UKC

Has Bristly Ridge Gully suffered a recent rockfall or trundle?

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MooseMouse 15 Sep 2014
In reply to MooseMouse:

It looks like the chock-stone has finally gone!

I used Dexter Gully for years but gave it up a few months ago as it was in a terrible state and rather scary!

I now use Sinister Gully, which, until recently I had never done!
Rigid Raider 20 Sep 2014
In reply to MooseMouse:

Definite signs of freshly-exposed earth there.
In reply to MooseMouse:

I came down it the other week,, down sinister gully. I looked up the other gully and decided that it was a deathtrap.
 Oujmik 20 Sep 2014
In reply to higherclimbingwales:

Yeah, there have been a number of threads about this. Despite not being recommended in most guidebooks, Dexter Gully is the most obvious feature on the ridge and seems to get a lot of traffic - probably because it looks sinister and can be a clearly seen from Tryfan. I think it's got the potential to become a real accident blackspot as it has a few moves of steep, fairly technical climbing followed by a horrifically loose exit so you find yourself in a tricky situation to escape safely. I'll definitely be seeking out Sinister and advising anyone I meet to do the same when I next go that way.
In reply to Oujmik:

Sinister is pretty obvious when you're stood under it. There's a huge rock protruding over the gully and it starts near a short dry stone wall.
 LJJ77 20 Sep 2014
In reply to MooseMouse:

I was up bristly ridge last sat done it a few times this year and always looks a little more eroded each time some people knocked some large boulders down our way, never found the exit too difficult but i am always careful of what i am holding on to before making a move, never done sinister how does it compare to main i have heard some say its not as difficult as main
In reply to LJJ77:

Dexter, I always thought, was way beyond grade 1 territory, what, with the steep midway step and hard loose exit.

I have found Sinister to be just as good, not quite as hard and comparatively devoid of loose material. However, I would say that the steep mid-section is still good value at grade 1.

Done it twice in the last couple of weeks and really like it
 LJJ77 21 Sep 2014
In reply to MooseMouse:

It is a good climb plenty to keep your interest but i will have to try sinister for a change next time i am hoping for one last go at the Tryfan North ridge and Bristly ridge scramble before winter gets here i will have to remember the points to look for as described in the other replies
MooseMouse 15 Oct 2014
In reply to Nicholas Livesey:

I forgot I posted this message!

Nicholas, was there a chock-stone at the top of Dexter? I've dont it numerous times but I don't remember a chockstone, it is several years since I've done it though. Is it possible that the chockstone is a new feature after a less recent collapse than the latest?
Do you have any photos of the chockstone before its demise?

I've done most of the lines on Bristly Ridge many times. I quite liked the Dexter of several years ago, but even then I would only ever do it there was nobody above.

I don't think I will be going anywhere near it for the foreseeable future, there is to much debris and probably other stuff waiting to come down!
 Oujmik 15 Oct 2014
In reply to MooseMouse:

The chockstone that I recall was at the very top of Dexter, if you stayed in the right hand, deepest part of the gully for as long as possible rather than scrambling up either wall you ended up in a very loose, muddy, easy-angled (maybe 30 degrees) ditch about 1.5m across and 3m deep (this is from memory, could be wildly out). The end of the ditch was blocked by a boulder which had washed out underneath and behind, making it possible to squirm up behind it. Is this the chockstone? That whole area was horribly sketchy and I wouldn't be surprised it had all washed out but I haven't been back since March to see.
MooseMouse 15 Oct 2014
In reply to Oujmik:

I remember the 3m deep gully at the very top of Dexter, but at the top was a wall with a steep exit stepping slightly backwards and to the right to escape. There was no chockstone to squirm underneath. I would have remembered a chockstone, as the exit to the right was slightly tricky and I would have looked for a less technical exit for the most of the folks I ever went with.

I guess the last time I did Dexter was 4 or 5 years ago, so is it possible that the chockstone squirm appeared between then and my recent visit, and even the chockstone has now gone? Glad nobody was squirming underneath when it went!
 LJJ77 16 Oct 2014
In reply to MooseMouse:

I believe it was at the last part of main on the left the guy i first went up with said it was over the top making it a real chimney i never bothered with that way as an exit as it looks slippy and dull the exit on the right of this is more fun its a climb out rather than the crawl out on the left
In reply to MooseMouse:

I didn't take any photos as I was more concerned with getting them hell out of there asap, but the chockstone, it would appear, became washed out with all the rain we had late last year and early this year. I crapped myself and wondered if I was just being a wuss but it looked as though it would all come down sooner rather than later...I won't be going up it again, it's sinister for me from now on!

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