UKC

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what some of the hardest (or the hardest) chimney climbs are in the UK? I know there are some pretty hard offwidths out there, but chimneys??

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Brwynog Chimney (E1 5b) on Cloggy might have been the hardest pre second world war 2 chimney in the UK but probably now superseded by Mammoth Direct (E6) on Gogarth?

mike

In reply to Rachel Slater: I suspect hard chimneys are hiding at crags with relatively low grades. I haven't done them as I'd rather punch my own knackers but these two seem to leave mental scars on people - Tower Chimney and Rat Race pitch 3

In reply to GuyVG:

Agree with this. Logan Rock in Cornwall for example has a bunch - probably dozens in fact - of chimneys, some vaguely described as having been climbed as commando training in the past, many almost certainly unclimbed and probably the living end in scrittly, wide hanging death.

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Well, I looked at Tower Chimney (E1 5b) at the weekend. (Looked as in not attempting to climb.) That appears interesting to say the least. Also, this tick-list may be of interest. http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=1108

PS, love to your mum and dad!

In reply to Rachel Slater:

There are some pretty ghastly wet, dark and greasy chimneys at High Rocks, many going by snake names, guaranteed to remove all flesh from elbows and knees in any attempt to make upward progress.

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Bones Chimney (E4 5c)

This route is pretty gnarly.
Not all of it is a chimney though.

In reply to Rachel Slater:

The groove pitch on The Quarryman is pretty chimney-like, does that count?

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Peapod at Curber, maybe not the hardest but a bit of a sandbagger all the same.

In reply to Rachel Slater:

I hear The Trap (E1 5a) is rumored to be impossible if you've got a waist size bigger than a 28. The tide was in (fortunately) and we couldn't do the bottom pitch so just did the top. The 1st pitch looks umm thin..

Then again there is Siamese Chimneys (IV 5) which is written up pretty colorfully in the FRCC Langdale Guide..

I thought the unwritten law of chimneys is that it can't really be graded harder than HVS?

Sam

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Gin Palace (7c)

In reply to Rachel Slater:

This?

youtube.com/watch?v=3R3-YwDZrzg&

In reply to Samuel Wainwright:
I got stuck in the trap ,I think maybe my 30 inch waist was the problem haha, good fun though.

In reply to Trangia:

That's a big chalk bag he is carrying ...

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Strapiombo (HVS 5b)

Strapiombo, Tremadog not quite a chimney but similar and very hard.

In reply to caradoc:
Desperation Crack at Brimham. It lives up to it's name.

In reply to OwenM:


Strapiombo at tremadog and trident at wimberry both kick it's arse, at exactly the same grade.

In reply to OwenM:


The hard bit is getting out of the chimney pod though

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Ormuzd in the Easter Island Gully at Gogarth.....

In reply to Just Another Dave:


Oh gods, Trident..... *shudder*

In reply to Rachel Slater:

If anyone tells you a chimney is E6, they are lying. All chimneys are difficult!

In reply to Rachel Slater: For a good laugh take someone short or inflexible, or both on fingals cave at Stoney. Only HS/VS but fun all the same. Don't worry about gear, there is none!

In reply to PaulTanton:

Hopefully going to do it this weekend!

In reply to Samuel Wainwright:


I thought that the rule was that the worst ones are all graded diff and vdiff so you don't have to do them

In reply to Mark Kemball:


I shall let them know! (When they return from Eldorado and Rifle!)

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Thanks for all the replies everyone, lots of food for thought

In reply to mike lawrence?:


Dover and Ellis Chimney [Burbage] is also E1 5b, climbed in 1932.

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Fear of infection in the LLanberis Pass

In reply to GuyVG:
Tower Chimney (E1 5b) - desperate. Good fun though.

A well known 9a climber fell off Mammoth Direct (E6 6b), so if you flash that, definitely take a medal!

Gin Palace (7c) is nails too. I ended up stuck in one of those positions on that where I couldn't move, not up, not down, not sideways. Just had to let go. Exhausting...

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Extinguisher Chimney on Kinder, done it, not going back. Top out to mystic symbols which will restore all the energy, skin, etc, which are expended on this horror.

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Tilney's Shovel at Tilberthwaite Quarry, Lakes. Only 10m but a battle all the way.

In reply to ByEek:

>All chimneys are difficult!

It's just that some are more difficult than others

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Looks amazing! I wonder why so few logs

In reply to johncook:

Done this a couple of times this year as its permadry so a good choice when the heavens open.
The route makes you giggle with fear. Thank god I didn't try it when I was only climbing HS, I'd have probably given up climbing.
Still haven't built the guts up for the HVS version.

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Corner Chimney P4 of Direct Route on Milestone Buttress in the rain.

watch from 1 minute in.....

youtube.com/watch?v=MWlWAuY3Qkc&