Sheffield Mountaineering

Come join us for a bit of mid-week climbing fun with top rope & lead climbing. People tend to arrive between 6-7pm, though feel free to arrive at any time. You will need to be registered with Awesome Walls, which includes being able to belay & tie a figure of 8 (see 'New to climbing' below).

Prices: £12 members / £14.50 non-members (paid to the venue on arrival)

Costa Blanca is crammed with adventure activities, via ferrata, scrambling, sport climbing, canyoning and hiking.

This Autumn trip away when Englishland is basking in those beautiful dull, damp grey days. Why not use up the remainder of that factor 50 bottle.

Why here
Costa Blanca is not only convenient in terms of flights (direct into Alicante), accommodation abundant, sunny and warm easy accessible activities from mountainous adventures to dips in the Mediterranean sea.

What's here
Via Ferratas
Ridge scrambles
Sport Climbing
Canyons, some easier technical stuff and mostly dry
Hiking
Beaches and swimming

Planned Activities - we plan to host 3 days of stuff:

• Scrambling event (Sunday) - Sierra Ferrer Ridge (grade 1)
• Sport climbing (Monday) - Sierra de Toix. Grades from 3 (absolute beginners) upwards + many multi-pitch routes.
• Canyoning outing (Monday) - Barranco de Mascarat

The rest of the week will be upto you to organise amongst yourselves.

What to bring

• Climbing helmet
• Climbing harness
• Belay device
• Screwgate carabiner × 2
• 60cm sling
• Prussik e.g. Beal Jammy
• Suitable boots or approach shoes

Additional stuff depending on what you want to do

• Climbing shoes for sport climbing
• Via ferrata lanyard
• Suitable gloves for via ferrata, e.g. belay/cycling/kayaking/DIY

Flights
Closest airport - Alicante
Both EasyJet and Ryanair fly to here from Manchester, East Midlands (Ryanair only but Jet2) , Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds (no Easy but Jet2)

Route: Burbage Edge, Padley Gorge, Carl’s Wark, Higgar Tor

Meet at: Burbage Bridge car park on the Ringinglow Road, overlooking Burbage North crag. Postcode S32 1BR, OS map reference SK264826. As an environmentally conscious group, we actively encourage car sharing. Further details of car sharing arrangements from Sheffield and elsewhere will appear in the comments section nearer the time.

This pleasant circular hike takes in the contrasting landscapes of wild windswept crags and a lush green wooded valley. Burbage Edge is the second longest of the famous Peak District gritstone edges and as a highly popular rock climbing venue it is also a place that many of us are already very familiar with. This entertaining outing will give us the opportunity to explore the entire 3 km length of the crag as well as taking in the atmospheric tranquillity of Padley Gorge and other interesting features including the site of an ancient fort and a Hollywood film location!

The full day will include an exciting scrambling traverse of Burbage Edge (North and South), then a crossing of the main road and on to the highly picturesque Longshaw Estate, through woods and meadows and round a lake to take us into the spectacular Padley Gorge then back over the road and on up the Burbage Valley to the historic Iron Age hill fort at Carl’s Wark where scenes from the 1987 blockbuster “The Princess Bride” were filmed, then on to the imposing gritstone outcrop of Higgar Tor before returning to the car park via the Burbage North Boulders.

Photos of some of our previous outings to Burbage Edge and Padley Gorge can be seen here:

Route: The Cloughs and Crowden Clough

Meet at: Car park near railway bridge between Barber Booth and Upper Booth. OS map reference SK107847. Head for the village of Hope on the A6187. In Hope turn right (if coming from Sheffield or left if coming from the West) opposite the church and follow the road to Edale. Continue past Edale for approx. 2km, cross a bridge over a stream then turn right immediately. Follow the road under a bridge then slightly uphill for approx. 300 metres to the parking area on the left side. The car park fills up quickly so we highly recommend going by train. Edale station is 20 minutes walk away and is well served by trains from Sheffield and Manchester and points in between.

This exciting scrambling outing provides a great way of avoiding the crowds only a short distance from some of the busiest paths on the ever popular Southern flanks of Kinder Scout.

With a height gain of well over 200 metres, The Cloughs is one of the longest scrambles in the Peak District. The route includes a number of interesting cascades and waterfall pitches of varying degrees of difficulty but all avoidable, followed by a long delightful stretch of nice clean rock.

Crowden Clough will be our descent route for this one. It is the finest Grade 1 scramble in the Peak District. The rock is nice and clean while the scrambling is pleasant and interesting and easy enough to make it an amenable way down for beginners. There are also a couple of optional harder pitches, a chimney and a waterfall, which more experienced scramblers will definitely enjoy, especially in reverse!

The full day will include a scenic hike through Upper Booth and up the lower reaches of the Jacob’s Ladder path, a Grade 1/2 scrambling ascent of Kinder Scout via The Cloughs, a hike along the Southern Edge of the summit plateau taking in the huge outcrop of Pym Chair which offers further opportunity for hands on rock fun including an optional short Grade 3 scramble, then on to a Grade 1 scrambling descent of Crowden Clough and a stroll along the river bank and through some woods before returning to the car park.

Photos of some of our previous outings to The Cloughs and Crowden Clough can be seen here: