Portlethen problems

Yesterday evening showers were forecast but it was dry and windy resulting in very good friction. Here are some of the easier Porty problems including some slabs. There is potential for some good slab surfing!

Sandwood bay: bouldering away from it all

Sandwood bay is simply one of the most beautiful places on this planet. It can be reached by a 8 km walk from Blairmore. At the Northern end of the beach there are some Gneiss crags which are OK for some trad but very good for bouldering over sand landings. It is the rock at the end of the beach.

I went with a friend and did four problems between V0-V2/3. I am not experienced at grading this stuff but here is a wee video showing the beach and the problems.

If they are have no name then I propose Sandwood Babe, Sandwood Barbie, Sandwood Bertha & Sandwood b**** but they have probably been climbed many times before and have a name in the head of those that have done them.
HW

Electric blue and a Scottish VS

Despite a 'showers' forecast Adam, John and I went to Craig Stirling. It is up to 30 m high and the venue of the Aberdeen Deep Water Soloing festival. Take a parachute and a dry suit.

John was happy to belay me on Electric blue E1 5a** on the left hand side of the West buttress (the buttress on the right). Here is a short video...

It started on barnacles and wet rock, definately a turn off for me...

... but the rock was dry higher up with some great climbing and sufficient protection. The finish was steep...

... and I struggled at times a bit to find the holds...

... before topping out. Btw. Adam took the photos. John was the first to second and raced up itbeing in top form at the moment.

But Adam won the price of the evening for, to my knowledge, his first clean ascent of an E1. Brilliant effort! After that John fancied a no star VS that makes even distinguished veterans of the art shudder. It all starts with an innocent corner up to a ledge...

... but then there is a leaning crack requiring an awkard mantleshelf at the top onto a ledge with no space above due to the leaning wall above. Invariably even stylish performers end up in a 'Venus of Urbino' position (the wrong way round though). Compare http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_Urbino with John. I did the same whereas Adam had a power grunt, a rest and then attacked it frontally.

After that a crumbly top out to give it a good Scottish VS.

This little cutie is definately recommended as a first VS lead!

HW

Solace at the Luath stones

After several phonecalls there was still no outdoors climbing partner and at the pass of Ballater the hoped for climbing partners were not there. So I went to the Luath stones for solace and did a few of the easier problems shown in the wee clip below.

HW

Clashrodney practice

Ryan and I had a wee training session at Clashrodney to screw my leading head back on. We did Birthday treat E1 5a, Capitol wall VS 4b, Gorgon VS 5a and Chester VS 4c.

Above is a video of Birthday treat just before the midway ledge and below one of the starting moves on Gorgon. Both climbs are classics of the crag.

HW

Jock's road, four Munros & the old chateau

Declan Lunny is a friend who used to work in Dundee but who moved to Singapore a couple of years back. We had some good mountaineering sessions together before his move (buy him a Guiness and you might be lucky to hear them) and every year we meet up to add a walk. On Saturday Ana and I picked up Declan but also Celine, another friend of ours, and we drove to Glen Clova. We walked up Jock's road...

... to a shelter which is marked on the 1:50,000 OS map. Here is Declan enjoying a well deserved rest.

We left some gear and did four Munros, first Tom Buidhe and Tolmont (Declan shown at the summit of the latter)...

... follwed by Cairn Bannoch and Broad Cairn. Still snow left in the high Cairngorms and happy bunnies on the plateau (spot the bunny on the picture below). A 330 ml Glenmorangie oxygen bottle helped us to cope with the effects of altitude.

We returned to the shelter which we had renamed 'the old chateau' and had a three course dinner. It consisted of Spanish lomo as a starter, pasta with aubergine pesto as a main course and caramel cookies as a desert. This was complemented with a good selection of beers, French wine and the remaining oxygen. Prof. Lunny then gave an account of his harrowing experiences in the most hostile places on Earth. The ladies nearly fainted when hearing of the various acts of gallantry on steep North faces or on the oceans of this planet.

BBC Scotland had heard of the presence of the distinguished Prof. and conducted an inverview in the morning:

We then parted with the bonny place and walked down Jock's road.

HW

Bank holiday weekend, Meackie point, Promontory wall and Huntly's cave

With three days off work and the weather forecasters giving a poor outlook for the West coast, it looked best to stay local and explore the crags on the coast that take time to find, time we never really get in an evening. Paul, Chris, Matt and myself headed north to Meackie point. A steep compact Granite crag with nothing below HVS this is well worth a visit.

Paul and Chris started on the classic Killing moon, E1 5b***. Whilst i took Matt up an equally good HVS called Flurry. Well worth the 3 stars it receives. Having not climbed for a couple of months Matt had a tough time on this steep line, thought I'm sure he gave it his best. Paul then jumped on the un-starred Water margin E1 5a, taking the corner/groove direct making it 5b, and stating it was tough and deserved stars.

Feeling slightly guilty on Matt's behalf i suggested we go somewhere more friendly. Paul suggested Promontory wall, not far up the road.

There's a sea level traverse of the wall described in the guide book as 'a fine excursion'. Being only a Severe with a couple of stars I thought this would bee a good one for Matt to second. I had trouble finding the start proper so started it on an over hanging wall, harder than Severe i was sure I'd gone wrong somewhere. Easy traversing fallowed on slabby ground with jugs and good gear. Matt wasn't too keen on the direct line I'd taken (and the possibility of getting wet!) so backed off and called it a day. Paul was up for it, i needed to get my gear back anyway!

This is Paul starting the traverse, which is slightly overhanging and tricky. We both agreed it was about HVS 4c.

good fun was to be had.

this one shows Paul on the tricky 'crux' of the proper route.

Chris hadn't led yet and had his eye on toe cap, VS 4b*. After abbing in I set up the rope to get some shots of Chris dispatching another VS. The photo above shows him climbing the tricky hanging groove.

Sole fusion, E1 5b**, is the only E1 here and the i didn't fancy the E2 as it looks bold as brass! Not really my cup of tea at the moment. This one proved tricky to start. Once on it though (after much swearing and shouting), steep climbing with good gear led me to a flake crack on an exposed position.

Chris being about 10 stone lighter than me seconded this without even breaking a sweat!

We called it day after this as the threat of more showers loomed. With the moisture in the air a rainbow formed near Boddam light house and gave me the opportunity to capture a bonny photo.

Sunday started clear and dry so after a short phone call with Chris we decided that Hunly's cave would be a good choice for the day. I'd been told a couple of horror stories from local climbers about a route here called Pete's wall and thus was keen to go have a look and see what all the fuss was about.

This is a steep schist crag with big roofs and routes across the board crossing improbable ground. Chris started on cave route, HS 4b***. He led it all in one pitch with good rope work to reduce drag this is a fine pitch up a corner and out under a roof to the chimney crack and thus the top is gained.

Chris led this in fine style, though I'm sure he'd easily fit in to the crack at the top and body jam up!

Next up was the classic of the crag, Double overhang HVS 5b***. A steep wide chimney blocked by two roofs provides exiting and tricky climbing that sometimes resembles karma sudra and yoga mixed. On good gear the roofs are cleared in the least elegant way.

After a short lunch break I was keen to give Pete's wall a go. Getting ready below it i was nervous, two good climbers from Aberdeen had already failed on this one recently. The climbing started off ok, not too hard. A couple of moves and I was under the roof, the so called crux, getting the gear well placed, I shook out and tried the long move. It didn't go at first. Along way up for a shortie. Putting my feet higher I made the long reach up to the hold and rocked over, placed a couple of good cams had a wee shake out and moved right on good but flat holds, getting pumped with every move. Then the rain started. I was near the top, pumped stupid and struggling to hold on with the rock now getting damp. I somehow managed to get back to the cams and had a rest as the rain poured, I lowered off, stripping all the gear, disappointed at being so close.

It took a short while for the crag to dry after the rain stopped. We waited, I was confident now I could bag this and was reluctant to leave with my tail between my legs. This time the climbing was fluid, no nervousness. I reached the cams and my high point in no time, moved up and back down, now getting pumped. I made a good nut placement under the final wall, giving me confidence to push on to the top with some yelping and shouting on the way!

This shot shows Chris on the 'good' rest above the roof.

And this one is Chris on the final wall, gritting his teeth, working thought the pump.

Traverses for training

Little time, no money and no endurance? Traverses are the solution. Here are two: a crimpy one at the Fraser Noble building and a pumpy one at Dyke's cliff.

1) Fraser Noble traverse: Chalky spots mark a traverse on often tiny crimps. It is about F6b.

The building is located on the Old Aberdeen campus (building 14): http://www.abdn.ac.uk/central/vcampus/kings/index.shtml

2) Dyke's cliff traverse. The second traverse is at Dyke's cliff at Newtonhill. From the car park walk directly down on steep grass and approach the cliff from the right. It is an overhanging wall with big, now chalky holds all the way. A slimy puddle towards the end focusses the mind. About F6a. It is usually possible after rain.

HW

Weekend of excitement Diabaig

The weather was looking fine and settled for the weekend, Paul was free and I couldn't be bothered with work, so we decided to head to a crag on the West coast that we had both been wanting to visit for a while, Daibaig. This steep slabby Gneiss cliff was developed my Andy Nisbet and Co. In the '80s and '90s. Not much for any climber operating under VS, most of the routes are of HVS/E1 grade, with a couple of E2s to go at.

We started the day on Route two a ****HVS. The first pitch containing a slabby crux move and the second a crack with some difficult over a bulge. Feeling confident I put forward the idea of giving Norhtunberland wall a pop. Described as top of the grade at E2 5c, I doubted it would be a pushover, it looks hard. We drew grass and I drew the short piece thus lost. Climbing was good, a couple of hard moves and the crux was reached. The way ahead wasn't obvious so i tried a couple of ways up then decided I had to go. Pulling up I lost footing and slipped with the rope around my foot wipping me upside down wondering what happened! Paul lowered me down, pulled through the ropes and gave it a bash himself, getting no further than me though giving it a good bash all the same.

Not wanting to let the fall get to me (and we had gear to retrieve!) we jumped on to Black streak, E1 5c. Paul led the crux crack well and I had a bold slabby start to the second pitch to contend with, good for getting the head back together.

Time was getting on so we headed down to the Pillar, E2 5b****. Paul led this in good style, no faffing with gear and not too much shouting! The upper part of this pitch is 5b move after 5b sometimes running out but never desperate.

We called it a day after that and enjoyed a couple of beers and a BBQ at the campsite where I got a fire going.



Sunday started even warmer. We met two climbers from Aberdeen that we knew, Jakie and Pete. Jakie was having fun on a severe. We headed out to look at Con con , HVS 5b, in the sun. Delicate crack climbing then a tricky flake topped with a slab made good climbing in 30m. This felt tricky on lead.

Route three, E1 5b, was next in line. Vegetated climbing led up to a traverse with a technical move took me to the scoop and some slabby climbing lay ahead. A grit style crack loomed above I had the crux so this should have been easy(ish). Not so, Paul climbed it well pulling off a Jack Russle (on leg) move after admitting that 'this is bloody painful'.

I was keen to lead the Pillar even though I seconded it the day before. I thought it would be a good idea for getting my head back in shape. It was, the climbing proved to be much more enjoyable on lead. A great route to end a fantastic, though painful, weekend.

Harry & Hammer

On Saturday the 18th of April Stevo and I went to the Etive slabs to do Hammer HVS ***. On the way down the glen I got a few shots of the locals...

... and at the bottom of the glen Harry Potter & Co. occupied all the parking spaces in order to shoot another Episode of Harry Potter saga. The Cockney film folk were quite nice though and allowed us to walk through to the Etive slabs. Here is a look from the slabs on the Potter folk (put some new contact lenses in; there are lots of 4x4's in the glen near the start of the loch).

The Etive slabs are at an easy angle but with few jugs and usually not much protecion. Here's an old photo from when we did Spartan Slab, a **** classic. When we arrived on Saturday it was grey and the older shot shows the slabs with the Heather in bloom and sunshine.

Steve started the first pitch, followed by me doing the second and both are easy. After that the proper Hammer starts with a 5a scoop pitch followed by the now 5b rated crux pitch. After the first cocky 'is that it' reaction you'll realise that the scoop is a wee bit polished, devoid of holds and move by move the gear is lower and lower. It feels different than it looks.

After that some good laybacking to a belay on a flake. Here is me starting again after putting the gear into the crack...

... and here is about to reach the belay.

More laybacking follows. The ancient ring peg is gone but chalk shows a very thin traverse to a line of flakes. This traverse is now rated 5b and it felt it esp. with the seepage that we had to cross. Gear on the flake line was limited before you reach an overlap with plenty of gear.

A wee pitch to the path ends a superb climb although the best bits are concentrated in two pitches. From the climb we saw climbers on 'The Pause' HVS/E1 running it out in the slabby sea.

Here another shot of the team from the descent path.

On the way back I went for a jog up and down the shores of Loch Earn. The evening light was warm and painted a classical Scottish loch picture.

HW

It's classic...Gogarth. Friaday 10th

Chris Wilson and Paul West-Watson made the long journey south form Aberdeen on Thursday night. We met up at the camp site on Holyhead island, as planned. We headed up to Holyhead mountain to warm up. After an short while i put forward to Paul that we head to Gogarth, knowing he was as keen so we left the others at Holyhead.

Gogarth is impressive steep and intimidating mass of rock the rises out of the sea for 100m. the route we planned to do that day shares the name coming in at E1 5b it's a classic in Ken Wilsons hard rock book. the decent to the cliff (below).



The views to the south stack (below) and surrounding cliffs were brilliant as we geared up below the route with the main cliff soaring above in great grooves and towers.

Paul led this first pitch. Easy climbing on good holds get you in to the flow of things.Next up was the 5a traverse pitch first right (below) to a hidden groove then back left to the slab belay.

A chossy pitch followed where Paul belayed at the foot of the big open groove (below). I'd seen this in books, it was big. I led off placing the only big cam we had low down in the crack, bad move! I had to run the rope out for a half the pitch, good job the climbing was easy.

A game of paper scissor stone was played the last game coming to a draw many times before the winner was decided, much to the delight of two climbers on Resolution direct. Paul won, jammy bugger. He set off on the airy traverse (below).

This takes you to the foot of the crux. Pumpy and over hanging with a good dose of exposure to top it all of it's easy to see why this is a classic.

We headed back to Paul's parents, talking most of the way back about the climb. It was good and deserved classic status. A BBQ was started and as the others arrived the food was plentiful and the beer flowed with talk of the days tales 'til late in the night.