UKC

Afternoon all, now we all know that the UK is the mecca of trad climbing with such varied rock types and styles of routes available. But for someone wanting to get away to some winter sun but doesn't want to travel as far as America and doesn't want to solely sport climb where would you recommend?

Cheers

In reply to dinodinosaur:

I think Malta has a fair amount of trad.

In reply to dinodinosaur:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=3430

Or for somewhere even further away than the US, Suesca, Colombia is great.

In reply to dinodinosaur:

Wadi Rum, in Jordan, has been on my wishlist for a while now. http://www.summitpost.org/wadi-rum/485007

Morocco's also on my list.

Malta looks wonderful but tough. I looked into it very briefly and decided that there wasn't much there to suit me (I normally climb in the VS-E1 range).

In reply to dinodinosaur:
South Africa, particularly Western Cape, has superb World class multi pitch Trad. OK it's a long flight 11 to 12 hours, but it's in the same time zone, so no jet lag, they speak English and drive on the left, and their weather during our winter is superb.

In reply to dinodinosaur:

Jebel el Kest, Anti Atlas Morocco but be warned it's at the adventurous end of the adventure spectrum. No rescue, not many climbers, at least not when I've been, some routes not been climbed many times and then of course there are the snakes and scorpions but the climbing is superb. And it's a cheap short haul flight away.

Al

In reply to dinodinosaur:

Costa Blanca, Spain. Yes, most will know this as a sport climbing destination and it's great for that too. But there is loads of very good trad throughout the grade range.
Here's a few links to some recent trad days we've had out there:
http://www.mountain-journeys.co.uk/blog/category/puig-campana
http://www.mountain-journeys.co.uk/blog/category/cabezon-de-oro
http://www.mountain-journeys.co.uk/blog/category/150-jupiters

Circa 2 hour flying time from UK airports, cheap flights, and very good, modern infrastructure along with fab weather, what's not to like

In reply to dinodinosaur:
If you like jamming ( and if not, why not?) There's always Orco. Sergent etc.

In reply to dinodinosaur:

No such thing exists... the only trad climbing in the world and universe is in the UK.

In reply to Ian Bell:


I tried it last year and wasn't impressed, the year before I was near tafraoute in Morocco and thought it was amazing! Highly recommend that place, flights to Agadir, pick up a hire car there and stay at the kasbah tizourgane.

In reply to dinodinosaur:

Not sure if its still the case but I seem to rememember Sardinia had a few trad spots (usually the inland areas, and a couple of areas near Alghero)

In reply to jonnie3430:


Do they have good rock there?

In reply to Luke90:

Ignore my intial thoughts on Malta, I was getting it mixed up with a different island.

Everything I can find online suggests that Malta is primarily a sport destination with a smaller number of trad lines, some of which are being retrobolted. Interesting discussion here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=616852

In reply to planetmarshall:

I'll second Orco... brilliant. Heard great things about Caderese too, but haven't been yet.

In reply to dinodinosaur:

Swanage

In reply to dinodinosaur:
Instant answer - The Moroccan Anti-Atlas - all the adventure you'll ever need.

Developed almost solely by Brits, beginning with Browns Les and Joe and their mates Trevor Jones, Claude Davies and Pete Turnbull, and later Walker, Bonington, Ross, Wintringhams, Mortimers et al, with the baton taken over in recent years by Alsford, Donnithorne, Broadbent and others it's to all intents and purposes completely free of bolts and there are very few pitons even. British style climbing from single pitch to 500 metre routes of all grades.

And our off season is the time to go, especially early Spring and late Autumn. Plenty of guide books around now too.

But no search and rescue facilities - you're on you're own.

In reply to Mark Eddy:

The other thing about Costa Blanca trad is that there are thousands of new routes of all grades to be found. Plus undocumented stuff dating back to Joe Browns explorations, Costa Blanca is not just all about Rockfax.