| Protection:
As is clear the main
crag consists of a cliff composed of four tiers the bottom two of which form the
area of climbing so described. The terrace above these merged
tiers is densely vegetated which has led to the majority of routes being
equipped with lower-offs. In an effort to popularized the crag most of the routes
again posses some form of fixed protection (mostly bolts) and in a lot of
cases are complete sports routes. For the remaining routes it is necessary
to carry some form of natural protection: small and medium wires plus Friends
but it is important to stress that this situation is under review with the intention
of equipping even the easiest routes with fixed protection.
The
Escarpment is in a similar stage of flux although the majority of routes do carry
some form of fixed protection. Again this situation will be under review
once the Foot and Mouth epidemic has ceased. Conditions: The
Main Crag is a peculiar cliff in that it takes very little seepage during the
winter months and dries very quickly after rain. Its northwest facing nature,
together with its setting in a relatively sheltered valley, also make it
a very pleasant place to climb The Escarpment does suffer seepage problems
in the winter but once dry, give it roughly a week, will stay dry in the
rain if required. |