UKC

I am, I'll admit, a fan of Grit - it's a unique style and has some cracking routes (pun intended) but to be honest, it's just a another type of rock and I love Limestone in equal measure.

I don't quite get the obsession - my friend foams at the mouth, becomes delusional, starts dreaming of friction slapping everything in site and waxes lyrical about it being the best (and toughest) rock in the world!

I put this down to the cold and rain up North meaning that Grit is normally the only dry climbing to be had, but he seems to be quite insistent with his views and I am worried he may have this affliction forever.

Do any of you have a friend suffering with this disease?

p.s another symptom he is suffering is vertigo; brought on by crags higher than 30m.

In reply to ianlaw:

I couldn't agree more, its great and all but it isn't the best thing I've climbed on. I prefer pretty much everything else I've ever climbed on- slate is obviously top of the pile

Its also nice to get a proper crimp on other rock rather than a slopey one, or a slippery one!

In reply to ianlaw:

Been suffering for years. Combination of total commitment and absolute physical limit, whilst being only 20ft off the ground and within 2 hours of home. Gritstone is like bouldering with added fear and adrenaline.

But the main reason is it's the closet available rock for me!

In reply to ianlaw:

Just sandbag him a load of times over a few weeks - he'll soon start hating it.

In reply to ianlaw:
Yes and no. Mostly no, I much prefer climbing big cliffs with holds and gear. But once in a blue moon everything comes together on grit and it's more intense and more beautiful than anything that happens when you're plodding methodically up 40m of decent holds.

I'm not much of a fan of the gnarly sandbag cracks - a good challenge, but thoroughly unpleasant. It's the buzz routes, with improbable moves above gear (or above no gear) that have given me some of my most memorable climbing experiences. Routes like Elegy and Archangel are completely unique experiences, the intensity of which simply isn't matched by climbing something with holds.

Then you've got the micro-routes, which are the crack cocaine of climbing. OK the hit is short, just one or two crux moves too high off the ground to be falloffable (although with a few pads you'll probably be OK), but it's super-intense. It's a way of climbing moves very close to your bouldering limit but with commitment, and therefore buzz.

Comparing with limestone it really depends what limestone you're talking about. Pembroke limestone can be amazing - on something like Pleasure Dome the solid, rough, sharp, crimpy rock is a fantastic thing to climb on. But inland limestone in the UK is appalling polished choss. I wouldn't be terribly sad if most Peak limestone was blown up, it's crap (there are a few decent routes, but even those are relative to the shitness of the others, very few would compare to even the worst routes in Pembroke). Although I do have a soft spot for the cobweb and woodlouse-ridden charms of the perma-filthy Chee Tor (and Beeston Tor too).

The other thing about grit - which is all about its accessibility - is summed up perfectly here:

vimeo.com/73642459

In reply to Jon Stewart:

That's a very cool video. I love leaving Stanage late at night, a few beers in Hathersage and then returning early the following morning - however, it's a 3 hour drive to get there.

I'm in Bristol, so a world of lovely climbing all within 30 minutes of my house or work.

In reply to ianlaw:

I served my apprenticeship on grit but to be honest I have always preferred longer routes. Having said that Stanage is one of my favourite crags.

In reply to ianlaw:

I love gritstone, there's something about the weird movements that it forces you to do, the friction on a good day and the way that it responds if you're confident. It's short, yes, but the lines that a lot of routes take are clean and succinct. There's also a stronger sense of following in others footsteps there, you get it in other places of course but personally I feel it strongest on gritstone - the history is so deep and well known.

To me climbing is about variety though, and I wouldn't like it if I was forced to climb solely on grit.

In reply to ianlaw:

Have to admit to being a fellow sufferer. Although I spend summers in NW Scotland, as stunning a place as you can get, and with loads of great climbing, I still miss Grit and madly clamber up everything in sight when I get back to the Peak. Stanage for me is still home. It's the flow of grit that gets me, both in the shapes and the way that you climb it (on a good day!).

In reply to Iain Thow:
I am a pretty much new to real rock climbing and with a limited range of experience, though I have scrambled on Welsh Rhyolite, Cuillin gabbro and Lakes volcanics all my life. But I've found there is something sensuous about the roundedness and texture of grit that (perhaps only on a good day, as many have said) feels very special.

In reply to ianlaw:

I need new glasses-I read it as

My friend has great tits - help

disappointed really

In reply to ianlaw:

Ahh, these southern pansies and their 'other rock types' *rolls eyes condescendingly* Your friend has clearly seen the light - often found within easy reach of Hathersage. Now, if only I had a flat cap...

In reply to rurp:


If there is a quote of the month this must be it!

In reply to Jon Stewart:


Haven't seen that vid before, but yes, living in Sheffield, I am looking forward to April and May so much now because of the evening grit on offer. erhaps an evening solo of an E1 or two this year.

I'm salivating (not over Mark, mind)...

In reply to Cake:


It is the greatest thing. My favourite E1s to solo are Morrison's Redoubt, Saliva, Kirkus Corner. I've done a few of the others, but some are ones I don't want to do again.


I can't get enough of the trademark Ron Hills.

In reply to ianlaw:

The one trip I had down to 'the grit' was fun, but not exceptional. I found it enjoyable as a change of rock type to the usual stuff I'm on, but I also thought it was quite over-rated. Most of the time I felt was missing something....like about another 10-15m.

Having said that, I'd like to climb on it again.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Ok, I'll admit it then. It's the hair and the wheels that I love

In reply to Fraser:


I expect you didn't go to Hen Cloud. Not many people get to the top of a Hen Cloud classic wishing there was another 10-15m!

In reply to rurp:


Since bouldering isn't proper climbing, gritstone must be just fear and adrenaline but without any actual climbing involved

I can see the attraction but how can people seriously claim it's the best climbing in the country etc etc? Gogarth. Pembroke. Cloggy. The Cromlech. Scafell. The list goes on... The best, really? Or is it the fact that it's a short walk in, dries quickly, within reasonably easy reach for a lot of people, where a lot of people started out, not too high and scary (if you avoid the bold routes).

In reply to ianlaw:

i miss grit soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much.....

In reply to Misha:

Left wall 2 hard proper climbing moves and some tiring scrambling so you are knackered when you try and do the moves
Browns eliminate 2 proper climbing moves and not so much tiring scrambling.
Frendo spur no proper climbing moves, loads of scrambling

All beautiful settings, all mega classic. Which one did I enjoy more....

Size isn't everything

In reply to Misha:


It's mental to suggest that it's the best climbing in the country. At somewhere like Scafell or Mother Carey's Kitchen, if you haven't done all the routes before, you're pretty much guaranteed to have an amazing day, doing some of the best routes you've ever done.

If you go out on grit, you're much more likely to have a pretty mediocre day - for me, the amazing experiences (on the bold routes) come along about once every 5 years.