joh
Edward Whymper
Posts: 36
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Routes
Nov 16, 2011 11:18:20 GMT 1
Post by joh on Nov 16, 2011 11:18:20 GMT 1
Oh and donegal was excellent (putting the thread back on track...)
Malinbeg, the oddly angled
Fiddler's green - seconded by benoit. Trickier than I expected! bring small gear for crux. Then Swiss did Albatross (vs 4c but with a long grade discussion online...) Then I think it was hydrophobia (easier than expected), the important thing was I beat browne-bear in the race and it was very enjoyable too Swiss took on Flying Enterprise - Trickier than he expected! more enjoyable than fiddler's. Then I did something well to the right. Not sure what it was, obvious line though. Was good, though very loose at the top.
Tried Jimmy's problem a couple of times but it felt as hard as ever (that bloody crimp is getting smaller!). Did "the impressive arete on its left side" which is down as a project in the old bouldering guide pdf, don't know what the story is with the new guide (may have been done 2 years ago too). it's fantastic with a bit of middle 2 compression and jump finish. And a class traverse variation on problem 2 (old guide).
Muckross, the roofy wonder
Elvis! If it's pump you're after, then hang around at the crux trying it the "wrong" way several times, fall off, then carry the pump up the rest of the route. Or do the crux "right" the first time and you should have nae trouble. Also dampish, I believe this is its general condition. Crux is safe as a car in the holylands swiss bank.
Arrived down just in time to see The Begly impressively fall off his slimy E4/E2/3 combo (which goes at about E1 if you read the guidebook upsidedown after a large glass of bogwater). I gave it a go, slimy crux requires some serious aid.
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Nov 21, 2011 0:12:52 GMT 1
Post by thomasohagan on Nov 21, 2011 0:12:52 GMT 1
Monkey king of babylon never stuck me as an aid climber.
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Rónán K
Anderl Heckmair
Piggly
President '11/'12
Posts: 180
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Routes
Nov 28, 2011 12:52:16 GMT 1
Post by Rónán K on Nov 28, 2011 12:52:16 GMT 1
Hen yesterday. In the great Russian literary tradition:
Friction is better when it's baltic cold Don't say 'Sure that looks grand' when eyeing up an E2 6m E1s are not E1s Soloing is infectious Don't take Caffeinated Jelly from a Grew(Grue?) Bouldering mats are a good idea Don't walk the wrong way off Hen mountain!
2 Tonys, a Toni, Gilmour, myself, Swiss Benny, T-Prebs, Grew(ney), John Bon Jegley and Thomas Fegan were on Hen yesterday. It was cold and dry, and the friction was perfect. Hen lends to soloing. started off by soloing Fingerbowl (S) and Escalator (D) both excellent. Then myself and Benoit soloed Summer's End which is given E1 5b but is really a 6m bouldeirng problem that isn't too bad. We did some unmarked problems to the left of it and they were a fair bit harder. More bouldering beside Deficility - including a really cool balancey/fingery problem above a pool of water. Then soloed Simplicity (VD) and Difficility (VS 5a) - get a spotter for that one!
Did some ropey climbing after that... though it being hen it didn't really add much
Main Street (E1 5c) Rónán, T-Prebs The crux is getting on the damn route. Once over the initial bulge, throw two cams in under the overlap for psychological security and make delicate moves up the upper slab to a thank-god crimp and safety. Not easy! Mad Steve soloed it.
Feeling good, an attempt was then made on Ethical Backfire (E2 5b) 'just worth the grade' my ass, it's nails. GOt up to the top of the first crack then fell off onto a solid cam - the rock is hard to read. Benoit had a go too, fell off, tried again, got to the second crack, placed a crappy nut then whoosh he was off, so was the nut - cue ankle first tumbling down the slab. The big gold cam that saved me saved him too. We stuck a toprope up on it then and both got it clean - kinda glad I didn't get any farther on lead, the top half isn't easy and the gear is shite. Then it rained a bit, so I soloed East Arete (mod) to finish off and headed down to the carpark. When we got there, we realised Thomas Fegan wasn't with us - mild panic but he turned up half an hour later down the road, turns out he'd walked off the wrong way!
Newcastle for fish and chips...mmm. I love Hen. Don't know why I never went before!
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Dec 4, 2011 22:44:24 GMT 1
Post by Duckfeet on Dec 4, 2011 22:44:24 GMT 1
Me and Thomas (Farmer not Miner) had a short session at Hen yesterday. Here's a wee summary of the day.
Ran up Hen, realised it was fecking freezing. I searched for gloves, Thomas went for a piss.
Simplicity:VDiff - (Michael/Thomas) - 2 peices of gear Windchill was freezing my ankles! To the point where I forgoed all calls to scream "Bring up my Socks". THomas brought them up, and dropped them in a puddle.
Thomas went for another piss.
Escalator Direct:S(4a) - (Thomas/Michael) - 3 peices of gear True to style, thomas placed only tricams and slings.
We stopped for tea and coffee. Thomas took a piss, I ran after a sandwhich bag rather than encur Colls wrath.
Escalator Direct:S(4a) - (Michael/Thomas) - 1 peice of gear A one move wonder, which I protected with a bomber size 0.75 friend.
Thomas went for a shit.
Merry Ploughman:VD - (Thomas/Michael) - 3 peices of gear Halfway up the route there is a large loose flake that looks like will fall any day now.
Michael took a piss more out of peer pressure than anything else. Thomas joined me.
Jims Jaunt:VD(4a) - (Michael/Thomas) - 2 peices of gear Placed a nut, to justify them on my rack. Nicer than expected.
Uncertainty - (Thomas/Michael) - No gear Time was running out so Thomas ran up this with full rack and rope. Placed nothing. So I essentialy top-roped it.
Thomas took a piss.
All in all, a productive morning of ticking off leads for SPA training. Also, Thomas may have a UTI.
"
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Rónán K
Anderl Heckmair
Piggly
President '11/'12
Posts: 180
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Routes
Jan 11, 2012 14:18:53 GMT 1
Post by Rónán K on Jan 11, 2012 14:18:53 GMT 1
New Year's at the Cottage
This annual fixture was too notable to escape the routes page! It began with Pete, Owen and John 'the battery' Monkey king of babylon flagrantly breaking tradition and climbing FM on New Year's Eve, or more precisely, everything-but-FM-with-the-direct-finish-of-FM. This spectacular failure in navigation being mitigated by Monkey king of babylon's solo of the route wearing tweed.
The rest of us made our way to the cottage that evening and enjoyed a mild night of revelry. Highlights do not include Gilmour's elephant impression, but do include the singing/dancing/Jam and Monkey king of babylon's epic battle of punching followed by Monkey king of babylon's devil-like twin/conscience tell him to 'kill them all'.
The brave stayed up and ventured up Binnian for dawn - the rest of us slept. Although getting into bed proved troublesome, as my attempt at the same resulted in a collapsed bunk bed and much confusion.
New Year's day brought the expected windy unpleasantness and a resolve to go climb FM anyway. So we set off with that intention, losing feeling in the hands while gearing up but tradition is tradition! Myself, Toni and Chris set off first, climbing as a 3 on the one rope. Climbing FM in gloves is not only possible, it is highly advisable, and I managed to maintain circulation in all important areas. The rucksack was a bit cumbersome in the wind(more on that later) and Chris managed to get flattened by the wind. The soaking wet first step provided some entertainment and necessitated the removal of gloves. Rather than finishing right up a relatively amenable corner I elected to carry on straight up, eventually ending up with a 40m runout up a wet slab and lunging for a lump of heather at the base of a soaking wet corner. This was then climbed involving gloved fistjams and soaking smears, then a slightly scary overhanging topout. Thinking huzzah to have finished and all that, I brought up the other two. It began to hail and Chris lost feeling in his hands so I took out my mitts to give to him... then lost to the wind my rucksack with my food, boots, walking stick, water and guidebook down the slabs. THankfully it never hit anyone behind us, who were all backing off anyway due to the hail. What followed was an annoying descent of Lamagan in rock shoes; a slightly dodgy solo up the side of FM to find gear; and an intense frustration at the loss of £100 worth of equipment, including a brand new altimeter watch. It wouldn't be New Year on FM without some sort of epic...
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alek
Edward Whymper
Posts: 20
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Routes
Jan 19, 2012 20:58:14 GMT 1
Post by alek on Jan 19, 2012 20:58:14 GMT 1
I am sorry to have missed such a delightful day's climbing, New Year's FM is always excellet, tweed or no. However I can compensate with...
Alek's adventures in the hard-to-get-to land of hard-to-get-to ice!
From the 13th through to 15th there was that Ice Climbing festival in Argentiere-la-Besse. Apart from finally getting out and doing some routes, it was certainly a source of craic.
Lessons of the day (not really climbing related): -If you're hitchhiking in the Ecrins, you have a roughly 2/3 chance of being picked up by a kite surfer and a 1/3 chance of being up by Russians. -If you're at an ice climbing event, and you meet a Canadian guy called Will, whose giving a talk later, "do you climb?" might be a stupid question. -Don't leave things lying about (especially if they're not yours), because you'll probably never see them again (specially if they're not yours). -A shoddy axe placement is bad because it might not hold. -A solid axe placement is bad because it might not let go. -A route with alternating slabs and steep sections, means constant alternating pain in calves and wrists which never quite reaches the level of "pumped silly".
On the 13th, Alek went to the Fressiniers valley (look it up- there are some incredible routes there, of these I climbed exactly zero routes), practiced ARVA searches and top roped vertical stuff. Since Alek is used to G10s and B1s, climbing in the equivalent of G14s with B3s, which added an extra 1.5cm to the vertical distance between foot and frontpoint ment that on the first route was ever so slightly clumsy, to say the least. On the 14th, Alek went to the Fressiniers valley and top roped less than vertical stuff, traversed and practiced "good technique". On the 15th Alek teamed up with a guy from Argentina (who is habituated to soviet ice screws!) and went to the Fournel valley to actually climb something. Now, the guy had to catch a train in the early afternoon, so a short route, with more than its fair share of dinner plates was on the menu.
Les Nains des Ravins-first half (WI III, 3.) The name of route translates to "Gully Dwarves". The route is certainly not a gully (it's about 30 meters wide) and it's not exacly small. Okay, so we didn't actually climb this route- not all of it anyway, as it's about 300m long, and with the 3 hour window to climb up and get back down, you'd actually have to be quite good, and not faff (aka, you'd have to not be Alek). As such we took alternate leads on the first 2.5 pitches of the monster. The Argentinian lead out the full 60m of the first pitch (harder), whose steepness varied between 60-80 degrees. I took the second pitch, which was mostly 40-70 degrees, apart from a short vertical step of rotten shite. The crux of the route was most probably down climbing the 80 degree step in the descent gully (why the descent gully had a near vertica step, I shall never know). After that there was a fire and, (as no event is complete without cheese) smocked, molten Brie, which is strangely enough, better that cold brie..
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dan
Edward Whymper
Posts: 24
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Routes
Jan 24, 2012 0:10:07 GMT 1
Post by dan on Jan 24, 2012 0:10:07 GMT 1
So seems like the whole of QUBMC was outdoors this weekend, bit of cabin fever maybe?
I decided to join the Mournes-bound crowd on a bivi-ing and climbing trip. Myself, John B, Kevin, Niall, Ronan, Tim and Owen all met up in Trassey car park and made our way to Bernagh.
Owen disappeared off to do the Mourne wall and said he'd meet us later. The rest of us went to Bernagh slabs:
Grease Lightning (Dan, John alternate leads) VDiff When a route has 'grease' in the name it is likely to be greasy. Nevertheless myself and John decided it was the least wet line. It was greasy. and wet. and windy. and rainy. and hail-y.
We made it to the top anyway...
The sensible ones then went off home to leave me, Tim and Kev to wind-proof our bivi spot and go to bed at about 6 in the evening. Late that night, at about 8 o'clock, we were disturbed by a crazy singing man (Owen) who shared his can of beer with us and found a spot to sleep.
After a rotten nights sleep under a rock a bright and breezy Thomas (Farmer not miner) appeared outside our cave and we went climbing on the sheltered side of the summit tor.
Blistering Bill VDiff (Dan, Thomas) Another wet and mossy route that had a lot of potential. Thomas had trouble on the first muddy and wet corner so I took it on and being an inch or 2 taller was able to reach the jug! A traverse was followed by hugging a spike and watching kev climb some vertical heather before finishing up a corner. Could be a starred route if it was dry and clean.
Definitely a weekend full of type 2 fun. Totally worth it!
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Rónán K
Anderl Heckmair
Piggly
President '11/'12
Posts: 180
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Routes
Jan 24, 2012 17:27:27 GMT 1
Post by Rónán K on Jan 24, 2012 17:27:27 GMT 1
An excellent day - surprised yous didn't go night-climbing, it seemed clear form where I was!
Good day was had on BEarnagh on Sat. Myself and Niall climbed Grand Central (VD) which was excellent. Very windy, echoes of FM a couple of weeks ago, although this time I anchored my bag! Niall was almost blown away and make an excellent show of his "Jeremey Clarkson Ariel Atom" face. From there, struggle against the wind to the top and met Kev and Tim for coffee at the Shelter Stone Café. Highlights of the next hour or so included Niall's repeated attempts to gas Kev into submission and the appearance of a wet dog. Then John Bon and Chopper Dan arrived after climbing a route called Greased Lightning which the guidebook describes as 'greasy' and the sensible among us went home. It'll harden ye!
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Feb 26, 2012 0:23:41 GMT 1
Post by rintygold on Feb 26, 2012 0:23:41 GMT 1
So, Scotland! Tuesday evening: The phone call John: Hi Ronan, you were ringing me? Ronan: Yes, blah, blah, big cock up by bus company blah blah, youre now driving to Scotland, err… bye!
Day 1, Wed: The Arrival Ridiculously early start which we do every year and never learn from. A bit of a boat ride and a mostly unexciting 200 mile(ish) drive to Glencoe Independent Youth Hostel, our base for the week. As always, this is the day of the great shop in which we buy vast amounts of food and still end up having to go back for more.
Day 2, Thurs : The Climbing Ok, so our first proper day of climbing brought Myself and Ronan to the base of Twisting Gulley (III)4**** via a rather long and arduous walk in with awesome scenery and conditions that stayed with us throughout the whole trip. I was eager to try out all of my newly acquired shiny. However, as I had never led on ice before and this was my first winter climbing in 2 years, I was happy for Ronan to take the first lead. The route gave me a strong reminder of what Scottish winter climbing is all about; ridiculous run-outs which render any sort of belaying completely pointless, freezing belay stances and the mountain gobbling any of your gear you were not thinking about at that precise moment. My own folly was thinking that when I lifted my goggles up onto my helmet they might stay there. Instead, they decided to use the opportunity to take up skiing, quickly gaining proficiency and momentum, and waving cheekily at Ronan as they passed him by. Other than that, it was an awesome route! What more can I say?
Day 3, Fri: The Guide I liked the sound of what the guides were going to be doing on day 2 as they were teaching several skills I had not yet come across. Also, after a day of trailing behind Ronan, Conor and Alek I was ready for a walk in at an ‘actual’ guides pace. A repeat of the previous day’s walk in brought us this time to a snowy slope where we were shown how to make ourselves look completely ridiculous by frantically digging a big hole in the snow using a device no bigger than a spoon. We were assured by John Orr that we could increase the ridicule by planting ourselves firmly in the hole and tying ourselves to each other. Once we had all practised this (rather useful) method of belaying, we continued on to a ridge line following it to the top. It was nice to top out on a mountain and have some time to appreciate the view, eat our lunch (a luxury!) and take some photos. We put off the descent for a short time to be shown that, if we so desired we could set up an abseil at any time by drawing a circle in the snow and wrapping the rope around it. I did wonder several times if anyone had actually stopped and thought for a minute about what we were doing. If you explained it to a regular person they would think you were nuts! They would be right.
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Feb 26, 2012 0:24:28 GMT 1
Post by rintygold on Feb 26, 2012 0:24:28 GMT 1
Day 4, Sat: The Ice Annoch Mor After two days of 2 hour long walk ins, we were all tempted by the thought of something a bit easier. I sat in the gondola on Glen Nevis with a smile on my face looking out at the ground passing underneath us which we would not be walking up or down. Well… some of us . At this point, I was blissfully unaware that I was slowly gliding towards my first use of a snow bollard, those crazy sounding snow abseils. One dodgy ski lift and a 40 minute uphill trudge later and I was educated. It wasn’t all that bad, especially when compared to the snow plod we had afterwards across a steep sided avalanche prone mountain, where just two days previously, two teams had been avalanched in separate incidents. Finally, myself and Mark McKeever arrived at the base of Left Twin (III)***. Today would be my first time leading a full route with someone who had less winter experience than me. We had a pair ahead of us who saw fit to give us gifts of ice and snow drift throughout. Not to sound ungrateful, but they did receive more than one angry message in return! The first pitch was a nice easy introduction with a short, steep ice section to a relatively large and comfortable belay ledge. I was not the only one to notice that on the way through the pitch, you could see that what we were climbing on was no more than a few centimetres thick with a large hollow behind it and Mark was quick to point this out on arrival at the anchor. Once the gear and rope was sorted, I continued through an easy snow section followed by the crux of the route, a steep and long ice section which was really enjoyable to climb. As it was the crux I thought it was reasonable to use more than one ice screw every 10 metres. How wrong I was! As I got through the steep section, the ice continued but the supply of ice screws did not. Alek had kindly lent me several of his but these proved to be useless as he must have been using them to chisel rocks with. 30 metres later and I was over the steepest section but I was near at the end of my tether, literally! Being told that you have 5 meters of rope left when there’s nothing but soft snow in front of you for ten meters does nothing to boost your confidence! Thankfully, judging rope distances is not easy when half the rope is covered in snow and I managed to get as far as a rocky outcrop for the final anchor. One more push up an easy snow slope, through a small cornice and…top out! I considered how it must have looked to the few skiers who were around, taking advantage of the final ski lift. Some wild looking guy with sharp pointy things attached to each limb, appearing out of nowhere and sitting in a hole he had just dug himself in the snow. As I body belayed Mark up behind me, one of the more daring skiers approached, probably thinking he was about to make first contact. Sods law dictated that he had to be from Norn Iron and after a brief converse, he departed to catch the gondola before it was closed. We were quick on his heels and did in fact manage to get down with ten minutes to spare. Upon meeting Azwan and Vladimir, we soon learnt that we were the only ones to make it down. A quick trip to Fort William to resupply, gave the others time to get down the mountain. Upon our return we tracked several sets of head torches snaking their way down the mountain and after a while one pair of head torches turned into the familiar shapes of Kevin and Daniel. Day 5, Sun: The Not Skiing Myself, Thomas and Conor decided that the most productive way for us to spend our rest day was to go skiing. Unfortunately, the wind did not agree with us, and forced the final ski lift to close, just as Conor got up to it. A full refund later, and it was back to drinking countless cups of tea until the more pyched members of the group returned from the days climbing. An early night was on the cards as plans for the following day were formulated.
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Feb 26, 2012 0:24:50 GMT 1
Post by rintygold on Feb 26, 2012 0:24:50 GMT 1
Day 6, Mon: The Epic! An early start had us rapidly at the CIC hut on The Ben, where we prepared and ascended to the base of Glover’s Chimney. Today, I was being seconded by Stuart and we made our way up some difficult terrain with Azwan, Rooney and a strong headwind. Ahead of us, we could see that there were already teams on both our chosen routes but ours was clear by the time we were ready. The first pitch included some nice ice to start with, followed by a horrible Y shaped gulley, which funnelled all of the spindrift and ice the team ahead was generating. At one point, I ducked down, trying to protect my face from the onslaught. Unfortunately, it had little effect and I suffered through it. Regardless of this, I had quickly run out of rope, built an anchor and brought Stuart up. The second pitch was uneventful and brought us to a decent spot to start the next section from. I looked ahead to a steep snow gully and reckoned I could do it in one pitch. Three pitches later and we were at the base of the final pitch , haven taken a lot longer than expected. I was confronted by a rocky, vertical chimney with a small layer of ice covering the sides. It was an easy start but as I got to around half way up , it was getting tough and there was no gear. At this point, I had to have a good talking to myself before I did what I consider to have been the crux move. Relief after possible death combined with some decent gear increased my confidence and I soon topped out, if you can call it that. What I was expecting was a flat, snowy expanse with some conveniently placed rocks to act as an anchor. What I found instead was a 1ft wide, rounded ridge with a sheer drop on either side. A sling around a rock was my anchor and as I brought Stuart up the Sun went down. We used the last of the ambient light to switch our gear round and get our head torches out. At this point, I gave Ronan a call to let him know we were going to be late. Very late! Having topped out on a ridge, we were completely exposed to a strong wind. This was making us cold very quickly and I had soon lost feeling in some of my fingers. Knowing there was no other choice, I pushed on. I couldn’t see the route ahead but I tried to go around a set of high rocky steps which would have left me well above the anchor. I was rewarded with a peg at five metres and after I had clipped it I moved quickly on (the last gear of the day). 20 meters or so later and I jammed myself between two rocks and used one to wrap the rope around. It was at this point that I noticed three other people just 50 metres ahead of me, struggling to traverse a narrow ledge. Unlike us, the group did not have head torches on and I wondered if they had any with them at all. I couldn’t move from my position and they were too far away from me to communicate. As I belayed in the rope, they moved out of my sight and I didn’t see them again. I had Stuart go on ahead to what I thought was a relatively easy section which turned out to be a crawl across a narrow snowy knife edge. To make matters worse, when I tried to cross it, the wind caught the rope and lodged it in a rock which was over the edge. Stuart couldn’t hear my calls for slack so a difficult manoeuvre over the edge was required to free it. I leapfrogged past Stuart without further incident and got across the narrow traverse which I had seen the previous group tackle. Shortly after this, I finally topped out on my long expected flat, snowy expanse. I walked backwards to tighten the rope and brought Stuart up the final few metres. After a small celebration and sense of relief, we stowed the rope and had a wander round to get our bearings. After 20 minutes (possibly longer) we were both struggling due to the conditions. Luckily, we came across the emergency shelter at the top and we crawled inside. The rest bite we got in here was very welcome. There was no wind chill so we were able to warm up a bit. Stuart managed to melt his eye lashes which had frozen together. As we warmed up a bit, discussions changed to what we were going to do next. We did at this point consider bivying for the night but it wasn’t very appealing! I pulled out the map and got a few bearings and pacings as we decided to make our way to the bottom. In the end, it was easy enough to navigate down following the path, although path is a strong word to describe the track of snow slightly rougher than the rest that we were following. It was hard to see at times with the increasing wind lifting snow into the air. We narrowly avoided plunging down a steep bank into an ice cold river and with the worst of it over us we trudged onwards, stopping only to take off our crampons, swig on a slush puppy and eat half a frozen sandwich. Azwan and Alek were a welcome sight, relieving us of our rucksacks, and so were our beds.
Day 7, Tue: The Unplanned Rest Day I think we deserved a lie in!
Day 8, Wed, The Return Another uneventful 200 mile drive and we’re back!
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Rónán K
Anderl Heckmair
Piggly
President '11/'12
Posts: 180
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Routes
Feb 26, 2012 20:11:22 GMT 1
Post by Rónán K on Feb 26, 2012 20:11:22 GMT 1
Excellent account of the Scotland trip John!
The El Chorro trip sadly ended today. Continuing in the vein of Scotland, a glorious week was had by all, although this time we had 6 days of perfect tops off for power (or Pablo) weather.
Lessons of the trip:
*Tony Fearon can do anything with a maillon - not just climbing, but anything. *It is very difficult to keep up with the 'oit on psyche/skin/F6Cs. *Shops do not open in Spain on a sunday. Do not arrive in Spain on a sunday. *Land Rovers do not work in Spain on a sunday. *Applying sun cream to your own back never ends well. *In future there should always be several photographers on a trip. *It is easy to convince foreigners to come to Fairhead. *Michael Campbell should not be allowed to eat pizza. *Slacklining when drunk doesn't work. *Big sad looking dogs will eat your chorizo. *Contrary to popular belief, SPort climbing is f*cking class. *Tops off for Pablo. *Pablo music*.
So we arrived in SPAIN on sunday afternoon. The timetable of military precision fell apart upon reaching the centre of Malaga where everything was closed - even the big feckoff supermarket. The same was true in Alóra, meaning we arrived in El Chorro with as much food as we had ice screws. All was not lost, as the food in the hostel sufficed until monday, where the brave few ventured down to Alóra in the Land Rover and did the shopping. Thanks guys!
So the climbing proper began on monday. Everyone headed up to the Arab Steps in the 20+ degree heat - tops off for power weather. THe pinnacle was climbed many times. I climbed with Michael and we climbed 5 routes, highlights of which were the excellent Bladerunner (F6a) which followed a massive flake, felt like a trad route with very spaced bolts! THe first pitch of Sopo con Ondas (F6b) was great too, especially as I had failed to follow Owen on it 2 years ago! I climbed Smooth (given F6b+ in the guidebook - but more like 6a+) as well - a nice end to the day.
Tuesday we headed to 'El Railwayo' aka Castrojo. THe sun was batin' the rock but the classics were climbed here, with myself and Benoit climbing the classic Un Monton the Chatarra (F6a) and Big FUn (F6a) as well as the arete of Baron Rojo (F6b+) which took a couple of redpoint attempts to figure out the one move wonder crux. When things got too warm, we headed over to the shade of Los Albercones and climbed Putiferio (F6a ish). Benoit had a bash at the ridiculous slab of Oceano Gris (F7a). He got up it after a few falls - but the crux was getting the draws out of this very diagonal line! Lowering off took longer than climbing. Highlight of the day was Mr Swiss Psyche having a go at an F7c at Castrojo which had a toprope on the second bolt after a Londoner's failed attempt.
The Pablo arrived on tuesday evening and on wednesday myself, the 'oit, Toni and Pablo headed to Sector Austria. Myself and BEnoit climbed Valentine's Day (F6a) a lovely 4 pitch route with some long pitches, marred only by the Austrian party of 3 above us who got their ropes tangled for ages. We sat on a ledge for an hour playing with tricams! We then climbed Tall People and Small People (both F6b), 2 lovely routes and Toni climbed a lovely and photogenic arete. It was at this stage that the Swiss PSyche went into overdrive and thus we elected to have a go at a ridiculous looking F6c tufa overhang called UN Pique De Un Repique. I gave it a go but a combination of pump and bad psyche got the best of me, and I ruined my good £2 linen trousers. The 'oit then led it clean - a super effort on an amazing line. It was also the first time I've ever heard 'tree below'.
Thursday Benoit and myself were back up at the Arab Steps. We warmed up on a couple of nice easier routes then had a go at a new route Jordan and Tony had found on the right of the crag - a short slab beside a pinnacle. A couple of goes on it and I figured out the sequence but didn't manage to link the route from the ground - a brilliant line nonetheless. We then went for the big 'un - Los Genelos (F6c) on the Navegador Pillar. Benoit did it first and practically cruised this monster of a pump fest. By this stage Benoit, myself and Bojo had gotten caught in a spiral of trying to keep up with one another so I was quite apprehensive when it came to my turn to climb! THe rope got stuck behind a flake when we pulled it down after Benoit's climb so he went to get another one, leaving me in a slightly disturbed mental state alone at the base of the route. 20 minutes, a nap and a short walk later Benoit was back with a rope and I gave it a go - unjamming the 70m rope and switching ropes on a good ledge halfway up. A hands off rest led to a long pumpy sequence and before I knew it I was one move from safety but desperately pumped. Some tactical shaking out and I was there - first 6c and ecstatic after an awesome route. Pumped the rest of the day, I fell off the 6b+ (Dos Tetas Tiran) we tried later but didn't really care, it was a great day.
Friday was our 'rest day' so we went up to Las Encantadas. The plan was to do some climbing there then relax at the pool at Finca La Campana. However, some bad guidebook reading on my part and the distinct lack of quality easier routes at the crag, coupled with my falling off a glassy 6a (i thught it was a 4) with 2 bolts (the first of which which was level with the 4th of the adjacent route) led to myself and Benoit's total disenchantment (there's a joke in there) with the place so we buggered off to Albercones. Here I fell off another route (Gabi, F6a+) that Benoit cruised as I was still tired from the previous day's exertion. The King of Psyche somehow managed to coax me up to Sector Suizo where he led No Esta Acabda, a technical and not pumpy 6b which i managed to climb clean and restore some psyche. Returning to Albercones, Benoit tried the arete of Me Duelen Los Huevos (F7a) and got most of the way before falling off the crux. Not tempted by what looked like a pumpfest, I spied the line of Malditos Roedores, which Tom had onsighted a couple of days earlier. It looked cruxy with loads of rests so I gave it a go. Some straightforward climbing leads to a hands of rest to pnder the crux then a power move off a crimp leads into a traverse on a slopey rail with no feet then a triucky rockover to victory. 6a climbing led to the top of my first F6c+ - well chuffed. The 'oit got it as well, naturally. Probably too easy for him. Finished the Day with Zulu girls F6a+, but the polished and surprisingly pumpy climbing did not deflate the psyche and managed not to fall off it. The day was proof positive that F6as are harder than F6c+s.
The final day was spent at the Arab Steps in the sweltering heat. Michael, Jordan, Kevin and Tim went for the classic multipitch Rogelio while the rest of us lazed about a bit in the heat. Eventually getting climbing, Team Psyche got going on an unnamed new F6aish beside Rogelio that Emma and Tom had spotted previously. We did Chocolate Orange (F6a+) as well, a surprisingly tricky roof section that nearly spat me out. Lazing about again, we returned to the slab on the right beside the little pinnacle and had a go at Fallilo (F6b+ (my arse)). Nice balancey climbing led to a perplexing and slippery crux that neither of us could figure out. It just didn't seem to make sense. Failing on that, we had another go at the route to the riught of it that we'd tried a couple of days earlier. It's not in the guidebook but apparently it's called Michelle and is given F6c+. It's a lovely line, easy to start with a sit down rest on the top of the pinnacle then a tough boulder problem to the top. This time we both managed it clean. THe day was finished with the superb El canalillo de la mari (F6b+) at the top of the Steps. It's a long line (35m) and it's basically a Fairhead route - brilliant bridging with loads of jams up a corner system. Some tricky moves but loads of rests, a superb way to finish.
Sunday morning and we were supposed to leave, but the Land Rover that was our lift to Alóra wouldn't start. An attempt to hillstart it failed so we tried to jumpstart it but it took some time to find the battery and then get at it - and then to get it running. We arrived at Alóra train station just in time to watch the train pull away! We were then driven directly to the airport where we said our goodbyes to Pablo. Epilogue: apprently Spanish security women don't like climbing gear and confiscated Benji's krabs and draws for destruction when he tried to bring it in hand luggage. Bastards.
Quote of the trip: "It was a bit hairy so I had to go and take some photos to calm myself down" - Kevin Cheung on the Caminito del Rey
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Routes
Feb 28, 2012 13:46:40 GMT 1
Post by bojo on Feb 28, 2012 13:46:40 GMT 1
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Routes
Mar 18, 2012 22:56:17 GMT 1
Post by Browne-Bear on Mar 18, 2012 22:56:17 GMT 1
Ah, so much to say, only 60000 characters allowed... So, several trips and routes to report on - let the epic essay begin! Scotland TripSuch a trip - possibly one of the best trips I have been on! Seven days of quality climbing, craic and conditions. So, given that Scotland has been covered, this will remain "brief," with the standard Russian Itinery! - Fig Rolls make excellent hill food. - One persons "Guide Pace" is another persons "Dying Pace." - Stephen Rooney is an eejit - The use of gloves is considered aid in Scottish Winter - Presidents of QUBMC should be competent on Scottish II regardless of conditions; this is non-negotiable - Hot aches never occur twice on one route, however they do occur more than once a trip - No matter how hard you try to make it to the pub for a sociable pint, something will always pre-occupy you So, QUB Mountaineering Club's trip to Scotland was epic. Lots of humour was had by all. Twisting Gulley III **** - Kevin/Niall So, given that our guides were taking the "Newbies" for two consecutive days allowed the older/more experienced members to get some personal climbing done. Teamed up with Kev on this one. Fantastic route, and my very first Winter Lead. Interesting crux on the route (superbly lead by Kev); delicate and airy, but lots of decent gear. Third pitch involved a beautiful short chimney, followed by a 40m run out - AH SCOTTISH CLIMBING. Topped out to a fantastic view and a bitter wind. Descended down, and managed to swindle a lift from some local guides. Dorsal Arete II *** - Kev/Niall So another day with Kilroy. This time, back up to Coire an Lochain and for one of the classics - Dorsal Arete. The aim; to move as quickly as possible - in essence, to do the route in Alpine Style. Leaving one bag beneath a large boulder and bringing only the essentials, we geared up and made for the base of the route. Beautiful day for climbing, crisp, cold and not a cloud in the sky. Had to show Kev how to take coils before he set off up the first two pitches of the route. One hour later and we were below the crux pitch. I took the lead on this one and in one word; WOW! Such an exposed arete, but bomber gear, and solid cracks for some good mixed climbing. Back down at the base of the route after 2 hours climbing. Forty minutes back down to the bus. An epic day... Dorsal Arete II *** - Niall/Linda So, after having done my first few leads in Winter only two days prior, I was instructed to undertake a guiding day. Nice insight into potentially a couple of years of my life (who needs a job when you can instruct in the outdoors...). In hindsight, I probably should have gone and done NC Gully, but because I couldn't trust my partner or her skills level, I felt I should do something I had done before. Still lovely day, albeit a bit on the cloudy and cold side. Had some nice chats with Jonny Parr at the belays though; learned a few things as well. All in all, another good days climbing. (Walk out was a bitch though - people are slow when they don't eat; and its not me...) So, took a rest day here - chilled, drank tea and washed dishes. Prepared myself for the "BIG BAD" Ben the next day! Castle Ridge III *** - Kev/Niall So the Kilroy and I teamed up yet again for another fantastic day of climbing. Leaving the North Face Car Park at 8, we made great time to the base of our route. We had hoped to have the route to ourselves that day, however we had company from Jonny/Chris/Thomas on top of Conor/John. Undeterred we made great progress, moving together the entire way up the climb. My highlight of the route was this beautiful 10 metre chimney. Mixed climbing, eat your heart out! Topped out of the route at 1 o'clock - ridiculously early! I guess we made a good team. Celebrated with fish and chips and 4 bottles of Ben Nevis IPA (my first TASTE of beer this trip). Begley took his sweet time on route though... Curved Ridge III **** - Kev/Niall Last day of climbing on the trip. Hadn't intended on going to do anything that day cause I was absolutely pollaxed. However I was persuaded to join Alek/Azwan/Thomas/Kev on a trip up Buaicaille Etive Mhór. Got to the base of the route, were Thomas promptly said he couldn't go on because he feet had "exploded." Leaving him to walk back to the car park to get picked up, we started up the ridge (moving together - the usual). Fantastic route, in an epic surrounding. My highlight was a lead of a beautiful 12 metre high mixed corner. Great route, but one that is difficult to find... All in all, a fantastic trip - LOVE SCOTLAND! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So on the 11th and 12th of February, Colleen, Conor, Tony and myself made for the Mourne Cottage for a spot of walking/trading. We had hoped that more people would have attended this intended Hill Skills Session; but as is common with the club, this did not happen. Instead, we had beer, food and climbing to contain us! First Corner HS 4b ** - Niall/Colleen Excellent route, not too difficult; but interesting move to gain the arete. I think I may have done a direct finish as I failed to return to the face of the wall near the end of the route. Awell, was grand. Nice route to begin the day... Then Colleen did New Decayed, which I seconded; in Boots. Was nice. Agag's Wall VS 4b *** - Niall/Colleen This was one route I had one my "wishlist" since beginning to trad climb. Airy, gearless was what I had been told. Wrong these people were. Bit airy which is common in most steep walls. Gear was good; you just had to find it. Never felt scared at all on the route. Lovely climbing. Then Colleen did Transistor; and fell, prompting me to call her a "Gluebag." Democrat VS 5a * - Niall/Colleen Had had a look at Aristocrat earlier in the hope of doing my first E1. However, it was a bit slimey at the beginning of the route. Opted to climb this instead. The beginning of Democrat links onto Pillar Variant. However, it was slimy aswell, so I simply did the start for Pillar Variant. Nice initial climbing until the ledge, where a bomber hex was my last bit of gear for nearly 8 metres. The 8 metres that followed this hex was some of the scariest climbing I have ever done. Deadpoint to a jug (which is the last decent hold) before smearing up 7 metres of blank slab. One slip, and its a fall of close to 20 metres (if you don't break your back on the ledge below). Not the most comfortable of thoughts. Gaining a good crimp, jam a cam in and traverse to a good ledge, and a jug. To conteract the adrenaline I sang some of Eminem's "Shake that Ass" (mirrored by Colleen). Strange. Finished up a greasy crack. Strange route - bold, scary and one to take lessons from. Nice one to learn about smearing With that, we called it a day. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So got out today to Annalong Buttress with Gra and The 'Oit. Left at 10, got to the base of the crag at 12.30, started climbing at 1. Naturally, we only got one climb each. Thin Crack VS 4c *** - Niall/Benoit Fantastic Route. Bomber gear all the way up. Pinchy (which is strange) crack climbing with fantastic toe jams. Glad to tick this one off the "wishlist." Great route. Benoit had climbed this before, whilst I seconded Gra up Hanging Corner S 4a (another fantastic route). Annalong Buttress is a great wee crag. Gotta get out here again!
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Rónán K
Anderl Heckmair
Piggly
President '11/'12
Posts: 180
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Routes
Mar 19, 2012 23:55:12 GMT 1
Post by Rónán K on Mar 19, 2012 23:55:12 GMT 1
Excellent day at Lower Cove today with Toni Bunting, Nathasha, Benoit, Jordan and Tony Fearon. Haven't been down to wee cove for ages so was good to get down. Forecast was good, weather was a bit windy and chilly but it stayed mostly dry, which is good. Even Blue Lough Buttress was bone dry! Burning Hope (HVS 5b) Benoit, Rónán Odd to say at the grade but a good warmup route, not sustained. I've led it before but didn't remember that much of it. Crux is thoughful - the old 'gear or hold'? conundrum! Meat Grinder (E2 5c) Rónán, Benoit I'd been eyeing this up for a while, waiting for a go. Wasn't that hard at all - was expecting a lot more of a fight! WHich was supposed to be the 5c move? Amazing route, lovely climbing, definitely ***. THe start is thoughtful, but pink tricam is your friend. Apart from one nut it was cams and tricams all the way. Overdue (E2 5c) Benoit, Rónán Good lead form Benoit, long reach in the crux which is hard while gradually losing feeling in the hands. One short sustained pumpy technical sequence interrupts VS climbing. Well protected too. First E2 Dark Side of the Moon (E1 5b) Rónán, Benoit Short steep start leads to good holds and a ledge. THen commit to an easier than it looks sequence on suboptimal gear to another ledge. Finish up a cool bulging crack/pinchy thing and go for the hidden jug behind the sloper... funky moves, typical Mournes E1, quite short though. Crux is probably right at the end but a couple of total rests. Then we went and explored the East Face. The French Route looks good for next time! And there's tons of new stuff in what seems to be the HS-E2 range up in the gulley at the back of the East Face...all it needs is a bit of a clean! Well done do TOni, did her first leads today on Tyro and Pillar Variant!
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