Wednesday 12 August 2015

Ireland Part 1 - Fairhead and the Mournes


The ferry seemed to be taking forever, perhaps it was just the company. This grim Voyage of the Damned from Holyhead to Dublin had been a long time coming. Ever since watching the classic Irish climbing flick Underdeveloped it has been an aim of mine to spend some time in Ireland and sample the contrasting areas it has to offer. I was lucky enough to spend a month there this June and July. This was clearly going to be a less productive trip than the sunny months of last years trip to Ceuse; an early ferry home having rinsed all of our money on cafe cakes and Guiness was almost expected. Shockingly however the weather (mostly..) played ball, allowing us to sample all of Ireland's main jewels, from the enormous granite bastion of Fairhead, to the scrittly secluded beauty of the Mourne Mountains and the remote, unspoilt islands off the coast of Donegal. There are not enough words to describe the month in full so instead I hope these extracts do justice to what a wonderful trip it was.
 
The man with the orange face. Bob Hickish in a wild position on Rathlin Wall

Fairhead

Mountain quality rock without the walk, twice the height of the Cromlech, the best crag in Ireland (and therefore to this person, the world...) There had been some big chat about Fairhead; expectations were understandably high. Typically fidgety, me and Rob walk in to the crag in a hurry, leaving our more chilled-out partners behind in order to get to the crag a whole two minutes early. Even having been warned, the scale is still impressive. Arriving a week after the crags eponymous "meet" proves to a tactical masterstroke by Rob, as many of the classic lines are chalked and clean. After climbing a superb E4 to warm up attention turns to the classic Cooper frightener Primal Scream. With supposedly limited gear for the first 20m this route holds a reasonably big reputation, though admittedly this was somewhat diminished by the news that a well known southern chummer had onsighted it a few days previously. The route begins with a long leftwards traverse out from a corner. After this the climbing is tricky but broken up by many foot-ledges. This allows you to stand around for hours pondering the next move whilst your belay ages in the background. I really enjoyed this one, milking maximum time on the route whilst Oli shivered in the corner. After this it was straight down to Rathlin Wall. This is probably the most famous bit of cliff at the 'head, standing 70 metres in places and hosting most of the hard classics. Lengthy negotiation had landed me the lead on Primal and it was therefore only right that Oli got the lead on Above and Beyond. After despatching the first pitch of Wall of Prey, perhaps the classic E5 of Fairhead, Oli set off on the rising leftwards traverse of A and B. As the sun set and the crag was cast in golden light I remember thinking that I'd be happy if we got a better day this trip. Not bad for a first day!

The rest of the week flew by in a storm of poorly placed gear, blue tack and sandbag cracks. Quickly the final day of our week in Fairhead was upon us. The last act was an impressive effort from Oli, making an onsight of a highly chalked route that we'd all watched Ed Booth on the day before.

 
The atmospheric "Idlewild"

The Mournes

The Mourne Mountains are a pretty special place. Surrounded by the sea and flat countryside they rise from nowhere, with many of the rocks sitting on the very top of the hills. These high vantage points give the crags amazing aspects when they aren't smothered by low cloud. The section about the Mournes on the aforementioned film Underdeveloped is brilliant, with some impressively sketchy ascents of necky, smeary slab routes. The film also features a panning shot of crag, Buzzards Roost, home to the Dunne super-route Divided Years. The line of this route, coursing straight up the prow through the finest plummage of the bird is extremely impressive. It has long been a dream of mine to climb this line, but for me, this trip, it would to have wait. For Oli though there was no time to waste. James Machaffie and Ryan Pasquill had just done the deed and the youth was keen to continue his bitter crag rivalry with the former. In hindsight Oli described his ground up go on Divided as "shambolic." A crucial piece of kit for this route is a pecker hook placed before the hard climbing starts, eliminating the need to fiddle in a wire mid crux. This pecker somehow found its way off Oli's harness and into a thin hairline crack on one of the crux holds, rather than the inviting, ticked pocket up and right. Fortunately his attempts from here improved drastically. After a minimal look on abseil Oli proceeded to cruise the route a couple of days later, looking ridiculously smooth in the process. I can honestly say that watching this ascent was one of the highlights of the trip, even though no-one will believe me.

About to come unstuck. Next frame I'm almost off screen!

 Perhaps one of the best bits of footage on Underdeveloped is the scary, skiddy fall that Ricky Bell takes off the top of the classic Irish Si slab, Mushroom Boyz. Another of the routes featured on the film, Tolerance, had submitted to my top roping a few days previous and a new challenge was required. Thrill Issues of the Jellyman seemed a good option and after a brief inspection the lead was on. Headpointing is a funny one, in the past there have been occasions when even if I've felt sketchy on something I'll lead it, usually based on the logic that I've not fallen off many yet. This flawed approach was in full force this day as I climbed up, threaded a monster pocket and walked rightwards to where the meat of the route begins. The crimps feel warm, but its cold up here even when the sun is out. The route is two moves, stand up on the left foot, put the right high, stand up on the right, get in balance, walk to the arete. Pretty minimal. As the first stand is committed to all is not well, but all has been not well before and then it worked out OK. As the high right foot lands the left goes. Surreal scenes form as I fly past several ledges towards the ground, luckily coming up about a metre short, bashing my hip on rope stretch. Liam, dragged in during the fall, looks sick. I can't stop laughing. A few hours after and the comedown from the adrenalin leaves me feeling annoyed with myself. Invincibility is a good tool when headpointing but mine feels completely shattered. Luckily Liam's sickness is only temporary and that afternoon he makes Tolerance look very easy, a well deserved first of the grade for the Chorley Powerhouse.
 
Part 2 soonish

Saturday 13 June 2015

The Lull and Pembroke

The past couple of months have represented something of a lull for me. With some pretty mediocre weather and mounting uni work I ended up having a few weeks off climbing, mainly running during the time I had out of the library.

Predictably this break did not last long and after a few weekends away the psyche has definitely returned. Pembroke Bank Holidays seem to have become a mini institution of late, with tons of people making the long journey down. At one stage Huntsman's Leap was reminiscent of a busy evening at the Tor. Route of the weekend was probably the "One-Eyed Man" at Blind Bay; perhaps most famous for the photo of Jules Deep Water Soloing it. Having done the route this is something I'd love to re-enact!

One Eyed Man! Exposure!

In the past few months a couple of people have asked me why the winter has been so quiet for Grit ascents. To be honest I'm not sure why. The apparent danger involved in most of the hard routes means that you can't go at the them half-heartedly. Following the last winter its probably natural that there was a bit of a hangover period. Obviously I only speak for myself in this, this lack of psyche has clearly not been felt by everyone. Perhaps the best ticks of this grit season for me have come in the past few weeks. Firstly, capitalising on the dry, hot weather of April, Oli and I managed ascents of the rarely dry, and even more rarely climbed, Dharma in Dukes Quarry near Matlock. This route, effectively a spicy, runout 7b+ on pegs is almost an anomaly on grit; being 30m high its probably twice as long as most routes on the brown stuff.

Another long awaited tick came in the form of Crypt Trip at High Neb on Stanage. Having been shut down on this previously it was great to finish it off, all be it in a relatively poor style.

In a few days I'll be heading to the Emerald Isle for a month of tradding, Murphy's and sitting in cafes waiting for cliffs to dry. Ireland has been top of the trip-list for as long as I can remember, god I hope the weathers good.


Nathan.

Wednesday 22 April 2015

Knockin On Heathers Door

It was this time last year that I first discovered North Wales in its prime. For some reason I was totally blown away by it, I think my expectations were oddly low. We spent some early spring days wandering round the Pass, Ogwen and the coast, everything to do. Throughout the rest of the Summer a few more fleeting visits were made, steadily moving through the rights of passage. Kind Wad, Positron, Lord...

Sunset off Holyhead

A perfect forecast guaranteed a return last weekend. There wasn't a cloud in the sky on Saturday or Monday and Sunday wasn't bad either! On the Saturday we trudged up to Cwm Glas Bach, a shady crag on the "dark" side of the Pass. Oh the sense of superiority as you look across the valley at the inferior Grochan, busy with people, the sun causing the already frictionless rock to turn into a sweaty nightmare. However, this smug state of mind lasted the mere five minutes it took for the warmth from the walk in to wear off, the "light" side suddenly looking rather appealing. After a brief (arm waving) warm-up I racked up to try a route I'd been meaning to try all last summer and had conveniently avoided. Pretty Girls Make Graves follows a steep crackline, there's loads of kit but that's not the issue! I find it really pumpy to get the kit in, climbing above a blind wire that I'm pretty sure is shit. After fighting really hard and resting for ages halfway up I commit to a sequence knowing its wrong and promptly fall off. I thought I'd stopped doing stupid things like this but obviously not, maybe that will be the last time, but I doubt it. Second time up I engage both brain and brawn (ha) and it goes fine, still pumpy, but fine. After an ab and strip a freezing Oli races up it, looking only slightly jaded, surprising given his efforts the previous day!


Golden Rhoscolyn

The forecast for Sunday looked a bit chilly for the mountains and therefore it was a choice between Gogarth and the slightly more friendly Rhoscolyn. Rhossy was chosen on that basis and the first route lived up to this mantra. The classic E5 Warpath was ace, loads of good kit and a nice level of flashpump! The second however did not as Jack headed up Godzilla, an intimidating cornerline with some holds not long for this world. In hot, greasy connies it was a good lead (nice one maaattte) and on the top we decide to chill out, shamefully lazy behaviour. Though this laziness is perhaps negated by....

Dinosaur!

The weekend wouldn't have been complete without a trip to Gogarth. The tides were perfect for a chilled start and it was middayish by the time the first route had been climbed, Katy throwing an entire rack into The Strand on Upper Tier. After some lunch, Main Cliff was calling. Dinosaur seemed a good bet being the next in line on the "Main Cliff E5" hitlist. There was also a good breeze blowing, surely that would eradicate some of the smeggy sea grease. I reach melting point under the overlap. Halfway up the pitch having already used an entire chalkbag in 15m climbing, there is no sign of the wind that chilled me belaying on Upper Tier. Resting is reducing the pump but also my hands to pulp and with barely any chalk left already it seems important that moves are made soon. Wild moves using greasy jams and typically unhelpful fins lead me leftwards round the overlap, puffing away in a way that only trad can make you. Once round the overlap you're on E1 terrain. But the rope drag is awful and the pump totally unshakeable. Reaching the belay is a huge relief, the 4c moves below feeling pretty touch and go.
The Grease!

The second pitch, which I thought would be E1, not sure why, actually turns out to be a pretty hairy, loose E2/3 which Katy negotiates with minimal puffing. The top pitch is the usual Gogarth topout, treading carefully on beardy footholds and pulling as lightly as possible on grim blocks. Anyone who has climbed at Gogarth will know its a bit more "interesting" at the top than other sea cliff areas such as Pembroke or the Burren. You don't just pull over the top to find a bomber stake with your lunch and extra jackets nearby. Nope. Instead there is a wee section of bushwhacking up a fairly gradual, heather-covered slope. If you've climbed the routes below that lead to this point its a given that you'd be fine on this terrain. At least you'd think so. Perhaps not. Definitely not. Long story short after a certain tradlord backed off said Grade 1 scramble it was left to me to do some soul searching, embrace the heather and summon up the courage to walk (!) up the bank above. Ridiculous... We eventually topped out at 8.30, having aimed for an early finish...


Death heather!

Those were three amazing days out, hopefully the first of many. I cant wait to get back!


Tuesday 20 January 2015

Slow Season

Its been a pretty slow grit season this year, hence the lack of writing.

Aside from a few days in November its just never really got going, well for me anyways...

Those few days were great though, using some of the new confidence from a summer of trad and sport to go ground up on some of the grit routes that have been burning a hole in my ticklist for the past few years.

Perplexity, Linden and Defying Destiny stand out. All climbed in better-than-usual style for me and mostly in control! It really is all about momentum on the grit, get one thing done and belief flies up, giving you a real advantage in a type of climbing based almost entirely on confidence.

The main enjoyment of the last few months however has come in the form of sport climbing. A few years ago I had a nice but somewhat frustrating trip to El Chorro, having climbed some hard boulders on the grit I thought it would be a breeze out there. Oh dear, what a chump.

Anyways, it was nice to return a bit fitter and despatch some of the routes I could only belay Dad on last time, the best of these being the ultra classic Lourdes.

Jack immersed in the steepness