Just thought I&#039;d write up a few notes about our trip to Curtis Crag, to perhaps encourage a few more people to give some of the smaller crags in the county a go (I must be coming down with a bit of a &#039;dalrymple&#039; - can you get pills for that?).<br /><br />Firstly, we got there nice and early, just as well as the rain turned up by about 2pm. We had plenty to keep us busy till then though, and there were a few more routes worth going at meaning we&#039;ll definitely be back.<br /><br />The online guide seems to be out of sync with the guidebook, a lot of the routes that are actually VD are marked as MS in the on-line version, not that theres much difference between the grades but VD seemed about right for the one we did.<br /><br />We started on Northern Buttress, the first reached from the car. A couple of warm up routes, Magnum (VD) and Loose Cannon (S) which were both we worthwhile routes, and then I was tempted by the wonderfully named Naked Gun (VS 4c). A fingery little climb with minimal gear I thoroughly enjoyed it.<br /><br />Then came what I contest as the climb of the day, Friendly Fire (VS 5a). It had an intense little bouldery problem at the start to get over the lip that each and everyone of us took 4 or 5 attempts to get over. After that the rest of the route was much simpler but more exposed. Phil lead this one, so now I have to go back and get my lead tick done.<br /><br />A quick trip to the Southern Buttress only allowed one more route before the rain arrived, that of Line (VS 4c), the easier sibling to Hook (VS 5a) (and yes, there is a Sinker next door). Another fingery lead which would probably be soloed with the aid of a mat, but I managed to get some partial gear in a completed it just in time for the spitting to start.<br /><br />Phil has his eye on a couple of HVS routes, and there are some VD/S/HS routes that look worth a go as well so definitely plenty to go at next time we go.<br /><br />Clare, Sarah and Dave arrived just before 12, so only got a few routes done before the rain, following in our footsteps on Magnum and Loose Cannon.<br /><br />Now, get out there and climb!

excellent stuff ...but, ahem, photos??!! <br /><br /><br />It didn&#039;t rain where I was&nbsp; :eviltongue: High Force ...yeah, yeah, piccies will be online just as soon as I figure out how to work this new fangled camera that I have a loan of (&lt;bliss&gt; I can now play with depth of field again &lt;/bliss&gt; )&nbsp; ....well, assuming yer hinterested in the pics o&#039; course :wink: )

Excellent, Teesdale DWS trip?<br /><br />I got some photos of Clare climbing, so going on past performance they should be up in about 6 months time

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perhaps encourage a few more people to give some of the smaller crags in the county a go (I must be coming down with a bit of a &#039;dalrymple&#039; - can you get pills for that?).<br />

<br /><br />Yep, I was well impressed with East Woodburn, definatley want to go back there. A few other places I wouldn&#039;t mind trying are Howlerhirst, Callerhues, and Selbys Cove.&nbsp; If we get a serious dose of a &#039;dalrymple&#039; we could get really adventurous and even try some of the &#039;minor&#039; crags...<br /><br /><br />

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The online guide seems to be out of sync with the guidebook

<br /><br />I think the grades online, are taken from the pre 2004 guidebooks.&nbsp; What we need is a database/SQL/web designer type person to update it and maybe create a logbook facility and a graded list.&nbsp; I couldn&#039;t do it, do you know anyone capable of such a task Sam?<br /><br />I know of another website which is well on its way to completing its online Northumberland database, and it will be more up-to-date than ours!

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The online guide seems to be out of sync with the guidebook

<br /><br />I think the grades online, are taken from the pre 2004 guidebooks.&nbsp; What we need is a database/SQL/web designer type person to update it and maybe create a logbook facility and a graded list.&nbsp; I couldn&#039;t do it, do you know anyone capable of such a task Sam?<br />

<br /><br />Ah, well, there&#039;s a question&nbsp; :dunno:<br /><br />

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<br />I know of another website which is well on its way to completing its online Northumberland database, and it will be more up-to-date than ours! <br />

<br /><br />Interesting stuff, and welcome (to a point); just as long as they&#039;re not using our route descriptions, etc., because they are copyright. If it&#039;s a ground-up effort then, seriously, best of luck to them.

Went to Berry Hill which was great and it certainly is a begninners paradise as described in the guide book. Ian came along and the we did about three really good climbs. Well done to Dave who managed to do a HVS.

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perhaps encourage a few more people to give some of the smaller crags in the county a go (I must be coming down with a bit of a &#039;dalrymple&#039; - can you get pills for that?).<br />

<br />....<br />I think the grades online, are taken from the pre 2004 guidebooks.&nbsp; What we need is a database/SQL/web designer type person to update it and maybe create a logbook facility and a graded list.&nbsp; I couldn&#039;t do it, do you know anyone capable of such a task Sam?<br /><br />I know of another website which is well on its way to completing its online Northumberland database, and it will be more up-to-date than ours! <br />

<br />I agree entirely about the designer. As to the Curtis grades, Curtis was systematically developed by Malcolm Lowerson, and was going to be in the minor crags section of the guide. As such, I was able to put all of the routes online, based on Malcolms original version of the guide. Then the crag got promoted to &#039;main&#039; crag and Malcolm regraded stuff and added routes, which I never noticed until last week. The online update of the guide data is out of action at the moment, so I can&#039;t update anything, I may have a go at fixing it in the near future, but it does need someone to redo the interface and add features. I can&#039;t be arsed anymore/<br /><br />As for this new site being &#039;more&#039; up to date, what do you mean? There are hardly any new routes to add and no new crags. There is some bouldering activity which needs recording, but we&#039;re tied by the new guide coming out. So I guess you mean &#039;up to date&#039; in style, and I agree that our&#039;s is past its sell by date.

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As for this new site being &#039;more&#039; up to date, what do you mean? There are hardly any new routes to add and no new crags. There is some bouldering activity which needs recording, but we&#039;re tied by the new guide coming out. So I guess you mean &#039;up to date&#039; in style, and I agree that our&#039;s is past its sell by date

<br /><br />I was reffering to the grades. I&#039;ve noticed a few times, that the grades on the online guide were different to those in the new guidebook. That&#039;s why I was under the impression that the online grades were taken from the pre 04 guidebook.&nbsp; I can&#039;t recall which grades were different though, it may have been some of the Wolf Crag routes, and &#039;The Runnel&#039; at Bowden still has VS (HVS in the new guidebook), I think there were others, but I can&#039;t remember. <br /><br /><br /><br />By the way, the &#039;insert quote&#039; doesn&#039;t seem to be working for me, I have to use the quote tool (the button above the smileys) and then cut and paste the quote? (thats why the quotes on my posts dont have details)

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<br />By the way, the &#039;insert quote&#039; doesn&#039;t seem to be working for me, I have to use the quote tool (the button above the smileys) and then cut and paste the quote? (thats why the quotes on my posts dont have details) :) <br />

<br /><br />In the time-honoured tradition of such things, it&#039;s working for me so I blame your end :wink: :cork:

[quote author=AndrewC link=topic=1070.msg6337#msg6337 date=1181048171]<br />

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..I was reffering to the grades. I&#039;ve noticed a few times, that the grades on the online guide were different to those in the new guidebook. That&#039;s why I was under the impression that the online grades were taken from the pre 04 guidebook.&nbsp; I can&#039;t recall which grades were different though, it may have been some of the Wolf Crag routes, and &#039;The Runnel&#039; at Bowden still has VS (HVS in the new guidebook), I think there were others, but I can&#039;t remember. <br />..

<br /><br />Ah well, yes, the grades are the &#039;old&#039; ones. This won&#039;t matter when we get grade voting, an the &#039;old&#039; ones are the right ones anyway&nbsp; :wink:.<br /><br /><br />