[TobyD]

having recently done a reasonable bit of rock scrambling in the SW, it has become apparent that knowledge on harder routes is very hard to come by, especially given the age of some of the relevant guidebooks (eg S Devon and Dartmoor) so ... is there anyone out there who's a) interested in amazing lines on ill frequented, awe inspring sea cliffs b) less of a techno punter than me and can organise some sort of wiki type affair?
I realise this might be difficult given the size and diversity of the area (i'm thinking cornwall, devon and dorset) ...

Or just have a sticky thread on here for recent South West adventures / conditions / etc etc ?

Many areas (like Boulder Ruckle) deserve a lot more attention than they get, although it is nice to climb there with noone else around, the routes are the equal of the best of Pembroke and Gogarth.
Although i appreciate the adventurous aspect of not knowing what you are going to get on a route, it can be good for some idea to be available if you want it.  For example Relax and Swing E5 in the ruckle is amazing, and not too bad in its own way (certainly safe and solid); basically proper upside down fun. On the other hand, an 'E4' in Torquay i did earlier this year (Pantagruel at Daddyhole) seemed to consist of steep, very loose 6a climbing with very little, if indeed any, gear that would hold body weight. Great if that's what you are after, but it can be nice to have an inkling before setting off.

[duncan]

Good idea.  SW knowledge has always been a bit hard to come by, there have never been many people operating at the grades you are talking about, and those few tend to be scattered geographically.  As you say, this is part of the charm ... up to a point.  A start has been made here but it needs one or two enthusiasts to give it the critical mass of information to get people returning to it and posting new stuff.  The Gogarth wiki had this and even got Pat Littlejohn contributing, so anything is possible!  Sites like Malhambra or the dorset trad. pages which were one or two people's work tend to fall by the wayside.  Currently there is javu and dorset climbing.  The UKC logbooks are not flavour of the month here but are currently the best on offer for the SW and you can be fairly confident the data will still be available in 10 years time after Alan James sells-up to go climbing/focus on RockFax.  If you want something better it is, in part, up to people like you who are currently active to provide it.  

The South Devon guide describes Pantagruel as "A character-building lead..." and it's a Littlejohn route.  Surely this was adequate warning!

[slackline]

Right I've done some leg work for you, now since you've got more pertinent knowledge, you (and others) need to fill in the gaps.

I've set up Devon & Cornwall Climbing on the Wetpaint wiki's, and put a very basic blurb up as to what its about.  It seems to be one of the easiest wikis to edit I've tried so far, with a WYSIWYG tool bar for adding formatted content.

You'll have to register and if you're not familiar with wiki's would likely benefit from reading the following...

• Getting Started
• Tips for a Successful Site
• Build Better Content
• Encourage Member Participation

I've only climbed on Lundy for a week, a long weekend in Cornwall last year and a few hours bouldering on the moors somewhere once so have virtually nothing to contribute (beyond the above linked pictures, which I wouldn't mind being included if they're properly referenced and back-linked to their flickr page).

I know Mark Edwards posts (or has done) on UKC, here's a relevant thread, you might want to try contacting him for additional input.

[Bubba]

Nice one for setting that up Slackoid

[TobyD]

ay good effort slackline, i'll get some content in there asap, which will hopefully encourage others to contribute their SW trad experiences / glories / humiliations for the benefit of all !

[hungryjoe]

Hello lads.

Good plan for setting one of these up as it's definitely what the Southwest needs, BUT there already is one!

It's run by a Cornish lad called Ben I think and there's plenty of info on here already.

He's having a bit of trouble getting people aware of it as it is, so rather than spreading the info out more, please contribute to and expand the existing site!

Cheers all.
Tom

[hungryjoe]

Sorry, here's the link.

http://southwestclimbing.wetpaint.com/

[A Jooser]

As mentioned above Ben, a regular contributor to this forum who also runs the Mendip Climbing 
site, has already set up a South West Climbing Wetpaint wiki.

There are already quite a few websites with up-to-date info on the area but there aren’t really that many climbers getting out regularly enough to sustain all these sites. It would be better for there to be one or two places for this sort of info otherwise there’s a danger of it getting spread too thinly. I don’t wish to disparage anyone’s efforts but it would probably be better to contribute to the existing sites rather than setting up new ones.

Javu does an excellent job covering the South West, with new route info and fixed-gear up-dates; we’re very lucky to have it. But if people feel the need for a user-generated wiki then Ben's site fits the bill.

Here is a list of South West site so people know what is out there – post up more if I miss any…

http://www.javu.co.uk/ – The sizzle!
http://www.climbers-club.co.uk/ci-newroutes.html – Old beards’ new route page.
http://southwestclimbing.wetpaint.com/ – Aforementioned.
http://www.exmoor92.fsnet.co.uk/Exmoor%20Coast%20Climbing/ – Honourably mentioned.
http://www.rockfax.com/databases/ – Better not mentioned.
http://www.blocspenwith.co.uk/ – West Cornwall bouldering.
http://shaptor.wetpaint.com/ – More bouldering at some place across the water.
http://www.climbhub.co.uk/ – Why use UKC’s Logbooks?
http://www.stivesnews.co.uk/CheesewringClimbing/index.html – A chance to see your esoteric new routes in print!

I’ll leave it for others to post any Somersault and Doorstep ones.

[slackline]

Cool, happy to ditch the one I set up, just bored at work and thought I'd help Creamtime out. 

Good collection of sites there A Jooser 

As mentioned above Ben, a regular contributor to this forum....

We probably have vastly different interpretations of "regular" though since 45 posts in six years of being registered would be "occasional" in my book    (not slight intended on either you or Ben btw, just an interesting choice of words).

[A Jooser]

Maybe I should have said 'Regular' - it's his positon on his user profile. We can't all be Forum Heroes you know!

[SA Chris]

I thought that was how often you took a shit.

Forum Heores spout shit continuously.

[slackline]

I think Chris' interpretation is likely more accurate 

[ben]

We probably have vastly different interpretations of "regular" though since 45 posts in six years of being registered would be "occasional" in my book    (not slight intended on either you or Ben btw, just an interesting choice of words).

make that 46..  think i'd be deemed a regular viewer, but not contributor.

then today, stick my head in and everyone's talking about me    Don't think I have much to add to what's been said above though, as Jooser/Duncan/Tom said, I've already set up the wiki with the idea of supplementing javu with a wiki-style site. I haven't been out doing routes much this summer and hence haven't really had much input to add to it.