UKH

The quarry is closed for climbing and caving during the current  Covid19 crisis. Several teams were climbing last weekend risking our continuing access agreement with the landowner. Any negative publicity following a climbing accident, especially if it involves emergency services, could seriously impact on our agreement. Please stay away for now.

Ian Butterworth, BMC Fairy Cave Access Rep.

In reply to Ian Butterworth:

Cheers Ian, was thinking of heading there this weekend. Will change plans.

Annoyed there were people out last weekend. Idiotic.

In reply to Ian Butterworth:

Would it be possible for you (in agreement with the cavers) to change the lock code until access is allowed?

In reply to Ian Butterworth:

Thanks Ian.  I was planning to head down Friday, as I felt it would be better than one of the honeypot venues.  Perhaps I will need to change my definition of honeypot.

Anyway, I will happily (well perhaps that's a bit of a stretch) avoid for the foreseeable future.

Cheers

Steve

In reply to runwildjohn:

We did consider changing the combination lock to a key lock but decided this would only encourage some climbers to climb the gate/fence. The cavers have much more structured club based access system and currently appear to be sticking to the lockdown.

In reply to Ian Butterworth:

That’s probably and frustratingly what would happen. See you on the other side...

In reply to runwildjohn:

The problem I guess is that not every climber uses UKC.  It's not one that would have occurred to me as a problem until I read this - though it's also not my favourite place to climb anyway being chossy and loose pretty much throughout

In reply to Neil Williams:

Not really - you get the full range, from death-trap loose to nice and solid. 

In reply to Neil Williams:

I think Ian has a list of the people who should have the combination so he will hopefully send a mass email (I haven't seen anything but haven't visited in about 5 years). 

In reply to bpmclimb:

Definitely don't recall anything "nice and solid" there!

In reply to Ian Butterworth:

Worth a sign on the gate for people that haven't checked UKC?

Shame as it was my plan a this weekend. Plan b it is.

In reply to Neil Williams: the glacis is entirely solid, the slab around robs crack, the routes around balches slide and mostly around half way to kansas... sure there are horror shows but also routes which are as house...

In reply to Neil Williams:

Well, possibly not compared to indoor plastic. Thankfully.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Rob's Slab and Withy Crack areas are totally solid. There's a few bits in between that are a bit more crumbly (and don't even talk about the south-facing stuff) but there is plenty of solid rock to have a go at. 

In reply to beardy mike:

Cheers, will bear those in mind (and to PaulJepson too) though not for now of course

In reply to PaulJepson:

Withy crack may be solid but it is always damp.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Have you actually climbed on all the different areas? I had a peek at your logbook, which only shows one logged climb at FCQ, but I assume that must be incomplete .... ?

I challenge you to find any significant looseness on any of the climbs on The Glacis, for example. It's a remarkably compact, solid, smooth area of slab.

In reply to bpmclimb:

I've not been there often, it's usually more a "let's pop down there for a bit on Sunday" when I've been caving staying at the nearby cottage, though I have done quite a few more than 1 climb I can't specifically recall what.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Just had a quick look at my own logbook, 483 logged ascents at FCQ! I wonder if that's the record -although also a bit sad, in a "get a life" kind of way   Anyway, plenty enough to allow a good overview of the place; what's solid and what isn't. Check out the Glacis, and also the left hand side of the Back Off slab, the left hand side of Rob's Slab for some very nice climbing surfaces. 

.... all academic at the moment, of course, FCQ is firmly off the menu.

In reply to bpmclimb:

I've only managed to get there a couple of times but if I still lived down that way I would be there all the time too!