I think every rock climber knows that strong urge to get outside and climb. It’s a compulsion that gets stronger the longer you’ve been away. It intensifies on those days when the weather is good, and you can’t take advantage of the opportunities that it provides. It bothers you when you think about that route or problem that you’ve been wanting to get up for some time. Last weekend it was an urge that was sufficiently strong for me to ignore the tail-end of a cold and head to Brimham Rocks.
For a variety of reasons, I hadn’t been climbing outside since I went to Little Almscliff back in September, and I wanted to get back on rock. This compulsion grew when I saw that the forecast for Sunday was for the dry and cold weather that’s perfect for gritstone climbing. I thought of those problems I’d been looking at on the Unknown Stones website. I persuaded myself that getting outside for a bit might make me feel better, and that I would be alright if I just did easier problems. So, I gave in to the urge, put on some warm clothes, packed up my kit, and drove to Brimham.
There was a theory in the 18th and 19th centuries that the Druids had created Brimham Rocks’ strangely shaped pinnacles and boulders. That theory has a legacy in the names of several of these rocks. The Druid’s Idol is one of them. This large and irregular boulder is seemingly so precariously balanced that it’s easy to see why a few hundred years ago some people could not conceive of it as a natural phenomenon. The Druid’s Idol is an amazing sight, and I enjoyed seeing it again as I walked past on my way to the Indian’s Turban boulder. Next to this twin-stack of boulders are a couple easier problems that I had not done before. They looked straightforward with flat landings. I thought these would be a good starting point for a morning of gentle climbing.
I was both right and wrong. Both problems were on rough rock with good holds, and a variety of features that made the climbing interesting. They also both involved a featureless, rounded top-out that I didn’t feel up to trying. I ended up down-climbing some of the way and then jumping off both.
I felt a little disappointed with myself but decided to try something else. I then spent a while ducking and weaving between the trees on several different paths as I tried to find the boulder that looked so inviting in the topos on my phone. As I stepped to one side of a path to let a couple out on a walk go past, they politely asked me what I was doing. I’ve regularly been asked questions like this when I’m bouldering. These questions are entirely understandable as, to anyone who is unfamiliar with bouldering, I look like a man walking around in the hills with a mattress strapped to his back. I explained, and we then wished each other a good day before going our separate ways. Later, on the way to the car park, other visitors to Brimham Rocks just gave me puzzled looks.
After a bit more searching, at one end of the Pinky sector I found the gorgeous face of rippled gritstone that I had been looking for. It’s the sort of rock that requires delicate climbing, and I managed this on most of the first problem I tried. However, I concluded that I was climbing nowhere near my best as I stomach-squirmed myself onto the top of the boulder with all the grace of a walrus hauling itself onto a particularly steep beach.
I still felt good at having completed the problem and decided to try a harder climb a little further along the face. This I completed with some careful climbing (and a bit of beta from my wife), and it felt fantastic. After a shaky start, this was a great way to finish my Sunday morning trip and I walked back to my car feeling pleased.
Further information
There is a large amount of information on bouldering at Brimham Rocks on the websites Unknown Stones and 27 Crags. The guidebook Yorkshire Gritstone, Volume 1 also contains a selection of bouldering problems.