UKC

i was up at ilkley yesterday, for a stroll in the sun and some ice cream with the kids, and i was stuck by there being no-one at all climbing in the quarry or around the cow and calf. bank holiday monday, a venue packed with 3* classics, and not a single person on any of them

it was little different when i was at brimham a couple of weekends back, walked along the edges from cyclops to the cubic block, and save for a couple of people soloing the block, again, no-one

is everyone off in the mountains taking advantage of the weather?

or is trad climbing losing popularity..?

cheers
gregor

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

Everyone had gone away to climb somewhere nice, like Pembroke.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs: all the climbers are here

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=561191

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs: We were in Reiff this weekend. Was ace.

In reply to grumpybearpantsclimbinggoat:

yeah, was about to link to that myself...

:-D

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

They were all queuing to get to the summit of Snowdonia, weren't they?

Or maybe only those hard Scots climb trad these days - wasn't a bank holiday north of the border.

In reply to Rachel Slater and pylon king:

the seaside, fair enough, bet it was lovely

nearest seaside to here is blackpool though....

gregor

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

Lots on the Cliffs of Scafell Monday and lots on the crags of Langdale Saturday, mountain cragging has been very popular this year, on the approach to Grey Crag Buttermere a few weeks ago we counted about 25 climbers already on the crag, plenty of room for everyone though and plenty more arrived through the day.

In reply to Wesley Orvis:

good to hear, seems everyone was just somewhere a bit more adventurous than ilkley then!

though i was still a bit surprised there was no-one at all,

cheers
gregor

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

This weekend, on Grey Crag, Buttermere. Plenty of other parties up there. 3-4 weekends ago, queuing for routes on Lliwedd! And this when people have recently been lamenting the demise of mountain trad. Maybe the horrible summers of the last few years are more to blame than climber apathy.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

Was on Milestone Buttress some weeks ago, on the best Saturday we'd had to date that year. We were there for 7 hours and had it completely to ourselves except for the last hour when one other party arrived.

Similar story last time I was at Dinas Cromlech, again on a fabulous weekend.

Very odd.

In reply to Rob Naylor:

Hi Rob,

It's not odd...it's the norm. I grew up close to Ilkley, where the OP was referring to, climbed there from the age of 10...you would have NEVER gone there, any day of the week, and not seen at least 2 or 3 other ropes there...

Selfishly, not complaining...

ANdy

In reply to Rob Naylor:

clearly as roadside crags, they were not adventurous enough, given the trends emerging on here...



to caralynh: queues on lliwedd?! there's a sentence i didnt expect to read when i started this thread... but your comment on the weather sounds spot on, the last couple of summers havent really encouraged planning a mountain day, whereas the weather's been settled enough this year to plan a couple of weekends ahead and be reasonably confident that it wont end up in a dispiriting trudge round the gear shops of ambleside or llanberis...

cheers
gregor

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:
I never go to Ilkley at weekends (and especially not bank hols). There are far too many people with kids wandering around eating ice cream and telling you there's an easy way round the back.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

According to some weather data I read, it's the driest and best summer since 2006. Certainly just after that was when I stopped climbing lots, due to: joining the NHS and not having every weekend free, awful weather, and unreliable mountain conditions (I much prefer mountain routes). This has been the best summer in a long time, especially since shifts have coincided with a few dry weekends!

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs: Was in the Lakes at the weekend with family, visited the river just across from Shepherds Crag on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and saw very few people climbing. One pair on Brown Slabs each day, another couple somewhere on the middle section, and that was it.

In reply to Rob Naylor:

It may have been too hot on the Cromlech (or people thought it would be), even if not, people were probably taking the opportunity to climb higher up or at rarely in condition crags. Biggest surprise of the year has been seeing another team rock up at Craig y Rhaeadr on one of the hot weekends in July.

Fair Head was very quiet last week but I gather it often is and the weather wasn't fantastic, plus we were mostly there mid week.

Lots of people in Cornwall this weekend as you'd expect, counted 15 teams on Bosigran Main Cliff and there were probably a few more but there weren't many queues from what I gather. Certainty not as busy as it could have been! We did meet another team in Great Zawn though, felt crowded! Albeit conditions weren't great on the day we were there.

I've met teams at all sorts of rarely in condition crags this year and on one weekend back in June there were easily 50+ people at Cloggy. So I don't think adventurous trad is dying out just as yet!

Happy days

In reply to Misha:

I even saw another party at Carn Gowla on Monday...

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

A tourist sun trap like Ilkley Quarry on a hot bank holiday monday? I wonder??

In reply to Offwidth: The Rocky Valley is always a good option when it's too warm for grit elsewhere..

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

I drove past the Cow and Calf around midday on Monday and there were people and cars everywhere. I must say the idea of climbing with all those spectators didn't appeal much. We were going to check out Rolling Gate, until we saw the notice saying that the moor was closed for grouse shooting, so we ended up at Eastby and had a lovely afternoon climbing in the sunshine. It was quiet there too - we had the place to ourselves for much of the time, with just one other couple turning up later on. Maybe everyone was out eating ice cream with the kids.