Pegs on The Seacliffs of North Devon and Cornwall

Rockfall on Caravanserai Compass Point. The entire top half of the route has fallen. Photo - M Kemball

Rockfall on Caravanserai Compass Point. The entire top half of the route has fallen. Photo – M Kemball

Sometime around the middle of May of this year, Caravanserai HVS, a popular crack climb at Compass point on the Culm Coast suffered a major rockfall that destroyed most of the upper section of the route. Shortly afterwards, Mark Kemball who lives nearby and is co-author of the next definitive CC guidebook to North Devon and Cornwall took a photograph of the remains of the route which he posted on the UKC website with a warning that the climb was now in a very dangerous state. It would appear that no-one had climbed the route in its altered state until Craig Harwood’s and Paul Headland’s, both CC members attempt on the 4th September. It seems that they were unaware that there had been a rockfall. At about 2/3rds height, finding himself in a loose corner Craig, who was leading clipped a peg on the right arête. A hold or holds broke, and Craig fell to the base of the crag and was killed, when the peg and all his other protection failed.

In a cruel irony, the BMC SW Area meeting held on the following day, had as its main item on the agenda a discussion about all fixed gear on the North Devon and Atlantic Coast. The fatal accident to a highly competent and safe climber was a stark reminder of the inherent dangers from relying on steel pegs placed in sea-cliffs.

Despite the accident, there was broad agreement that, given the nature of the rock on the North Coast, pegs were often the only form of protection available and that those climbing new routes would continue to place them.

The following day, I met up with two pairs from the meeting, all highly experienced sea cliff climbers. Our objective for the day was the classic Wrecker’s Slab. The reason I mention all this is that Wrecker’s was found to contain no less than seven in situ pegs, some obviously quite recently placed and apparently sound but others in an advanced state of decay.

Later I counted all the pegs mentioned in the text of the Wilkinson/Hope guide to this coast published in 2000, and the figure came to a staggering 300+, not including the many pegs placed since that guide. Many of these pegs may be well over 20 years old, and, even if they appear to be rusty but solid will have corrode to almost nothing inside the crack.

  • Seems OK, rusted but plenty of metal left round the eye. Photo - Gareth Palmer

    Seems OK, rusted but plenty of metal left round the eye. Photo – Gareth Palmer

  • Perhaps not! Photo - Gareth Palmer

    Perhaps not!
    Photo – Gareth Palmer

The BMC are well aware of the effects of sea water and spray on in situ pegs and have published a series of articles warning climbers of the danger. In this case, it may be that the peg was pulled rather than broken, but as with any climber placed piece of protection there is no way that it can be guaranteed to hold in the event of sudden loading.

As a trad climber of more than half a century, and having been involved and badly injured in a fatal accident myself due to equipment failure (a karabiner in my case), I am well aware of the shortcomings of pitons and other types of hardware, but I and others have in the past placed many pegs on first ascents all along this coast. Despite their obvious limitations they have provided some form of protection where no alternatives were available, both as main and running belays.

However technology has moved on and we can now all carry a wide selection of camming devices, wires and the like in every size and shape and often these can provide a much more secure solution to protection than the rusting stub of an ancient piece of metal.

Some years ago, following a long and very bitter campaign against the placing of drilled gear on the seacliffs of the far West of Cornwall, and successive decisions at local BMC Area level against their use, a moratorium on all drilled gear and, more significantly the placing of pegs was agreed.

No such agreement is in place for the Culm or Atlantic Coasts and a majority of the local activists repeating the harder routes and climbing new ones would probably not agree to a moratorium on pegs, though most are strongly against bolts.

My concern is the presence of pegs for protection and belays on or near much more moderate routes such as Wrecker’s Slab. At the upper end of the difficulty scale it is likely that repeat ascensionists will probably inspect, or headpoint a peg protected route, and replace any doubtful pegs, but who these days carries pegs and a hammer on a Culm Severe or even E2? Combine that with the increase in popularity of sport and indoor climbing, and a situation could arise where pegs are merely assumed to be safe, when they are most definitely not.

Do we just accept that every individual climber, whatever their level of skill or experience should take responsibility for their own actions and decisions? Or do those who place pegs also have some responsibility towards those who might follow? Should the climbing community as a whole recognize that hammering pegs into cracks where no other form of protection is available is not acceptable anywhere? If you can’t do it without, leave it for someone better. Here in Britain we have a complete pot pourris of ethics. In the Avon Gorge there is currently a renewal project underway replacing like for like whether pegs or bolts, funded by climbers but overseen by an individual who is being paid by the BMC for his involvement. Elsewhere, sport and trad exist side by side on the same crag in some cases. We argue that disused quarries and even many natural limestone cliffs can be bolted, but grit is sacrosanct. There is little real logic in all of this and I cannot see any change one way or another in the near future. It has been proposed that all pegs used on a first ascent should be removed. That, it seems to me, may well lead to climbs being rarely repeated and soon disappearing back into obscurity. Perhaps that is just the name of the game.

I certainly have been in situations such as the one Craig found himself In, where a clipped peg, whatever its condition, appeared to be a better proposition than none at all: I guess I therefore have to accept that if it goes horribly wrong then I only have myself to blame.

What the future holds for pegs on seacliffs is impossible to predict, though undoubtedly accidents such as this one will engender further debate. The CC along with most other guides, websites and social media contain prominent caveats about the unreliability of pegs. Is that enough for now, and do we as a climbing community have to accept that it is in the nature of our sport that further tragedies are likely to occur?

Iain Peters September 2014

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2 comments on “Pegs on The Seacliffs of North Devon and Cornwall
  1. avatar Graham Hoey says:

    I’m surprised at the number of in-situ pegs on Wrecker’s. I did this a number of years ago, and can’t even remember one. Although I climb at a much higher grade generally, I still place gear on easier routes as its easy to break a hold and didn’t recall there being a big issue over the lack of reasonable nut/cam protection. Maybe the problem is that these adventure routes are appearing ion the glossy selected guides and are presented ion a very attractive manner such that climbers of limited experience and some ignorance are being tempted onto them.
    Some years ago, Howard Lancashire and I replaced some pegs on Pentire with stainless steel (Peck) pegs. As these are virtually impossible to get hold of now (and of limited sizes) I explored the possibility of getting the BMC to interest climbing manufacturers to make some. The answer was that the cost involved in tooling up and the expected limited sales meant this wouldn’t happen. The BMC’s technical committee said the technical answer was stainless steel (Marine grade) chemical anchors (resin fixed bolts).
    Graham Hoey September 2014

  2. avatar Roger Wilkinson says:

    Like Graham I did Wrecker’s 5 years ago. Only remember one peg in the groove of pitch one. Didn’t find a shortage of gear (though quite a lot was cams in horizontal breaks) and I would be climbing much nearer my limit than would Graham! In my opinion they should all be removed as if people lazily rely on them rather than work to find conventional gear they are asking for trouble. With a high profile route of modest grade such as WS you will get a lot more people of limited experience who are more likely to trust in situ gear and more likely to test it!

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