In reply to Lord_ash2000:
> (In reply to Dave Garnett) It just didn't appeal to me in the slightest. Most of the stuff I did in Wales was on the orme, some in the slate quarries and a lot of bouldering.
I know it's quite common, but I find it amazing that anyone should live in N Wales and climb on the Orme and go bouldering. I can see why people wouldn't go up to the Cromlech and to Gogarth if they couldn't climb the classic E-grade routes, but I would have thought anyone with the ability would go up and do Left Wall just to see what all the hype was about. If they didn't get it, basically I'd think they were mental. In N Wales particularly there's plenty of "sport style trad" - long, well protected hard, sustained pitches that are incredibly rewarding from a physical climbing point of view, with the far superior setting, exposure and atmosphere a bonus rather than whole point. Rhoscolyn springs to mind, more than Gogarth for the sea cliffs. It's not a choice between The Orme and Idwal slabs you know.
(I've only been to the Orme once and it was too hot so we ended up on some lame A55 rubbish, and I've hardly done any bouldering N Wales, not the sort of thing I'd travel to.)
> I’ve now lived in the lakes for 3 years, and I can be in Borrowdale in about 10mins but there are plenty of the larger mountain crags I’ve never even been to, I spent most of last summer’s trad effort at Reecastle.
Reecastle's great, eh? But it's as close as trad gets to sport climbing! Personally, I've climbed just as hard up on the big crags, but those days are ones which I'll remember forever, whereas Reecastle was just quickly banging out a few soft-touch E-grades in a couple of hours. Completely different level of experience.
> If you want my opinion on trad’s future in the UK I don’t think it’s dying out its just what people seek from their trad climbing experience has shifted. I think it’s become more about the climbing, the overcoming of the actual physical moves on the rock while dealing with the risks and dangers of the situation, basically a little closer to a sport climbing mentality but with the added factor of some danger to deal with.
That's certainly where you're at, but I've spent the past couple summers climbing with lots of different people, and they've all been different. I guess I only meet people who want to climb low-E routes on major trad crags but then you'll meet people who want to climb on The Orme and Reecastle. Some people like really adventurous routes (the sideways adventures on a crumbly sea-cliff type) and don't focus on hard moves, others want convenient, single pitch trad where the grade is what matters most ("sport style trad"). Others are mainly boulderers who just don't try hard on trad at all and just want the experience (the font 7b climber who only leads HVS - plenty of those around).
> This is apposed to the more traditional focus being on the whole broader adventure aspect. The old school idea of getting a big day out in the hills, trekking around, seeing some nice views and spending a good few hours on a long mountain multi pitch at grade probably well within the climbers ability and nipping of to the pub later for a good pint is losing it’s appeal with modern day younger climbers.
I'm not sure, I just think it's diversifying. When I'm in The Pass say, there are lots of uni-age people on the classic long severes, as well as someone having a crack at a hard, safe trad line, and quite a few "low E-grade plodders" like me slowly onsighting the classic routes and never falling off!
> The whole “hardy mountain man” vibe is what’s dying off not trad climbing as a whole, I wouldn’t worry to much just means the wild crags will stay remote and quite for those who still wish to have the adventures.
I don't know - I know lots of people into winter and alpine climbing, maybe these are our hardy mountain men.