- Recent Updates -

May - Jumbles Transformation
A large team has been working on transforming the rocks at Jumbles into a fine bouldering and mini route venue. Landings have been improved, blocks have been trundled and vegetation has been battled. Work is still ongoing, but this week the standout line of the crag was climbed by Nik Jennings. Clown's Pocket Direct is 7A and powers straight up to the appealing hole above the obvious overlap. There is also an excellent easier variation, which goes at 6B. Watch the video HERE.

April - David Vetter 7A+
At Stronstrey Bank Quarry, Gareth Wallis has completed his project highball. After several days spent cleaning and working the moves on a rope, Gareth made a successful, though somewhat frightening, ascent of the fine sharp arete on the back right wall of the main quarry. You can see more details and a video HERE.

February - Lancs Route History
Vimeo user Rockarchivist has uploaded a 30 min recording of Rowland Edwards talking about the early days of Brownstones and Wilton climbing. Watch it HERE.

January - Stronstrey Guide
Gareth Wallis has produced another very nice online guide, this time to Stronstrey Bank Quarry. Download it HERE.

January - New Wilton Problems
Robin Mueller has climbed a few probably new problems at Wilton 3 and 2. See the video HERE.

January - Happy New Year!
Beneath the snow, a new year slips in. May it bring you all many happy things, and much quarry related fun!

December - Tonacliffe Eliminates Guide
Pete Reynolds has put together a GUIDE to eliminates at Tonacliffe Quarry - an esoteric venue near Rochdale. There are problems here from V0-V7-ish. Cheers to Pete for getting it done - he's been on the other side of the planet for years, but recently nipped back for a wedding, and managed to get a few quarry photos to make the guide with. Now that's dedication!

September - Greenbooth Access Problems
Bruce Goodwin reports that climbers at Greenbooth have been asked to stop climbing by United Utilities employees (United Utilities own the site). The BMC is on the case, but in the meantime, Bruce suggests it would be helpful to the negotiations if climbers either stay away or adopt a contrite attitude if caught and asked to leave. Hopefully access will be granted in the near future.

August - Traversing Triumph
Lancs local Paul Robins has recently succeeded in completing the Traverse of the Gods at Craig Y Longridge. This monster traverse weighs in at French 8b+, or Font 8A, and repeats are an infrequent occurance. Paul says it was "a bit of a life long ambition." Congrats!

August - Brownstones Paparazzi
Simon Panton and team have recently visited Brownstones. Much was sampled and much was photographed. The crag will feature in a forthcoming Climber magazine.

August - Broken Jokes
Under the bridge ar Egerton quarry, Robin has climbed an excellent dynamic arete. See the VIDEO.

August - Stronstrey Additions
Robin has been busy at Stronstrey, climbing several new problems, the best of which is an excellent highball arete - Mirth of the Ducks, 7A+. A guide will be on its way soonish, but for now, check out the VIDEO.

June - Salthill Crag
Sam Anderton has discovered a decent looking limestone crag in Clitheroe. He has climbed several highball problems up to 7A, and a 7A+ traverse. There's a map HERE, as well as a TOPO, a PHOTO and a VIDEO. Sam is keen to hear feedback, so please post it on the ukbouldering thread HERE.

April - Danger Zone 7B
On the hillside opposite the Holcombe boulders, Robin has climbed a hard new traverse. Video Here and more details in this thread.

April - Mighty Mouse 7A+
Robin climbed the crimpy wall left of Brian Jacques at Cadshaw. More details in this thread.

April - Brownstones Additions
Idle Thumbs 7a+ - Left of the corner near Groundhog, and Knahrl 7A- the sitstart to Knah, using crack holds only.

April - Super Submarine Repeat
Anonymous Sam has repeated Super Submarine 8A+. Well done Sam, whoever you are!.

April - Concrete Boulders in Swinton
Thanks to the Forestry Commission, there are now two concrete boulders in Swinton, Manchester. Check out a TOPO HERE and a VIDEO HERE.

February - Going Down - 2nd Ascent
Ian Vickers has become the first to repeat Neil Carson's epic low right-to-left traverse of Craig Y Longridge. At a mighty F8C+, Neil's statement of stamina has until now humbled all suitors to the crown. Is there a new king in the court of Longridge? Well done Ian!

February - Video (LINK FIXED)
Gareth Wallis has uploaded a video of his very own Denham creation, Snap Derision 7B. Check it out, then get it done! VIDEO HERE.

January - Video
Happy New Year one and all! Especially all. May 2009 bring bright skies, bouldering highs and meat pies. Should this prophecy come to pass, I realise vegetarians may face some consternation. Sorry. Such are the perils of whimsical rhyme. Anyway, if you haven't seen it already, hold steady and find your teddy, because here is a short video of my recent activity in the quarries. I hope it inspires one and all. Especially all. CLICK HERE FOR A GLORIOUS AUDIO-VISUAL EXPERIENCE. Take care out there, and see you on the rock! -Robin

January - Greenbooth and Ashworth Moor addditions
Robin revisited a few old projects and came away with Whodunnit 7B at Ashworth Moor (plus some hard eliminate traverses), as well as Fairweather Slapper 7A+ and The Glass Ceiling 7A on the incredibly slippy lowball slab at Greenbooth. Guides to these venues are available on the ukbouldering vimeo site: CLICK HERE.

December - Double Dutch - 7B+
At Healey Nab, Robin found a leftward solution to the unclimbed wall right of Coolboy Slab. The rightward finish remains an appealingly hard challenge, but for now, a fantastic gaston dyno has produced Double Dutch 7B+.

December - New Brownstones eliminates
The astoundingly comprehensive Brownstones wiki is still slowly growing. Latest additions are:
1. Several new eliminates on the Nexus Wall, the hardest being a massive lock off problem, named The Vision 7B/+. >
2. A highball left hand eliminate of Parabola, grade still uncertain. >
3. Two dynamic eliminates on the Traditional Mantel wall.

November- Blackstone Guide
The latest incarnation of Gareth Wallis's excellent Blackstone guide can be found on the ukbouldering vimeo site - CLICK HERE. Blackstone is a great spot, and should be on everyone's hit list. Gareth has also added a few other things that might be of interest to the south lancs boulderer, including the latest guides to Denham and Brownstones, and several videos of bouldering in the area.

April - Longridge wiki
"Craig-Y-Longridge is around 100m of unrelenting steepness. It's where the strong come to get stronger, and the weak come to get spanked. Home to possibly the highest concentration of pumpy traverses in the country." As the ground level has changed to much, this wiki will hopefully catalogue the resultant new grades and problems. Check it out and add information to help it grow: http://craigylongridge.wetpaint.com

February 27 - Snap Derision V7
Gareth Wallis has battled hard for his new problem at Denham. Having first established the problem at V6 several weeks ago, the rock scorned his attempt to repeat the problem for camera - watch the not quite ascent HERE. ...But fast forward several weeks and a few battle scars... Yesterday Gareth overcame the loss of the offending hold to reclimb the problem at a harder grade. Watch out for a video soon.

February 11 - Delta Force V9
Welsh raider Chris Davies has established a new sit-down start to Mick Lovatt's Fertile Delta. Longridge just keeps giving...

January - Broughton Wiki
The current list of problems at Broughton is now up and running in wiki form, alongside much other info relating to Broughton and Power. HERE IT IS

January - Cadger video
HERE'S a short clip of Oliver Mueller on a tricky font 6b at Cadshaw Castle Rocks.

2008 - Happy New Year!
South Lancs Bouldering enters another year, and bouldering in the quarries continues as it always has: slowly, furtively and sometimes verging on the transcendental. How many eager hands have ventured onto the long back wall? How many brave souls have sought the hidden treasures of Dinosaur Adventure 3D, or Burnley Fish and Chips since 1971? How many keen boulderers have tackled the classic Common Knowledge, one of the best aretes in the country? Precious few, precious few. But bouldering here has always been an esoteric pursuit, though there be small wonders writ in quarried script. And perhaps that's the way we like it.

November - Bach - V7
On a rare dry day, Robin discovered one dry piece of rock at Montcliffe. On the slab at Montcliffe, he gurned past twin monos for the first crossing of the low traverse (below the line of jugs) to give Bach - V7. Check out the footage HERE along with some clips of Gareth Wallis on Wilton problems.

August - The Move - V6
Following his ascent of Thulsa Doom, Robin nipped over to the Horrorbix buttress to finish off an old project. The Move is a direct line between crack and arete on the lefthand face of the buttress. From the break, reach one of the twin crimps and power straight up to the slopey jug. Just one move, but a goodun. Videos of recent problems are in the pipeline...

August - Thulsa Doom - V7
Yielding to his quarry cravings, Robin returned to Wilton 1 to climb the high right to left traverse of the Snakey B wall. Previously mentioned in the wilton topo, this is another line that had never actually been climbed. Technical moves lead leftwards to a lurching finish (unless someone finds a better way!). Semi-highball but actually fine with a couple of decent pads, this problem is well worth doing.

August - Wilton 4 New Problems
In Wilton 4, Oliver Mueller sneaked in for the first known ascent of the arete right of Neat Whisky, using a cunning sidewards undercling to give an excellent V3 - Burnley Fish and Chips since 1971. A few days later, the Mueller brothers united to climb the sitter, which was made possible by the discovery of a very low right foothold. Excellent moves make this a classy V5. Robin also climbed a sitter to Neat Whisky (itself V3) which starts as for the arete problem, but crosses through to the layaway, using a sneaky toehook. Grade - V5/6.

August - Snakey B Low Traverses V5/6
Oliver Mueller has been busy in Wilton 1, working out the obvious but previously unclimbed low traverse of the Snakey B wall. Although mentioned in the Wilton topo, the grade was purely speculative. Oliver solved the sequence using a crucial high thumb sprag, to give some quality lowball moves. At v5/6, the right to left traverse is the hardest of the two, starting at the high righthand ledge and dropping down to traverse to jugs at the far end of the wall. The left to right version is equally enjoyable, at V5.

Submarine 5th Ascent
Word reaches us that a few months ago Sean Gelder made the 5th ascent of Submarine. Sounds like he's got the place pretty wired, having completed the epic Traverse of the Gods (V11) last year. Of Submarine, Sean comments that it, "fully felt like V11 if you're tall (proper off balance) but is probably V10." Good work!

July 29 - Lifeline sitter repeated
Paul Robins reports repeating the sitstart to Lifeline, commenting that it felt tough V7, probably V8. This is possibly the 1st repeat of this tricky problem, so good effort. He also says he's getting close to reclimbing Colt, which has not yet been ascended since the loss of a crucial hold, and previously weighed in at V9. Watch this space...

Cliff's Barn Bouldering Comps
Dates for this year's comp series are:

Round 1 - 6th September
Round 2 - 4th October
Round 3 - 8th November
Round 4 - 6th December
Round 5 - 31st January
Round 6 - 28th February
Round 7 - 27th March

May - Videos, Videos!
Longridge and Brownstones have both been getting a good deal of attention in recent weeks. Here are a few videos of highball action for your viewing pleasure:

Ninja Finger V7 at Brownstones (thanks to Paul Robins for this)

Two V9s at Longridge (link taken from UKB - film made by Adam Lincoln)

Super Submarine V12 at Longridge (link taken from Gareth Parry's site)

April - Ninja Finger V7
Paul Robins has picked off one of the remaining project lines at Brownstones, climbing the highball wall right of Thunder, to give Ninja Finger. The grade? A surprisingly amenable V7. Paul writes, "Start on small crimp layaway for right hand, bounce up to sloper with left then hop to big jug right. big rock over on previous sloper up for left hand layaway and then sketch to the top... Obviously the sitter awaits!" Sounds good!

April - Brownstones goes Wiki
Gareth Wallis has created the all singing, all dancing, BROWNSTONES WIKI. The plan is to furnish this wiki with all manner of photos, videos, grades and descriptions. Help him out and add problems, or give him some feedback - it's easy to do.

April - Parbold Renaissance
James-Andrew Gerrie has been rekindling interest in Parbold Quarry. He's keen to hear from anyone about boulder problems in the area, as well as info on trad routes. First ascentionist details, current conditions, grade opinions, new problems...all are welcome. Drop him a line on gerriejames@hotmail.com and help him bring Parbold back to life.

April - New Pigswill Eliminate
On the crest of a recent wave of enthusiasm for Pigswill eliminates, Steven Li has added Direkt with a K (V6) which is a essentially a line through the left of the wall. You can see details of this, and others, towards the end of THIS THREAD

March - Submarine 4th Ascent
It seems Craig Y Longridge is the place to be, and Submarine is the problem to do. Adam Jeeworth has recently made the 4th ascent of the V10 low start to Big Marine. This is one of the hardest straight up problems at the crag. Most problems can be seen in the guide here, though since recent ground level changes, new and harder extensions to several problems have been done, of which Submarine is one.

March - Super Submarine V12
At Longridge, Gareth Parry has succeeded on the true sitdown start to Big Marine. Gareth writes that cool conditions were essential to link the sitter into the previously established V10 low start. More details and a photo at Gareth's Blog. Super Submarine joins John Gaskins's Slab (V13) and Traverse of the Gods (V11) as one of only three South Lancs problems harder than V10. Other contenders include Nik Jennings's Snatch, graded V10/11 (but more likely to be V10), Paul Robins's Colt, originally graded V9/10, but now unrepeated and clearly much harder since the loss of a hold, and Johnny Peak's possibly mythical V11 Niche Eliminate. Since Gareth mentions the possibility of a much harder finish to Super Submarine, it seems another V11+ is also on the cards...

March - New Brownstones Video
Gareth Wallis has compiled more Brownstones footage than you can shake a standard toothbrush at. If your toothbrush happens to be lighter and smaller than the standard size, you may well find yourself able to shake where others cannot, but you will be impressing no-one. Check out his lovingly recorded quarried antics here.

March - Cliff's Barn Bouldering Comp
The third and fourth rounds of the Cliff's Barn bouldering comp will be taking place soon. Get yourself down and join the fun. The dates are as follows -

3rd Round - Thursday 22nd March
4th Round - Thursday 26th April

Results for the previous rounds and more details are here. (4th round date now corrected).

March - Sub Marine 3rd repeat
Climbing well after a string of hard ascents in Britain and abroad, Gareth Parry has made the third repeat of Sub Marine - V10 at Craig-Y-Longridge. This low start to Big Marine (V7) was first climbed last year by Ryan Pasquill, and repeated by Ian Vickers. The true sitstart remains to be climbed. More words and pictures at Gareth's Blog. NOTE: The access situation at Longridge has not yet been resolved.

January - Brownstones in CLIMB magazine
David Simmonite has just been to check out Brownstones, along with Andi Turner and Gus Hudgins. David writes, "even though initial reaction was mixed once we got involved we had a great time. Hanks Wall, Digitation (and a fair few on Ash Slabs) Nexus Dyno, Pigswill, Ridicolous Eliminate, Pool Traverse, Boopers plus a load more were climbed. The boys also tried a couple of the project dyno's but were a bit knackered to complete them after I had them running around. Even managed to climb myself for a change." - Sounds like they had fun! Look out for the full report in CLIMB in the next couple of months...

December - New Brownstones Problems
Returning to his favourite crag for Christmas, Robin was surprised to discover the sitstart to Lifeline was not as hard as he had previously imagined. Rather than traversing in from the right, Robin pulled onto fat underclings directly below, and slapped upwards into pockets, from where a hard move gains the sidepull and the technicalities of the original problem. Lifeline Sitstart - 7a+ is an excellent gem, and adds good moves to the standup. Get to it, people! Also at Brownstones, Robin made short work of the dyno marked as a project on the Ridiculous Eliminate wall, to give Ridiculous Dyno - 7a with big holds and a big jump. Video to follow.

November - New Videos
Gareth Wallis has been busy at Brownstones. He's sent us a few videos...

Big Muff - V7

Unjust dyno - V8/9

18 August - NEW VIDEOS
Finally discovered a way to get these online. They do only work if you right click and save target. Right then:

Brownstones (inc Hanks Wall, Pigswill, Big Muff, Nightlife, Dezertion) - .MOV

Titanium Traverse - V6 - .WMV

The Bad - V6 - .WMV

Lancashire Pothot - V5 - .WMV

More movies on the way soon...

13 July - New Topos
Gareth Wallis' excellent photo topo for Healey Nab is back online. Get it while it's hot.

13 July - Brownstones Topo back online
RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD, complete with photos and illustrations. If you think you've done everything at Brownstones, think again... With around 30 problems at V6 or above, there is plenty here to keep you going for a while. The Nexus and Unjust walls now have numbered holds, so send in your eliminates... or reply to THIS THREAD

15 May - Right Hand Hank Video uploaded
Check out the movies page for a slightly dark video of Right Hand Hank (V8).

11 May - The Titanium Traverse - V6
Gareth Wallis has been busy at Healey Nab recently. His latest offering is the Titanium Traverse, which starts up Grabadabadoo and traverses right without using the top, to a finish up Andi's Mantle. Gareth reckoned it to be about V6. He also climbed Coolboy Slap (V2) which sitstarts into the sloper on Slaptasm, just right of the arete. Videos coming soon. Gareth has also put together a photo topo of Healey Nab, which will be uploaded hopefully in the next few days. Good work that man!

28 April - Healey Nab
Gareth Wallis reports that he's cleaned up a few problems at Healey Nab, in the Grabadabadoo area. He also climbed Grabadabadoo using a different sequence, via a big reach to the sloper, but commented that this may be a tall person's move. He thought it felt more like V4 this way - easier than Scrunch. ...Though it has to be said that Scrunch is quite possibly a big fat sandbag at V4... Anyway, summer is fast arriving and Healey Nab is a good place to spend a few hours. There are still several obvious lines to be done in the V6+ range - to name three: the undercut problem on the Slaptasm block, Andi's Traverse without the top and the groove left of Dusty Usty. Go get em!

14 February - This and that
Word reaches us that Scott Sandler has been putting a lot of effort into cleaning up the Wood Buttress traverse at Egerton. This is a nice steady traverse, with plenty of potential for eliminates. Also a good place to warm up for routes or even try the project on the block to the right. Good work Scott!
Jason Burke also tells us that he's been having fun at Troy quarry recently, pointing out that the girdle of the pinnacle (which we forgot to mention in the guide) is well worth while, as is the 5b/5c start to Lema on the the west side of the crag. Cheers Jason, it's always good to hear of new bits and bobs.

4 February - Crackhorse V6/7
After several visits and a very extensive gardening/major landscaping operation, Calum Berry has finally climbed his project line at Brownstones. Left of the Groundhog arete the wall is split by a forked crack (The Key takes the left fork) and Crackhorse veers right when the crack splits. A powerful layback start is folowed by "moves as thin as hanks wall but all 8 foot plus up - and instead of tiny crimps there are tiny finger locks, feels like a jack russel is chewing on your right index finger." Highball, but doable with couple of mats and spotters. Locals get to it!

January/February - Assorted Brownstones Baubles
Robin has been spending a lot of time on the Nexus wall, discovering several good dynos in the V6-V8 range. Nexus wall guide coming soon - some of these dynos really are great. Robin also made possibly the first repeat of Right Hand Hank, confirming Andy Kay's suggested grade of V8 for this fiendish little finger-killer. Other news - the good right hand crimp on Colt (V9) has snapped off, making the crux dyno/rockover/slap move rather harder than it was. There are still holds, but who knows how hard it is now?

Clear skies and a visit to Cadshaw brought another new/done-years-ago problem on the natural grit of Cadshaw Castle Rocks. Starting just right of the small roof on the right hand side of the crag, a sitstart and slopers lead to a jug. About V4 and worth checking out, especially as this is a good place to warm up for harder things in the main quarry. Talking of which, check out the movies page for a video of Brian Jacques (V5/6)...Movie Added

A brief break in the weather brought a chance to revisit Stronstrey Bank. Although some of the quarry was still damp, a few new mid grade problems were discovered, amongst them the excellent Grim Leaper (V4/5) on the Rogue boulder, and the enjoyable Lovehandle (V4) in the main quarry. Other problems will have to wait for a drier week... Movie added

Another rainy Saturday, another page revamped. Check out the MOVIES page for a few glimpses of our forthcoming blockbuster - QUARRIED BOULDERING AND HOW I BECAME A MAN AT LAST. Big name studios are involved, but of course everything is very hush hush at the moment.

For truly esoteric esoterica, quarried grit just doesn't cut the mustard. Not even the really sloppy French mustard. You need to get off the rock and onto the mortar. Ditch the natural features and start loving the accidental crags. Though be careful, there may be laws about that sort of thing. Anyway, recent additions have been made to the BUILDERING page. Perfect for a quick fix and a free training session, check out our list for a hot venue near you. And let us know if we've missed any off...

- Cliff's Barn Reopens! -

The infamous training venue has returned... Officially open from 14th November, the barn comprises a new cellar (curved ply board mark deux) and full Campus board. Lots of volumes (plywood box shapes) have been added to the main room, which has transformed it, making the new routes a lot more interesting and varied. The barn will initially be open from 5pm, with longer opening hours when custom picks up. Entry is yours for the very reasonable price of £4.50. Tell your friends, tell them to tell their friends, and come down to the barn!

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-Robin

Got any news/photos/opinions/assorted baubles for us? Contact us on
slbouldering@hotmail.com