UKC

Hi everyone, 

I’d like some advice on the belay stakes at subliminal and lighthouse cliff crags. I’m new to abseiling into sea cliffs and a little nervous trusting the stakes, can anyone tell me how safe they are etc? 

I’m hoping to get a few sea cliff climbs in, especially Avernus, has anyone climbed it? What’s the ab in like? Any advice and handy tips would be appreciated.

Thanks 

Sarah Subluminal and Lighthouse Cliff 

Hi Sarah, they're fairly new and banged in pretty well. If you're worried you can equalise two with your rope and then ab. If you're confused on how to do this PM me and I can explain.

Most of the stakes are a little back from the edge. You can inspect and pull them first before committing if that helps with the concern.  Subluminal, you'll possibly find someone else is using them already, so they are weight testing for you. 

It’s been a while, but don’t you just scramble round to Avernus from the normal abseil? It’s good fun but I’m not sure how anyone who’s nervous about the ab would manage on the scramble.

jcm

Thanks for all the advice guys, it’s all very helpful and good to know the stakes are good!

Yes, you scramble down to Avernus from the normal abseil - an easy down-climb. Make sure you are heading towards low tide as the approach gets washed by the sea. And bear in mind the route is always wet! Unusual climbing but good fun. The first time I wandered down to it I was intimidated out of doing it just by the look of it, but it is surprisingly doable once you just get started. A memorable experience. Probably one for a warm day...

I put the Subluminal stakes in. They are 25mm diameter stainless steel and one metre long banged into the bedrock with a big hammer, and I spent my working life hitting things with a hammer. The stakes are as good an anchor as you would wish to find.

For the full Avernus experience scramble down to the top of the Pedestal, reverse Pedestal Crack, then climb down the wall below, avg then nip round the corner to the cave. You don't need a head torch, and it's nearly always wet or damp, and is graded accordingly. As above don't be put off by appearances.

Thanks a lot Scott. They're excellent.

Few tips, for sea cliffs in general - I've done Avernus, btw. My nemesis there is Stroof, but that's another story.

• try not to let the rope drop in the sea - apart from getting wet and salty, it could get washed around and snagged underwater.
• tie a stopper knot in it, a couple of metres up, so you don't ab off the end.
• use a prussic as a safety
• take prussic/RopeMan/Tibloc/etc, so you can escape back up the rope if you can't climb out for any reason. I was down there once when it started snowing!
• Bit of old carpet/rope protector/rubber mat (tied to something so it doesn't land on anyone) over the edge is a good idea to protect the rope.
• I tend to pick a couple of stakes and equalise them. At Subluminal, there's not much point trying to get other gear in. The ab is generally found to be placed down the bit where Stroof is.
• If someone's already got an ab rope in place, ask if you can use it.
• Carry a rescue knife EACH - if you fall in the sea, you'll want to be able to get out of your harness quickly, before the gear drags you down.
• It's not unusual at Swanage to get to the top and wish you had axes and crampons, especially if it's wet!
• The top of Swanage can be lethal when it's wet - some of the paths from the finishes are little more than rabbit tracks through the undergrowth and perilously close to the edge.

Subluminal is quite a narrow ledge in places at the bottom and, even at low tide, you can get the odd freak wave washing over that might catch you out - I once got drenched like that - so worth tying in at the bottom.

Avernus is always pretty damp. Bear your second in mind when you're heading across the roof and place gear accordingly, or they could end up with a nice pendulum through the cave entrance. Worth checking the exit for birds nests before you ab down. Heck of a route, though - enjoy it. IIRC the belay stakes are quite a way back from the top.

Outstanding.

My memories of Swanage involve lots of rusty stakes and various use of fence posts!

Swanage top outs and route bases can be pretty scary, but Subluminal isn't really one of those places.

Obviously Subluminal's pretty much OK. In other places, there has been a lot of much needed restaking. While lots of people have contributed, I suspect they'd pretty well all agree that a great deal of inspiration (and hard work) has come from Scott.

So the next time you revel in 'the Swanage experience', of grovelling up the top slopes, eyes out on those proverbial stalks and you spy a stake, head for it like a laser-guided missile, throw a sling round it (and another round its mate) and collapse gratefully, well... you know who to thank!

Mick

I thought people had been washed off at Subluminal? Whereas at Marmolata, say, the worst that can really happen is getting drenched and/or benighted.

I’m stunned by the notion that everyone should carry Stanley knives when climbing at sea cliffs in case they fall into the sea. Do they have safety courses where people are invited to practise this procedure, I wonder?

My tip would be not to fall in the ******* sea, but assuming that’s not your plan, I’d have thought setting about the rigging with a knife was the last thing you should do - you want your partner to haul you out. Assuming of course your partner is following my plan and not LBS’s.

jcm

As you say, if tied to a partner they can haul you out, losing your harness is going to make that more difficult.

I agree about the knife, if I was in a position that being in the water and having my harness on was increasing my chances of drowning then with a modern quick-lock buckle harness it's going to be a lot quicker to reach to your waist, loosen the buckle and let the harness fall off you than fiddle around trying to find your safety knife on a gear loop, unclip it battle with getting it between your body and waist loop and then find it takes a couple of goes to cut the harness material... all while drowning.

Having said that, avoiding going for an unplanned swim by looking at the weather and swell forecasts, tying in at the base of the cliff and short roping any 'bad steps' if not confident to do so without is by far the easier, drier and less deathy option!

To the OP, you will LOVE Swanage, it was one of my favourite places for sea cliff climbing in the UK along with Pembrokeshire. 

True enough, but thats pretty unlikely in average conditions you would be contemplating Avernus in.  Marmolata is, of course, pretty much the most sheltered and protected cliff foot at Swanage and isn't really typical.

I dare say that’s what they thought (didn’t ‘they’ include Neil Allinson’s partner from NCE in Hard Rock?).

I’d have thought more of Swanage was like Marmolata than Subluminal - isn’t it mainly a boulder beach?

To the OP - just noticed the thread title; I’m not sure what Lighthouse Cliffs are, but if they’re Mellow Yellow and Astrid and so forth, these are a different kettle of fish again - hanging belays and so on.

jcm

Marmolata prow tends to do a really good job of sheltering the Elysium wall from the big seas from the west.  I'm sure there are other spots along that coast with similar properties but I've not found them !

Cutting your harness off with a knife if you get washed in the sea is a ridiculous notion. A knife should always be on your harness anyway but not for this. 

If there's a danger of falling in the sea, carry your rack on a sling over your shoulder until you're belayed at the bottom of the route. Chucking a sling over your shoulder is a lot easier than trying to find a knife, slashing yourself to pieces and bleeding out in the sea.