Wye Valley - August 2026
The Wye Valley meet came around at just the right time of year, and thankfully the weather gods decided to treat us to what felt like an unusually generous giving of British summer.
With temperatures climbing (I’m sitting here goofily proud of that pun), we were in for a few days of stellar routes and those days certainly didn’t disappoint.
The weekend saw some new faces joining us for their first CMC club trip: Matthew, Amyce, Lynn, Quinn and Kade. For some, it was their first experience of climbing outdoors altogether. For others, there were new grades, new styles, and new milestones to be added to logbooks over the course of the weekend.
Friday saw everyone arriving throughout the day. Unfortunately for Chris, a broken-down car and many hours of waiting meant it ultimately took him 21 hours to reach us! But admirably, he soldiered on and honourably acted as though it was a short drive!
It was a relatively relaxed start to the meet, with various groups heading out to make the most of the afternoon and evening.
Bal, Amyce, Toby and I headed over to Shorn Cliff shortly after getting pitched up at the campsite, to link up with Piers and Paula, who arrived earlier in the week, for some heavily vegetated climbs! Ant and Jay arrived later on and the evening finished with a pub trip where everyone arriving came to get a well-deserved pint and meal after the drive down.
Saturday saw the club divide off into various groups over at Wintour’s Leap. Myself, Dan, Josh and Imogen headed to Wintour’s early, with Imogen and I bagging a popular beginner’s route (before getting too busy!) in order for me to get some anchor tuition in, which was a huge learning point. Later on, myself Kat and Imogen completed Zelda on Far South Bay, and Imogen and I regrouped with Josh and Tom for some Sport climbs in Woodcroft Quarry to finish off.
Josh gave Tom B some tuition throughout the majority of the day, with Tom bagging his first trad seconding route and multi-pitch climb.
Matthew, Kade and Ant teamed up for a selection of mainly sport routes around the valley. Matthew came away with a very full logbook from the day- with two 6b+ routes along with a 7a.
Luke smashed his first HVS lead and completed various sport routes; Lynn, Sam and Amyce completed various routes in South Bay, and Piers and Paula bagged various climbs before heading home later that afternoon. Quinn had his first outdoor climbing experience with Bal and Luke- of which he came away at the end of the trip stating he had learned a great deal, fortunately being in such good weather conditions! Well done Quinn!
With lots of scratched up legs and tired limbs, the generous menu and cold pints at the Rising Sun were a much-needed treat for us all at the end of the day!
By Sunday, the heat was well and truly established. At Avon Gorge, standing around in direct sunlight at the bottom of a crag became almost as tiring as climbing the route itself (or in my eyes anyway.. but I’m a ‘winter’, sorry summer lovers). Nevertheless, we were all determined to make the most of the last day before heading home.
Some headed over to Wynd Cliff, and others to Sea Walls. Many stayed around Morning Slab area, completing various climbs and scrambles. I was able to get some abseiling tuition off Josh alongside Tom, who also received further seconding tuition. Later on, Josh and I climbed Clarion, with this being my first VS second. Billy and Kateryne climbed on the route alongside us, closely linked up with Bal and others.
Overall, it was a great day for all and many, many routes were ticked off!
By the end of the trip, the combination of hot weather and several days of hard climbing was starting to catch up with everyone, and many headed off in the early afternoon of Sunday. I think we were all grateful that there was no need to spend the weekend staring anxiously at a weather forecast for once.
As always, a huge thanks to everyone who came along and made it such a great trip. It was a fantastic weekend of climbing, fab company. Once again- massive well done to our new members joining their first CMC trip!