At the start of August we found ourselves in Buttermere with a few hours to spare. The weather was good, and although it had rained torrentially the night before, our trusty guidebook told us that the rocks of Grey Crag above Birkness Comb were quick-drying, and offered a series of high-quality climbs leading directly to the summit of High Stile.
So off we set. Arriving in the comb at lunchtime, there was just one party ahead of us doing something hard; we otherwise had the place to ourselves. The climbing began with Harrow Buttress, a Diff and (we thought) a highly unpleasant one at that. The kind of climb where you wedge yourself in a slimy chimney, wiggle, and hope you go up rather than down. Any ideas of moving together went out the window as the terrain just did not lend itself to such elegant methods.
Next was a little route called Slabs Ordinary, which, slightly disconcertingly, was apparently abandoned last century after a serious rockfall and only resurrected in 2000, when “some remaining loose rock was removed and the belay relocated”. Unsurprisingly slabby, and quite delicate, the pitches were a little too short to get into any kind of rhythm. So far, our first rock climbing for over twelve months was suggesting we hadn’t been missing out on too much.
However, the final route, Oxford and Cambridge Direct, was definitely worth dragging the gear up for. I don’t know the origin of the name, but we thought it was one we should probably tick off. It heads up a steep slab and series of steps to one side of an arete, with a vertical drop on the other. We found it exposed and satisfying,with good rock and technical moves sustained for about 40 metres. No doubt the late afternoon sunshine also helped…
We were at the top a little later than expected, probably thanks to some fairly rusty ropework, and were almost certainly going to be late for our dinner rendezvous, but we still thought it worth running over High Stile and High Crag on our way home.
Unfortunately my camera screen decided it had had enough of climbing, and it would appear that we aren’t very good at taking pictures without it, so here are just a few (slightly oddly framed) accompanying snaps.
Yellow Van Mountaineering 