UKC

Crag Notes is a new series to UKC, focussing on people and place. Distilled down into short form, each piece will centre around our connection with the outdoors (and what's within it) in some way, shape or form; however, each will differ in their own unique way, as we'll be featuring a variety of contributors, some of whom will be familiar, others less so. In the first part of a new series Rob Greenwood takes a look at The Diamond...

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In reply to UKC Articles:

Ooo errr... just reading that, I've taken on a 'green sheen'. Maybe leave the crème out next time!

In reply to C Witter:

Am I the only one that gets a strange (and satisfying) sense of nostalgia from the scent of guano?! Surely not

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

I always said that bird shit smells of adventure. The association is there for sure.

Enjoyed that. Climbed at the Diamond for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Great stuff 

In reply to UKC Articles:

albeit I like short form, I wish it was longer form, now UKC being the only purveyor .. but nice piece anyways Robbie

In reply to Ramon Marin:

Alpinist would be the obvious riposte to that.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Anyone else read the first sentence and think it might be about another sea cliff?

In reply to Ramon Marin:

I know where you're coming from, and to a certain extent feel the say way, but it doesn't have to be a case of either/or - I'd like to see both long and short form on site.

Part of the reason I started with short form, and with a series, was simply to get the ball rolling (and gauge opinion) on this particularly style of writing. What I'd envisaged/hoped for was  something like the Guardian's 'Country Diary', albeit for climbers. That said, 'climbing' was never intended to be the sole focus, because it's all the other stuff that surrounds it - the people/place - that really makes a day memorable.

Anyway, in a rambling way what I guess I'm saying is that this is only the beginning and I'd love to see some long form written in this style. However, where this series is concerned there's plenty to look forward to, with a cracking piece by Nick Bullock lined up for next month.

In reply to Tom Valentine:

That made me smile.

I could easily have written 400-600 words on THAT Diamond, but given that I've already written 2,600+ words on it in the form of a destination article figured I'd channel my efforts elsewhere  

In reply to UKC Articles:

Enjoyed that, can't wait until you get around to Harpur Hill.

Although my comment is obviously tongue-in-cheek, it'd be interesting to do a piece about the crap places climbers visit for their fix. Especially your average sport climber in the UK!

In reply to UKC Articles:

What is E6 on grit these days? Pads make a discernible physical and psychological difference. People claim E6's with pads.They have done the route but do they get the grade?If the route was put  up using pads and graded E6 then it most likely is.