Mushrooms

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Bouldering

Bouldering in Gower

TIDAL STATUS

The mushrooms themselves 2.5 hours either side of low tide. The cove - 1 to 4 hours around low tide

PREAMBLE

Mushroom No2 from the sea

Moonlit mushrooms merge into sea salt washed, crystaline. While oystercatchers mourn their trip into darkness waiting to tiptoe into the day. Hang by your fingertips ! Hope that the crystal holds, for no hollow promise, no bad trip, no broken skull Believe! Believe and pull this time stopped instant through your altered state of mind. tonight the rising tide will not be satisfied. By Chris Wyatt 2010

This area is weird. The mushrooms themselves defy the sea and refuse to topple, giving big overhangs on jugs - but we warned of brittle holds, some poor landings and a tide which races in very quickly. It is not advisable to climb here alone. A number of good problems can also be found in the gullies leading up from the mushrooms. The cove lies 60m to the west. This offers some very amenable bouldering at a lower grade and some good sloper problems. The east wall of the cove gives good traversing and the far south wall more steep climbing. Further around at low tide one comes to a small cave which has yet to be developed and then further on about 60m west of the cove dogfight gully offers some good but tidal problems.

ACCESS

Park by the Castel del Mare restaurant and take the coast path west past Limeslade. When you get to a park bench overlooking the sea, cut in to the rock platform. Mushrooms are on your left and the cove is to your right.

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THE BOULDERING

There are 4 mushrooms which are numbered from west to east. Various walls in the gullies can be found higher.

Mushrooms : First Gully This forms the westen border of the mushrooms area.

Gully Wall LHS	The wall to the end of a highball pillar 1. Easier on the left - there is also plenty of warm up potential to the left of this 2. Up via a downward pointing flake - take care with the rock - or use the hold just above the flake 3. The scoop via a vicious undercut.

Gully Wall RHS	The pillar at the end of the wall 1. Straight up - the arrete is verboten

Mushroom number 1 - west Face

Mushroom1 West face LHS	Where else do you know where you can find three climbs akin to flying buttress direct on stanage all in the same place? 1. Sit start by the see through hole and up 2. Sit start up steep jugs 3. Sit start, hook through two roofs 4. A very steep and very juggy roof - a good one to impress your mates on.

Mushroom1 West face RHS	5. Sit start. Another steep and juggy roof .

The tunnel and continuation wall

Go through the rock tunnel at the landward side of mushroom No1.

The tunnel	1. From a sit start traverse the mouth of the tunnel without using holds on the top. For fun, keep going to right up to and round the end. Approximately V2/3

Mushroom No 1 the east face RHS	The pillar at the end of the wall 1. Up the only bit of solid rock on this face

The face up towards the land is the continuation wall

The continuation wall	1. Sit start. Keep Left of the crack on pockets 2. A Quality finger crack 3. Find a way up on holds between ( but not including) the crack and the arrete 4. The long march. Keep low on the top section. This is a great problem. We think all the friable holds have been broken off by now but beware the landings.

Mushroom No 2 - East Face An amazing lump of well cemented conglomerate with numerous bucket holds good fun!

Mushroom No 2 the east face	1. Buckets on the Left 2. Buckets on the Right

Mushroom No 3 - Landward face

Mushroom No 4 - West Face

The Cove A pleasant cove is found to the west of mushrooms. The problems on the landward end hold out a little longer against the tide than the mushrooms themselves.

On the west side of the cove is a long wall with caves and numerous boulders. This is christened 'Notched wall' At the lower end the rock is quite sharp but the problems at the landward end are good quality. On the East Side of the cove there is a south facing wall and round the corner a single problem. All on good quality rock.

The Cove : South Face RHs

RH Wall	This is the first piece of rock you arrive at in the cove. Great for warm up with a more juicy problems on the right hand side 1. The Chimney 2. Layback on the right edge of the chimney 3. A tricky move using a small fin of rock on the wall. Sit start 4. A trickier problem to the right using the sloping ledge 5. The Right wall using some good slopers

The Cove : South Face LHs

RH Wall	This is worth seeking out for its technical merit. It faces west and is just round the corner from the South wall 1. Sit start Up on crimp followed by slopers , Avoid the jamming crack 2. The Jamming crack

The Cove : Notched Wall

RH Wall	This is the piece of Rock on the landward end of the wall. It is slightly impending and deceptively difficult 1. LH Problem 2. RH Problem

Dogfight gully

RH Wall

This can be found 60m west of the cove 1. Shares a start with Cat fight but straight up 2. Cat Fight V2  :From a sit start under the roof on a good hold, launch up to slopers on the small headwall, traverse on the head wall until you can escape upwards. 3. Straight up to the finish of Cat fight 7. jam doughnut V3 : Start as for Cat fight but take a low transfer line to a jam and then go straight up.

RH Wall	4. The traverse on slopers. V2 5. Dog Fight V3 * : Worthwhile. Start in the left wall of the cave on an obvious flat hold. A good finger lock in the roof allows a difficult move to a sloper in the steep right wall, followed by rounded jugs. Cut loose and swing to the top 6. Straight up to the finish of Dog fight 8. Cats and dogs . The complete traverse.