This will be a climbing focused trip – members will need to split into groups to climb themselves and arrange which crag they are going to.

---- Trip Details ----

Dates: Friday 16th Sept till Sunday 18th Sept
Cost: £35 for the weekend

We have been given exclusive use of the BeanHill Farm Campsite from Friday 16th September till Sunday 18th September (2 nights), which is perfectly placed on the English side of the river! It has wonderful fire pits, a couple of park benches for sitting/eating on, a wooded area for hammocks and slacklines (BYO!) and a nice clean toilet block.

For transport we recommend using our discord channel (https://discord.gg/WG4BPHZpV6) to make arrangements. If you own a car, offering spare seats to other members will make the trip cheaper and - the big plus - help to save the planet! If you have a driver's license but no car I recommend grouping up and renting a car for the weekend.

---- Payment Details ----

The cost is £35 each, Signups will be first come first served, we aim to take the money shortly before the trip via the GoCardless scheme.

The trip fee covers the cost of the campsite booking, rental of a firepit (or two) and a small donation to the local bolt fund. Logs for the firepit will need to be purchased from the campsite directly (cash). Generally if everyone chips in and buys a bag of logs we can have an epic fire going to keep us all warm (not that we will need because.. er.. summer!!!)

Oh, an important bit: remember to put your environmentalist hat on during this trip - is especially important for the camping site owners that we recycle our rubbish! As always, let's make sure to leave as lovely as we found it.

---- Climbing Information ----

Wye valley has a great mix of multi-pitch trad climbing and easy to access sports crags. Wintour's Leap and Woodcroft Quarry offer some great climbs with perfect views out over the river Wye as it meanders through the rolling hills. Central Rib Route III *** (VD) and Bottle Buttress * (VD 3c) offer a great introduction to Wye Valley multi-pitch Trad, whist Zelda *** (HS 4b) is a classic at it's grade. If you want something harder and longer the 4 pitches of "The Angel's Girdle" *** (VS 5a) offer some interesting traversing and down climbing bookended by 2 fantastic pitches. At the harder still grades the Wye Valley continues to provide with King Kong *** (E1 5b) producing some well protected harder sections and some more "adventurous" sections. The whole Wye Valley area is full of hidden gems in the smaller crags, from "No Musketeers" *** (HVS 5a) at Shorn Cliff to Cadillac *** (VS 4c) and Papillon ** (HS 4b) at Wynd Cliff.

Sport climbing is also well catered for with the newly developed Wyndcliff Quarry offering nearly 200 mid-ranged sports climbs ranging from 3a to 7b (you gain extra points for ticking climbs with the funniest names!). With too many 1 and 2 Star routes in the 6x range it's the perfect place to push your grade and get some very enjoyable ticks! Ban-y-gor also offers a ton of sport climbing options, with many of the star's coming at a the higher end of the grade range. "Darkside" *** (5a) offers one of the best 5a routes in the area, however once you get up to the high 6s and 7s is when ban-y-gor really shines. "Too Hot to Touch" *** (7b) and Match Point *** (8a) are just two examples of the fantastic climbs that can be had here.  

Besides the basics (climbing shoes, harness, belay), we also strongly recommend you bring a helmet with you for both Sport and Trad climbing in Wye Valley and be aware that rock might become loose at times. If you are short on any equipment, shout out to us in our Discord channel and see if you can borrow an extra one from someone.

So with epic climbing, fire-side camping and a wonderful nights sky full of stars Wye Valley is a perfect escape from the busy London life.

Ashley Long