Steves Wind9A19 Page

Steve's Climbing Pages

10. May 2000, Windgather Rocks
Edition of 12. May with digital photos kindly sent by Roger Dyke. The pictures have been cropped and compressed to reduce file size
An outdoor Wednesday evening for the NWF/Youarsey posse on this delightful Cheshire gritstone outcrop, a few miles east of Macclesfield

John Marsland and I climbed:
Centre Route (VDiff),
Portfolio (HVS 5b),
Green Slab (S), and
Arête Direct (VS 4c)
Naturally, John led the harder pair of routes
The Middle Buttress area, Windgather Rocks
On the left, John brings Steve P up Portfolio; off on the right, Tony Buckley brings the other Steve up Mississippi (?)

The gaggle of climbers in the Portfolio area : John M at the left; another climber; and Tony B on the windy top, bringing up the other Steve, both looking cosy in their photogenic red fleeces.

Below are a couple of pictures of John bringing me up the last few moves of Portfolio, over the roof and up the final block (with a nice tight rope, thanks).
The roof isn't as bad as it looks from below, and I got onto the final block quite easily. However, I then forgot to remove a high side-runner which John had placed, and this unbalanced me as I went for the lip. John caught me instantly, and (after getting the runner out) I made it at the second attempt.
The holds are really positive, and the friction is much better than on an equivalent feature at, say, Stanage

Steve grimacing as he hauls his way up from under the roof, making it look harder than it was, as usual; and desperately feeling for the holds he just knows must be somewhere on the lip ...
Many thanks to John and the rest for a good evening's climbing, and especially to Roger Dyke for the photos

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	The gaggle of climbers in the Portfolio area : John M at the left; another climber; and Tony B on the windy top, bringing up the other Steve, both looking cosy in their photogenic red fleeces.
	Below are a couple of pictures of John bringing me up the last few moves of Portfolio, over the roof and up the final block (with a nice tight rope, thanks). The roof isn't as bad as it looks from below, and I got onto the final block quite easily. However, I then forgot to remove a high side-runner which John had placed, and this unbalanced me as I went for the lip. John caught me instantly, and (after getting the runner out) I made it at the second attempt. The holds are really positive, and the friction is much better than on an equivalent feature at, say, Stanage

Steve grimacing as he hauls his way up from under the roof, making it look harder than it was, as usual; and desperately feeling for the holds he just knows must be somewhere on the lip ... Many thanks to John and the rest for a good evening's climbing, and especially to Roger Dyke for the photos