UKC

Hello,

I climbed The Needle (E1 5b) on Shelterstone Crag yesterday. An excellent route and a long held ambition that didn't disappoint in terms of the quality of both the climbing and the situations.

However I was disappointed by the number of insitu pegs in the route. I presume these were mostly placed on winter ascents where ice, hoar and snow hid most of the clean placements.

There was 1 peg on the 2nd pitch, 4(!) on the 4th and 1 on the 8th. I also think there might have been a peg on one of the easier pitches, but can't remember which.

It could be great if a local could go and take them all out, as they really don't need to be there.

Cheers, Tom

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Seeing you take a liking to crag swag and flogging gear can't you retrieve them and sell them on?

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Are you sure they weren't from early summer ascents? I agree they're completely unnecessary nowadays on The Needle, though it's sometimes nice to see a bit of early history on big routes.

In reply to Michael Gordon:

There are two I reckon were from early ascents. A bent over lost arrow on the traverse left on pitch 4 and the big hunk of metal at the bottom of the Needle crack. The rest looked pretty rescent to me.

I have no issue with winter ascents of this route or placing pegs during winter ascents. However it would be nice if the route was cleaned up each spring.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

So, did you clip them?

In reply to bleddynmawr:

Yep... Who wouldn't?

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:


You assume there is some sort of crag caretaker who would do this? Sorry to be blunt but there isn't. If you like your rock clean (as do I) then add a small hammer to your rack.

In reply to Jimbo C:


I would have done if I'd gave thought there was going to be that many pegs.

I'm surprised at the negative reaction my initial post has got.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:


It's not the sentiment, which is admirable, but the suggestion that it should be someone else's job.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

I think the negative reaction is rather uncalled for. He's climbed the route for the first time (having travelled some relative distance to do so) noticed a load of pegs on it and suggested that the next party may want to bring a peg hammer in order to remove unnecessary clutter from a classic route. I'm sure if he had a hammer on his rock rack he'd have knocked them out himself.

There's a time and place for negative feedback, this isn't one of them.

In reply to planetmarshall:


I thought it was a polite observation rather than a suggestion or request. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

I just meant for future outings. I know you can't do anything about the ones on The Needle. For what it's worth I would have clipped them too.

In reply to Jimbo C:

For whats its worth there is a bulldog hammered into the 3rd pitch of Unicorn, so if you plan to do that anytime soon it may be worth hammering out too.