UKC

I have a week of holiday to take before April so was thinking of taking the last week off and going climbing somewhere. Criterion 1 - No snow please, I don't winter climb. Criterion 2 - Cheap as chips!

I was thinking of Cornwall as perhaps the best bet for getting some pleasant weather. Camping on the Penwith peninsula can be done at a fiver per person per night which I guess is about as cheap as its going to come down there.

What are the crags like there in late March? Climable? Enjoyable? Seas too big? I'm also aware that there has been just a little bit of rain down that way in the past couple of months. A naive question perhaps but will the camping fields still be waterlogged/underwater? Will the sea cliffs be seeping hopelessly? Any local beta would be appreciated.

In reply to Will Hunt:

best bet is to wait and see where the weather is good. Pembroke could be good. Bosherton campsite is 3quid a night.

In reply to Will Hunt:

Hi Will.

I was out climbing in a t-shirt last Saturday, so as late March goes, the weather could be stunning, or on the other hand we could be back to the maelstrom of the past few weeks.

Any crags that suffer from seepage will be in reasonably poor condition right now, but there's plenty that doesn't and that dries quick in a few hours. Anything in the sun and/or the wind will dry quickly. Basically, you'll be alright in Penwith, assuming you don't want to do stuff in places like The Great Zawn/too many of the north Penwith obscurities. Likewise, if Carn Gowla is on your hit list, I wouldn't bother.

As you say, the ground is very waterlogged at the moment. To give you some idea, I generally photograph the local league football every weekend down here, but we've had weeks of match postponements in a row where pitches have been flooded. As soon as it rains, farmers' fields start draining onto the road as there's nowhere else for it to go, the water table being so high. That said, another month and things could be very different. I camped the other night and it was fine, we survived

As for the seas being too big, well there have been waves hitting Sennen (and every other cliff!) down here in recent weeks that have been producing spray two to three times the height of the crag, so it's a distinct possibility - then again it could be flat.

Like winter climbing, all the caveats apply I'm afraid

Good luck. I hope you get the weather. If you do, you'll have a great time.

Cheers,
Tom

In reply to Will Hunt:

^^ What Tom says.

Looking at your log book, you've only done two routes at Bosigran, so plenty to go at there, unlikely to be swept by huge waves. Other crags well above the sea include Zennor Upper Tier, St Loy, Rosemergy Towers, Trewavas.

I think you'll find a dry camp site, and they're unlikely to be busy.

You could still get gales, thick fog, etc so bring beer money.

In reply to Will Hunt:

Was climbing in sunshine at St Loy yesterday, seepage on some of the routes but generally pretty good and dry. As others have said, there's plenty of crags which are non-tidal and will not be affected by anything other than the highest of seas. You can get a good day's climbing at any time of the year down here, or you can be unlucky and watch it rain.