UKC

Hi,

Thinking of heading to Malham (first choice) or Anstey's Cove (second choice) this weekend - does anyone have any info on what conditions are like at the moment? Specifically looking at Something Stupid at Malham (and possibly Space Race, though this is probably optimistic!), and Empire of the Sun at Anstey's.

Cheers!

Ali

In reply to Ali:

I've not been further down towards Devon of late, but I know it's been a lot wetter down near Bristol than it has here - there was seepage far worse than I had expected on what I would normally consider a relatively fast drying bit of crag (Fly Wall at Wintours) on Friday. If Torquay has had weather similar to Bristol my guess would be that empire would currently be wet. We have a mainly dry week forecast here but precious little sun, similar down there.

I've been told that Thread Flintstone at Torbryan dries far faster, and is an excellent route so well worth considering as a backup if you do go south.

In reply to AJM: Ok, thanks for the update... is Cheddar pretty much out at the moment (as a potential alternative)? We were also perhaps going to look at Brean, which I figure may be a good alternative if all else fails!

In reply to Ali:

I'm not sure actually - pretty sure that there will be some stuff to do - it is meant to be dry all week after all, and there are routes there which are far faster drying than Empire, which has a reputation for being wet most of a winter. Brean should give options, and there's always Uphill as well.

In reply to Ali: Just back from Cheddar and there was widespread seepage on the South-Side (Horseshoe bend,Warlord Wall). We still managed to climb Stone Cold Fever however. There were other people on the other side of the gully (Spacehunter Wall), which looked dry. And the North side looked substantially drier.

Francois

empire of the sun: very little chance of dryness.

In reply to Ali:

Malham quite wet really but it was busy on Sunday with plenty of people making the best of the doz or so dry routes. Dave Birkett climbed Yosemite Wall despite the waterfalls (Mary refused to second it)!

Worth a visit if you're not to fussy about what you climb.

In reply to Ali: I was at malham on the sunday too, there were some wet bits but more than enough to go at.

In reply to Steve Crowe & Lord_ash2000: We're heading up from London so don't really want to turn up on the offchance something is dry! Guessing by the waterfall comment, the left side is wet! What's dry in the middle/right? Specifically looking at Something Stupid which was wet at the top last time we were up. Also possibly Obsession on the upper tier.

In reply to Ali: Obsession will probably still be dry, as will several others on the upper tier.

Andy F

In reply to Ali:

Something Stupid was climbed on Sunday but only after morning sunshine had dried back the seepage. Space Race and Tremelo were too wet to RP (but workable if desperate). The usual suspects (F&EE, Personal Services Consenting Adults, Raindogs above the first bolt) were dry all Sunday. However, wet weather looks to be setting in at the moment so conditions will likely deteriorate. Agree that Obsession has a chance of being okay - that left-hand area of the topdeck is possibly the most reliably dry limestone in Yorkshire?

In reply to Ali:

Is Malham half wet of half dry? I suppose it depends on how far you have to travel and how particular you are with what you wish to climb.

Conditions are very fickle at the moment so I couldn't guarantee that Something Stupid will be dry enough for you next weekend but people managed to climb it last weekend despite a little dampness.

If its sunny there will be plenty to climb but if its cloud or misty it may be wet since there is a huge amount of ground water above and behind the cove.

In reply to Ali:
Cheddar is very wet at the mo, only dry cliffs are hartleaf, gingsberg, freaky wall/sunyside (i think) and some of the rubbish road side stuff. other than that you will find the odd dry line here and there but mostly allot of seepage.
was down at asteys about a month ago and empire wall was very seepy and cider soak wet from half height upwards. some one was on tuppence which looked ok.

Brean: was there 8 days ago, the routes by the beach are dry, further up the hill the routes get a bit wetter, you should expect to find at least one wet hold on each of the routes, except for brean topping and casio royal, which has been reequipped and was dry

Uphill: was there 7 days ago, mostly dry

have fun

In reply to Steve Crowe: A very good point! May keep an eye on the forecast and see what its like...it does tend to dry up quickly when the sun's out.

In reply to Tom_Ball: Thanks for the info - not been to Uphill - what's it like?

In reply to Ali:

Thin crimpy and techy.

Rock is limestone but is covered in little crystals so it's more like what I expect granite climbing to be, crystal crimping stuff. Dries very fast, doesn't seem to take much in the way of seepage. Good moves.

I've done the harder and I thought better of the 2 7bs there, Living Dead - runout start, then a hard bit, then a ledge, then a sustained section which gradually gets harder until a crux at the top. You'll probably find you'll want that clipstick of yours for it - the bolting is at old school in that whilst the hard bits are perfectly protected the easier ground is a bit more runout.

I've tried the easier 7b, Chiming for You, which is relatively easy (6b+?) up to a hard crux at the top, probably harder than anything on Living Dead although I didn't really work it out so can't say for sure.

There's also some E6s that you can throw a rope down quite easily, one of them (Jimi Hendrix Experience) is sort of quasi-sport in that it's got a lot of fixed gear protecting the hard bits, including 2 bolts. That one is about 7b+. The easier one is more pumpy I think but easier, I've not tried it though.

There's not much sport that's easier than the 7bs though - maybe a 7a or to on the left but they're a bit less sport (ie runouts where it's easy then you hit bolts and it becomes a bit more like sport) - see logbooks.

Is Torbryan climbable at the moment? Also if anyone has any more recent news on the Ansteys seepage situation that would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Ian

In reply to Ali: Ansteys was mostly dry and a bit too hot on Sunday.

In reply to nicboarder:

Plenty of stuff dry at Cheddar yesterday, despite the mizzle - Still Waters & Shaking like a leaf dry, the stuff on Ginsberg and nearby looked mainly dry, there looked to be dry stuff on horseshoe bend, that sort of thing.

If anyone's been to Ansteys recently, how's the seepage? Interested in the Lynch, Cider Soak + Cocytus..... Thanks!