Three Bears

For a while now I had been meaning to check out the Three Bears boulders at the end of Burbage North but had just never got round to it before now. Yesterday I finally got my act together and wandered down there with the Fiend and a few other people and can’t recommend it highly enough.

Combined with the easy solos at the end of Burbage North or just used as a warm up before carrying on down to the boulders in the valley they are well worth a visit. The problems range from english tech 4c to 5b and are slabby, smeary affairs with horizontal breaks or steeper wall climbing again with breaks and while there are not many of them - 8 or 9 problems with the potential for further eliminates - they are all good technical problems. The best by far is the 5b slab problem and it is only improved when done "properly", with the high foot in break and rockover method that the tall will lank past while wondering what the fuss is all about. Speaking from experience the tall lose out here and it is the short get the better deal out of it - I can lank the move in question if I want to stretch a bit but it's rubbish doing it that way - trust me on this!

Need more reasons to go? The landings are all good - the slab of Daddy Bear is the worst but with a couple of mats and some thought it is OK and the top outs are all reasonable edges - no slopey horror shows to contend with here so in theory it should be a sure fire winner for those seeking a easy afternoon out or a gentle introduction to bouldering. The reality is though that these boulders don't see as much traffic as they should given the quality of the problems so there is the odd bit of scrittle here and there but nothing that a few more people climbing on them wouldn't solve.

So what are you waiting for - be brave and walk on past the 20 Foot Crack area for change and go to the far end of the crag - you might just be pleasantly surprised...