dac33

Trip: South coast of England - Wonderland Date: 6/2/2015 Trip Report: For those that enjoyed the first instalment, we have been out having more fun above the English sea: http://www.coldmountainkit.com/knowledge/articles/383-wonderland-a-very-british-big-wall-part-2 All the best.

This is how routes are graded: http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=69738

Grades probably should be less subjective than they are. Rock grades in any country are an attempt to list the routes in an order dependent on the number of climbers able to climb them. So if only 125 out of 1,000 climbers can climb route A and only 30 out of 1,000 can climb route B. B is harder than A. Full stop. Where we then put the boundaries, 5.12a, 5.12b etc is less clear, but not random, as usually benchmark climbs are used, again with the idea of the fraction of climbers who can climb them. This works well in areas where the routes have been climbed by very large numbers.

Depends where you are in the world. In the UK the trad grade is on sight. In France the grade (except for very easy routes) is for a red point. This means you know where any hidden holds are. This make some places in France a lot harder to on sight routes than others.

Trip: Monte Carlo - Stupid in Monte Carlo Date: 5/23/2015 Trip Report: When we where young and even more disorganised http://www.coldmountainkit.com/knowledge/articles/378-stupid-in-monte-carlo

Thanks. Open to other routes with more aid. But clean aid it at all possible. Ideas please.

Might it be possible to camp on P7, then blast to the top, rap back to my stuff, then rap to base? Or it is not the ground to rap on and be able to get the rope back!

Trip: England - Wonderland Date: 5/19/2015 Trip Report: A big wall 2 hours from London? http://www.coldmountainkit.com/knowledge/articles/374-wonderland-a-very-british-big-wall-part-1

Thanks guys. Looks like I'd be better off to head to University wall et al. at Squamish, and hope it doesn't rain.

I have googled it, but I still can't find a topo with aid grades on it. Maybe you have had better luck, if so please send the URL.

PPS. And what's the chance it will rain most the week? Thanks!

Hi, I'll be in the USA at the end of June with a week to spare. I was hoping to climb in Zion, but have been told it will be too hot. The Thin Red Line has been suggested, but I can't find a topo on the web. Does anyone have a URL to one please. (No guidebooks in the UK to it.) I'd be climbing it solo on aid over three days, assuming that's a sensible thing to do. On supertopo they have a few pages from their guide which makes the descent sound dangerous alone with a haul bag on your back, and suggest down climbing at one point as there are no good anchors to rap from. This sounds worrying, as I'd have problems with 5.0 will all that crap on my back. Any thoughts from anyone who has climbed/hauled it would be welcome. Thanks. PS. I've soloed walls before.