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neadamthal
Jul 31, 2003, 4:52 AM
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so what exactly is gritstone? is it gritty sandstone or something?
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bluelip
Jul 31, 2003, 5:35 AM
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Kinda' an off-white color. It's more commonly written as 'grits tone' though.
Ba-dum-bum
Mike Coles
'bluelip'
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robbovius
Jul 31, 2003, 5:57 AM
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I read a climbing book by a british author a few months ago, and he mentioned gritstone alot. I think it's pretty common in the UK.
as it was described to me, gritstone is REALLY rough and abrasive, as in taking the skin of your hands pretty easily.
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darkside
Jul 31, 2003, 6:01 AM
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If you come from around Niagara, it is a very tasty beer. :)
If you come from around Yorkshire, it is a very tasty rock. :) Think high friction granite. It is very hard which is why it used to be used to make millstones for grinding flour..... but what a waste of good rock :(
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troutboy
Jul 31, 2003, 6:21 AM
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In reply to: so what exactly is gritstone? is it gritty sandstone or something?
TS
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fcorl
Jul 31, 2003, 6:49 AM
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Gritstone is "Hard Grit Sandstone". I don't know if it is everywhere in England. I thought it was in one specific area. I know that it is rare. The only place in the US that I know of that has it is Coopers Rock in West Virginia.
It is known for its lack of features, nothing to grab and nowhere to place gear. That’s why the "Hard-Grit" climbers in England are so crazy. They are basically climbing a 40-60ft. boulder with one piece of gear placed around 20-30 ft. in a thin crack, pretty worthless if you fall towards the top.
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mrhardgrit
Jul 31, 2003, 8:03 AM
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Hmmmm ..... well...... there's some interesting ideas about Grit here!
It's located in central England - Yorkshire, Derbyshire etc. It is indeed a sandstone and the structural features were formed primarily during the periglacial period in England.
As for height - about 40ft on average. Most easy routes are really well protected (less than about E3), but once you go above that, the gear can get pretty sparse and rather sketchy. I've climbed grit E1's with one piece of gear and E5's with at least 10 pieces (and visa versa)... so it depends on how you pick 'em!
Tom
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buckyllama
Jul 31, 2003, 9:03 AM
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In reply to: Gritstone is "Hard Grit Sandstone". I don't know if it is everywhere in England. I thought it was in one specific area. I know that it is rare. The only place in the US that I know of that has it is Coopers Rock in West Virginia.
It's also found throughout most of northern WV (coopers), SW Pennsylvania, and Western Ohio. Every climbing area within 2 hours of Pittsburgh (with one execption) is gritstone.
Great friction, interesting formations, and will shread your hands like crazy.
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shinynewwidget
Jul 31, 2003, 9:50 AM
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I heard gritstone is to hard for even putting bolts into that is why there so dangerous. why do people think it is so special and holy if it is so hard on the hands?
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fcorl
Jul 31, 2003, 10:00 AM
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buckyllama
From what I've read in climbing magazines and guide books Coopers is the only place with hard gritstone, all of the other areas are just typical sandstone.
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hasbeen
Jul 31, 2003, 10:05 AM
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It's not hard on the hands. In fact, I think it's the nicest rock to climb in the world. Since holds tend to be slopey, you can climb all day once your hands get used to it--a process that doesn't take too long. It's not all that different than climbing sandstone (I guess since it is), movement wise, but it's much harder than most other sandstone, such as Font, the western and southern US, and even southern England. It's also nothing like the sandstone you'd find in Eldo. The texture is less rough than Joshua Tree but rougher than Font. You can bolt grit just fine but it's local ethics that keep it clean, which works nicely since the abundance of crack lines make most of the faces somewhat protectable with a little creaivity. And tr-ing is a snap. The rock is also quite solid, unlike a lot of western US sandstone, so soloing is very common.
My first trip to England was with limestone in mind, but once I got on the grit it was hard to drag myself out to scruffy places like Raven't Tor or Rubicon. I've been back quite a few times, often passing on the continent in favor of the scene in the peak.
And, btw, this doesn't mean the limestone in England all sucks. Malham is an impressive cliff in any country. And some of the stuff in Portland has a lot of character. But you go to England for grit, for sure. Well, that and the pubs.
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camhead
Jul 31, 2003, 11:50 AM
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you know, I just recaliberated the conversion between british and american ratings, and those brits really aren't all that hardcore. all that E-stuff is just confusing, but it turns out that all those routes in Hard Grit were like 5.9.
hehe. the truth is out.
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neadamthal
Jul 31, 2003, 3:08 PM
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[quote="camhead"]you know, I just recaliberated the conversion between british and american ratings, and those brits really aren't all that hardcore. all that E-stuff is just confusing, but it turns out that all those routes in Hard Grit were like 5.9.
i didn't know it needed recalibrating...
so what would an E6 6b be?
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triznut
Jul 31, 2003, 4:18 PM
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Camhead said: In reply to: you know, I just recaliberated the conversion between british and american ratings, and those brits really aren't all that hardcore. all that E-stuff is just confusing, but it turns out that all those routes in Hard Grit were like 5.9. hehe. the truth is out.
Your funny camhead :lol:
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fh
Aug 1, 2003, 6:22 AM
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Gritstone is Gods own rock which lends it's self particularly well to bouldering, that noble past time that has it's roots in Yorkshire.
Yorkshire has some of the finest bouldering to be found anywhere in the world, (far better than the Peaks, but thats another bucket of Kidneys all together).
Some quality topos, photos and video clips can be found on this site;
http://www.yorkshiregrit.com/index.jsp
As you fellas say "Enjoy"
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fh
Aug 1, 2003, 6:24 AM
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If you post here you may get some other views
http://www.rockfax.com/rocktalk/t.php?n=53224
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rockfax
Aug 3, 2003, 4:51 AM
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In reply to: If you post here you may get some other views http://www.rockfax.com/rocktalk/t.php?n=53224
And here...
http://www.rockfax.com/peak_gritstone/index.html
http://www.rockfax.com/western_grit/
http://www.rockfax.com/peak_bouldering/index.html
http://www.rockfax.com/yorkshire_bouldering/index.html
Mick
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fh
Aug 4, 2003, 12:43 AM
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In reply to: In reply to: If you post here you may get some other views http://www.rockfax.com/rocktalk/t.php?n=53224 And here... http://www.rockfax.com/peak_gritstone/index.html http://www.rockfax.com/western_grit/ http://www.rockfax.com/peak_bouldering/index.html http://www.rockfax.com/yorkshire_bouldering/index.html Mick
You making a few quid out of this then Mickey lad?
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