After a lot of overnight rain, it was perhaps asking a lot for the forecasted sunny intervals to dry Stanage, and in the event there weren’t any intervals anyway. However, I was bowled along by Andy’s enthusiasm and we dragged a couple of mats to Apparent North – Apparent North Pole more like!

Andy’s “DRYDAR” homed in on a fragment of less moist rock and he was off…

It was around this time that I realised that I’d left my flask of hot chocolate in the car (easily remedied), but also forgot to pack my bouldering mojo! A month of sunny granite slabs proved poor preparation for a soggy Stanage, and I gradually slipped into spotting and photo mode.

Early New Year’s resolution – must do more bouldering!