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Anybody got any recommendations on some of the best/most challenging routes around in the sort of 6-8 inch range? Looking for tight chicken wing arm bar type to try out some gear as well as some techniques.
Thinking about routes similar to 'Fear of Infection' (Cwm Glas Bach), and "Come Inside" (rainbow slabs) and others of their ilk, grades ~HVS-E4 type of thing...!
I'm based in South Wales but travel up to the North Wales and the Roaches area/Eastern Grit and North Wales quite regularly so route recommendations in these areas are particularly welcome!
In reply to myrddinmuse:
..loads more, of course!
Have a look for the gritstone most damaging and gruesome struggles ticklist on here!
Post edited at 18:29
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
elder crack seems to be of good reputation...
but there is a good and comprehensive list from UKCers in this post which may help;
https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/rocktalk/gritstone_offwidths-188859
Post edited at 18:29
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
Brutalizer and Giggling Crack at Brigham would be a good morning workout.
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
I don't know the name of it but there a strange looking chimney at Rivelin that looks both fun and horrible at the same time.
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In reply to krikoman:
Kremlin Crack? Another good candidate, but there’s too many holds on the outside!
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In reply to mrphilipoldham:
> Kremlin Crack? Another good candidate, but there’s too many holds on the outside!
It might be I can't remember, I'd probably have to see it again to know. I remember being intrigued and intimidated just looking at it. I have a reputation in our club as a picker of awkward and esoteric routes and we didn't try it on the day.
I didn't know there were holds on the outside, Silver Crackat, Froggatt is a bit like that IIRC. I got "involved" with it and left plenty of skin behind but I do that with most chimneys, Demo Route at Sennen is another one.
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In reply to krikoman:
Yes they only appear when you’re up there, just looks like a blank wall from below. It’s a good route and the upper crack isn’t as bad as you might expect.. getting established was the perplexing bit!
In reply to mrphilipoldham:
Very little offwidthing on Elder. Left Eliminate has a bit of offwidthing,and is recommended on a top rope for those without the requisite gear.Soloing is also an option but not commended for the more cautious.Right Eliminate is also recommended.Doing these three and Profit of Doom on the same day would be pretty good.
Post edited at 20:49
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In reply to krikoman:
> I didn't know there were holds on the outside, Silver Crackat, Froggatt is a bit like that IIRC. I got "involved" with it and left plenty of skin behind but I do that with most chimneys, Demo Route at Sennen is another one.
I've just looked up Silver Crack in my logbook, because it rang a vague bell. I see that I led it in 1969 on one of my very first trips to gritstone from Hertfordshire. Virtually no experience of that kind of climbing, and my logbook just says 'Quite a hard V. Diff.' No further comment. And Demo Route as far as I can remember didn't really involve chimney climbing at all. Surely you climb that first pitch mostly on the outside? If we want to talk about offwidths that are hard for the grade we need to mention things like Peapod. BTW, one of the purest offwidths I've ever come across (I think I've mentioned it here several times before) is Beanstalk ""5b"" at High Rocks. Just a kind of deep smooth groove in the rock with no crack at all, about 9" wide and with a semicircular cross section. Desperate.
Post edited at 21:02
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
Imposition (E2 5b)Green Crack (VS 5a)The Great Zawn (HVS 5a)
ramshaw is a good start. There’s plenty more that start as hand cracks and just get wider ramshaw crack being the main event.
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In reply to overdrawnboy:
Somewhere I have a picture of my hands after attempting to follow the first ascent of Brutaliser. Some workout!
Post edited at 00:08
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Climbing crewcut at millstone wothout laybacking looks good value. Brimham has lota of wide cracks, but is a bit further north. Ramshaw crack gets wide at the top.
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
I vauguely remember getting a chicken wing in Kestrel Crack (VS 4b) at the Roaches. Not mega hard at VS but maybe fun
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
Definitely a trip up to Brimham Rocks, there's loads to go at from VD - E6 and many eat size 5 & 6 cams.
Have a look at "The Dirty Dozen" for a start these will get you on your way to having a go at Giggling Crack, super safe with a size 6 (I've been spat out many times! ).
https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=545
I've added "A Dirty Dozen More" to the list, not all offwidths but most are and take big gear.
https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=629
Also check out:
https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=624
Post edited at 10:06
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In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
There is no offwidth work required at all on Peapod? Its pod chimneying to good hand jams.
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In reply to petegunn:
Some lower grade Peak fun (Flash player required):
http://offwidth.uptosummit.com/offwidth_topten.html
http://offwidth.uptosummit.com/chimney_topten.html
And for grit squeezes:
http://offwidth.uptosummit.com/caving_topten.html
Post edited at 11:15
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In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
> And Demo Route as far as I can remember didn't really involve chimney climbing at all. Surely you climb that first pitch mostly on the outside?
Some of you might, but if you're a purist.......
Climbing on the outside, pah!
Broken crack at Froggatt has always been a struggle for me, but it's not very long and it's only the top couple of moves that I struggle with.
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In reply to krikoman:
This fits the bill and must be one of the most underated routes on Kinder.
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
... want a climbing partner?
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
Can't remember putting in arm bars / chicken wings, but great crack at Froggatt might fit the bill
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In reply to Offwidth:
> There is no offwidth work required at all on Peapod? Its pod chimneying to good hand jams.
Well, I suppose it's a kind of chimneying - certainly in the middle - but higher up/near the top of the pod it gets a bit weirder ... I think you've forgotten that, before you get to the good jams, there's a very hard exit move that I don't think you can describe as chimneying. Totally brilliant climb though, imho.
Post edited at 15:55
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In reply to John Stainforth:
I did it back in the days of blue furry Helly Hansen's which seemed tailor made for thrutching cracks, also I was about 10 stone wet thro which helped me get right inside the beastly thing.
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
Gordon, I agree with Offwidth - Peapod is not an offwidth at all!
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
Looking for practice on chimneys? You're not Santa are you?
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In reply to Puppythedog:
Probably the most fun I've ever had but not 'brutal' really. You just wedge half in, get your feet up and wiggle to the top.
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In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
In reply to ashtond6:
Seems like a perfect description of the top of the pod of Peapod, where it closes right in. Actually, if I remember correctly it then turns into a rather extreme mantleshelf problem using some rather nifty footwork on the right arete (tho' you keep using that subsidiary flange above and left of the pod with your left foot for as long as possible - then it's goodbye to the pod. V exciting. I'm talking about the more commonly used left-facing method).
In reply to ashtond6:
I'll have to admit that I'm now a bit hazy as to exactly what we meant by an offwidth. I thought it was some kind of chimney/crack that was too wide to jam and too narrow to get into and use chimneying techniques. And that would apply to a deep, off-width groove (like that amazing one I mentioned at High Rocks). Or have I lost the plot?
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
> I've just looked up Silver Crack in my logbook, because it rang a vague bell. I see that I led it in 1969 on one of my very first trips to gritstone from Hertfordshire.
It's neighbour Bollard crack spat me out 40 years ago.
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
Gordon, I am really a bit surprised that you can be hazy about offwidths. All the ones I have done (mostly on granite, a few on gritstone) are indelibly etched on my mind. They're horrendous: too wide for normal jamming, too narrow for normal chimneying, and unless one has good offwidth technique (which most of us haven't) one ends up fighting the rock and expending ludicrous quantities of energy and skin! I speak as someone who has never done an offwidth in style.
I would even go as far as to say that I am allergic to offwidths!
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In reply to althesin:
Ho ho ho....
Cheers for the recommendations, all! Looks like I should get the reindeer hitched and set a course for Brimham! Been on my list for quite a long time anyway, I just wish it would stop raining for a day or two..
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In reply to Stoney Boy:
Added to next summers hit list, thank you!
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In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
> .... Or have I lost the plot?
Yes. Peapod is nothing like an 'offwidth'.
In reply to myrddinmuse:
Anybody here done "Come Inside" I mentioned in the OP? Brilliant, bizarre fun.
In reply to John Stainforth:
> and unless one has good offwidth technique (which most of us haven't) one ends up fighting the rock and expending ludicrous quantities of energy and skin!
Isn't that part of the fun?
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In reply to Andy Hardy:
> Can't remember putting in arm bars / chicken wings,
Wasn't it just called thrutching back in the day
In reply to krikoman:
Yeah, I suppose so. Each to their own!
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
> Anybody here done "Come Inside" I mentioned in the OP? Brilliant, bizarre fun.
It's great, but not an offwidth, more of a squeeze chimney slitherfest.
In reply to myrddinmuse: here’s my 2 pence worth list of classic gritstone battles of varying widths from HS to E2 -
Emperor crack - Chatsworth
The peapod - Curbar
Valkyrie - Froggatt
Altar Crack - Rivelin
Roof Route - Rivelin
Nowanda- Gardoms
Goliath's groove - Stanage
Terrazza crack - stanage north
Gardom's unconquerable- Gardoms
The three flakes of man - Kinder Upper Tor
Parson’s Chimney - Almscliff
Elder Crack - Curbar
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In reply to myrddinmuse:
Offwidth:too wide for fist and too narrow for chest,narrow cross section.
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