New guide to Luxulyan by Tom Last

EDIT May 2017: Due to an access issue at one of the venues featured in this PDF guide, the file has been temporarily removed from the Cheesewring Climbing webpages. Please visit the New Routes and Updates section to find out more.

Is Luxulyan Cornwall’s answer to Bovey Woods? Or is it, as Andy Grieve says: “...like Fontainbleu, with a wellington boot walk in!”? Well if you live nearby you have no excuses not to find out, as local photographer and Luxulyan jungle-lover Tom Last has produced a fine PDF guide for you to follow.

Luxulyan Woods Bouldering and New Routes 2014 by Tom Last describes over 120 boulder problems and 16 routes that didn’t quite make it into the main body of the 2012 definitive guidebook. Illustrated with colour photo-topos throughout, it’s certainly an ideal supplement to Cheesewring & South East Cornwall: A Climbers’ Guide and Tom has generously allowed us to host his PDF on our Cheesewring Climbing site.

Due to its 56 pages the file is a hefty 13 MB, but I’m told it looks good on a smart phone. If printing it out ideally it would be best as A4 landscape in colour; however, I suspect that would be a very expensive option.

Luxulyan has seen a burst of development over the last few years but it has huge potential for those with the willingness to explore. Tom deserves full credit for his recent routes and problems, as well as for all the hard work put in to documenting this often overlooked area. Well done Tom and thanks for letting us upload it.

Why does Sean climb?

Sean Hawken has climbed a tough new micro-route on the wall left of An Arête (pictured above) at Kilmar Tor. Wye I Climb, E2 6b, was climbed by Sean in the beginning of June - the full description can be found here. Commenting on the route's grade Sean says: "For some reason [Rich] Hudson gave it E3, but it's not. He will say that's what I told him, however I think E2 or even E1 tops. Let's face it, you could solo it safely with mats." He adds: "I took my last chance, for the foreseeable future, to climb at Kilmar Tor and climbed this line in the rain just before leaving for Wales to live, and therefore the top seemed absolutely desperate, however on a dry day with a cool breeze?"

Sean's been an active developer of South East Cornwall's climbing for over twenty years as well as authoring the ground-breaking 1998 guide and providing co-authorship help, over the years, for other guides to the area - including the most recent one. But now he and his family have relocated from Devon to the Wye Valley. A great loss to the local scene and I'm sure his enthusiasm and humour will be missed. However Sean still intends to compile information relating to the bouldering on Bodmin Moor with the intention of producing a guide. If you have anything to add please contact him via his Bodmin Bouldering Facebook page.

Best wishes Sean and I'm sure we'll still see you back on the Moor from time to time!

Also now added to the New Routes section of the Cheesewring Climbing webpages are details of a new bouldering spot in Luxulyan Valley which has been developed by Tom Last.