[Pantontino]

Gentlemen, gentlemen, please settle down. The Wow Prow may not be quite as 'Wow' as some folk were expecting, but it is still a cool looking line.

Yer heads were just twisted from all the drinking.

[Houdini]

Pantontino wrote:

Yer heads were just twisted from all the blood drinking.





Yeah - you twisted fucking freaks! I just wanted to go bouldering!  I had no idea you were a bunch of Vampires!  Thank fuck I used loads of garlic that night.   Must be how I survived.

[a dense loner]

went back to angel bay on sunday. of the 8 or so people there 4 didn't bother with boots and spent better time throwin small pebbles at larger ones. it really is still shit

[AndyR]

Solitude is, without doubt, world class, but very little else is even close.

Solidarity, please. It's a Polish theme.

[BenF]

went back to angel bay on sunday. of the 8 or so people there 4 didn't bother with boots and spent better time throwin small pebbles at larger ones. it really is still shit

The Bay?  Shit?   

I presume that the tide was up then?  So, so wrong.  Okay, so it's no Isatis, but quality it is.  But then we've been through this before haven't we?   

[Pantontino]

Oops - double post.

[Pantontino]

What's the matter Dense, you fail on Sonic Boom again.  

Too much crimping - you gotta work on the open hand stuff!

[Fiend]

Good topic!

I would second The Oxstones as the biggest bag of flange I've been too. Two decent problems amongst a load of small, green, choss. I bet andi's got it on his ticklist.

Apart from that I can't think of any really...

[BenF]

Wankwell.  Yet I know I'll get dragged up there at some point this year.

Thirlmere boulders (the ones in the lake, which says it all really).  Very poor venue indeed.

Little Font, Kentmere.  A couple of reasonable problems and a heap of rubbish (I know, I'm sure if I could climb V11 I'd get more out of it). 

Sorry if there's a theme to these venues, I'm not that down on the Lakes but these places really don't do it for me.

[Houdini]

The Breck looks ripe for inclusion - but I haven't been.  I was working with some lads not long back who instead of going to Pex went to the Breck.  When I quizzed them they snickered and raised their eyebrows weirdly and said "Ah - Crucial venue.  You should go."

[fatneck]

Indeed you should Mr Houdini...
Has recently had some nice benches and a path installed. Haven't seen any needles for ages, the grass is growing back (except where the little twats were having a fire last time I was there) and there seems to have been a slackening in broken glass accumulations of late, so you've got no excuse!

Wankwell.  Yet I know I'll get dragged up there at some point this year.

You knows it bra....!

[Houdini]

(My excuse is excellent:  I've an appointment with the Finnish arctic circle;  The Breck must wait.  Just hold off opening a Places Not To Go In Finland thread for a while.)

[Monolith]

if it was possible to teleport yourself to the breck, id say go. otherwise dont bother. There are some good problems there, but the sheer amount of junk i encountered there the other day almost made me regret the 4 mile drive to it. would need a lot of TLC i rekon in order to say it was worth visiting by non-locals. may be of interest to those wanting to repeat Hastons masterpiece though maybe??

[a dense loner]

sos for the late reply guys. with regards to sonic boom, never tried it never goin to. i consciously leave all the scrappy bits for Jim to play on

Fatters n Pantos in all seriousness do you think Angel Bay is good?

"I'll tell you for why. There's a man at the end with beady eyes..."

[fatneck]

I reckon AB is an excellent venue. Was there with the kids last week and had a good session. What more can you ask than for a nice range of problems right through the grades, relatively easy access and all manner of sea life to spot (seals, birds etc)? Not to mention crawling into all the little crevices beneath the boulders and building dens etc....

[Pantontino]

I think it is easy to get the wrong impression of Angel Bay. If the pebble levels are too high (obscuring sit down starts) or too low (i.e. leaving a hard rock landing), or more commonly, if the humidity levels are high, it does lose a lot of its appeal.

But, visit on a fresh breezy day, with average pebble levels and you can't fault it. I would say it's got some of the best mid grade problems in the area. I actually like the pebble levels to shift about as it feels like you're at a different crag each time.

As Fatneck says, there is plenty of other stuff to mess about with. Shotputting competitions anybody?

[SA Chris]

Re: Pebble levels. Is there any pattern with these regarding seasons? ie Low in Winter, High in summer or vice versa? I found some stuff down on the coast near me last autumn that looked like it could be OK if the pebble elvel dropped a couple of feet, and was wondering if it's worth another look.

[Pantontino]

I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that the situation is more volatile in the winter (more storms to shift the stuff around).

The first time I went to Cae Du about 10 years ago I looked at the cave area and dismissed it as a poor venue. Eventually after hearing more and more positive reports I went back and was pleasantly surprised to find an entirely different looking crag (the pebbles having dropped by a metre or two). I've sinced noticed how, in a typical visit, one section of the crag will be rammed with pebbles, whilst the others are open for climbing. It's as if a bulk of pebbles is getting moved back and forth along the crag, like a big mobile scouring pad!

[SA Chris]

Cheers Simon, will go check it out now. Well next low tide evening anyway.

[Monolith]

As Fatneck says, there is plenty of other stuff to mess about with. Shotputting competitions anybody?

Ahhh, alternative activities at Angel Bay. Our posse once invented the humble game of Rockball there. You should try this.Upto 4 players should sit around the central big stone in the middle of the shore. You will all be at different levels, and of course these levels always change. The idea is to alternate turns around the circle, with each player hurling a rock at the central stone. Given the multitude of varying angles of the main stone, your thrown rock will come off at any numbers of angles and fly at random in any direction. Alternate positions in the circle accordingly.
Winner is the person who takes the most casualties in one over (6 throws per rockball competitor an over, as in cricket).
Truly an on the edge game, it'll sure test your reaction times and ability to dodge fast flying rocks.

Yeah, so I really quite love angel bay.

[r-man]

Damn, wish I'd read this thread properly before. More votes (how many am I allowed?) for the Stirrup Boulders. Dirty rock, poor landings, uninspiring lines.

Also, at Eskdale Fisherground, why on earth are there two pages in the rockfax devoted to the Animal Area? One boulder above head height, the rest are rubbish. The Diamond Area was ok though, if only because Rob's Wall is great and Strong Arete is quite fun. Plus it's only 30sec from the car. Didn't visit any of the other areas - has anyone checked these out? Wasn't inspired by the guide.

[Houdini]

Lebanon.

[SA Chris]

Ravensheugh in Northumberland. Went on Saturday in search of breezy cool North facing rock. Unfortunately it's filthy; all rock covered with a layer of dry greenness that is totally frictionless. The only bits that were clean are the west facing bits and they were in the direct sun.