Projects...

I have found a new crag to develop. Obviously I’m not saying where it is. Suffice to say I have been within 10m of it and the potential is obvious.

It’s a singular buttress with a dominating central arete, maybe 20m high. The rock is pretty blank looking (and relatively clean) and it would be best developed as a sport outcrop. There is potential for maybe 6-8 lines, with the central arete on both sides looking to be pretty high quality (this alone looks worth developing it for), and the walls immediately adjacent also having obvious good lines.

This raises the issue of learning to bolt and funding the bolting - that should be okay with time.

However, it is quarried rock, long disused and just at the entrance to a working quarry that might soon be disused too. It is very definitely not in the working quarry and in no way interferes with that.

Obviously this raises the somewhat more arduous issue of access. It is in a quiet area where there are probably no general access issues nor people causing trouble with quarries. However access is still no doubt technically denied. The sensible course (given the bolting required etc) would be to simply ask, and to present a clear case that climbers take responsibility for themselves (I could research the legal side) and that due to the separation of the buttress from the working quarry, there would be no hazard due nor interference with the working quarry.

And then the quarry owners might say yes or might say no - it’s a bit frustrating to find a potentially good bit of rock but not know whether it could be developed, simply due to a non-climber’s whim or nugget of bureaucracy.

Anyway, this might be a project - or simply a non-starter - for me next year.