Fear and Loathing in Lincoln

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Up until 2 weeks ago, I lived in Sheffield, on the Peak District side. If you on onto UK Climbing www.ukclimbing.com you can search the crags database for a variable search radius from your home. I just did that for my old address, 10 miles from S7 gives you ……… 60 crags! Including…..Rivelin, Stanage, Burbage, Froggatt, Curbar…..I could go on. Some of the most important crags in the world, especially for bouldering.

So, this morning I performed the same test for my new house in Lincoln, 10 miles from LN8 ….. one crag, Limestone, 33 climbs !!! So my faithful bouldering and I headed over there this morning for a recce.

The glory of Greetwell Quarry, Lincoln. Surely a prime contender for landfill?

Deep gloom. We got in the car and drove the 100 mile round trip to the Climbing Works in Sheffield….S7

Greetwell Quarry, Noodle can’t bear to look

Indian Summer bouldering Gardoms Edge

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Mark’s Roof at Gardoms North, and the permanently sunny road leading back into Sheffield

Warm and still yesterday (22/9/2012) bouldering at Gardoms Edge on the Northern Bouldering Circuit.

Noodle guarding the bouldering mat at Gardoms

The big moor which contains Gardoms and Birchens Edges has been dog friendly for some years now. However the Highland Longhorn cattle have moved in which has resulted in Noodle sticking close to my side as we cross to the crags. On a practical point, they’ve churned up the wetland so much now that even after a relatively dry period, the mud is very deep in parts of the paths.

Roof problems on the Gardoms North circuit

Finally actually managed to at least get established on ‘8 Ball’, not sure if I’ll ever get any further though.

8 Ball at Gardoms North

 

Beware of the bouldering dog! Raaaaaar!

The best bouldering in the world (probably)

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Looking across the Llanberis Pass to Dinas Cromlech from the 'Wavelength' bouldering area

When I first started rock climbing in the late ’70s/early ’80s (showing my age), there was a lot of discussion and criticism of ‘car bound, puerile route tickers’, meaning climbers who were ticking routes out of the guidebook, but unwilling to walk more than 15 minutes from the car.

The photo to the left features Dinas Cromlech in the Llanberis Pass in North Wales, a huge crag dominating the valley, and containing some of the most significant and boldest routes from the last few decades. Notable for Joe Brown’s Cenotaph Corner, certainly the most famous rock climb in Britain, Pete Livesey’s Right Wall, and Big Ron’s visionary Lord of the Flies (Filmed for the BBC Rock Athlete series in the ’70s and featuring the famous Big Ron quote “Come on arms, do your stuff!”.

The Pass is full of both bouldering and big routes of this kind of quality, all within easy reach of the car. So….it would be crazy to head out bouldering in the pass on a bank holiday weekend? Well no, if you’re prepared to take the slog up the hillside with your bouldering mat and boots, then the ‘Wavelength’ area in the meadow below Cyrn Las contains the distillation of some of the best bouldering in Wales, far from the madding crowd, in a position of utmost beauty.

Here are some tasters……

First up on the slog up to Cyrn Las is the house sized Utopia boulder with the uber classic central groove

 

 

Noodle taking a breather at the 'Wavelength' boulder

 

The view up towards Cyrn Las

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The striations in the rock which gives the 'Wavelength' area its name

Sampling the Climb Asia climbing walls in Singapore

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Climb Asia Singapore outdoor lead wall

I managed to squeeze in a bouldering session at Climb Asia in Singapore today:

Climb Asia Climbing Centre Pte Ltd

60 Tessensohn Road

c/o: Civil Service Club
Singapore 217664
(65) 6292 7701
http://www.climb-asia.com
> 20m wide indoor climbing wall – 9m high; 9 lanes outdoor high wall – 15 meters; indoor bouldering cave

Easy to find, around 200 metres from the Farrer Park MTR Station on the North East Line

 

 

level 2 of the bouldering area

There is a well stocked climbing shop, cafe, and most important, 2 levels of bouldering in the modern idiom. with level 1 being particularly fierce and steep.

Well worth the visit if you’re in the city.

Bouldering in Singapore

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Level 2 at the Climbing Laboratory, Singapore

I took a couple of hours out this afternoon from the conference I’m attending in Singapore to go for a training session at one of the indoor climbing and bouldering walls in singapore

Climbers Laboratory
66 Kampung Bugis, #08-01 Rivergreen Building
Singapore
+65- 6515 9363
http://www.exponentasia.com.sg

is situated just 5 minutes from the Lavender metro station on the East-West line, and occupies the top two levels of an office block. Level 8 is where the entrance is from the lift, and has relatively easy problems, with Level 7 containing roof and cave problems all extremely steep. The venue is only two months old, so the holds are all relatively new and extremely hard on your fingers. Overall, well worth the visit if you have any time in Singapore, and although it lacks the height of the Climbing Works in Sheffield, the roofs and traverses are extremely good value.

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