THE GRITSTONE CLUB, based in Yorkshire, was founded in 1922 to encourage pursuits of mountaineering, rock climbing, hill walking, potholing and skiing. Many of our members live near Leeds, Bradford, and other conurbations in our region so meeting for trips is easy. We hold regular weekend and mid week meets throughout the year and have well-positioned club huts in the Lake District and in the Yorkshire Dales. Regular meets internationally each year are also a popular feature in the calendar.
NEW MEMBERS WELCOME – Expert or beginner – join us on any of the listed meets at weekends, indoor climbing, walking, etc to suit your interests.
THINKING OF CLIMBING OUTDOORS? – If you have progressed and started to develop your climbing skills indoors and are looking to take the next step into the great outdoors it would be really good to hear from you. Here is a collection of articles on climbing background, equipment and skills for you to explore. We can help you understand the practical application, the joys, the freedom, and experience the true adventure and pleasure of climbing with friends and trusted partners.
100 YEARS OF THE GRITSTONE CLUB – The Club has a reputation for welcoming new members in the areas of rock climbing, hill walking, mountaineering and indoor climbing. In the early days of the club, many new routes in Yorkshire and in the Lake District were done, including the classics Kipling Groove on Gimmer and Great Western at Almscliff. Hill walking and long-distance running plus Artic/Antarctic exploration have all been important parts of our activities. Alpine, Himalayan, African and North American mountaineering are also a key part of the Gritstone Club tradition as well as cave exploration. On indoor climbing, we participated right from the beginnings in Leeds in the 1960s so we have had a long and continuous involvement since those early times.
GRITSTONE NEWS STREAM
- Training Videos for Sport Climbing - We are collecting videos here on skills you might need when sport climbing. This is just a start so let me know if you would like to see more subjects ...
- Summer sport climbing in the Yorkshire Dales - We are planning a number of days out sport climbing in the Yorkshire Dales throughout this Summer. See the calendar for the dates and location. We will start out with a few obvious choices like Robin Proctor Scar, ..... ...... However also speak to Memuna and Dan for more information.
- April newsletter - The latest newsletter contains reports of meets at both our huts, good weather winter walking & cycling in Scotland, and rock climbing in Morocco.
- Weekend climbing meets – Spring / early summer - We have a couple of climbing meets coming up in the Lakes and at Gogarth - see links opposite for more information.......
- Morocco, Anti – Atlas in March 2024 - Details for Anti Atlas meet now posted in calendar for March 2024 – if you are interested best to book soon whilst accommodation still available. Speak to Mick if you ...
- York Sport 2023 – Yorkshire sport climbing supplement - A new sport climbing supplement has just been published for Yorkshire limestone - a good companion guide to the Wired Northern Rock guide. Published by the Yorkshire bolt Fund team, who continue to do a great job but rely on our contributions to support the bolting efforts. See links for copies and contributions.
- Meets and Events for 2023 - We have numerous events planned for the year ahead, with meets arranged at the Smithy, Ribblehead Hut, Derbyshire and Scotland. There are a few gaps in the calendar to be filled and we would welcome volunteers to step up and fill those gaps.
- The Phantom Line (ED+), Jugal Spire, 6563m climbed by Paul Ramsden and Tim Miller - October 2023 update: Just before Paul headed off to Nepal on his latest trip to Nepal, again with Tim Miller, he was told that they had been awarded another Piolet ...