"Yorkshire e gritstone" | Matteo Arnodo

In memory of this spring, a green rich with life and moorland inhabited by white sheep I walk these English roads on the basis of Classic Radio, the only one that takes but fits perfectly. To surround picturesque villages the hills that turn yellow in autumn attract me to discover those rock bands that hide in them labyrinths of corners, prods and walls, sometimes rounded like "pebbles", sometimes sharp as "pebbles".

I spent the first part of my stay here in the Northumberland area and there will be a way to talk about those areas and those days later, now I’m talking about gritstone. England is divided into counties and four of these contribute to the formation of the geographical area of Yorkshire and is located more or less in the north-east (or in the centre-east considering the whole island). I moved to these areas at the end of October with the arrival of Pietro and together we spent a week among the rock tongues and the woods of this area. The weather was not very nice in those days, rain and fog accompanied days of long walks between sectors, sessions in the gym and double breakfasts. There are still some areas that I would like to visit but I am quite satisfied with the general idea I made of the area and have pretty clear ideas about which blocks I think motivate me most here and the lines for which I will have many training sessions front. Do you know Cypher? Do monopodal squats between the series of arched beams!

Pietro is a geologist and it’s fascinating to see how his passion and the skills that come with it make him appreciate climbing and outdoor life in general, always has some interesting insights on how certain areas have formed or why certain stones have certain shapes or streaks. Gritstone is the rock that characterizes this area as well as the Peak District. But what is gritstone? As I am very attracted by the rock of this place I asked Pietro to tell us in some lines what it is.

"Gritstone is nothing more than a coarse-grained sandstone, very well cemented and composed of siliceous clasts. It is a very old rock: it was formed in the Carboniferous (about 315-350 million years ago). In Italy, to make a comparison, we have very few examples of sedimentary rocks from this period, only some rare examples in Sardinia and Carnia. At this time the UK were far from the typical weather conditions to which we are accustomed today: they were in fact on a paleocontinent approximately across the equator. Corals, fish and other forms of life proliferated in the marine environment whose 'shells' deposited on the seabed formed successions of limestone. Then the day of judgment! The weather suddenly cooled, the sea water formed a thick ice cap at the South Pole and the sea level dropped. For the joy of us boulders on the limestone that once represented the sea floor begin to flow rivers. These rivers carry sand and gravel which is deposited in the environment. The ''bars' of grit on which it climbs are nothing more than what remains of these structures and the stratification that is observed is nothing less than the only testimony to their evolution."

A coarse, rough sandstone. For those who do not know it turns out to be rather aggressive and without wind gives good doses of days of rest and frustration. With the cold and wind you are on a very particular style of climbing that offers every type of grip and every kind of use of the technique of feet.

I feel like differentiating 3 types of grit that you might find, let’s give them a color:

• Light grey, the finer and aesthetically less rough, decidedly abrasive. Poetry in motion at Rylstone;
• The dark grey or black one is a little rougher, a little sharper than the previous one. Tender homecoming at Brimham;
• The red one, has an even greater texture and you can feel the gaps between the grains under your fingers. E.g. Caley.

On all three types of grit you often find yourself using the "pebbles" (pebbles), as feet, as thumbs or as grips. I find it a particular climb in which to pay great attention to the positioning of each finger on the grip and very often the skin of the thumb is fundamental, more than on other types of rock. I emphasize the great difference, in terms of climbing experience, in the presence or absence of wind. Without, most grips leave you with a few turns and a feeling of sweating, with, some grips that don’t seem like them suddenly becoming "tensible" for the simple texture of the grit. Skin and wind management were very important in the Rylstone sector sessions. The process on Lanny Bassham will still be long and to face it alone is not trivial but I think that it is teaching me a lot from the first moment, you can find notes about my first session in Instagram.

A few gb of roaming help you to find those listening rhythms lost in time, that attention focused on the sound of your own heartbeat, your own breath, the wind blowing, Nala snoring. Between excitement and fears with the warmth of the sun on my face I smile and slip into my shoes for another try.