UKC

I really enjoyed this climb on Sunday, the crag for ourself,it didn't rain,and i didn't finished it in the dark.3 pitch of pure delight, crack/bridge/traverse left and right, exposed,good friction the full lot and nothing strenuous.plenty of gear and a lovely view all day, a bit windy but i can really complain. Then the crux arrive, a groove.humm 4b humm it a bit technical for a 4b.what do you think?
brixton climber

In reply to brixton climber: Its a trick move into the groove, probably 5b for about a one foot move really!

In reply to brixton climber:

The groove is easy, it is getting into it that slows me down every time. Well it used to, now it will never be done again.

In reply to Al Evans:
dear al.
Yep, im tall[6ft1]and i really struggle to get to move on ,i tought that not a 4b move , then when you in its just pure delight.
Must be a big surprise for people who just expect a 4b move,or for the small one.
lovely climb
brixton climber

In reply to sutty:
dear sutty.
why not?
brixton climber

In reply to brixton climber:
Don't know, not done it yet, we were down the other end at the weekend.

But the first pitch of Boo-Boo (VDiff) was as hard as anything on any of the VSs we did...

In reply to brixton climber:

Yep, as Al says, about 5b. Bit of a shocker if you were soloing and didn't know. Deserves highlighting in guide. Lovely route.

Mick

In reply to brixton climber:

I have done it several times and now I am too old to do it again when there are lots of other routes left.

In reply to brixton climber:

Hi Pascal - Sorry I missed you - another time.

Did CDW in early 80's and yes that move sticks in my mind - was it a waist high V groove that bulges out so you cant see you feet? - quite awkward to enter as I remember.

In reply to Toreador:

Ive done Boo Boo loads of times - the first bit of the first pitch is quite bold up to the tree but pitch 2 doesnt feel like VD the first time (until you have sussed all the hidden holds) was it traversing right round the bulge and then stepping up onto the slab that got you?

In reply to brixton climber:

Yes, definitely very hard for 4b, but v shortlived. Basically, one of those historic grading mistakes. Doesn't really change the overall grade of the route though.

In reply to Toreador:


Before I started climbing in earnest I was in a party of about 10 bumblies trying the lay back start to Boo Boo. Only myself and another guy could do it. Years later my partner took flight off the first pitch and landed on my head !

Tough little sucker.Probably polished to buggery now too ?

In reply to brixton climber:
I did it as a HS/VS leader, and didnt find the 'crux' at the top hard at all - in fact I thought the crux was the first pitch adn then the traverse out at the start of the second. I must have found the trick by mistake or something, as my second struggled a bit. But anyway, it cant be that hard, I had probably never led harder than 4a that high up at the time! Great route.

In reply to brixton climber: Must agree that getting into the groove was a little bitch for 4b! Also, the first pitch doesnt get a technical grade - wtf? I seem to remember that the first pitch felt bout vs. If it doesnt get a technical grade the max it couls be would be severe. Its certainly harder than that. I reckon the whole route should get vs.

In reply to Heddwyn:

It was my first HS lead and a long time ago but I remember two surprisingly hard bits: The first pitch up through a small overhang/boulder that almost stopped me before I had got started then getting into a slope-floored triangular sentry-box high up on the last pitch where I had actually started to slip off with my feet just as I got a good hand hold. If this 'sentry box' is the groove that others are talking about, I'm sure it was hilighted in the guide as tricky and I don't think it was that far out of line for 4b. Certainly not 5b - I can barely do a move of that on a tight top rope at the wall!

In reply to NathanP: ASs I said earlier, and as Gordon and Mick intimated , its 5b to gain a foot. As a 4b only leader, how can you judge? I think most of us who could down solo 4b at that height are far more able to judge than you.

In reply to brixton climber:

v close to VS but not quite - 1SITC is pretty soft at VS and is certainly harder in my book

that move into the groove is fun but, iirc, not bold at all

In reply to Al Evans:

erm, if someone is operating at close their personal limit, are they not more likely to be able to tell if it's v hard for the grade than somone like you Al?

In reply to brixton climber:

Is this the Tremadog route? If so it's great, although I don't recall any details apart from the traverse to the belay. I do recall thinking the first pitch was harder than I expected and the second was easier than I expected, but there you go.

Stuart

In reply to David Hooper:
Dear david.
had a great time this week end, sleeping in eric jone's climbing wall[reminded us of brixton wall], the day at the upper tier was a success plenty of route done and many first time leader enjoyed a good day with no rain. It rain all night, but then in the morning the weather was with us.
i went alone with my friend mario to the crag, we had the crag for ourself,i couldn't asked for more, the last piece of this climb was just the ice at the top of this cake.
The climb himself is an easy 4b all the way except for this 5a move[i think its more 5a than 5b], this climb is not a vs,it a very enjoyable HS.
Ill go back again this year to do this move again[it is well protected after all.]
see you then.
brixton climber

In reply to David Hooper:
It was the initial bit of the first pitch - a steep crack on the left wall with a laybacky sticky out bit near the top. Well protected, but it really didn't feel like VDiff. I notice the Tremadog wiki gives the grade as VDiff 4c!

Judging by the polish I suspect most people go straight up the groove and climb through the tree - the way we went looks much less used.

P.S. I think we met you on Saturday and mistook you for someone called Jason...

In reply to Jonno:

Not at all, it's surprisingly unspoilt. Judging by what we saw and by people's logbooks, I think many people miss out the first 2 guidebook pitches completely, climb the Diff slab at the top, and think they've done the route!

In reply to JonC:


Of course not, how can you make a valued judgement of pain if the worst you have ever suffered is a small cut on your finger. A whole gamut of experience is neccessary to evaluate a grade.

In reply to Al Evans:

That sort of thinking explains why there have always been so many grade errors in guidebooks! I'm only a HS/VS leader but have trouble distinguishing between eg VDiff/HVDiff - someone who only leads at those grades would have no such trouble.

In reply to Toreador: Forgive me, but that is absolute rubbish, as a many times over guide writer I only ever had trouble with grading climbs that were much too hard for me, never the easy ones, you just need the ability to think of other people who actually might be near their limit.
I challenge anybody to accuse me of grading an 'easy' route incorrectly.

In reply to sutty:
dear sutty/other.
Could you recommend some other routes same quality/grade anywhere in uk?
brixton climber

In reply to brixton climber:

Seconded Craig Dhu Wall less than 2 wks ago and can remember worryingly little about it! Other than the traverse R to the belay and the traverse down and L to start second pitch. Where was this crux groove exactly?

In reply to Owen W-G:
dear owen.
its the exit at the top.
brixton climber

In reply to brixton climber:

Ooo best HS's in the UK would have to include from the south moving up North:
Terriers Tooth-Chair Ladder
Demo Route-Sennen
Doorpost-Bosigran
Right Angle-Gurnards Head
Central Groove-Dewerstone
Devils Slide-Lundy
Main Wall-Cyrn Las
Tophet Wall-Napes Crags (Sev but feels like HS!)
Integrity-Sron na Ciche/Skye
Ardverikie Wall- Binnean Shuas

Theres a few for starters off the top of my head!

In reply to brixton climber:

have you looked at the articles page, and gone through the list year by year?

Look at this from 2004 for instance;

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=59

In reply to sutty:
dear sutty.
i looked at it,i dont find it very inspiring,mind you im following david birket classic uk climb that maybe why, i was just fishing to see if any other route not mention on this book would appear on this thread.
Creagh Dhu Wall was just beautiful i think its going to be hard to find a better one on this grade.
brixton climber

In reply to Mick Ward:

i soloed it and did stop to think in that groove bit but didn't think it was too bad.

it's a while ago now so i can't really remember the details. Isn't there a crack with proper sinker finger locks?

In reply to brixton climber:

Well there were 39 sections on there so you are going to be hard to please so try looking for classic routes on here;
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/info/search.php?forum=0&dates=1&na...

In reply to brixton climber:


Well arguably:

Tophet Wall - The Napes
Integrity - Sron na Ciche
Main Wall - Cyrn Las
Doorpost - Bosigran
and, arguably, Poor Man's Peuterey (slightly easier) on Pant Ifan

are all better, and that's just straight off the top of my head.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth and the other.
thank for that,looking forward to it.
meanwhile i have another question regarding this climb.
On my book[birket], it give a 3 pitch graded 3c/4a/4a.
then on the 2000 tremadog gook it give 2 pitch 4b/4b.
I was wondering why only 2 pitch. it seem clever enough for me to do it in 3[rope drag] but i can see the point when i see the belay on the 3th pitch, so really what was the reason?
brixton climber

In reply to brixton climber:

I found the traverse left far more awkward. I do think that overall the route is very close to VS.

In reply to Jamie B.:

I can't remember anything that hard lower down but I did end up, leading high on the final wall, having to....um.....have a tickle of an overhead cam.

It was raining, getting heavier, running with water, lichenous and it was January. No apologies made to the mountain Gods but....even in the dry it would have been a bit tricky as I just remember it sloping awkwardly in various directions, all of them wrong.

In reply to Jamie B.:
dear jamie and other.
so did you do it in 2 or 3 pitch, was it graded in your book 3c/4a/4a or 4b/4b/
brixton climber

In reply to brixton climber:
Any answer?
im awaiting
brixton climber

In reply to brixton climber:

Can't remember technical grades, or even which guide we used. From (vague) memory I'd probably say 4a,4b(awkward not technica),4b/c.

In reply to Jamie B.:
dear jamie.
did you do it in 2 pitch or 3 pitch?
brixton climber

In reply to mikeski:

Yeah, that's the key. Get those, keep your body out of the "sentry box", look down at your feet, step up, good jug at top right.

No tricks, just neat climbing.

Too many folks seem to bellyflop into the niche, and then discover they can't move..

CJ.

In reply to brixton climber:

Both times I have done the route I did it in 3 pitches. The first time, I led the little traverse left doing that "a cheval" kind of move and then ditching that and dropping down and going hand over hand along the flake to the fang-like thing that serves as a belay stance for the 3rd pitch. It was optional to combine that with the crux section above I seem to remember, but as I was a very inexperienced leader at the time and I would be around the corner and out of sight of my far more experienced partner, combined with the drag, we opted for the 3 pitches.
The second time I led the entire route and decided to do it again in 3 pitches as my partner was very inexperienced and I wanted him in sight all the time, as much for his benefit as my own because there was a fair breeze and communication would have been problematic.
I don't have the guidebook at hand and so I am telling you this through vague memory as my last time on the route was about 15yrs ago.
I do remember the crux being a bit problematic the first time, but the second time, on the lead, I found it fine although for the grade a bit out of balance.