UKC

I'm basically a technical slab climber, love the whole balancy-and-30ft-above-gear stuff, however, on the basis of training ones weaknesses....

....I did The File last weekend, and despite the quite enthusiastic amounts of damage to the backs of my hands (d@mn this year's weather for my still having soft skin in September) I really, really enjoyed it. What a wonderful route

So, what's next? Obviously The Vice is on the ticklist, and Charming Crack at Brimham (1), any others people can think of?



(1) Probably going to wear plate armour for that though.

In reply to John_Hat:

The crank on Ramshaw is nice!

In reply to WJV0912: That's grit, a mere kiss compared to granite. Hound Tor still has bits of one's skin and flesh from a visit nigh on 15 years ago! Good luck.

In reply to John_Hat:

Nowanda, Suicide Wall (cratcliffe), Valkyrie (roaches) Direct start, Valkyrie (froggat, pitch 1),Exodus, Deutorononomy, Leviticus, Tower crack

Enjoy !

In reply to John_Hat: i remember being at the start of The Vice..

i think the backs of my hands still are!

In reply to John_Hat: At around the same grade I'd also suggest the Crank at Ramshaw. At about that grade it stands out as one that would be really hard to do without jamming. There are plenty of other VS and HVSs that any sane person would jam as they become the equivalent of jug hauling, but overly honed big softies might go about some other silly way.

It's so long since I did it, but I remember Phoenix at Shining Clough needing jamming, and Plumb Line at Running Hill Pits definitely does.

In reply to John_Hat:
Hawk's Nest Crack at Froggatt. Steady VS and an absolute classic. I got on it to "force" myself to jam as I can't jam and always find a clever(*) way around it. Unfortunately the same happened on HNC and I squirmed my way up the thing, knocking off all three star-ratings from it! But if you jam it it will be a delight.

Phoenix and Suicide Wall have a single hand jam apiece(**) and the one on Suicide Wall is avoidable. HNC is jamming all the way!

* = inefficient, noisy and desperate
** = there are more, which might make it easier, but the alternatives are steady

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Yeah The Crank and Hawk's Nest would be similar propositions to The File. Hawk's Nest is the easiest, pretty straight forward. The Crank is the hardest of the three I think.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Tower Crack its pretty hard to avoid the jams.

In reply to John_Hat:

Stephen on the Roaches Skyline would fit the bill. I see the logbook has it at VS so you'll be fine.

Although I think carnivorous was the actual word I used in the BMC guide.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Really? I remember there being at least one quite awkward baggy jam below the Bower that would be pretty difficult to avoid. I can't imagine the alternative being all that attractive either!

In reply to Dave Garnett:

Yep, it's awkward and indeed "baggy". I failed to commit to it, slumped, and chanced a blind long slap around the left "arete" which somehow stuck, enabling me to "leap" for that jug above the jam in question! Jamming would be much preferable to that method, but I proved that it IS avoidable for the peverse

In reply to Blue Straggler:


See http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=520292

In reply to John_Hat: Not quite a "carnivorous crack" but from my POV worth mentioning as it is one of only two routes I've led where you absolutely HAD to hand jam. Richard's Revenge at Wharncliffe, an underrated VS. As I say, not relentless, just a couple of jamming moves near the top, so maybe not what you're asking for, but it's good anyway.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Agreed. Phoenix requires only one jam if you are tallish.

Freddies Finale at Wimberry however has teeth (literally).

In reply to All:

Many thanks, that's quite a list to keep me going

In reply to John_Hat:

Surprised no one's mentioned the truly carnivorous Minion's Way at Brimham.

In reply to TobyA:


Good call; did that at the weekend. Excellent route. If that goes OK, then Sodom next door isn't that much harder once you're established in the crack and requires foot jams as well. There's another excellent looking hand crack in one of the lower quarries too - forget its name but it was E1/2ish and got a couple of stars in the guide.

In reply to John_Hat:

No mention of Millstone yet. Bond street is known as a jamming test-piece.

Also, Byne's Crack on Burbage South has a nice but short jamming section. Broken Crack on Froggatt is also a good test of awkward jamming.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Minion's Way is more technical than carnivorous - especially if you're tallish. Good test of jamming skill though as you really have to pull on the jams to reach the ledge.

Just thought of another one - Beeline in Rocky Valley (Ilkley) is a gem. Short lived but a perfect hand crack while it lasts.

In reply to Jimbo C:


The hand jams up to the crux are about severe though aren't they? I thought the only faintly 5a bit about it was a pull on a finger lock.

I remember jamming quite a lot on Sauls Crack at the Roaches and I wasn't that good at it back then, so I imagine it was necessary.

In reply to John_Hat et al:

My goodness, you people have led sheltered lives if you think some of these are carnivorous - pussycats, virtually all of them.

For example, Masochism at Ramshaw will probably do more damage than all those mentioned so far put together.

jcm

In reply to John_Hat:

Two I've enjoyed this year are Bond Street at Millstone and Goliathes Groove at Stanage.

jcm: I agree completely!

Anyway, get on the Mincer.

In reply to John_Hat:
The first pitch of "Little Nasty" on Ramshaw E1 4c/5b the 4c bit is an overhanging jamming crack which involves something of a dyno to get into and then virtually another one to proceed.

"The Vixen" on Newstones is another horror but the prime impossible(?) crack thereabouts is "Ray's Roof". If you can find the Johnny Dawes video where all and sundry try and fail on it it is well worth a look.

"Goliath's Groove" At Stanage ate my rock 9
As mentioned the "Mincer" is well named as is "The Pugalist"

And that is even before you get onto the horrors of Dartmoor Granite (oo nice sharp crystals)

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Duncan, have you actually done the Pugilist? I've always been utterly baffled by it!

In reply to Pagan:

Not quite sure how you can do the first couple of moves without drawing blood, those crystals are just so huge.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Now you're talking...

In reply to Dave Garnett:

Oh God! Yes and I hope never to do it again!

In reply to John_Hat:

A great one, if you're fit (for the walk-in as well as the climbing) is Hanging Crack at Dovestones (the unusual one). I dithered and dogged it - don't do dat.

You've also got to do the trio of classics at Hen Cloud: Deslstree, Batchelor's LH and Hen Cloud Eliminate (that's ascending order of difficuty IMO). I've done them all on separate days, which could be considered cheating.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

No blood but I have some nerve damage in the back of my right hand (old jamming injury) and it aggravated that pretty badly - took about a fortnight for my knuckles to stop tingling!

In reply to JCM: You're probably right but the tone of the OP suggested he was after the less brutal style of crack to help ease him away from slab fairydom. If you want to commence sandbagging then go right ahead...

A few others I've thought of:

Joanna - Baildon
Tufted Crack & Botterill's Crack - Ilkley
Laugh Not - White Gill
Central Crack & Paradox - Wilton
Desperation Crack - Brimham
Grond - Cromlech

In reply to John_Hat:

Strapiombo, Tremadog

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

I didn't think that any that I mentioned were "carnivorous" but the thread had already diluted itself down to "routes with a bit of jamming on them" by the time I posted

In reply to Pagan:

Yes, this as well jcm.

In reply to John_Hat:

Logan Rock is worth a look if you're in West Cornwall at any point. Loads of cracks down there, the short but fierce Blondie Jams With Sepultura springs to mind, as does Jack Yer Body - rather you than me.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I think that The File sets the tone to be "high quality jamming cracks" rather than "routes from which you will never fully recover".

In reply to Southern Man:

Look but don't touch....

In reply to stonemaster:

Hehe, absolutely. I couldn't move inside Jack Yer Body, 5c pah. Can't say I'll be going back for a rematch.

For the OP.
The Pawn direct finish at Chair Ladder is good too. Bit like Brown's Crack, in that it's straightforward up to the sloppy jams, where it's short and 'ard.

Crack in the Sky at Carn Barra is great too, but a bit more conventional. Stuff like Skin Graft at Cribba and Chair Ladder's Sea Horse look fairly awful, but I haven't got on (in?) them yet.

On Dartmoor, Aramis at Haytor and CC Direct at Dewerstone are good. I found the former pretty easy and the latter a right bastard - plenty more on the moor.

Some good esoteric stuff in Luxulyan too.

I reckon Devon and Cornwall are pretty awesome for crack climbing. generally.

In reply to Southern Man:

And at the other end of the country you may enjoy Sandy Crack at Sandy Crag, and Overhanging Crack at Bowden Doors

In reply to Vince McNally:

Strapiombo, Froggatt

Oh, and while we're sand bagging - Roof Route, Rivelin. Jeepers Creepers, Stanage High Neb.

Slightly milder is Undercut Crack at Stanage High Neb which has a good intial section on steep but solid jams.

In reply to Jimbo C:

I didn't think Strapiombo at Tremadog was a sandbag at all. You just need to be good at wriggling

In reply to John_Hat:

Starboard Crack on Magic Roundabout buttress at Ramshaw.

http://www.rockfax.com/databases/r.php?i=5532

In reply to John_Hat:
Separate Reality
Astroman
Rostrum
Butterballs
Outer Limits
Owl Roof
Blues Riff
Desert Gold...etc

All nice cracks