UKC

Blacknor Fort

After an afternoon of sport climbing, we retired to the quarry for a spot of bouldering before heading home. Not having a bouldering mat, we tackled some climbs in the main (long) section of the quarry, as seen in centre of this google maps 3D view (with the sun on top):

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.54511,-2.4525043,92a,35y,180h,39.57t/data=!...

When we got home I decided to purchase the Rockfax Dorset Bouldering download, to see what we had climbed, and was surprised to find no climbs listed for this part of the quarry. (The climbs listed are on the section behind the gun emplacement, near the cliff edge.)

Are these considered too low to count (they are relatively safe to fall from with a spotter)? Or do they appear in any other guide book, or "unofficial" list of climbs in this part of the quarry?

(And how do climbs become "official" and listed in guide books anyway?!)

Thanks!

In reply to YourNameHere:

This section of the quarry has been climbed on in the past; there are even some top-rope bolts on the flowstone encrusted face! When the Rockfax Dorset bouldering guidebook was being researched this section was overgrown and full of rubbish so it was decided not to include it. We cleaned it the summer after the guidebook was published - it faces north and is a good summer venue. I drafted a topo but I confess to being too lazy to upload it  

It’s doubtful you climbed anything new but in my opinion if you enjoyed the problems it’s always worth adding them to UKC database.   

In reply to Ben Stokes:

> This section of the quarry has been climbed on in the past

Oh, I don't doubt it, which is why I was surprised it was undocumented. Thanks for the explanation.

I'll be honest, between the windchill on day one, and rockfall on day two, this was probably the most enjoyable part of the weekend that we were there. (Which is no reflection of the climbing available in Portland, and we will be back, just bad luck!). Exploring "uncharted" (even if not unclimbed) territory was a lot of fun.

If we go back and have a chance to climb this area again (along with some of the graded routes for grade comparison) I'll be sure to take topo notes and photos. If you still have your notes, I'd be happy to upload them. Feel free to PM me.