Within a short walk or drive in one of our centre's minibuses there are no less
than six excellent crags which offer fantastic opportunities for groups wanting
to try out rock climbing with us. Pictured above is just a small part of "Stanage Edge"
a 5 km-long crag which overlooks our centre. It varies in height up to 30 m high,
with stupendous views over the Hope Valley and Hathersage just below.
The image above shows just a small section of this amazing long escarpment of
Millstone Grit. Click here for lots more information on rock climbing with us.
Once the scene of arguments between hikers & climbers with landowners'
game keepers over public access, Stanage Edge (above) is one of the very
few parts of the Peak National Park's 555 square miles which are actually
owned by the park's managing authority. This means nowadays everyone
can enjoy this wonderful climbers' & walkers' playground.
The local crags offer all possible grades of rock-climbing on fabulous
Carboniferous Millstone Grit - or Gritstone - which is not a gritstone at all !
It's really a rugged felspathic estuarine / turbidite sediment which outcrops
as scarp faces on escarpments striking NW to SE so the rock faces W & S.
This massive crystalline sandstone with large rounded pebble clasts &
extensive bedding planes & cross-setbedding offers some of the best friction
climbing in the UK. It once was part of Rhine estuary - and nowadays people
from all over Europe come to enjoy the pleasure of hand on warm, firm rock
with the sounds of red grouse and local Gristone breed sheep in the background.
Often overhead there are Kestrels - and on warm days you may see flocks of
two recently-introduced species - Homo Sapiens Hangundergliderus and
Homo Stanagius Danglingunder Parapentus ! :-)
-
- We offer individuals rock climbing
as part of our
- multiactivity
weeks and weekends.
We regularly
- offer novice's
climbing introductory courses too
- - and follow- up events for beginners
& intermediate-
- climbing enthusiasts. Some of our MIA & MIC
- qualified staff run training &
assessment
- courses from time to time for people
wishing to
- become instructors. For people who can't make
- weekends, we offer a "hire
an instructor for the day"
- guiding service.
(n.b. * link is a large file
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OTHER ACTIVITIES YOU
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