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Skye bouldering development (or lack thereof) (Read 15482 times)

SA Chris

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I think the boulders still boulder, it's just a question of where.

Alex-the-Alex

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Have you spoken to Rob Lovell? He is in charge of their guidebook stuff and is a Young Person who like things like  :o Sport Climbing  :o


No I havnt talked to Rob. Perhapse im being unfair. I agree though that if they intend to stay the defacto archivists of scottish climbing they need to think about including bouldering and doing a decent job of it. I dont know if they will. I also dont know if id want their new pals churning out clean soulless topos for every bouldering spot  :sick:...
I suspect this is partly because there aren't any decent modern style bouldering walls in the Highlands.
3 wise monkeys has been around a few years and is well stowed out most nights, but doesnt seem to have led to many more getting out to glen Tarbet and the likes nearby. They actually tried their own mapping thing but it kind of fizzled out too... https://blog.threewisemonkeysclimbing.com/blog/lochaber-bouldering-map

Regarding Skye I spent a day exploring around Talisker bay and remember a really good lloking boulder in the jumble to the north. probs more too. Def worth an afternoon with a pad. Also ran up to the ones above the talisker road. They were more the usual scottish fare: dripping heather bunnets, bogs and tussocks, and gaping chasms between heather. Crossed off the list. I did meet a big one eyed ginger tom who was quite friendly which was odd as the farm was a few miles away at least  :shrug:
« Last Edit: July 30, 2020, 08:02:28 pm by Alex-the-Alex »

teestub

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I suspect this is partly because there aren't any decent modern style bouldering walls in the Highlands.
3 wise monkeys has been around a few years and is well stowed out most nights, but doesnt seem to have led to many more getting out to glen Tarbet and the likes nearby.

He said decent modern bouldering walls, not 90’s throwbacks 😄

carlisle slapper

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Everyone seems to agree its woefully under staffed up north. All the rock and none of the people. Peace and quiet comes with its downsides for fast info off the ground.
I went up coruisk on a trad/caff following trip and just bouldered away the evenings and a morning on the first trip and a couple of evenings on the second trip when the grit aficionados weren't upto the slab tekkers on one of the nice blank gabbro slabs  ::) Caff has some pics in an old blog and i've popped one or two on Flickr. O'connor where art thou"  is a great 7B arete by the path on the south side near to the base of the dubh ridge.
As it was accidental bouldering whilst tradding i didn't take any pics for documenting the faces and half due to busy life/work/kids and half due to the peace and quiet in the valley have left it. Personally i don't retro claim stuff i forget to write up before it gets claimed as i think the admin is half the battle.

Get the boat in if you go as the bike access is crap. Would be worth taking the bike on Raasay though and cycling the east side. It's not too pricey and adds to the uniqueness.

Thanks for that 3WM info Alex, that impossible overhang in glen nevis looks very possible to me, especially the right arete.

Good work on the new arete at Tarvie Gaz, glad to see you got back to that. Do you reckon the wall right of the 6a would go?

Torridon has defo lost a bit of its magic at the Jumble and there has been alot of path work since my last visit. No bad thing really. The North coast 500 is whats really changing the area IMO, its turning the nicest part of the UK into a gumball style backdrop to whizz by. That and most of the people who benefit are cafe and BandB owners who moved up there for the peace and quiet so it makes them more stressed.




GazM

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He said decent modern bouldering walls, not 90’s throwbacks 😄

I wasn't going to say anything, but yeah...
I've been a few times and it's fine although a bit of a sweat box in summer, but it ain't no TCA/Works etc.

teestub

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The North coast 500 is whats really changing the area IMO, its turning the nicest part of the UK into a gumball style backdrop to whizz by. That and most of the people who benefit are cafe and BandB owners who moved up there for the peace and quiet so it makes them more stressed.

100% this,  I was pretty shocked how bad it was last time we went up, and as we were staying round on Applecross, every drive was stressful having to pull in for shed driving bellends who had no idea what a passing place was for.

Next trip to the NW will be planned to be off that route!

Alex-the-Alex

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Thanks for that 3WM info Alex, that impossible overhang in glen nevis looks very possible to me, especially the right arete.



Its a really impressive boulder. Theres another mammoth boulder back there too, but you might need your jungle gear.

He said decent modern bouldering walls, not 90’s throwbacks 😄

I wasn't going to say anything, but yeah...
I've been a few times and it's fine although a bit of a sweat box in summer, but it ain't no TCA/Works etc.

Hmm must be out of touch. Its like new tokyo compared to the Atlantis Cube.

JamieG

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most of the people who benefit are cafe and BandB owners who moved up there for the peace and quiet so it makes them more stressed.

Unfortunately I heard that that isn't even true. Locals complained that they weren't seeing much benefit since everyone just stocks up at the big supermarkets in places like Inverness. So all the locals are getting is rammed roads. Shame since the NW really is (in my highly biased opinion) the best part of the whole UK.

SA Chris

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Certainly some of the best rock, surf and scenery. Shame about the fucking midges.

GazM

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But the secret is it the weather is better outside midge season...

scragrock

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Yup midge is bad :devil-smiley:. But wait till September and they bugger off leaving cooler temps and the best bouldering and scenery in the Country :great:

« Last Edit: July 31, 2020, 08:28:15 am by scragrock »

JamieG

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To be honest, I don’t think they’re as bad in the NW as further south. Places like Loch Lomond are terrible. You just need to stick to the coast unless there’s a decent wind.

SA Chris

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But the secret is it the weather is better outside midge season...

And the surf.

duncan

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Have you spoken to Rob Lovell? He is in charge of their guidebook stuff and is a Young Person who like things like  :o Sport Climbing  :o

I’ve drawn Rob’s attention to this thread via a mutual friend. Or you could speak to him at Kilnsey!

fatneck

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So Andy, did you do a shit load of development?

Your shameful lack of commitment to social media leaves us all in the dark so I feel I have no option but to hassle you publicly  ;D

andy_e

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Sorry, I got distracted by mountain plodding. I did a nice (probably) new traverse called Obscene Kleftiko at a coastal venue that Bonjoy told me about. Other than that, I just stuck to the beaten track and went up to Coire Lagan area and over to Kishorn/Torridon a fair bit!

Thomnomnom

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A Carn Liath 7C+ went up last month: https://www.instagram.com/p/CE4IJiMjwXW/. Looks like a great wall.

SA Chris

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looks ace. bet you could spend a week there and never find it :)

gardinrm

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Great to see some harder routes in the North-west.

For what its worth (skimming this thread as a whole), I love it when people publicise new areas or problems in Scotland, be that through topos/guides, photos or videos. Whilst sitting forlorn in my dank little Manchester house, I need something to aspire to: particularly at the moment.

I do however find the notion of 'keeping an area unspoiled' a little difficult to stomach. Firstly, you only need to see Dave MacLeod's recent video of Glen Pean to know that there is endless rock in Scotland for those who want to find the unexplored. Or my own exploits at Sheigra, where you just need to walk 500m further north to find yet another huge jumble of unclimbed boulders. For me, the problem with this sort of rhetoric is that it is sometimes feels like a thinly veiled excuse for 'keeping it for myself'. When I first created my Sheigra guide, I was so unbelievable stoked that others had visited and enjoyed it like I had. Even when Mike Adams climbed that amazing arete I had been eyeing up and was too weak to climb, this just inspired me to go back and try harder.

So when I see people like Rob Thomas putting up cool problems at the Barry Valley (and really helpful little topos on UKC), I'm just desperate to try them out and hopefully find some new ones of my own. In short, please don't keep areas quiet but share them (even if you have projects still to do) so this little sad Scot can keep dreaming whilst the world implodes!

scragrock

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Great to see some harder routes in the North-west.

For what its worth (skimming this thread as a whole), I love it when people publicise new areas or problems in Scotland, be that through topos/guides, photos or videos. Whilst sitting forlorn in my dank little Manchester house, I need something to aspire to: particularly at the moment.

I do however find the notion of 'keeping an area unspoiled' a little difficult to stomach. Firstly, you only need to see Dave MacLeod's recent video of Glen Pean to know that there is endless rock in Scotland for those who want to find the unexplored. Or my own exploits at Sheigra, where you just need to walk 500m further north to find yet another huge jumble of unclimbed boulders. For me, the problem with this sort of rhetoric is that it is sometimes feels like a thinly veiled excuse for 'keeping it for myself'. When I first created my Sheigra guide, I was so unbelievable stoked that others had visited and enjoyed it like I had. Even when Mike Adams climbed that amazing arete I had been eyeing up and was too weak to climb, this just inspired me to go back and try harder.

So when I see people like Rob Thomas putting up cool problems at the Barry Valley (and really helpful little topos on UKC), I'm just desperate to try them out and hopefully find some new ones of my own. In short, please don't keep areas quiet but share them (even if you have projects still to do) so this little sad Scot can keep dreaming whilst the world implodes!
Hey Robbie
Thanks for the shout out, how’s you and the family?
I am currently not climbing due to some serious back issues unfortunately.
Have booked a cottage up by Polin beach for a week in early November ( hopefully I make it ). If the weather holds I will definitely be checking out the usual stuff plus more of your problems.
All the areas I have developed are on UKC with Topo’s, I am currently being persuaded to do a Strathnairn guide....I am swithering.
The question of Scottish areas being developed or Not is an interesting one. I think it treads the same path as basic conservation or environmental impact.
I bumped into Gaz M and both Chris H and Chris Card in the same week over in Torridon. We all mentioned that we had never seen the Highlands so busy or seen so many climbers in and around the Ship boulder.
No judgment but the numbers were eye opening.
Maybe some of the popular easy walk in locations in Scotland have naturally become honeypots and that’s okay, I suppose.
Thank goodness this will Never happen up in Sheigra.

ianabbot

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My best bouldering days have come from following up obscure stuff documented by Highland locals/expats, so I’m really appreciative of new esoterica being recorded.

I’ve added some recent lower-grade Strathnairn things on the new problems thread.

Rob – sorry to hear you’re injured, all the best with that!

gardinrm

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The question of Scottish areas being developed or Not is an interesting one. I think it treads the same path as basic conservation or environmental impact.
[/quote]

It does indeed. But let's not forget that most of the highlands has been extensively managed for a very long time (particularly in terms of sheep farming, shooting and forestry). We've already made an enormous environmental impact, the question is how we might move forwards. Hopefully when people visit these stunning areas they are impressed enough to think twice about leaving litter/fingertape/tick marks etc. But maybe I'm overly optimistic... :-\

Bonjoy

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Great to see some harder routes in the North-west.

For what its worth (skimming this thread as a whole), I love it when people publicise new areas or problems in Scotland, be that through topos/guides, photos or videos. Whilst sitting forlorn in my dank little Manchester house, I need something to aspire to: particularly at the moment.

I do however find the notion of 'keeping an area unspoiled' a little difficult to stomach. Firstly, you only need to see Dave MacLeod's recent video of Glen Pean to know that there is endless rock in Scotland for those who want to find the unexplored. Or my own exploits at Sheigra, where you just need to walk 500m further north to find yet another huge jumble of unclimbed boulders. For me, the problem with this sort of rhetoric is that it is sometimes feels like a thinly veiled excuse for 'keeping it for myself'. When I first created my Sheigra guide, I was so unbelievable stoked that others had visited and enjoyed it like I had. Even when Mike Adams climbed that amazing arete I had been eyeing up and was too weak to climb, this just inspired me to go back and try harder.

So when I see people like Rob Thomas putting up cool problems at the Barry Valley (and really helpful little topos on UKC), I'm just desperate to try them out and hopefully find some new ones of my own. In short, please don't keep areas quiet but share them (even if you have projects still to do) so this little sad Scot can keep dreaming whilst the world implodes!
I agree with you entirely on this.
New areas take the strain off old areas anyway.
As a rule Scottish areas even vaguely off the beaten track tend too suffer from too little traffic  not too much.
The fact that the most popular roadside boulder in Scotland is busy is not an argument to keep new areas a secret. No more than Stanage being popular is a reason to keep quite about Chossy Hollow West.
The only time I'd ever consider keeping quiet about a new area is if it's shit or the access is so fragile that any amount of visitors would be a disaster.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2020, 11:37:42 pm by Bonjoy »

SA Chris

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Scragrock, there's some great bouldering on the left side of Polin Beach at low tide if you've never climbed on it, might need a bit of a barnacle scrub, but nice for a quick hit.

scragrock

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Scragrock, there's some great bouldering on the left side of Polin Beach at low tide if you've never climbed on it, might need a bit of a barnacle scrub, but nice for a quick hit.
Oh thanks Chris, I will certainly check it out.
Is there a Topo anywhere or is it just a go/climb/enjoy kind of thing?

 

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