Tilberthwaite Quarry

May 20, 2008

With the weather still holding (it’s colder but not raining), we headed up to Tilberthwaite at 2pm on Sunday. The turning is a couple of miles north of Coniston village, and another mile or so up the road you’ll find a roadside car park.  From there it’s a short walk in to the lower quarry, which was deserted apart from a bloke who was doing a painting of the rock face.

After consulting the guide book and orienting ourselves we decided to start with Christmas Cracker (10m HS) I led, and then set up a belay with a tape on an adjecent tree – the only sensible possibility. After bringing up Frank and Lesley, we stuck up top rope on a tree above Kick Off (10m HVS 5a) essentially one long layback, dropping some gear in to stop a swing on a fall.

I’ve struggled with laybacking up till now, but my technique must be improving as I found this route  relatively straightforward, other than the slightly polished section at the top.

As the rope was directly above another route we decided to give it a go, even though Pressure Drop comes in at E4 6b. Managed about 1/3 of the route before coming off, then went back for another go and got one move higher before taking a swing again.

Gave up on that one and had a look in the upper section of the quarry where we had a quick outing up Slip of the Tongue (9m VS 4c). Looking down to the lower quarry we saw some more climbers (talking to them later we found out that they were attempting a new route) and a girl on a unicycle !

Headed back to Franks for some food. No pub visit this evening as we were late.

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  1. […] wanted to lead ever since. Being only my third ever 5a lead (the first was Endurance and the second kick Off) I was a little bit psyched but determined to climb well. Dan from the Priestly Centre was again my […]