UKC

You can hardly blame Nick White, for his beloved South Devon & Dartmoor Guide is brimful of demons and goblins, but its pages did shape my expectations of The Dewerstone. The Devil's Rock, Raven Buttress and route names like 'Leviathan', all gave it a certain foreboding. The crag name...

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In reply to UKC Articles:

A beautiful place with some lovely climbs, has a real "middle earth" feel to it.

We stopped off there on the way to Cornwall  on my third ever trad trip; we didn't have a guide book but someone suggested I try leading what turned out to be Central Groove.  I had only led 5 or 6 single pitch climbs before and wasn't confident about doing a multi pitch-belay so I led it in 1 pitch on a single rope.  Luckily it was a 75 metre rope so was long enough but, at the top I could barely move because of the drag.  Was worth it for the lovely view over the forest though. 

In reply to UKC Articles:

I disagree about CC Ordinary; an absolutely fantastic climb. Also, wasn't it one of if not the first thing climbed there? CR is about the history as well, you know!

I've only been once and climbed Leviathan, Central Groove and CC Ordinary and thought the latter was the best. Amazing positions and climbing, even if the first pitch traverse feels a bit scrappy. 

In reply to PaulJepson:

Sorry, but have to disagree, the former two climbs are far superior! The ticks from the logbooks will bear this out.

CG 2892 ascents, L 1508 ascents, and CCO 957 ascents.

In reply to PaulJepson:

I haven’t done it but just from the line it probably suffers in comparison with CC Direct, which is brilliant.

It is a great crag though, must get back down there, definitely a CR tick I’ve missed.

In reply to Dave Garnett:

CC Direct really is incredible isn't it?! It's been years since I did it, but the rose tinted time goggles remember it being a real outing, with that feisty crack to start, then a whole lot of line left to come afterwards.

Central Groove is an absolute classic and is (at least in my opinion) the one that should have gone into Classic Rock.

In reply to Sean Kelly:

Sorry, I forgot the measure of the quality of a route is how many people have logged it. 

The other two are undeniably great climbs and really strong lines, but do they have the blind swing out of the groove that cc ordinary has? Or the amazing questing on the second pitch? Totally wild.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great stuff! Stirs up some happy memories. Once had a great contrasting day walking to Cranmere Pool in the morning (navigating by compass on a clear, sunny day!), half a dozen routes among the oaks at Dewerstone in the afternoon followed by a summer sunset sunset and severe grade abuse on Hay Tor.

I think Central Groove is up there with Doorpost and Ardverikie Wall for best-in-the-grade. CC Ordinary was almost as good but much harder if I remember correctly...

In reply to alan moore:

Agree with this. Now it’s been mentioned it makes me wonder why  IIRC it didn’t get a mention in a recent thread on omissions from CR.

Standing below it for the first time, for me it might as well have had “climb me” painted across it in 6 foot high letters.

In reply to Rog Wilko:

It is, unfortunately,  a bit polished,  always has about 6 cams stuck in it, and the belay block is bolted to the cliff. Quite samey from memory as well. It's bloody good but it just doesn't vary enough for me to better the likes of Doorpost or CCO. I don't remember any of the moves being that exciting in comparison to Leviathan or CCO either.

Is Fly on the wall near to that lot in terms of quality? 

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great to see a Iocal crag being featured.  I love climbing at Dewerstone.  A great place to learn and improve multi pitch trad.  It is where I led my first climb on the come back trail just a few years ago. Can't wait to get back there.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Nice article and a lovely crag which it captures beautifully. I thought Climber's Club Direct one of the best crack climbs in the UK when I first did it many years ago on a trip inspired by Littlejohn's recently published South West Climbs (1979!)

Chris