Helman Tor and Downderry Beach Feature in Boulder Britain

For quite some time I've been intending to put a review of Niall Grimes' outstanding Boulder Britain: The Essential Guide to British Bouldering on this blog. It's particularly relevant to South East Cornwall too, as Helman Tor and Downderry Beach are among the 180 venues which appear in this ambitious new guide. Boulder Britain is remarkable not only for its size – 448 pages of beautifully produced full colour – but its scope in being a selective guide to bouldering areas throughout the country.

While the coverage is by no means extensive for any particular area, accurate directions and a summary are given for a range of bouldering venues. A good selection of problems is included at each of the better crags. The book also helpfully directs the reader to sources of further information such as local bouldering guides and on-line topos. Although it is well designed and stuffed full of great photos, for me it is Grimes' humorous writing style that is the highlight of Boulder Britain. His frank, often highly amusing assessments of an area's qualities provide a perfect recommendation – or indeed condemnation – for the guidebook user to follow.

It is pleasing that Cornwall's bouldering gets such favourable coverage among Britain's more well-known areas and notable that this is due, in no small part, to some of the country's top boulderers. Mike Adams and Dan Varian both helped the author with the South West section generally, and Godrevy in particular, and seem to have a high regard for the region's merits.

I'm sure any boulderer or keen rock climber will find this book to be an invaluable travelling companion and it will no doubt help raise the profile of numerous under-rated bouldering spots throughout the country. It may also be of interest to mention that within a week of the pre-order copies of Boulder Britain becoming available (mid-December 2011) I was bumping into climbers out and about with it – a telling sign of how useful and much needed this guidebook is.

Boulder Britain: The Essential Guide to British Bouldering is published by Ape Index and is available from the usual outlets or via their website, www.apeindex.com, at a price of £25.00 – ISBN 978-0-9570578-0-7.

Guidebook Has Gone to Press

Throughout the past week we have been checking over the printers' proofs for the new edition of the Cheesewring & South East Cornwall guide and I'm happy to report that they've been approved and the book has now gone to the press. The estimate is that it will be completed in four to six weeks; however, we have good reason to hope the finished product may be with us sooner. I fully expect the guide will be in the shops sometime in September and, as it's being printed here in Cornwall, I'll be able to keep a good track of things and let everyone know how it's all going.

I've put together a short HD film of guidebook editor Toni Carver looking over the proofs. This also includes images of some of the page spreads and a handful of action shots of the area that appear in the book. So if you'd like a sneak preview of Cheesewring & South East Cornwall: A Climbers' Guide by Barnaby Carver & Sean Hawken check it out now on Vimeo or YouTube.

Production Progressing Well

Now that the deadline for adverts in the forthcoming Cheesewring & South East Cornwall guidebook has passed I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the businesses and individuals who have advertised. Your support for the new publication is much appreciated.

The book is complete and production is now progressing well so those of you who are waiting for the new edition of the guide can rest assured that it will be available soon. I will post more details of how things are going in the next week.

Climbing Guidebook Advertising Opportunity

With production of the Second Edition of Cheesewring & South East Cornwall: A Climbers' Guide nearing completion publishers The St Ives Printing and Publishing Company are offering the opportunity to advertise within the guidebook. Only a limited number of pages are available for advertising so early expression of interest and booking is advised.

Advantages of Advertising in the Guide

- A guidebook advert has a long shelf-life lasting as long as the book is available.
- Your advertising will precisely reach a target audience of climbers in Cornwall and Devon.
- An advert will demonstrate your support for British climbing's tradition and heritage of definitive rock climbing guides.

- It's your chance to be involved with a new book that will set a high standard for guidebook production in the area.

The deadline for completed artwork is Friday 29th June 2012.

For further details, Advertising Rates or to express your interest please contact Barney Carver (Principle author for the Second Edition) or Toni Carver (Guidebook Editor) on 01736 795813 or use the contact details provided here (link) on our website.  

A couple of videos from Bodmin Moor

Although I realize that it's been over a year since I last updated this blog, work certainly hasn't stopped on the Second Edition of the Cheesewring & South East Cornwall guide. Unfortunatley researching and writing a climbing guide does take time. However, we hope to be able to let everyone know soon when to expect the book to be available.

In the meantime readers of this blog might be interested to see a couple of videos that Sean Hawken has uploaded to YouTube. The first is of Mr. BoDangle V3, one of the recently-developed boulder problems at Kilmar Tor. The second video shows Sean soloing the Cheesewring Quarry classic Star Fox.

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!

Grades aren't all the routes just HVS anyway?

One of the problems with any climbing guidebook is making sure the grades are consistent and represent local consensus. Not easy with something so subjective, especially when holds break and some of the routes have only had a handful of ascents. So in this post I'll air views on some of the routes in the hope it might generate a little feedback. If there are any grades in the previous edition of the guide that you think to be well off the mark please leave a comment.

First for discussion is Agent Provocateur, which was thought to be F7a+ but the left-hand side-pull crimp on the crux has recently broken. It's now a bit harder so possibly worth F7b given the move was stiff anyway?

Psychokiller has recently been redpointed by Andy Steinberg who thinks F7c is nearer the mark than F7c+. Martin Crocker who made an early repeat (likely the second ascent?) in 1993 also thinks 7c+ to be an overestimate, while Tom Rainbow has it down as 'soft' at the grade. Looks like the quarry's hardest is due a down-grade.

Other sport routes which are being re-assessed are: West Point F6b (was F6b+) and Warrior soft F6c (was F6c+) while the grades of Friend or Foe? F7a+ and Sling Shot F7b are likely to remain as they are.

Hell’s Tooth at Helman Tor is to be changed from E2 5c to E1 5b, while also due a grade re-assessment is The Lord Falmouth at Roche Rock. E1 5b/c is clearly an overestimate but is HVS 5a a little too stiff? This may be a route that is always a tricky one to get right.

So what are everyone's thoughts on these and any other routes? Please leave your comments and suggestions...

Cheesewring Quarry covered in new selected climbs guidebook

In July Rockfax published West Country Climbs, written by Devon-born Mark Glaister, a selective guide to the climbing in Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset. Just over 30 routes from the South East Cornwall area are included in the book which has some coverage of Cheesewring Quarry, Roche Rock and Devil’s Jump. See the Rockfax database for a full list of the routes covered.

It is nice to see Cheesewring Quarry given the same treatment as so many of the South West's other top venues. Mark has done an excellent job and the book is very well produced. With the definitive guide currently unavailable West Country Climbs will no doubt prove useful for anyone looking for some information on the climbing in the area.

Work is progressing on the new edition of the definitive guide to Cheesewring & South East Cornwall, which is currently still in the writing/research stage. Please note: no announcements of a publication date for this will be made until nearer the time.

'Legend has it…'

The process of crag visits and historical research continues. Sean Hawken has been showing me around the Bodmin Moor Tors so that we can include as much of the bouldering as is practical. Both Sean and myself are hoping to avoid vague comments – like 'routes have been climbed here' or 'the bouldering remains unrecorded for those with the enterprise to rediscover' – by including as much as possible. So expect the new edition to have more bouldering and full details of Romanis and Jerram's routes on the South Coast.

I'm also getting more information about a place where 'legend has it' there is some climbing which has escaped proper documentation in the last two guides. If you've put up any new routes in the area please get in touch.