UKC

Thinking of heading to Shining Cough on Thursday, hoping for some escape from this week's forecast heat (28 degrees). I haven't climbed there for quite a few years and I'm looking for some advice from regular visitors. 

Should we expect the crag to be dry, or will it still have a bit of dampness/greenness after this rather wet summer? 

Light winds are forecast. Are we likely to be driven away by midges?

Are there any better Peak or Yorkshire venues we should consider in the likely conditions?

Last year in similar conditions we trekked up to Kinder North. We found still green and still damp crags and unbearable midges - not encouraging!

Many thanks

Martin

One other "obvious" shady crag is Wimberry Rocks but the same possibly damp & midgey considerations will apply,

There will be plenty of dry routes at Shining Clough after this good spell, but why not get on some Peak Limestone? Plenty of dry crags, climbing in the shade and best of all NO MIDGIES.

I think the forecast light winds will mean that the midges will be a damn nuisance for the next couple of days up there.

Willersley or Staden would be a good bet.

Why is that? Is it the bracken that attracts them? Or is Peak Lime so undesirable even the wee bitey bastards won't go near it?

Midges need standing/stagnant water to breed. So you get lots of them on grit because of the boggy areas common in gritstone landscapes. You get little standing/surface water when the underlying geology is limestone because limestone is water soluble, hence very few midges around most limestone crags. 

The problem is that the weather has been so crap all summer that the high and shady grit crags suitable for hot days will all be in quite poor knick. 

Went to Shooters a few weeks ago and Ricochet Wall was luminous at the bottom!

There is also very little wind so could be a midge-fest. 

Would probably (unfortunately) agree that shady lime might be a better shout. I'll throw  Pic Tor into the ring as a good hot weather crag.

Many thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Good shout for Willersley. Yes, we might try there, though, sadly, I'm a bit wary of tackling anything above standard VS this year - age is slowly creeping up on me. I've enjoyed most of the HVS's and a few of the E1's at Willersley on previous visits, but this trip I think I'd be limited to the likes of Gut's Ache Groove and Garrotter which I've climbed many times before. I think I've only visited Shining Clough once before, so there'd be lots to try there. but we won't enjoy it if we're being eaten by midges.

It would be nice to find somewhere equally N facing but with more exposure to the breeze than Willersley, but I'm not sure any of the Peak Limestone crags at our sort of standard oblige (and there may be precious little breeze anywhere this week anyway).

Martin

Misty Wall Misty Wall (VS 4b)? I was on the eastern aspect of Kinder this evening and there were no midges. Depends how light those easterlies are I suppose. It’s very dry up there.

I'd personally say go for it. Routes should be reasonably moss free and very dry. Midges might be around in small numbers but it would take a very calm day to cause a problem. Too much good stuff there.

But SC is a bit of a slog to then find out that there's too many midges - on a 5x5 risk matrix I'd score it likelihood 3, consequences 4; so a score of 12. Bit risky IMO. Either take midge nets - reduce the consequences to 3 (score=9 or even only 6 if you're into S&M bondage 😂), or go elsewhere - reduce the likelihood to 2 or 1 (which may also reduce the consequences as well).

SC would not be like running away from Burbage North.

[Edit: can you tell I've woken up early and can't get back to sleep - I mean risk matrices for midges before 7 - really!!!]

The wiltons were all somehow midgeless on Saturday so there's hope. I'd probably take nets and sprays and give it a go. 

Would that crag be Harpur Hill perhaps? I know that mean climbing sport routes which may not be what you're after though there are still a few trad routes there, Seven Deadly Sins is superb and In It For a Biscuit is good too.

Codswallop, I've been bitten to b**gery at most of the best limestone crags in this country both by midges and worse by mites living in the dust and grass beneath said limestone.

Many thanks everyone.  We went to Willersley and had a good day.

BTW I've climbed Seven Deadly Sins fairly recently and found it very compromised and spoiled as a trad classic by the bolted line to its immediate left which takes a significant section of the original Seven Deadly Sins. Some recent guidebooks show Seven Deadly Sins taking a more direct line through this section, but I fear this is just to justify the bolts.  The variation is IMO harder and inferior. 

Martin

I know what you mean about the bolts but I thought it added to the "spice" by deliberately not clipping them thereby making it feel more runout than it really is!