UKC

Seconded ZigZag Castle Rock of Triermain at 5am today. The climb was good but the place is wonderful. Birds from buzzards to crows to songbirds, stoats, one fox. We ignored the danger stuff.

In reply to mockerkin:

I remember the start of my 100 solos on Stanage last year with fondness. The wildlife is far more visible and the rock is cool and a joy to climb. Its amazing more folk don't do this.

In reply to mockerkin:

We sometimes go wolf spotting which means getting up super early.

I love early morning climbs. Looking down at the valleys as the night moisture gets sucked out of the ground and forms a ghostly mist beneath us. The smell of the earth, at one with the wilderness and apart from the occasional dog barking, the silence.

In reply to mockerkin:

Last year about this time up in the Rhinogs, i was up at 5 and had cleaned and climbed 3 new routes and was back at the campsite to put the kettle on for my climbing partners as they awoke for breakfast!

In reply to mockerkin:

Getting out at dawn and leaving the crag just as all the punters turn up is one of the great climbing pleasures!

Similarly, being the last one out is just as good: running up the Cobbler at 8pm for a route in the everlasting scottish summer sunset...

There's a hiking book "Rock and Roll Mountains" that's very inspiring regarding this kind of anti-social behaviour...

In reply to mockerkin:

I used to stop at Pex Hill for half an hour in the morning when I commuted to Manchester to Liverpool. Not quite the same experience scenically.

In reply to AlanLittle:

Must have been quite a task climbing in silence to avoid waking up any of the resident bums!

In reply to mockerkin:

Bosi ridge at 5.00 a.m. (for some reason we decided to go when low tide was at 4.00 a.m. no idea why), perfect blue seas and blue skies, perfect place and no one else around. Shame we'd only had about 3 hours sleep!

How do you mean when you say we ignored the danger stuff?

In reply to Bobling:

A house sized chunk of the crag (where that route is) is about to fall off. Soonish.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=63191

In reply to mattrm:


on a geological timescale! As you can see from that news article, it's been that way for about 3 years now, as far as I'm aware with no new movement. I'm not advocating climbing on it, but I also wouldn't expect it to go anywhere for quite a long time (on a human timescale).

Me and a mate used to climb regularly in the Wye Valley (Wintours Wyndcliff etc) from 6am until 8.30am. To squeeze it in before work. It's a great way to start the day as you feel you have got something you shouldn't

In reply to Nick Russell:


The BMC area meeting minutes from January this year state "Ron Kenyon reported that the crack at Castle Rock was widening and the widening was picking up pace."

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Nick - As Simon said, the crack is actually getting wider. But yes, I appreciate that 'soonish' could be quite a while from now.

There is an update here:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=557189

In reply to mockerkin:

In the same way I love biking early morning or late night, silence, trees, mountains, nature, tis lovely. Bar a few animals you have the place to yourself. In fact one of the best mountain bike rides I did was on Xmas day, usually Llandegla is one of the busiest welsh trail centres but on Xmas day it was me. good for the soul. good to charge up the batteries.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:


Apologies, I hadn't seen that.

In reply to mattrm:

Thanks for the link to the update.