We have just gone and purchased around 1.5 tonnes of new holds from a new climbing hold company called CORE. They are all in white as we don't have many in that colour. Master Buzby (Head Route Setter) and the rest of the team are pretty psyched by these holds. They seem very friendly on the skin (good for training on) and there is a lot of variety in shapes and type of hold (crimp, jug, sloper, etc). So far we have set 2 x 5's, 1 x 6a, 1 x V4 and 1 x V8. Climb the new routes and tell us what you think of them. Also for those who are wondering, we are on a mission to complete the top-rope wall and fit it full of fantastic, fun new routes and then we will be ready for the main lead wall.
Also new to Ratho is the introduction of some of Scott Muirs interesting new real rock holds (Dream Holds). We have set a number of routes with these as well varying from 5 - 7a. Tell us what you think of these too. They are meant to resemble the texture and quality of Grit, Sandstone, Gneiss and Gabbro (common rock types found throughout the UK).
Catch everyone later...
ROBZ
Assuming the dark ,green super-textured holds on the old comp wall, left of centre are some of them you're talking about, I didn't like them at all. They felt quite greasy and IMO had too coarse a texture for training on. Someone will like them though....maybe.
ReplyDeleteAlso, whilst I'm in "complaining mode", the new blue (LH arete) and red (alien head at 2nd last hold) 6b+'s on the same wall are not 6b+. ;P
Fraser
Hi Fraser,
ReplyDeleteThose routes were set for the comp. You should have found it very easy to start then alot harder than normal at the end. This evens the grade overall to make it 6b+, but you end up getting a few moves that may be harder than you would normally find on a ratho route of that grade.
Adam