Blog 08-2018

I had slipped away, it felt like sleep, an amphetamine induced dream. A perfect granite triangle of green tinged rock soared away between beards of stiff salt streaked grass. My hands motioned across gritty stone, orchestrating my dream into dance on a slightly off vertical stage. Each movement slow and rehearsed finding rests and calm with every upward...

A walk (Warke) in space Wendy didn’t like the look of it, peering around the corner a line of in cut holds chased across a piece of beautiful greenish rock a few meters above the sea. We argued and I got grumpy, my temper rising as her back walked away from me up the hill. Sitting on a rock, arms on my knees chin on arms I could feel...

There were angels here, black ones, I could feel them hanging like bats from under the dripping stained stone. I could taste my desire like cold wine in my mouth, strong, scented and flooding, dripping off my tongue and stinging my skin. The angel’s waited over my shoulder as we picked our way across slime and stink, acidic bird shit stoking...

Reminiscing part 1   The sea surged and the shadow felt ominous, even though the day was sunny, the warmth just touching the hill above. The rock, black in the shade, felt damp, greasy like having soap on your hands, its roughness hidden by a gossamer of sea spray and morning dew. Martin looked nervous, so I hide my fear under a veil...

Reminiscing part 2   Looking up I followed the line of the corner slowly, head tilting, eyes squinting, a deep groove sped away from me above my off kilter helmet. I sighed, my bowels churned and I still had not found a belay, between me and certain death was a suspect half placed camming device and some wedges way too low to catch me, a...

So!! From now until the 1st January 2019 we will be giving away a free year’s membership to one lucky winner of our photo post competition. All you need to do is to come and climb with us, take a picture of yourself climbing and post it on social media, either facebook or instagram, make sure you #dartrock or tag us. We will choose our...

Climbing walls?? I have been climbing now for nearly 40 years!! Yes I know right? What an old git! Anyway, over the years I have been climbing the sport has taken off in an amazing way to a point almost unrecognisable from my early years. Firstly, bouldering has taken off big style, what used to be something we did when we couldn’t go ‘proper’...