to have many more such memorable days there. Next time though I'll give the kebab a miss!
' s
Journal 200D33JJAF