UKC

Prompted by a comment about an old photo of Fandango at Tremadog, I got into a conversation at the wall on Sunday about the UK routes we had done that had fallen down. I can immediately remember doing thirteen that have gone with two or three more to come when the big fall happens at Castle Rock.

The routes I remember are: Yankee Doodle, Buffalo Gorge (both Lands End), Return of the Natives, Idle Threats, Conscientious Objector, Lookout Arete, Lost Leaders, Face Value, Zodiac (Pembs Range East), Fandango (Tremadog), Alice Springs (Slate Australia), Cube Route (Malham) and Deer Bield Buttress (Lakes) (sorry couldn't make insert links work).

I don't include things like CB that still exist even though the character has changed but I have included Zodiac because the pitches I remembered best have gone and it is now effectively a different route.

Have I been unusually lucky/unlucky? Can anyone provide a longer list (I'm sure you can)?

In reply to harold walmsley:

Will try to remember the names of routes at Priestcliffe Quarry in the Peak. Some of them were falling down as I went up them.

In reply to harold walmsley:

I walked up the crux of Fandango about 1hr after it fell down!
The only route I have done that I know has fallen down is Stiff Little Fingers
Stiff Little Fingers (E3 5c)

In reply to harold walmsley:
Has Jean Jeannie fallen down yet?

In reply to johncook:

Some of the sport routes I have done in Horseshoe felt like that but I haven't heard of any actually disappearing.

In reply to Ghastly Rubberfeet:
Oh yes, I did Stiff Little Fingers as well. Should have been on my list.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Intake is also quite flexible in it's content!

In reply to harold walmsley:

I sometimes wonder if I have the last photo of Controlled Burning prior to the roof falling off. I know I don't have the last ascent.

In reply to johncook:

Yeah big bits had fallen down last time I was there and I believe some other things had got harder through shedding holds. As far as I know though all the routes I did are still there.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Another for stiff little fingers and neighbouring sideshow (gone I think) + all parrock routes left of silica(?) groove/ gfi

In reply to harold walmsley:

Are the same HM who is pictured on Deer Bield Buttress in Hard Rock? I did the climb in 1976 along with DB Crack. They were both brilliant routes - looking down and in on my second while leading the crack was very memorable.

In reply to LittleJoe:
Jean Jeanie: Still there as far as I know

In reply to harold walmsley:

Master Blaster in Parrock Quarry hasn't fallen down, but a slate rock slide has sen one bolt now covered. A great route that doesn't need bolts anyway.

In reply to woppo:


I wasn't sure if Sideshow had gone. Another one to add. I also did some in Parrock but they were well to the R (one was a short slab with an overlap, the others were near to that).

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:


HM? But yes it is a photo of me on Deer Bield Buttress in the original version of Hard Rock. Sorry to see it go.

In reply to harold walmsley:
13 is an impressive tally! Can only muster;

True North, Vellan Head (was a genuine three star classic)
Mainsail and a few of its neighbours at Brownspear Point.
A couple of flake cracks, now collapsed, at Plump Hill.
Mourning Glory at Cheddar (pulled down rather than fallen)
Caravanserai at Bude

And the broken but not destroyed...

Ragged Edge and King Kong at Wintours Leap.
Chien Lunatique at Screda
Vertigo at Symonds Yat

Bit of lightweight really.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Marsden Pinnacle. Fell down in the 90's?

In reply to harold walmsley:
Terrier's Tooth at Chair Ladder (since reclimbed), and Carpet Slab on Cloggy are two that readily come to mind.
Luckily managed Fandango before it fell down.

In reply to alan moore:




Jeez, done that one as well. I'm up to 16 now. Am I a Jonah for routes?

In reply to Sean Kelly:
Ah yes: forgot Terriers Tooth and the Mitre.
I'll be in double figures soon.

In reply to harold walmsley:

..and Romping Robert at the Vicarage cliff....

In reply to harold walmsley:

I dont know if you are including routes that were deliberately blasted away as opposed to ones that have fallen down but Roozleboom A1 and Tendril A2 on Unkown Buttress at Avon Gorge are no longer with us.

In reply to alan moore:

Hawkers Slab as well I think?

Some of the routes on Bude Pillars are now on the beach..

In reply to alan moore:

Blimey! I thought Screda was one of the more solid parts of that area.

Anyone else surprised that the Sharpnose fins have lasted so long?

In reply to harold walmsley:
Terrier's Tooth and Grit Exiles at Chair Ladder
Crack in the Sky at Carn Barra
Formula One on Lundy

In reply to harold walmsley:
Much of Auchinstarry Quarry: Fusion, Sandman, Crazy Paving, The Owl and my first ever VS, Lilt.

In reply to harold walmsley: Sickle Buttress Arete at Froggatt comes to mind on popular gritstone.

In reply to harold walmsley:

What?? What's happened to True North? And Crack in the Sky? And Caravanserai? I've missed all of those disappearing. And Zodiac for that matter.

jcm

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Looks like a sad loss!!

jcm

In reply to harold walmsley:

Tatra at boulder ruckle is now reportedly E1 instead of VS after very large boulder forming the start of the route has fallen to the sea!

In reply to harold walmsley:
Let's see what I can remember... (several of these have been claimed before)

True North (Vellan Head)
Terrier's Tooth and Expresso Bonzo (Chair Ladder) - and someone above said The Mitre has gone as well?
Crack in the Sky (Carn Barra)
Caravanserai (Compass Point)
An obscure VS whose name I've forgotten on the far south end of Lower Sharpnose - the whole wall fell down
Exit Chimney (Guillemot Ledge) - needless to say I haven't done Exit Chimney II, the Sequel
Perfumed Garden (Wintour's Leap) - always thought it felt dodgy laybacking up that pillar!
Did the last (completely stupid) ascent of Another Brick in the Wall at Shorn Cliff - must check whether that's climbable now
...and probably quite a lot at Auchenstarry Quarry - did pretty much all the starred routes up to E1 before the council moved in. Definitely Fusion, Sandman, Thumbelina, Kelvin Way - and judging by their absence in the logbooks quite a few others too.

No doubt there are others... Good post where old-timers can't be outdone by keen young things!

Rick

In reply to Rick Sewards:

Jenga Tower, a block came out and whole lot came tumbling down.

In reply to harold walmsley:

gilbert harding - hodge close, opposite main wall, left of scuba guys ladder

In reply to Rick Sewards:

The Mitre's not gone, well maybe P1, but that was that shite gully thing and not worth bothering with anyway.

In reply to Rick Sewards:


Nooooooooooo!! Say it ain't true. The most memorable VS in the whole world; I've done it three times and been terrified on each occasion. I don't know if I'm in the wrong place or what, but that traverse from the arete to the crack just feels desperate every time.

jcm

In reply to deepstar:


Right, and not just those 2 routes but the whole top part+ of Unknown Buttress [a classic route, and a large buttress] - thanks a lot Avon County Council or whoever they were.

In reply to harold walmsley:

I think Titan's Groove has fallen down several times since I did it in my teens.

I can remember a pleasant route in the Torrey Canyon area on Lundy called Rachel which isn't there any more.

I had the impression that the Poacher in Nant Peris quarry had bitten the dust but UKC logbook still shows it as standing.

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Another that still exists after a large rockfall - Bushmen Don't Surf.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Wicked Gravity at St Govans East

In reply to harold walmsley:

Every single ice climb I've done ... and every year...

In reply to Ghastly Rubberfeet:



So did I. I was in Eric's cafe when it happened!

In reply to Rick Sewards:

...and Formula 1 (Lundy) of course - How did I forget that one? Tried Controlled Burning before it fell down but backed off due to insufficient cams/bottle. If I make a serious effort to count my Auchinstarry ex-routes I might be catching up with Harold (though mine are generally not of the same quality).

Just thought of three more - can't remember their names, but I did 3 sport routes on Torre Trephor (Cinque Torre, Dolomites) before it fell down. Am I winning now?

Rick

In reply to harold walmsley:

Sorry Harold it should have read HW - 'slip of the arthritic typist' - or is that a new route name.

In reply to harold walmsley:

How much of Deer Bield Buttress has actually gone? I did it very shortly after the top pitch fell down. Instead of the stance and the shield I was expecting the route just ended in a big drop one side and a loose easy-angled slab the other (leading to some terse exchanges with my second who was reading the guidebook out). Has the big 2nd pitch from the ledge gone too?

In reply to harold walmsley:

I was thinking about this the other day. There are a few at the Chasms, Isle of Man that are now buried under or pulverized by about 5000 Ton of collapsed buttress. We were climbing them the day before it went and had considered going back the day it collapsed for another go. Quite scary really.

jk

In reply to alan moore:




That was a real shock when I heard. I thought Mainsail was one of the sounder things I'd done on that bit of coast (certainly compared with Berlin). Actually the route itself was OK but the whole crag fell down!

In reply to Pedro50:


Yes, along with Equipoise and my route, Equilibrium.

In reply to harold walmsley:

I did Gouffle Connection at Warton Main Quarry on my 18th birthday. It was in a state of flux then and lost a big chunk later. I see it's still a starred VS though on the logbook - bet nobody climbs it. Never got round to doing 'Limestone Rain' for some reason

In reply to harold walmsley:

Yankee Doodle and most of the Pembroke routes are on my list too but one that really stays in my memory is the Hunchback at Ogmore - really unique route finding it's way over a massive roof on great big jugs at an amenable grade of E1. Made The Sloth look like a slab.........

In reply to deepstar:


I wasn't including them. If I was there are several more from the Unknown Buttress area at Avon that would have gone in.

In reply to harold walmsley:

I used to solo Valhalla,E2,at Burbage.I used to thump it and it vibrated.I carried on each time.Then the blocks fell out,about 3 tons worth.

In reply to LittleJoe:


It won't, at least not for many years.

In reply to harold walmsley:

If you´re a Swanage climber you loose count.

In reply to jimtitt:

Are Dover chalk routes allowed? If so probably most of mine are now part of the beach.

At Charnwood quarry, no-one's ever done the same route twice.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Thompson's Crack in Ilkley Quarry, fell down years ago.

In reply to harold walmsley:

One of my favourites - Shere Khan at Park Nab.

In reply to Neil R:

Formula ONe - Lundy

Not done it but Controlled Burning suffered a similar fate, also 3*

In reply to harold walmsley:

Actually, didn't I hear that Spacewalk on Lundy had fallen down? Or was it just ongoing evolution?

jcm

In reply to harold walmsley:

Just had a quick look at the ND&C '88 guide and there are over 40 in it that I've climbed, about a 1/3rd on FA, that have either disappeared completely or have been significantly changed. My personal tally, including other areas is probably nearer 60!

NTW: True North's been mentioned a couple of times. The groove is still there. Littlejohn and I climbed it a couple of years back, but the stance and all above it has gone leaving some very dangerous-looking blocks etc. We reckoned with some cleaning from above it would go at about E3/4.

In reply to Iain Peters:

Did you ever come across a route called Silver Surfer? When I was regularly repeating recent routes down there I went looking for it but could never find it, so possibly it fell down almost immediately.

Trying to remember where it was supposed to be but we gave up and went for an excellent cream tea at a farmhouse with a big conservatory up some steps if that's any help!

In reply to Dave Garnett:
So was I!

Did you do Pippikin (E4 6a) with me after walking over the Fandango slab?

I can't remember who I did it with it's so long ago.

Eric used to introduce me to all sorts of folks to climb with when I was there on my own.


(Edit for spelling!)

In reply to harold walmsley:

Formula One, about a month or two before the huge flake fell off!

In reply to Parrys_apprentice:

Mainly because its so bloody scary! Especially the routes on the huge slab as the holds keep snapping off!not nice when you're effectively soloing them!

In reply to harold walmsley:

Only Matts dilemma on Dog Rock at Portland that I can think of. The top bits of some easy routes at Masson Lees also.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Hounds Head Buttress at Tremadog. The first time I climbed it, it involved a hand jamming crack. The second time I climbed it, 10 years later, the crack had become a chimney.

Something was clearly wrong......

A couple of years later it was declared unstable and dynamited by Cambridge County Council

In reply to harold walmsley:

I had just drawn up a long list of routes I have fallen down, but then realised I'd misread the thread title.

In reply to Ghastly Rubberfeet:


>I did Technical Master E3 6a on that slab the week before and was quite chuffed. My next visit must have been about the same time as you - my chalk dabs were still there.

In reply to Pekkie:

I remember the chalked holds.

In reply to harold walmsley:

I've climbed quite a few routes at Battleship Edge and Blacknor Far South on Portland that haven't fallen themselves - the ground under them collapsed instead rendering them now unclimbable. Also on Portland I did routes on Dog Rock stack near the lighthouse before that was completely destroyed by last winter's storms.
Kirkus's Route at Cwm Silyn (apparently no longer safe), Terrier's Tooth and Tatra (still there but altered), Foot and Mouth in North Pembs, Another Brick in the Wall at Shorn Cliff.

In reply to harold walmsley:





Deer Bield Chimney.

In reply to harold walmsley:

I'm surprised the Old Man of Hoy is still there. I remember standing looking at it thinking "We may not have done the first ascent but if it goes now we could claim the last".

In reply to David Barlow:

Can remember a day at Saltdean a few years back when we collected up a bunch of rusty warthogs from the chalk debris on the floor in the Thunderdome and "equipped" a new route with them. Kind of an odd form of recycling. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but we did avoid the really rusty ones.....

In reply to harold walmsley:

Friable Overhang and Thompson's Crack in Ilkley Quarry.
The Bishop at Aldery before the block fell off.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Forgot to add the Big Picket. That one changes on every ascent as anything resembling a hold can only be "used" the once. Rain stopped play on this one when I was halfway up the final pitch basically turning the route into a mudslide.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Vladimir and the Beast...........Huntsmans ....Pembroke

In reply to Andy Long:


Too right and it's going to go one day. The ultimate nightmare is standing on top and suddenly feeling shaking and wobbling and cracking noises and more and more swaying from side to side......

(You're welcome. Sweet dreams tonight).

In reply to Ghastly Rubberfeet:



No, I don't recall what we did without digging out my old diary but I was there with Hilary Sharp (sometime of this parish).

In reply to harold walmsley:

The Illinois Enema Bandit in Bus Stop Quarry - highly memorable laybacking up a sharp slate arête. Now just air...

In reply to The Ivanator:

>Kirkus's Route at Cwm Silyn (apparently no longer safe)

What?!?

jcm

In reply to Iain Peters:



I think you must be in the lead so far!

In reply to harold walmsley:

If anyone climbed in the Port Hills, NZ. Half of them (slight exaggeration) fell down during the Christchurch earthquake of 2011. Some classic test pieces gone.

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:
Not visited since, but this article mentions that the Kirkus route is potentially effected:
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/cwm-silyn-rockfall-warning

In reply to harold walmsley:

DBB like loads of folk, also Caravanserie. On top of these (&maybe a few others I didn't know have fallen down) there is The Almighty at Blackchurch, which gave the impression that it could collapse into a pile of rubble at any time. jcm - have you found a way up it yet?

In reply to Mike C:

The Almighty is still climbable though the new first pitch is, how I shall I put it, a little "unconsolidated"! And a little further along the coast at Oldwalls, the lovely crack line of Matchless creeps ever closer to the bounding arete which has already seen two routes come...and go! Do it now!

In reply to Mike C:


No! Although mind you I don't think I've climbed at the crag for 14 years or so now.

jcm

In reply to Iain Peters:
"....And a little further along the coast at Oldwalls, the lovely crack line of Matchless creeps ever closer to the bounding arete which has already seen two routes come...and go! Do it now!"

I'm very surprised by that Ian. Apart from the glue-ed on flake it looked OK to me earlier this year. It would be a shame though for such a lovely climb, good moves all the way to the top!

In reply to harold walmsley:

The West face of the Aiguille Purtsheller, we did it in the 70s and when I got a new guide book of the area it's not in it any more as it's all fallen down. There must be quiet a few climbs in the Alps where this is the case.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Happy As A Pig in Shit. The route involved undercutting a car sized detatched block. Then you traverse the same block to get around a roof. The whole thing fell down apparently. I did the F.A and probably the only ascent. It was in Cheedale and we gave it E2 5c.

In reply to harold walmsley:

About the only one I can think of that I've done that's fallen down is South-East Pillar on Fall Bay buttress/Lewis Castle (memory hazy as to name) at Mewslade on the Gower. A fine Bonington HVS.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Rubble Trubble, Internal Examination, Barney Trubble on Hedbury Quarry Sea Walls, Swanage
Easter Egg at Cormorant Ledge
Cleft Buttress, Exit Chimney at Guillemot Ledge
Judgement Day (lower roof fallen), Larus, Giraffe (top pitch still hanging in space) in Boulder Ruckle
Caravanserai at Compass Point
Lost Leaders, Face Value, Zodiac at Range East
Wraith at Mother Carey’s (one side of the crack disappeared)
Outside Edge Route at Cwm Silyn
Terrier's Tooth at Chair Ladder
Crack in the Sky at Carn Barra

In reply to Trangia:

Did you mean Cambridge? Seems rather far out of their sphere of interest! (Maybe it was something Cambrian?)

In reply to Sean Kelly:
Hi Sean. On the FA, admittedly 30 odd years ago, the pancake flake was at least 3 blank metres in from the arete, which became the short-lived line of Concorde VS. Pat reclimbed it after it fell away and I repeated it soon after as well as an E3 up the front face. Both those lines have more or less gone AWOL. Unlike the fins of LR Sharpnose Oldwalls takes a fair old battering from heavy seas on both sides, so Matchless may well become a thinnish crack climb with an airy finish up an exposed arete and no friendly pancake!

In reply to Nigel Coe:


That's not fallen down has it? I know there's been a rockfall above the finish of the routes round there, but once that's cleared the routes should still be OK (and they've certainly been climbed since that rockfall so presumably the debris is avoidable).
.nless there's been another fall since?

In reply to Nigel Coe:
Wraith is marginal for inclusion. I have done it but decided not to include it on my list as the route is still there with the same name and is only a bit harder than before. Raw Recruits is another that changed substantially but I omitted it as the same line still goes, albeit at a higher grade. However, you have just reminded me of another that definitely has gone: Nimrod I think it was called up the wall to the R of Wraith. That should definitely go on to my list.

In reply to harold walmsley:

Formula One, Lundy
Tatra, Boulder Ruckle (if that qualifies)

In reply to harold walmsley:

Hmmm, thought I'd done a few in either fallen down or changed categories but a long way off some of you, remind me to keep out of the way ...

Fallen down

R-Maker – Chiddinglye Wood (not many will have one from southern sandstone)
Cloud Nine – Boulder Ruckle
Larus - Boulder Ruckle
the aptly named Totally Gone Now - Dancing Ledge
a crackline in the Grip '89 area – Coastguard South
Zodiac – St Govans
Conscientious Objector – St Govans
Crack in the Sky - Carn Barra
Controlled Burning – Lundy (quite possibly the last ascent in its original form – about 4 weeks before it was reported missing)
Formula One - Lundy
Caravanserai – Compass Point


and a few with a significant change:-

Crystal Voyager – The Promenade
Tatra – Boulder Ruckle
Terriers Tooth – Chair Ladder

In reply to jkarran:

There's also a certain route that fell down whilst we were on it...

In reply to Aly:

I am surprised the Bonatti Pillar has not been mentioned yet.

5*thumb
At the top of the 50M A1 crack, high on the Bonatti Pillar
Rick Graham, Aug 1977
© Andy Hyslop - UKC

I will work out how to drag the photo over later. Meanwhile you will have to search ukc photos yourself, look up photos of Andy.

In reply to harold walmsley:

I've done quite a few on these lists but the one I'm waiting for is the pinnacle belay on Shadrach/Brothers. First did that with Tony Booth in 69/70, and he wasn't prepared to use it as a stance even then!