Southern Sandstone Climbing Course
Learn to set up your own ropes on our Southern Sandstone Course
This one day course is designed for climbers who wish to develop their technical knowledge and learn how set up their own ‘bottom ropes’ (often known as top ropes) on the Sandstone outcrops in Sussex and Kent.
The bottom rope system allows the belayer to stand on the ground at the bottom of the crag while belaying the climber and lowering them back down again afterwards. Although lowering back down isn't possible on Southern Sandstone due to the delicate nature of the rock and risk of erosion (climbers can untie at the top of the climb and walk back down round the side), your instructor will still teach you the skills needed to implement this in other outdoor scenarios. Learning the basics of this bottom roping system and its set-up allows a climber to climb without an instructor and therefore advance their climbing skills independently and at their own pace.
The course covers selecting climbs using guide books, safely assessing anchor points and rigging your own climbs. We will teach you how to look after and maintain your climbing equipment and its history, design, usage and limitations.
We also look at how the Sandstone environment in the South East is such a wonderful yet fragile climbing environment that we have to look after, and learn how to minimize the significant impact of erosion by climbers on the rock.
Please note
This is not a ‘lead climbing’ course as it is not possible to lead climb here due to the soft nature of the rock.
For those who are considering lead climbing why not go for the next step and learn how to second a lead climber first with our Guided Climbing Course or just go for it try lead climbing with our personalised Lead Climbing Course?
During the course we will cover
- Equipment selection
- Using guide books and route selection
- Setting up basic bottom ropes
- Rigging issues / safety
- Climbing history / etiquette
- Sandstone erosion / conservation
Cost
£75Want to book a group? You will need the minimum number of people (please see Group Size).
Duration
7hrsGroup Size
2-6 Weekdays / 4-6 Weekends
Aim
To learn the best practise for safely setting up your own 'bottom ropes' on the Southern Sandstone crags and have a much greater understanding of climbing equipment, its intended uses and its limitations.
Who is it for?
Anyone who has climbed indoors or outdoors in the past and wants to further their ability in the sport by being able to set up their own ropes on Sandstone rocks and climb without an instructor.
Prerequisites
You must be able to safely and confidently belay, personal climbing ability isn't important although a reasonable level of fitness is required.
March to November, please see the calendar for the next available dates.
Harrison's Rocks - Sussex / Kent
Equipment Supplied
All climbing and safety equipment supplied.Equipment Needed
Comfortable clothing and trainers. Due to the nature of the locations, you must have extra warm clothes and waterproofs, we will provide you with a kit list upon booking.Min Age - 18yrs
Max Weight - 100kg/16 stone
27/7/2010
I just wanted to let you know how brilliant the one day Southern Sandstone course was for us. It covered everything we needed and more, Kyle was a great instructor (our thanks to him) and we had a great day of climbing too.
Vicky Blackburn
27/7/2010
It was great to learn from someone who obviously knew what he was talking about but was able to present it in a friendly, non intimidating way. We now feel confident we can go up to Harrisons rocks or similar at any time and set up and climb which gives a whole new dimension to our climbing and makes it feel like a proper outdoor sport again. Feeling achy and tired now, but inspired to go out and do more!
Rob Blackburn
