Dynamove: Ten Things We Learned From Climbing At Stanage

Gritstone climbing is very different to gym climbing
Inside at the climbing wall, it tends to be all about finger tips - hooking your fingers over smaller and smaller holds, clinging on for dear life to steeper and steeper overhangs - whereas on gritstone, it's mostly rounded edges. There's often not much to hold onto, and it requires a lot more attention to balance and body position, and a lot more friction moves and flat palming.

Northern grades are hard!
Of *course* they're hard - they're Northern! :)
We led routes classed as "Severe" and "Very Severe" in Wales without too much of a problem, but the Stanage routes seem to be at least one, if not two, grades harder.
For instance, a route like "Right Twin Crack" at Stanage, classed as VS, was just terrifying. I tried to lead it, and got as far as the overhang but ran out of holds and places for protection. I tried to traverse over to the left crack, which is apparently just a VDiff, but couldn't get a hold and couldn't get any more protection in. Stuck there, balancing on one foot jammed into the crack but not actually standing on anything, cleaving desperately to the rock with a left-handed fist jam while I tried in vain to get a wallnut into a crack that was just out of reach, with my muscles running out of strength and my nerves screaming "YOU'RE GOING TO FALL AND GO SMACK INTO THAT WALL" at me, I had to admit defeat. Lise then tried to complete the climb, and although she's certainly a better and braver climber than me, she couldn't get any further, and returned back to the ground saying "That's just NASTY....".

Scouting around the UKClimbing.com logbooks for this route yields the following comment :
"Absolutely Horrible one of the Hardest VSs I've done."
Nuff said.

Falling outside is much more scary than inside
At the indoor climbing wall, every route is either bottom-roped, or if it's a lead route, it's already bolted. Consequently, you KNOW that if you fall, as long as your belayer is paying attention, you're going to be OK. Outside, however, if you're "trad" climbing (i.e. placing your own protection), you're completely dependent on the resilience of that protection. I've heard enough horror stories of falling climbers ripping 1, 2, 3 or more bits of protection out before finally coming to a halt, and consequently even on short routes like Holly Bush Gully, if you can only get one bit of protection in, it really makes you think hard before making that big lunge over that overhanging capstone.

Two half-ropes makes a lot of sense for zig-zaggy routes
Climbing with two half-ropes rather than one full rope is a good way of minimising rope drag when your route zigzags, or involves a traverse. Needs a little bit more focus on rope management, but it works.

The guidebook will give you subtle hints
...and they'll usually be very understated. For instance, the v-shaped groove on "Tier Climb" is described as "troublesome" - it's not bloody kidding!

ALWAYS pay attention when belaying!
Belaying can get a bit tedious, when everyone is nervous and making extra sure of every hold before moving on - but there's no excuse for not paying attention. Your climber could fall at any point, with no warning - especially on the mostly-jugless gritstone of Stanage - and short routes in conjuction with scant protection opportunities could mean that a fraction of a second of your reaction time is all that keeps your climber from a painful reunion with the ground.

Practise your rope techniques
It's easy to get rusty between outdoor climbs on key skills like making a safe anchor, tying good knots and rope management. We took a couple of hours in the evenings before Stanage to practise these techniques, just tying into the kitchen table or even hooking slings around our fingers, and practising the calls - and it helped a lot. When you get to the top of a route, it's not the best time to be thinking "so, how do I do this again...?".

Always put a name on your climbing calls
On a busy crag with lots of people around, there are a lot of "Safe!" calls flying around - if you can't see your climber, how can you be sure it's them? Just putting your partner's name on the end of every call (e.g. "Safe, AL" "OK, you're off belay LISE") can help avoid a lot of misunderstanding, and hopefully avoid the dreaded "You're off belay" when you're still attacking that overhanging capstone

The Old Hall Inn in Hope does the best steak pie ever
see? ...and the cottage pie is pretty damn good too.

Hardhurst Farm on-site cafe does a perfect climbers breakfast
It's one of those cafes that doesn't have a menu - you just order what you want, on the understanding that it's going to consist of the traditional English breakfast staples - bacon, sausage, egg, and burnt crunchy bits :) And you can have the whole thing in a sandwich.

Dynamove