UKC

Anyone been out to the Southern Sandstone crags in the last couple of days? Weather looks not a disaster for tomorrow and has been dry for the last couple of days so I fancied a couple of problems/solos tomorrow.

Thoughts?

In reply to HenryC: I haven't been out this year personally but I was at Evolution on Tuesday evening and apparently it was still quite soggy last weekend, Maybe this weekend could be better? I would be interested to know myself!

max

In reply to rotax123:

Presumably the popular places like Bowles and Harrison's won't take too much drainage though?

In reply to HenryC:

Nada, after the rain we have had, the locals reckon we will need a couple of weeks of dry before rock is in condition. Bowles will dry a lot quicker than Harrison's given that it is exposed and south facing. Most of Harrison's will be soggy for a while yet but even though some parts may look dry they still need a little longer.

Without wanting to sound patronising please be as patient as you can as many holds have been broken in the last couple of years due being pulled on when wet. If you go and have a look let us know what you find. All the best

In reply to HenryC:
Tomorrow looks to be another dull misty day, it prob won't rain much but I wouldn't expect to see much if any sun either, so not very good drying conditions, however there might be a few dry holds at Bowles although wouldn't expect there to be any routes/problems completely dry.

Harrison's takes a lot of drainage, next time you are there look at the slope of the woodland above, not steep but it does all slope down to the crag. The land behind Bowles does slope away from the crag, going someway to explain why it is often drier there. Although at the moment even most/all of the isolated boulders are soaked due to the porous nature of sandstone.

As others have said be careful of the holds whilst damp. There's few if any holds to break in the chimneys and they are always damp and slimy so perhaps it's a good time to break out the boiler suit

Robin

In reply to HenryC:
I would say you should stay away, sandstone is very prone to damage (breaking holds and abrasion) when damp and there is no chance what so ever it will be dry just now. Bowles is by far the quickest drying crag, but given the summer and the resent weather I don't think it's likely to be in nick now until late spring. We'd need at least 1-2 weeks of dry sunny and not too cold weather just now for it to dry out acceptably for climbing!

In reply to Theeni
this is a conditions update from a local instructor for bowles

https://twitter.com/LaurenceReading

In reply to HenryC: Life was much easier when nobody gave a toss.

In reply to Removed User:
And look where that got us!

In reply to CurlyStevo:


What he said.

In reply to HenryC: Is it really that bad now? The last time I visited the place was full of earnest faced rock athletes who didn't appear to be enjoying themselves much, just worrying about grades, to cap it all a couple of young superheroes commented that my solo of niblick was unjustified possibly because I wasn't wearing a beanie. The Wye valley and the peak are much better fun, people seem to enjoy climbing there!

In reply to Removed User:

Depends what you mean by 'that bad'?
If you mean "is it being utterly trashed by selfish knobs climbing when it's wet"

then yes.

OTOH if you mean "are people so humourless that they fail to see the funny side of finally returning to a long-term project, in a brief spell of dry weather, to find every single hand & foothold snapped off by selfish knobs?"

then yes!

In reply to HenryC: Returning to the original point of the post, I'm visiting Crowborough today (the joys of families) and FORGET IT!

In reply to HenryC: this snow should have dried it out a little bit surely????

In reply to HenryC: If you want some exercise you could always give the Sandstone Volunteer Group some muscle at Harrisons. There is still a load of work to do carting tree trunks and sorting paths and drainage. Just sayin'