I thought a romantic weekend away in the British countryside would be perfect. I had been recommended by many the Peak District and a few folk had mention Bakewell as a place to stay. The history, home of the Bakewell Tart, that's as far as my history knowledge goes!
It so happened Bakewell is on the door step to Stanage, home of some gritstone and great climbing.
I thought some team building was necessary and there's no better way than climbing. Working on trust, communication, belief and achieving success. What a great way to celebrate 9 months.
We left London around mid day Saturday and made Bakewell in good time. We checked into The Peacock Inn and headed straight to Stanage, where we managed to get 1 climb in before having to get back for a resturant reservation.
A monster steak, which I cooked on a very hot stone at our table, my first try of warm camembert and crusty bread (delicious), pints of Guinness and a good night sleep, perfect prep for a Sunday session on the grit.
Sunday morning and by 10am we were strolling up towards the crag, sun blazing, the crag in front of us and it was set to be a great day.
We set up camp at the bottom of our first route, went through a few bits and we were both ready to climb.
I will admit, I thought the lower grade routes were pretty bare for gear, but I was confident in the moves, I moved up nicely most of the time, only placing 1 or 2 runners. Setting up good belays and then Natalie moving really nicely up behind. It was lovely to see her big smile at the top of each route, chuffed with the achievement of the climb. My only comment was that she'd make her life a lot easier if she used her feet more, but this will come from practice and improving techniques. For her first time out on rock I thought she did amazingly well.
We moved around finding low grade climbs to try and the wife had to like the look of the route before she would commit to climbing it. 5 routes on a sunny Sunday was perfect.
Post climb we headed to the pub for dinner and a cold beer, before hitting the M1 and heading back.
A lovely weekend spent with Natalie, sharing something I love so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment