Weather dependent of course, but anyone fancy a weekend in Dorset the 30-31 of this month?
I’m going to Kalymnos the week after, so my hope is to spend at least one day at Wallsend South, having a crack at the longer sport routes. If anyone else fancies a ‘Top 50 Challenge’, there is the possibility of targeting:
Stalker’s Zone (6a+)
Trad Free World (6b)
The Watchman (6b)
The Jewel of the Isle (6b+)
Best Fingers Forward (6c+)
Reverence (7a+)
Halfway to Heaven (7b)
Which are all basically next to each other, and all get Top 50 in the Rockfax. There are also a host of other 2-3 star lines in the surrounding sector, though mostly they’re in the (upper) 6s and 7s.
I could be persuaded to do trad on the second day, as I’ll be wrecked from sport if I try and do the above.
I live locally and might be free that weekend, so may try to come and join you.
One thing I would say though is that it’s very early season for the sea level stuff down there. My usual rule of thumb would be that unless on an exceptionally low humidity day it wouldn’t be worth arriving until the sun hits the crag at say 1 (and even then your warmups will be greasy) - Wallsend is at its best on long afternoons and evenings in June/July when you can climb from lunch until late. In mornings, it’s often/usually slimy with sea clag that needs time to burn off.
Battleship back cliff and Blacknor Central are the obvious less conditions dependent places for long routes.
I remember when climbing at Battleship with @Tutu last summer we had a lot of grease in the morning, but then in the afternoons it was just too hot to climb in the direct sun. Hmmm.
Conditions were OK on Saturday just gone, just really bloody cold. Had Blacknor South entirely to ourselves, and with the wind there was no grease at all - just rock so cold it gave me hot aches and I was crimping things without being able to feel a thing in my fingers!
I’d say the grease driven variability gets far worse on the boulder beach crags than away from the sea at blacknor or battleship.
Usual rule of thumb I got given was sub 80% humidity (lower the better), breeze on or along the crag, and sunshine on the rock (so a sunny day after say 1pm) makes it worthwhile, and the more those criteria aren’t met the worse the day will become!
So, intriguingly, a friend of mine did Realm of Chaos down at sea level yesterday. Obviously yesterday was a lovely day for it, but I’m enquiring as to how conditions were in the shade (i.e. whether the rock was dry or whether he just did it in the sunny window by virtue of being good). I’ll let you know.
Currently thinking Battleship Back Cliff, because 1) humidity is quite high on current forecast; 2) it’s easy to access; 3) I need to send the horrible sandbag that is Buoys will be Buoys, and want to have a proper crack at Jurassic Shift.
Will likely drive myself down on Friday eve, sleep on Reap Lane, then back up on Saturday eve.
Right so I’ve currently got @guyarnold and @khalidqasrawi interested, although like me they can only do Saturday. Guy has to go visit his mum on the way back, and I have only one passenger seat, so logistics are a little awkward.
