Soo, the Swanage meet is this coming weekend! A little last-minute, yes! I’m writing this from Canada, got a bit distracted in the run up to my trip…
Here’s a description copied directly from last year! I’ve got a couple of potential volunteers to do the on-the-ground logistics. Sad to be missing it, but not too sad given where I am instead
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Do you like your climbing exciting, by the seaside, and often alarmingly steep for the grade? Swanage! (Thanks Sarah for your great post last year that I am shamelessly stealing)
The Climbing
Lovely limestone sea cliff trad, mostly tidal and with abseil approaches. Loads of great VS/HVS routes if you’re gym fit and like steep juggy climbing, but there’s other stuff there as well. And also some sport.
Just to note - while there are routes in the lower grades they can often still be quite serious, with loose rock (especially at the top outs) and tidal belay ledges. So maybe not ideal for a new leader unless you’re used to dealing with adventurous conditions - the sport climbing, while still featuring the typical looseness of British quarries, is a bit more approachable!
The Logistics
The long range forecast is so far alright so suggest we go for camping at Tom’s Field (£12/night). I’ll call to book once there’s a sense of numbers.
Also looking for a pub for dinner on the Saturday, so if you have any local favourites speak up now.
ooh, tempted… was possibly scrambling (and partying) in Snowdonia with another group, so I’m selfishly watching the weather before committing to either venue! Will decide on Wednesday.
Tides are looking OK too, especially if one likes a little lie in
Low Tide: 0123
High Tide: 0727
Low Tide: 1355
High Tide 1926
Don’t use swanage town itself, the tides get really messed up and look very different either side of anvil point. The double high vs double low pattern reverses there.
This is the next place West and should have the same pattern as the actual cliffs at swanage
Thanks AJ, good to know! If I’m understanding this correctly, it seems there’s less than 1m difference anyway - effectively making Swanage fairly non-tidal??
Tide isn’t a massive factor for a lot of the cliffs, and it’s a fairly neap-y tide this weekend so the swing is fairly low to boot. The boulder beaches under the cliff mean that in practical terms decent chunks of the crag are non tidal.
Swell (try a surf forecast for kimmeridge - again better than swanage because swanage town faces a completely different direction to the climbing crags) is probably a more material consideration in a lot of places. From a quick look, it looks fairly ok at present.
Tom’s Field will have a map with our pitches marked as NLMC on the shop door. They advice that a torch is required to find that map. I believe we’re roughly at the same place we were during the previous Swanage meet but it’s worth checking.
If you vehicle is large, you may need to remove the gate pole temporarily (probably relevant for @Adam_Craig).
