07/09/06
New route bonanza...
A long list of new routes have been completed this year:
Portland:
Gary Gibson has been his usual prolific-self on the Island with a rash of new additions. At Blacknor South, he climbed the groove and arête right of Gaze of the Gorgon (Sniffin’- Glue F7a+) and the line above Portland Heights (‘I walk the Line’ – F7b).'Dusty Bedrock in need of Preparation' ( F7a+), climbs the crack and pinnacle left of ‘Port Wine’, finishing up the wall left of Cocteau Phenomenon. The wall left of 'Ausfart' is ‘The Chronicles of Vladimir (F6c+).
At Blacknor South Gibson also squeezed in a tight line between 'Snakes Alive' and 'Medusa Falls': ‘Slither’ (F7a+), and then went on to visit Blacknor Far South to clean and climb the wall left of Carlos Fandango Belay; Boom-Boom Box (F7a+) is the thin wall, while the line to the right is Ghetto Blaster Master (F6b).
In the Battleship area the shallow scoop right of Citizen Dust is now ‘The Kane Mutiny’ (F6b), while on the Battleship Block itself the wall right of 'Wake-up, Time to Die' is 'No Smears Here' (F6a+).
Amazingly after this onslaught there remains some unclimbed rock!
Mick Ward has added some quality lines in the vicinity of the large flake left of Spinal Tap at Wallsend Cove. ‘Will’ (F7b) climbs left of the large flake, and then steps left at the ledge to climb a technical groove. ‘Michèle’ (F6a+) climbs from the ledge direct. Finally, right of the flake are ‘Shape of Tomorrow’ (F6c+) and ‘River of Dreams’ (F7a) which tackle the left and right sides of a ‘death-flake’- You have been warned!
Also at Wallsend Gav Symonds climbed a quality pitch below Catatonic: ‘Random Texter’ (F6c) and Jane Weir climbed the oft-fancied arête right of Catatonic at F6b+. Gav has also been at work on the Realm of Chaos wall, finding the scoop left of 'Million Watt Marshalls' ('Cloud Atlas' -7b+)to be a quality addition(Gav also retroed Million Watt Marshalls in the process- good effort!).
Neal and Helen Heanes continued their tradition of interesting route names with 'Charlton Mackerel, The World's Strongest Fish' (F6b), which climbs the finger-crack left of Parkhurst Dozen. Last but not least Jason Pickles added ‘Suenos con Espanã’ (F7a+) right of ' Big Corner' at Blacknor Central.
Purbeck
Winspit continues to be the centre of new route activity hereabouts, with Scott Titt being the most prolific. In the corner right of 'Idiot Village' is 'Autumn Leaves' (Provisionally graded 5+).Venturing into virgin territory, Scott has added 3 routes to the Eastern side of the South Face. 30m West of 'Gorilla Tactics' is a ridge with two grooves above it; the right hand groove is 'Fishy Business'(F5+) the left hand line is 'Plaice a Bolt'(F5). Further right still is 'Silver Bream Machine'(F6c), with a tough finish! In addition to these routes Rich White and Rob Kennard climbed the groove left of 'Avenging the Hallswell' ; 'Solstice' (F7a+) has some fine climbing higher up, only marred by some dubious blocks low-down! There has been some other new route activity at the quarry in the shape of the fractured wall right of Tom's Patience(F5?) and the groove right of 'Dick Dastardly'(F7a?), although at the time of writing details have not been forthcoming!
Scott Titt and Brian Watson have also ventured onto the ill-frequented crags at St Aldhelm's Head, and added a line up the arete left of 'Yellow Wall', called 'Yellow Edge'(E4 5C). It goes without saying that, in common with most climbs on this wall, it is a serious undertaking!
Lulworth
Over at the Ampitheatre roofs the easier lines between the bolted roof have been explored by Rob Kennard and friends. First up was 'Hyperbole'(HVS 5a), a quality route to the left of the Ampitheatre descent, featuring some unique sloping 'tree-bole' holds at the top. Further left is 'Extraordinary Rendition'(E1 5C), a cruxy roof climb. The first groove right of the descent is 'Pussy Galore'(VS 4b) is a nice introduction to the area!(all routes Rob Kennard and Alex More). After this initial foray, Steve Taylor, Mark Williams and Ben Stokes found some plumb lines, with the right side of the 'Il Pirata' roof yielding 'West Coast Pimps'(E1 5b) and further right 'Bolt Free'( VS 4b), which both proved to have great climbing at an unlikely grade. The wall immidiately right and overlooking the descent was also on-sight soloed at HS 4b by Ben Stokes to give 'Too Driven'. Later that same day Rob Kennard, James Dunlop and Jon Howell added 'Carbon Footprint'(HVS 5B), which climbs the obvious deep cleft in the right side of the bay, right of 'Bolt Free'.
Later developments include Marti Hallet's intimidating '4 years, 5 months and 15 days...' (E2 5b) to the left of 'Extraordinary Rendition' and the quality slab climb of 'Mojo-Pin'(VS 4c) on the slab 50m to the left of the descent(Rob Kennard ,Marti Hallet and Alex More). All of the developments at this crag can be found in the directory, and will be the focus of a new feature on DCWEB soon.
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