In reply to UKC News: As one of the climbers involved in the development of this crag I was extremely sorry to hear of the accident that occurred on the 12th of July. In order to negate any further speculation my enquiries the following day revealed that the lady in question was discharged from Airedale Hospital the same evening. Fortunately, I understand, her injuries were relatively minor.
The incident does however, highlight the inherent dangers of the complacency we all suffer from in varying degrees at times by sitting or standing below crags whilst climbers are in action above. There have been several inferences on this and related topic threads about the poor quality of rock on many of the recently developed limestone sport venues and it is true that many have been developed in this way simply because the rock was never sound enough to support leader placed protection. However don’t just point the finger at bolted limestone. Loose rock on 3 star classics on volcanic rock in the Lakes and North Wales has killed and seriously injured many climbers in the past. The danger is ever-present, even at Portland, and we should always be aware of it wherever we are.
In relation to first ascentionists cleaning routes thoroughly. I have always had the philosophy that if I am creating a new sport climb then I want it to end up as a ‘good product’ and have been accused in the past (by some of the knockers who have contributed to this thread – you know who you are!) of over cleaning in some circumstances. However in the case of Castleberg I can assure you that the removal of all loose rock (potentially loose as well as obviously loose) was our fundamental aim. The big corner which contains two variants was abseiled and cleaned with crowbars and hammers several times before any bolts were placed and both the main variants had had many ascents in the days and weeks leading up to the official opening. It had at least a dozen ascents the day before the accident. I have been back and examined the corner since and am still not sure exactly what came loose. However we have now cleaned it some more and re-examined and done further work on several other lines.
Despite the ‘media hype’ the geology of this cliff means it will never be completely solid and no guarantees implying that it was were ever given to the Council or the media by me or any of the activists involved.
Finally, thank you to those of you on these forums who have acknowledged the hard work we put in to develop this cliff. It will never be a ‘great’ venue but I stand by my earlier assertions that it will become a popular venue. We could argue all day about the star quality of the routes but I’ve enjoyed them all and some of the harder ones have provided me with quite a challenge. Go and try them before you knock them but accept the place for what it is – treat the rock with respect – and you may want re-read what I wrote on pages 15 and 16 of the YMC Yorkshire Limestone guidebook back in 2005; particularly the section on helmets.
Dave