Adrian Berry has set up an initiative to raise £1000 and bolt thirty new routes on the idyllic Rhossili Bay on Gower in South Wales.
There are already a few hard routes here (including Adrian's own 8b Air Show), but the crag has the potential to provide many more quality routes at 7a or under. This is a superb venue, a beautiful beach (one of the finest in the world according to Adrian!), with easy access for families, and hopefully a set of routes to match in the near future.
Adrian explained a bit more about the crag on his blog:
"Shipwreck Cove has come a long way from September last year when I abseiled down the face on a cold foggy day to find it soaking wet a littered with loose blocks! It has matured quickly and now there are a number of really good routes. I have been surprised by how friendly and open the atmosphere is there. Climbers down the beach with the families who have brought their harnesses and shoes on the off-chance that they can grab a belay have not been disappointed.
Walking back along with beach with Simon, I mentioned how much better a venue it would be if there were more lower-grade routes. There is plenty of rock, but bolting is a time-consuming, and expensive business and naturally we want to bolt the routes that we want to climb. I suggested that there could be a way of raising money to fund the bolting of low to mid-grade routes and the idea was born to raise £1,000 to bolt 30 routes in 12 months. I have now set up a bank account, and a Paypal account, and if you want to read more about The Rhossili Bay Project just follow that link."
To get the ball rolling, Rockfax donated the initial £100, and now after just a couple of days Adrian has raised £660. The Climbing Academy in Bristol have also now donated £100 to go towards the after bolting party, which is part of Adrian's plan.
Hit this button to donate some cash:
UKClimbing.com is supporting the project with advertising and coverage on the site, and we think this is an excellent way of harnessing the good will of the UK climbing public to create a fantastic resource for South Wales.
Adrian states on his website:
- Development will be strictly in accordance with local ethics.
- Route information will be freely available to all.
And he has added these:
FAQs
Q: There is already a South Wales Bolt Fund, why not just use that rather than establishing a new fund?
A: The South Wales bolt fund was established solely to fund the re-bolting of existing routes and funds raised are for that purpose only.
Q: I'd like to get involved with the bolting - can I?
A: Absolutely. I will put you in contact with one of the local guys and you can take it from there, if you're suitably experiences you can take some bolts and go to work, if you haven't done any or much bolting before, then you can assist.
You can read more information about the project on Adrian's website: The Rhossili Bay Project
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