[StuM]

Off to St Bees this weekend for some bouldering but are the sports routes good enough to make it worth while taking gear? how bad are the bolts? any really good 6's or low 7's? all info mucho appreciated!

[fatboySlimfast]

Most of the bolts look appalling......so most will be even worse inside. Rusty 8/10mm expansion bolts in nice loosely bonded sandstone mmmm lurvly

[StuM]

hmmm... thats what i've heard from other people, might just save the rope for chapelhead scar

cheers

[Fiend]

I've been there twice sport climbing and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The bolts have all seemed fine to me, I remember reading an old Climber article where they were talking about having an appropriate standard for sea-cliff bolting there. At any rate I have never felt worried about the bolts and I'm a complete coward.

Similarly with the rock, I've had no problems with stability at all. There can occasionally be a slight sandy feel to the rock, but no worse than any other normal sandstone (i.e. not SS). Obviously it's worth avoiding after the rain.

The climbing is cool, technical, and interesting, and there are quite a few good routes in the 6/7s (I've only done stuff in the low-mid 6s, which were good). Certainly a refreshing change from limestone - have a look at the photo of Elysium in the Lakes selected guide!

[StuM]

that sounds interesting Fiend, you're the first person I've heard from that has actualy climbed any of the routes so I'll trust your point of view. We'll have sport gear with us so will decide myself when i see them though with all the conflicting reports. Did you use the Gable and Pillar guide or is there another one? low-mid 6's are fine for me! What is Elysium? i dont have the lakes selected guide.

cheers for the info!

[fatboySlimfast]

Similarly with the rock, I've had no problems with stability at all.

Its from more of a structural integrity thing, not a quality question! Years of putting bolts in for industry use have made me very aware of how weak certain stone types are. It does look good and the boulderings superb

[Fiend]

I used the old Lakes Rockfax guide... But it's pretty well covered in the entirely excellent Lakes selected guide.

The routes I climbed:

The Apiarist  F6b+ - quite a big line, quite gnarly

Andy's Route F6b - nice varied climbing, I liked this

Recharge F6a+ - can't remember much but I think it was good

Fisherman's Friend F5 - rather tricky and technical, an easy classic

Trick Or Treat F6b+ - very short but very technical

Others that looked good:

Blooming Marvellous F6c - super looking arete, tried this and skidded off the start ;(
Dreaming of Red Rocks F7a+ - classic and steep prow
Elysium F7b - if you like holdless english 6c slabs...

There's quite a lot more in the low 7s that look good too.