The Roaches, rock climbing in England

The Roaches stands out as one of the best gritstone crags in the country and as such it holds a very special place in the heart of British climbers. Situated further south than most other outcrops, it is divided up into three distinct sectors: the sheltered and at times humid Lower Tier featured here, the more exposed, windy and imposing Upper Tier and finally the atmospheric and remote Skyline area.

Given the beauty of the crag, it is unsurprising that the list of first ascentionists reads like the Who's Who of British climbing: John Allen, Joe Brown, Nick Dixon, Gary Gibson, Pete Harding, Simon Nadin, Don Whillans and Johnny Woodward are just a select few of those who left their mark on these walls. They all helped produce classic routes ranging for easy cracks to extremely tenuous pebble-pulling slabs and lines such as Valkyrie VS 4c, Via Dolorosa VS 4c, The Sloth HVS 5a, Saul's Crack HVS 5a, Elegy E2 5c, Wings of Unreason E4 6a and Thin Air E5 6a are regarded as some of best and most popular in the country. Some routes are almost a hundred years old, yet regardless of the age, the proud Roaches will certainly continue to be a shrine for many generations to come.

	ROCK CLIMBING AT THE ROACHES, ENGLAND