UKC

"Bouldering in New Zealand is not easy. It sometimes requires an unforgiving amount of travel and commitment to get to the bouldering destinations themselves, never mind the friction-less problems that really do seem under-graded!"
UKC user Liam Copley describes the toils of a bouldering trip to New Zealand, but it's all worth it in the end!

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1641

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC: nice article, I'm jealous!

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC: There's some longer stuff at Castle Hill as well - I could see some very sparsely bolted rock, but it looked very smooth. I didn't have any boots with me, but it was a very singular place, very atmospheric - your moonlit picture sums it up very nicely. I'd love to go back to NZ again.

We stayed in a B&B homestay type thing at Castle Hill Village- very chilled, though arse end of nowhere & pricier than a motorhome. Was called The Burn. Owner did fishing, mtbing and skiguiding, but wasn't a climber

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC: The Hill is a magical place. It gets a lot of international traffic, so I think the grades are fair. The style is unique however, many strong people have had their egos checked there. Persistance and application are generally rewarded, and a short walk gets away from the polish.

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC:
Awesome.
Really want to go.
James

In reply to Removed User:
I agree. I can actually climb harder there....It's largely about balance not pull up strength. Lovely spot for photo's

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC:

Word of warning.

If you camp at any of the DOCs at Arthur's Pass (for Castle Hill etc), then put ALL your food away.

There is (was?) a massive mouse plague up there. In fact, better to steer clear altogether.

In reply to Queequeg:

Mice are the least of your worries! Kea's are a knightmare!

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

Seriuosly, they are a major problem up there. You really don't want them in your campervan, they're bloody difficult to get rid of. After spending a sleepless night trying to catch them, then having them scuttling all over us (there were several!), we had to clear out all of our food, park next to some skanky looking hippies and go on a massive walk whilst the mice jumped ship! I know, I know,but we got our karma 'cos our clutch went on the way down and we had to spend four days in Greymouth!

Keas are easy enough, just don't leave anything lying around. They're easy enough to scare off.

In reply to Removed User:

I (personally) found the grades at Quantum Fields to be accurate, verging on slightly soft; I flashed V4s there, and did a couple of v5 fairly quickly, and was only there for 2 days, so didn't really even have time to "dial in" to the place. Maybe spending time at Avon or any polished horroshow before you go would pay dividends.

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC: I don't think you gave castle hill enough justice. It is an amazing crag, it is challenging and of course you need a bit of time to get used to any place, but it came across in a reasonably negative light in your article. It reminds me of some of those who first go to font and find it polished and the grades are hard compared to grit etc etc etc.

In reply to Sambo: He didn't write the article. I think it's a case of fragile grade obsessed young egos taking a nasty knock when playing way from home ground.

In reply to Chris F:
Indeed, I'm not sure how Liam can "be confident in saying that a V5 at Castle Hill is easily comparable to a V7 on grit" when his experience of grit 7A+ seems to be one soft traverse and something he graded humself...

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC: "Is that is?" Brilliant, from what I've seen and heard I think most boulderers would be happy with the Castle Hill area for a lifetime.

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC:

I think the grades at castle hill were slightly soft (in comparison to yorkshire anyway) and I found the style similar to grit to be honest.

i thought it was one fo the best places i have ever been to boulder. free camping, nice people and only spittle hill and parts of quantum field have a problem with polish. go to flock hill and there is no polish.

i climbed all over NZ and it was easily the bset place by miles..

In reply to samsamsam: Indeed. (Hello btw)

In reply to Chris F: wayyyy, cheers

In reply to abarro81: Hey, to be honest I dont really like grit, so I havnt climbed on it in ages. I do know that the full green traverse is a soft font7a+, But I thought, that in summer, at castle hill, at the boulders I went on, and the V5's I tried that there wassn't much difference, but obviously it was very warm and very polished, and I didn't climb very well on that style of climbing. I was just saying my opinion, if you have been there and thought differently then fair enough. No need to get personal my friend, if you want to do that, you might as well email me properly, if you dont like anything i've done.

In reply to Liam Copley:

So if you know you've only done one grit V7, and you know its soft, and you know its summer, and you know its polished, and you know you struggle on that style of climbing, then how on earth can you confidently say anything about the grades?!? If you'd phrased it as "my opinion is" thats one thing, but you didn't - you were confidently in saying that it was fact.

AJM

In reply to AJM:

Presumably in the same way that having "only visited one area of Castle Hill" he "feel[s] that [he] can speak for the whole place"

In reply to Tyler:

I hadn't spotted that..... but yeah, that kind of thing.

Having bouldered at Bowden once, I can confidently state that the whole of Northumberland is damp, snowy, sandy and cold

AJM

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC:
Yeh, who the hell does liam think he is!? Writing an article for us on ukc and trying to give us information about a boldering area. Then saying we can email him if we have any questions... what an arse!

you guys need to lighten up!

In reply to simonwhittle:

That's a fair point, I wasn't intending to snipe at Liam as the rest of the article is ok.

In reply to Liam.

No dig at article, it was as good as you could have done without visiting all the areas in Castle Hill and staying for a reasonable amount of time to get a feel.

But.

Having bouldered all over the world, the grades at Castle Hill are pretty spot on. It just takes some getting used too. Its like Fontainbleau. Font isn't undergraded, just some people aren't used to it. Plus how can you get a feel for grades climbing there in summer? It's like going to the plantation and saying The Joker feels undergraded when you are trying it in summer....

Your comment was a bit of a sweeping statement from not a massive amount of experience with the place.

In reply to Adam Lincoln: "Its like Fontainbleau. Font isn't undergraded, just some people aren't used to it."

Alot of people will disagree on that.
James

In reply to james oswald:

If they want to kid themselves, then probably....

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC:

We are out there now. The National Bouldering Series was held at the Airstrip Boulders on Saturday - great fun.

There is a lot more than this - so much more, but this gives a good flavour. Ti-Point is not my favourite however...

In reply to Liam Copley:

even more so when your feet are on the ground for half of your ascent.

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

I agree that you have to stay at castle hill for a while to get the most out of it. there is always a really good group of people at the campsite and you can get into a real rhythm climbing there day after day. going through the cave stream is a good laugh too.

(hello to you chris, hows tricks?)

In reply to james oswald:

They'd be wrong then. Just because you find it hard, deoesn't always mean it's undergraded.

In reply to james oswald:

Yeah, what do people in Fontainbleau know about the Font grade?

In reply to steve webster:

that video is priceless...

In reply to galpinos:

font merely places a magnifying glass on peoples technique. if its not up to scratch you will be spat off.

In reply to steve webster: What?

If your talking about the green traverse video, my feet are actually both off the rock and ground when I drop down, I can remember it clearly, they do not touch the ground.

In reply to Callum Copley: This is Liam by the way on my bros account

In reply to Callum Copley:

Maybe not on the ground but they dab the pad more than just a touch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwIa78zJNuQ&eurl=http://ukbouldering.com...
I do hope your not claiming that? As if you are, how can you call it soft when you can't keep your feet from dabbing?

In reply to Adam Lincoln: I've done that problem so many times, that I dont even care that I dabbed lol, and no, I dont 'claim' that one, but like I said, we use it as a problem which shows you that your fully warmed up. Its certainly not a problem that I am botherd about dabbing, or anything like that.

In reply to Adam Lincoln:


As for the technicalities of the dabbing, I put it down to that the pad wasn't moved back enough, but anyway, who cares? I certainly dont

Its only the green traverse man Lol

Lol

In reply to Liam Copley: Didn't mean to put two 'lol's..

In reply to Liam Copley: 3 replies = raw nerve.

In reply to Liam Copley:

Indeed, a classic of Stanage, and your second hardest problem ever?

In reply to Kevin Avery - UKC:

After skipping many lectures to climb at the hill, my 2 cents is that climbs are slightly easier when its about 2 degrees C. if you visit in summer and hit a polished hold good luck trying to smear. This of coarse will affect your opinion because if you have only ever visited in Summer then you will think quantum field is a pile of polished boulders and not know what all the fuss was about, plus you will quite thirsty and be dry reaching from the smell of the longdrops.

Long message short. go in Winter, the plus being less mice as well. (the Mice are from the Beech forest because it mast seeds causing population explosions so they are only bad every 4 or so years) The free campsite at broken river is a must for any dirtbags.

In reply to Callum Copley:

like they don't touch the ground when you do zippys in the other vid.

In reply to steve webster: That was actually my twin brother on the zippy's video.

In reply to Liam Copley:

so tap dancing mid route is a family trait.