Peaks trip report

by Tom Fuller

After much faff our car finally set off on the long journey to the peak district. After some of my previous experiences in Hugo’s car all that can be said is that I am glad faff is all we had to deal with on route. After the long journey we arrived at Chinley scout hut expecting to be able to crack open some beer and chill for the night before an early start climbing the next day. The truth couldn’t be further from our expectations. The evenings excitement was kicked off with the story of how Jess had fended off Brunel University and their attempts to take our scout hut which had apparently been double booked. After that the drinking began in full force as we decided that the weather forecast was rubbish and so we probably wouldn’t be climbing anyway. Many games were played including table bouldering, indoor/outdoor Frisbee and my personal favourite, bouldering pad smashy smash (pretty much what it says on the tin, two people run at each other holding bouldering pads, or if you’re Hugo and Henry two people run at Tim with bouldering pads!).
The next morning everyone was rudely awoken at 7:30 by Hugo’s alarm, except for Hugo who required some convincing in the form of me slapping him in the face. Dealing with hangovers from the night before we got ready slowly and reluctantly to face a day of rain in the peak district, nightmare. Much to everyone’s surprise it wasn’t that wet out so some climbing did actually get done! This is the point where it probably would have been better to get someone else to do the write up as Declan and myself went for a walk so all I can tell you in the some people did trad at Froggatt and some did bouldering at Stanange. No idea who climbed or what they climbed though, except of course for Richard catching his first outdoor lead fall, Jess….
After a long, incredibly hard stroll Declan and I decided to head to Haversage for a big mug of tea and a look at all the lovely shiny gear that I can’t afford and don’t need! Upon our arrival we discovered the boulders had beaten us there and the trad climbers weren’t far behind us. When we decided we were done there and Hugo and Myself had made the most of the freebies they had to offer we headed back to the scout hut for big stir fry. The fun didn’t end there though as the pavement attacked Max’s car and took out two of is tyres! it was Dec to the rescue with a spare tyre that would fit Max’s car so he could get moving again. When everyone was finally back a delicious dinner was cooked by Matt France, Hugo, Henry and various others (I might have had a few drinks while this was happening). With our bellies full and beers in our hands we headed outside to build a fire and play some drinking games! There were a few memorable moments during the games, such as Henry climbing a totem pole and a visit from some of the guys from Brunel who wanted to see what they had missed out on. After many hours of drinking and games and drinking games my memory became a bit patchy I think we played the after eight game and then went to bed….
The next morning we were woken up by Jess in a much nicer way than Hugo’s alarm from the day before. After breakfast, a cleanup and a lot of faff about what people wanted to do with the day we finally set off in two groups, one going bouldering at Stanage and one going indoor bouldering at Awesome Walls in Stoke. Being in the group that went to Awesome Walls I can confirm that it is pretty Awesome and they do have walls, but that’s about it as I spent most of the time pretty much asleep on the sofa (recurring theme I know…). Once everyone had sufficiently worn themselves out and Max had bought some new tyres we headed for home.