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Swanage / Portland area family friendly sport climbing (Read 1117 times)

crzylgs

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Looking for any additional recommendations. Am going to be spending 2-3 days climbing down there in a couple of weeks - hopefully the 'heatwave' has subsided by then but who knows. So anywhere that gets shade would be a big plus point.

The'll be 4 adults and 2 children (7+9yrs - both will climb on top rope outdoors on easier routes), looking for pleasant climbing in the 6s, maybe a couple in the 7s for me to try and ideally something super easy for the kids to play on.

Winspit has been recommended and looks like it ticks all the boxes... Any other suggestions?

steveyo

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Battle ship Main cliff? (used to take groups there but it was a while ago, i think there is some shade to be had but my memory could be way off)

The Main cliff has some good harder routes and the Fallen Block has a bunch of easier shorter routes.

crzylgs

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Thanks for the reply - will check it out.

For some reason I can't reply on mobile or my laptop (error when trying to sign in...) and hadn't turned my PC on for a couple of days!

Rocksteady

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Dancing Ledge at Swanage fits the bill. There is a natural pool for swimming in the ledge system below the quarry too. The 7a in the corner 'Brutal Equation' is class and gets a lot of shade.

At Portland the only family friendly crag I can think of is The Cuttings, but the style there is quite particular and a lot of people don't like the routes in the 6s. Also the 'easy routes' that groups use on the way in are polished as hell and no longer particularly easy and are certainly not any good.
Good routes at the Cuttings IMO:

Quality Family Day 4+
Chips with Everything 5
Ectomorph 6a
Rusty the Redneck...etc 6a+
Consomme 6a+
Brief Encounter 6b (need to be confident at the grade)
Plus the three routes in 'Bottom Deckio' - all around 6a
Holy Hand Grenade at 7a is good
Mindmeld gets 7a+, soft IMO but bouldery and fun





SA Chris

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+1 on Dancing Ledge, some cool caves / recesses to explore too. Expect it will be busy though, so parking might be an issue unless there early.

crzylgs

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Sorry for the slow reply - thanks both for the info. Dancing ledge does look very cool and I can see myself spending half the day in that natural pool if the heat levels remain similar. Will hopefully spend a day there, we're camping fairly local so fingers crossed can beat the rush one morning and parking won't be an issue.

 

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