UKC

Hi,

Going down to Dodman point next month and want to get a bit of climbing on my travel days in, looking for anything not too far off the road from Plymouth to St Austall. I'm after a bit of single pitch trad at VS and below.

Where would anyone recommend?

Is Dodman Point itself worth hanging around to climb? I can't see much info about it on the web. Or would stopping off at Bodmin or Luxulyan forest be a good bet?

Thanks
Andrew



Or

Depends on your idea of fun I suppose.

"Dodman Point. A top roping day unless you are of the mind to step around gingerly on crumbly and unpredictable rock with a cross for the main anchor acting as a reminder." http://www.cornwallclimbingclub.com/Cornwall_Climbing_Club/Photo_Gallery/Pa...

I've never climbed there but knew the area well at one time. It's a lovely walk. I'll personally pass on south Cornish shale as a climbing medium. I'd head for the granite if I were you.

In reply to unicycleboy:
I guess I probably have as much local knowledge on these areas as anyone, so should try to encourage you down!

Dodman Point is as already pointed out, something of an acquired taste. I've only done very little there to be honest, but it certainly ranges from flaky to horrorshow and there's not much to go on at the more conventional end of things. It's very quiet, beautiful and very impressive crag - especially if you get down to sea level

Luxulyan is if anything more beautiful, bit in a gentler Sylvan way. All of the crags and nearly all of the routes are accounted for to some degree in the UKC logbooks, everything prior to 2012 is in the Cheesewring guide and everything since then and all of the bouldering is found in the following free PDF:

Here at Rustypeg: http://www.rustypeg.co.uk/major-new-bouldering-guide-for-cornwall/

And here at Cheesewring Climbing News: http://cheesewringclimbingnews.blogspot.co.uk/

I think Luxulyan is great but then I'm very local so I would. It is best to give stuff a couple of dry days before a visit, all the best stuff and how to find it should be obvious from the guides.
There's not much sub VS worth doing to be honest, but from VS-E3 there good quality bit limited routes. Certainly good for a day anyway and as much good quality as the more popular venues of Helman Tor and Roche Rock combined, though it takes more effort.
Happy to answer any specific questions if you have any.

Good luck,
Tom