Keeping up with developments

Work on the second edition continues to progress with a large part of the job being keeping up with the ongoing developments in the area. In recent weeks I've made trips to Helman Tor, Luxulyan Valley and Gold Diggings to make sure all of the new additions are covered.

A few weeks ago Andy Steinberg repeated Andy Grieve's hard and excellent climb Strongbow in Luxulyan Valley. This may well be only the third ascent of this route (Ken Palmer made the second), which Andy S thought quite hard for its grade (F7c). Congratulations on your ascent Andy and let's hope the forthcoming guide brings a bit more traffic to this neglected test-piece.

Richard Hudson's photo above shows Andy on the climb as I was alongside taking snaps.

Thanks to everyone who's helped with my research in recent weeks and for the continued patience of those of you awaiting the guide.

West Cornwall Supplement arrives

Although not directly related to South East Cornwall I thought it worth mentioning that the Climbers' Club's West Cornwall Supplement (published December 2010) is now available to purchase from the CC website and in shops - Penrose Outdoors in Truro received copies two weeks ago. The book is designed to be used in conjunction with the CC's West Cornwall guide (2000) and includes most of the newly climbed routes in that area. The information has been collated to aid the authors of the next series of guidebooks to Penwith; publication dates for these are to be announced.

The supplement is bang up to date as it includes the new routes climbed on the BMC International Sea Cliff Climbing Meet in May plus even more recent additions. Andy March has done an excellent job of gathering info and has been thorough in detailing repeats, rock-falls, re-grades, etc., as well as straightening out some misleading descriptions from previous publications. All of which should prove invaluable to those of us who climb in west Cornwall, and in improving future guidebooks.

Arguably the most significant development over the last ten years has been the growth of bouldering in west Cornwall, prompting visits from well-known climbers including James Pearson, Mike Adams and Dan Varian. It is perhaps, therefore, a bit of a shame that the opportunity wasn't taken to refresh the rather dated bouldering section offered in the 2000 guide. I hope future CC publications do not overlook what has become an important aspect of Cornwall's climbing, particularly when all that's necessary is a mention of the online resources available. A distinct contrast is the way bouldering was covered in Nick White's South Devon and Dartmoor New Routes Supplement (Cordee, September 2007).

This is, however, just a minor observation which is not intended to be taken as a criticism of what is a much needed and thoroughly appreciated supplement. It is well worth £4.50 for Brian Hannon's fantastic cover photo alone!