Wow. Really, the weather has been incredible. I mean it's been cold, sure, but so sunny, still and dry. That's really why I haven't been posting much recently: I've been out climbing whenever I wasn't working! Last weekend I went on a mountain first aid course run by the Mountain Rescue Team in the moorland near Penistone. Not only was it very worthwhile (it made me realise how little I would have been able to do before the course if something had happened in the mountains whilst I was climbing), but I met some fantastic people and had a great time chatting and working with all the people there. Thanks again to the MRT and all the participants.
Since then I've been out and about nearer to home, with a good day out at Almscliff, and a less good day at Brimham, which I enjoyed nonetheless. Even though I was climbing terribly, it was good to get out of the city, and Brimham Rocks is an amazing place. It's yet another gritstone crag, which feels a little sandier than most, and is a National Trust site. There's loads to climb, but also a lot to look at - rocks that are twenty feet wider at the top than the bottom teetering in what seems like an impossible way; rocks that look like bears; more interesting rocks... you get the idea. I got my confidence back towards the end of the day, and soloed up a route called Lover's Leap Chimney, which was more like a cave than a climb, and reminded me that I really must get some caving done at some point before I forget how!
And still, after a week, the good weather persists. I've just been walking through Hyde Park putting together a summery-sunshine music playlist on my ipod, which I am listening to now to stop me being depressed by the Portuguese work that I need to do before Monday. Never mind!
P.S
I have 6 more words for you:
Saw sun, dropped work, went climbing!
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Brimham aint sandstone you mentalist! Its a very special sort of sandstone that we like to call Grit. I pilfered this off a website (http://www.brimhamrocks.co.uk/geology.htm) but here’s the basic gist of wot happened loike innit?
Once upon a time there were all these big hilly things wot we call “mountains” in wot we now call “Scotland” and “Scandinavia”. A big ass river started twatting itself through these “mountains” and cos this happened fer aaaages a load of grit and sand and minerals and shite got washed down the river.
When the river flattened out, presumably reaching the great blue yonder, the gradient grew less (cos it had less vertical erosive power innit ya dafty?) and it flattened out. The river went “ee, I canne be fooked with this grit and shoite” and it told it it could fook off. The grit went “Haveyabasta” and told the river to sod off himself. It got dumped over wot we now call “Yorkshire” in a big delta fingy.
Cos this river was still twatting away at dem dere rocks in de mountains more and more grit was comin down and gettin dumped in dis delta-majig. The stuff on the bottom was like “Ee, we got ere first, fook off” and this shit that was coming down was like “Fook off yacun, I ad yer mudda an now I’ll sit on you an all” and eventually it all got squished into one solid rock.
The formations come in so many mental forms cos they all happened at different times. Wot they reckon is dat on the ones where its massive at the top and little at the bottom its cos it happened just after wot we like to call the “Last Glacial Maximum” (thats the last Ice Age when Sid the Sloth and is chums were fartin around). There weren’t any plants or veg or owt to give the soil some community spirit with its roots so a load of sand kept getting blown about. This was mostly biffin the base of the rocks and not the tops so you get a big fat bit sat on top of a tiny little shaft (much like when you manage to get yourself laid). More borin stuff like freeze thaw action attributes many of the other features.
Well there you go. Greg lied to me. I shall correct the post accordingly.
Oh, and by the way, you actually managed to bring geography down to my level. Nice one.
Haha oh now i understand!
It’s still sandstone though Will.
According to the Brimham Rocks website it’s Grit. And they should know really…