UKH

Hi all,

I've recently completed a sport multi pitch course and now I want to take it to real rock. Any recommendations for beginner sport multi pitch routes (4a-6a)? Ideally in the UK or Wales.

Thanks,

Chris

There isn't really any easy multi-pitch sport in the UK. At least, nothing worth climbing. 

Go abroad for sport, and then take a trad course for the UK. 

There is a few multipitchs across the popular sport areas, but mostly they are long sport pitches that have a mid point anchor.

Voices in the mind as The Cuttings is actually quite fun due to the traverse. There is multi bitchin at Blacknor South which is popular but a little dull.

Horseshoe has a few at the end of the quarry (just watch the choss) and a couple at Woodcraft quarry in Wye Valley.

I think there are a few dotted around North Wales, in some of the slate quarries.

The UK includes Wales.

There’s a very easy two pitch sport route in Woodcroft quarry p1 F3+ p2 F4. 

Here you go, uk but not wales.  Creag Mhor (The Mound)

Raise the grade a little to 6b+ and there are some great routes in Cheddar. Stone cold fever, Castles made of sand and Space Tourist plus goats R us.. 

There are a few 35m routes on the back wall of  Horseshoe Quarry which are easy and have lower-offs at half height so the can be multipitched:

Excavator (5c)

Still Nacht (5b)

As Joffy said, watch out for loose rock.

Out of interest, where did you do a sport multipitch course ? as far as I know there really isn't very much of it in the UK.

Hi Chris, 

Unfortunately 'beginner sport multi pitch routes' is a bit of an oxymoron. Why? Because things go wrong on multi-pitch routes. Every year loads of people have epics on the Costa Blanca on bolted multipitch, due to inexperience. Your partner drops their belay device, everybody gets tired, a wind mysteriously comes in and suddenly you're freezing. 

Or you get a rather nasty shock. For instance when I did Space Tourist, one of the recommended routes above, the bolts mysteriously ran out on the third pitch. Some old manky pegs buried in the grass. A cold wind. Switch on an E2 hat and nip up to the top. Problem solved. But if you can't switch on an E2 hat, what then? Retreat might be problematic if you're not used to repeats. 

I'll not labour the point any more. Would suggest you forget all about sport multi-pitch at the moment, get lots of normal sport done and then move (very cautiously) onto single-pitch trad. Then consider multi-pitch sport. And be very careful about assessing the skills of the people with whom you do it. 

A few years ago there was a young US climbing star. She'd done something like 8b+. Nevertheless she was happy to be taken up (her words, I think) a seemingly very well bolted 6b. That's the kind of maturity we all need. 

Better to enjoy the routes when you're capable than have epics. 

Mick 

Mick is right in the sense that multi pitch is more complicated than single pitch and that - importantly - a lot of the difficulties may not be immediately obvious to the beginner (ie unknown unknowns). Dropping belay devices, weather changing, needing to retreat, letting go of the ropes at a belay station and watching them swing out of reach into the overhang...

That said, assuming your course was absolutely comprehensive and you are ready to rumble, my advice would be:

+ Go to Switzerland or France (i'd recommend getting the Schweiz plaisir guide books, low grade multi pitch sport climbing in the alps with an excellent level of detail)

+ I'd dial back my grades significantly. If you climb 6a, I think that means you want to be starting multi pitch climbs in the low 5s or ideally 4s, or possibly something nearer your limit if the hardest pitch is at the start, so you know you can climb it (you don't want to get stuck halfway up)

+ I'd start on climbs you can walk off the top down a proper path (ie not abseil down)

+ Pay very close attention to the quality and frequency of the bolts. Just because it is 'sport' doesn't mean it is bolted like a sport climb, the bolts might be old or very widely spaced vs a typical sport climb. The plaisir guides give you a rating for the bolts - "gut" does not mean good, or like a typical single pitch sport climb. In my experience "gut" = new bolts but very runout to the point you could break both legs if you fell off and the cruxes are often not protected in a logical manner

+ Be prepared to cheat by pulling on quickdraws, stepping on bolts, stepping up into slings you have hung off features or bolts, etc (you need to keep up a reasonable pace on longer routes because you don't know what is still to come)

+ Get proper insurance and call the chopper if you get seriously injured (don't bother with self rescue unless you know exactly what you are doing)

+ Invest in getting a proper guidebook so you know precisely where to go, what rope to take, whether you need trad gear etc. I wouldn't venture up anything based on a topo from the internet or drawn on a napkin

+ If you have the means, a guide for the day will make things much more enjoyable and massively reduce the risk of having a bash independently later

Definitely agree with your points here Mick in regards to the multi pitch that's worth doing abroad.

I do wonder if some of the opinions shown in this thread make this more common. People berating or saying the stuff we have isn't worth doing is terrible advice for someone clearly wanting to hone their skills.

The op should absolutely take their skills to some UK multi, where if something goes wrong you could be halfway up a regular sport route you could bail off, in an area that has a lot of other people around who could help if the worst happened.

Let's be honest, the important/difficult parts happen at the anchors and you don't need anything more of a route to practice on.

That is actually a fair point about space tourist - I'd forgotten that it transitions to "trad", albeit it a short pegged section. Although I'm a bit surprised that you would place multipitch sport as more complex than single pitch trad. Just in terms of equipment to buy and know how to use, it's vastly more of an undertaking. Yes there are complexities attached to multipitch sport, especially in the UK where the ethic is more complex than in Europe, but I wouldn't say it's insurmountable by someone who has become confident in their grade within a relatively short space of time? Yes you need some self rescue techniques, and maybe how to use double ropes to perform an abseil, and how to set a belay from bolts. But more complex than single pitch trad it ain't - I mean just think about the belaying aspect of trad. You need to place multiple pieces, equalise them and be confident that they are not going to fail. Sport removes to a very large extent the worry of gear failure and the difficulty of equalising the anchors is vastly simpler or can be removed all together depending on the type of anchors used at the belay...

If you are up there, then you are also close to

Ithaca (5c)

Hi Mike, 

Space Tourist wasn't a swipe at you. I mentioned it merely to illustrate a point. Pull on an E whatever hat for a couple of minutes and the problem's sorted. But if you haven't got that hat to pull on, what then?

I'd agree that single-pitch trad is generally more complex than multi-pitch sport. But there's one big advantage. Often you can place some decent gear, lower off and be safely back on the ground in a minute or two. In extremis you can maybe get a top rope. But on multi-pitch you've either got to carry on or retreat. Depending on the circumstances you can be in an increasingly  serious situation for many hours, especially if bad weather is a factor. Tiredness makes mistakes more likely. 

Obviously these days most people come from indoor climbing to sport. If they go straight on to multi-pitch sport, there's a temptation for 'grade equivalence'. "Well I did a 6b+ so I'll be fine on a 6a+." That would be a bad mindset for something like El Dorado! 

In my experience, people tend to take trad more seriously. Sure, they often head straight for cracks and try to cam 'em to death. But sooner or later (if they stick at it) they realise that trad is all about problem solving. And ultimately steadiness. Sometimes you simply can't afford to fall (e.g. pitch two of Troach, pitch two of Grey Rib). And hopefully people start to become more cautious and more proficient at problem solving. 

Caution and proficiency at problem solving are exactly what you need for any multi-pitch, especially when you have to make the crucial decision, "We're tired, we're going too slow, better to bail." Failure to make this decision correctly has resulted in so much tragedy. 

Mick 

Wasn't taken as a swipe, as I say, I'd actually forgotten that point and it is a very valid one. I totally hear where you are coming from ref equivalence and that generating a poor mindset, but I suspect the OP is not looking for a route like El Dorado, but something much simpler. I guess to my mind, I am trying to give the OP routes to aspire to and to start building the skillset to tackle. Retreating from a bolted route is simpler than a trad route, either leave an extender, a leaver biner, or carry a maillion, that part is no harder really than clipping the chains and lowering to strip a route. And retreat from a short multipitch route is usually not much harder than abseiling. Of course there are situations which fall out side these norms, you partner getting clocked by a stone for example. Which is why I mentioned rescue techniques, and those are skills which a qualified instructor could help the OP with over the course of a day or two. Should the OP (looking at his profile) run out and jump on something tough and multipitch, no. Get lots of miles under your belt at the grades you aspire to climb at multipitch level, he'll climb some that are harder. Along the road buy Libby Peters rock climbing instruction manual. And get an MCI to teach you the extra skills you need and you will be set. IMO if you have no interest in trad, then it is a very expensive and complex way to learn what you need to, better to spend the dough on tuition.