The view from here

Another day back on the rock today - so far climbing is actually proving to be less painful for the knee that walking - I'm not sure that's quite how it's meant to be.

It turns out that when there's only two of you it's pretty difficult to take climbing shots that are all that dynamic or exciting - the rope lining into the distance shot gets old pretty quick - and for all the most exciting bits your partner really wants you to have both hands on the rope! (I should add that this shot was taken with the rope being managed guide style - no risks taken)

Today's venue was Oxenber Crag just above Austwick in the Yorkshire Dales. It's a lovely easy day crag of  short 15-25m routes in a fantastic setting - on the right day it can be a shady venue in the morning or a proper little suntrap in the afternoon. Standing on the edge looking out over the bluebells and the verdant green of the Dales, listening to the distant chatter of skylarks and ramblers on the Dales Way it's quite idyllic. Sadly in the last couple of years it seems to have dropped out of favour with the local clubs and is slowly disappearing under the ivy and ash saplings, which are squeezing out the abundance of little alpines that used to be found here. I've contacted the BMC and the Dales NPA to see if we can arrange a clean up - otherwise this little gem will be lost to climbing in a few years.