UKC

Rob Greenwood reviews this new guidebook to "one of the most underrated rock climbing areas in the UK". Has he hyped it, or hit the nail on the head? We'll let you be the judge...

Read more

In reply to UKC Gear:

I got a copy in the post a week or two back. I haven't had time to read it fully yet but what I have looked at is pretty impressive.

Well put together, clear, comprehensive and, best of all, it has one of my photos which should put it at the top of anyones "must buy" list

In reply to UKC Gear:

Had a flick through in the shop the other day and it looks like a beautiful guide. Been meaning to back to Dartmoor for a while now. I didn't think the landscape layout of the book combined with the binding along the long side made for easy reading though. Fine when at the crag but not very good for reading the book at home.

In reply to UKC Gear:

In the old guide, I thought the First Ascents list had the translations of the oddities in it...

"using the divine implement of a 6" nail for aid".....

Looks like an excellent guide, very psyched to get a chance to put it to use.

In reply to UKC Gear:

Have had a good flick through over the last few weekends. Really nice overall, but there hasn't been a great deal of grade checking unfortunately

In reply to UKC Gear:

Got my copy and i think it looks ace. I'm intrigued by the change in orientation of the pages. Looking forwrads to trying to use it

In reply to AJM:


Yes it did (at least for the Tower of Babel). Seems strange that the reviewer liked FA details in the new guide yet obviously hasn't read them in the old one.....

In reply to Toerag:

I think what Rob meant by "ill never understand" is partially what lead Nick White to write the description in Sanskrit or whatever it was. And it was meant sort of tongue in cheek to show the brilliantly rediculous character of the previous guide.

Believe me, rob will have read more first ascents sections than you've had hot dinners.

In reply to J.Kydd:
Were there any particular routes you were thinking of?

I understand the author and others involved climbed and checked all the routes in the guide and where a route was unrepeated it is the information from the FA. Grading is always a contentious and highly subjective business.

In reply to UKC Gear:
Has anyone spotted the giant icicles on the Haytor pic? Also 2 climbers?
(easier to see on the UKC homepage , and mouse over the article)

In reply to UKC Gear:


Beautiful. And so true.

Mick

In reply to UKC Gear:

Is there a Kindle/portable edition available?

In reply to Airtime!:

No idea on routes, but we've come across quite a number of un-checked boulders, even at some of the more popular crags. On the whole it's really nice though, and great to finally have a near-comprehensive guide to most areas.

One in particular problem that sticks in the mind though is Pagen Poetry at Down tor. Gets 6C in the book, and here (though the description states V7). I spent some time on that problem last year and it's easily V7.
Tom Bunn's Rusty Peg guide gives V7 too

In reply to UKC Gear:
Glad to see this. I had an extremely short and overwhelming visit to Dartmoor last year whilst driving my sister down to the south coast for a job interview; I was utterly amazed that I'd never really heard of climbing that looked (and in my brief experience, felt) every bit as committing and exposed as that of the gritstone, and with the added benefit of there not being a soul in sight.

Having just moved to Germany, I'm already making plans for a weekend return to sample some of the skin-biting delights...

In reply to UKC Gear:

Anybody know the route on the picture of the guidebook front cover in this article. Looks like Dave pickford at I'm guessing somewhere like Anestys...

In reply to Ed Booth:

I think it's Interrogation.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
I was after the pic of the guide above, South Devon and Dartmoor. it looks like a limestone route. Thanks though

In reply to Ed Booth:

Dave Thomas, Flaming Drambuie, Sanctuary Wall...

In reply to Ed Booth:

Yes Flaming Drambuie on Sanctuary Wall, a route that I can't imagine has seen many repeats since that photo (along with 90% of the other routes there)!

In reply to UKC Gear:

"Due to the way the guide is bound, this should last much longer than a guide of actual landscape orientation, as these - at least in my experience - tend to fall apart at the spine after even moderate use."

Well mine fell apart within 2 weeks despite never leaving the safety of the coffee table! Very poor quality binding.

Other than that its a very cool guide, psyche-inducing to say the least! I am just a bit worried about some of the 3 star ratings given to some routes/boulders which anywhere else would just be very esoteric, minor climbs for the super keen. It doesn't really matter I just hope that people don't come to visit and end up a bit disappointed...