UKC

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Ring Ouzels are reported to be nesting on Flying Buttress. Please avoid this and adjacent routes.

from 14/06/2023 to 01/07/2023

Adders are frequently seen around Curbar. They are often very well camoflaged so it's worth keeping an eye out when moving into new areas, picking up kit etc as a bite, although not life threatening to most healthy adults can still be nasty.

Ticks are abundant due to a large population of red deer. take care, particularly if passing through bracken below the crag.

24m, 2 pitches.

Rockfax Description
Climb the left-hand crack (loose blocks) to ledges then traverse right to pass the arete to a comfortable stance (4c). Finish up the tough crack to a superb juggy exit. A better combination is to start up the lower cracks of The Beer Hunter and continue up the second pitch as above, dubbed Two Beers. © Rockfax

FA. Joe Brown 1950.

Ticklists

Froggatt to Black Rocks (BMC) - The Grade List , Eastern Peak Grit 100 VD- VS , Peak Gritstone S-HVS **+ , Peak Rock/6/ The Emergence of Joe Brown and Don Whillans , Eastern Grit 2 star plus (HVS/VS/HS) , Bob's Cracking Winter Jamming Crack List , Joe Brown Curbar Routes , An attempt at a definitive list of Joe Brown's FA/FFA in the Peak District , Entry-level Curbar , Wired Peak District Grit Graded List , Wired Peak District Grit (2020) *** List , ROCKFAX Eastern Grit TOP 500: S and VS , Ultimate List of Peak District Crack Climbs , Eastern Grit 2015 - Top 500 VS , Climber's Club Jamfest List Meet , 2022 Rockfax Eastern Grit Graded List , Froggatt and Curbar starred VSs , Misery Mondays

Feedback

User Date Notes
cheque 30 Oct, 2023 Show βeta
βeta: The descriptions of this route in the first three guidebooks it appeared in strongly suggest that the first pitch was originally what’s now described as the start of The Beer Hunter. Nat Allen is quoted in Peak Rock as pointing out both cracks to Joe Brown from the top of the crag. You can’t see the first pitch that’s described in current guides from there. The 1957 and 1965 guides both refer to the entire route being on the right-hand side of the Buttress and the 1978 guide describes it as starting “round the arête from the start of Apollo”. The 1985 guide is the first to direct climbers up the chossy cracks on the front of the buttress (as for Apollo) instead. This would make sense given that the “Two Beers” combination is vastly superior to the currently described one, more obvious and easily within Joe Brown’s capabilities at the time. If you had the entire virgin buttress to go at would you think “let’s start at these ugly sandy offwidths with loose blocks in them then walk round to the right face”?
βeta?
Show beta
βeta: The descriptions of this route in the first three guidebooks it appeared in strongly suggest that the first pitch was originally what’s now described as the start of The Beer Hunter. Nat Allen is quoted in Peak Rock as pointing out both cracks to Joe Brown from the top of the crag. You can’t see the first pitch that’s described in current guides from there. The 1957 and 1965 guides both refer to the entire route being on the right-hand side of the Buttress and the 1978 guide describes it as starting “round the arête from the start of Apollo”. The 1985 guide is the first to direct climbers up the chossy cracks on the front of the buttress (as for Apollo) instead. This would make sense given that the “Two Beers” combination is vastly superior to the currently described one, more obvious and easily within Joe Brown’s capabilities at the time. If you had the entire virgin buttress to go at would you think “let’s start at these ugly sandy offwidths with loose blocks in them then walk round to the right face”?
StuLade 20 Mar, 2007 Show βeta
βeta: Ended first pitch at the arete to break it up a bit more which worked nicely. Agree that the second pitch is pretty nails, had to rest on gear for the first time ever after contracting a massive pump on the slopey crack. Not sure it's quite worth 2 stars, good but not really good.
βeta?
Show beta
βeta: Ended first pitch at the arete to break it up a bit more which worked nicely. Agree that the second pitch is pretty nails, had to rest on gear for the first time ever after contracting a massive pump on the slopey crack. Not sure it's quite worth 2 stars, good but not really good.
Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH 2 Jun, 2006 Show βeta
βeta: The top pitch is definitely harder than 4c, no question whatsoever.
βeta?
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βeta: The top pitch is definitely harder than 4c, no question whatsoever.
LakesWinter 7 May, 2005 Show βeta
βeta: The first pitch is wee! I don't know about the top one coz it started raining when I got there last night
βeta?
Show beta
βeta: The first pitch is wee! I don't know about the top one coz it started raining when I got there last night
Tom Chamberlain 1 Sep, 2004 Show βeta
βeta: I found the top section quite hard, although it was a cold wet day. Not to be underestimated!
βeta?
Show beta
βeta: I found the top section quite hard, although it was a cold wet day. Not to be underestimated!
gooose 15 Sep, 2003 Show βeta
βeta: Unless I am worse at jamming than I thought, the second pitch of this route is much, much harder than 4c - has a big hold fallen off from in the crack?
βeta?
Show beta
βeta: Unless I am worse at jamming than I thought, the second pitch of this route is much, much harder than 4c - has a big hold fallen off from in the crack?

Logged Ascents

193 users have logged this

Guidebooks for Curbar Edge

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Voting
High HVS
Mid HVS
Low HVS
High VS
Mid VS
Low VS
High HS
Mid HS
Low HS
Votes cast 29
High 5b
Mid 5b
Low 5b
High 5a
Mid 5a
Low 5a
High 4c
Mid 4c
Low 4c
Votes cast 28
Votes cast 26
Style of Ascent
Lead
Followed
Alt Leads
Soloed
Toproped
Not Set
Onsighted
Repeated
Dogged
DNF
Ground Up
Not Set
Route of Interest
Bel Ami

Grade: VS 4b ***
(Curbar Edge)

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