Also, Spin is making a good case for the dry side of Scotland there. Looks good!
Went to Onyx wall at Blackburn again and took my son in law who hasn't really done much climbing. He loved it and was a natural so I got some vicarious pleasure from his enthusiasm. The visit also reminded me of the limitations of my rapidly degenerating aged body. I'm pretty broken and sore today.
Hopefully the weather will improve seen and we can have a play outdoors soon. Nothing to the level of some folk on here but maybe Cadshaw Rocks.
https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/cadshaw_rocks-1106/
Anyone else heading out this weekend? Probably going on Sunday, maybe Creag Dubh or Dirc Mhor.
Travelling and probably busy this weekend so been climbing as much as poss this week. Afterwork bouldering a wonderful thing.
I have a BD Vision. Upgrade from a Petzl Elios I think. It's a big improvement , but I think that's down to shape so I think it's impossible to say it's better or worse than say a Meteor without trying them on
Those magnetic Petzl helmet straps feel like a work of genius in the shop but on the hill in winter they feel like they were purposely designed to thwart you.
Got 2 days free so hoping to climb both days in the peak, but Dave isn't as far through the kidsgrowingupandleavinghome phase as me so can't go.
If anyone fancies a day revisiting the Stanage classics then shout.
Heading up to the Yorkshire Dales (near Bainbridge) next month. Are there any good beginner - intermediate bouldering spots people would recommend?
We'll be a mix of V2-V6 indoor boulderers but no experience on gritstone so the more lower grades the better.
Dirc Mhor?
Brave man, its windy and freezing even on a roasting hot day!
Brave man, its windy and freezing even on a roasting hot day!
Yeah, we got blasted out of it a few years back!
Yorkshire Dales (near Bainbridge) next month. Are there any good beginner – intermediate bouldering spots people would recommend?
There will be some esoterica closer to hand but I'd head straight to slipstones and sypeland
https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/slipstones-1519
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/modules/rad/view.aspx?id=496
There will be some esoterica closer to hand but I’d head straight to slipstones and sypeland
I've loved my visits to Sypeland but wouldn't recommend it for beginners, a lot of it is pretty high and scrittly.
Definitely recommend Slipstones though. Just leave your ego behind, particularly if it's warm!
@Kamakazie Bit of a mission getting there but I really enjoyed my day at Water Crag. Also check out the other stuff on Unknown Stones.
https://unknownstones.com/water-crag/
loved my visits to Sypeland but wouldn’t recommend it for beginners
to be honest it's years since I've bouldered there (been past a few times on nidderdale mtb loops) and last time there were massive snow drifts which took away a bit of jeopardy. There is easy stuff there, in a be prepared to fight traditional grit hvs kind of way. So yeah, might be a bit of an awakening for the wall bred amongst us... 🙂
Brimham is always my recommendation for bouldering. The carpark boulders are superb.
Brimham is always my recommendation for bouldering. The carpark boulders are superb
I had a magic day in October soloing around at Brimham. It was a crisp, blue sky day with virtually no one around. Among other things I soloed Birch Tree Wall which had been on my ticklist for 30+ years. Not all lifetime ticks are big numbers!
Brimham wouldn't be my first choice for a solo fest, lots of slightly precarious stuff. But then BTW probably no safer on the lead.
I think Slipstones, mentioned above, was a memorable day. The office in York was flooded so I got my only paid day off at that job and we went climbing in the sun. Was dead chuffed to do 36 routes in a day. Oh the naivety of youth.
Brown Beck, near Slipstones is also worth a visit.
https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/healaugh_crag_willas-1091/
Bit of a walk-in (or a cycle up) up from the road in Swaledale, and not one for a windy or chilly day.
But it has the kind of grade spread you'd be after, and is a fantastic location.
I always found Brimham an intimidating place to solo easy grades. Something to do with the quite sandy nature of the gritstone which made me not trust my feet on it.
Nice spot Healaugh, been a few times. I remember a big slabby boulder in front of the crag that was particularly good.
Thanks john - Slipstones was one of those I'd found but online information for a lot of Bouldering is a bit poor.
Is it the sort of place we could turn up and eye up routes or do I need to get one of the guides?
Edit: Thanks for the others as well - I'll take a look.
@kamakazie The 27 Crags App is worth a look. It's a bit hit and miss and some popular crags are behind paywall but Slipstones is on there with quite a lot of topos.
I would always look to UKC for access issues and any other sensitivities. Eg There is a restricted access note on Slipstones
Is it the sort of place we could turn up and eye up routes or do I need to get one of the guides
Have you got the Rockfax app? There's a bit of the Slipstones bouldering on that. But yes, you could probably just tool up and work stuff out. The right end is best for bouldering. There are parking issues but the BMC signs explain what to do.
Ramshaw for me yesterday, couldn’t commit to the thing I wanted to try so made do with some scrappy crumbs from the bouldering table. Nice day after the relentless showers. Quick trip to Wolf Edge to finish something I ran out of skin on last time I was there. There was a stressed looking lamb nearby so parked it and moved away. Couple of nice repeats. Tired after a long day, in a way that younger me wouldn’t have been!
Decent day at Gruinard yesterday. This was the highlight: https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/lochan_dubh_crag-18095/the_silk_road-66515#overview
Ramshaw for me yesterday
I never got on with that place
ran out of skin
Due to the above. See also that awful leaning block at Higgar Tor.
Two cracking days yesterday and today. Soloing about in the sun at Reiff yesterday with the odd nap on the mat then trad at Shiegra today.
Needs must...
Needs must indeed. My nearest wall is 35mins away, nearest crag is 2hrs. And for that reason we are going to build a garden woody. Well a summer build project for my son really. Going to be a based on a moonboard but thinking I can make it variable angle, 25 and 40 degrees. Probably mostly used at 40 I think. All timber from the local timber yard/ builders merchant and then the 2016 moonboard holds set I think. No lights.
I've not been out since Feb half term! Exam season for the kids now so planning on getting out after. But I am weak and injury prone so thinking regular board sessions + antagonist somethings... might help with both. Also it's a bit of fun given that there are already 142,000 problems already logged on the 2016 set.
"Did you see the climbers? They look grubby and very tired!"
Overheard in the CalMac waiting room in Castlebay after returning (grubby and tired) from a week on Pabbay.
I get a touch of imposter syndrome poking my nose into this thread so had a similar feeling of doubt that my climbing skills were up to scratch when joining a wee team heading out from Barra on the Boy James last week.
Stunning conditions for a few days got me into the swing of things before wind and swell built up a bit. Committing sea cliff abseils are always a little intimidating so mellow seas and passing porpoise feeding in tide races made for a bit more of a chilled mood for the climbing than I know that the Atlantic can throw at the cliffs.
My total lack of climbing fitness due to injury/life stuff getting in the way was a bit frustrating, but the rock was amazing, the crew an absolutely sound bunch of folk and the island itself a totally refreshing place to be. Inspiring to see folk getting onto some astonishing and improbable looking routes too.
Incredible wildlife including minke whale, dolphin, porpoise and grey seals, skua, snipe, corncrake, terns, gannets and sea eagles to name a few. Not many cliff nesting birds at all which was a bonus for the climbing. Bioluminescence in the sea during a midnight dip was a mind blowing surprise – I thought it only happened in warmer waters, but it turns out that it's just more likely that folk go nightswimming without the prerequisite amount of alcohol advised for Hebridean seas.
I'll hopefully be posting in here more frequently as I've realised that need some proper climbing mileage to make the most of such amazing places and really wish I could have done more before this trip.
Bàgh Bàn
Grey Cossack
Spooky Pillar
The Great Arch (not somewhere I ventured, but I'd love to return for The Priest or Prophecy of Drowning some day)
taking my son and his mate to the local climbing wall tomorrow for a spot of bouldering to see how they take to it.
my climbing shoes have seen better days. any recommendations. sportiva tarantulace seem pretty good value from go-outdoors and I could pick some up later but some reviews of them seem a little dismissive...
I wore through my pair in no time at all @jam-bo I was a total beginner at that point though. They're very comfy, and not very good if your climbing harder than very low grades imo. I like La Sportiva Finales, they're quite expensive these days though.
I was bouldering indoors today at the depot in Manchester, just haven't had the weather to climb outside at all recently 😕
Am getting back into it after a long break. Indoors only currently but nice to know I can still climb reasonably. Hoping to get up to the peaks in the summer and aiming for font next year
I've been taking my nephew recently, dusted off my chalk bag and the belt is a bit tighter.
I'll buy a new harness and encourage him off the boulder mats.
Just before I stopped climbing I picked up some dragon cams. Does anyone retape the dyneema?
I get a touch of imposter syndrome poking my nose into this thread
Imposter syndrome, the actual state of you. I got a nosebleed just looking at those photos. That's incredible.
any recommendations.
Go to a climbing shop, try on lots.
Just before I stopped climbing I picked up some dragon cams. Does anyone retape the dyneema?
I have retaped my friends.
Not really sure I needed to but they were easy enough. Trouble is I did them a few years ago and have still not used them outside
Just before I stopped climbing I picked up some dragon cams. Does anyone retape the dyneema?
Think DMM will resling Dragons. Otherwise you could cut off the slings and replace with Dyneema cord tied off with a triple fisherman's. Knot is a little bulky but does the trick.
Just picked up a set of tarantulas from go-outdoors. For £65 they’ll do for now and will be better than a mouldy 20yr old set of 5:10 ascents.
If the fit is OK then Tarantulas aren't terrible, especially when they've softened up a bit. There's a bloke local to me who climbs routes and boulders a lot harder than he should in a pair (8a and 7B in them)
Seem ok, got blue feet now…
