UKC

Compass point "Easy way down"

/thread?

In reply to JJL:

I really don't get the fuss about Compass Point easy way down, it genuinely is an easy way down.

In reply to JJL:

The descent to the main cliff on Gogarth always looks improbably steep from above and "sets the tone" for things to come.

In reply to kingholmesy:

My SF grading system in the back of the '88 guide was never intended to be taken seriously, but I'm quite chuffed that it's still being argued about! Let's face it, the main reason for any grade is to give everyone something to disagree with.

Anyway here's a few from personal experience:

Descent to the Devil's Limekiln on Lundy
Exmansworthy
America Buttress original approach
Descent path to Long Rock at Baggy
Summit ridge at Oldwalls Point. Easy but loose and exposed
Most popular descent/approach gullies in the mountains, especially the approach pitches of Darker Angel
White Scar, now forbidden.
Old Man of Hoy
Great Zawn crevasse jump

In reply to Iain Peters:

Took a couple of non climbing friends down to the bottom of the Limekiln after an Old House South lasagne and a few bottles of red.

Utterly reprehensible, of course, even though I had made the descent two or three times previously.

But it stayed in their minds long after their memories of climbing the Slide later in the week.

In reply to JJL:

I found the descent to the old man of Stoer pretty spicy. It's steep, and slippy when damp, and if you stumbled near the top it's a long way to the bottom.

In reply to Iain Peters:






Yeah both of those are nasty. The former easily being the crux of Shangri-La.

The high tide exit up the grassy/blackthorn slopes above Vicarage is ridiculous rather than scary - must be loads more on the culm.

In reply to kingholmesy:

Agreed. The Vicarage Cliff descent is harder and getting more so every time i go there.

In reply to JJL:

Moving to the Alps, the snow arete up to the Midi station has to be up there for sheer exposure. There can't be anywhere else in the world with that much traffic and an 1800m drop off one side.

In reply to JJL:
I don't remember the descent at Compass point being particularly scary.

However, I do agree with many of those suggested by Iain and I would add
the descent to the top of Easter Island Gully on Gogarth,
the descent chimney at St Govans (nowadays most climbers seem to abseil),
the descent to the start of Mercury at Carn Gowla.

Getting to the start of quite a few routes on Lundy seemed to require a lot of faith and commitment. In addition to the Devil's Limekiln, getting down to Golden Gate and the Great Divide seeemed memorable.

Getting to the start of many of the routes in the Verdon.

In reply to JJL:

East ridge of the Aig Noire de Peuterey as the "descent" takes some beating.
Convinced that the easier option is to complete the integral!

In reply to GeoffRadcliffe:


I have fond memories of the Luna Bong abseil in the early 80s when it was common to climb with 45m/150ft ropes. About 2m before the end of the rope you had to start swinging until you could grab the little bush and pull yourself into the anchor. We didn't know about abseil prusiks at the time either and the old wrap-the-rope-around-your-leg trick was useless with so little rope left. All got much easier later with longer ropes.

In reply to JJL:

Path along the top of Dunkeld. Horrible, loose, steep, exposed, muddy.

In reply to JJL:

Most scared I've been was not on what is normally considered a scarey approach at all. It was many years ago going to the small quarry from which you abseil at the top of Cormorant, Swanage. The 'path' traverses along the side of a steep slope which just drops over the top of the cliff. At that time the ground was totally dry and the path hadn't been properly formed so it had a serious slope across it. It was was covered in loose mud which tended to act as mini ball bearings. Utterly terrifying with trainers and a big pack. Next time down we use a climbing rope round a fence post as a handrail !

The path seems to have developed more distinct steps since then and with a bit of dampness its nothing particularly special.

In reply to GeoffRadcliffe:

I don't know why more people don't approach Mercury by the Mercury Connection which is a much friendlier abseil and a good additional bonus pitch of climbing.

Verdon is great if you get onto the older abseil lines (by mistake). The rusty peg and tat anchors are not obvious and obviously rigged for shorter ropes so if you do go past and have to make the decision to go over a roof to find the next one or not. Exciting stuff with your arse hanging 500m above the bottom of the gorge !

In reply to GrahamD:

I've often thought I should be wearing crampons around the top of the Swanage cliffs!

I've never down-climbed the scramble into Subluminal, either!

In reply to JJL:

Everything in the Dolomites, especially the Schleierkante finishing in pitch darkness and my mate dropping his head torch in to space in setting up the first abseil

In reply to JJL:

The Cubic Block at Brimham, scarier than most of the climbs. How's your bum friction? I hope it's decent!

In reply to Kid Spatula:

Any number of descents at Font trump the cubic block in the same style - by a margin in my experience !

In reply to GrahamD:

I've not been there, but are you saying they have a 10m drop just to your right? That's what makes cubic block interesting.

In reply to JJL:

Surely the way off Idwal Slabs? About time they put some bolts in

<retires back under the bridge>

In reply to jonny taylor:
Scarey I agree with as mentioned above
Descent into Compass Point
Descent into Cormorant
Luna Bong abseil in the 70's
Great Zawn Crevasse jump

Scarey I don't agree with
Descent Chimney into St Govans Head
Devils Limekiln was just and ab wasn't it, may be different now afrer the rockfall

Oh and scarey I agree with Idwal Slabs, also one of the three cliffs, was it the Wasatad or The Grochan. Though those are of course descents.

In reply to JJL:

All descents and footpaths are scary!! Ask my climbing companions.

In reply to JJL: Many moons ago, when the world was young, I submitted this to the site. My views haven't changed much.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/toptens/descents.html

T.

In reply to stewieatb:


I don't mind going up it, but my heart always takes a leap when I step out of the dim corridor into the light and the expansiveness gabs you on those first few steps!!!

In reply to JJL:

Bit off the beaten track, but nothing in the UK compares to the descents in Wadi Rum, the Storm especially springs to mind. A fairly straightforward climb then leads to the psychological crux - a terrifying, unprotectable 50m friction traverse over the abyss then a pad down steepening slabs to a hidden thread for the first abseil.

In reply to pec:


It's even worse when a seagull decides to attack you

Getting back from Gull Rock in Devon is tricky if you've misjudged the tide and got a small dog who's afraid of the water, and a wife who's not too keen on it either.

Asteroidi in Val di Mello was a whole different level - 5 hours, 9 abseils and a long dark walk through the woods. And then a walk back to the accommodation as our driver still up there, benighted!

In reply to john arran:

Yeh, pushing off & grabbing that bush on the Luna abs did tend to focus your attention on 45MTR ropes without a prussick.
So it seems lack of knowledge about prussicks was common during that era then??

In reply to john arran:


That was my experience John. However, I think I had a life changing moment (which was nearly my last!) when I was struggling to get the tree branch with my foot. Not great when the rope was slowly slipping through my figure of 8. Foolishly we were abbing on a single rope (not a double)! Yikes!

In reply to Al Evans:

Devils Limekiln was just and ab wasn't it, may be different now afrer the rockfall

I meant the approach path descent to the base of Focal Buttress (Ulysses Factor). Very narrow, steep and exposed.

Lunabong. On one occasion we were told that there was a new abseil descent, but somehow got it wrong and abseiled down what proved to be an uncompleted part bolted project, ending up on a tiny ledge above a truly massive roof hundreds of metres above the terrace. Don threw the ropes (45m) into space and invited me to continue. I declined and there then followed one of the more dramatic escapes involving hard unprotected climbing, a king swing into an horrendous chimney system full of thorns, loose blocks and a dead unidentified animal. Took us all day to escape.

Peril Rouge. Another steep, twisting vague path with numerous exposed "bad steps". Thinking it would be an abseil descent I had left my trainers at the top. Had to cut the back of my EBs to accommodate my extremely "rouge" and swollen feet.

In reply to GeoffRadcliffe:

The first time I did the Luna Bong abseil there was an English bloke at the top who put a small rock into a plastic carrier bag, then dropped it off. We asked what he was doing - the previous day he'd dropped his car keys from that point. His mate was positioned on the ledge below, watching where the carrier bag went. They found the keys almost immediately.

In reply to Iain Peters:

Your story reminds me of one time I was in the Verdon and some friends had gone off to do a route that required abbing in. The ab line was different to the line climbed by the route (I think because it was a diagonal line). After pulling their ropes down, they traversed over to where the route began and found (to their horror) that all the bolts had been removed! They spent the whole day doing diagonal abseils leaving loads of gear behind trying to get to the Dalle Grise and safety.

In reply to John2:

I like that story

In reply to GeoffRadcliffe:

...and, of course, the tunnels were always scary, especially without a head torch.

In reply to Iain Peters:


Definitely one of the worse descents I've done on Lundy, and there are quite a few contenders there. How about the earth rib to get to Eclipse, the Black Hand, etc.? The guidebook advises using a rope as a handrail, but it's attached to a threaded rabbit-hole. Still, better than nothing, probably.

In reply to Iain Peters:


I don't think there were such things as head torches when we first started going. The first time I walked in through the tunnels (without a torch) I was racing to get to the start of a route and ended up going through one tunnel containing lots of water and obstacles (probably old bits of metal). As I left the tunnel I noticed a skull and crossbones sign above it! Doh!

I also remember walking straight into someone coming the other way in pitch darkness. That was a frightening moment.

In reply to JJL:

I must be unimaginative. I've done most of the UK ones here and they mostly seem trivial to me, certainly less scary than any abseil. St Govans for example is just downclimbing a chimney which is barely Mod.

Which is the one the Lundy guidebook describes as 'one of the most harrowing descents on the island'? I've not done that but based on what I have done there I'd imagine that would be fairly memorable.

jcm

In reply to JJL:

South Stack - stepping through the rock arch by the lighthouse steps and the descent into Mousetrap Zawn.

In reply to JJL:

Have always enjoyed a bit of hairy scrambling...

Western Gully on Dinas Mot is a 3 star route in itself.
The bullrush path down from Acheron/Doom is unique.
The scrambing approach to Gob on Carnmor is quite airy!
All the major downclimbs at Baggy Point are good fun.
Eastern Gully/Collies route is a great way down Sron a Ciche.
Lundy has some great ones: Devils slide approach, Flying buttress and American Beauty downclimbs are all good. The Needle and Devils Chimney, however, are more arduous than fun.
Zawn Rinny is exciting with water sluicing under the jammed boulder.
The tidal tunnel leading to Deidre Sud is better than the route.

As for the scary ones:
Have never plucked up the courage to do the Wen Slab downclimb.
The aerial abseil down Demerara Wall at Carn Gowl is one to do with your eyes closed.
Have never abseiled into Huntamsn Leap for fear of not being able to get back out......

In reply to alan moore:

>Have never plucked up the courage to do the Wen Slab downclimb.

The what?? Jeez. Never heard of such a thing - where does it go?

Agreed that the scramble up to Gob has its moments. The 'heather mindf*ck', my partner called one of them.

jcm

In reply to alan moore:

Abseiling in to the cave on Gurnards Head to do Behemoth was one of the scariest I remember. Landing on a slimy, wet uneven ledge threatened by a stormy sea and pulling the ropes down with just one way back out.

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

People used to scramble down to high tide start of DOWH...

In reply to alan moore:

I remember Western Gully (done loads of times) as a particularly satisfying descent route on very good rock. So, though steep, not really scary at all. Jammed Boulder Gully, further west on the Mot, is a whole different fishkettle: slimy and insecure … I wouldn't want to do that again in a hurry.

In reply to JJL:

The approach to the Majolica end of Beeston Tor last year featured head high nettles and a crumbling, collapsing path above a big drop.Very glad of the in-situ guide ropes...nearly a gonna on the way back. Certainly harder than Majolica.

In reply to aln:

Ditto. So spicy that my dad, an experienced veteran, refused to do it! In fairness, it was a little damp. A scenic trudge up Suilven it was.

In reply to chubbs2:


Yes that's a contender. We abbed off to get back down.

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:


I think he is talking about the descent to the start of Dream of White Horses where you scramble down the righthand arete of the slab.

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Which is the one the Lundy guidebook describes as 'one of the most harrowing descents on the island'?

The descent to the Old Light Cliff.I've done worse:

Two to add to Iain's Culm Coast list: the 'fearsome grot slope' to the south of Wreckers' Slab, and the non-abseil way off from the Middle Fin at Lower Sharpnose. I can't remember much difficulty when I did it in the early 70s, and I wondered why it wasn't mentioned in Iain's NDC guide - so I did it again in 1999 and discovered why!

Bob

In reply to Bob Moulton:

Some the Forest of Dean sandstone crags have surely some of the worst approaches. I spend about 30 mins trying to stamp down stinging nettles and brambles to reach a route close to the river at Huntsham Crags and it was only ablout 50m from the path. Coppet Hill during mid-summer was also pretty shocking. Seven foot high bracken below the routes with occasional nettles and brambles thrown in for good measure. I was pretty lost at one point!

In reply to walts4:

We got benighted on that in 1964 just after where you leave the ridge itself. After a bit, my climbing partner decided it wasn't so bad and went down to have a look while I stayed behind. After he'd gone down some 100 metres (or 300 feet in those days) , there was a great crash and by the light of the the sparks that were flying I got a glimpse of a massive boulder. I thought he'd gone with it and climbed continued down only to find that he was OK: he decided not to continue!

In reply to JJL:

Back in the early 80's a mate and I bolted an aid route at the Kwiksave crag in Bangor. A grotty little place. I am told that someone died on the approach. If so that makes it serious out of all proportion to the route.

In reply to Bob Moulton:


There have been further rock falls and mud slides Bob, so it's now almost suicidal, which is why Mark Kemball and I have placed a chain around the "rabbit's ears" at the top of Lunakhod.

Deep Zawn on Lundy was another one I think, but for my money, the abseil down the Demerara wall at Carn Gowla from Keith Darbyshire's notorious bolt and lavatory chain (now gone TG) was probably one of the worst. In 1973, after a long lay-off from climbing, Keith persuaded me to pay the crag a visit. My gear and ropes were throwbacks to the mid-60s, 120ft of Viking No.9 and a couple of Peck Crackers. Luckily my climbing partner for the day, Paul Buttrick had a fancy 12mm Perlon number.

We decided to use my old hawser-laid for the ab as Keith and Dave had pulled their doubles through and disappeared onto the Heliport, forgetting to inform me that the abseil was 150ft! Off I went using the old school ball-breaking sling and shoulder set-up, then realised 10ft from the end of the rope that I was 40ft off the deck, hanging in space. The only solution seemed to involve swinging into the rock to make a tension traverse into the corner of Demerara and then solo down to reach the retaining gully beside the Teflon Slab, and I remembered why I'd given up climbing.

After that the 2nd or 3rd ascent of Rotwand seemed completely safe!

In reply to JJL:

I think that anyone that abs in to Moonraker is missing half the fun.

In British Columbia, the approach to the classic route up Mt Slesse involves walking under a hanging glacier, which slides off at some point every year. Some years it slides early, some late. When the mountain first comes into view, you pray to god and the devil that it won't be there, </shudder>.

In reply to JJL:

The approach to Spacewalk on Lundy stands out for me

In reply to Jonny2vests:

Agreed. Did it on a misty day with a reasonable swell running. The steep Diff exposed down climb set the heart going, to be greeted by 100s of gulls staring at us, waves booming into the cave and an impossibly steep looking monster crag to climb. The traverse through the dark great cave was soaking and my mate nearly got swept in at one point. Not completely terrifying but certainly a mood setter.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:




"Chair Ladder - ah, sea cliffs! All the fun of a descent route and you haven't climbed anything yet. The one at the right hand side, looking out, is easier and is excluded. The others are little illegitimates."

Totally agree, never been so frightened on a descent, felt like i was down climbing a severe. Have since discovered an easy ab in near Terrier's Tooth.

In reply to Skip:


Fixed

In reply to JJL:

The most terrified I have ever been was scrambling down to Deep Zawn on Lundy but it was mainly because my partner wanted to do Antiworlds and it was 3 grades harder than anything I had done before. He got about 20 ft up had to pull on a piece of gear. At that point he announced ethically "This isn't climbing it is ascending" We did a nice E1 - Serpent instead!

In reply to alan moore:


What, you mean to the notch?

jcm

In reply to Cheese Monkey:

A 'mood setter' indeed.

In reply to JJL:

The way down to Tater-du, Cornwall, that the guidebook is required to recommend (the easy way down via the (unmanned) lighthouse is not allowed) is pretty unpleasant, especially if at all wet. Slippery vegetated slopes with one or two bad steps, and the prospect of a nasty tumble. I'd rather solo down something much harder and steeper, but on solid rock

In reply to JJL:
I think the descent off any climb on the apron of the chief in Squamish is pretty spicy. I read a story of a guy who took a slip on it and managed to grab a little shrub before taking what would have been a very long trip down to the highway below.

I've done quite a few mentioned on here. The Old man of Hoy seemed fine. Lundy and Wadi Rum both have some right grippers. But for proper steep rambling on choss that then has to be abseiled, I can do no more than to commend this: http://www.rockfax.com/databases/results_crag.html?id=486

Imagine if the chossy bit at the top of Gogarth gained 500 metres of height. Look at this picture - http://500px.com/photo/43480208 and imagine topping out where the white bit is 2/3rds of the way up slightly right of centre.

In reply to JJL:

The "scramble" up to the Great Corner on Llech Ddu, we tried to outflank a party on Scarface but they beat us to it by a fair margin. Loose mud, reeds and grass with nothing to belay to even if you had the rope on. Never again!

The descent to the platform at Cilan Main is also pretty awfull although fishermen regularly totter down it with rods and tackle with no apparent problem.

In reply to Dr Toph:

Yep - that was one I was trying to think of when I saw the thread title! Just checked my guide - I did Rain in the Desert, but they finish in the same place. That long shuffle along a sloping ledge with no gear has stuck in my memory ever since ('95 when I did it). Just checked my guide - it gives an estimated time of half an hour for the descent - I think it took us 2 1/2 hours - how about you?

Rick

In reply to JJL:

A UK one that sticks in my mind is the descent off Castell Cidwm - the grass ramp that slants down just right (looking in) of Dwm. Getting to the foot of the central area (where Vertigo is) is mildly alarming too - when I did Vertigo I ended up roping up for both the approach and the descent, and I don't think I've done that on any other UK route.

Feel free to tell me I was being a Jessie - these threads usually have me muttering about the youth of today being incapable of descending anything without resorting to an ab, so I can't complain if I'm on the receiving end of such abuse. Of the one's mentioned, I sometimes think I'm the last person around who prefers the descent chimney at St Govan's to abbing in (it's fun!), and the descent off Doom/Acheron is lush, in the botanical and Bristolian sense.

Rick

In reply to JJL:

...and speaking of Craig Cywarch, I've just thought of another one. Anybody else done The Overlap? You really should, fabulous pitch. Getting off is a tad tricky, not to mention long-winded, scary and painful the way I went (which involved a top-out through a gorse bush). But don't let that put you off, it really is worth it, just allow more time for getting off than doing the route

Rick

In reply to JJL:

In fact, how can I mention that one and forget the approach to Tap-y-Gigfran? I was intending to do Heist, after my g/f had led Sweet Baby James, and we had loads of time left... It didn't look very far, but it seemed to take hours of ploughing through head-high bracken to get underneath the crag, which then left the approach "scramble" of The Ramp. I was somewhat bricking it “leading” this (supposedly has “sections of Very Difficult climbing”, and doesn’t have any gear) to get to the tree underneath Heist, by which time it was too late to start so we abbed off the tree – probably the only time I’ve ever made an abseil retreat from a route without actually starting it. The final score for the day was no ticks in the guidebook (I'd already done SBJ), and more than 20 ticks on me. Has anybody ever managed to do a route on Tap-y-Gigfran? I think I remember reading a contribution from Fiend where he had a similar experience.

Rick

In reply to JJL:

Getting off the tuolumne domes is quite interesting. Constantly trying to work out if the slab you are padding down is about to steepen into a runnout E1 that needs to be abseiled. Doing this in the gloaming when you can't see the traveled way adds more fun.

In reply to JJL:

I hated the descent to the main cliff at Gogarth... Worse than the descent to the OMofHoy in my opinion.

In reply to JJL:

can i put in a cheeky vote for raven crag langdale, the descent through split blocks above a 40m drop, seems to get worse each time i do it - loathsome in wet

In reply to JJL:

Ive Learnt to be sceptical of anything called 'the easy way down'

In reply to JJL:

I do remember climbing January Jigsaw on Buachaille Etive Mor one very wet February. It was soaked, rain pouring off it in waterfalls, I was soaked (I only agreeded to do it if my partner lead the first pitch, expecting him to say it was too wet but the b*st*rd got up it). I already thought I was in the presence of madness and this was only confirmed when we reached the top after an epic struggle on slippery rock, slippery freezing cold rock, and it was clear that we had but half an hour of daylight left to play with. I commented on the looming probability of descending in the dark but he replied "no problem...we'll just scramble down Agag's Groove (VD) it will be quicker" and off he went.
So descending a Scottish V Diff, in a downpour, in February, in approaching dusk, un-roped and cursing my partner for a lunatic all the way down was probably on of my more memorable descents.

In reply to JJL:

always this one.
http://www.sharedots.com/this-is-not-for-faint-of-heart-click-here-to-watc-...

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:
I guess so; like I said, never done it!