UKC

Hoping to head, this weekend, for my first trip to Swanage - Subliminal, and just wondering if there is anything over and above what is contained in the Rockfax guidebook that I should be aware of. Previous sea cliff climbing experience includes routes on Gogarth such as D of W H's and also routes at Sennen, Chair Ladder and Bosigran.

Swanage seems to be another world altogether so keen to make my first trip a good/ safe one.

Thanks

Vish

In reply to vishpatel:

If you've done routes like DoWH and climbed at Bosi, then don't bother with subliminal. About a quarter to a half mile west is Boulder Ruckle which beats hands down anything Subliminal has to offer. Same car park, same walk in, but much much better routes. There are some bird bans, but the BMC website has the details.

In reply to Steve27:

Thanks for that Steve.

In reply to vishpatel:
Fully agree with the other Steve - personally love Boulder ruckle, cormorant, guillemot, dislike subliminal with a passion other areas variable....

Boulder ruckle is strong lines, big holds, wild positions, larger passive nuts, cams mostly ok when you need them, big free hanging ab and mountain style looseness and commitment - fairly soft grades if you are ok with steep and gear and some loose. Subliminal is the polar opposite, less gear compact rock, slopey holds, cams pop in polished cracks, poorly defined lines, tough grades, oh yeah and it's short....

In reply to vishpatel:

At Subluminal If you are at HVS sort of standard go and do Astrid it's a fab well protected line with a great ab in and hanging belay to start you off.
Lower in the grade but an amazing adventure is Avernus which takes a weird route up the back of a cave and through a blow hole.
I agree with the other comments that Boulder Ruckle and areas further along the coast have better routes more akin to D of W H and the like. The only issue is working out where you are when you are above them and have to ab into them!

In reply to jezzah:
Astrid suffers with some seepage, and is best when in the sun, which is morning I think.

Oh and the ruckle is best bet, entry grade is vs/hvs. Stacks to go t and if it has 2 or 3 stars the top will be fairly stable, which whilst we speak of tops, make sure you get gear in well before the top, as good gear at the top is sometimes a challenge. Belays are mostly stakes.

Enjoy.

In reply to Kevster:

Thanks all for the advice. Much appreciated.

In reply to vishpatel:
Yeah earthy grassy top outs can be a problem on some routes, but its all part of the experience Be somewhat wary if its muddy. Guillemot mostly has nice top outs (as long as you do the routes that top out in to the quarry to the right of the ab facing in to the rock back to the sea) also the ab is shorter and less free hanging. The routes are just as good as the ruckle ones IMO so could be a good place to start.

I can recommend tensort II, Mistaken Identity, Legend Direct, Vampire, Batt Crack and Robud. If you are going well the Spook is quite soft for E1. The bold pitch goes up right from the belay (many accidentally go left) and its not crazy bold the 5b moves are more 5a and by the time the gear is below your feet you are on 4b / (or easy) 4c sort of ground.

At boulder ruckle make sure you do Aventura, Jo, Finale Groove and Lightening Wall,

In reply to vishpatel:


It's Subluminal with a "U". 'Cos it is under the lighthouse.

In reply to CurlyStevo:

Agree with Stevo. Boulder Ruckle is great, with many fantastic routes, but the top outs can be pretty harrowing. Decent rock turns into crappy rock, turns into chunks of rock in steep mud, turns into steep mud and grass, by which point your last bit of gear in decent rock is a long way away, as you pull on tufts of grass and dig your fingernails/nut key into the earth to reach safety and a belay stake Still, don't let that put you off! They're not all like that

Guillemot is great - easy ab approach, crisp clean top-outs into the quarry, nice routes.

In reply to vishpatel:

What they said. Subluminal is rubbish. Go Boulder Ruckle, anything less is fool hardy. Just take a nutkey to use as an ice tool on the top outs. It's awesome. Oh and drop a grade...

In reply to vishpatel:

I would sooner go to Cattle Troughs than Subluminal if you were looking for a less committing single pitch intro. A lot less busy and the routes are a little longer. That said, there's routes down to HS at Boulder Ruckle and Guillemot so the climbing is not committing from an escape point of view if you ab into those sectors.

In reply to beardy mike:

The nut key is also useful as an adze to cut foot holds!

In reply to vishpatel:

I've climbed a fair bit in Swanage and whilst the Ruckle and Guilimot are awesome, Subluminal is still good fun - low stress short/sharp routes.

Cattle Troughs is definitely a bit friendlier than all the others if you're after an intro to Swanage.

In reply to jezb1:

I honestly don't like Subluminal - polished, weird not so positive holds nothing like the rest of Swanage, too short, often poorly defined lines with hard to get in gear, cams are often not trust worthy and slip if pull tested, polish, hard grades etc. Cattle troughs is a bit better but there are few very good climbs at the grade the OP wants.

I basically didn't rate Swanage for years, then I did Isis at Cattle Troughs (its easy to go wrong on this route as rockfax have a misprint in some of their guides) and was told that's more like the ruckle routes. I had to go! Boom! loved it

In reply to jezb1:

Subluminal is good if you like salty, polished, weird ass routes which are high in the grade with crap protection and are too scared to commit to the real deal. Much more convenient walk in though. Infact, that's what it's good for. Keeping the traffic in the ruckle down as all the Swanage noobs go there, get scared half to death and never return...

In reply to jezb1:


I also found the ammonites on the starting ledges really cool all by themselves. I don't know if you can see them elsewhere of such a huge size at Swanage?

In reply to beardy mike:

Where as the Ruckle is sandy, loose and jug after boring jug. All the routes blur in to one save the odd exception.

I'm being facetious, I loved my three years in Swanage and whilst Sub is the poor relation I still enjoyed the climbing there. In the same way I love climbing on Holyhead Mountain but it doesn't compare to Gogarth proper.

In reply to SenzuBean:

The ammonites are cool, there's quite a few in the mid height break that runs along the Ruckle too.

In reply to jezb1:


Ah I'll keep a look out. Are there any routes where these ammonites form crucial holds? I heard there were but never anything more specific.

In reply to SenzuBean:
I think I've belayed off one before but can't remember which route .

In reply to jezb1:

Aventura.

Subliminal gets a thorough slating above and it's shit, obviously.

But once you've done all that you can elsewhere and the weather is crap, spend a day there ticking what you can. It's worth it, really and truly it is.

In reply to Mike Highbury:


Thanks for that - added to the wishlist!

Since you are VS competent I'll give you same recommendation I do to all Swanage first timers.

Head to Guillemot Ledge on Day 1. Loads of good routes at VS-E1 there. Recommending trade routes like Tensor II. Quality Street (mild HVS and excellent) can be boulder hopped from Guillemot ab in at low tide so you don't need to move ab ropes along to Cormorant Ledge.

Guillemot is a proper crag with good routes (unlike Subluminal which is a bit rubbish really): 30m routes, abs in, but gear is good, top outs stable and has a generally friendlier feel than the more intimidating crags like Boulder Ruckle and the others.

If all goes well head to Boulder Ruckle on Day 2. Finale Groove is the first route that most people do there. Not hard at HVS and gear and top out is reliable. then get stuck in to the many HVS's there. Lots of choice, and quite varied in difficulty. Behometh is a personal fav. Such a good route.

In reply to vishpatel:
I'd say the West End is best for a first dip into the Ruckle - from the Ramp abseil, you then have steady escape routes Jericho Groove (HS 4b) or Bottomless Buttress (HS 4b) (both worthwhile in their own right). You can also access Aventura (HVS 4c) (steady at HVS), Black Sunshine (HVS 5a) (also steady at the grade) Silhouette Arête (VS 4c) (though this is currently under an annual bird ban), boulder hop a bit further East and you get to Jo (HVS 5a) (great, but a step up from the 2 HVSes mentioned above). Top outs on all these routes are reasonable with care.
Marmolada Buttress area (Finale Groove (HVS 4c), Lightning Wall (HVS 5a) etc.) is great, but there are no easy escapes if things go wrong - especially alarming when the cliff is dripping with humidity and darkness is closing in (don't repeat my mistakes)!

In reply to vishpatel:
I'm sure you know all this but just in case:

Make sure you have a head torch, mobile phone and prussics on you (although the phone probably wont work at the base of the cliffs - although some people get a French signal!) when you ab in, and leave your abseil rope in place in case you need to prussic up it.

In reply to Owen W-G:

I think Behemoth is bird banned at the moment though....

In reply to jezb1:

I was being facetious too. Apart from the bit about subluminal being shit I guess what I would wish is that the OP doesn't miss out on the good climbing for fear of getting scared. The reality is that the abseil in is by far the scariest bit. Apart from the top out. And the route itself. Other than that it's all dreamy and he should go and get involved.

In reply to vishpatel:

Always keen to hear how trip went in the end and if advice used/helped, so Vish, how did it go?