UKC

Mousetrap - Gogarth Approach

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 Dutton 15 Jun 2022

Hi guys,

Me and the boys are thinking about mousetrap next weekend and am looking for some info regarding the approach.

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 JMarkW 15 Jun 2022
In reply to Dutton:

Not banned till end July?

 Climber_Bill 15 Jun 2022
In reply to Dutton:

You need to rethink your plans;

 Restricted Access

Seasonal Restrictions

Dates: 1 February to 31 July

Reason: Nesting Birds

A very important  sea- bird nesting area and seasonal restrictions apply to the whole crag. 

 Misha 16 Jun 2022
In reply to Dutton:

Easiest is 100m abseil from climber’s right. 50/60m ab rope and abseiling off the end with your climbing ropes should work as well as the abseil isn’t mega steep. It’s a bit grotty though, so I’d avoid using your climbing ropes.

Bird banned till end of July though. 

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In reply to Dutton:

I’m a bit puzzled by this - can’t you just walk down from the lighthouse steps? Maybe only at low tide. And not now, as others have said.

jcm

3
In reply to Misha:

If you take a short bit of static or a some really long slings to go round the big block so you don't use up the ab rope in the rigging, 60m gets down to easy walking/scrambling.

Not a great first E2 though. OP might want to give that some thought.

Post edited at 06:46
 kevin stephens 16 Jun 2022
In reply to Longsufferingropeholder: it used to be graded HVS when I did it, which didn’t seem out of order at the time

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 spragglerocks 16 Jun 2022
In reply to Longsufferingropeholder:

Agree, I did it with Misha.  You need to be confident that neither the leader or the 2nd are likely to fall off.  The gear is great but the rock the gear is in, less so and I found it tricky finding enough good stuff to set up a belay at the top of P2 - the best piece I had was a sling tied off round a massive chicken head type feature which then proceeded to come off in my hands when I lent on it...just to give the OP a flavour.

In reply to Dutton:

I recall that it was like climbing on Crunchie bars.  Same colour, same consistency.  I took a tumble in the early 70's when a hold shattered in my hand when I squeezed it too hard and a foothold exploded at the same time. I ended up hanging on the rope from a peg with my belayer a couple of feet above me.

 GrahamD 16 Jun 2022
In reply to kevin stephens:

Very much depends on the state of the peg, I'd have thought.  With no worthwhile protection for a long way (horizontally) before the crux, HVS would feel decidedly sandbaggy.

In reply to spragglerocks:

Think we used threads through the holes in that compacted sand bollard thing at the top of p2.

What I remember most is running it out up those weird parallel stegosaurus plate features thinking about how perfectly they'd take a cam in the gap between, but how definitely they'd shatter if I fell on it.

 climbingpixie 16 Jun 2022
In reply to GrahamD:

I did it back in 2008 and there was no peg then. I did manage to get a No. 11 hex in sideways between two fins of quartz to protect the p1 crux but it definitely felt more E2 than HVS.

 kevin stephens 16 Jun 2022
In reply to GrahamD:

> Very much depends on the state of the peg, I'd have thought.  With no worthwhile protection for a long way (horizontally) before the crux, HVS would feel decidedly sandbaggy.

i think it was around 1981when i climbed it

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 Misha 17 Jun 2022
In reply to kevin stephens:

It would be a potentially lethal sandbag at HVS.

1
 GrahamD 17 Jun 2022
In reply to kevin stephens:

I'm guessing (because I don't log ascents) that it was about 2000 when I did it and the peg was pretty much reduced to rust then.

After that, the best gear seemed to be massive slings, or massive slings improvised by clipping all the conventional gear end to end.

1
 kevin stephens 17 Jun 2022
In reply to kevin stephens:

> i think it was around 1981when i climbed it

So thats 2 dislikes (so far!) purely for being old?!?!

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 HappyTrundler 17 Jun 2022
In reply to Dutton:

We just went down the steps to a gap, squeezed through and a long scramble down steep grass to the bottom, got to be careful, especially if wet grass.  E2 is probably right, no hard climbing, just difficult to work the meagre gear placements.  As someone said, take lots of very long slings to improvise 'spike' runners wrapped round protruding bosses of rock.  HVS could be disastrous, if an aspiring VS leader was tempted to get on it, and got in trouble, without the nous to get out of it...terrific route....

 kevin stephens 17 Jun 2022
In reply to HappyTrundler: At the risk of more UKC backlash:

Back in the 1970s and 1980s HVS did not mean the same as it does now. I’m not referring to grade creep here, but back then without the fast track progression afforded by indoor walls, modern gear etc it took some time to progress from VS to HVS, by which time more climbers would have had time to gain the nouse etc to assess and manage a situation like the Mousetrap traverse , or recognise when to stay away from it, even if they hadn’t the strength or skills to progress to E1 etc. That’s certainly the situation myself and my peers would have been in back then. Also the peg would probably have given some assurance back then too.

So I’m not at all suggesting that Mousetrap be downgraded from E2 considering the current consensus on how routes are graded.

5
 Pekkie 17 Jun 2022
In reply to kevin stephens:

You seem to be attracting a lot of dislikes!

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 kevin stephens 17 Jun 2022
In reply to Pekkie:

It's my hobby, i collect them when I'm bored

2
OP Dutton 07 Jul 2022
In reply to Dutton:

Thanks for all the info guys, we didn't end up going there in the end due to the weather. Obviously with the restrictions in place we wouldn't have gotten on anyway!

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 David Lanceley 08 Jul 2022
In reply to Dutton:

I did Mousetrap and Dream of White Horses the same weekend in 1972 using the green West Col guide current at the time.  Both were “Extremely Severe” although a lot of mates had done them and they were known as a soft touch.  I was a pretty inexperienced 18 year old and don’t remember having much difficulty with either of them although there was usually a peg where it was needed as it was only a few years after the first ascents.  I do remember being surprised at the size of the holds on both routes.  I’ve done both several times over the years including a retreat from the top of the main pitch of Mousetrap in the thunderstorm and not really changed my views on the difficulties.

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 freeheel47 09 Jul 2022
In reply to Dutton:

What a horrid lot UKC forum people can be. The dislikes here are bizarre- someone asksfor advice (and takes it)- dislikes, someone says they did it sometime in the late neolithic- dislikes, others just state facts about the previous grading, and on and on. Is it the weather?

Please dislike just to prove my point, you miserable old gits.

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 midgen 09 Jul 2022
In reply to freeheel47:

It's best not to get emotionally invested in social media stats. Just turn them off if it bothers you. 

 d8vehinton 09 Jul 2022
In reply to Dutton:

Couple of old ropes. One tied around the huge block, other gets you to an easy scramble down to foot of climb.

Got to be one of the easiest/fastest approaches to any route at Gogarth.

Also, I believe Rockfax topo is incorrect! P2. Comfy belay at top of ramp, thread and large sandy lumps to put big slings around. 

 freeheel47 11 Jul 2022
In reply to midgen:

don't worry- I'm not- just slightly appalled by the misery of it all (I really feel sorry for the haters, I know a song about what all the haters can do).  youtube.com/watch?v=bSJoD3YQenE&

I'm also amused at the 10 dislikes- which is deliciously ironic. Are the dislikers disliking my dislike?

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