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Our weekend climbing with Marmot athlete Steve McClure

Posted by SportPursuit on

Like most people, we are currently revisiting memories of great adventures from previous years to stay positive and look forward to future trips when everything has settled down. This post from the archive was first published in October 2019, looking back on an epic trip to the Peaks with Marmot athlete and climbing legend Steve McClure.

One of our favourite weekends of this summer was spent hanging out with SportPursuit members at the Marmot + SportPursuit Climbing Camp-Out – a one-off event for our community in Hope Valley, Peak District, produced by Blackbox Adventures. It was a chance for a group of our members who love climbing to get out on the crags with Marmot athlete Steve McClure, described by UKC as ” one of the best rock climbers in the world“.

We got to pick up some tips from Steve and test great new kit from Marmot’s climbing and outdoor collection, as well as equipment from Edelrid and Red Chili. Here’s how the weekend went down…

The weekend revolved around traditional climbing skills on the gritstone crags of Stanage Edge, an iconic area for UK climbing. Steve was on hand with instructors from Pure Outdoor to help our members improve their trad techniques and introduce them to new pieces of gear.

“learned loads of tips and tricks. It was really great actually to watch Steve climbing”

Members at the event also got the chance to play around with a whole toybox of great kit, including latest pieces from Marmot and a range of shoes and equipment from Edelrid and Red Chili. It’s a great way to see what the very best kit is capable of when you get out on the crag and put it to the test.

After all that climbing it was time to relax and soak up the late summer sunshine in the great outdoors. The Marmot camp hosted a delicious evening meal as everyone looked back on a great day at Stanage, and a talk from Steve gave a real insight into the life of a pro climber. These are the things that make a good weekend great – sharing the joy of our pursuits, trading stories, enjoying the great outdoors.

All images credit to Dom Garton (@domgarton).

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