[teestub]

Does everyone just need to toughen up a bit??  I'm sure some crack aficionados are watching this and thinking isn't the pain part of the experience.

Whatever those masochists get up to is their business but bouldering on nice holds is way preferable to horrible Tor granite!

[Will Hunt]

Can't believe the shit being talked about NTBTA. The start is the entry exam that allows you to enjoy the ramp. It's popular enough as it is. Imagine how overrun and trite it would be if the start was a path. I love it.

+1 for Sulky Little Boys. It's an OK problem but it's lauded as one of the best. The climbing on it is really overrated.

I was very disappointed with Sloping Beauty. Again, not a terrible problem if you can ignore the hideous sharpness, but not nearly as good as its rep.

Titfield Thunderbolt. I'd never really got round to it and then, one day, I ended up underneath it. Imagine my excitement. A 7B+ dyno. I love dynos. And then I discover that the crux is pulling on using the correct starting holds and the top jump is about 5a. And so overgraded! It must be 7A or 7A+ for the pull on? I've seen people doing it off a huge pad stack. How do they fucking look themselves in the mirror.

Baby Spice. Another arete touted as a regional ultra-classic which completely fails to live up to expectations.

[User deactivated.]

the top jump is about 5a. And so overgraded! It must be 7A or 7A+ for the pull on?

Strange, I found the pull on to be about 5a from one pad and the jump about 7B!

[Will Hunt]

the top jump is about 5a. And so overgraded! It must be 7A or 7A+ for the pull on?

Strange, I found the pull on to be about 5a from one pad and the jump about 7B!

I think it's supposed to be started from the two lowest crimps on the curving feature. Some people seem to start halfway up the crag 

[36chambers]

the top jump is about 5a. And so overgraded! It must be 7A or 7A+ for the pull on?

Strange, I found the pull on to be about 5a from one pad and the jump about 7B!

Will Hunt talking bollocks about grades yet again shocker.

[36chambers]

Soft on the G; nice shapes, horrible climbing.

+1

Full Power's even worse, where the hardest move is placing a blind heel correctly before you even start to climb.

[spidermonkey09]

 I really like NTBTA and Sulky Little Boys. Accept that the climbing doesn't match the quality of the line but that's true for loads of problems I think. The feeling of doing it for the first time was brilliant for me. SLB is a technical challenge and probably suffers from being conditions dependent at one of the most conditions dependent crags I've visited. Again though, nothing unusual there.

I nominate Ringpiece. The crimp on that thing is like a bread knife and it's not even good rock.

[Ross Barker]

I was a bit disappointed by Brain Dead at Cratcliffe. Not bad by any means but the moves left me a bit underwhelmed at the top even without properly lanking it!

[AMorris]

Deliverance. The problem is great and all, but the siege squad of absolute weapons with their half dozen massive snap pads, baggy solutions scrabbling at feet which are accompanied by massive tick marks whether they are useful or not, and just generally being chodes fucking ruins the problem for me.

I absolutely love the edge problem at the cromlech, but I kind of agree with its place on here! Between the sit start which isn't a sit start (unless you start on the hidden mono), the stand start which now requires you to be 7ft tall with a positive ape, and suffering from a milder strain of deliverance chode squad syndrome, it earns it's place. I do enjoy watching peoples first encounter with those holds though, always a treat.

[Bradders]

Titfield Thunderbolt.

I don't think the stand is a poor quality problem at all, it just suffers from too many people cheating themselves and starting high.

The sit is superb I think. No "where do I pull on" ambiguity, and delicate, barn doory tech all the way. One of my favourite climbing memories, topping it out in the dark with just my phone lighting the way.

[36chambers]

Boulder problems that look good, sound good, are good in theory, and disproportionately horrible in reality, for reasons to be argued over below.

All morpho problems ever?

[Fiend]

I dunno, the 3% of problems that are morphologically easier for the short seem pretty inherently good.

[tommytwotone]

Can't believe the shit being talked about NTBTA. The start is the entry exam that allows you to enjoy the ramp. It's popular enough as it is. Imagine how overrun and trite it would be if the start was a path. I love it.

Spoken like a true lankster.

[cheque]

I can’t be the only person whose enthusiasm to climb T Crack was extinguished when they discovered how many rules it has.

Does everyone just need to toughen up a bit??  I'm sure some crack aficionados are watching this and thinking isn't the pain part of the experience.

[tomtom]

Amazed Peak lime hasn't had a mention yet. Mind you - it all generally looks like shit at first acquaintance...

[Fiend]

Even looking at T-Crack makes me feel simultaneously ill, and grateful that I'm not good enough to attempt it. Don't 7B climbers have anything better to do??

[remus]

Amazed Peak lime hasn't had a mention yet. Mind you - it all generally looks like shit at first acquaintance...

...and then on closer acquaintance they blossom like a beautiful flower, revealing their inner beauty to the true disciples.

[nai]

T-Crack climbs really well despite the rules on the block at the start (logical) and avoiding the chip (obviously).

NTBTA great by me, crux guarding the entry then a matter of holding your nerve. Perfect.

But yeah, SLB was disappointing. Maybe fill the pocket in

[Ged]

AWOL Apprentice at Tintagel.

Oh no! This is on my list for the spring/summer if/when we're finally allowed to travel properly again.

Fear not cofe, I'll fight its corner. Tape up your index finger and it's fine. Your finger basically slots in like a bomber rock 6 with no pain. Great problem (and a great holiday tick if you catch my drift)

[Ged]

Literally everything on SW moorland granite that is considered classic. Pulling on the rock is invariably grim, even when the features and moves are great. Especially true if you're 80kg+. I think I pulled onto the Wave about three times before going through. It's not so much that I think these things are categorically shit, but instead that they can never be truly classic (in the national sense) if you place any value in the ergonomics and aesthetics of holds. Which I very much do.

As much as it upsets me, this is so true. I always think I'm going to be psyched for dartmoor projects when winter comes around, and I always end up going to the coastal limestone. And I live 20 mins from bonehill etc.

This year I've been putting some time into Devon Sent. Amazing line, great moves, consistent difficulty, lovely location... But my god the holds are grim. I generally manage about 4 good goes before I start going through. Which is good for family credit as I'm only out the house for an hour.

[Ged]

Literally everything on SW moorland granite that is considered classic. Pulling on the rock is invariably grim, even when the features and moves are great. Especially true if you're 80kg+. I think I pulled onto the Wave about three times before going through. It's not so much that I think these things are categorically shit, but instead that they can never be truly classic (in the national sense) if you place any value in the ergonomics and aesthetics of holds. Which I very much do.

So much for southern softies eh?!  I'm a fan of the granite down here (needs must!).  Like any rock type the holds and the quality varies hugely.  The 'monkey paw' on the Wave is infamously sharp.  I would nominate Devon Sent though, a stunning line on an impressive boulder but my god, for Dartmoor granite, the holds are viciously sharp right from the start.  If you can dispatch technical 7c+ in 2 goes then maybe it is a classic, for everyone else it's a horror show that'll see to your tips in quick time.

AWOL Apprentice at Tintagel.

Oh no! This is on my list for the spring/summer if/when we're finally allowed to travel properly again.

Fear not Cofe, a well placed bit of taping on your right index finger, it becomes a comfortable pocket and an absolute classic again.

I replied to the thread before reading your post grant and seem to have said precisely the same thing as you! Great minds

[JamieG]

Can't believe the shit being talked about NTBTA. The start is the entry exam that allows you to enjoy the ramp. It's popular enough as it is. Imagine how overrun and trite it would be if the start was a path. I love it.

If only this was true. I've seen numerous people just use a french start to get past the first move(s) and then carry on up the ramp. To be fair I don't blame them. It is probably overall a better problem like that. More consistent challenge rather than a stopper move off the floor.

The direct finish To Be Or Not To Be is a much better problem all round but less aesthetic. Although I have never actually latched the top dyno. Its scary and hard to commit fully. But getting established is much more consistent difficulty and better moves. Definitely one for a few pads and a spot.

[BrutusTheBear]

Literally everything on SW moorland granite that is considered classic. Pulling on the rock is invariably grim, even when the features and moves are great. Especially true if you're 80kg+. I think I pulled onto the Wave about three times before going through. It's not so much that I think these things are categorically shit, but instead that they can never be truly classic (in the national sense) if you place any value in the ergonomics and aesthetics of holds. Which I very much do.

So much for southern softies eh?!  I'm a fan of the granite down here (needs must!).  Like any rock type the holds and the quality varies hugely.  The 'monkey paw' on the Wave is infamously sharp.  I would nominate Devon Sent though, a stunning line on an impressive boulder but my god, for Dartmoor granite, the holds are viciously sharp right from the start.  If you can dispatch technical 7c+ in 2 goes then maybe it is a classic, for everyone else it's a horror show that'll see to your tips in quick time.

AWOL Apprentice at Tintagel.

Oh no! This is on my list for the spring/summer if/when we're finally allowed to travel properly again.

Fear not Cofe, a well placed bit of taping on your right index finger, it becomes a comfortable pocket and an absolute classic again.

I replied to the thread before reading your post grant and seem to have said precisely the same thing as you! Great minds

If Cofe forgets to bring finger tape to the Taj now he deserves to be smited by that pocket.

[Ged]

If he walks away with a bloodied stump instead of a finger, he better not say we didn't warn him.

[nai]

Not national levels of disappointment but Heroes at Baslow looks a really cool feature as you approach it from the right and you imagine clamping up the prow, but unfortunately the line of least resistance leads you up the left side and you actually only touch the right side once.  It's not touted as a classic but feels like it's cutting the corner and missing out on what the problem should be