UKC

Be advised that after significant rock fall due to an incident today at Sea Walls there is a lot of loose rock and precariously balanced boulders between Gronk and the Nightmare top out, particularly around and above the large fir tree abseil.

Until it's been cleared, I would not recommend climbing in the area. One of the other climbers said they would be contacting the BMC.

In reply to JakeBest:

Blooming heck, that's a huge area between Gronk and Nightmare. What happened, how much rock came down?

Hope no one was injured.

In reply to ianlaw:

Gronk itself is probably ok. Steer clear of anything right of the Gronk belay just before the traverse (shared with Morpheus). Pretty significant rock fall but not huge. Maybe 100kg or so. Came out from the last few moves of Morpheus, mostly fallen directly on to Nightmare area.

One climber was seriously injured and was taken to hospital.

In reply to JakeBest:

Ah, I see. That rising traverse on pitch four of Morpheus always looked pretty solid (for Avon).

That's bad news about the climber, never nice to hear.

In reply to JakeBest:

Hoping for a good outcome. We were at main wall and saw all the emergency services. Looked very serious.

In reply to Fatclimber:

Yeah, I was on the second pitch of Nightmare just nearby. There'll be a report or something in the next couple of weeks I assume. Also hoping for a good outcome for the climber involved.

In reply to JakeBest:
Folks, I am one of the police rope access supervisors for A&S as well as a climber etc. We were tasked with the gear recovery today from this incident, be aware it's all very loose on this route and around the abseil tree, I've asked Dicks climbing to contact me with a view to the council checking all of the routes etc. Please be very careful etc until we here more on info, the climber involved is still very poorly in hospital I am lead to believe.

In reply to JakeBest:

So shocked about this, my thoughts are with him and his family today, I really hope he pulls through. Also thinking of you all who witnessed it, from climbing on the Main Area, I appeared 15 mins after it happened and can't imagine the ordeal. Stay safe out there guys and girls.

In reply to clivecops:

Thanks very much for the update on the climbers condition and pass on my thanks to all of the guys at the scene.

In reply to clivecops:
Sending all my best to the climber involved.

I rode past, clearly not long after the incident had happened and the emergency services had arrived, and was baffled by the rope hanging down the crag and the group of three huddling in the tree belay. Really nasty stuff.

In reply to JakeBest:

Sorry to hear someone was injured badly. Trad climbing is a small world and it is always sad to hear someone has been hurt. Hope they turn out to be OK.

In reply to JakeBest:

I have received information about the current state of play as regards sea walls today. The area affected is from Morpheus to SOS. I would suggest that this area is treated with extreme caution for the time being. There is apparently a good deal of loose material still in place so the base of the crag should also be approached with care. This info has been passed on to the BMC office and will appear in the appropriate area asap.

I would like to offer my best wishes to the injured climber and all those involved in the incident. It might be useful at a later point to understand with more clarity exactly what happened. This is however, not that time.

James Mann (BMC South West area chair)

I was present at the incident. The rock fall severed both the guys ropes, Mammut Genesis 8.5's.

Preying for a miracle right now, it was hell of a fall. All my thoughts are going out to the kid and his freinds & family.

In reply to Donotello:

Yeah, sorry to hear that, and really hope they pull through. I was on this route just a month back, this must have come out of nowhere for the climber.

Did the climber fall from the top pitch of Morpheus to the pine-tree ledge?

Hi all, local BMC activists inspected the area affected by the rockfall, and concluded that a large block had been pulled off of the arete well to the left of the normal finish of Morpheus, and that there was no further dangerously loose material on that arete.

As far as can be seen there is no reason not to climb in that area; it is possible there may be some small loose material on ledges lower down the cliff.

In reply to :

I was climbing there this evening - we had no idea there'd been an accident on the w/e, so appreciate the efforts made to warn us & advise us to try routes on the RHS of Sea Walls. Which we did.

Hoping the injured party will recover.... sounds terrible.

Phil & Tim.

Has anyone explored routes such as sleepwalk since the rockfall? I'm curious to know if they've been cleared and when they'll be considered to be safe once again.

I hope the two climbers are still recovering well.

In reply to Sam Huguet:

I did Sleepwalk last week. Didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, other than the netting fence at the bottom.