U-turn and Wild Cat Wall V,6**, Glen Clova

This Sunday Tim and I agreed to climb further afield but when we reached Blair Atholl at 6 am it was snowing heavily. As the forecast predicted more snow this might have meant not only a tough, slow walk in but also a potentially epic drive back to Dundee. So we U-turned to reach Glen Clova just before 8 am. Our choice was Wild Cat Wall V,6** which tackles the 'inverted triangle' headwall after an alternative start to Diagonal Gully III***. The first ascent was climbed by Chris Cartwright and Simon Richardson on the 27th November 2005. Here is Tim walking into a whitening winter corrie.

The start was semi-frozen and heathery and Tim made most of the nutritious plant which is high in fibre.

The headwall, where the climb proper lies, is reached from the left branch on Diagonal Gully by climbing briefly steep out of the gully to reach an offwidth crack to start the climb proper. This pitch ends on a ledge under the roof. Here is Tim after the hard climbing before traversing onto the ledge. The turf was frozen at this stage which was essential as many placements are on turf.

The next pitch traverses right to reach a steep, exposed but well protected corner which is the crux. After that some more steep climbing to reach a long ledge just below the top. Here is Tim about to climb the ramp to the long ledge...

 ... and here he has reached the ledge.

I descended to pick up the rucksacks and we decided to go to the summit of Driesh before descending in the twilight down into the forests of Glen Clova.
HW