Castle Naze climbing

Crag: Castle Naze, Western Grit
Routes: Studio (HS 4b:sec), The Nithin (S 4a:led), Pilgrim's Progress (HS 4b:sec), Muscle Crack/Thin Crack (HS 4b:led)
Appalling weather as we headed across for what was supposed to be an intensive 30 hour climbing trip to the Peak. A moist easterly airflow meant it was unseasonably cold (4c), windy, misty and drizzly - with the weather marginally better in the western Peak. I felt that Castle Naze would give us the best chance of getting something done, and that was indeed the case. But visibility was just a few metres in thick mist and light drizzle was in the air as Vic set off up Studio, which has an awkward start with cold, damp jams up to a mantel before an easier slanting crack to finish. I followed up with the Nithin, which takes a steep crack then good moves up an arete before finishing up a damp chimney. A nice, varied route which kept me out of the drizzle. We then did the old classic Pilgrim's Progress which was hard in these conditions on the first real trad outing of the season. A steep crack with rounded arete holds, surprisingly strenuous, to a green and slimy finish. I then combined the easy start of Muscle Crack to a ledge before finishing up the top section of Thin Crack at around HS. Most of the other routes were damp, green, or both, so we called it a day. My second visit to Castle Naze, a nice venue, quite wild feeling in these conditions: we could have been in the middle of nowhere, as opposed to a few miles outside Chapel en le Frith.