UKC

Many moons ago a friend of mine reccommended "Rose Route" to me. His (ancient) guidebook gave it VD.

I'm seriously considering having a pop at it this month, but the current guide gives it HS.

Basically if it is a couple of HS pitches but largely VD/Severe then I'm pretty up for it, but if it is 180 odd m of sustained HS I would prefer to leave it alone and come back when I'm climbing harder.

Anyone done it who could give me a hint?

In reply to davidbeynon:

Whatever the technicality, I'd expect it to feel fairly exploratory and probably not entirely solid or clean.

Everything used to get VDiff in Scotland, I'd hypothesise that the upgrade was for a reason...

In reply to Jamie Bankhead:

Except when given VS (as in the fabled, beware-if-still-unchecked 'Scottish VS')?

In reply to davidbeynon:

I wrote it up in the guide. And I had done it as a V.Diff with a lassie who'd never climbed before. It was October but dry rock and we started late. It was dark before we even finished the route and we got back to the car at midnight. It was really only one pitch which was Hard Severe; 4a climbing with limited protection. I think if you're expecting a Hard Severe, then you'll be fine on it (as long as it's still daylight).

In reply to Andy Nisbet:

Other folk said it was more than V.Diff too. Like Hamish MacInnes who wrote it up in his guide as a Severe. I think he did the same route.

In reply to Andy Nisbet:

We are planning to either camp nearby or start from the nearby bothy, so hopefully time wont be such an issue. If it is just the one HS pitch I think we should be able to manage.

Thanks for that!

In reply to davidbeynon: I did this route over 20 years ago, it was interesting and easily severe,glad Andy has given its true grade. One thing for certain you should not have to queue for it, enjoy the walk in and out a special place.

In reply to Andy Nisbet:

How clean/solid?

In reply to Jamie Bankhead:

Not like a classic rock route. The hard pitch was clean and solid, then less so. Alison pulled off a huge block, bigger than herself, and she fell into a hole as it landed on top of her. It didn't occur to me to tell her not to pull on it, but she was a beginner and it was before I had done any instructing. Very lucky actually. But that wasn't typical of the route which had some vegetated bits but wasn't loose. A real traditional mountain route in the old fashioned sense and a great day out.

In reply to davidbeynon:

Thanks to everyone who has given me information. I have decided that I will give it a go, weather permitting but won't feel too bad about backing off and doing the severe nearby.

My feeling is that any of the options will be a damn fine day out

In reply to davidbeynon:

whichever way you get to the top it will be magical

it's the best day out I've had in Scotland. Better than An Teallach, Liathach, Aonach Eagach and Sgurr Nan Gillean in my book

although the main top is grassy and flat, you'll feel like you're on top of the world cos there's no other hills or ridges within miles. the feelings of space and isolation are extraordinary

In reply to davidbeynon:

Did it about 18 years ago with fiona my wife (unknown to us she was pregnant with our first daughter), first pitch had lots of wet streaks and some suspicous rock but ok for HS. Did a great VS hand crack higher up one of the upper sandstone tiers which you could have avoided. A fantastic way up a great hill.

In reply to davidbeynon:
I did it a few years back and remember one pitch of about HS-VS but the rest was much easier with lots of scrambling. We had a great day out as its in a unique position which more than makes up for the 'mountaineering' nature of the route. Go for it, you will have fun!

brian

In reply to davidbeynon:

Crossdressingrodney of this parish, and I, did it several years ago. It's a good route in an unparalleled position, and well worth the effort. The first few pitches on the lower tier are very well described, and fine at HS, but once you get to the upper tier the guide says something like "Pitch 4: Climb the open book corner above (there is another corner to the right). Pitch 5: Climb easily to the top". We were faced with about 20 open corners, all of which looked about as hard or easy as each other, except the second from the right, which looked vegetated and horrible. So we picked one at random. It was solid and clean, but sustained all the way to the top and had some stiff moves for HS. We may well have been off route, but it was good climbing all the same.

I would recommend it to anybody, but pick a nice clear day to really enjoy the views.