[Plattsy]

Down Bristol way for a weekend soon and after some advice please.

Weather etc all being well I'll have Sunday morning into early afternoon to get out.

Started doing some research but happy to be pointed at some good stuff up low/mid 7s.

Like to look of Ladye Bay but the link to the topo on Beastly Squirrels blog is broken. Can I find it somewhere else?

All if it's wet which wall should I head to?

Cheers
Andy

[Fiend]

Bloc. It's good.

[AMorris]

Always Gollums cave, if you are keen and are up to date with all your vaccinations.

[SA Chris]

Yew. Not a fun place.

Has esoteric bouldering website died?

Had some fun here when I lived down that way

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=15849

[Duma]

Ha, look how tiny Squire is in that pic!

There's no really worthwhile bouldering within 45 mins of Bristol IMO. Biblins is decent but will be closed for bats until sometime in May. Huntsham is just under an hour and might be okay by March if the weather's been decent for a couple of days beforehand. It's NW facing and access is a bit iffy though. I wouldn't bother with Ladye Bay myself, similarly Bathford is really local interest only. If you're just in Bristol for the weekend I'd do city stuff and nip in to one of the walls for a quick hit - they'll likely all be packed until mid afternoon on sun though, esp if the weather's shit.

Esoteric bouldering was rebooted on TCA's site a while ago but looks like it was binned in the big revamp - at least I can't find it.

[Plattsy]

Thanks chaps.

I think you might under estimate how much I'd rather scratch around local grotty bits of rock than sight see in a city. 

Come across this and I'll be keeping an eye on the weather for Huntsham.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17d7bTU2ONVSSMPus5tONyydN2QSNMZOq

[remus]

There's no really worthwhile bouldering within 45 mins of Bristol...local interest only.

Much as it pains me to say it this is pretty accurate. If you want to go bouldering prepare for some esoterica.

Ladye Bay has some fun problems but the landings aren't the best and the rock can be a bit soft in places. Can be good for a sunny evening though.

Bathford/Sally in the Woods has quite a few bits and pieces, some of which are even pretty good! Combine harvester boulder is the main event. Not much hard stuff unless you like roof crack based link ups.

Crosscombe is also good but probably a bit far unless you're based in the very south of Bristol and/or are happy to get up a bit early.

Cheddar has some good bits and pieces dotted around. Tombstone is the main event, there's a few lines in the same cave to mix it up. It can suffer from seepage though so probably want to try and get a conditions report if you're going to go there.

Meds Cave is pretty much in cheddar too. Personally I really like it (as a limestone cave with <10 lines, anyway) but others hate it. There's an excellent topo floating around somewhere (where excellent = weird, funny, slightly disturbing).

Brean Down has a couple of fun traverses and is generally pretty sunny. Excellent views of the mud flats and static caravans.

Gollums cave all the worst bits of parisellas without any of the good bits. Added crack heads to keep it interesting. It does stay pretty dry though, and the views down the gorge are pretty good.

Avon Gorge has a smattering of problems around the sea walls area as well as a few short routes which can be highballed.

ed: reviews for some of the ones you linked above.

Ring road boulders pretty limited would be a generous description. Nice rock but very few actual lines and very many eliminates.

Bourton combe home of the low ball eliminate traverse, though if that's your bag there's a lot of choice (i.e. there's a lot of holds on the traverse, many of which can be eliminated)

Snuff mills/frome valley sandstone good for some sketchy highballing. Purist esoterica.

Winterbourne down kind of frome valley but worth mentioning separately as it's actually pretty good for some highballing. Nice spot by a river.

[monkoffunk]

If grotty is what you like you won’t be disappointed by Bristol!

I have some beta for the approach to the ring road boulder if you like. It’s like a tiny piece of font but without the same quality. (I think it actually is the same sandstone era/formation or whatever). There are a couple of relatively nice problems there, in the 7A to 7B range. There are also the odd couple further down the valley. The lowball ones there are a bit crap looking and the rock quality is variable, but things like Apocalypto 7B are pretty decent by all accounts. Several pads and spot required to be safe. (Or even a cheeky top rope/headpoint required; but I’ve lost track of the ethics there and the sandstone isn’t as hard in that part of the valley).

A few problems from ring road at 8.45 here:
Also have this sort of nonsense: https://instagram.com/p/BTKU85sBMbM/

Apocalypto:

Gollum’s cave is pretty crap really. I did used to enjoy the old French 7a+ circuit there when I was younger. Worth a visit for the pathologically curious.


Avon gorge has a few more problems. The 7A arête problem at sea walls provided a little entertainment when driving past on the way out of Bristol once, not worth any sort of special visit.

Further afield, yes you have Biblins, never been though and unaware of the restrictions, but if you head to Cheddar then you have the delights of the meds cave, truely the jewel in the crown of Bristol esoteric bouldering. The full guide is available, can email it to you, but not on that google drive due to some maybe reasonable censorship.


Sandpoint and Middlehope is closer to Weston Super Mare, Brean Down kind of direction. There you have the Prow which is an excellent tidal 7B and a couple of new problems that aren’t entirely easy to find.





That’s maybe enough to be getting on with.

[Duma]

Croscombe is the spelling if you're (very) keen and trying to find it on the other channel.

[r-man]

Infrequent Bristol vistor...

I tried Sally in the Woods when I was in Bristol. There was a steep 7B traverse that looked appealing on youtube, but it turns out the holds are grim. Perhaps other stuff there could be fun. Lots of ticks though, beware!

Next time I'm there, I'm keen to try Sand Point. Vids on youtube suggest there are at least a couple of good problems (maybe even really good?) - The Prow and Litany Against Fear/Arakis. Edit: I see this has now been mentioned, alongside the label "excellent."

Heard mixed reviews about Toll Road crag, any opinions?

And what's this? Any knowledge? https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=19578#overview

[monkoffunk]

I think the Sandpoint problems are excellent, the issue is simply the variety. The Prow is completely stand alone, there is nothing else there. Towel always required to dry hold as it is basically underwater at high tide.

Arrakis etc is brilliant but in a dank cove and I’d guess perma wet through winter.

[remus]

I think the Sandpoint problems are excellent, the issue is simply the variety. The Prow is completely stand alone, there is nothing else there. Towel always required to dry hold as it is basically underwater at high tide.

Arrakis etc is brilliant but in a dank cove and I’d guess perma wet through winter.

Very true. Quite a drive from Bristol for a small handful of problems. Personally I thought the prow was quite eliminate too, though it does have some decent climbing once you get stuck in.

[Duma]

What mof said re sand point - the prow is on it's own, the others are hard to find and likely damp. Nice spot tho. (and The Prow is good, and logical)

Agreed re the painful holds on the combine harvester boulder at Bathford.

I've lived in Bris for over a decade and been to toll road once - didn't put my boots on. Even if you like that sort of thing I very much doubt it'll dry out during winter (N facing and tidal)

[SA Chris]

Can't believe it's over 16 years since I moved away! I really liked the Combine Harvester boulder; some of the pockets have sharp lips, but the rock is generally good. Looks like a lot more has been done since shurt and i used to go down there of an evening. We never named or claimed owt.

[AMorris]

And what's this? Any knowledge? https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=19578#overview

That right there is a particularly irritating unresolved mystery. Tom was keeping it secret until he had done everything up to 7B ish back in '13, but never revealed where it was and consequently it remains an enigma.

I bumped into him at Huntsham back then and asked where it was, he didn't outright give me the location but did say that it's actually in one of the older wye valley guide books (as a trad crag, I suspect) and would not take a great deal of effort to work out.

Beyond that I don't know much about it.

[Plattsy]

Thanks for all the info folks. A newly developed sore elbow might prevent a proper session but if the weather is ok I'm planning on a bimble around the Ring Road boulders and perhaps also a trip to Huntsham too.

That prow on the coast does look good though! One to keep in mind.

[T_B]

Huntsham is really worthwhile for a session. The rock on Ames Low (7a+) is excellent.

[SA Chris]

Don't forget the mighty Haresfield Beacon. A gem in the crown of Cotswold climbing.

[cheque]

Don't forget the mighty Haresfield Beacon. A gem in the crown of Cotswold climbing.

  I combined this with a shit crag called Castle Rock on a day in Gloucestershire after my other half had done a run down there. Haresfield Beacon's not bad although there's not much more than a visit's worth for most people who post on here.

At Castle Rock I attempted the traverse but went too high (I assume) at a crucial point and had an absolute gripper pumping across at too-high-than-you'd-want-to-fall height on polished crap before finally reaching a point I could do a jellylegged downclimb from. There's surely no genre of climb more likely to be utterly sandbagged than the traverses at "local" crags!

There was a guy shunting all the routes one after the other who I asked whether I'd gone too high or not. He just told me that he'd never done the traverse as "going across isn't climbing". One of the few crags I've left vowing never to return to.

[andy popp]

"going across isn't climbing"

Do people still climb girdles? I used to love them. And as we're Bristol focused on this thread I can't do better than recommend The Equator as a grand day out.

[SA Chris]

Haresfield Beacon's not bad although there's not much more than a visit's worth for most people who post on here.

I actually really enjoyed the traverse of the lower bit by the tree, but it's not really climbing, just good to get pumped out your head on a lunchtime between business calls.

[Duma]

Thanks for all the info folks. A newly developed sore elbow might prevent a proper session but if the weather is ok I'm planning on a bimble around the Ring Road boulders and perhaps also a trip to Huntsham too.

That prow on the coast does look good though! One to keep in mind.

Huntsham was in decent nick today - sadly the same cannot be said for my core...

[Plattsy]

Spent a couple of hours at the Ring Road boulder. The lower section was wet from seepage so a lot of stuff wasn't climbable, especially to the left. Central arete, the nose and the wall to the right were dry and enjoyable with decent friction even though it felt a little humid. Think it needs slightly warmer/dryer weather.

Hidden wall was very wet and the cave wet underneath.

With more time I'd like to check Huntsham next time I'm down that way.

[monkoffunk]

Anybody have any specific information on the Choice Wall boulder problems?  I may have a chance to get down there next weekend, quite keen to try Peace on Prince wall (if it’s dry, not regrown with ivy etc) but also might check out some of the Choice problems.

Just remember it being a bit hard to work out where everything started. Bit of info in this thread:

https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php?topic=30963.0;all

Does anyone know if any photos exist of Crystal Tips or Most Choice? Not sure if Connoisseur’s will seem to high but imagine it will be as far to the right as I go!

[chickencurry60]

Don't have any pics but Most choice is fairly obvious - through the scoop a little to the left of Connoisseur's. I remember being slightly lost on crystal tips but if you're left of Most choice and it feels really hard you're not far off.

I'm sure I remember someone making a mini topo on paint for the stuff by the prince during lockdown but I can't find it, perhaps someone else might be able to dig it up?