 Balcombe continued his love affair with the Lakeland crags during an early posting to Reading, Berkshire, by joining a mountaineering group which later became the Tricouni Club.Balcombe was one of the most technically gifted rock climbers of the early 1930s, pioneering three Lakes climbing routes (Buttonhook HVS, Engineers Slabs, VS and Central Buttress Direct Finish HVS) that were technically far ahead of their time during a two-week period in 1934.In 1936 Balcombe lead a party of German climbers on a visit to the Lake district in what was to be his last significant contribution to the activity.