Chapel man completes 24 hour Stanage Edge climb

A Chapel-en-le-Frith climber has taken on a mammoth 24-hour Stanage Edge challenge to raise funds the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.
By Lucy Ball
Published 13th Jul 2021, 16:36 BST
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Richard Taylor has been climbing all his life but last week he took on his biggest challenge ever, by climbing Stanage Edge in 24 hours on his own without ropes.

The 49-year-old started his adventure at 3.30am on Thursday and went all the way through to Friday morning stopping only for power naps of about 20 minutes when he was exhausted.

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He said: “It was an amazing experience, my 24 hour journey was so much more than just climbing. It was a full immersion with nature is pure life changing magic.

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Richard Taylor taking on a 24-hour Stanage Edge solo climb. He set his camera up and took the pictures himself using the timer function.Richard Taylor taking on a 24-hour Stanage Edge solo climb. He set his camera up and took the pictures himself using the timer function.
Richard Taylor taking on a 24-hour Stanage Edge solo climb. He set his camera up and took the pictures himself using the timer function.

"To be out and see the sun rise, set and rise again made it a day to remember.

"Climbing is a selfish act as it only benefits the climber so I wanted to do something which helped others so I have been raising money for the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to help protect the wonderful area we live.”

During Richard’s epic task he covered the whole length of Stanage and Burbage Edge climbing 512 routes all without ropes and 84 boulders.

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Twenty of his routes were repeats, alternative starts or finishes and 18 where done in reverse from top to bottom taking the total climbs in 24-hours to 634 meaning he climbed 4,692 metres.

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Richard Taylor taking on a 24-hour Stanage Edge solo climb. He set his camera up and took the pictures himself using the timer function.Richard Taylor taking on a 24-hour Stanage Edge solo climb. He set his camera up and took the pictures himself using the timer function.
Richard Taylor taking on a 24-hour Stanage Edge solo climb. He set his camera up and took the pictures himself using the timer function.

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He said: “I had already done more than 400 climbs on Stanage Edge so going back out I had an idea what to expect.

"There were a couple of hairy moments though. Gritstone dries really fast so after the rain we had in the previous week I knew the stone would be dry but I did stand in a puddle on a ledge and my shoes lost all grip and I slipped but I held on.”

Richard grew up in Burbage and moved to Chapel and says his earliest memories were climbing The Roaches and going out exploring.

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Richard Taylor taking on a 24-hour Stanage Edge solo climb. He set his camera up and took the pictures himself using the timer function.Richard Taylor taking on a 24-hour Stanage Edge solo climb. He set his camera up and took the pictures himself using the timer function.
Richard Taylor taking on a 24-hour Stanage Edge solo climb. He set his camera up and took the pictures himself using the timer function.

He said: “Climbing has always been great for me at putting things in perspective, if I’m having a rubbish day I go out for a bit and everything feels better.”

During his climb Richard checked in with his wife and children to let them know he was doing alright.

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He has so far raised more than £200 to donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richard-taylor136

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Related topics:Derbyshire Wildlife Trust