[Tommy]

Finally, the epic journey is over. After 60-ish days over 4 years, I've finally put to bed my dream project.

I'm a big fan of the old-school style of climbing and when I found a 20ft+ horizontal roof crack near to my parents home a number of years ago I couldn't believe my luck. Spent of bit of time cleaning it up (especially seeing at the rock can be sandy outside of the line of the crack) and slowly set to work getting the line figured out...

It's really, really complex climbing as the crack that runs through the roof is fairly insipient meaning it can go from 2 inches to nothing in width very quickly along it's entire length. It also is never any deeper than about 4 inches (except for one hold near the end), which makes for pretty flared and shallow holds/jams.

If in the Peak/Wales etc it might not be that significant, but I think it stands out for a few reasons. It's a full-on 20ft of totally horizontal climbing (not much of that around) and also it features some of the hardest crack climbing anywhere. Really hard crack climbing. The SW doesn't get that many hard problems put up really either so, it always nice to have something to work on, should locals be interested.

I've got a couple of photos here (not great I know, but you get the flavour) and video footage which should I get round the editing problems I'll post up. Anyone know why WMM files don't fit in youtube?

For anyone who's a bit geeky like me, here's the sequence:

Crimpy rail and pinch, big move to hideous baggy cupped handjam, 180 deg spin, thumb jam (oh yes!), 2 finger pocket, spin another 180 deg, 2 finger finger-jam (great move), 2 finger pocket, tricky thin-hands hand-jam, good jam (but very hard to seat), wild cut loose, loooong reach to mono-dish, 180 deg spin, bump dish-hand to good sloper-crimp (redpoint crux), round onto the headwall, a load of heel hooking and more crimps and slopey-crimps (not to bad). Top-out!

[r-man]

Cracking stuff! (Sorry*)

Congratulations! That looks epic.





_{*No I'm not.}

[SA Chris]

Nice. Also, where the hell is it?

[Fiend]

Good effort Tommy 

This should deserve some attention / coverage, yes?

[account_inactive]

8A roof crack?

[Jaspersharpe]

The pics remind me of Akira. 

Good effort. It sounds fucking desperate.

[Stu Littlefair]

Second the where is it comments!

Also, if that's your bag there is an unclimbed roof crack project in the Ache Ball cave at Hartland Quay. I thought 8a-ish whilst working it but never quite got it done. Class line though, which I was dissapointed not to get done. Go to it!

(it can get quite high in some beach conditions, take a stepladder)

[Bonjoy]

Looks good. What crag is it at?

[Dave Westlake]

Second the where is it comments!

Also, if that's your bag there is an unclimbed roof crack project in the Ache Ball cave at Hartland Quay. I thought 8a-ish whilst working it but never quite got it done. Class line though, which I was dissapointed not to get done. Go to it!

(it can get quite high in some beach conditions, take a stepladder)

Third the where is it comments - that looks ace! 

Stu, do you mean font 8a or french 8a?  looks like a route to me!  Also, which line do you mean, the deep narrow crack that comes out opposite acheball or the kind of fissure (?) type line that comes directly out from the back on the same side as ache ball? does any of this make sense??

[Stu Littlefair]

I mean font 8a, and I mean the deep narrow crack opposite ache ball...

[nik at work]

Congratulations, looks ace.

Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit??????

[SA Chris]

Time to take bets on location? I'm guessing somewhere random and Mendippish? Holcombe?

[Pantontino]

It's at Bathford.

[Tommy]

Yeah, it's in Bathford (nr Bath) and also know by some locals as Sally-in-the-Woods. As I said, it's not exactly a prime location, so probably and unfortunately not of that much significance I don't suppose.

Great set of moves though!!     If you're really enjoy that kind of climbing, it would be worth a trip and the woods has about another 50 or so other established boulder problems that can provide an afternoon's entertainment.

[Tommy]

Second the where is it comments!

Also, if that's your bag there is an unclimbed roof crack project in the Ache Ball cave at Hartland Quay. I thought 8a-ish whilst working it but never quite got it done. Class line though, which I was dissapointed not to get done. Go to it!

(it can get quite high in some beach conditions, take a stepladder)

Right.... that sounds intersting indeed! What's the details exactly? Width, length, angle etc. Got any photos you could email me by any chance?

Man, and I thought it was expensive enough going down Bristol way regularly! Wish there was something decent in the Peak area.

[Stu Littlefair]

don't have photos, no. Its fully horizontal and is all crack climbing, with jams from thin hands, to fists. Its long too, maybe sixty feet long. I did all the moves when I was down there but couldn't link it. Bon chance...

[SA Chris]

Isn't there a good lip traverse of the same cave? What are access arrangements like? I thought the name was not to mentioned on public forum. If so, some moderation of this thread may be necessary.

[Pantontino]

SA Chris you may have a point there.

"I've also spoken to the land owners.  They have no problem with people climbing there.  However, they didn't want any articles published about the place in guidebooks or magazines for fear of attracting hordes.  Unlikely, but you've got to respect their wishes."

This is a quote from Tim H from a thread back in the summer of 2006. Does anybody know the current situation?

[Doylo]

nice work Tom, surely the grade of 5.13+ would have been more appropriate though 

[c.j.d.]

Looks awsome - well done that man.  Good to know its not just us 'old timers' sending seige stylee!  Winner.

[Greg C]

Not sure if Tommy's posted it anywhere else but there is a video of his new problem here...

http://eliteukbinventory.blogspot.com/2008/02/south-west-all-elements-8a.html

[Tommy]

Have taken the probably poor decision to put some music to it, but at least it masks some of my grunting! Shot in 2 sections as ground is really rocky and slippery outside of cave. First section features actual footage of the FA and second section is a splice. Hopefully it'll inspire a few people to go check it out!

[Scouse D]

Tom, were you a Shef Uni bod? You look right familiar.Effort on your problem, looks brilliant

[Fiend]

Tom, were you a Shef Uni bod? You look right familiar.Effort on your problem, looks brilliant

Have you been down The Edge in the last couple of years?

P.s. Good to see it on vid! Got the beta up in a seperate window for extra....fun.

[Tommy]

Tom, were you a Shef Uni bod? You look right familiar.Effort on your problem, looks brilliant

Have you been down The Edge in the last couple of years?

P.s. Good to see it on vid! Got the beta up in a seperate window for extra....fun.

Ha ha! Now that's what I'm talking about... You obviously enjoy crack as much as I do Fiend! PS. If you're ever down that way exploring more esoterica, then my good Mum will gladly hand out beta (she lives about 5 miles away) although nothing else. 

To anyone that's worrying about access issues, then I've spoken to a Bath County Councillor and the Footpaths Access Team and they have assured me there's no problems (except that you're not allowed to mountain bike there). It's a pretty limited area really, so I don't suppose much will ever change. Having spent the last 8 yrs or so cleaning up problems in the area I'm quite fond of the place - hopefully some others might get an occasional afternoon's pleasure out of it too.

[Karl]

You wanna get down to her place for her Chocolate cake Fiend, it was clearly the fuel for this fine ascent!

[Fiend]

Hah, it's not going to happen is it. I'm still wondering whether I'm going to be able to do Sentinel Crack in this lifetime!!

I do think - from what the video and description shows - this heinosity deserves some acclaim.

[Tommy]

Pete Whittaker got the second ascent of All Elements on Friday this week. It was a flippingood effort and even better that it was a about m ::)inus 5 million degrees...! Especially psyched that he managed to do it as some good boulderers have got close/been trying and he's only a poor trad climber... 

I'll post up some video footage and pics if I can find them and do a bit of movie maker jiggery.

Here's the original footage (as youtube seems to have sensored the older copy)

<embed></object><p><a href="">All Elements Roof Crack</a>

[uptown]

Superb looking line that. I remember being impressed at the footage when you first did it Tommy, but that's just jogged my memory and inspired me to pay a visit if I'm ever down that way. Good luck on the link-up. Did you ever try Stu's Ache ball crack in the end btw?

[Tommy]

Yeah, I did go down to Devon to try Stu's crack thing in the cave. I was really, really impressed by the line - it's totally awesome. However, the conditions were absolutely miserable. It was like trying to climb the hardest limestone slippery horizontal crack you can imagine, whilst dripping wet! The beach level was really low as well, so needed a 6 step ladder just to pull on!!!

I'd definitely invest the effort if conditions could be more reliable. Pete and I managed to do nearly all the moves and get some links on some bits, but it would have needed considerably more work for a tick. The last move was a total puzzler as well.

Good find by Stu at any rate!

[jakes]

When visiting the folks over Christmas, I had a few days down at Hartland and the Ache Ball cave roof crack was 6-8ft off the ground. It was bone dry too. Although that was three weeks ago and beach height and moistness do seem to change quite quickly.

A good bit of info about conditions (wetness) in the cave: it seems to be driest when the tidal range is at a minimum i.e. neap tide- as during a neap tide the high doesn't get the cave wet and so doesn't have to dry out etc. So, although you get more time to climb during a spring tide, IMO the neap's are better. In fact I've climbed in the cave (occasionally) at high tide (very low neap) and although it's tricky to access it is do-able. I might not be the best to take tidal advice though as there are certain times when I have pushed it too far:



Anyway, I had a play around on it at the end of the day and it's an amazing line. Way too hard for me, I would be keen to get on it, but living 350miles away makes that difficult! It's a well known, long-standing 'project' (although I don't think anyone has put that much effort into trying it recently) and I'd be psyched for someone to do it. Apologies about the lack of light on the photos, but the sun had set by this point:





Dave Westlake took these photos. He's currently putting together a mini-guide for Hartland Quay which should be finished in the next few months. I've seen a sneaky peek of an early draft and it's looking good 

[Stu Littlefair]

Wow. I've never seen the beach that high. Wish I'd been there...

[Tommy]

Nice one Jakes - awesome to see some photos of it on the net. Hopefully someone will get inspired and get it done. I so wish I was closer, and it might be a reasonable proposition.

Cheers also for the conditions beta - that height of pebbles is way, way better. No longer a highball.... ! Man, you've got me psyched again. Damn it.

[SA Chris]

That looks awesome.

Welcome to the fickle nature of coastal bouldering.

I have a project locally that emerges from the water completely approximately once a month (and that is not always during daylight). Only 10 mins walk though.

[granticus]

Cheers also for the conditions beta - that height of pebbles is way, way better. No longer a highball.... ! Man, you've got me psyched again. Damn it.

The beach level in Acheball cave was super high over the christmas hols, too high to start Acheball properly but great for getting on the crack line.  Unfortunately last time I was there a couple of weeks ago all the pebbles had been pushed to the back of the cave making the crack a highball again.   

Agree with Jake about neaps generally being better for conditions in this cave and several others on the coast for that matter.  Also a period of dry weather is also useful because it seeps from the cliffs above as well.

It's gonna be potluck as to whether you get good conditions combined with a good beach level.  Such is the nature of bouldering on the coast.  Good to have an alternative plan, you could always pop over to try Carnage, Corridors of Power and Supercede if the cave is not the goer.  Incedentally, (our) Mike Adams sent the thin highball 'crack' line to the right of Supercede before Chrimbo, he reckons it's 7a  and we are still waiting for a repeat from someone.  All are superb problems!

[Fiend]

Amazing trad too. Surely there's something or other you and Pete could get on, Tommy

[Richie Crouch]

Has anyone repeated Captain Crush yet to the left of Red Quinnie at Northcott? I told Tom N the beast about it. Really nice climbing through that small roof. 

[granticus]

Has anyone repeated Captain Crush yet to the left of Red Quinnie at Northcott? I told Tom N the beast about it. Really nice climbing through that small roof. 

Oh! You mean 'short weak Tom'!  Good to have a name for it.  Understand it was (your) Mike Adams that did the deed.  It hasn't yet received a local repeat so, according to the North Devon Society For Sad Gits That Don't Acknowledge The Existence Of The Rest Of The World or NDSFSGTDATEOTROTW, it aint been dun yet baaeeeee.
What grade is been suggested for said horizontal japes?
Also understand (your) Mike sent Supercede in super quick time and then buggered off to Cornwall to add a sitter to Mr Carver's wonderful Groove (Captain Crush indeed )

[Richie Crouch]

7C+ as it was a fair bit harder than Red Quinnie (I thought harder than ache ball too) but it was our 3rd day on so hard to tell! Might be a gift  It involves a lovely move to that massive sloper with the right hand.

I recall Mike doing Supercede 2nd go after briefly working the top moves for about 2 minutes 

[Dave Westlake]

  Incedentally, (our) Mike Adams sent the thin highball 'crack' line to the right of Supercede before Chrimbo, he reckons it's 7a  and we are still waiting for a repeat from someone.  All are superb problems!

It isn't 7a.  Even Mike now agrees its much harder.

7C+ as it was a fair bit harder than Red Quinnie (I thought harder than ache ball too) but it was our 3rd day on so hard to tell! Might be a gift  It involves a lovely move to that massive sloper with the right hand.

Tom and I tried the line left of Red Q very briefly a while ago, before you guys came down and did it.  What struck me was that there are lots of holds under there, and maybe a number of different sequences (just like Red Q).  Not sure about a grade as we didn't spend much time on it.  Neither of us were very inspired by it to be honest, but since you guys though it was so good maybe we should have another look...