Roche Abbey Bouldering

Roche Abbey Bouldering

Character
Some of the best limestone bouldering around (including the peak District) is on the small Buttress near to Gypsy Lane.
This stays dry all year round, except in really peculiar weather conditions. All the problems below have been climbed or re-climbed by me and the grades are my estimate. Most of my climbing is route climbing so I hope that they are reasonably accurate. If you have any comments do not hesitate to contact me and argue.

This little buttress is extremely well developed from a bouldering point of view. This is a sample of the main basic problems, obviously they can be modified to suit you ability and because of the sheer multitude of holds particularly on the left hand side of the buttress many variations exist. All the rock on which these problems exist is solid and of high quality. Some of the footholds are slightly polished but nothing like some Peak limestone. The landings are onto flat ground which is quite hard so it is best although not essential to have a spotter or a mat. If required most of the problems can finish up an easy wall sporting huge pockets at about 5a maximum. Some parts of these may be a little fragile so treat them with respect. I hope the topo is ok and you can read it, 800 X 600 or higher resolution is a must, but if necessary cut and paste it into another application and zoom in.

Problems (feet anywhere)
2, 3, 6, 7, 15, 16, 23, 26 (Traverse) 6b then reverse it if you are feeling strong!
21, 24 (ledge) 5c
22, 24 (ledge) 5b
22, 23A, 24 (ledge) 5a
19, 24 (ledge) – full flight dyno superb! 5c? SEE THE VIDEO! (MPEG 370K)
17 or 18, 7, 14, 11 5c
17 or 18, 7, 12, 10, 31 finish at break 5c/6a
22, 21, 24 (ledge)- footless 6b/c
17 or 18,7,12,9,10 finish at break 6a See photo gallery for Roche Abbey bouldering pictures
18, 15, 14, 11 finish at break 5c/6a
Crack only to 24 ledge 5c
On far left follow easy breaks using all holds 4c/5a, footless 5b/c
29 (undercut), 26, 25 to break above 6a superb
low break, 32, 33, 26, break above 6a
32, 37 (high break) Full flight dyno hard to catch top hold 6b/c ?
low break, 30, 34, Break above 5b
low break, sloping ramp (36), Holes in break above 5c/6a
Just right a very small sidepull/pinch, break above 5a (honest!.. use devious technique)
To the right on this part of the wall the problems become more sparse due to the nature of the rock. One uses a small flat hold between the breaks (6a) and another an undercut below the small overlap to reach good holds in the break above(4c). Several problems exist undercutting the low break to reach the higher break and are not too interesting.

Further right are two classic problems
Crystal (hard 6a) takes the centre of the wall to the right of the previous problems entering from the right and climbing the wall above by a technical and demanding sequence on non-too positive holds to hold under the roof. The real difficulties are now over and as your feet are now 4 meters above the ground it is best to finish over the roof and scramble back down on the right.

Borg (6b) is 2m right of Crystal and takes the overhanging rib on rounded pockets to a demanding and committing move to gain an undercut in the roof above. A final scary move around the roof leads to an easy finish and decent as for Crystal.

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