weird stuff- the art of urban bouldering
ok..ruben and mca- lou’s party, sort of back in the day- both apres beer, dressed as cowboys
traversing a rock wall in the carpark- out comes some resident type and stands with his hands on
his hips and just watches- “you guys manage to get across ok?” he asked-“yes” our heroes replied
both being proud of their efforts “oh great” said the man “now f*** off it’s my wall and you’re really
p*****g me off”..........and so....they did
another occasion saw the same two suspects enjoying a gentlemen’s urban cultural soiree in
north devon, when they eventually ended up at a cashpoint-it didn’t take long to notice that the
bank resembled a large brick built victorian campus board- moments later, our dysfunctional pair
were fifteen feet up and trying to write their names on the barclays sign -oh yes....you know what’s
coming.....the rozzers- “oi” came the yell from the driver “you two”- both heads looked downwards
towards the lawmen parked below “GET OFF THE BANK!”
mca and adam this time in an exmoor hostelry after a hefty day on the hill doing some navigation-
this time the stone clad wall around the pool table proved to be irresistable to the guys, so one
after the other they decided to taverse the pub in order to get another round in- when they both
ended up in front of the bar they dusted themselves off and stood expectantly in front of the
landlord “well guys that was very impressive” he noted to our beaming boulderers- with one arm
he pointed towards the door “you’re barred”
and this is related to climbing because?.......well it really means that you can pretty much climb
anything- make it fun- who needs indoor walls and classic routes when that old victorian railway
bridge has a crazy granite construction- the quarry down the road may have a hidden gem lurking
somewhere amongst the rubble- next doors house may have textured cladding- TREES, oh yes...
they can be great fun, especially with loads of slings, krabs and a rope- just keep your options
open and never moan that there is nothing to climb- if you explore a bit, you will find that there
certainly is....and plenty of it
still with a quarry theme comes my abseil rope is fifty metres and that slab is about fifty five and guess
who found that out the hard way dept-well I don’t want to talk about that (there IS a lot to be said for the
art of downclimbing eh?) above left-thats the view from the car-above right- me about a third of the way up
with nic looking smaller than usual in the distance- it turns out that most people I have spoken to have played
on this slab at some point- one very important thing now is that this place is a no go zone- there is a loose bit
of rock the size of an average family hatchback just waiting to knock some unsuspecting climber sort into the
next dimension- biggest jollies at this venue was a nightime abseil involving the short rope and longer than
anticipated drop incident-
so what do you think?..... let’s enter the go out and make your very own special venue dept
our recent trip to manaton (yes yes it’s a banned venue we know...no emails) saw us looking at the last
accesible bit on the north side of the ridge- those who know the area will be aware of plenty of rock type
lumps around there- the photo above is of one of them just down from the summit block- first thoughts
were “yikes....fifteen feet of vertical foliage” but with a bit of coaxing it soon fell off to reveal a shed load
features that turned the arete into something a bit more interesting- sure, an industrial kind of wire brush
would have been a bit handy but I forgot to pack one- it was still a fun route though- (talking of sheds
there seem to be a lot more in manaton than anywhere else........... hmm shed envy I guess)
and so the moral of all of this is...dept
ok.. it’s quite simple, just go out there and be creative- we have made good use of a victorian railway
bridge and some pitons- various walls and structures, not to forget those “ah nobody climbs there as there
aren’t any routes” type places- you can always find something to have fun on and every now and then it’s
possible to create your very own classic- stay off banks though!
Monday, 1 September 2008
right- bovey ‘jenga’ dept-
the main roundabout to
haytor from bovey-
seriously though, you may
end up wearing them if you
try a sitting start there-
you can picture it- you roll
into the road with broken
ribs and concussion only
to be run over by a range
rover towing a horsebox-
two weeks later you then
receive a bill from bovey
parish council for a pile
of smashed rocks-ndcc
doesn’t recommend this!
look upon this as a climbing wall
the out of the way and not
used very much quarry dept-
just a few minutes from my
front door-probably about four
routes with a well unprotected
E1-loose, sharp and crumbly
but always brings a smile to
our faces-some climber type
has staked the top so bonus!
the only traffic will be a lost
rambler “oo that looks really
dangerous” they usually say
“nah, not really” comes the
reply shortly before nic comes
unglued from the rock in a
downward torrent of loose
slate and bad language-a well
deserved 10/10 on the climbing
funmeter
this is not a toy!
