UKC

Hi all,

So a group of us are looking to head out to the Peak District for a few days this summer.

I'm struggling to find any updated info, or straight answers to a few questions, figured this is the best place to ask

- Are there a lot of top roping routes?
- Do they have bolted anchors already in place?
- Any suggestions on the rope length that would be needed

Thanks in advance all

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

All the grit is easily top ropable if you know how to set one up. There aren't any bolts on grit though.

Plenty of bolted limestone though just not always easy to get to the top without going up the route! 50mtr rope for anything on Grit and most of the lime will be fine!

In reply to Euan McKendrick:

Thanks for the response

Do you know what any of the climbs are called that are bolted? or just any recommendations for a first trip there

Also, do you have a link to a video of how to set one up that's foolproof?

Cheers

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

How much climbing experience do you have?

I wouldn’t recommend watching a YouTube video and venturing out with newbie friends... 

That said, it is a great place to gain experience if you know the basics

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

If there's a group of you it's certainly worth thinking about employing a climbing instructor for the day. You'll do far more climbing at the most appropriate places and will learn lots that will help you on subsequent trips.

I reckon it would be money very well spent.

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

Try horseshoe for bolted limestone, range of great to poor routes, all bolted and you can top rope some by reaching down from the top lower off and clip your own gear and rope, be careful.

Yarncliffe is ok for toproping grit as trees and some belays set up, but very sandy after rain, easy routes but gives an good introduction to outdoor climbing.

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

Working on the not entirely safe assumption that this post is genuine - where are you? How will you get to/around the Peak District? And what do you know about climbing? It's sounds like not much.

Everyone has to start somewhere, but your questions make it sound like you genuinely don't know enough to even set up top ropes safely yet. 

In reply to TobyA:

That was the same impression I got, hence my comment.
Without sounding condescending, safety is paramount! 

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

Horseshoe Quarry attracts beginners as it is one of very few Peak District venues with low grade bolted climbs. I wouldn't recommend it for a couple of reasons, its nowhere near as pleasant as the gritstone venues, in the past loose rock has been an issue although this may be better now, and, if you haven't done any outside climbing before you won't know how to rethread at the top which while very easy could be fatal if you get it wrong. There are other small safety issues such as back clipping which it is best to have explained to you before engaging in outdoor sport climbing. I would echo the earlier recommendations to hire an instructor. They will be able to teach you how to set up a top rope and take you up some low grade classics.

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

Absolutely a troll...

In reply to C Witter:

Absolutely not a troll, looking for genuine advice and guidance. 
 

thanks for all the responses, I’ll go with the instructor to learn and develop more 

thanks guys 

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

At the risk of being repeating what's already been said, I'll have a go:

Almost all of them, if you want.  Gritstone especially.

Some of the limestone does, but you don't want to visit the Peak from elsewhere for your first climbing trip and climb in those places.  They're just not where you go to see the Peak at its best.  Also even on those bolted crags the anchors at the top aren't always easy or safe to get to other than by leading the route.  (And you probably shouldn't even think about visiting most of those crags without helmets btw.)

Lots of gritstone crags have trees and/or boulders at the top that make it easy to rig up your own top rope anchor with nothing more than a few slings and screwgates, and maybe a rigging rope (especially if you want to belay from the bottom).  If you add a few nuts and learn how to use them you're good to go just about anywhere.

I don't have a video to recommend.  (I'm sure there are some good ones though.)  As above, if there are a bunch of you I'd suggest you club together and get an MIA to join you for at least the first day to take you through it.

50m is plenty for most of the grit, all of it if you're willing to belay from the top from time to time.  70m is enough to belay at the bottom of just about any route you're at all likely to want to toprope.

About a 15m or so low-stretch rigging rope would be v handy for rigging top rope anchors to belay from the bottom.

Edit: Ok, not a troll.

In reply to C Witter:

Doesn't look particular troll-like to me.  There's going to be a lot of people looking to move out of climbing walls into outdoor climbing this summer, and there's no real reason for them not to expect that outdoor climbing will look similar to what they know from indoors - with bolts and a nice shiny lower-off karabiner!  We need to expect quite a few genuine but somewhat naive posts like this.

OP - low grade sport in the Peak is basically rubbish.  But the low grade trad is absolutely fantastic, so this is what you will want to focus on, even if only by learning how to safely set up top-ropes.  But I guarantee you'll be wanting to learn how to lead trad, very very quickly...

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

Hey, I’ve sent you a message about instruction

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

top bit of advice I would give you is to take a bit of time and fill in your profile.

Just give other users a little bit of information so that they can then pitch their reply to you.

For example you could be a brilliant indoor climber and romp up 8's and 9's but have never climbed outdoors. You have all the skills and abilities just no experience of using all the shinny stuff you have seen people using when outdoors.

Be aware that this site has a bit of a history of trolls and some people may jump to the conclusion that just because you are asking a question that to them is so simple it must be a wind up. many will have forgot what it was like to go out for the first time and try and figure stuff out.

Many will have gone with someone who knew what to do and was happy to show them. Many others myself included just went and figured it out, the down side to this is with greater knowledge you can look back and see how bloody lucky you were a few times.

Lots and lots of people on here will help if they think the help offered is genuine.

Be aware that there are also many different and safe ways of basically doing the same thing.

Also if you go to a popular venue where other climbers are I would like to think that any experienced climber who saw you doing something dangerous would stop you and help you do it more safely.

Just my final 2 pence worth the price of a days instruction is a drop in the ocean of opening up the possibilities of all the climbing to be done in your future.

In reply to Jamie Wakeham:

My bad. I don't think I was the only one who struggled to take the questions at face value, though!

In reply to C Witter: 

UKC has certainly had its share of trolls and bots recently!

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

I'd also suggest buying a climbing guidebook.  I'm sure there's plenty.  And they describe the location and grades of the climbs.

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

So it sounds like you've not got much outdoor climbing experience - like others said hiring an instructor or going with someone very experienced will help. The most beautiful places to climb in the peak district are on gritstone (e.g. stanage edge) where there are no bolts! but in order to set up top ropes there you need to set up 'anchors' which involve lots of equipment and knowledge.

Your other option is to outdoor boulder - that way you don't need as much instruction and equipment just a bouldermat and watching videos around good spotting. but it is HARD compared to indoor (like a v1 outdoors is like a v4 indoors..). and somewhere like burbage south valley is a good place to start outdoor bouldering

good luck have fun

In reply to jassaelle:

I'd recommend an instructor for bouldering as well. They will know the best venues for the conditions on the day and quickly work out what suits the customer and know what's best to try, avoiding some wasteful trial and error. Many regular boulderers I see clearly don't know how to spot properly, so I doubt learning it from videos is anything but dangerously risky. An instructor can help deal with that as well.

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

95% of routes are 'toprope' routes if you know how to set them up 

Some routes do, but in the Peak District most don't. The routes that do have bolts in them are called Sport Routes and most Sport Routes in the Peak District have the 'lower off' anchors in a hard to access position on the wall. Basically, you usually need to climb up to them. 

A 50m rope will cover most situations, although a 60m is recommended as ropes get worn out and it's often necessary to trim the ends. 

To be honest, you sound like an ideal candidate for getting an instructor for the day. Things can go very wrong, very fast if youre unsure of what you're doing, and a day with an instructor will do wonders. 

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

Hi,

I'm a Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor (MCI) and Full member of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors based out of the Peak.  I'm happy to offer my instructing services to you where I can cover a range of skills to enable you to be independent.

www.jimwaltonmia.com

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

What happened to adventure? What happened to the buy some gear, buy a guide and have a go attitude.

Why is everything so safe these days.

In reply to Removed UserJGrange365:

For the grit a 50m rope will be sufficent but you need things like slings and carabiners to set top ropes safely from the boulders near the edge at the top.

North Lees camp site is excellent for access to Stanage popular.