UKC

I am new to the area and spent a day at Horseshoe Quarry.

Where are the best spots in the Peak District for bolted routes?

Ideally not too difficult grades I am climbing between 6A - 7A and the climbers I am going with are not as good yet.

I did see the pictures of Malham Cove, which i know is hard but looks like a lot of fun and somewhere to work on a route for some duration.

Any advice would be good.

In reply to Mr Boulder:

Malham Cove isn't in the Peak, its a bit further North. The best sport in the peak at those grades is in Cheedale. There's warm up routes around 6b, but it really gets going at 7a. Rubicon and Water-cum-Jolly are nearby an good and similarly graded.

If you want to stay in the 6s, then Horseshoe and Harpur Hill are the main ones, then there's a bunch of minor crags. Rockfax have a new guide out and Gary Gibson's website has typos for his stuff too.

http://www.sportsclimbs.co.uk/

In reply to Jonny2vests:


Brilliant!

In reply to john arran:

Bloody ipad. Quite funny at least.

In reply to Jonny2vests:

Cheers Jonny,

Harpur Hill looks interesting. Its higher than Horseshoe and the grades would suite everyone in my group. Good recommendation I feel another visit to the peaks coming up!

In reply to Mr Boulder:

Harpur Hill is exposed and north facing, a much less winter-friendly crag than Horseshoe.


Chris

In reply to Jonny2vests:

Haha! Brilliant!

In reply to Mr Boulder:

Try going to The Peak instead.

In reply to Mr Boulder:

Coral Seas, Rocky Variations and Apollo Creed are all close, 6b ish and good. Cairn is mega, the route of the crag, 7a+. After those, quality is ok, but not great. And it's grim when its cold, Horseshite Quarry is better for shelter.

In reply to Luke Owens:

Now I think about it, he does have plenty of typos.

In reply to Mr Boulder:

To quote (as best as I can remember) a relatively well-known UK sport climber, when answering pretty much that exact question:

"Yorkshire."

"There aren't any decent routes in the Peak under 8a, well that's not exactly true, there's one good 7c."

In reply to The Ex-Engineer:

Thats not exactly what I wanted to hear! Lots of practice or lots of traveling i think!

In reply to Mr Boulder:

I hear the bridge at New mills is the dogs balls

In reply to Mr Boulder: Haropur Hill is a proven death trap. The grades might suit everyone in your group but I've avoided climbing there for maybe the last 7 years. Try Smalldale, much safer!

In reply to Mr Boulder: The person I quoted is admittedly rather biased being a Malham local with numerous FAs there.

There are certainly some worthwhile grade 6 routes in the Peak, it is just that in general they are nothing spectacular compared, on a national basis, to the best routes on Portland or various other UK venues. Also, relative to how amazing the trad and bouldering in the Peak are, the lower grade sport routes are decidedly mediocre.

Mason Lees Quarry is probably one of the best mid-grade venues and a several of the routes there are excellent (when dry).

The main wall at Horseshoe is ok. At least, better than other parts of the quarry.

I also remember some fairly ok routes at Blackwell Halt in Upper Cheedale.

Provided you don't expect stunning climbing on every route, there are decent routes scattered around. It is really more a question of how much your expectations have been raised by climbing much better sport routes abroad or elsewhere in the UK.

In reply to Frank the Husky:

Be careful though. A friend knocked off a piece the size of a microwave while we were there once.

In reply to Mr Boulder:

Using this form you can get a list of all the best sport routes on Peak Limestone - http://www.rockfax.com/databases/expert.html?area=2

Just tailor your search regarding to stars and grade range.

The routes are all covered in this book - http://www.rockfax.com/climbing-guides/books/peak-limestone-2012/

Alan

In reply to Alan James - Rockfax: Alan you are a star, thank you this page is so helpful. I will be able to find enough climbing here for at least the next few years I think. Does anyone know if there are any good multi pitch routes anywhere?

In reply to Alan James - Rockfax: Had a quick play with your database and I am please to say, it provides unequivocal and conclusive confirmation that low grade Peak sport routes are depressingly mediocre or downright poor.

Only 3.2% of Peak sport routes up to 6b+ have 2 or more stars.

In contrast 16.6% of Portland sport routes up to 6b+ have 2 or more stars.

In reply to The Ex-Engineer:

I was going to say Ceuse, but it's the same point, really.

jcm

In reply to The Ex-Engineer: I'd love to live near Portland but unfortunately I dont! I have spent a bit of time climbing dancing ledge near there and I had a great time. However it is good that I have found some spots that are in my vicinity which are good for climbing and it just shows that I need to man up a bit and start hitting the harder grades if im based here!

In reply to Mr Boulder:

There's always The Other Option.

In reply to The Ex-Engineer:

I'd agree that low grade sport in the peak is generally rubbish, however those stats are a bit misleading as a lot of stuff at Portland is (in my opinion) over starred by 1-1.5 stars.

In reply to Oli:

Definitely. There's nothing there to match LPT.