UKC

Looking for some cool HVS climbs in North Wales and also in Lake District. What to know which ones people think are the best in these areas?

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

If you want to sample the slate, Looning the Tube is probably a good place to start, although its a little soft.

In the mountains, Diagonal (Dinas Mot) is highly entertaining, as is Great-Bow combination at Cloggy.

Don't know jack about the Lakes though.

In reply to HumphreyJ20: Golden Slipper on Pavey Ark (Langdale), Pluto on Raven Crag (Langdale) should both be on the hitlist. Also liked Herford's Crack on Clogwyn yTawr (Ogwen).
Plenty of the recognised classics - DoWH etc. still on my to do list.

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

Scavenger, Gogarth Main Cliff. One of the best in the UK. Dream of White Horses is the other obvious classic. Diagonal is classic, also Great/Bow combination on Cloggy if you get the weather (not amazing climbing the whole way, but a big route).

Kipling Groove's pretty great. If you can do a bit of soft E1, Arcturus/Golden Slipper is a superb 6 pitch outing. I did those two on my first real weekend climbing in the Lakes - very memorable and relatively often dry!

Thanks for the replies, i have made a note of these climbs and will look into them! Hopefully get some done as soon as we get a decent weekend.

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

Really good stuff in North Wales includes Flake Wall and Mean Feat in the Moelwyns; Concrete Chimney, Wen, Britomartis and Dream of White Horses at Gogarth (Scavenger already mentioned), plus King Bee Crack at Holyhead Mountain; Spectre and Diagonal in Llanberis Pass are both an absolute must at HVS; Acheron at Cwm Cywarch.

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

If your profile is to be believed you've only led one VD. Be careful. Some of the suggestions, if taken up, would be very worrying for you (and most probably impossible). Take things one step at a time!

In reply to HB1:

I really liked spectre on clogwyn y grochan in north wales, superb crack pitch

In the lakes at hvs then Arcturus golden slipper combo is excellent and trout dale pinnacle superdirect is great too. Have fun

In reply to HumphreyJ20:
So far as the Lakes goes Mortician on Black Crag is excellent. Mandrake at Quayfoot Buttress is another good route in Borrowdale. There are some very good 1 pitch HVS's on Sergeant Crag Slabs too.

Best HVS I've done in the Lakes is Centaur on Scafell East Buttress. Yellow Slab is another classic HVS on the same part of the crag.

Pillar has Thanatos/Electron which is great in a dry spell.

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

Personal favourites...

Wales:
Diagonal (Dinas Mot)
Merlin Direct (Tremadog)
The Fang (Tremadog)
Dream of White Horses (Gogarth)

Lakes:
Kipling Groove (Gimmer)
Troutdale Pinnacle Direct (Borrowdale)

Arcturus/Golden Slipper link up is pretty much number one on my wish list.

Have fun!

Tom

In reply to HB1:


In reply to HB1:

No I've done a lot more than what is on my profile! That is from when i first really started climbing but gained a lot more experience since then but not logged it all on here... thanks for the concern.

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

Golden slipper on Pavey Ark is lovely, and linking it with a route from below makes for a very fine day day.
Pluto is another memorable route, very worthwhile.

In reply to HumphreyJ20: In that case I apologise and hope you enjoy some/all of those recommendations! I can vouch for most of them! Good stuff on the right day

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

Brant Direct in the Pass is a good HVS. anything at Gogarth is worth doing at that grade. King Bee Crack is excellent but pumpy.

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

I can vouch for nearly all the routes mentioned above (apart from one or two I've not climbed), but for me the outstanding one has to be Diagonal - what a superb route! I would have also put Cemetery Gates in the same category but that's E1 these days - well worth a bash once you're solid on HVS though.

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

Don't forget Cemetery Gates.

In reply to Tom Last:


*sits back with popcorn*

In reply to HumphreyJ20:
In North Wales:
Moa Man
Aardvark
Acheron
Scratch arete
The fang
Stromboli
Vertigo
Diagonal
West rib
Grey arête
Hàwks nest arête
Mur y nwl
Concrete chimney
Britomartis.

In reply to HumphreyJ20:
LAKES:

The Superdirect (at HVS) is better than the Direct (VS) on Troutdale Pinnacle in the Lakes. More sustained and varied.

Put Gazebo at Castle Rock on the list. Understarred and a favourite of many. Slightly bold but fine really slabby wall climb.

Agree re all the stuff at Pavey.

WALES:

Add Meshach to the list of great HVS's at Tremadog.

At Dinas Mot, make sure you look at Lorraine Variation; a great long sustained pitch.

In reply to alan moore:

Some interesting ones there - thought I'd look them up in search of inspiration. Had to do a bit of detective work though! Moai Man http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=47374 looks interesting - I've never been to Gist Ddu. But, where or what is Hàwks nest arête? Not so sure about Acheron - I've never got on with Anstys, is that a good reason to go back. Mur y Niwl http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=29164 is a great route, but at VS it slips below the bar. The rest I'd have to agree are well worth doing.

In reply to Mark Kemball:
Sorry my Welsh spelling is bad.....
Thought Hawks nest Arête, Glyder Fach and Mur y Nwl are both low end HVS and both brilliant.
Acheron at Cwm Cowarch is the best mountain route I've done, really varied with lots of unexpected twists and turns.
Gist Ddu on a sunny autumn morning is just stunning. Roughest, bubbliest mountain rock in the Uk?

In reply to HumphreyJ20:
Lots Groove, Glyder Fach hasn't been mentioned yet.
Also Crucible on Craig Cwm Silyn (excuse spelling)

In reply to HumphreyJ20:
I can lead up to Severe 4a.

Do you think I can lead HVS 5a and E1 5b?

Bye

Savvas

In reply to alan moore:

Thanks for that, I've been digging out my guide books, adding to my "wish list" and dreaming of warm dry weather. (Even if a couple of them are top end VS rather than HVS!)

In reply to Mountain Spirit:

If you lead Severe, you've got a fairly good chance of successfully following HVS.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

Thanks Mark.

Cool as beans.

I am trying to sort out my heel hook rockovers.

Bye

Savvas

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

Kipling groove is the best HVS I've done

don't know wales but concrete chimney gogarth is very good

In reply to John Kelly:

Agree completely, KG was brilliant, especially after reading the late Mick Burkes inspiring account of his ascent in hard rock dozens of times before finally getting around to doing it. I seem to remember my style was very similar, deliberating and going for it half a dozen times before finally cutting loose !

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

One of the best crags in the Lakes is High Crag, Buttermere, and it has 2 brilliant HVS routes : Samson and High Crag Buttress.
The rock is perfect.

In reply to Tom Valentine:

To add to Scavenger at Gogarth I would include Pentathol and if you can get an old enough guide Gogarth itself.

In reply to Tom Valentine:


How could I forget? I did High Crag Buttress (HVS) - which passes between the "eyes" - with Carolyn (who posts on here) and her other half. Great route.

In reply to Skyfall:

Oooh, spooky - I have just read the thread title and thought "High Crag Buttress". Great route, and unlikely to be overcrowded!

However, it's a bit of a walk in for some....

In reply to Carolyn:


Never mind the walk in, I never got over that manky wet "VS" (not) at the far left that Simon dragged me up...

(just checked the logbooks here and I think the route in question, Wishful Thinking (?), is down as "currently impossibly dirty" - which it was then too!)

In reply to HumphreyJ20:
Also, I was wondering why no one had suggested Adam at Shepherd's Crag, before I looked it up and realised it's VS 5a, and not HVS. But might be worth adding to the list for a less than perfect day when you want to stay low.

In reply to Skyfall:


And as for the "walk" off the pair of you found from it.....

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

I recall Isengard on Dow as an absorbing and worthwhile pitch.
Lost in space gets E1 on Goat and I thought it very steady.
West Rib on Dinas Mot similarly and gets less traffic than the other very good routes on that bit of the cliff.
As said above, loads of good stuff at Gogarth.Dont forget Cloggy too.....

In reply to HumphreyJ20:

Lots of good suggestions on here, perhaps the OP might like to turn it into a ticklist.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

Putting the ticklish together now, will make it public once it's finished