UKC

While climbing at the most popular section of the Peak's current most popular crag, Alan James discovered a massive loose block that was an accident waiting to happen.

Embedded video isn't showing for some reason, direct link  youtube.com/watch?v=pHCw4R6KNIQ&

Also a good opportunity to repost this trundling classic  vimeo.com/210319644

Horseshoe is more popular than Stanage?! 

Spiders!!!

In that second video were they expecting the huge block to come away or something smaller?

I'm quite loose rock sensitive (i.e. a bit of a wuss) and I tried Thomas Crapper (6a+) a few times a year ago. It's one of the 6as in that sector I didn't get up so sticks in my mind and I DON'T remember noticing it move when I climbed the route, so maybe it has started moving a lot more over this winter? For me the hard bit was up at the top so it's possible I just climbed around that hold although that seems unlikely.

On a related note, on White Tripe (5a) at Intake Quarry there is a flexing half brick sized hold just above the fourth bolt. It is marked currently with two chalk Xs but they could come off with rain. My belayer was too close to the bottom of the route when I went up it and lowered off. Sarah gave it a bit of a pull when she lowered off seconding and I could stand well back but it didn't come off. It will though sooner or later. You don't need to use that hold to do the route at the grade but I suspect due to the bolt position is was originally envisaged as part of the line.

That sounds about right. The hold was a huge flaky jug that everyone used on both sides. I can’t believe it has been loose that long since it was really horrendously dangerous and you couldn’t have failed to notice.

I did the move without touching it yesterday and it wasn’t much harder. It has left a big flat hold in its place but not the double-sided jug it used to be however I think that just made people hang around there a bit longer and get pumped. Probably 6a+ now though since the roof above is still a tricky and the foothold is now a bit lower.

Alan

I deliberately pulled a big loose block out of one of the lower grade routes on  Lower Pen Trwyn last summer - I was shocked at how much came down. Definitely would do it differently next time, i.e. with a static rope set up above and my belayer a lot further away!

With regard to that hold on White Tripe the looseness is a relatively new thing.  For a long time - years - that hold was solid and just in the right place for someone of my stature ( 6ft ).  I climbed White Tripe for the nth time last weekend and also tried unsuccessfully to remove the loose bit.  

Nowt as strange as folk!

Newsflash 

Someone removes relatively small block from chosspile crag

Haha you call that massive? I pull bigger stuff off the crags round here with my nut key!

Good work for getting rid of it though.

Interesting that you mention being 6 ft. I'm a bit under 5' 10" and Sarah who I was climbing with is quite a bit shorter than me. We've noticed climbing recently quite a few easier Peak sport routes, many of which are GG creations, that there are often big holds near bolts that neither of us seem to be able to reach very easily! It's not that the clip is necessarily desperate to make, although I've found the odd one like that! More, that there will be a big chalked hold like the one on White Tripe, that I don't need either to clip from or when climbing past. But they're the type of holds you almost feel a bit bad for not using as it seems the bolter intended them to be part of the route. I've said hello to Gary at BMC area meetings once or twice and saw him working at Moss Rake last year and he didn't strike me as particularly tall, but perhaps he is? It definitely feels like some of the holds on some of his sports routes would 'fit' someone with a bit more reach than me! And if 5'9 and-a-big-bit me can't reach, it must be doubly annoying for someone 5'5" or smaller!

Gary is tall and has long arms. 

Alan

That makes a lot sense then Alan - the arms in particular! I'm sure when you are bolting lots of routes in a day you also don't necessarily take as much time to consider each bolt placement beyond the obvious like quality of rock and safety in relation to each other.

Of course I guess there aren't that many 6a-on-a-good-day climbers bolting routes, so I'm not complaining, but it does suggest why sometimes the routes in the 5s feel actually a bit scary when you are doing big moves with the bolt below your feet. I suppose it adds to the satisfaction if you get up the thing!

I did a 5a on Fathers Wall at Intake on Sunday, Fatherly Advice (5a) which was totally intimidating  - and really rather good I thought. But I kind of expected just to scamper up it without much drama as it's "only" a 5a, but actually found I was doing big "proper" moves with my feet well above the last bolt. I swear trad climbing at around the same level is never that exciting! I guess I really do stick to well protected routes.

Gary's reach is almost legendary!

I think Fatherly Advice is pretty tough for 5a - I'd give it a higher grade myself.  One of the harder 5s in Intake, and adequately bolted rather than generously. I used to notice the contrast in bolting styles a lot when I'd been in Kalymnos. Glad you enjoyed the challenge - maybe you were in the flow state

I always thought it was called the Toilet area cos all the routes are crap

If you start pulling off loose rock at Horseshoe where will it all end? 

The big reach does make a lot of sense have climbed a lot of Gary's routes in various quarries on recent weeks. I did think as well that when you are paying to equip routes out of your own pocket, and also climb quite a lot harder grades, it's probably quite easy to without really thinking about it, not put as many bolts in as someone pushing their grade at that level might want!

I'm not sure if VS punters like me ever really get into a flow state. I reckon it was more of the giving myself a firm talking to: to remember that my super chunky 10.5 mm rope wasn't going to mysteriously snap if I fell onto it, that I had already checked I had done my knot up properly about 4 times (and my partner had buddy checked me!) and that having your feet a metre above the last bolt only "feels" terrifying - it's not actually particularly dangerous!