After last week’s shambolic trip to Birchen, it seemed best to just keep up the momentum and get back out on rock again. Phil, Ben and I went to Burbage North today to do exactly that, and had a very productive day.

I started by seconding Phil up Cranberry Crack (VDiff), and then followed Ben up Triangle Crack (HVD) which was definitely more of a struggle. After that I was dragged around to Monkey Wall, a Mod about which the old guide book says something like “if you get scared on this, you’re in the wrong game“. After some umming and ahhing, it turned out I was in the right game, but only because some old bloke climbed up it while I was prevaricating, and I couldn’t then face the embarassment of failing to get up it.

After that, things just kind of clicked. We didn’t bother getting the rope out again for a while, except for Ben to lead Wobblestone Crack (HVD 4a). The route was Phil’s first lead, and he was convinced it was wonderful. I can’t repeat what Ben said as he topped out, but Phil wasn’t looking too impressed by the time he’d seconded it either. We continued our amble along the whole of Burbage North, soloing Mods and Diffs, which was exactly what I needed to get back into the swing of things. My confidence was right back up by the end of the day, when I got some jamming practice in on 20-foot Crack (S 4a). I really do love jamming, so that finished the day off in a fine manner.

Final tally: five Mods, three Diffs (depending which guide book you read) and three others. Excellent.