UKC

Are there enough easy routes (up to VS trad or 5+) in the new Ground Up Slate guide to make a purchase worthwhile?

In reply to johnboybuchan:

Depends on how often you climb there

But that's my grade range and I bought a copy after one visit, enough routes to keep me going for a few years.

In reply to johnboybuchan:

certainly enough easy sport. there are very few worthwhile trad routes on slate sub VS full stop, but anything there is is in the guide. there is at least 4 or 5 brilliant VS routes but your dont need the guide book to find them

In reply to Webster:

I'm not familiar at all with the Slate Quarries, bar a couple of times wandering around them and some easy sport in Dali's Hole a few years back. What are the VS routes that you would recommend and whereabouts could I find them?

In reply to johnboybuchan: I'll have a look later re the trad.

If it's your style and you think you will get there a bit then I think the 6as will be worth a look too. Combine that with the very well presented and readable history (which is staggered throughout the book), then I'd say yes it is worth it.

In reply to johnboybuchan:

Great guide, a real labour of love and a good read. Well worth buying if you are going to go a few times, otherwise new North Wales Rock fax has enough for a visit.
Jon

In reply to johnboybuchan:

There are a number of nice sub-5 routes, mostly in the Australia levels, but hopefully you eill expand your horizons into the f6s, giving you more to go at.

Id say the guide is a worthwhile investment, and I dont climb much above f6b.

In reply to kipper12:


Thanks for the feedback chaps

In reply to johnboybuchan:

well starting from Bus stop quarry you have Equinox

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=1317

Then in Dali's hole you have Zambesi

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=3079

then in serengeti you have Seamstress

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=7407

they are the most popular and most acesible, bus stop quarry is as you might guess by the bus stop and car park up top. dalis hole you know where it is, the route is the obvoius wide corner crack a way to the left of the easy sport (to the left of the thinner corner crack, dont try this its E2!), serengeti is slightly harder to find but the crag description on the link should surfice. you should be able to identify all the routes from the photos in the links

In reply to johnboybuchan:

It's a great book, it really is worth buying for the routes but also the history and background in it.

In reply to johnboybuchan:

I had a similar dilemma when I lived in North Wales. All the routes mentioned are in the ground up north Wales guide so I'd just get that unless you're planning on going on a regular basis. Having flicked through the Slate guide the majority of routes are hard.

In reply to Webster:

'Zambesi' is in Dali's Hole which should be avoided due to sensitive access issues, why anyone wants to climb next to that hideous fence is beyond me. There are better routes elsewhere, at VS try this one in Twll Mawr which has probably only had a couple of ascents and is better than 'Zambesi'

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=264752

It's a shame in my opinion that Dali's Hole is still listed in the Ground Up and RockFax guides.

I would definitely recommend getting the Ground Up Slate as it will allow you to explore further afield than Bus Stop Quarry and Dali's Hole!

In reply to Sl@te Head:

That looks and sounds like a great route as well!

there is no issue's around individuals climbing trad in Dalis hole, the problem came from big groups of (often) begginers climbing all the easy sport routes. access rights to dalis hole are the same as the whole quarry, climbing is prohibited. just be descrete wherever you are and dont vandalise fencing etc to access climbs.

In reply to johnboybuchan:
Right, there's 48 vs and 9 hs, I counted the graded list so quickly so there might be an error. Some of them won't be that good but finding them could be an adventure in itself.

In reply to sheelba:

GUNW is pretty light on easy sport stuff though, isn't it? Whereas the Slate book has all the low grade stuff in the lower bits of Australia (and other stuff elsewhere).

Plus, as so0meone else said, it's a genuinely brilliant guidebook that's worth having for bedtime reading even if you never plan to do any of the routes in it!

In reply to kipper12:


Young Johnboy is being way too modest. The 5+'s he sets at our local wall are worth 6b in anybody's book. And you should try his 6a's!

Martin

In reply to johnboybuchan:
Aside from the 900 routes and superb production, Llanberis Slate is worth buying if only because its a damned good read! The best climbing guidebook I've seen - and I've seen a good few in over 40 years of climbing.

In reply to Webster:

I'm fully aware of the issues at Dali's Hole, I was the one who stripped all the bolts!

The problem with trad climbers in Dali's is that a large percentage of them are accessing the crag over or under the fence and therefore threatening the access to the whole quarry if they get seen by the security guys; damaging the fence isn't a great way of securing future access.

In reply to Sl@te Head:

From what I've heard the climbing isn't all that in Dali's anyway- not going to one area isn't a massive price to pay I don't think, since access everywhere but Dalis is implicitly tolerated...