UKC

Anyone been in yet?
I've seen someone logged a dnf but that's all.
Thanks.

In reply to petegunn:

Yep, organised a club meet there on Thursday. It was very saddening. Half of us bailed to Denham and the others managed to clean two routes and climbed them a couple of times.

There is three feet of brambles around most of the base and the lower section is all but inaccessible. The only line that want totally overgrown was fortunately Mandarin but nobody has the bottle to go for it as it was probably very dusty.

It's sad to say but with the current access restrictions - limited hours for two months per year - are going to prevent it from ever being in great condition.

Really the BMC needs to intervene but it looks like they've done really well just getting us this limited access so I'm not sure what else can be done.

In reply to radddogg:

That's a real shame, I was lucky enough to climb there on several occasions in 2011.
A lot of effort by locals and visitors alike had been put in that year.
I was hoping to get down this weekend but will try next week now, hopefully the weather holds.

We went and cleaned Mandarin yesterday, and also cleared some brambles and nettles from the base and the walk in.
Another pair was there and cleaned Boddicea.
So that's 2 big 3star routes you can do. If you want to do any more, you'll have to do a fair bit of cleaning and bushwacking.

Mandarin is an absolutely fantastic route - get on it now whilst it's clean and we have access.

In reply to petegunn:

Went for a stroll in there yesterday, and was immediately greeted by the familiar sound of a p*ssed off Peregrine, so left.

In reply to Mark Collins:

Any young should have fledged by now so you shouldn't be disturbing a nest even though you may be disturbing the birds.

In reply to Michael Hood:

Good point, and yes the bird was well away from the nest but I just didn't feel comfortable with the situation to be honest.

I had also thought about re-bolting Main Overhang by hand, but then decided it would be frowned upon for the same reason no portable radios are allowed.

In reply to petegunn:

Me and a friend were working mandarin on a top rope this evening. Since my last vist on the 12th of july two new pegs have appeared under the main roof that seem to be there for foot holds. Is this the norm for a route that was first aid climbed?

In reply to Andrew Holden:

I was there as part of another pair looking at Boadicea when the pegs were replaced.
Don't know the guy who did it but he knew the route from many many years ago and stated to us when he got down he'd replaced like for like. He removed two old eyes/stubs and put two new pegs in. I'd never been on the route and didn't know it so not in a position to complain. They looked to me like they were placed where gear could now be placed (small cams?) but I've not been on it so couldn't say.

As for using them for feet I watched him climb it afterwards and he definitely didn't use them for feet. There's two ways to do that section. The obvious way and then what seems to be the correct way.

Hth.

In reply to biscuit:

Thanks for the reply. They did look close to gear placements hence the question about feet. I wasn't sure because I'm too soft to lead it so have no idea what it's like placing gear on lead. The second peg was definitely replacing a rotting old one but first looked as though it was a new addition.

In reply to petegunn:

Has anyone napalmed the base yet? The brambles were terrible when I checked it out.

In reply to petegunn:
I replaced the two peg to make it easier to clean, I've cleaned Mandarin quite a few times over the years, but at 75 years old I doubt I will be cleaning it much longer. If you don't like the pegs, take them out, they only aid the cleaning under the roofs. I did lead the route after cleaning it without stepping on the pegs. The protection is really good without clipping the pegs.

In reply to thinredline20:

Good effort, Thank you

In reply to thinredline20:

Thanks for clearing things up. And the route too.