UKC

I was wondering if anyone has been in the main Keyhole Cave recently and if so are there any vestiges of fixed gear in there to belay off? If not, what did you do? I have had a good look at my latest photos and the iron bars we used to use appear to have gone AWOL.

Thanks for any help,


Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Not been in there recently but when I did a couple of years ago there was nothing. Everyone I've spoken to has escaped via Picadilly Circus (if that's the E2 out the LH side) - even if they were trying the roof!

In reply to Jon Stewart: think i remember that...

In reply to Chris Craggs:

There was nothing there in December except the bong on Coventry Street (which, while good, looks rusty and scarey and can't be clipped without climbing up a bit of the sand). We were going to the top anyway but I remember noticing that the spikes were gone.

In reply to Chris Craggs:

How long are the routes? Would it be possible to just do them as a single pitch?

In reply to Chris Craggs: The last time I remember the bar being there was around 2004/5 ish.

I was there a couple of times last year, belaying on a cam and a large wire in a sandy slot backed up with a wire in the top of one of the HVS's cracks, then I abseiled off. A guy going through one of the roof routes chucked down my gear, saving me rigging an abseil from the top.

The next time I fixed an abseil rope in place from above, belaying from that, then abseiling from it.

Both the HVS's pitches into the cave are good routes in their own right.

In reply to Gripped:

what he said^^^

+ I think there was a thread about them being removed a while back because they were unsafe

In reply to Chris Craggs:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=498844&v=1#x6804227

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=411410&v=1#x5873871

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=411571&v=1#x5874624

In reply to Graeme Hammond:

can't be bothered to read them all and also can't remember what was said at the BMC area meeting but expect if you look the minutes are on the internet somewhere.

In reply to all:

Cheers for that, glad I wasn't not seeing things!

Chris

In reply to mlmatt:

They're all single pitch routes all the way to the top. It's just that the tops are a bit scarier than the bottoms and the cave is (used to be) a good place to lower off half way.

In reply to Chris Craggs:

New Eastern Grit on the way eh?

In reply to Offwidth:

It has been in print seven years and will sell out sometime in 2014. It is time to start planning ahead.


Chris

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Yeah that's what I did last few times. Traversing rightward all the way along to something reasonable gets sketchy and bold, and I've never tried any of the roof pitches. There isn't a belay in there I would use, I consider it obligatory E2 territory because that's the easiest option.