The Roaches
V9 – V10 · 4 routes · sandstone · V-scale
- Approach 15 min — steep stepped path from the Roaches car park up through the trees to the skyline
- Best season November to February, on cold dry days with a north-easterly wind.
- Published
- Updated
The Roaches is the Peak's high, exposed gritstone edge, and its hard bouldering is the most serious in the region: high, bold, and with landings that demand total commitment. This is not a crag for a casual afternoon.
What makes it serious
The hard problems here are high by gritstone standards. Several finish six metres above ground with a flat, hard landing. The local scene treats them as solo problems with a pad, not as boulder problems, and the ethics follow: once you leave the ground you are committed.
Grades at the top end are debated constantly. Treat any V9 and above as a project that needs a specific cold, dry, windy day.
Conditions and weather
At 500 m the edge catches the wind and the rain. It is often two or three degrees colder than the valley and it can be misty when everywhere else is clear. The upside is that when the conditions are on, nowhere in the Peak is better.
Check the forecast wind direction. A dry north-easterly gives the best friction; a westerly brings rain straight onto the rock.
Access
Park at the Roaches car park and walk up. The edge is a nature reserve with protected wildlife — peregrines nest on the crags between March and June and the affected sections are closed. Respect all signs.
Routes · 4
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Hold types crimp · slab · mantle
Open beta
Highball face on small edges above a flat landing. The crux is the last three metres, where the holds get smaller and the ground gets closer in your head.
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Hold types arete · compression · sloper
Open beta
Exposed arete climbed on compression. The wind is part of the problem — it will push you off balance at the top.
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Hold types slab · friction · smear
Open beta
Sustained friction slab with no rests. Six metres of balance climbing where a single nervous foot ends the attempt.
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Hold types roof · pocket · toe-hook
Open beta
Steep roof on two-finger pockets. Very condition-dependent; the pockets seep after rain and stay wet for days.
Crag ethics
Crag ethics
Nature reserve status means strict rules: no chipping, no cleaning of vegetation, no climbing on the closed peregrine sections in spring.
