UKC

I snapped off a big section of the lower flake on The Nose on the Roundabout Buttress at Stanage today. Be careful out there as with all the moisture we have had recently can make even the most solid looking holds can become soft and friable.

In reply to srichard: or just avoid wet flakes and climb something thats properly dry.

In reply to srichard:

gritstone is effectively just a harder variation of sandstone, in the US you aren't allowed to climb on sandstone within 24 hours of significant rainfall in order to protect the rock, they have wardens that will physically stop you. I know this will make me unpopular on here but a bit more respect for the rock and knowledge of its properties maybe needs to be shown to avoid any nasty accidents or excessive damage to routes.

In reply to srichard:

Gritstone is very hard and dense with a very low porosity, its strength would not be compromised by dampness. More likely a flake damaged by bad gear placement

In reply to Jenny Monkey:
The hold was already broken - the top snapped off a year or so ago and it was creaking a year before that. I'd be pretty pissed off I wasn't allowed to climb grit within 24h of rainfall - I'd never be allowed to climb at all!

In reply to Jon Stewart:
that would be annoying but thats how it is, I think Jenny monkeys point is more in relation to climbing gently and being aware of the impact we make before in the uk we have silly rules like other parts of the world. With the growth of indoor walls people are climbing stronger and "thugging" more and treating the rock like plastic. relax and climb gently you'll have hone your technique and foot work and have a lower impact.

Theres many flexible bits of Grit stone that I treat with utter care. After huge freeze thaw and heavy rain I think most rock types need to be treated as loose limestone.

In reply to Lukem6:

The thing that gets on my tits is when people place gear in fragile rock and then fall off. I can think of a couple of routes on Stanage where this has broken crucial holds off (well that's how I assumed it's happened). I don't believe that the rock is damaged by people climbing it using poor technique - if a hold snaps when you pull on it, that's either because you're a fat bastard or bad luck - and certain things might be fragile when damp.

In reply to Jon Stewart: I think you just had a pop at a lot of very strong climbers who've taking a big lob down at Burbage South, can't remember the route...

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

Shit yeah, although I was kind of having a pop at someone else too (who isn't a fat bastard, he has an impressive, powerful physique that just happens to weigh quite a lot and snap holds off classic problems around Stanage High Neb, for example).

In reply to Lukem6:


I think you are going a bit OTT. This is one hold on one route. The old hold on grit does brake from time to time, but it certainly isn't a regular occurrence, especially given the volume of traffic at popular locations like Stanage. Care needs to be taken yes, but like climbing on loose limestone? I think not. Half the joy of grit is the fact that it isn't loose limestone.

In reply to Jenny Monkey:

Who do?

In reply to Bulls Crack:

The park rangers in many smaller sandstone areas. I have been asked to 'deesist' by a ranger two days after rainfall because the sandstone hadn't dried thoroughly. This is in Texas, and the rangers are armed and frustrated people who can't get into the local real police and assassination squads. Being a coward I left.
Utah sandstone still gets very soft when wet but I have never seen a ranger there, and the locals just wait a day for the tremendous heat to return.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

I'm with you. A years incompetant gear placement, especially cams on flakes, is a much bigger threat to grit than decades of freeze thaw. As is pushing too hard for the talent level when such placements might be shock loaded. Lazy hanging around resting and dogging on solid cam placements on classics, especially on softer rock like Birchen is also a big issue. Most of the route damage I've seen in my 25 years is cam damage or that from H&S morons removing perfectly servicable but wobbly holds. I wish they would do everyone a service and climb on peak Limestone but of course they wont do this as it obviously terrifys them.