Weardale Classic Ice Lines January 2013.
Took the Hangar 18 Down Vest and Mountain Jacket out to my favourite local ice venue today, Hillend Quarry, Weardale, County Durham. Hillend Quarry comes into good climbing condition surprisingly quickly considering it is just over 200m altitude. A week of just sub zero is normally enough to have something to play with. Take plenty rope as the fence posts are all rotten and about 50m back from the edge, so you need to equalise a few of them.
Things were thawing when we arrived, so we set one rope on the left side of the main ice curtain, a feature about 20m wide and 8-12 m high. We played around on a few lines before attempting a few thinner lines which started to fall apart on us as the day warmed up. We then moved left to try a couple of dry tooling/super thin projects I have been working on for a few years. Belting fun all day, nice and toasty warm in the combination of Hangar 18 down vest and mountain Jacket, shame there won’t be much ice left after the weekend for everyone else. Don’t tell anybody about this local hidden gem!
Here is a video of one of the mishaps from the day... http://youtu.be/hMdrAX70sFM
Andy Blackett - January 2013
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