UKC

Not much logbook action on the dirty, dusty delights of the Tor yet this year. Anyone been?

I'll pack my brush, eh?

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Have you been down recently Jon? Had a look from over the river yesterday and it didn't look too dirty. Couldn't see any chalk.

Hoping to get down one day this week weather dependent..

In reply to bigdrew:

Not been yet, I hope to go this week too. If I do, and I clean up some routes I'll post back on here.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Went down yesterday afternoon. Hole crag was surprisingly clean - much better than early last year!

Rave on and Nostradamus both cleaned as are Goal of the month and match of the day.

Few wet patches on meditation / less than zero.

Hopefully this bad weather doesn't last too long.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Yes, did the Girdle on Friday. Was fine, few holds were muddy but really good nic considering it is April. P1 needed a bit of gardening

In reply to bigdrew and Lukeva:

Great news. Looks like I won't be going this week, but I'll get down there and clean up a couple of routes when weather allows.

In reply to Jon Stewart

Been in the dale the last two days, tor looking dry today in the main, and embankment, two tier and max wall in good nick

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Been down today, and yes it's in pretty good nick for the time of year.

"New" routes done (felt a bit that way): Rape (decent, had to unearth the finishing holds); Absent Friends (among the best on Peak limestone, brilliant route).

Of course, the place could do with a lot more traffic. Get down there, the routes are brilliant!

In reply to Jon Stewart:

thanks for the update Jon, will be getting down there this weekend. I'll bring my gardening tools.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Did you happen to see how the cornice was doing before you crossed over?

In reply to GuyVG:

All the snow had gone as far as I could see.

In reply to Andrew Wilson:


wheeyy.

In reply to GuyVG:

It looked pretty clean to me. Probably just a few cobwebs and a little dusty. Get down there before the giant rhubarb takes over

In reply to GuyVG:

Great stuff. No joke about the gardening tools, at the risk of putting people off, our brushes felt a little bit inadequate: the odd hold wanted aggressive soil and dandelion removal techniques, not just a bit of dusting.

Most of all what the place needs is traffic. The guidebook situation is frankly tremendously unhelpful for people who enjoy high quality trad climbing (and I say that broadly because Chee Tor is a major venue it is not esoterica), with the market lapping up updates to latest bollocks quarry and yet more Peak f^cking Bouldering.

Incidentally, this isn't only unhelpful in terms of the neglect of trad limestone, it's also doing the bouldering no good at all. Every time I go out I see yet more damage to classic problems: the starting hold of Banana Finger Direct looks like someone's taken a chisel to it, somehow bits of the starting jug of Beachball seem to have been cleaved off, god only knows how or why, and pretty much every hold at the Secret Garden has been scraped down into a white sandy thing most unlike how it started life.

But back to Chee Tor and while the BMC guide is being put together the place is most certainly worth putting some effort into cheering it up with some better lower-offs, renewing threads, etc. In June I'll have some time (but no money, kit or expertise) to contribute. Surely the consensus on these matters is that piles of disgusting rotten old tat all over trees is bad, and that a permanent metal thing (god not a bolt, no no, a chain) is good? I could go down and replace shit lower-offs with shit old climbing rope but I'm not convinced that's actually helpful.

Any views?

In reply to Jon Stewart:

I hope there is some traffic before my annual UK trip!

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Ceramic, Sergeyenna, Two Sunspots, with the other two Limestone Tors, the best trad in the Peak, happy days. It's been declining in popularity for decades, but I can't say why, because it's not a crag famed for 'chop routes'.
On the bouldering front, large areas of Burbage are f****d, over use, pi** poor footwork! dirty shoes and really heavy brushing is killing the popular areas. The little crimpy wall in the first small quarry area at Curbar looks like someone cleaned it with a black and decker, the crimps have turned into flatties and slopers now.
I really don't want to start another pointless debate, but I for one wouldn't object to some double glue in lower offs on the Tor.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Quite a bit of action this weekend.

Two Sunspots and Hergiani have had a couple of assents and both pretty clean. Midnight Summer Dream is clean enough although it could do with a new thread at the top.

Less than Zero is clean and the rest of Meditation looked pretty decent. Ceramic is also climbable.

Absent Friends, Rave On Nostradamus and Sergeyenna have both been done a couple more times so should be pretty much perfect now.

I've not been on it but there were people cleaning white gold so that should be good to go. Same for Mortlocks.

I'm just waiting for someone to clean Apocalypse now

In reply to bigdrew:

Music to my ears! Can't wait to do Two Sunspots again, it's pure class. I might even chalk up the 6a off-route variation for a laugh, since someone might actually fall for it if the place is getting some action this year.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Went down again yesterday - De-dandelioned 42nd Street and Of Youth. Didn't have a brush with me so they aren't spotless - but certainly climbable.

Rain hasn't effected too much few streaks when we got there but dry by the time we left..

In reply to bigdrew:

Quite a few parties down there today - I did Of Youth thinking I was doing a good deed, and then saw the decapitated dandelions and the odd spot of chalk (you don't use much) and wondered if someone had been at work. Did a bit more brushing on the lower wall but the upper wall was clean - thanks!

At the moment, seems like the crag is pretty clean up to mid-E3. I imagine Queer Street and Splintered Perspex are hard to onsight at the best of times, I'll be cleaning them first if I give either one a go in the next couple of weeks.

In reply to Jon Stewart:


Took the lob off Queer Street and ended up quite close to my second. He wasn't impressed! Got sent back up and ended up running it out beyond the previous high point. 1970s rack though, so maybe better gear now? Seemed rather harder than, say, Absent Friends.

Splintered Perspex - can't even remember whether I've done it or not. Those little grey cells... fading to white!

Good luck with the clean-up. Always loved Chee Tor.

Mick

In reply to Jon Stewart:

It's a awesome crag, thanks for the tour yesterday chap! Bo)

In reply to highaltitudebarista:


A pleasure! Much more to come, this year's Chee Tor renaissance is gathering pace...

In reply to Jon Stewart:


So which are the amenable/soft E2s and possibly E3s? (Asking since I found Two Sunspots pretty desperate.)

In reply to Coel Hellier:

Hergiani is the soft E2 and is clean. Two Sunspots, as you noticed, is really hard - I took a big whipper off the top flake having successfully climbed the off-route variation. Sunny Goodge Street (not sure if it's been done this year) is a good E2 with a short crux sequence (definitely 5c but soft E2).

Of the E3s, none are actually easy, except Less Than Zero. Absent friends is very safe, but has a couple of moves of stiff 5c in a row and not a great deal of respite. Brilliant route, my favourite. 42nd Street is brilliant and bold. Of Youth is good (a little bold but OK, lots of 5c moves on small rather crap holds). Approaching is bold. Rave On is strenuous but OK (not led it yet).

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Hergiani I've done, and thought it fine. Any reports on Goal of the Month and Match of the Day? One of those (I forget which) seemed to be well-protected with in-situ threads when I last walked by.

In reply to Coel Hellier:

The one with the threads is not great - hard moves up by the 2 threads for about 8m, then that's it. Good climbing, but just a very short and sharp 6b+ really. Not done the other, but both have been done this year.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Two Sunspots is currently absolutely filthy, is loose at the start and seeps for ages after rain. Frustrating - there's a 3* route under there somewhere!