Looking for a little guidance on some climbing around Kewsick/North lakes.
Taking my girlfriend climbing outdoors for the first time and looking for some nice easy stuff to have a go at.
Ideally I’m looking for somewhere I can top rope and belay from the bottom just to give her a bit more confidence. (I’ve got a 50m rope)
I’ve climbed at shepherds crag (Borrowdale) a few years back but the only problem is its a bit high.
Any other suggestions?

Borrowdale is a fantastic spot for beginners. I understand your comment about route length, but some of the shorter slabs (or even the first pitch of little chamonix?) are really atmospheric without being too scary.

Look on UKC – there’s a searchable map of crags with descriptions. Plenty of other options in borrowdale

Try some of the harder scrambles eg Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag or that gully at the top of St John in the Vale – cant remember the name but it has a commiting final pitch by all accounts.

I’ve had a look on UKC but a lot of the climbs (especially the easier ones) don’t have height on.

Call Needle Sports for a chat; run and staffed by local climbers: http://www.needlesports.com

The first place I ever climbed was Scout Crag in Langdale. Easy to top rope.

Brown slabs (shepherd crag) would be ideal, there’s about 5 climbs in the Diff to S range all in a row all 3star routes, it’s a short walk from the road. great learner crag.
Edit: there’s pics of people top roping so should be possible for you to set up and then lead the whole diff routes later which are about 40m

It’s brown slabs that I’ve climbed on but as I say I’d rather belay from the bottom as its a first time, otherwise I would have definitely gone there.
Keep ’em coming folks!

I should also mention that whilst I’ve done a bit of climbing I’ve not lead before which I know limits me moreso.

there’s pics of people top roping so should be possible for you to set up and then maybe lead the whole diff routes later which are about 40m, they’re very easy

Groups head out to Sandale, a little quarry out past Ireby, for beginner top roping. Stake belays only, you’d need a rigging rope in addition to your climbing rope. Alternatively, lead something like Jackdaw ridge at shepherds, and do it in very short pitches, you’d never be far away from your partner, it’s mostly easy scrambling and not intimidating, yet feels like a ‘proper’ climb. You can also rig a top rope on the first pitch for a play before you set off. The other area used by groups is known as upper shepherds, continue up the normal walk in above the cafe to a little crag above.

Ah, just seen your post about not having led.

I should also mention that whilst I’ve done a bit of climbing I’ve not lead before which I know limits me moreso.

Ah…….here’s a picture of the last bloke who said that to me 😉 , we found him on a ledge with a Canadian female work colleague he’d presumably been trying to impress. Turned out he’d been to the climbing wall a few times and done a diff.

here’s a picture of the last bloke who said that to me

I’m glad it wasn’t just me for whom that rang alarm bells. Back when I was climbing regularly I wouldn’t have taken anyone who was climbing outdoors for the first time if I was otherwise on my own, and certainly not to a face I’d never been to before.

Looking for a little guidance on some climbing around Kewsick/North lakes.

Find someone who knows the area, then ask them to show you.

Is there not a crag near were you park or used to park for the Bowderstone much used by outdoor centres for this kind of thing (not climbed there for 25 years so can’t remember).

From recollection, Brown Slabs is about 30-35m, so not easy ‘bottom-rope’ territory. Don’t stick a toprope on the first pitch of Little Cham. it isn’t that good a pitch, it’s not easy to rig, and you won’t be popular!

There are plenty of smaller crags dotted around, but the problem with Borrowdale is that lower grade stuff gets a bit vegetated, and is prone to looseness unless it gets a lot of traffic. This is particularly true of the crags on the east side closer to Keswick. This should also have a bearing on how you set up and run top-ropes – it’s easy to dislodge stuff near the edge of the crag.

Ask in Needle Sports – there may be a local crag that the SPA and outdoor centres use. There’s a post above which is useful. TBH with your experience I’d be after a crag with very straightforward access to the top and easy rigging.

Personally, I’d just cruise down to Langdale, do a couple of routes on Scout Crag and have a pint in the ODG.

Years ago, I mucked about on Seathwaite Slabs – mainly soloing/scrambling. you could combine that with messing about in Sour Milk Ghyll

joespencer33 – Member
Looking for a little guidance on some climbing around Kewsick/North lakes.
Taking my girlfriend climbing outdoors for the first time and looking for some nice easy stuff to have a go at.
Ideally I’m looking for somewhere I can top rope and belay from the bottom just to give her a bit more confidence. (I’ve got a 50m rope)

DON’T

I’ve climbed at shepherds crag (Borrowdale) a few years back but the only problem is its a bit high.
Any other suggestions?

Get yourself reaquainted first before you take someone else into a potentially lethal scenario!
THEN think about taking her with you – and only with others with you until you are competent.
Spent far too many times picking people like you either off rock or whats left of you off the floor over the years.

Happy to see that others have pointed out what went off in my head.

Grab a bouldering mat – go somewhere nice – bring a picnic, you’ll both enjoy yourself more and be relaxed.

Setting up on a crag with little experience, in the Lakes of all places, is not going to be a fun day if it starts to get interesting.

Grab a bouldering mat – go somewhere nice – bring a picnic

This is the correct answer, having thought about it some more.

There are a lot of much easier places to have fun with top-roping than the Lakes.

If you climb regularly at a wall, try and hook up with some more experienced climbers and spend some time seconding routes. That way you’ll build up a bit of knowledge from them and ultimately will lead onto you leading routes. All this takes time but will be far more rewarding than trying to find top-rope crags.

Or as above, a quick bouldering hit for a decent work-out without any hassles.

joespencer33 – Member
I should also mention that whilst I’ve done a bit of climbing I’ve not lead before which I know limits me moreso.

Based on this statement, here’s your answer:

Keswick Climbing Wall

I appreciate the input guys and I have given it some careful consideration.
Whilst I’ve not lead before, My climbing experience is certainly more trad than indoor walls. (Climbing HVS/E1 grade (I know its not quite the same seconding)).
I’ll give it a bit more thought and maybe see about heading to Langdale.
Cheers

Climbing aside, how much experience have you with setting up / securing a top-rope?

Cos that’s the, excuse me, crux of the issue isn’t it. When your OH is 20′ in the air it doesn’t really matter whether you’re Spider-Man or whether you can’t get off the ground, if you’ve walked round to the top and set up your anchor points with a bag of washing and some wet string wrapped around a rotten fence post you’re going to have a bad day.

(And that’s before we even take into account on-sighting with a novice. Even the experienced climbers I know carry guide books when they’re talking padawans out.)

speaking as a novice climber…

climbing is usually terrifying, the route will have been picked by someone more experienced (obviously), who has no idea at all just how hard/scary a beginner will find it.

do expect tears, don’t expect a burning desire to repeat the experience.

the answer is: scrambling. A grade1 scramble will make for a great day out, and should leave most people keen to do more.

less gear, more fun, take it from there.

I think I must be in the old and curmudgeonly camp, but please learn how to lead and set up belays before taking someone inexperienced out onto a crag, I’ve seen some right horrors in the past. It’s not so much the not knowing what you are doing I have a problem with(see below), it’s the taking, and having responsibility for, someone else when you don’t know what you are doing which is the thing which concerns me.

So, as some above have suggested, get a bouldering mat and have a fun day playing on some problems, although I have no idea where the easy bouldering, or any bouldering to be honest, in the Lakes would be…

Also, please don’t top-rope. It’s fine for climbing walls/sport venues but shouldn’t be allowed out in the real world… but that’s probably another argument altogether.

Funnily enough I took a mate out last week for his first easy sport in N Wales. You forget even with a straightforward 4-bolt clip up there’s still stuff to learn. Like threading the lower-offs without dropping the rope or yourself 🙂

That said I’m all for a *bit* of adventure. I started with other newbies [cough] years ago with a couple of crabs/slings top roping from trees, before getting any leading gear. Is Woden’s Face the Borrowdale crag somebody mentioned – poss too tall for bottom-roping? Think about your/her comfort zone and make sure she has a good time and wants to come back!

Also, please don’t top-rope. It’s fine for climbing walls/sport venues but shouldn’t be allowed out in the real world… but that’s probably another argument altogether.

Top-roping has its place for beginners, as long as you’re not hogging a classic and know how to set up a belay efficiently. Very often it’s possible to set up a rope even if you don’t have a full lead rack. And if you have a complete novice climbing, it can be useful to belay from the bottom to offer some not-at-all-annoying tips like ‘just reach up to that hold’, ‘just stand up’, and ‘just use the holds’. 🙂

I’m glad it wasn’t just me for whom that rang alarm bells.

Maybe a raised eyebrow, but I’ve never been on a course, joined a club or been guided. I have climbed with the odd more experienced incl Alan Hinkes #namedropper, but already been climbing for years.. Hasn’t stopped me mountaineering extensively in the Alps and I’m still here. I have cringed a few times when with people on easy routes mainly over very poor belays ( usually to do with vector independent equalised). So as said by cougar, just make absolutely sure you know how to set up a top belay it’s often not a simple as chucking a large sling over something.
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