UKC

Hi

Do you ab from a 50m+ single from the stakes or will a 60m single doubled over reach?No sandbag beta please JT - it's free hanging as you well know!

Many thanks

C

In reply to Cusco:

A doubled 60 would not be long enough.

In reply to Cusco:

I have always used a 50m static to ab off Marmolata buttress. That leaves a bit at the bottom. As the routes are all about 100 feet and more, I would not recommend a doubled over 60m rope.

In reply to Cusco:

45m is enough

In reply to Cusco:

My 69m ab rope, JUST reaches the bottom when doubled over, or is really about 3" too short.

60m would be too short unless you extended significantly from the anchor with slings etc, but that might leave the knot over the edge. Even that might be non-ideal as it might cut out your escape option back up it,

I'd go down on a single line.

In reply to Cusco:

and watch out for the other abseils, the further east you go the higher the cliff is . 50m barely reaches the ground so don't waste any rope in Y shaped redundancy, do inline redundancy with a sling.

In reply to Cusco:

It's less than 30 meters, the stake is maybe 4m from the edge. I have a 25m ab that with a long sling is perfect.

In reply to Cusco:

this reminds me of the 'fun' my friend seb had when abseiling from Ocean Boulevard alone on a 30 meter rope extended with slings He managed to reach the ground but forgot that the rope had stretched whilst he was on it. Rope soloing was off the cards when he let go of the rope and it shot up out of reach. oh how we laughed!

In reply to Cusco:
Bear in mind the routes down there can suffer badly from condensation and be dripping wet, especially in spring and autumn, if you fail to find a route in condition then you may need to ascend your ab rope.

If your ab rope is dynamic, its significantly harder to ascend. Also as you ascend (bouncing on the stretchy rope) it may be sawing more across any rock and more prone to getting cut through.

The easiest VS routes down there aren't that easy either, more like borderline HVS. Atleast for limestone the rock is quite rough so not so bad as it could be when wet.

In reply to CurlyStevo:

I've never had to ascend my rope (although have had to rescue someone who'd ab'd below an overhang above the sea on some E4), but have many times had the displeasure of having to lead out on Director's Groove after the sea turned out to be too high to get to anything else. One of my least favourite and most lead routes.

In reply to CurlyStevo:

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

In the end my partner was ill and unable to make it. So Finale Groove, Elysium and Lightning Wall will have to wait. They've waited for 25 years so a bit longer won't hurt.

Curly Stevo - wet and slimy is the north facing slabs of Fairy Cave... in January... after three months of rain... when the roads all the way up from Exeter were soaking wet... when all the slabs were glistening with black verglas-like slime... and my partner had forgotten his boots and had to borrow my down-turned Scarpa Vapour Vs... which were too big for him... and he'd forgotten the guidebook... and I took two ten foot slides off the crux of Rob's Slab before somehow managing to get past it and up the remainder of the route.

It made Tophet Wall in the rain all those years ago, the waterfall pouring over the lip straight onto the final belay and the final crack of damnation and slime seem like a breeze.

The new benchmark of wet and just climbable.

In reply to Robin Woodward:

Swanage has a certain tendency for attracting epics imo. The lack of phone coverage, loose rock, condensation on the rock, muddy top outs and lack of easy climbs out all contribute. I think it's sensible to always assume you may need to ascend you ab rope. I didn't own static so have abbed in on dynamic. I have also had to call out the coast guard for someone struggling to ascend dynamic.

In reply to Cusco:

I imagine you'd be fine whatever. Lightening wall and finale groove are awesome routes

In reply to Cusco:
Worth the wait. Finale & Lighting Wall are both brilliant fun!

Ps. A static line is a good investment for uk trad sea cliff climbing. With so many amazing venues its worth the pounds.

In reply to Cusco:

Always gone down there on a 50m static. Not sure why you'd want to go down on a 60m doubled unless it's a half rope and it's all you own, and I wouldn't be at all sure it would reach. You'd be in some bother if it didn't. As other have said, definitely leave the ab rope in place. One of my friends had to prussic out when finding all the routes wet at the bottom. Fortunately he was able to signal to the rest of us not to come down.

Have a good trip when you do make it. If it's a first trip to Swanage I'd allow a bit of a grade margin. It can be a bit un-nerving at first.

Martin

In reply to Cusco:

Why does everybody paint Swanage as some kind of terrifying horror of a crag? I have been climbing there on and off since the 80's and its a pretty average sea cliff. There are great spots for beginners, family friendly places, multi pitch and single pitch, overhangs and walls. Its a sea cliff and like most others it can be wave washed - it can be greasy - it can be loose. There are parts where the tops turn into vertical grass, nothing unusual there and some tops resemble Millstone. However it's not on a par with Gogarth - ab into the wrong spot and you have a major issue, or Carn Gowla where rescue isn't going to happen for a long long time, more like the busy parts of Pembroke i.e relatively friendly.