UKC

Does anyone know the current state of Heart of the sun at Baggy. I heard it was quite dangerous and loose now?

I did it in 2013 and it had an enjoyable and relatively solid first pitch, followed by a loose and wildly vegetated second pitch. All-in-all I enjoyed it, but then again I enjoy all sorts, so maybe that's not a testament to its actual quality.

There's a chance Mark Kemball will have more up to date information, as he's in the process of finalising the guide to the area, so fingers crossed he spots this and gets back to you with something more meaningful.

Its a great shame to hear this - my experience on it was many moons ago, and I thought it was brilliant, even though age dims the poor style of my (seconded) ascent and even then the emergent vertical meadows. But 'Heart of the Sun' will always be AC Willmott to me...

As Mick Ward has said on here way back, 'Though we've grown old, they haven't. They're still with us and always will be'.
 

To the best of my knowledge, the top section is still dangerously loose. Mark Davies (PK) is writing the Baggy section of the guide. I beleive he has plans to throw a long ab rope down it to see just what's there and if it's climbable. Meanwhile, if anyone gets on it, all info gratefully received.

I'm writing the Baggy section for the new CC Culm/Baggy guide and I did a big abseil down it last year to have a look and clean at that and Pink Void. I am planning to go back very soon and do some re-cleaning and possible peg replacement on HOTS. Currently it all looks reasonably ok for the first two pitches (that are often combined) to a hanging belay. Abbing from there seems the best option but be prepared to leave a wire or something to back up the various rusty bits you ab off of. When are you thinking of doing it? I have been wanting to get new action pics of it. Pink Void is now essentially MXS and should be avoided (IMO) and its top pitch up which HOTS finishes is utterly horrendous (MXS 4b?).

As far as I know the section on the second or third pitch over the overlap was always loose ? Really atmospheric route, though.  Bags more character than the average at Baggy.

Amazing how nature can reclaim these routes! It's nearly 30 years since I did Pink Void. The original start had already fallen down but after the dirty starting corner the climbing was great! The final pitch was a bit dirty but nothing terribly serious.

I did Heart of the Sun 5 years later. For pitch 3 (above the hanging stance) we went up right on a thin crack for 20 feet, then foot traversed up left back onto Pink Void, again, for straight forward finish. 

I guess the soil must fall from above and bury all holds!

Both were very memorable and remain some of my greatest days.

Thanks for all the advice. We might go sunday. Be great if you fancied getting some shots and joining us for some climbing.

Cheers 

Sam

Ah, I may actually be there sunday morning doing some checking.

We did it last year, it’s a great route. The first and second pitches felt fine, but the top was grim. We bailed up the ab line instead, and that felt fine. 
Have a great time on it. 
 

( we did it during that heatwave last year, it truly felt like the heart of the sun!)

I had a look at the abseil / belay stakes at the top a couple of weeks ago. They aren’t really in a safe state. It needs a proper stake placing and if I were to go do it I’d actually buy a stake and sledgehammer. I think it’s that bad. It’s the kind of thing which looks like it might be ok but could actually be lethal and you just don’t know.

There are two old rusty stakes which are way off to the side of where the route tops out. So they are of limited use and poor anyway. The only other stake is a wooden post. It looks sturdy enough on the outside but it’s wooden so could be rotten below ground for all you know, plus you’ve no idea how deeply buried it is but it does rock a bit so probably not that deep.

As I said, some people might be fine with it but I wouldn’t be (and I’ve abseiled off more old tat in the Alps than I care to remember - though the older I get, the more care I tend to take to make sure it’s ‘good enough’; it means I can continue to get older).

If you do decide to ab in or just use it to belay, you’d pretty much need a 50m rope to equalise the three crappy stakes.

Its a dangerous 75m abseil so i would definately not recommend abseiling in! Its easy enough to walk down and out again and at the moment (until I finish cleaning the 3rd pitch) i would recommend finishing at the hanging belay.

Well someone might want to abseil down to have a look at the route before doing it and clean the top pitch. Given it weaves about on that pitch, I’d certainly be wary of bouncing around on a rope given the loose stuff.

A pre placed (ab) rope down the top groove seems sensible.

Thanks for cleaning it and look forward to seeing the guide.

Yeah thats fair enough. I used a couple of my own portable stakes + the post when I went down.

Yes, the starts to these routes tended to be reset every few years, but the final pitch was solid enough if you were careful (we're talking 30+ years ago mind). 

Portable stakes? Golly, not got any on my rack, panic setting in!

Incidentally knew Tony  Willmot from Harrisons days and at the shop (Pindisports). So long ago!

Thinking about another thread,  HOTS was the only time my climbing ever attracted a susbstantial audience ( about 35 years ago). 

Strangely, I think the only time I've ever had an audience was in the same place when I soloed Pink Void for some reason,

New routing essentials.

I climbed heart of the sun in 2016. We did it in two pitches and I led the last pitch. It was the only time that I've ever been convinced I was going to die whilst on a route. Topping out felt like being reborn.

My plan for the new book is to clean up pitch 3a (as in the CC 2000 guide) so that after the hanging belay of pitch 2 you climb diagonally leftwards to the final stance of Pink Void (below the horrendous final pitch). There is a good stance there with a peg and good crack and so I will see if I can add a couple of stainless pegs and wires etc and make it an ab point (60m).

Excellent plan. The first pitch to the hanging belay is superb. It was two pitches when I did it and just wonderful climbing with a delicate and worrying top slab and moves leftward after the hanging stance. Brilliant positions and climbing. 

I'm planning on going down to Baggy first week of Sept to do some guidebook work including finishing cleaning Heart of the Sun if any team fancy coming down to climb it for pics.

HOTS probably was a good route. However it is now a non-route. It is without doubt the worst Extreme Rock route I have done (and I've done over 90%).

The first pitch (described as two) to the uncomfortable hanging stance is fine but, beyond the first 15m + final 4m, not that interesting/pleasant. The pegs on that stance have all gone except 1 which is a bit rubbish.

For the second pitch I followed the original line as far as possible: up to (much looseness) tracing the overlap (to about half way) before being forced to trav left across loose ground to avoid even looser ground above. My second pulled rightward at the foot of the overlap into the gully. Both of these are crap; involve a lot of lose rock.

​​​As suggested elsewhere, it would be far better to move left from the hanging stance into Pink Void. However, this is still crap as the finish up Pink Void was more akin to some God-awful mountaineering. Easy but disposable rock.

The stakes are rusty but you'd be doing well to generate enough force to snap a stake (tied off at the base) by your second falling beneath a 90° change in angle (land above cliff -> cliff). The stakes are far apart but two ropes (one to each stake) meeting at the edge give you a (different) ~90° angle.

I'm not overly convinced the cleaning will be effective beyond a year or two. We're talking industrial rock-scaling! There are better routes to clean up...

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure I sent this info to the CC website, hope it got passed on to you authors?