[i_a_coops]

I've got a year of setting my own timetable, and hopefully getting a bit better at rock climbing. Sadly my finger pulleys tend to snap pretty much at the thought of Raven Tor. As such I'm looking for a tick list to get psyched for of uk routes that actually feature entirely nice holds/pockets/slopers instead of the usual minging crimps inconveniently situated around cruxes.

I'm assuming there are a lot of people out there who would like to know about gymnastic routes that aren't likely to snap their pulleys, so suggestions routes of all grades might be useful. I'm hoping to do some high 7s and low 8s in the next few months though so I'm primarily interested in the 7c to 8a+ ish range....

Also before anyone tells me to go to Europe, I'm saving up for it!

[abarro81]

All holds non crimpy or just predominantly and not on cruxes? If the former,then give up now, it aint gonna happen.

[TobyD]

gymnastic routes that aren't likely to snap their pulleys ... I'm primarily interested in the 7c to 8a+ ish range....

At Kilnsey: Over the Thumb 8a (not a single small hold after WYSIWYG 7b); Urgent Action 8a+ (a couple of boney holds low down but nothing Tor-esque). The Thumb sort of, but the start is a bit crimpy for one move.

The Cider Soak 8a at Ansteys has pretty nice holds, nothing really little.

As far as the peak goes Proud Whore 7c/+ is about as un-crimpy as it gets in my experience of that grade range. It would probably qualify as 'boney as f***' anywhere else though.

I would guess, although based on no firm evidence whatsoever, that Infinite Gravity is unlikely to have much in the way of small holds.

[i_a_coops]

All holds non crimpy or just predominantly and not on cruxes? If the former,then give up now, it aint gonna happen.

That's what I thought - think I'll probably have to settle for the latter. My fingers at 100% uninjured and capable of crimping at the moment, I'd just like them to stay that way for more than a few months this time.

Cheers Toby, that's a good start (I've been fantasising about a rematch with the Cider Soak for a while!)

[abarro81]

Oh yeah, swanage! Must be the most gymnastic and non crimpy area.
In the 'not crimp free but less crimpy than normal for the UK' range options include:
The steep stuff at dyserth
Temple of gloom, last crusade (? not been on that one) - llandulas
Gran techo -cornice
Some stuff at wcj cornice
Mandela?

UK sport lacks variety somewhat...

[Nigel]

Raindogs is the obvious one.

Loads at Cheedale Cornice e.g. Jug Jockey, Roof Warrior, Powerplant (especially with kneebar), This Is The Sea, K3. And WCJ Cornice although you're ooking at the upper end of your grade range there, especially given that the popular 8a there (forgot name sorry) has a crimpy crux, though you can do it a non crimpy way.

The Ogre at Chee Tor (surprisingly for a very route). Prob The Spider too though I haven't been on it.

Anything at Thors Cave.

[abarro81]

K3 has a pretty crimpy first bit iirc?
Free monster us the 8a you're thinking of. Don't remember it being minging crimps but its been a while..

[petejh]

None of these have bony cruxes and feature mostly nice holds:

Mussel Beach, soft 8a - LPT (after the start)
The Sting, soft 7c+ - The Diamond
Stiff Upper Lip, soft 8a - Pigeon's Cave
Follow the Prof, hard 7c+ - Pigeon's
Never Get Out of the Boat, 8a - Diamond (after the first few moves)
Skip of Fools 8a+ - Diamond (after the start)
Release the Hounds 7c - A55 crags
Ten Year Fog extension - Devil's Gorge
Grand Canyon (soft 7b+ but one of the best PE 7b+'s around) - Devil's Gorge
Wall of the Evening Light, hard 7b+ - The Diamond. The best endurance 7b+ in the country according to some people who know a thing or two.

[SA Chris]

Call me a monkey smoking crack, but surely addressing the issue of why your fingers are so fucked and trying to do something about it might be a good idea rather than carrying the injury whilst trying to climb for a year?

[TobyD]

Raindogs is the obvious one.
Loads at Cheedale Cornice e.g. Jug Jockey, Roof Warrior, Powerplant (especially with kneebar),

Hmm. I wouldn't have recommended either of those: Raindogs may be finger friendly for Malham but its still got lots of tiny edges and sharp edged pockets. The whole headwall on PP is well crimpy too, IIRC?

SA Chris' advice maybe a better direction to take. Or.... go trad climbing? Gogarth Main Cliff is all well comfy wide pinches - ideal!

[Nigel]

Fair dos, although I would counter by saying that if anyone is wincing at the "crimpy" headwall on Powerplant perhaps Chris' advice of getting injuries fixed is a better idea! Obviously it is nice to climb through these things if you can, but as abarro has rightly said earlier - not in Britain!

[205Chris]

Arch Enemies at Dovedale

[lagerstarfish]

I don't remember any crimps on Comedy at Kilnsey - a highish 7

[Three Nine]

I can't believe someone suggested Mussel Beach; i'd be wary of some of these recommendations Ian! Plus a lot of them won't be dry for ages. Things that probably will be dry in the next few months:

Cider Soak, La Creme, Avenged, Boy George, The Mightier all on good holds at the Cove. Stuff you've not done like Solid State Logic, The Incredible Hulk, whatever the steep 7c+ is i can't remember the name of at Prom, plus Bob has just done the roof extension to Baby Faced Assassin at 8aish.

The Madness Reigns at Dyserth, Last Crusade at Llandulas, both roofs with big holds.

[Three Nine]

If its dry, Kilnsey is a v good bet. I climbed there all this summer with an injured a2 and it was fine on stuff like the bulge, subculture, the thumb, over the thumb, dead calm etc

[Doylo]

Fair dos, although I would counter by saying that if anyone is wincing at the "crimpy" headwall on Powerplant perhaps Chris' advice of getting injuries fixed is a better idea! Obviously it is nice to climb through these things if you can, but as abarro has rightly said earlier - not in Britain!

Yes if the headwall on PP is too much for your fingers you won't get on with hard sport routes in Britain..

[Three Nine]

iacoops isn't injured atm, he just has a talent for it.

[i_a_coops]

Call me a monkey smoking crack, but surely addressing the issue of why your fingers are so fucked and trying to do something about it might be a good idea rather than carrying the injury whilst trying to climb for a year?

I'm actually totally uninjured for the first time in several years (between a broken foot, an a2 and a collateral ligament), the motivation for this thread is that I now want to stay that way and training for some routes based around open-handed cranking is probably a better idea than training for Pump Up The Power! Not to mention considerably more fun and less painful imho.

[TobyD]

Call me a monkey smoking crack

I'm actually totally uninjured for the first time in several years (between a broken foot, an a2 and a collateral ligament),

What did you break in your foot? (sorry,  I know...)

[tomtom]

Call me a monkey smoking crack, but surely addressing the issue of why your fingers are so fucked and trying to do something about it might be a good idea rather than carrying the injury whilst trying to climb for a year?

[i_a_coops]

What did you break in your foot? (sorry,  I know...)

Heelbone (calcaneus or os calcis is the jargon I think). Had the resulting metal plates removed at the beginning of this year, otherwise this thread would be 'uk routes with nice holds and no left footlocks' 

[moose]

I might start a related thread "uk routes with dry holds"... I suspect it might be short-lived

[Paul B]

I typed a reply last night but it obviously failed to post:

It might be worth taking a hard look at how you're training and why you're getting injured. If you are just really prone to finger injuries then maybe drop training as a priority and just go out instead wherever possible. Its a ball ache staying motivated after several finger injuries in quick succession and training hard open handed might just lead to a different kind of injury. Just my 2p though.

In terms of routes Kilnsey is a good bet although finding it dry might be quite hard:

50 for 5, Comedy, Pantomime, Biological, Dominatrix

Ignore the recommendation of K3, you have to pull pretty hard on the foothold crimp and then through the crux section the sika'd thing is far from finger friendly. The other suggestions seem fair enough.

At WCJ Cornice most routes seem applicable: Free Monster (maybe a bit boney on the nipple hold but not by Peak standards), Auctioneer, Rumble in the Jungle, Albatrossity etc. They're never going to be as fingery as routes at Cheedale/the tor simply due to angle.

I've not climbed there but thinking along the same lines Thors cave looks pretty steep too?

Further afield the Diamond also seems like a good suggestion, Boat people should be in there too.

[i_a_coops]

It might be worth taking a hard look at how you're training and why you're getting injured. If you are just really prone to finger injuries then maybe drop training as a priority and just go out instead wherever possible. Its a ball ache staying motivated after several finger injuries in quick succession and training hard open handed might just lead to a different kind of injury. Just my 2p though.

Man I wasn't expecting so much training advice! Since everyone seems psyched to impart their wisdom, here's the whole story:

I've only ever injured my fingers while crimping hard on steep problems indoors. As such I've decided to stop crimping hard indoors. What with climbing through a lot of finger injuries (and training open handed a lot on steep boards) I'm now an open handed monster (personal best is doing a one armer on the shallow-but-not-sloping 2 finger pocket on the beastmaker). Sadly I'm living in London for the next few months so will be climbing mainly indoors for a while, with as many weekend trips as I can manage. As such, I just want to maintain my bouldering strength and work a bit on my power endurance and a lot on my aerobic capacity, as no only do I think that I am less likely to pick up another injury if I avoid cranking on 2mm edges with poor footholds, but the routes I enjoy most by far are the ones with exciting, gymnastic moves and not the ones where the cruxes involve crimping right up to the pain threshold. I'm naturally interested in compiling a list of routes that fit my criteria as 'fun routes'.

Dropping training as a priority and getting out on rock whenever possible is certainly the way forward. As I say, living in London will mean some plastic is pretty much unavoidable in the immediate future, and I've just got back from 6 weeks big-walling in Kyrgyzstan. As such I definitely want to do some indoor training as I've climbed nothing but granite slabs for 6 weeks and am probably less fit than I have been in years!

[Paul B]

t the routes I enjoy most by far are the ones with exciting, gymnastic moves and not the ones where the cruxes involve crimping right up to the pain threshold. I'm naturally interested in compiling a list of routes that fit my criteria as 'fun routes'.

The 8a+s at WCJ Cornice fit that perfectly (especially Rumble) although thinking about it maybe scrub the auctioneer, the holds at the top aren't massive although you could potentially drag them if you're a beast open.