Southern Sandstone

Accommodation

Cost: £11 per person per night.

We will be staying at Hook Farm Campsite on Friday and Saturday night. Booking must be made individually. The campsite has basic facilities but no showers. Please follow the link below to book and put in the extra information section “camping as part of the “Southampton Climbing Club”.

Please book on to the event below as well so we can see who is attending. This is important even if you are only planning to attend for a day and not the whole weekend.

https://www.hook-farm-west-hoathly.co.uk/bookings

Please use the top field as the lower fields are very difficult to extract vans and cars from in wet weather.

About

This meet is aimed at beginners and experienced people alike. If you are new to climbing outdoors this will be a good introduction to setting up top-ropes and belaying.

“Beautiful and unique rock architecture which provides challenging climbing across the grades … you will quickly get into the top-roping zone and come to appreciate the fine climbing on offer. ” – BMC

The rock is delicate and can be easily damaged by rubbing ropes, so there is a strong ethic of top-roping or soloing climbs only. When setting up ropes every effort should be made NOT to damage the rock.

Bouldering is also very popular, and there is plenty to find on the Sandstone.

Being Mindful

For those new to outdoor climbing – We are given access to many crags by land owners, and are expected to treat the land with respect. Please be mindful of any litter (you will see many of us picking up and taking litter home, to help keep the area clear).  There are no toilets once we are at the crag so please be prepared for this. There is however a toilet available at the Harrison’s Rocks car park.

Kit – where possible please bring your own equipment, although the club has some equipment available which can be requested here.

As climbing on the Sandstone is top-roping or soloing/bouldering, you don’t need to bring much kit. Here are the essentials…

• Climbing shoes
• Small towel or carpet for cleaning your shoes before climbing.
• Climbing harness
• Helmet
• Your own chalk/tape (liquid chalk if possible)
• Slings (for extending your rope over the edge of the crag)
• Static rope – not all climbs have bolts at the top so you may have to use tree belays – 15-20m should be adequate with rope protectors.
• Climbing rope – this can be dynamic or static (better) 30m will cover most climbs.
• Screwgate karabiners for rigging.
• Boulder mat – if bouldering
• Pack lunch & water
• Layers – just in case
• Waterproof – just in case
• Sturdy pair of walking/approach shoes
• Personal alcohol gel/hand sanitiser
• Personal first aid kit

Check out this guide to equipment for more information.

Please make sure you read the Sandstone Code of Practice before attending this meet, and check out these videos from the BMC on respecting the rock.

Travel

If you can, please car share to this event. Along with reducing our carbon footprint (and the cost per person), parking is very limited, in particular at Stone Farm, so the fewer cars the better. Please remember to reimburse your driver for fuel.

Lookout out for the usual Facebook event and Discord channel where you can make suitable arrangements.