WEEKEND CLIMBING EVENT: Trad & Bouldering @ The Roaches

Buried deep in the South West corner of the Peak District and across the Staffordshire border, The Roaches is one of Britain’s premier climbing venues. With three distinct and extensive gritstone crags, the area offers a plethora of climbs of all grades and styles. From delicate slabs to overhanging roofs and jamming cracks, this place has got it all. The climbs here are generally some of the longest single pitch routes in the Peak District too. It really is an adventure playground for climbers of all abilities further enhanced by a sort of self contained natural theme park feel.

Photos from some of our previous trips to The Roaches can be seen here:

https://www.meetup.com/sheffield-mountaineering-rock-climbing-meet/photos/34807581/

https://www.meetup.com/sheffield-mountaineering-rock-climbing-meet/photos/29015312/

To make the most of this special climbing weekend we will be staying onsite at the Don Whillans Memorial Hut. We have booked the hut on the Friday and Saturday nights for exclusive use by Sheffield Mountaineering with all 12 spaces to be allocated to members of our group. This is a unique hut built into the rock which has been extended from an original cave dwelling. Not only is this hut right among the climbs it also gives us the opportunity to nip out and do a few more routes in the evenings after the crowds have left.

NOTE: This event is only for people who are staying at the accommodation.

Cost: We are pleased to offer this much sought after accommodation at the specially subsidised price of just £40 per person for the whole weekend (Friday and Saturday nights).

It has basic accommodation for up to 12 people, mixed, in two rooms, with full cooking and dining facilities, shower, central heating and a drying room.

On signing up for the event you will be provided with bank details to pay for the accommodation. Once payment has been received, your place on the trip will be confirmed.

Climbing: The Roaches offers an excellent range of quality gritstone climbing for both bouldering and trad routes.

Walks and Scrambling: This a very stunning area of the Peaks and has many great walks and some good scrambling.

Background: Don Whillans (1933 – 1985) was a working class lad from Lancashire who went on to become one of the foremost British climbers and mountaineers of his generation. His notable achievements included the first ascent of the South Face of Annapurna in 1970. Often a controversial character and by all accounts never the easiest person to get on with, his was nevertheless always one of the first names Chris Bonnington put on the team sheet when organising an expedition. Whillans was also renowned for his awareness of mountain safety as typified by a retreat from the North Face of the Eiger in 1962 that cleverly bypassed the treacherous Hinterstoisser Traverse. Sadly a lifetime of boozing and smoking lead to his untimely demise at the age of just 52.