[mark20]

Something a little more lighthearted...
Favourite descent routes
For me it's the little polished bum slide by Flying Buttress at Stanage

Show offs who name graded routes will be puntered, and no talk of lowering off please 

[Bonjoy]

The chimney/flake descent on the right/east side of the Robin Hood's cave bit of Stanage.

[Fiend]

The route by which an otherwise sensible and worthwhile debate descends into an absolute shitshow of back-and-forth repetitive arguments 


P.S. Anything involving downclimbing a tree.

P.P.S. The descent from the Lone Boulder at Stanage in which you scuttle down, facing out, the easy rib left of the lone slab until you can pretty much step off onto the next boulder, all the time pondering why it's easier to smear down that than smear up it.

[Adam Lincoln]

Not that i have first hand experience but the tree to get off dreamtime block in Swizzy must be pretty cool.

[turnipturned]

Surely the jump off Horror arête at Bridestones has to be up there!

[andy_e]

I always enjoy the sequence descending the chimney from the Demon Wall Roof break. The downclimb of Ruthven has some fantastic jugs too.

[User deactivated.]

I always enjoy the sequence descending the chimney from the Demon Wall Roof break.

Any good eliminates?

[Will Hunt]

The little gully between The Sole and Craven Buttress at Crookrise.

Getting off the Cubic Block at Brimham isn't graded but sees many near misses and dirtied trousers (you have to slide down this little chute towards a yawning gully but hop over the gully without falling to your death). Disproportionately travelled by VDiff climbers as that is who the Block is most popular with.

Getting off The Fort at Eavestone used to involve straddling a fallen tree trunk and shuffling over to the mainland. It snapped on Robin Nicholson when he was researching the definitive and deposited him at the bottom.

Sorry, but some of the best descent routes are graded climbs:
The Jolly Pleasant Scramble at Crookrise (famous for being climbed in the wet on a BMC meet, attracting the ire of ignorant internet hooligans) makes a good descent on a crag with few convenient descents.

Reversing Cannon Route (Diff) is the easiest way off Cannon Rock at Brimham and is great.

Also at Brimham is Castle Corner which is a lovely little adventure and makes a good descent that isn't much harder than the normal way down (which is often wet or covered in snow/ice/cragfast children).

[andy_e]

I always enjoy the sequence descending the chimney from the Demon Wall Roof break.

Any good eliminates?

Yeah, you have to do a hands-free stand on the little polished nubbin at the base of the other side of the chimney

[Adam Lincoln]

Broad stand on Scafell can be pretty exciting sometimes. Is that graded?

[duncan]

The simultaneous counterbalance abseil off the summit of Big Picket Rock at Ladram Bay.  A characterful descent from a characterful route.  It has big, flat, and earthy summit so the amount of friction in the system makes it less hazardous than you might imagine. Good communication between both parties is still desirable.

[36chambers]

Surely the jump off Horror arête at Bridestones has to be up there!

+1

if you could simply walk off the back, the climb itself wouldn't be half as intimidating.

[andy popp]

I know a lot of people hate it (and I know abseil stations have come and gone, no idea if there's one now), but getting off the top of the Idwal Slabs adds a certain spice.

[jwi]

The best downclimb I have done was on one of the domes in Joshua Tree in the Hidden Valley. I cannot remember exactly which, Intersection Rock maybe? I was just following two elderly free soloist down a maze of chimneys, sloping ledges, a jump and a short section of a hand crack. One of the few routes I have done that is trivial as a down climb but probably close to impossible in the other direction. I would never have found the way down myself.

[jwi]

The worst descent route is surely the downclimb from Vågakallen on Lofoten. I am not the only one who thinks so

[Will Hunt]

Getting down to Main Cliff and traversing into your route.

[Adam Lincoln]

Getting down to Main Cliff and traversing into your route.

And then getting back to the bags in climbing shoes!

[andy popp]

Getting down to Main Cliff and traversing into your route.

And then getting back to the bags in climbing shoes!

And the dilemma of where to change shoes - there's no ideal choice.

[tommytwotone]

Getting off the Joker / Marie Rose block at Cuvier is always a bit more spicy than you want it to be, similarly the way down from the La Statique etc block at Isatis isn't a nice one!

[northern yob]

The descent off Jebel Rum was better than the route up it for me! Made a little more interesting in darkness without a head torch! Like real life snakes and ladders.

The East ledges can be fun in its own right, especially if you have it dialled.

Closer to home another vote for horror arête

[Rocksteady]

Getting off the Joker / Marie Rose block at Cuvier is always a bit more spicy than you want it to be, similarly the way down from the La Statique etc block at Isatis isn't a nice one!

So true!

I don't know if this counts, but I love the descent into Chair Ladder in Cornwall. The little path around the zawn seems improbable, then hopping down something that looks like a cliff but is easily descended, down huge lichen-covered blocks of granite to the sea.

[scragrock]

The downclimb on the Promontory at Sheigra and the descent into the Land of the Giants {also Sheigra} is worth a mention mainly due to its remoteness, definitely adds a little spice. 

[dunnyg]

I did a multipitch descent in the dolomites (falzerego pass?) down a series of trenches and tunnels from the war. Proper good. Think you might have done it too Will, the crag name escapes me.

Questing down a first ascent in Morocco. Topped out a ridge with no idea what the descent would be, cruising along the easier finish ridge, we spy a house on the ridge. A lovely path wound down through a spread out peaceful village with dappled shade, depositing us close to the base. Amazing luck.

The dwr descent is a local favourite.

[Duncan campbell]

The descent into the Old Redoubt? Dark, wet, short tidal window... whats not to love? First time I did it I got wet, second time was a little more successful, third time I did it as part of MMT.

Another vote for Horror Arete @ Bridestones - 

[Stu Littlefair]

Nice to see some love for the Demon Wall chimney; it always seems very elegant. Is it Best Forgotten Art that has footage of Arthur Dolphin speed-downclimbing it, or have I dreamt it?

@jwi - I think that does sound like Intersection rock, which is a great descent! I enjoyed it more than the ski tracks, which provided an "only blasphemy" type experience that wasn't pleasant. If you liked that, you should try the Demon wall chimney some day.