27th December -
On Christmas day Greg Chapman took a stroll up Thorn Crag with a mind for a light bouldering sesh in an effort to work up a hunger for the usual Xmas scran-down. Despite the foggy conditions Greg managed a quick send (with some new beta) of the small - but perfectly formed - arete project to the rear of the Seaview boulders to give - Yule Jewel Ft7a+. This looks a great little climb and there is a short video clip on the Video Clips page.

21st December -
Keswick's resident Polish strongman Mariusz Motyka has made a swift repeat of Adam Hocking's new Bowderstone testpiece Final Curtain. Mariusz confirmed the quality and the grade of Ft8a, commenting that the problem felt very similar to nearby Ladder Face classic Phantom of the Opera.
 
27th November -
With the leaves off the trees and the bracken well and truly perished Carrock Fell is now in full winter mode. Unfortunately the current wet spell has meant the fell has yet to see much attention. That said Greg Chapman did manage to spring into action during a short weather window of opportunity over the previous weekend and leave a great new addition to the area. Railblazer reverses the rail of the fell classic Nightrider (on Kits boulder) via some "cool" unconventional moves flowing downhill eventually linking into the base of Ghetto Style and finishing up this. The line is reckoned at around Fnt7c/+ and has to be worth a star or two.

20th November -
Want away star Adam Hocking has tidied up a few loose ends at the Bowderstone. On the Ladder Face he has added a left-hand finish to Grand Opera, which finishes at the lip jug of his new direct finish to Picnic Sarcastic. Adam has christened his new variation Final Curtain - Fnt8a. Hockstack has also been busy on the backside of the stone re-ascending Sidekick, which is presumed unclimbed since the loss of holds some years back. He now reckoned the line at around Fnt8a.
 
At Carrock Fell Tim Carruthers has made a couple of additions, Tim explains: "If you are facing Leopold von Buch, look over your left shoulder and up slightly and you'll see a 20-foot slab with an obvious "stepped" hold to aim for high up. Probably should get an E grade but with a couple of big mats and big spotters, highball Fnt6c/+ might be about right - Tim's Slab. Also did the groove to the left, at highball Fnt5".

16th October -
With October half expired and fresher conditions afoot, the winter season is beginning to blast off. We begin our autumnal roundup with that wily young buck Adam "Hockstack" Hocking, who has obviously being overdoing the pop star life style and caning one to many pies, as, on a recent jaunt to the Bowderstone, the Stack blasted clean off the second pinch of Power Pinch, with the result of this piece of impromptu stone masonry being a much more positive crimpy gaston. Our sources claim the problem has been reduced in grade to around Ft7a+ mark. In an effort to bring a balance back to the Stone's karma Hocking did us all a favour by adding a direct finish to that Stone classic Picnic Sarcastic, with the grade being a bit harder than the original. Staying with the Stone visiting Polish strongman Mariusz Motyka last week ticked a rare a send of XXXX (Ft8a), good work that man!
 
At the southern end of Patterdale on the Rolling Rock Greg Chapman has climbed the "ready-made-classic" sit start to the already excellent arête of Jungle Hobo. The sitter (Grand Unification) is started on the left from a matched position on an inward facing slopey edge, a tricky egyption is then employed to reach the good(ish) hold on the face. From here move up rightward via a poor pinch and sharp crimp to eventually reach a superb triangular pinch on the arête. As with the stand up version Grand Unification can be finished direct at Ft7c+ or at a slightly easier grade (Ft7c) by trending left on to the face to finish up Rolling Rock Wall - Rolling Rock topo guide.

11th September -
After a recent session on the Langdale boulders Adam Hocking produced a fine new addition to the Lakes premier mid-grade venue. Erasure tackles the last unclimbed section of rock of the Roadside boulder, between the Ft6c Overlap Problem and Stefan Grossman. The presumed "best sequence" was to stand below the overlap, backhand a small edge (LH) and free jump into the sloping mouth-like hold (RH) on the lip of the overlap, now pull direct through the short headwall to the top. While this is the sequence most will no doubt use Hock preferred a run up method (i.e. direct with both hands to the mouth-like hold), which he dispatched with considerable gusto. The grade for both sequences is around the Ft7b mark, although, as with all problems of this style, the difficulty of the line will vary from impossible to straightforward depending on the style of the individual climber.
 
Over in Wrynose pass Greg Chapman climbed a fine collection of new problems in the small boulder fields below Black Crag. The first batch were on the surprisingly good SE face of the "Fence Boulder". In the recent Rockfax Lakes Bouldering guide this block is pretty much overlooked with only one recorded problem being shown. Ironically the new lines on the SE face are in fact the best problems (with the possible exception of two on the Potato boulder) at the venue, with the pick of the bunch being Curry Club (Ft6c+) and Penitentiary (Ft7a). Click here for further problem details and a topo.
 
On the Potato Boulder (situated on the flat grassy plateau in front of Black Crag) Chapman also bagged, what is now, the hardest (and best!) problem at the venue. The new line climbs the undercut wall of Problem 5 (in the Lakes Bouldering Rockfax) from sitting to leave Mongoloid, a superb Ft7b. Problem 6 was also dispatched from sitting to give Sweet Tats, climbed in a similar style to Mongoloid but at the more amenable grade of Ft6b+.

21st July -
Phew! Its hot! And when the going gets hot, all the action moves to the shady nooks and crannies that the local limestone has to offer. In between siestas, the cooler areas of Woodwell have been getting a hammering from weather beaten teams countrywide, and have even precipitated a brace of new problems from keen local Neil Kershaw.
 
The sylvian charm and leafy tree canopy parasol of the newly in vogue Far Right sector has seen lots of activity on the previously underrated classics of Not Bad Dave Sit Start 7c, Griddle Groove Sit Start 8a, Rigpa 7b, and H2O 7b+, all the equal of anything else at Woodwell. These are now joined by Neil's Whistler 7a+. Taking a natural eliminate line over the bulge of bomber limestone between Cannon Crack and Long Crack (see topo), i.e. not using the edges of either crack, this fantastic problem makes an obvious standing start from a jug, into a couple of blind moves to a beautiful right hand pinch and good left hand edge. Now get your feet really high and make a HUUUGE lunge with your left to a large edge. "Pretty unusual climbing for Woodwell; its vertical, but its not old skool, very dynamic. The move is reminiscent of Ben's Wall at Curbar - if you get it just so its easy, but if you over/under power it you won't hold it! An old Dave Bates project, so its obviously going to be good."
 
Woodwell's Crag X, out of the sun 'til mid-afternoon then screened by trees for the rest of the day, has also been popular. Here Neil found another obvious natural eliminate - Butternut Squash 7c. This takes the roof between Turbulence and Angel Deelite by spanning the cracks which run down each problem, from a sitting start, and finishing as for Turbulence. "Very slappy compression climbing, and the crux move to the lip is one of the best moves at Woodwell. Not that eliminate really; everything is in for feet and you can't use any other holds for your hands once you've started". Another excellent problem of this grade for O'ert road hopefuls to aim for!
 
Also here Neil did an extension to Hybrid Extension (!). Where the original goes up to the break to finish, Hybrid Loft Conversion continues leftwards on holds beneath the break, all the way to the end of the crag. Says Neil "Only actually four extra moves which are tricky, then you can get stood up and take the weight off your arms. You could finish here, above the end of Danny's lip, but I had this concept of traversing the whole crag without using the top break, so I dropped into the arching overlap above Danny's Lip and finished along the lip of the little cave, topping out at the end. Not much harder than the original, probably normal 8a instead of soft 8a, and not an improvement in quality, just a bit more pump. Just did it for training really."
 
Interestingly, and also "just for training", Neil has produced some new super links for stamina junkies who don't get bored easily! Flying in Circles 8a follows Hybrid Moments as far as Turbulence, to finish along Turbulent Flyer. As such it finishes in the same place it starts, hence the name. He also linked Turbulent Flyer (now considered 7c+) into Hybrid Extension, which is probably worth an exceptionally pumpy 8a+. Beware; this is not a boulder problem!
 
15th June -
Neil Kershaw has climbed a choice new traverse on the far right of the central section of Woodwell. Spicy Pasnip starts from sitting just left of Rigpa and follows the rising lip of the overhang, leftward, to finish up Not Bad Dave. Neil felt the problem was in the Fnt7b+/7c area but wouldn't commit due to the far from ideal conditions.
 
1st June -
At Woodwell Greg Chapman has climbed a new problem at the central section, left of Not Bad Dave SS. Greg moved a large block from the base of the line to open up what turned out to be a good new addition.
Kiss of the Dragon (Fnt7a+) starts from sitting on the left of the overhang and climbs the vague hanging prow via a reasonable start to a wide pinch and broken edge, then a big slap to a high edge up and right. From here match and move right finishing at the top of NBD.
 
On the Bowderstone James Pearson upped the ante with an incredible session in which dispatch both Special Cases (Fnt8a+) and XXXX (Fnt8a). Now that is inspiring.
 
30th May -
The recent bank holiday weekend saw a number of significant repeats within the LakesBloc coverage zone. At Crag X Greg Chapman's new problem, Paroxysm, saw a number of sends and the grade confirmed at solid Fnt7c. At the same venue Neil Dyer made an impressive flash ascent of Turbulence (Fnt7c) and Ryan Pasquil made a rare repeat of the tricky bulge that is Embargo (Fnt7b+). On the Bowderstone Si Moore grabbed the converted 3rd ascent of Ryan Pasquil's thug fest XXXX (Fnt8a), and Ryan himself nailed a hasty 4th ascent of the Fnt8a wall on the Ladder face… inspiring stuff!

22nd May -
Despite the horrendously wet weather Greg Chapman managed to rekindle his salubrious affair with Crag X (south lakes) and forge a great new line on Cave Buttress. Paroxysm (Fnt7c/+) tackles the obvious gap between Turbulence and Superstar DJ Tinpot Todd. Starting just right of center, on the hand-rail, dispatch a huge dynamic span for the lip, from here tricky moves lead direct to an obvious side-pull, use this and a slopey pinch to pull over the lip and continue up and left finishing at the top of Superstar DJ. The dyno to the lip is shown in this image, click here to see the move once round the lip.

6th May -
A few new additions have recently been added to the Kentmere circuit. At Little Font Greg Chapman climbed the obvious line on the subsidiary lip of the Giant Stone. This starts as for Reverence then immediately swings up into the lip and traverses leftward to the right side of the vague gully and finishes up this, giving Supercalifrjalistic-epialigobalistic Fnt7a/V6, this saw a quick repeat from Dave Westlake who confirmed the grade. At the Garburn Boulder Greg also added a left hand finish to Paradigm; this breaks out left from the lip up the headwall - rather than direct up the groove. Despite being slightly harder than the original problem this is still Fnt7c/V9. Finally, at the Valley of the Kings Greg cleaned up a superb traverse on a previously undocumented block, which lies just east of Boulder 2 (LakesBloc guide) and can be clearly seen from the Garburn Pass. Greg commented that this was probably the best problem at the VotK and a real gem! The problem takes in around 10m of climbing on bomber pinches, slopers and a weird and uncomfortable v-shaped crimp. Keeping with the kings theme the problem has been named Lion Heart and is steady Fnt7b+/V8+. The line can be better seen here.

6th April -
Tom Sugden has climbed a new problem/link on the Shelter Stone in Trowbarrow quarry. The new line starts as for the Big G/Ru's Start and continues to the good edge, from here - and keeping under the lip - traverse rightward (presumably utilizing the new hold which appeared a few months back) and move into Problem 1, finish up the vague overhanging groove of this problem. The problem saw a quick repeat from Mike Adams, and both Mike and Tom felt the line warranted Fnt7c+/V10. Tom has christened his new line
Wheel Barrow. The image below shows the move to the good edge, before doing battle with the traverse into the vague groove.

20th March -
This weekend saw the dispatch of one of the last great Carrock Fell/Lake District projects. The Mile High Wall project is situated (surprisingly) on the Mile High Wall, which itself is located high on the hillside directly above the Warm-Up's area. BETA: Climb the center of the wall on reasonable holds to half height, from here neat footwork and steely fingers are the minimum requirements to unlock the code of the thin gastons and lay-aways and give access to a final dynamic lunge. Name: The Mile High Guy.
 
Over at Thorn Crag a super strong team including pocket sized powerhouse Ken Ode and Dave (Crazy-Legs) Westlake, found a superb and technically burly new prow problem located at the crag itself, 3m right of the excellent yet seldom found Squirreling Dervishes. The new problem climbs said prow from sitting and moves through a small overlap finishing slightly to the right and giving a fine new Fnt7a/V6.

27th February -
Greg Chapman has climbed a couple of new problems at venues at opposite ends of the LB coverage zone. The first of which was on the Eskdale granite and climbed a couple of weeks back. We thought it prudent to check with local guru Phil Wake whether or not the line had already been climbed, and it turns out probably not. Therefore Light Fantastic (V6/Fnt 7a) climbs the groove of what was Project 4 at the Gem area, from sitting via a powerful pull and some sharp gaston's to a reasonable hold and up.
 
The second problem is at Thorn Crag, on a boulder which is probably the most accessible block at the entire venue! Regulars to the crag will have no doubt noticed the obvious undercut block up and left of the track on the final sharp bend just before the last steep section, before reaching the shooting hut. This block is already the home of a superb (V0/Fnt5+) right to left break traverse finishing up the prow. It is also now the vendor of a fine new line. This starts matched on a crimp at the back of the roof, after a stern pull-on reach out to the lip, stabilize, and make a blind slap for the break. Now match the break and dyno direct to the top of the block – Pit Fight V8/Fnt7b.
 
17th February -
Keith Cheverst has climbed a good looking new line at Carrock Fell. The problem - Fast Cars and Camper Vans - is located on the Boardmans Boulder at The Northern Group sector of the venue. The line starts from standing on an obvious good jug (for both hands), on the far right side of the front face. Then traverses rightward on a hanging ramp feature (nice slopers) until you get to a good jug for your right hand, at which point you rock up on your left foot for a huge shelf and onto the top.
20th Feb - NOTE: We have had a report that this line had been climbed a few months previous to Keith's ascent by Nick Halbert (V6/Fnt7a). The same line was also extended on around the corner and up the vertical face on small crimps, this variation was apparently climbed by Matthew Chapman (V8/Fnt7b).

1st February -
Ed Brown reports making a repeat of Phil Wakes new(ish) Dove Crag problem Impailed. Ed commented "It's a mega problem deserving a bit more publicity in my opinion. As far as none grit problems in the UK go I can't think of any better!" Due to the height and exposure of the problem Ed felt V8/Fnt7b (E5/6?) wouldn't be to far off the mark, apose to the original V7/Fnt7a+ Phil offered.

22nd January -
Greg Chapman has climbed a new problem at Thorn Crag. The new problem is called Outer Reach (Fnt8a) and is situated on a newly discovered boulder situated near the track, 350m past the Seaview Boulders. The problem starts from sitting on the bottom right-hand corner of the block, then traverses leftward (on poor slopers) and up the left side of the block.
There is an image here.

7th January –
Greg Chapman reports climbing a new "top notch" traverse in Hyning Wood (a small limestone venue between Warton and Yealand). The traverse is essentially a reverse of the established classic Transgenic (Fnt8a). The new line would not have been possible until strong winds (at the end of last winter) blew over the large tree situated on the top left of the buttress, whose roots had smothered all possible finishing holds. With the large Ent slain Chapman completed the now compelling right to left line starting at the finishing point of Transgenic (i.e. where you rock up to the break). From here traverse leftward to the obvious first joint finger ledge on the far left of the buttress, now a dynamic lunge to a slopey edge and flexible legs are all you need to reach a good finishing hold.
Transgenic was marred only by the block hindering the last couple of moves, the new line gets this slight awkwardness out of the way early doors to leave you with some of the best climbing UK limestone has to offer! Moreau's Island V10/Fnt7c+.