Easter Club Meet in The Peak (15th–18th April 2022)
By Phil, Tara & Paul N
After the usual fun on the M25, with slow moving traffic on the bank holiday Easter weekend, we made steady progress up the M1 to the Peak District.
The Pindale Farm campsite was situated in Hope Valley, a stones throw from the cement works. Despite the campsite’s proximity we only heard a steady background noise which was easy enough to get used to, and sleep was manageable, when we were not too cold.
GMC had its own corner spot for camping in a medium size field and it was easy to set up tents when we arrived at 11pm in the dark. The campsite was clean and had good facilities although some other campers lacked the ability to tidy up after themselves (students doing their D of E).
On Friday we split in to two course groups at Stanage Edge in the Peak District and we had a third small group for independent climbing. The larger “learn to lead course” focused on introducing GMC members to trad skills. This included anchor building, types of gear and gear placement, belaying leaders and seconds. There were lots of IDEAS shared, and the learning was structured like ABC. The club’s new trad leaders awarded themselves 1-5 on their gear placements. Connor and Peter worked like a tag team and got the instructors blessing on their trad leading. Liz and Debbie both lead trad routes during the following two days, with support from Tim and Adan. Alex even had the energy to squeeze a 9 mile hilly run in between training days!
A small team of 4 did the self-rescue course, including Tim, Tara, Paul N, and Phil. It covered a multitude of techniques: abseil anchor placements, stacked abseiling, prusiking back up, Jumaring, assisted and unassisted hoists, when and where to use Kleimheist, French and classic prusiks, escaping the system, optimal gear placement with cams, use of slings as prusiks, setting up belays in guide mode, multiple variations of anchor building ‘Christmas tree’ style with slings and HMS. We had day one with Tom and day two with Charlie. It’s fair to say our heads hurt by the end of each day as it was a lot to take in. The SR team worked well together and we helped each other work through each of the technique’s.
On days 3 & 4 the whole group came back together and we climbed at Burbage on day 3 and Stanage on day 4. Adan, Tim and Phil lead on some severes and vdiff routes and others seconded or were belayed on top rope lines. Connor and Peter worked a mod to embed what they had learnt on the course. Liz and Deb picked other lines to practice their trad leading and gear placement. It was a successful weekend for all.
The evenings were spent chatting around our respective stoves cooking, sharing stories from the day and a bit of banter and a few jokes. We had a nice meal out on Saturday night and it gave everyone a better chance to chat and connect whilst not having to concentrate on lessons or whilst climbing.
We split on Monday afternoon making our respective journeys home to the comfort of our own beds.
Until the next trip, when more climbing beckons.
Phil, Tara & Paul N