Stanage on Sunday

A lovely autumn morning and me and Paul are at Stanage Wall End looking at wall End slab (VS 5a). I start out on the hard left hand start but am soon defeated and climb it further right. The rest of the route goes fairly easily protected by friends until the start of the traverse. The traverse and the final slab finish are virtually unprotected so it is with some relief that I reach the top. Paul follows by the thin left hand start and it is his turn to lead.
He decides on Fern Crack (VS 5a) and laybacks the initial crack which leads to an overhung offwidth which is overcome with some difficulty.

Paul getting stuck into the offwidth

Next we take a look at the little visited Outlook area where I lead Lookout Flake (S 4b) which has a hard start and a hard finish with nothing much in between. Paul then leads Outlook Crack (VS 4c) a perfect jamming crack though like the last route quite short.
By now we are feeling thrashed so repair to the cafe for tea and cake.