A new crag...

we went to Armathwaite after work last night....a crag I had not been to and did not especially high expectations of to be honest; I was in for a pleasant surprise.

The crag is a lovely sandstone outcrop right on the River Eden; as in if the river was high you would get wet belaying on a couple of routes!! It would be not out of place in Northumberland at all; and the climbing style is very similar as well. This proved a problem for a couple of the party who were doing their first outdoor route at all/for a long time and found it tricky to adjust to the style of climbing that is very different to that of a climbing wall. One sequence on the severe caused some amusement for people whilst I called on my outdoor experience to get up easily.

The bouldering there also looks pretty special and the start to the E1 was one thing that I bouldered out. Given the landing is a nice sandy area I was able to get quite high...it is definetly possible with a crash mat and spotter...the only issue would be could you protect the second half of the climb (I would solo the first section with the rope on)....it looks a little blank. I would also want to check the top out of the route...might be worth abseiling down one day...