New Beta Videos

I've uploaded/categorised a bunch of new beta videos to the site. You may have seen some as they have been on the LakesBloc Vimeo/Youtube accounts, but this should make for finding them easier. They are as follows:

Coniston Boulder Valley
Reunion Jack 7B+
Jazz Mag 7B
Manic Miner 7B+

Dow Crag
Ex Machina 7C+

Dunnerdale
Wilding 7B
Van Wilder 7C
Giant Jenga 7B+
Bumblee in the Junglee 7C

Gouther Crag
Atom Smasher 7C
Road to Valhalla 7B
Boogie Monster 7B+

Long Crag
Long Division 7C
White Wryno 7A

Sour Milk Boulders
Lambrini Girl 7B+

Sampson's Stones
The Ergosphere 7C

St. Bees - North
Operation Winkle 7B
Rascal's Wall 7B
Jabberjaw 7B
Out of the Blue 7C+
Solitary Refinement 7B+

Trowbarrow
Pie Man 7C

Compilations
Around the Lakes in 14 Days - by Lawson Beta Productions

Lakes Boulder Roundup 2014

I've written a bouldering roundup incorporating the highlights of 2014 and a few bits from 2013. For those interested, this is available to read via UKClimbing:

Article: Lakes Bouldering Round-up 2013/14

Warton Guide Updated

As the title suggests, the Warton guide has had a tidy up and few updates added.

Warton Crags Bouldering Guide PDF (4.72mb)

Hold Breakage at St. Bees North

Jack Metcalfe reports some hold breakage on the recently developed Modulator Block, located close to the base of St. Bees North's Northern Descent. Jack re-climbed the relevant lines and added a couple of other variants. He explains:

While repeating 'Modulator' last week a hold broke off unfortunately - this is the 'spikey edge' that you make a difficult dead point move to with your left hand while your right hand is still on the jug at the base of the bloc. Fortunately the problem is still possible but it now involves the use of a 2 finger pocket on the right-hand face in order to bring your left hand up to the good edges on the blunt arete. With the use of a right heel toe in the white rock it's possible to reach the pocket quite steadily.

After repeating the other problems on the bloc I added 2 variation finishes to both Salvage and Modulator. For Salvage, after making the crux move out to the far right-hand pocket, instead of crossing over with you left-hand as Tom does into the Modulator holds, I went straight up to the top of the bloc and topped out directly. This is a touch easier than Tom's full problem. For Modulator, after gaining the good holds on the blunt arete, instead of popping out to the rib on the right, I went straight up and left to the top of the bloc and topped out slightly left after a bit of shuffling to find some holds for use rocking over. This goes at about the same grade.

After a number of repeats from the guys on this side of t'Lakes the grades have settled a bit and are now roughly as follows:

Modulator (after hold breakage and new beta) - 7A
Modulator (LH finish) - 7A
Buoyz in the Hood - 7B
Salvage - 7B+
Salvage (direct finish) - 7B

Fleswick Bay Path Closure

The path which most people use to gain access to Fleswick Bay, at St. Bees Head, has been closed by the farmer and the signs marking its way removed. I'm not entirely sure of the reasoning behind this or if it is just a seasonal thing but for the time being (whilst the signs are not there) it is probably best to access the bay via the (longer) cliff top approach. This involves carrying on as though you were going to the normal Northern Head sectors, but once at the top of the cliffs follow the cliff top path south to where it is possible to gain access to the shoreline and the bay itself.

To be fair, whatever the reasoning, the path is not designated a public right of way on the OS map, so the farmer is probably well within his rights to do this.

Chipping at Rolling Rock

Some misguided individual has rather selfishly chipped, and in doing so improved, the reasonable low edge/side pull at the base of the Jungle Hobo arete on the Rolling Rock, Patterdale. Whilst it is not impossible that this is natural breakage it seems unlikely looking at the multiple scarring and improved hold.

It is believed that the damage to the hold has reduced the grade of both the stand and sit (Grand Unification) by a whole grade or so.

It is a sad day when people start chipping classic lines like this, lets hope it was a visitor to the area and someone who is unlikely to return any time soon!

[Thanks to Chris Arthur for the information and image.]

Got the Poison, Got the Remedy

I have repaired and and re-sent Poison at Warton Pinnacle Crag. The crucial good hold on the lip, just before the final lay-back crack section, had deteriorated to a point where it was no longer usable and thus the problem had become defunct. Obviously this was a shame as this is one of the better high 7's on South Lakes Limestone.

Right: Me resending Poison (7C+) via the repaired hold.

As there was nothing really left to glue back (the mainstay of the hold had crumbled away), I scraped out the remaining loose bits and completely re-stabilised the hold with epoxy resin, meaning it shouldn't deteriorate again. The hold is not as juggy as it once was, however it is perfectly serviceable and pleasant enough to use. Plus it is now totally solid. The reduced positivity of the hold makes the line a fair bit tougher and it is probably now in the 7C+ ballpark.

Repaired hold...

Lost Buoys Lost

Liam Halsay reports the demise of another quality St. Bees problem, due to winter-storm damage. It appears that 'Lost Buoys' at the Old Buoys Circuit of the Northern Head has been hit by some big blocks, resulting in it being moved and having a number of holds badly damaged. Liam said it may still be possible but the landing is less good and it would probably be easier. :o(

New Dow Crag Bouldeirng Guide

There's a new 10 page guide to the Dow Crag area now available to download via the crag page on LakesBloc:

http://www.lakesbloc.com/crags/south-west/552-dow-crag-boulders.html 

The new guide cover 70+ problems from 2-8A and incorporates Nettle Crag, the Cove Stones and the Dow Crag boulders.

Have fun.

Download All Guides: One File

You can now download all 50+ LakesBloc bouldering guides as a single (105mb) Zip File via the page linked below. Then simply add to your smart phone or tablet and away you go...

http://www.lakesbloc.com/download-all-guides.html

St. Bees Storm Damage

Chris Fisher has kindly passed on this information relating to the damage caused to the bouldering areas at St. Bees Head, after the recent winter storms.

Firstly the block featuring Izaro on has completely collapsed (see pic below), unlike it's namesake the problem has disappeared without a trace!

There's been some block shifting round where The Kraken is situated: the right-hand version of this can't really be done any more as there's a block in the way, the left-hand version could possibly still be done.

At Fleswick, the piece of rock housing Trash Vortex has separated totally from the crag and is tilted quite alarmingly, whilst this makes the problem harder it is quite likely to kill anyone who happens to be on it if it detached completely (see pic below).

Round Fisherman's steps there's been lot's of movement behind Fruits de Mer, this has created a couple of nice 6c+/7a problems for folk to explore.

Lastly the rock step between Apiary Wall and Scabby Back has disappeared, fortunately though it's still possible to get between the two.

Whilst this damage and 'reorganizing' of blocks is a bit disappointing, it could have been a whole lot worse. If anyone notices or has noticed any other changes please feel free to post a comment below...

NEW Brant Fell Guide

New Brant Fell Bouldering guide now available to download. Head to the site and click the PDF topo link at the base of the crag page.

http://www.lakesbloc.com/crags/south-east/201-brant-fell.html

This may be a small area but it is extremely popular with visitors and locals alike.

Thanks go to George North for the text and images, as well as John Kettle and Annette Smith for problem feedback and general area beta.

Carrock Fell Guide Updated

Carrock Fell Guide 2012 Version 1.1: I have updated the Carrock Fell guide. There's a number of grade/description alterations (the most notable being 'Hockstack & Two Broken Toothbrushes' going up to 7B) along with the addition of the Mint Wall sector and of course the crags hardest line, 'Home' (8B). There were a few other recent additions that I couldn't include without a major overhaul, these will get included in the next full re-write.

http://www.lakesbloc.com/guides/carrockfell-guide.pdf

Dow Crag Bouldering

I have just added various information pages to the website focussing on the recently developed bouldering circuit below Dow Crag, in the southwest Lakes. The area now hosts a fair circuit of easier lines and 10+ problems from 7A to 8A...

News Report: lakesbloc.com/news/supergene-a-full-dow-crag-roundup
Crag Page: lakesbloc.com/crags/south-west/dow-crag-boulders
Crag Gallery: lakesbloc.com/galleries/dow-crag-boulders-gallery

NEW Sampson's Stones Guide

The NEW Sampson's Stones bouldering guide is now complete and available to download. It includes between 15-20 new problems when compared with the last version and hopefully a generally cleaner easier to follow layout.

Right: NEW Sampson's Stone guide cover.

With plenty to go at for all abilities, I hope this guide inspires a few more people to make the effort and visit this magnificent venue.

Download the guide for FREE here:
LakesBloc Sampson's Stones PDF Bouldering Guide (5.05mb)

Bull Stones Bouldering

Many years ago I went to checkout the small gritstone escarpment of Great Bull Stones (GBS), in the heart of the the Forrest of Bowland. On that occasion I approached via Wolfhole Crag, a lengthy and arduous trek across some pretty wild moorland. The day was a bleak misty affair, and having reached the crag I was quickly underwhelmed by the potential climbing on offer. Having scoped the western portion of the crag (and mainstay of the crag according to the OS map) I decided I'd seen enough and headed home, quickly forgetting about the not so Great Bull Stones.

This past weekend, 12 years on, I returned to the crag for another recce, having been tipped off by Mike Binks (who visited the crag the week before) that the boulders of Little Bull Stones (LBS) - essentially the eastern continuation of GBS and a sector of the crag I had not previously visited - offered a better concentration of sizeable blocks and lines, which may be of more interest than the more scattered collection of generally small boulders provided by the GBS escarpment.

Having parked at the base of the Hornby Road (a historic Roman road come bridleway linking Slaidburn to Hornby) I followed this substantial track to the near summit of Croasdale Fell, before heading up the short slope to the western most rocks of Great Bull Stones - as per the described method in the basic topo Mike had acquired and kindly passed on. From here I stuck to the crag line, taking in GBS and the surrounding blocks, to eventually reach Little Bull Stones. I didn't climb anything at GBS but having climbed most of the topo's described lines at LBS, I climbed (added?) about 10 more problems which were not covered. For the benefit of anyone who's interested, the best of these were are as follows:

1: Stinger 7A+/7B (SDS) From two low crimps work up the wall to the top of the block. Bunched start.
2: Dream On Sit [?] - 6A+ (SDS) The excellent curving arete climbed on the right.
3: Toro Loco - 6A+ (SDS) Use low edges to gain the rib and follow it to its finish, then top out via a big juggy pocket.
4: The Scoop - 6A (SDS) As per p3 but once the rib is gained mantle into the scoop and up.

5: Cascadia - 7A/+ (SDS) Start under the small roof and climb a direct line through the left of side of the 'sloper cascade'.
6: Bully Beef - 7B (SDS) Climb the LH arete of the slab from sitting at the base of the arete on the left.

Cascadia & Bully Beef videos:





Overall, the area is certainly pretty esoteric, however its beautifully remote location combined with the small but compact bouldering circuit at LBS makes it worth a visit for those who like moorland areas, well off the beaten track.

Lancaster Bomber repaired

As you may know, if you've visited the Lad Stones in recent months, one of the crucial holds on the classic prow of Lancaster Bomber has been creaking.

Late last year I endeavored to bolster the hold by applying some glue around its edge, however it has become obvious that this was not going to be a long term solution as the hold continued to move. So yesterday I applied a more lasting solution,  by levering the hold off cleaning it up and fully gluing it back. Hopefully this will solve the issue.

Trowbarrow Gardening

The saplings, small trees and foliage around the two main Trowbarrow boulders have been fully cleared out, making both blocks much more easily accessible as well as ventilated.

On the small block in front of Red Wall the south face has been re-opened up, meaning that the small but worthwhile 7A+ of Mojo is now climbable again (although it may well need a brush).

Carrock: Repairs and Restoration

Lots of repairs and groundwork have been going on at Carrock Fell of late. Following on from Adam Hocking sorting out the landing of what became Dan Varian's new problem, Get a Grip, Dan returned the favour by shifting the the large block below Punks Life. This both makes the sit start project a better proposition, as well as opening up an off-the-deck stand up start - which also remains a project. The original version stepping off the block is unaffected.

Up on the Mint Wall I've glued the central hold back, re-establishing the quality 7C+, Mint Royale and the central 7A Orison . Thanks to Jon Freeman for collecting the broken hold and handing it on to me. Hopefully it will stay put - it does take a fair amount of weight.

Over on the Leopold Wall myself and Dan Varian (to be fair Dan did most of the work) completely shifted the big block to the immediate left of Leopold Von Buch making the landing far flatter and meaning you need less pads to try the problem.

Mint Wall Breakage

Unfortunately the useful obvious edge in the centre of Carrock Fell's Mint Wall has recently snapped off, rendering Orison and Mint Royale much harder/defunct.

Jon Freeman has rescued the hold so if possible it will be glue back in place at some point.