[curly ben]

What are the mega classic sports routes (7B) round britain?
thinkin of buyin a van and cruisin round the UK this summer gettin some routes done.
anyone got some faves? 

[Paul B]

Kilnsey: Sticky wicket, 7b
           50 for 5, awesome 7b+
           Pantomime, 7b+
           
Malham: Wasted youth, 7(grade???)

The tor: Sardine etc......

WCJ Cornice: Brachiation dance, again a 7b+

Cheedale Cornice: Bored of the lies (lower traverse line) 7b?

Sorry if the +'s arent of any use but they are all good

[wannaclimb8a]

something stupid 7b-malham



rich

[Duma]

Colours, wallsend
Red Medicine, Coastguard (+)
Empire Of The Sun, Ansteys

[curly ben]

cheers dudes...
anyone know any good bolted stuff north of the border?
any other classic south coast routes? 

[Fiend]

I'm sure there's gotta be some nice stuff at Weem, climbing looks good there.

Ask on Scottishclimbs.com, they're all a bunch of bolt-clippers 

[Bonjoy]

 The Peak doesn't have much of very high quality around 7b, the best I can think of being:
 Daylight Robbery - Two tier, Tin of (kind of grotty but sustained and varied) - the Tor, Midgard Serpent - Thor's Cave

Kilnsey has a couple of good ones - Ground Effect and Visitation

Bongo Fury, Something Stupid and Wasted Youth are all good at Malham, but no where near as good as stuff at other grades here. Gorgon Directish is probably the best 7b i've done at Malham, but this requires a bit of natural gear for the start.

 There's some good stuff at Pen Trwyn like La Boheme on LPT; Bloodsport and Bearded Clam on Mayfair wall.

 I'd say the best bet for 7bs in the UK is Dorset. There are loads of good 7bs down there. Can't remeber the names of many, but Lulworth Arms Treaty - Lulworth and Twangy Pearl - Blacknor North, spring to mind.

[Bonjoy]

Chris Plant on Midgard Serpent 7b - Thor's Cave. Steeper and longer than Rubicon. It's my route, so i'm bound to big it up, but I do think it's rather good.

[jimbo]

That does look awesome bonjoy. When will it be dry again ?

[Bonjoy]

 I reckon it's probably still wet.

[Paul B]

Always found ground effect to be a bit of a let down. Bouldery Start, moderate climbing, then a load of crap on the way to the top.

[Falling Down]

The Peak doesn't have much of very high quality around 7b, the best I can think of being:
 Daylight Robbery - Two tier, Tin of (kind of grotty but sustained and varied)

I'm 'in-progress' with Tin-Of at the moment and enjoying it far more than I expected given its 'polished crap' reputation...

I had a bash on Beef It on the embankment on Sunday - good moves and good rock by embankment standards.

Good thread curly Ben as it's my redpoint grade at the moment so it's nice to see some suggestions.

[curly ben]

woohoo plenty o bits and bobs to go at then! will have to crack the rope out and get fit for a summer of fury! BOnjoy your route at thors cave looks wunderbar, quite steep powerful? almost european limestone? or am i way off?

[Teaboy]

As has been mentioned Peak isn't best served by 7bs, in fact if I was going to go cruising in the summer I'd take me van abroad or spend a lot of time at Kilnsey on the 7cs there.

Anyhow, the best 7b I've been on in the UK is La Boheme at LPT, a bit run out but really great, also Nightglue next door is the best 7a+ I've been on in the UK and there are a number of other good easier 7bs in the area (Bloodsport, Dive Dive Dive).

Hamish Teddies at Dunkeld was graded 7b when I did it but I suspect is harder than that, either way it's very good.

For something completely different there Scared Rabbit in Thrang Quarry, very steep and very good, if short and scruffy.

If I had time I'd probably be tempted to check out some of the sports esoteria in North Wales like at Notice Board crag or I dream of Crane Fly which I think are about this grade. I've just remebered that Ocean of Emotion on the Little Orme gets four stars in my guide, never done it but it's well situated

[Ru]

Not been and done routes there for ages, so I'm not sure what the bolts are like, but Dreaming of Red Rocks is good at St Bees, but that's only 7a+. Empire at anstey's is the best 7b I've done in this country. Wargames at Chapel head is fantastic, very euro-esque, and easy at 7b, if indeed it still gets that.

[webbo]

system malfunction on 2 tier in cheedale is a good one.but only if its been re equipped.

[Bonjoy]

woohoo plenty o bits and bobs to go at then! will have to crack the rope out and get fit for a summer of fury! BOnjoy your route at thors cave looks wunderbar, quite steep powerful? almost european limestone? or am i way off?

V steep indeed.This pic gives a better idea of how steep (it's the blue line)

 The rock is quite unusual, being inside a cave and not subject to any wind/rain weathering. Lots of nice big featurey holds, giant pockets, bits of tufa etc, but can be sharp and crozzly in places.

[Palomides]

I always kind of suspected that I couldn't name any really quality 7bs in the UK due to it being my grade blindspot - a touch too hard to onsight, but a bit too easy to make a satisfying redpoint.

Is it possible that the UK is actually just crap for 7bs?? Let's face it, without even thinking there are numerous classics at 7a+ and 7b+.

[andy popp]

Rompsville, White Hopes (Homo Sapiens gets 7a+ but isn't really much easier and is just as good), Cosmopolitan, A Nasty Farming Accident is quite cool.

[Doylo]

Mean Mother - LPT.

[curly ben]

Monsieur Popp where are those routes? compiling quite a little list to get through here- one summer..... of 7b's!!
cheers for all the routes.. gotta start digging some guide books out. got me psyched to visit some new venues. esoteric is good to

[andy popp]

Sorry, Rompsville is LPT and Homo Sapiens and White Hope both upstairs. Cosmopolitan is Cheedale Cornice, if you can manage an extra + the direct finish, Cordless Madness, is really good. The last one is Chee Tor, a shameless plug for one of my one routes

[dave]

i like max-a-million at cheedale and beginners wall. Can you tell i ain't done much sport climbing?

[saltbeef]

I'd sack it to ceuse, or das kranken.

[IanP]

I always kind of suspected that I couldn't name any really quality 7bs in the UK due to it being my grade blindspot - a touch too hard to onsight, but a bit too easy to make a satisfying redpoint.

Is it possible that the UK is actually just crap for 7bs?? Let's face it, without even thinking there are numerous classics at 7a+ and 7b+.

I probably have a similar grade blindspot - though I've now come to the conclusion that I'm probably never going to get good enough to regularly onsight 7b now so just accept that I'll have to redpoint them.

As to 7b's in the UK there probably is a shortage of real classics but there is a quite a lot of good stuff.

A few of my favourites (I tend to prefer longer stamina stuff)
Taking the Space, Malham (7a+/7b) - tremendous pitch with a big feel
Revival, Gordale (maybe just 7b+) - a very big pitch at the grade, solid 3*. Swap ropes before the crux to avoid rope drag.
Ground Effect, Kilnsey - I always find Kilnesy hard but this excellant on superb rock, high in the grade if you're weak, I'm sure its easier if you're strong. 
Trowgerbridge Wall, Trow Gill (possibly harder if you're short) - excellent long route with 3 hard sections split by decentish rests, the 2 routes to its right (Pursuit of Excellence, ??) are also good (hardish) 7bs.
The Prow, pitch one (high in the grade imo) - actually really good, another one with a bit of messing around with ropes.
Bloodsports, Pen Trywn (low in the grade) - despite looking a bit squeezed in actually gives excellant climbing.  Mayfair wall also has 4 excellant 7a+s as well - Axel Attack, The Bloods, Mayfair, Bearded Clam.  Seems underrated and undervisited these days. La Boheme at lpt is also good.
Wargames, Chapel Head (imo just worth 7b) - great steep tufa climbing, followed by a excellent slightly easier sustained wall.  Electric Warrior is also good - short, but well worth it for the euro-style tufa climbing.  Theres also Mid Air Collision / Flight Path which is brilliant wall climbing with a crux at the top that can throw you off on the on-sight (well it did me anyway).
 

[webbo]

when i did routes i thought 7b was the ideal red point grade.not much chance of flashing it,so don't bother to try.get the rope up the route,work it on the way down.then usually r/p first go.none this getting worked up to try and flash it or coming back several times to get it ticked.

[Ru]

Electric Warrior is also good - short, but well worth it for the euro-style tufa climbing.

Oh yeah, forgot about this, this is ace.

[curly ben]

yep may well be headin to ceuse as well.. would be quite keen to check out mountain sports routes in swiss. there jus seems to be shed ;loads of mad stuff jus not so sure how easy its gonna be to hook up with folk out there, whereas uk prob easier to cadge a belay=catch up with mates after work.   

[curly ben]

Anyone wants to go to swiis for a bit this summa and climb round 7 b let me know.... classic 7b's in europe??? oh dear could get complicated

[Andy F]

As had been mentioned already  - Wargames, Electric warrior and Mid-air Collision (Chapel Head); Something Stupid, Wasted Youth, Chiseling the Dragon, Taking the Space (Malham) (I'd throw in Toad of Beck Hall as well,it used to get 7b...); Hardy Annual, Sticky Wicket, Ground Effect and Frankie comes to Kilnsey (another 'old' 7b); Trowgerbirge Wall, Hardcore Ecstasy, Pursuit of Excellence (easy 7b+) and The Dark Arts all at Trow Gill.

[rc]

Isn't there a good 7b(+?) at Yew Cougar?
Not done it, but seem to recall a pic in the rockfax.

[Paz]

I'd like to plug Insatiable at The Wave (OK, cheddar quarry).

Unfaggable unstaticable inelegant, foot on grab a big hold and slap for the next one, burl fest.  How climbing should be.  This leads to a more static rock over sidepull bit but this is only to set you up for some final dynos at the end and you can fall of it a lot.  Optional mantle at the end for history buffs.  And it's really short.  And open all year round.  And in the sun in winter and the shade in summer evenings.  And it's not 7a so it's not polished and there's never a queue on it. 

I'll admit it's not perfect as there are no heel hooks or undercuts and is too short, but for me it comes close. 

[Pantontino]

Cruisin for a Bruisin is the one at Yew Cougar - a stunning pitch.

[whispering nic]

cheers dudes...
anyone know any good bolted stuff north of the border?
any other classic south coast routes? 

Weem is the muts nut's for 7a to 7b. 

Dunkeld has Hamish Teddies at Upper Cave Crag and the Chopping Block at Myopics Butress. There's a 7b on Tunnel Walls in Glencoe that's not bad. Lots of new stuff in the west but you need to see Scottishclimbs.com for that

[Bonjoy]

Pic of Mark Sharrat on Midgard Serpent from last week. The cave was pretty dry then and I dare say everything there should be doable by now.

[curly ben]

  oooh looks wicked. will be gettin myself down there pronto. good pic

[andy popp]

Bonjoy - what's the Midgard Serpent from, is it some sort of mythical creature? Mouldwarp Wall in t'Dale is named after some folkloric legend about a huge snake asleep somewhere under Leicestershire (or somewhere equally unlikely) that will awake when the beast or true king (or someone) returns

[SA Chris]

It's Norse of some sort.

The one may be thinking of is the Somethingorother Worm? I'm pretty sure I recally reading about it in "John Pertwee's Book of Monsters" in my youth.

Just googled it; it's still available.

http://www.richardwho.com/collections/collection44.asp

Class. I loved that shit.

[Bonjoy]

Jörmungandr ['jÅ“rmuŋgandr], alternately referred to as the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent, is a sea serpent of the Norse mythology, the middle child of Loki and the giantess Angrboða.

 Jörmungandr and Thor are arch enemies. Their last meeting will come at Ragnarök, when Jörmungandr will drag himself from the Ocean and poison the skies. Thor will kill Jörmungandr and then walk nine steps before falling dead from the serpent's poison.

BTW if anyone's going to try the route, it's 7b if you finish by grabbing the chain and 7b+ if you clip chain and climb past it.

[andy popp]

To Chris, there's loads of those Worm things (the Linton and Lampton Worms are two) the Mouldwarp is similar - my source was Keith Thomas' 'Religion and the Decline of Magic'. Trivia points, who was the incredibly unlikely second ascentionist of Mouldwarp Wall?

[SA Chris]

I'm pretty sure it was the Lampton Worm referred to in said font of knowledge (although I'm pretty sure John Pertwee didn't actually do much of the writing.