Wondering if there are any tales of stellar route bagging during the current heatwave. Or is it just too hot for such things?
What's a Stellar route? I'm going to try and sweat up something this evening, even if it's only an HVS 🙂🙂
> What's a Stellar route? I'm going to try and sweat up something this evening, even if it's only an HVS 🙂🙂
It’s when you’re so hot that you have to have a lager straight after.
i’ll get my lightweight coat with pitzips.
Minimum * but preferably ** or ***
A celebratory Stella (other lagers are available)
adds further value…
This is a good one for a heatwave, may feel a bit Amazonian in the afternoon though.
That’d need a few rainless months I’d guess!
There were some great pics of Mike Weeks having a soloing spree in Avon in a heatwave, probably around 2003. The images always stick with me for some reason.
Still waiting for someone to do Darkness (E2 5c) at Gordale. Gets E2 on here but suspect it's nearer E5. Definitely one for this hot dry weather.
Was expecting a number of dank and difficult routes to be mentioned...Darkness certainly one of those...
Central Chimney on Eagle Crag is a great route in a drought, but I would guarantee it is still wet and slimy today. A couple of warm days doesn't make a summer.
DC
I did Eagle Front in the last heatwave. Amazing route that would benefit from a bit of traffic.
Likewise, a number of years ago. Something about the rock strata on the lower pitches of EF that doesn't lend it to the damp...pleased I was able to enjoy a trouble-free ascent of this classic in the sunshine.
Often thought of an expeditionary ascent of Piers Ghyll in this kind of weather - though some friends suggest that the only legitimate ascent is one done in the pouring rain.
Even OG Jones thought Piers Ghyll was "unjustifiable", so I can only imagine the sheep carcass and moss horrors that would await...
There are a few tasty accounts in the UKC logbook for Piers Ghyll which support OGJ's opinion...!
Barrows put a new start on Malcom X at Cheedale Cornice the other day. Malcom in the Middle... 8c+.
Neither significant nor stellar but did a couple of 'no star' peak limestone E3's at Central Buttress last night.
...and yes, it was bloody hot lol.🤣
I soloed troutdale pinnacle last night. The sun on the polish made the foot holds look and feel wet.
Chatsworth was mostly shaded all day and fairly cool yesterday am. By mid afternoon it was becoming a bit debilitating. We climbed (and cleaned up) a half dozen of the lower grade starred lines. Only one other pair on the crag which was slightly odd given it's 'good for a heat wave' venue qualities.
> What's a Stellar route? I'm going to try and sweat up something this evening, even if it's only an HVS 🙂🙂
https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/pex_hill_quarry-1057/stella-655630
I think they meant 'Stellar' (it was one of Phil Davidson's favourite sayings) rather than the piss-poor lager drink. Duh....
I was at Goredale recently (we went to go do Light but got midged/sweated off) and Darkness does look strangely compelling, especially in this heat. Definitely one of the most appealing slimy dripping clefts I've seen.
> A couple of warm days doesn't make a summer.
It's been an amazing summer down south - sunshine, heat & lack of rain all breaking records. Driest July ever, hottest July day, second hottest ever day here. It's hardly rained for months.
no, it’ll be spot on right now, and well worth calling in to bag - if the bottom is bone dry it’s only VS 4c - a cracking soaring line in a cool location.
> Central Chimney on Eagle Crag is a great route in a drought, but I would guarantee it is still wet and slimy today. A couple of warm days doesn't make a summer.
Yes interestingly rainfall has been about average for the Lakes, but through the floor almost everywhere else.
We climbed it in wellies. Goes in all conditions.
Piers Gill (not Darkness)
And to planetmarshall:
It has been a cold summer in the Lakes, almost as cold as 2015. Obviously it has warmed up a bit now. It was a cold April, cold May and most of June. Nothing spectacular, but this is perfect weather at the moment! There has been no shortage of rain so far. A dry spell is welcome. The farmers are in paradise.
In the south, the urbanisation and development esp. airports and warehousing, roads, housing etc, and increased population of 20 million since when I was a student makes for a very significant urban heat island effect. Compared to the north this can be 5-15 degrees C excess for the southeast of England. It is almost like two nations compared to where I live.
Driving home recent evenings it has been 10-15 degrees late evening, Thursday 4th it was 12 degrees all morning. Daytimes we have reached 21, 23 sometimes high 20s like today. Great climbing conditions now for the Lakes nevertheless.
This weather is not exceptional, it is perfectly normal, randomly variable, most people here would like it to be hotter, me too. Good for crags like Eagle Buttermere and Scafell/Pillar.
DC
Wheesht man,the roads, crags and parking will be mobbed.
It makes me sad that a seemingly articulate and intelligent person like yourself can think that the current extreme weather, affecting much of Europe is because basically someone in london left the window open.
> This weather is not exceptional, it is perfectly normal, randomly variable...
Dave, let's say I give you a coin. You flip it, and it comes up heads. You flip it again, it comes up heads. Again and again you keep flipping this coin, and it just keeps coming up heads.
At what point do you stop thinking you're just lucky, and start thinking there might be something wrong with the coin?
> And to planetmarshall:
> It has been a cold summer in the Lakes, almost as cold as 2015.
That maybe your impression, Dave, but statistically that conclusion does not hold up. The Met Office has recorded the mean temperature in Cumbria during June and July to be 0.5-1.5 deg above the 1981-2010 average. By comparison, 2015 was about the same amount *below* average for the same period.
Generally anecdotal evidence is not particularly reliable when making conclusions about weather patterns.
> This weather is not exceptional, it is perfectly normal, randomly variable, most people here would like it to be hotter, me too. Good for crags like Eagle Buttermere and Scafell/Pillar.
Scafell pinnacle was dry yesterday, but cold and clammy.The moss ledges weeping a wierd, slippery goop and the grass sopping wet. But like you say, it only stopped raining on Monday.
Btw way, the car park was half empty, the road was quiet ( apart from the wastwater beach spot) and I saw three other climbing teams, one of them on the East Buttress.
?? An all time record high temp was recorded in Keswick on July 19th.
Not so much this time round but then I've not climbed in a while but I do remember blitzing Cloggy in 1976. I've done more or less every route on Cloggy up to E4 and the vast majority got done in 1976. We travelled down from Yorkshire almost every weekend. My best climbing season in the UK ever.
> It has been a cold summer in the Lakes, almost as cold as 2015. Obviously it has warmed up a bit now. It was a cold April, cold May and most of June.
This simply isn't true. If you look at the Met's temp anomaly map and compare it to the 1961 - 1990 average, i.e. the period that it offers that is closest to the pre-industrial era, you will see that the average temp in the Lakes for each of April, May and June was 0.5 deg - 1.5 deg above average. You've become acclimatised, to an extent, to global warming, as against the 1991 - 2020 anomaly temperatures have been pretty average in the Lake District this year, neither hot nor cold
Dave is correct insofar as 2015 was a colder than average Summer in Cumbria, but only with respect to the period from 1981.
Compared to the 1961-1990 period, it was actually quite average.
It seems that Dave is acknowledging the warming climate whether he likes it or not.
I thought it worth including the link so people can play. It's a good tool to illustrate just how much the UK is warming (and rainfall changes).
The whole of 2022 in the lakes has seen warmer max temps than the 1991 to 2020 anomaly, except May and June which were average (but much warmer than the previous anomaly maps)
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-actual-and-a...
Looks like 1976 is a reference point for heat-wave climbing. It was a wonderful Summer & as with you, many of the high crags got a real going over by the bunch I climbed with. Virtually nothing was spared & I look with some wistfulness at my log of those ascents; I wish I had the strength (and neck) to do even a quarter of what was done. Never look back? I increasingly do...
Having messed up and gone to Water-cum-Jolly on Wednesday (far too hot) we looked more closely at the weather forecast for yesterday. An onshore breeze meant the north Wales coast was 6+ degrees cooler than Peak/Yorkshire and we had excellent conditions on Notice Board Crag.
Record breaking sea temperature here now - 18.4degrees, two degrees warmer than average for this time of year. Mediterranean species like White, Gilthead, 2-banded bream and Comber are increasing in numbers every year, coldwater species like plaice, cod and dab are decreasing. This is a blinding indication of climate change.
1976 compared to 2022 in the UK and globally.
https://www.iflscience.com/was-1976-really-as-hot-as-2022-or-is-it-just-cli...
I would have thought someone would be off to do the first repeat of Pat Littlejohn's route in the Great Moor Zawn from 76... Too obscure?
Indeed - Roraima (E4) springs to mind...
Probably a good shout on a hot day.
Currently looking at north facing crags for tomorrow. Shining clough or maybe Staden quarry.
A seldom-repeated PRL route, I'd venture...
These are the experiences that I'd have thought would instinctively spring to mind for a heat-wave ascent. Good to get back on topic - thanks!
I've been taking the opportunity to tick some of the more obscure routes remaining on my Hard Rock account. Slanting Slab (E4 6a) turned out to be in great condition https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2022/07/17/slanting-slab-just-10-hard-rock...
However, Raven's Gully (Summer) (HVS) was still a tad damp (see photo - blog post will have to wait until the full horror has receded a bit)... Get on it whilst it's horrendous (can't imagine what kind of drought you'd need for a clean ascent!)
Cheers, Dom
Good effort on Slanting! Aiding on the peg sounds terrifying. I went for a reccy a few weeks back. It looked like there might be a cam 5 or 6 placement in a slot below the peg but it was hard to judge from the ground. Any thoughts on that? Thanks.
> However, Raven's Gully (Summer) (HVS) was still a tad damp (see photo - blog post will have to wait until the full horror has receded a bit)... Get on it whilst it's horrendous (can't imagine what kind of drought you'd need for a clean ascent!)
I soloed that when I was 19 - young and a bit daft! I think I put a nut on a long sling to sort of protect that bit. It was wet but I don't recall the green slime. No horror at the time, but there is now........
Hey Misha. I think Ian Carr mentioned he got a couple of cams in when he freed it - not sure if the lower peg was still intact at that time. I'd been hoping to place them as backup if the peg failed but the rock just didn't seem solid enough to make it worth the faff. Wouldn't fancy pulling hard on it either, so kudos to Ian! Good luck! Cheers, Dom
Hiya Robert - wow, that's impressive! I genuinely didn't think it was climbable in its current state - let alone solo! Good effort!
I have been twice on Hell's Lum in the past few weeks. Driest I had ever seen it. Though it’s too late now as it started pissing down last night in the region.