UKC

Any walls or places (crags/boulders) to climb around southampton, as I think from September onwards I'll be there.

Please don't say there's nothing there at all!

In reply to Bulley: check out
http://www.calshot.com/climbconds.html
and
http://www.southampton.gov.uk/s-leisure/sportleisurecentres/stmarys/climbin...

In reply to richie934:
Seriously 14m? That's tiny

How big is st.mary's do you know?

In reply to Bulley:

calshots pretty decent. haven't been to st marys so couldn't comment there. as far as outdoor climbing goes the nearest is probably portland, swanage.

Bit of a drive but good sport climbing, can't comment on the trad.

In reply to Bulley: it's much bigger than that. They put in a new centeral tower in 07 and obviously didn't update the website. Do a search for images of the wall and you'll see. St Marys is tiny - only about 12m.

In reply to mark_wellin:

Well the trad is great !

In reply to Bulley: I reckon 14 meters is ample for an indoor wall where do you normally climb? I know Ratho has a tall wall, but 14 is pretty good, it all depends on the setting surely?

In reply to Mike Hunt:
I normally climb at sunderland wall, so 23m is what I'm used to. The higher the better

I guess it all depends on setting, I hope it's good!

Anybody know what the bouldering wall is like?

In reply to Bulley:

Terrible. One featured wall, badly set, no grades.

In reply to Bulley: Apperently their is also a small boldering venue around portsdown hill, which if you have a car is only a short drive away.
I dont know were it is tho.

In reply to richie934:
Calshot is only about 14m high in the middle, the walls by the door are more like 10m. By the standards of most of the walls in the South of England Calshot is pretty large and fairly high. I can't think of another wall in the South that is substancially over 14m.

In reply to richie934:

Tiny, yes, 12m, no. It's 6-7 metres high.

In reply to the OP:

If you're coming to the university (the proper one, not the institute) then we have a bouldering wall in the students union, it's a converted squash court and they've made really good use of the space. It's 5 metres high and has slabs, roofs, vertical walls, overhangs, cave, the problems are only changed once a term at the minute which is a bit of a ball ache. Entrance to it is subject to listening to a 20 minute spiel and having SportRec membership.

In reply to Bulley:

St Marys is ok if you want a quick midweek training venue. Yes it is only short but its also pretty cheap at £4.50 and its right in the city. Driving to calshot is a bit of a bind but the wall is much better.
In terms of trad theres plenty at Swanage (1hr 15mins drive) and both Swanage and Portland have sport a plenty. Get yourself a dorset rockfax and have a look...

In reply to Stiffinger:

Fort Purbrook: http://www.ukclimbing.com/listings/info.php?id=165&t=wall

In reply to Bulley: I've lived in Southampton/Winchester area for a few years, and I split my time between Calshot, Craggy and Fort Purbrook.

Calshot is freezing in the winter, the routes never change, and the bouldering is a bit crap. Plus it's not uncommon to queue for 20 minutes to get in. On the other hand, it's reasonably close and a bit cheaper than craggy.

Craggy's good, but the most expensive of the 3 and about 1-1.5 hours drive, depending on traffic.

Fort Purbrook is what it is; quite small, all bouldering, cheapish (£4.50) and easy to get to (straight down the M27). It's not the most inspiring place, but I still visit quite regularly.

In reply to gav:
Calshot is a bit chilly; I've seen ice indoors once or twice during the winter. They change the routes fairly regularly although I'd concede that the bouldering isn't very good. (I hear a rumour that a new bouldring wall is planned). I've never queued for more than 5 minutes to get in and I was going 2-3 times a week, were you with a uni group?

In reply to Bulley: On a similar note to southampton.
Im guessing some of you are residents of southampton, What is happening about the fluoride situation, surely if no one wants it in the water, they shouldnt have the right to go ahead and chuck it any way, plus they have no evidence of what the long term affects could be. Anyone know what happening?

In reply to Reach>Talent:
No, never with a uni group, just their massively slow credit card machines and a queue of about 6 people.

As for the routes; maybe it's changed, but I stopped climbing there end of 2008 for the winter as it was cold and the routes were getting old, and when I came back in spring 2009 they were the same routes. I have been back since, and I do still climb there, but in general I find Craggy to be a better option.

In reply to gav:
The credit card machine is pretty slow, I'll grant you that one. They have now trained loads more route setters and the rate of change has gone up dramatically although they are now a bit less consistent across the grades.

In reply to Bulley:
High Sports Alton is another decent little wall which is within 40 minutes drive of Southampton, best bouldering in the area and regularly reset, wall is a modest 10m though.
23m walls, you have been spoilt. For routes that long you'll need to get outdoors in the South. Swanage is fantastic and supposedly Britain's sunniest town ...it is a year round climbing venue, the Trad is the highlight.

In reply to The Ivanator:

Planning to check out Alton tonight, hoping for it to live up to recommendations

In reply to Reach>Talent:

Oh? It always felt higher. I'm probably just going soft as I get older!

In reply to Stiffinger:

Yer fort purbrook (peter ashley activity centre), is only small, the routes are ok, but it aint that good, but it is alright just for like a afternoons climbing. It is also quite cheap at like £4.50.

Heres the website: http://www.peterashleyactivitycentres.co.uk/

And yer just on the portsdown hill nice little place and it dont really get busy.