UKC

I'm coming over to the UK for a wedding in early April and the sister has signed me up for one of these mud run things the following weekend near Derby.

Not wanting to waste the week in between, I'm thinking of doing a tour-de-Stanage, a place I've only been once, a long long time ago, to try and get my trad head back.

Of course its like asking how long is a piece of string, but as I'm totally out of touch with the UK weather in early April (11-15th), what is the weather doing around the peak district normally?

(On a side note, is there any way of seeing statistics for weather in the logbooks section?)

Thanks in advance

In reply to GarethSL:

If it isn't raining the crag will be dry,


Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:
As long as its not still, overcast and humid - in these conditions grit can remain damp pretty much the whole day at that time of year.

In reply to GarethSL:

Or it could be like this:

youtube.com/watch?v=IxHvU6_jxf0&

In reply to GarethSL:

I find this useful
http://www.metcheck.com/UK/singularities.asp

In reply to Ysgo:



I like that


Chris

In reply to GarethSL:

Looks like you'll be there in time for one of Buchans cold spells. So if it's cold and dry that will be just fine on the grit.
Bring a jumper.

http://kencook.magix.net/buchan_s_spells.93.html

Enjoy.

In reply to CurlyStevo:

If it's still, overcast and humid but not raining the majority of routes will still be dry in April. I'd say its almost an ideal time... still cool, long days, no midges.

In reply to Offwidth:
depends when it last rained / mizzled. I found in the past that grit is only really fast drying in high humidity if wind is blowing on to the crag especially in cooler temps.

In reply to GarethSL:
It's unpredictable. It could be covered in snow, it could be tshirt weather, but you'll only know when it's closer to the time and you can check a short range forecast.
Tbh April, as someone else stated, is really the perfect time for grit. The rock isn't greasy, and the midgies haven't started yet.
Also be prepared to go to another crag just in case it's blowing a gale.

If you're here for a week you'll definitely get some dry rock (but realistically probably a fair bit more).

Have a good trip.

In reply to GarethSL: I was climbing on Stanage yesterday, it was cold, green in parts and a touch damp in places, but basically its one of those crags that if it isn't actually raining you can probably find something to climb. I had lots of great sessions there April last year - but don't forget warm clothes, I remember one day in April where I realised I had the same amount of kit on as I had been using for winter climbing in the Lakes a few weeks previously! Alternatively, you might be happy in a t-shirt some days.

In reply to CurlyStevo:

I was there almost every other day it might not rain when working on the guidebook and at least weekly if possible when doing stuff for our website. I've never seen the conditions you describe in April, unless by humidity you mean low cloud, mist, fog or drizzle: most of Stanage always dried at that time of year if it didn't rain or go imto cloud. The day is 13 hours long at the start of the month and 15 hours long by the end.

In reply to Offwidth:

Typically the conditions I'm discribing would be over night mist that clears slowly during the day but the crag not drying without sun or wind. Perhaps I've seen these conditions more in Autumn, but it has been a problem in the past.

In reply to GarethSL:

My experience is that Stanage is one of the most reliable crags when it comes to dryness as it catches all the wind going. Bad choice for when the winds are up though.

In reply to CurlyStevo:

13 hours of 100% humidity on a windy day in April with no mist or drizzle?? Sounds to me like you were dreaming (they do keep weather records you know). My typical damp April experience is waiting in the car on a showery day for a squall to pass and, despite there being no sun, 10 minutes later at the crag some routes were ready.

In reply to Offwidth:
Sure it would be pretty weird for 100% humid conditions and no mist / rain / mizzle, but where did I mention 100% humidity? Also I specifically mentioned low winds not high winds.

Commonly I found these conditions would start the day as mist / mizzle / rain, with the mist slowly clearing during the day. With no ( / little) wind or sun and high humidity Grit can be very slow drying I've found.

Perhaps the conditions I'm mentioning are an edge case, but it has stopped me climbing for most the day on grit a couple of times before now and even then the routes I've managed towards the end of the day haven't been in good nick.

In reply to Mr. Lee:

Agreed Stanage is normally fast drying especially when it is windy / sunny. However I can remember many days in summer praying for wind to drive away the midgies and getting none!

In reply to CurlyStevo:

Give us an example day... like I said records are kept. Evaporation doesn't need wind its just an issue of vapour pressure so probably we need something like a near freezing, windless cloudy day with pretty much 100% humidity. All this in April with a common enough occurrence that you might want to warn a visiting climber!? What on earth happened to the old sensible and helpful Curly Stevo??