Page 46 - 2015 AMA Autumn

climbing meets
AMA Peak Meet
11/12 Apr 2015
Despite a very worrying weather forecast of strong winds and heavy rain 12 AMA Members negotiated
the Friday traffic to get to Totley Range Hut, near Sheffield. This was to be the base for this years Peak Meet. Once again hosted by yours truly, retired Sport Climber Mike Smith.
The hut was booked for the meet by WO2 (SSM) Peter Doherty, who with his assistant, Marcus, dealt with all the admin.
The attendees were all at the hut by 2100hrs so it was down to the nearby hostelry, a whole 4 minute walk away, for a couple of local Ales. Those without climbing partners were quickly paired up and plans for the following day were made and re-made over a couple of beers.
The morning arrived with the remnants of a cold front which had past across the Peak in an Easterly direction during the early hours. After a splendid breakfast, cooked by Pete & Marcus, the group descended on Hathersage to wait for the wind to dry off the remaining moisture. The wind had been forecast to be gusting around 40mph – not believed by some! So it wasn’t long before the rock was indeed very dry.
Everyone went to Stanage, and why not? possibly the best crag in Britain. One
pair zoomed round to High Neb but the rest settled for the very short walk to the Popular end, which was, as ever, quite popular.
Some went for quality and some for quantity, but no one was disappointed. The weather however did cause some discomfort. Fortunately Mark & Dan had been dissuaded earlier on from wearing shorts, something I think they quite appreciated. At one point a short shower of hail battered the crag but this soon passed.
Routes tumbled as the day progressed and at around 5pm most pairs called it a day having clocked up an impressive number of routes and a significant collection of stars.
The most notable achievement however was Pete & Marcus’ recce of Yarncliffe and Lawrencefield Quarries, on foot from Totley. Possibly the longest walk in to a roadside crag, ever!
The evening started with a recce of some other local pubs. Evening meal was taken in the Cross Scythes ‘Sheffield’s No1 Gastro Pub’ no less. We even got our own room to dine in! More plans were hatched for the following day with most considering Froggatt as the best option.
Sunday morning looked gloomy but the forecast promised to stay dry until after 2pm, however the wind had not abated and was probably even stronger. Another excellent breakfast was devoured prior to setting off for the days climbing.
The main group went to Froggatt while the ‘novice’ group went to Millstone and a small crag known as Hells Bells . It was reasonably sheltered but, unbelievably, there was a rave still in progress in Law- rencefield Quarry. The thump, thump of bass was being carried by the wind although it didn’t spoil the morning completely. Both pairs climbed Embankment Route 2, one of the few easy routes on Millstone and most of the decent routes on Hells Bells.
Notable ascents on Froggatt were Todys Wall, Marcs first HVS and Trapeze Direct. By 2 o’clock all teams had set off for home, just before the rain returned.
44 ARMY MOUNTAINEER