UKC

Restricted Access

The BMC has negotiated with the landowner and secured an access agreement, but this is dependent on the continuing responsible behavior of climbers.

Local cavers have an agreement with the landowner to manage recreation in the quarry through the Fairy Cave Management Committee. They have been extremely supportive of climber’s efforts to secure access and without their support it is unlikely we would have been successful. Mark Courtiour (BMC Access Rep) has been co-opted onto the Management Committee but the cavers have overall responsibility for recreational use of the quarry.

Maintaining our good relationship with the cavers is important, as is following a few simple points within our access agreement:

  • Take all of your litter and any you find away with you to dispose of responsibly.
  • Responsible parking is essential to maintain access - see the 'parking and approach' section below for more information.
  • The only people with permission to be within the fenced area are cavers and climbers. If you find other people in the quarry please ask them to leave.
  • Parts of the quarry could be unstable and potentially dangerous for the unaware. In particular young or inexperienced climbers should be closely supervised at all times.
  • The quarry forms part of a larger SSSI and European SAC (Special Area of Conservation). Natural England are monitoring the rare flora and fauna within the quarry so avoid removing any vegetation without checking with the local Access Rep or Access Officer first.

Descents:

Movement around the top of some areas of the quarry can be difficult and local climbers have established abseil descents from all popular areas. Please do not remove these fixtures. Most lower offs/abseil points have been renewed and stakes have been installed above Robs Crack and Lumbar Puncture/Epic Dural. As always with fixed equipment, be sure to thoroughly inspect all parts of an anchor before committing to using it.

  • The best abseil descent (easier to pull through) from the Robs Crack area is from a pair of stakes with wire strops and maillon situated above Who Needs Hair Anyway i.e. next to the Hawthorn bush on the crag edge about 50m left (facing out) of Robs Crack.
  • A strop and maillon have been added to the stake above Halfway to Kansas/Lumbar Puncture, another above Balch's Slide and another above Senile Taff Corner to facilitate abseiling.
  • All routes in the Glacis area have lower offs in place.
  • The Alpine Ridge can be ascended/descended as a relatively easy but exposed scramble.
16m. Start 3m right of Back Off, at the lowest point of the slab. Climb easily up the mini arête, crossing the diagonal crack of Bishop's Move, to the horizontal break. Follow the left-trending crack in the slab above, and make a tricky finish over the slight overlap to the tree (as for Back Off). Adequately protected but the higher placements are fiddly - micros may be useful.

FA. B.Mullan, C.Lindley 31/Oct/2010.

Ticklists

Fairy Cave Quarry Top 20 , Fairy Cave Quarry - 1-3 Star Classic & Hard Rock , Fairy Cave Quarry VS-E1 Challenge , Somerset Sufferfest

Feedback

User Date Notes
JimOakleyAdventures 6 Jun, 2023 Show βeta
βeta: Nice VS with again the last 3m providing thought. No chains or abseil strop there now as the tree is rotten.
Show beta
βeta: Nice VS with again the last 3m providing thought. No chains or abseil strop there now as the tree is rotten.
Marshyman 12 Feb, 2022 Show βeta
βeta: Pretty stiff for VS especially when you can’t feel your fingers and have no micros. Lovely route though. Harder than Rob’s Crack. More than 1 star.
βeta?
Show beta
βeta: Pretty stiff for VS especially when you can’t feel your fingers and have no micros. Lovely route though. Harder than Rob’s Crack. More than 1 star.
Rhaegalex 17 Nov, 2020 Show βeta
βeta: Quite a run out end if you dont have microwires!
βeta?
Show beta
βeta: Quite a run out end if you dont have microwires!

Logged Ascents

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Guidebooks for Fairy Cave Quarry

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High HVS
Mid HVS
Low HVS
High VS
Mid VS
Low VS
High HS
Mid HS
Low HS
Votes cast 53
High 5a
Mid 5a
Low 5a
High 4c
Mid 4c
Low 4c
High 4b
Mid 4b
Low 4b
Votes cast 50
Votes cast 40
Style of Ascent
Lead
Followed
Toproped
Soloed
Not Set
Onsighted
Repeated
Flashed (β)
Dogged
Ground Up
DNF
Redpoint
Not Set
Route of Interest
The Crawl of Life

Grade: VS 5a ***
(Stoke Lane Quarry)

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