Rock types
In The Lake District there are lots of different rock types that we use to
climb on. At the heart of it all is Borrowdale's igneous rock, however there are
also granite and gabbro. To the north of Borrowdale Skiddaw's soft slate make
climbing rare and are used mor commonly by walkers and runners. To the south and
to a smaller amount in the north of the area limestone scars give a harder challenge
challenges and on the coast to the west, at St Bees, and in the Eden Valley to
the east Permian sandstone gives different problems.
Sandstone can be a
nightmare. The soft rock cannot sustain hard edges – all features are smooth
and rounded. Rain and sweaty hands easily erode sandstone. “Holds” on
sandstone have a frustrating tendency to slope down and out; cracks are shallow
and offer little purchase; years of being been gripped by sweaty hands and being
rained on have damaged some holds leaving a permanently bad feel to them. Other
patches carry a ball-bearing layer of sand grains causing feet and fingers to
skate unwillingly over the surface. It’s not surprising that it’s not well
favoured by UK climbers.
Limestone
calls for delicacy of touch, gritstone – God’s Own Rock, this has a more
gymnastic approach, earning its followers the nickname of “Gritstone Monkey”
. For all its apparent smoothness, limestone, especially when weather-washed and
free from vegetation, has the texture of very fine sandpaper, giving surprising
grip even on smooth surfaces in the dry. In the wet though, it turns
treacherously greasy and un-climbable, best not to get caught in a storm when on
limestone.
Gritstone on the other hand
is courser, rougher, can and will give you bloody knuckles and even a rash-like
effect on the fingertips at the end of the day, caused by pressure on the skin
of tiny pin-sharp grains of quartz. Yet the rough surface texture provides grip
from those same points of quartz grains even when a veritable waterfall is
running over the slabs. Limestone tends to have small, sharp, hard edges,
demanding accuracy, balance and trust in the strength of the fingertips.
Gritstone weathers to more rounded shapes; holds tend to be larger, the best
known as jugs (short for jug-handles) for obvious reasons, especially those
pulse-relieving “thanks God” holds. 
