My Top 10 Favourite Lakeland Crags #6: Bowfell, Langdale

My Top 10 Favourite Lakeland Crags #6: Bowfell, Langdale

The high mountain crags on Bowfell are a beautiful place to spend some time, with excellent climbing in a great setting. They are usually fairly quiet, although you may have to join the queue for the classic Bowfell Buttress on a sunny summer's day. It has many memories for me, some good, some not so good. Two that stand out are both from blistering hot late June days, 23 years apart.  

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How To Use Prusiks

How To Use Prusiks

Some years ago, I was sea-cliff climbing at Gogarth in north Wales. My second was on a tricky overhanging pitch, and he was really struggling. We couldn’t communicate because of the background noise from the sea, and I couldn’t lower him back down as the tide was coming in. My only option was to escape the system using a prusik loop, climb down the rope using a prusik loop, build another belay and haul my second up to it using – you’ve guessed it – a prusik loop.

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How To Build Good Belays Part 1: Selecting Your Anchors

How To Build Good Belays Part 1: Selecting Your Anchors

You’ve made it – you’ve just climbed your hardest pitch ever, you were stretched to your max, your heart was pounding, but you did it. And now you need to build a safe secure belay so you can bring our second up. Many climbers find this one of the most challenging aspects of climbing, but by asking yourself a few questions, you can quickly and efficiently select your anchors and build your belay. 

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