UKC

Tim Neill gives us his stab at the best 5 E4s in the UK. Some are easy for the grade, some not so much, but all of these routes are memorable adventures, and offer superb climbing in different parts of the country.

Have you done them all?

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6525

In reply to UKC Articles:
Star Wars, Pembroke
Pan, Pembroke
Fay, Sharpnose
America, Carn Gowla
Amanita, Avon

In reply to UKC Articles:

Come on UKC, how can I possibly disagree with your choice of E4's when I haven't even had your choice of E3's to disagree with yet?

In reply to chubbs2:

E3 article in the pipeline. The series isn't going to be in order, but it will cover Diff to E7, should make quite a ticklist in the end!

Thanks,

Jack

In reply to UKC Articles:

So what happened to The Axe?

In reply to John Alcock:

I haven't done many (successfully led or otherwise) but from what I've done I'm with you on Star Wars and Fay. Also, Sugar Cane Country and Immaculate Arete have perfect climbing in superb locations.

In reply to UKC Articles:

It's Tim! Great Conville course instructor out in Chamonix, good craic!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Re. The Peak, I'd have to say that the crux of Flaky is so unpleasantly polished that it is probably only worth two stars now (definitely 3 in 1978 when the picture was taken!). I would place both Mortlock's or Apocalypse above Flaky now (when clean!).
Re. Wales I think the Missionary-Maze link up crossing both Red Walls on Gogarth has to be a contender (certainly in an E4 adventure category - possibly along with Vulture at Cilan Head, but that's maybe getting too esoteric!).

Good article.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great article. Maybe time to resurrect this list of my own favourites

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=14359

In reply to Jack Geldard - UKC Chief Editor:

I assume E0 is going to get a look in?

In reply to UKC Articles:

It's childish, but I had a chuckle at "Aonach Duch"

In reply to kevin stephens:


Didn't make the cut.

In reply to UKC Articles: Well - no SW routes - the man seems not to have done Deja Vu or Eroica (ok, that depends on which guide you use) and I bet that a few more exist up on the Culm.

In reply to Stone Idol:

I'm not disputing that the SW should represented (Faye or Dream Liberator seem obvious examples) but wouldn't say Eroica at E4 was that good (too unbalanced) likewise Deja Vu.

In reply to Tyler:
I'd probably have added either Fay at Lower Sharpnose or America at Carn Gowla as my South West option, definitely not Eroica (which is good, but not THAT good).

I'm not going to give the game away, but there IS a South West E5 in the article I have written (which will be published in the next few weeks) - points will be awarded to the individual who correctly guesses which route that is...

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKC:


Darkinbad, obviously. I assume that points mean prizes?

In reply to Graham Hoey:


Now I'm certainly no expert on Peak lime E4s, not having done a single one, but if the entire of Pembroke can be written off as "generic coastal limestone" and therefore ineligible for "best in UK", surely Peak lime can be dismissed in half the time as "dismal polished roadside chosspile", along with all the other horrible semi-urban inland limestone we have on offer. I'm not saying *all* inland limestones routes are completely shit, just that they're rather shit in the context of Britain's best, which surely revolves around venues like Pabbay, Cornwall, Cloggy, etc?

In reply to Jon Stewart:

I thought that 'generic coastal limestone' comment was really wierd. Especially since it isn't very generic at all.

In reply to UKC Articles:


I love Tim Neill. I really do. Honest.

But this sort of thing is just click-bait-bag-of-crap isn't it?

There is no such thing as the five best E4 routes in the UK. It all depends.

Why do you descend to this?

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKC:

Black Magic over Darkinbad surely Rob?

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Or Il Duce, to be fair.

jcm

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Jcm,

I am rather ashamed to say that I haven't done Il Duce, please forgive me - it's a glaring omission...

In reply to UKC Articles:In the 80's and 90's, Freakout was graded E3, when done in 2 pitches. I think it was Garry Latter who said it was better done in one monster pitch at E4?.Still a great climb.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Hi Jon,
my reply was in the context of the choice made by Tim Neill and I was not suggesting that Mortlock's and Apocalypse are among the best E4s in the country, just better than Flaky (in my opinion). Choosing the best E4s in the country is an utterly subjective act and purely based on ones limited experience of which E4s one has climbed.

It's very difficult comparing routes; you are really often comparing experiences: how do you compare a slightly dirty multi-pitch E4 in an amazing position up in the mountains on a beautiful day alone with friends, against a short, yet superb clean grit route, soloed on-sight on an Autumn evening with just the sounds and smell of the stone and moors for company? The answer is you can't. It's too simplistic to state that routes on big mountain crags are bound to be 'better' than routes on smaller inland crags - it's all about the experience which is made up from a plethora of sensory inputs.
cheers
Graham

In reply to Graham Hoey:

i agree entirely, well put. But i draw the line at peak limestone. Some of the ingredients for a perfect experience are simply absent.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

For you maybe, but not for others. The majority of it may be choss, but there are some superb routes on Peak Limestone, which are perhaps made better by the incongruity of such gems being hidden amongst such crap.

In reply to UKC Articles:

How come Stratagem at Raven's Scar on the North York Moors missed the cut?

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=37174

oh perhaps because it now gets E5.

In reply to Steve Crowe:

You answered your own Q Steve.

More E4 fodder here...

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=241963&v=1#x3565754

Nice article Tim.h