Tonight Maart and I went to Craig Stirling to climb Grand Diedre HVS and Electric Blue, an adventurous E1 with an overhanging finish on big holds. But Dave, Graham, Sandy, Brian and John provided proper action, deep water soloing E1s and climbing E2+s. Here a video:
That'll be it for a while as there will be a conference followed by a holiday. After that I'll be chubby, weak and a chicken again!
HW
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Monday, 28 June 2010
Steeple E2 5c****
Steeple is 'a condenter for the best rock climb in Scotland' according to the guidebook. Robbie and myself decided to have a go despite a prediction of showers from midday onwards. There were thick clouds over the pass of Drummochter and Robbie and I had low hopes as to whether we had a chance. At 7.30 h we walked in and we reached the bottom of the cliff at 9.30 h. Here is Robbie descending into the loch Avon basin...
... and here is the Shelterstone in all its glory.
We wasted no time with the bottom two dampish 5a corner pitches to get at least to above the crux before the showers started. Here is Robbie starting the first one...
... and here I start the second pitch...
... and here I exit it.
Robbie then led the easy bit to the bottom of the 5c crux ramp. The crux is sustained, balancy and progress was severely limited when I managed to clip my shoe lace into a carabiner connected to a cam. Thanks to kamasutra-like movements involving having my foot above head height and good sphincter control I managed to get the cam out and to get back onto the crux without weighing the rope. Here a shot after the antics...
After that more hard moves on damp rock until I got to the belay where The Needle and Steeple join. It now started to rain heavily for 30 min and Robbie did well climbing the next 5a pitch on wet rock to the magnificient corner of Steeple. Here Robbie starts the corner...
... and here he is higher up...
... and here high up in the sky...
Robbie climbed exceptionally well, got the gear in and climbed and climbed and climbed until the end of the 60 m rope was reached. I feared that he was on a hard bit but he had in fact reached the top. I followed with enjoying the good handholds but often poor footholds. One good move after the other until I emerged next to Robbie in the sunshine. After that a painful descent via Pinnacle gully.
We descended to the Shelterstone howff...
... before walking back over the plateau where some snow is still left...
... to get back to the car at 18.30 h.
HW
... and here is the Shelterstone in all its glory.
We wasted no time with the bottom two dampish 5a corner pitches to get at least to above the crux before the showers started. Here is Robbie starting the first one...
... and here I start the second pitch...
... and here I exit it.
Robbie then led the easy bit to the bottom of the 5c crux ramp. The crux is sustained, balancy and progress was severely limited when I managed to clip my shoe lace into a carabiner connected to a cam. Thanks to kamasutra-like movements involving having my foot above head height and good sphincter control I managed to get the cam out and to get back onto the crux without weighing the rope. Here a shot after the antics...
After that more hard moves on damp rock until I got to the belay where The Needle and Steeple join. It now started to rain heavily for 30 min and Robbie did well climbing the next 5a pitch on wet rock to the magnificient corner of Steeple. Here Robbie starts the corner...
... and here he is higher up...
... and here high up in the sky...
Robbie climbed exceptionally well, got the gear in and climbed and climbed and climbed until the end of the 60 m rope was reached. I feared that he was on a hard bit but he had in fact reached the top. I followed with enjoying the good handholds but often poor footholds. One good move after the other until I emerged next to Robbie in the sunshine. After that a painful descent via Pinnacle gully.
We descended to the Shelterstone howff...
... before walking back over the plateau where some snow is still left...
... to get back to the car at 18.30 h.
HW
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Death Cap E1
For some Earnsheugh is heaven, for others more horror than 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and some poor souls have to hitch a ride on the helicopter after trying the forbidden fruit. Here a wee video of Death Cap, a soft touch E1 5a, with sensational positions:
HW
HW
Monday, 14 June 2010
Cycling the Outer Hebrides
Here a wee video of us cycling on Lewis & Harris. If you can stomach cool winds, occasional rain and plenty of hills then the Outer Hebrides are among the most beautiful cycle rides anywhere. After taking the 10 h morning ferry from Ullapool, we cycled from Stornoway to Tarbert in strong winds. On the Saturday we then cycled around South Harris with the Golden Road in the East and the golden beaches in the West. On the Sunday we woke up to heavy rain and cycled back towards Stornoway passing the standing stones of Callanish on the way. Here is a map...
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usmapindexes/westernisles.html
... and here a wee video of the Friday and Saturday. On Sunday the battery of the camcorder was flat:
Oh and on Saturday I also found a Gneiss boulder where I managed three two move problems. Nearly forgot that this blog is about climbing!
HW
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usmapindexes/westernisles.html
... and here a wee video of the Friday and Saturday. On Sunday the battery of the camcorder was flat:
Oh and on Saturday I also found a Gneiss boulder where I managed three two move problems. Nearly forgot that this blog is about climbing!
HW
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Clashrodney
A poor weather forecast didn't materialise and so Adam and I climbed Yellow Peril E1 5b, Gorgon VS 5a, Capitol wall VS 4b and Schoolboy Alcoholic VS4c. Here is a video of the last and first climb in case you need some beta...
HW
HW
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