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Showing posts from April, 2013

Hastings

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I have been keen to take a look at the cliffs at Hastings for a while now. So when my girlfriend said she wanted to visit the seaside I was quick to suggest the destination. The cliffs at Hastings consist of a mixture of soft sandstone interspersed with steep mud and clay - serious esoteric climbing. So much so that I couldn't bare to bring a climbing partner here until I had properly reconnoitred the cliffs first. There's some trad routes at the Western end of the cliffs but what interested me was the more Easterly 'mixed' routes. Phil Thornhill climbed a spate of routes here in the 1980s. I wasn't aware of anybody climbing here since. The CC Southern Sandstone guide didn't fill me with confidence with cautionary advice that 'if the clay is wet it is like paste and if it is dry it just falls apart'. Despite this, any venue with a recorded 1250m high traverse was worth a look. First up, there is a Peregrine Falcon in the area. I am not sure where on th