UKC

Hi all,

Currently bitten by the redpointing bug, and as I will only be in the area for a year it makes sense to really try hard. I'm after good 7b-7c trad routes that I can easily throw a rope down and work. I'm an endurance climber at heart so ideally I'd be looking at sustained routes rather than bouldery ones.

Seems like a lot of the good ones in Torquay have been bolted

Aka, I'm crap at bouldery Haytor area stuff!

from the top of my head, the following should be shuntable, could be endurancey and should mostly be 7a+ to 7c in difficulty: 

Culm:

Anything at lower sharpnose

Booby Prize (E7 6b)

Torbay: 

Blonde Bombshell (E5 6b)

Sunset Boulevard (E5 6a)

Suicide Blonde (E6 6b)

Penny Lane Direct (E6 6c) or could be a couple other routes at chudleigh

sanctuary wall might be possible if can locate good abb points, and good at abseil rope trickery

Bristol area: 

Crimson Dynamo (E6 6b)

A38 (E6 6b)

Bold as Love (E6 6b)

Pink Ginsane (E6 6b)

There’s some possibilities on the Culm.Toonmaster Jolly featuring Ex-man C (E6 6b) and Mind-Melt (E6 6b) at the Cow and Calf. There are a number of possibilities on the Great Slab at  Smoothlands, but you’d probably need to place a couple of stakes. There a few at  Lower Sharpnose Point and some possibilities at  Maer Cliff (aka Northcott Mouth).

Brill, cheers guys! I've had suicide blonde on my list for yonks, would be nice to do it before moving again. I hadn't considered the possibilities on culm but those sound stonking!

Might not be south west enough for you but  Split Rock (Milton Hill Quarry) is a good shout for shunting and has quite a bit in the E5/6 range. The steeper stuff is shower proof too which is handy.

I was thinking about having a look at Crimson Dynamo, does it seep? I don't know many people up in the Mendips so securing a belay would be tricky, but it's definitely on my list.

Bear in mind that crimson dynamo is pretty steady with a hard bouldery crux so may not suit you that well.

Maybe also consider The Jimi Hendrix Experience (E6 6b) and the other stuff at uphill.

Few at cheddar also, Taming of the Lion (E6 6c)

Blonde Bombshell, Ansteys - isn’t the belay for this single old bolt way off to the right hand side of the route as for Acheron? If so, getting to the bolt and then setting up the rope down the line for shunting could be difficult.

Suicide Blonde, Daddyhole - are there any suitable belays left at the top to set up a shunt line following the “ecological land management” years ago (unless you take a 60m static to run from the remaining trees miles back)? 

Sanctuary Wall - the main wall is so overhanging, and a complex cliff so it would require some knowledge of the exit points for the relevant route/s and some serious prep to set up a shunt line. The photo on page 412 of the South Devon guide is a good indicator. Plus, again, are there suitable anchors at the top for shunting? From memory there are a few pegs on the far right above the main wall before the decent/ab down the ridge to the Quarry but are they in the right place? The OP would need to feel comfortable with shunting up very overhanging lines (from memory Petzl’s instructions said not to use it for self belaying on overhanging rock). 

I don’t know whether you can shunt Gus Honeybun (E6) and False Gods (E4) on the wall to the left (looking out) of the notch. From memory Ken P used to run laps on them but I don’t know whether that was top roping or shunting. 

Not quite E6, but White Life at Chudleigh? 

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/chudleigh_rocks_-_south_face-291/w...

(Not that I've done it, but had a look back in the 80s.)

This is a new one to me. Split Rocks looks worth a visit next time we’re in the area!

It's probably worth making the point, given that Chris mentions bolts in his message, that some of the Bristol area routes, for better or worse, operate on a pretty loose definition of trad.  Bold as Love, Pink Ginsane and Taming the Lion all have bolts where it matters, and Jimi Hendrix is effectively a sport route.  I'm pretty sure there's a bolt on Crymson Dynamo  They're all great routes though.

If bolts don't matter then Was It You? (7c+) is also brilliant, but basically a sport climb with a little bit of gear in the lower half.  It used to be E6 I think but the logbook now gives it a sport grade.

If you'd rather purely trad routes then A38 is awesome, as is Backstabbers (E6 6b).  Cove arete (E6 6b) at Brean, and Try to Remember (E6 6b) and Concorde (E5 6b) (E5) at Cheddar are all bolt free (I think) but might be a bit tough to get a rope to the top of if you're on your own. 

How about everything on lean machine wall at boulder ruckle, for instance The Roaring Boys (E7 6b) though for you they may not be technical enough, peaking at 6b. 

Those do look stonking, reasonably safe as well if I recall. 6b is ideal really

If was shunting something hard on my own, then I'd want it to have bomber easy belays on solid rock, I'd prefer it to be somewhere with walking access to the top and bottom. I'd generally go for vertical or slab, so I can stay in contact with the rock.

I'd like to not have a loose rock belt me on the head and end up spinning hopelessly in space after dropping my ascenders, 50m above a rough freezing sea with the nearest exit a mile away, and nobody knowing I was there. 

As you were! 

Then you can move on to the ocean boulevard wall for more fun!

Blonde Bombshell - I agree it is a poor contender for the reason you state. A more direct abseil approach is likely to be horrendously loose.

Suicide Blonde is fine. The trees at the cliff edge were untouched and some have belay tat tied to them.

Sanctuary Wall can be approached from above by descending below the grey tower summit. There are some hard to find pegs at the crag top. Abeiling is exciting since it is very easy to lose contact with the rock, necessitating climbing back up the rope or an abseil into the sea. From this approach it is possible to work Spirit of the Carribean most easily or Southern comfort with more difficulty (have some long slings). False Gods is fairly easy to work from the quarry floor.

I'd be wary of shunting Pink Ginsane. It certainly is shuntable but I recently approached it via abseil and got a load of abuse from someone while setting off. In hindsight should of canned it. That combined with the fact your rope will be visible and relatively accessible by the fair amount of joe public up there puts me off shunting it. Definitely rebelay the rope below the top if you do give it a go. Not tried any of the hard bits yet but the comparatively easy bits were great by themselves!

Potentially a decision made there then, I'll see if Chris E knows the top well enough to point me in the right direction. Saw Simon the other day so managed to discuss FOGs more in depth.