UKC

Evening,

I'm introducing a couple of mates to outdoor route climbing - either trad or sport (or ideally both). They are based in leek, so looking for good potential crags in and around that area as I'm not too familiar myself. Grit would be ok but might be a bit harsh for outdoor beginners accustomed to plastic, so was thinking limestone might be more ideal, but open to all suggestions!

Thinking grades 4 to 5s sport, and upto Severe for trad. I don't get a chance to climb on real rock too often so would be good to tick a few classics at the same time and obviously give my mates a memorable first time on rock! Perhaps asking for too much?!

Nick

In reply to suffolknick:

It's been a while since I went there, but I seem to remember there being suitable for beginners climbs at the roaches, and it's near Leek.

In reply to suffolknick:

Not sure why you would think grit would be too difficult for beginners? Low grade limestone is not the best, frequently vegetated or loose and you have The Roaches, a premier league gritstone or any stone crag 5 minutes from Leek. A lovely place to spend the day, quick drying, plenty of routes up to Severe, and many more above - what's not to like?
If you really wanted limestone, then sport at those grades would be Horseshoe or Masson, but pretty low quality, trad limestone then Harborough would be the only crag with non vegetated, solid VD-Sev routes.

In reply to philhilo:

A lot of the low grade routes on the roaches (the only sort ive climbed) are long (for grit) and hard for their grade (compared to eastern grit- at least in my opinion. ..)

If I was taking beginners out near there, id make the trip through to burbage, or even stanage- lots of friendly feeling good routes in the grade ranges you are after, and it's not that far away. ..

In reply to suffolknick:

The Roaches is the perfect crag for beginners. If the easy routes are too long or too harsh, then it's probably not the best activity for your mates.

Your biggest problem is going to be getting on the routes in front of the hoardes of beginner groups

In reply to andi turner:

Hence I'd suggest Ramshaw... lots of big easy slabs on the back and a few good little routes at D to VD. Those looking after beginner groups need to be careful to ensure bottom ropes don't run weighted over the rock at the top.. this is trashing the top of the Roaches lower tier right-hand routes that are very popular with outdoor groups.

In reply to Offwidth:

In the ten years I've been instructing on the Roaches, I don't think the rope groove on top of Prow Cracks has got any deeper. You'd have to go out of your way to make the ropes actually run over that. I honestly can't imagine any SPA holder setting up a rope that would, unless they've trained and then assessed by an absolute moron.

Yes, Ramshaw is good too, but for complete novices I think the belays are harder to set up and the routes are generally more scrappy (bearing in mind the OP has only been climbing a year and his friends have never been). Although routes like "Leeds Crack" are normally quite good introductions.

Straying away from Prow Cracks area, I find the descent gully next to fledgling's climb is a great starting point, as is Chicken Run and the route to its left, plus those non-lines on Heather Slab, all somewhere between Mod-VD and generally with a nice selection of belays to attach to.

In reply to andi turner:

The rock damage did seem much worse last year but I guess you would know as well as anyone.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=622793

Little Chimney is good... Raven Rock Gully is another useful one as it stays dry except for the exit in light rain.

In reply to Offwidth:

Ha, that groove has been there years!

Raven rock gully, now we're talking. That should put them off

I do think that someone has recently tried to push the Duchess' Throne off though....

In reply to philhilo:

Its probably more related to my own lack of experience on Grit compared to Limestone! Thanks for the tips tho! At the moment its between Roaches, Ramshaw & Harborough - have been eyeing up Red Pencil since seeing it in classic rock but might be a tad long for the beginners...

n

In reply to Offwidth:

Thanks - will definitely check out Ramshaw! Phallic crack sounds like an interesting one ;/

Fear not, there will be no top roping - will prob just climb with twin ropes and bring em both up.

Nick

In reply to andi turner:

Thanks Andi - will check those out too.

In reply to suffolknick:

If you don't want grit, go to Aldery Cliff by Longnor. It's about 8 miles away.

In reply to suffolknick:


There are a couple of easy routes on Aldery Cliff if you really want limestone but, as others have said, high quality severes are thin on the ground and limestone generally needs a bit more all-round competence than grit.

Clothesline (S 4a)#photos

In reply to Dave Garnett:

The easiest routes there were shiny as owt 20 years back when I last went. Sure to put off novices.

In reply to Rog Wilko:

They are fine and all recently cleaned up. Nothing much worthwhile below HVD though.

In reply to suffolknick:

If you go to Phallic Crack (along with Boomerang one of the two the best routes on the crag sub VS), try Corner Crack just right as well.

Enjoy.

In reply to suffolknick:

UKC is such a strange place!

Roaches, Ramshaw or Harborough; those are your best bet by a mile. Seriously.

Newstones is nice for bouldering if you want a chilled day.

In reply to suffolknick:

Cool thanks for all your help guys! Now to pray for
Some dry weather ;/