UKC

Only eleven or twelve vaguely worth remembering. At least half were definitely virgins, though they might have faked it, but who can be arsed with writing up chossy stuff? (Unless you're Mr GG). Et tu?

P.s. Any Leckhampton Hill aficionados here? I did most of the lines in the mid 80s, sorry. Hagbard's Stash was fun. Anyone done the detached blocks above the Leaping Cave? It looks hvs but might be e13 if it all falls down. Climbing... a sad obsession.

In reply to David Alcock:

Good question.

We did to two or three very obvious routes around the Dubh Slabs in 2012 that were apparently unrecorded. We met Mike Lates later that trip and agreed that we'd send him through the details of the routes for the new Skye guide, but never quite got round to it. Sorry if you read this Mike... I think two of the problems in recording were a) the routes were mediocre and around VS HVS grade and b) we were almost certain people had done them before and had similarly failed to record them "officially". So we felt no great urge to record them. It could be said though that such laziness can allow others to experience/try their hand at "new" routing.

In reply to David Alcock:

one at Peak Scar,one at Slipstones and one at Thorgill North York Moors reason couldn't be arsed..

In reply to David Alcock:

One at Markfield Quarry lower tier, that fell into the water shortly afterwards

In reply to David Alcock:

Oh, and one that was actually good on Sron na Ciche. Was about HVS as far as I got, but I didn't manage the obvious direct finish at about E2

In reply to David Alcock:


I think someone else has done all those and claimed them now. If there's no written record then it hasn't been done.

In reply to AlanLittle:

The one on Skye sounds interesting! Bet folk would appreciate you writing it up.

In reply to The Pylon King:

I did 11 Lines on leckhampton Hill Back in the 80s. Never wrote them up as Assumed they had been done Back in 50s or 60s by GMC, but no Records Remaining.

They were really really really beyond what could be called Climbable rock, but the best Looking Lines there were.

Climb there and Shudder! Makes breakaway Look safe.

In reply to Choss:

Never been but i did visit somewhere near there and it did look terribly loose.

In reply to The Pylon King:
Its mega blocks of sandy Limestone, held together by fairy dust :-D

Best to avoid placing runners. If youre gonna hit the Deck anyway its best not to be followed by a couple of 3 ton blocks if you Know what i Mean.

Back then there were actually Belay stakes of sorts above some of the Obvious Lines. If you go there my Advice would be top rope of Those if theyre still there.

In reply to David Alcock:


XS could be Appropriate for most routes up there in my Opinion, Regardless of technical Grade?

I led one route, put just 2 runners in, Second Declined to follow, Suggested i ab down to get the Gear. I shouted down theres nothing to ab off just here. He Replied, exactly, so theres nothing to belay me off either.

How we Laughed afterwards. Think that was the last Time i went there. Now i just want the FlashBacks to Leave me alone :-!

In reply to David Alcock:
The route now called under milk wood on The Three Cliffs, Gower years before the date given in the guide, so obvious & fairly easy that we assumed it must have been done before (we were using the old Talbot guide which was pretty dated)

Most odd was probably a pitch on the Old Man of Stor (the sea stack) some where to the R of the classic VS which followed an obvious grove, was probably HVS or possibly E1 but as there was a peg already in situe we assumed it had been done before only to see it described as a new route several years later (with 'FA' account mentioning the old peg)

A few winter routes which might have been new but climbed in poor visibility so not really sure where we went & would have struggled to write a meaningful description

Plus some short road side rockroutes in NW Scotland back in the late 70s/early 80s as no one seemed to record short routes then

In reply to David Alcock:

ps if anyone wants showing the Lines at Leckhampton Hill, im more than happy to show you, and even Climb with you on 3 short good quality ones of them. any of the Other Lines, im happy to offer you a Belay, From about 1km away, that should give me a reasonable chance of belaying survival.

In reply to David Alcock:
We did Gone with the Wimp on Bosherston Head some time before the recorded 1st ascent. Did it as the easiest-looking way out after abbing in and finding that Ivory Tower was wet. Didn't record it as we felt sure others must have done the same before us.

Did German for Art Historians at Dinbren well before Garry's recorded 1st ascent. This was clearly a first ascent as nearly all the little cracks and pockets were full of loose pebbles that had to be wriggled out before the holds could be used. We didn't record it as it seemed too short (it predated the trend to record micro-routes on rock other than grit).

In reply to harold walmsley:

It's never too late to get guidebook info changed.

In reply to David Alcock:
Me and my mate Blair walked over the back of Ben Wyvis many years ago and in thick clag did a three pitch winter gully/groove/corner thing at about grade III/IV but as we had no idea where we were it didn't seem sensible to record it. We think it was a new route as it was a hoor of a walk in, with a hoor of a walk out and appeared to be the only reasonable route on the crag (that we could see). Still a fantastic day though.

In reply to David Alcock:

Some routes shorter than their names on the RHS of Cullernose Point and on the 'opposite' wall of Causey Quarry! Maggie how does it feel to be the mother of a 1000 dead? was one

And a good pitch/alt P1 to Gideon in Applecross

In reply to David Alcock:

I soloed most of the ice falls that appear on the cuttings on the A82 north of Loch Lomond in very cold weather. I'd be surprised if they were ever repeated! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152468404495445&l=19ba71dad7

In reply to Choss:

Maybe we can take a trip down memory lane when it's warmer.

In reply to David Alcock:

Off the top of my head; a couple in quarries near Ferndale in the Rhondda; an easy but scary escape route in Smurf Zawn, Gogarth; and three really quite good routes in the Wolfberg Cracks in the Cedarberg that I never sent in to the Mountain Club.

In reply to David Alcock:

Back in the 90s I did a few routes with my then girlfriend (now wife) on crag made of marble on the flanks of El Luceo, a mountain above the village of Canillas de Albeida in Andalucia. They were about 40 metres high and ranged from v diff to VS.

They were all trad and well protected. The rock is sound and there is scope for many more lines, some much harder. It's near the obvious quarry, if anyone is interested, reached by jeep track from the village.

In reply to David Alcock:

A couple of rock lines we cleaned in the Onich Gorge, a couple of short rock routes in and around Glencoe (Gorge Crack before it appeared in the guidebook, though I 'd seen someone on it prior to our ascent) plus a number of lower graded winter lines mainly in Glencoe, one in Glenshiel and one in Glen Einich. At the time I figured that they would either be of no interest or, more likely for the bulk of them, had been done before and not recorded.

In reply to David Alcock:

Two extremes:

I have climbed some really dodgy routes on the NE coast that I wouldn't want anyone to repeat.

There are entire crags in Northumberland that have been developed but will never be published because they are too nice the way they are!

In reply to David Alcock:
Not as many as Crispin Waddy...

In reply to The Pylon King:

I have quite a few old diaries but not sure if they go back that far. Without them I could not verify the dates. I remember who I did them with though and later seeing them written up so I am confident about the general remarks.

In reply to David Alcock:

I once did an E5 up a crystalline wall the other side of Mother Careys a long time ago. It was a good looking line but on really dodgy rock - particularly at the top so I didn't want to encourage anyone to repeat it by reporting it.