UKC

i have not actually been to the ratho quarry climbing facility, but there is an area of the actual stone quarry that is under the same roof as other indoor climbing walls there. i thought this sounded like a good idea as when it rains it would mean you could still get on some real rock. however my friends who go there often have told me that no one ever climbs on it because it is simply too polished. having never been there i cant comment on how polished it is but am reliably informed it is rarely used. in these circumstances, and taking into account it is a quarry not a natural outcrop, would it not me ok to chisel some of the polish off and create new handholds for people to enjoy again? i would never suggest this for natural rock, however this seems like a special case.

i know things like this are a touchy subject for climbers, and i am fairly new to climbing, so flame away but try to give a good reason aswell.

In reply to Taba: 3/10 must try harder.

FWIW though, I understand that tenders have been invited for an additional artifical climbing surface at Ratho. I was told that this would cover the area of natural rock between the main leading wall and the competition wall, and was primarily required because the competition wall isn't actually up to current international competition standards.

In reply to Taba:

Probably not allowed to climb for Health and Safety and/or insurance reasons. Although if this is the case it does somewhat make a mockery of roofing the quarry. They should either put up more artificial wall to get more utilisation of the place or some other features/training facilities. Why they never just built a new complex somewhere a bit more accessible I don't know.

Cheers,

Peter

In reply to Taba:

The intention was originally to allow climbers access to the natural rock, in fact some of it has been bolted already.

However, as has been noted, health and safety seems to have prevailed, and I agree that it's a waste of good routes.

i guess i got my facts wrong when i said it wasnt climbed simply because it was too polished, i did think this sounded a bit strange but thats what i was told.

In reply to niggle: AFAIK the area of natural rock at the back of the arena (ie between the main and competition walls) had no recorded routes on it before the work began to build the climbing centre. This was because most of the area now occupied by the arena was filled with quarry spoil. I believe some "raiders" from Alien Rock did put up a couple of bolted routes on that face after it was cleared, and in fact I seem to recall that the hangerless bolts were still visible protruding from the rock at around the time the climbing centre first opened. Subsequent to that some new bolts did appear, and I think the old ones were chopped, but climbing has never allowed on any of the natural rock within the arena.

More worryingly, there seems to be some doubt as to whether the council are going to allow climbing on the outdoor rock as well: http://forums.scottishclimbs.com/index.php/topic,4745.0.html

In reply to Martin W:

I went to Ratho expecting there to be some real rock to climb however the area between the lead and competition walls looked very smooth and featureless. The back wall looked far more inviting but I didn't notice any bolts.

In reply to popebenedictus:


There are bolts there. I'd be interested to know what grade the instructors at Ratho reckon the two (I think) routes are, they look pretty hard!

In reply to niggle: IIRC the two routes put up by the Alien "raiders" were reported as being in the F7s.

In reply to Martin W:


Ah, right. I'll maybe ask them next time I'm down there. i have no real desire to try the routes though!

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