[Bubba]

posted by: guest date: 2002-10-06 time: 17:21:13 reply  x
  ever heard of any - i like climbing on slate but never heard of any bouldering - you know abuot any?


 
postId: 744 posted by: Simon Panton date: 2002-10-07 time: 12:09:55 reply  x
  In reply to post 731:
Slate has never been a favourite of mine, but if you like scratching
around on painful razors (on a rock medium with no discernable friction
qualities), then who am I to argue?
I have quizzed slate fans such as Will Perrin about the whereabouts of any
slate bouldering. He just muttered something about bouldering out the
starts of various routes. It seems that the rock (at least in the Dinorwic
quarries) does not lend itself to small hard problems with good landings.
A steep slate cutting has been recently developed in Coed Doctor ( the
woods at the DMM end of Llanberis. I reported this in Climber last month.

If you find anything else, then let me know.

Cheers, Simon.


 
postId: 746 posted by: mike date: 2002-10-07 time: 14:15:02 reply  x
  In reply to post 744:

For me friction is an important part of the bouldering experience which is
why grit is such a great rock to climb on.

Slate just doesn`t seem to lend itself to bouldering in the same way, it`s
about as attractive as polished limestone imho. Sure there must be
*something* around though with all that slate about in Beris...


 
postId: 747 posted by: dave date: 2002-10-07 time: 14:36:47 reply  x
  In reply to post 746:
There used to be a pic of some slate bouldering on Huffy`s site (if i
remember correctly) but his site has gone.

[Fiend]

Ah ha! A topic I was about to post. I'm interested in finding slate bouldering too (aside from Beacon Hill in Leics which is quite nice if limited).

Has anything turned up in the last year and a half?? What about the Lakes??

Failing that, any recommendations for bouldering that is the most similar to slate and would provide the best training for it??

[squeek]

Isn't all the slate in the lakes quarried?  Suppose you could always take a mat climb until sufficiently high then jump off?

I climbed slate in the rain once, that was fun.

[Bonjoy]

What about Forest Rock in Leicestershire, thats got slate bouldering i believe.

[Fiend]

Bonjoy, yup that's true but it's pretty rank to be honest. Routes look nice though.

Squeek, yup Lakes slate is quarried. Actually slate doesn't really exist, it's a quarried version of compressed mountain rock (not sure which type).

I guess I'm wondering if there were any 4-5m high quarries....or any fallen blocks....actually I guess the latter would just detonate on impact...

[Big Frank]

Many years ago before I was fat and weak, I lived in Cumbria, and there is a slate bouldering location, but it's not quarried. I can not remember the name off hand and can only recall it's in south lakeland not far from newby Bridge.

I'll look tonight at the guide.

It was ok.

[Jon_e]

ive climbed at dalt quarry in borrowdale, its near to the grange campsite on the walk up castle crag. although its bolted some of the routes could be considered as highball boulder problems if you had mats and spotters

[paulh]

Godrevy in Cornwall has some excellent slate bouldering, lots of overhanging walls which have been cut in kind of channels by the sea.

there was an article about it in OTE a while ago, it really is a good venue, and there was a vid of a hard problem there on Big Pebbles at one point.

Worth checking if you're in the area, and the surf is good there on a good day too

Paul

[hongkongstuey]

What about Forest Rock in Leicestershire, thats got slate bouldering i believe.

i had a few fun sessions there years ago - its not a huge crag but ok if you've an hour or two to kill

the aid route there is quite interesting too

[mireeves]

There are a couple of esoteric problems in and a round the dinorwic quarries but really not worth the walk im unless you are there to get scare on a rope, some of them require trainer to make them sufficently hard.

There is a long traverse on the edge of Twll Mawr, this was used by Ray Kay from time to time when he passed. Rock boots are cheating. It is just on the left as you are about to pass the hole on the way towards Nant Peris. He did mention some other stuff he did round there, which sounded slightly better, but only slightly i'd say.

There is a easyish arete to the right of the G'day arete, should you find yourself up there. Also a great little area for getting baked in the sun and toying with your inner artist, by making sculptures. Traners Only

The is a one handed mantel one bar projecting out of the bottom of never neverland slab. Artificial I know but we are in a manmade environment. Trainer only

Even more convoluted is the mantel of the sign post in Bus Stop, but it is only a sign post so you could try this pretty much anywhere. However the sharp rusty end to the tube adds at least something to the problem. Trainer only.

Several of the buildings scattered around the quarry have date plagues. Several problems have been climbed up to these by the early slate heads according Mr Dawes.

Mark Evans has climbed several things on Slate. there is one line worth a look at the Salte cutting and there is another problem he did on the road to vivian car park right by the gate, although with any luck this may have been destroyed when the new extension to the Brynrefail to Llanberis main line.

Well worth trying on a topr rope though is the window of perception rock over, even if you don't ever lead it. You will nee to get your left foot over your shoulder in some rather karma sutric manner. So stretch up children.

The dyno on Spong is good, although most people use a stupid small side pull.

So in general there is no real bouldering to be had but a few things to look for if your ever at a loss in the quarries

[mireeves]

Also having seen the tubes posting, I forgot that the tubes are water worn slate, and well worth checking out. Although very highball and often toproped many of the routes have been climbing ground up.

[Rhys]

I've got a problem which looks VERY sweet- 5% overhanging ramp about 16 ft high. I don't think it's been done, but spideys seen it and I've not tried it yet (saw it last year?). That's right- I'm not going to say where.

Fist time back on the forum for months- just heard from Gruff that the new guides out! Right, off to 14th Peak tomorrow with a checkbook to really piss off the bank! Congratulations Panton- really looking forward to it. :D  :D  :D

[Houdini]

There is actually a little bit of real bouldering on slate.

The best lines ie independent and top-out-able are to be found in the woods between Vivian and upper Fachwen.  Though they are very thin on the ground.

The area behind the Trango Tower AKA The Plateau:  Listed in the guide as "Stay Big" a 6b arete.  Trainers are too much here, I'd recommend blindfolded & barefoot.  The arete to the left is much harder and involves delicately pinching something so savage you'll slash your palm horribly if you get it wrong.  Around to the right of Stay Big is a wide, open groove.  I saw Perrin get up it once.  I failed, but I remember it having good climbing.  In the summer this area is festooned with confused boulderes, goat kids, wild strawberries and poor attempts at sculpture.

Bouldering out the start of routes is gay - with one exception (OK, two: Green Death Eliminate) Look opposite the Seamstress Slab to the side wall of the NeverNeverLand slab.  Do you see the 'Porthole'?  Gaining the porthole is a 1st class jump off poor shiny slopes.  It's the start of an E5 done by Trevor Hodgsen, 20 years back (Eng 6c)

On the way up to Marchlyn Mawr there is a boulder that looks as if it was once underground, it rests on a quarried slope.  There's a problem to be climbed here.

I remember there being a hard problem to the left of the Vivian Entrance involving a savage pull, again one of Wills'.

Mark Evans:   I went into the quarries with JR one time to film some slate bouldering.  We looked and looked for the stuff Mark Evans apparently did around the entrance to California.  Well - I know that unclimbed rock is limited in N. Wales, and each to his own - granted, but I thought this was scraping the very last barrel of un-tapped swine-shit left on Earth.

And Ray Kays' opinion on what constitutes 'good movement' is not to be trusted, at least here in the Quarries.  I once found myself with Ray attempting to make a mid-height R to L traverse of the back wall of Twll Mawr, shortly before it introduced itself to the floor...


If you are in the area - and you have boots but don't fancy tying-in, why not go for a walk around the land around Clwt-Y-Bont, following a path that takes you down towards the right hand shoulder of the hill between Clwt and the Llyn Padarn.  There is one very impressive boulder with a tall overhang to be climbed, which would be a total classic were it @ the Roadside area.  Llion Morris and Ug know exactly where this boulder is.  I'd suggest finding and climbing this rather than pissing in the wind, nextdoor  in the quarries. There are other boulders here too, awaiting rediscovery.

And if Mark Reeves thinks he can get away with suggesting mantelling the sign post at Bus Stop - then it's fair game for me to suggest the boulder problems (on slatey rock, too) in Pete Robins' back yard, on the beach by the stream, top of Allt Goch, Llanberis.  Seriously people, Pete wants YOU in his garden.  Or drinking tea while perched like a bird atop of the Public Footpath sign, also found in Petes' front garden (unreapeated @ time of writing...) I thought V3, what say you Mark?