Burbage Birthday Boulder

It's my Birthday today, and in the run up I was wondering what to do for it. In the end I decided that I would really like to be out in the Peaks enjoying the fact I live in The Outdoor City. I'd also been planing to take my son out climbing again as he enjoyed himself at The Three Ships last month even if some of it was a little challenging for him.  After we got in last time we looked in Peak Bouldering and spotted that above Burbage South Quarries is an area named  "The Kindergarten" with two described problems in a large baby boulderfield great for getting kids started, so I decided to head out here with a view to dropping down in to the valley later.

As well as the usual Liz, Kelly and Andy we also had my friend Becky and her partner with their young kid, who I was passing on a pair of my boys outgrown climbing shoes to.  We all played around in the Kindergarten for a bit and the kids got up plenty of things easily before exploring the area for a bit, and then we headed down on to the valley floor.  This area is one I always have fond memories of as it was my first experience of outdoors bouldering; many years back now we headed here after work one evening and after finding Pock Block a little intimidating I got my first problem sent on Fat Cobra, so that's where we started.

Several problems fell easily here, and Becky got to pop her outdoor bouldering cherry. We attempted Cobra Mantel but it was just too intimidating with the mass of Pock Block right where you are likely to smash yourself , so it was time for a little play on some of the easier problems on the aforementioned block such as Pick and Wall Past Slot, then we decided to move on again. Lamb and Sheep have some nice gentle aretes which are a great introduction to Peak Grit, so we headed thataway.

We climbed Lamb Slab and Sheep Slab on many different routes, F really impressing with his commitment and footwork - those new shoes are really paying off as they have been described as "more comfy than his trainers" and he was smearing fantastically, walking up some slabs with no hands.  At the top of Sheep Slab we found a big hairy caterpillar which appeared to be trying to build a cocoon out of grit, which attracted quite a bit of attention.

I also managed to get a few more here - The Sheep's Backside, Sheep Easy, The Crook and The Crook Traverse - before making a weak attempt at The Shearing while others tried much harder at it.  Finally it was time to head to The Brick where many easy climbs went up Briquette and the the Short Arete went on Brick itself before decamping to Fox House for a pint and tea. It was a great birthday, nothing too hard but a lot of fun and even a touch of sun.