UKC

Hey guys recently learnt lead trad climbing, however I am bit stuck on where to go for my grade. For people who have been dewerstone I have lead mucky gull D 40m, B route S and colonels arete S.

I tried starting of at sheepstor with a few 10m vd, couldn't understand why I felt they where general hard climbs and couldn't even start most of them.

What would be good lead climbs to do in south west area? Looking for good gear placement, easy but challenging climbs high up.

I was thinking on trying needle arete VD at dewerstone.

Baggy Point may suit. It is an abseil in but you can leave abseil rope in place. You can also top rope the lines first for extra confidence. Obviously abseil in when tides are good for the big ledges at the bottom.

    However, these may feel more committing if you have only recently learned to climb. Another alternative is to head to Bosigran.

Possibly join SDMC as they climb outside regularly.

Sheeps Tor routes are all hard for the grade so don't worry about it.

Haytor and Hound Tor have some friendly routes

Go and second a whole bunch of harder stuff so you can progress nicely

Ditto for Hound Tor. Easy access and easy(ish) walk offs. Bomber gear. Always where I bring a first time trad climber.

Just wait a few visits before you give suspension flake a go! 

Well worth a look, NOW with over 50 routes to climb!

Daddyhole Upper Cliff

very easy access, 3 min walk to the bottom from the free car park, easy post belays every 6 ft along the top, max 24 m height, so can always lower off and top rope instead if you bite off more than you can chew. Stays very dry even in the winter, faces mainly SE, some east and west facing cliffs as well but sheltered from SW winds.

Good spread of grades up to E2, most rock is sound/ weathered but some top outs need a little care like any Torbay crag. Most routes generally have good gear for the grade, descriptions currently all up to date. 

Have fun let us know how you get on.

cheers Chris

I'm not at all sure about Daddyhole Upper - not climbed on it myself, but it looks on the loose side. West Cornish granite should be ideal -  Trewavas or  Bosigran which haven't really got sea cliff issues but have the atmosphere. Also on the Culm, there's  Vicarage Cliff.

Needle Arete is brilliant and worth repeating anytime you're at the Dewerstone. Raven Gully on Low Man is another great route and avoids the grockles on Haytor.

Unfortunately it's still like climbing out of a skip, and I'd only recomend it to those with a penchant for belaying in dogshit and used johnnies.

Hi Scooe

Feel that’s a little harsh, undoubtably Daddyhole Upper has suffered from decades ( found some Victorian? Pop bottles) of littering, but the ease of access and ability to easily belay / top rope  make this a good venue if limited with gear and knowledge. There is some loose rock still but the majority of the crag has been well cleared now and if the OP was struggling with the polish on all the starts of the low grade climbs at Sheeps Tor( I certainly do), the absolute lack of sheen but boot and skin shredding abrasiveness of the rock will come as a delight.

Huge amounts of rubbish have been cleared from Daddyhole Upper over the last few years by climbers trying to improve there enviroment and I accept it is still work in progress but if we stayed away from areas with litter rather than try to change things for the better we will end up in an ever decreasing number of crags. Only a couple of weeks ago local climbers came together to have a Chudleigh clean up day, peaple trying to protect environments we cherish rather than abandoning them.

litter aside did you enjoy the climbing? What routes did you do? curious to get feedback from people I don’t know who have climbed there. If you do return, I encourage anyone to bring a bag with them, pick up any litter and drop it in the bin at the car park at the top.

cheers Chris