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Jun 25, 2012 23:46:50 GMT 1
Post by sinead10 on Jun 25, 2012 23:46:50 GMT 1
Today myself and Rónán where at Hen for a wee short day, we got loads done. (I really like heneven if gear is a bit gearless) So to warm up I decided to solo East Arete (M), it is pretty cool for a nice easy relaxed climb Athene VS 4b * (Rónán, Sinéad) The tricky move is at the start, as you have to have the lank on your side so bridging was the key and sidepulls (completely opposite to what Rónán did but hey whatever works) Small people can climb too and use tiny small holds hehe The last bit of the route is slabby and trusting the feet is key. Nice climb to warm up on. The boys of Summer E1 5c (Rónán, Sinéad) waow this route is tricky first half is fine until you reach the crux which is the top 5m where being brave and going for it is a good thing to have on your side. Some really cool moves included a 2 finger jam. Fair play to Rónán he did a good job, as he was looking revenge on this route. Escalator Direct S 4a (Sinéad, Rónán) Nice, easy climbing (I really like slabs whoop whoop) at least deserves one star... polished at bits which I was in shock - when has the mournes ever been polished lol. Rónan wanted to beast an E2 : Asterisk E2 5b ** (Rónán, Sinéad) Awesomeeeeee and scary and the same time very very technical, looks easy from the ground but looks can be very deceiving (Lindsay Griffin book of lies is all that needs said). Not arm pumpy but calf pumpy. Smears and shit handholds and deceiving pockets sum up the route apart from that it was still really cool and a pleasure to second. Well done Rónán was not easy... Finger bowl S 3c *** (Sinéad, Rónán) One of the best Severes I have climbed up there with Pride of Gola and North Wall, was a nice wee climb with no gear so commitment to the moves was important especially after the huge finger bowl (which is sooo cool and should just be climbed to see it on a dry day I am sure I could sit in it). More climbing in the mournes needs to be done, forget how much I enjoy that type of climbing - time to step up the grade me thinks and climb loads more routes in the mournes this Summer. A really good day...including mauds ice-cream one of the highlights.
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Jun 26, 2012 9:44:52 GMT 1
Post by bojo on Jun 26, 2012 9:44:52 GMT 1
Nice one Sinéad! More Mounes climbing FTW!!!
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joh
Edward Whymper
Posts: 36
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Routes
Jul 6, 2012 14:10:19 GMT 1
Post by joh on Jul 6, 2012 14:10:19 GMT 1
The Best Day on the Croux
Three started this adventure into the vaguely known, which actually began the day before, with myself, Conor and Niall climbing a multipitch bolted thing known as "VS". Some VS, Gola VS even. The two crux pitches were thin slabs, Conor did the first, and I avoided the one I was given by going up the easier arete. Conor introduced his catchphrase on Browne Bear, who must have a Zinc-rich mouth, and who later did a nice overhangy pitch, making it Conor's turn to lead. He decided to lead through to a second pitch, which was news to his two "belayers" when his head reappeared somewhere above us and said "I decked!". "Wah??". Fell several metres onto a big spiky flake on the belay ledge rucksack first. Footslip, whiplash.
Then we got to the Borelli hut which was really nice, unmanned, and was laden with old biscuits, tea, a bra, and a trumpet, which is all you need really. In the morning Browne Bear returned to camp due the fact he fell off Midnight Cruiser (RON!) so two of us tackled the traverse to the Monzino. We had wet trainers and little else so we borrowed some poles from the hut and set off before the sixth hour with a few biscuits and gummies as fuel. Vans are no good for kicking steps so Conor took charge, good practice for The Kyrg anyway, that's what I always say. So we got to yon ridge where the peuterey starts, and we had to get over it. Found a bolt or two which we presumed to be Matteo's well bolted French 5. In case you don't know Matteo works at the campsite but lives in a 1983 action hero film. Well anyway it wasn't Matteo's 5 and was as run out as the mourne marathon, so at this point I must thank the four tricams that were our trad rack. We abseiled off somewhere and went up a chossy gully to gain the most uninspiring peak on the ridge. A long scrittly slide down the bowling alley on the other side leaves you with a couple of abs down to the Freney. Conor went first, and as I leaned back on my cow's tail to see if he was done, my unscrewed screwgate unsecured itself and nearly hit my face forcing me to collapse myself to a V to just about grab the anchor and not go tumling down. SCREWgates.
So we crossed the Freney glas-ee-ay in our trainers which was fairly uneventful, though the ice jugs were nice, and we arrived at the Monzino hut (2590m) a bit wrecked and decided to head back to camp. But before we did we had a beer which changed everything, entirely - sure it's only about two, why would we head back, we'll go up the croux. After a dialogue between Conor, the Italian hut guardian, and the translator, which occured mostly in single french words and hand gestures, we decided on how to get to the top and set off ultrafast and ultralight, and ultralost once we left the tracks the lads had made the day before. So we got to the top of something via enjoyable scrambling. Pointing at the rather larger thing to our right, Conor says,"Wait, this isn't the Croux, that's the Croux!". So we traversed to the base of our route, the Normal route, which was class, with moves and exposure, about 10 pitches maybe, but left us not on the summit, which just wouldn't do, apparently. So Conor led a few metres of rock to get to the snow covered top which we proceeded dodgely up (3250m) and down.
The wrong abseil line follows old bolts and frayed tat spaced about 40m apart, which was a problem for us since we had one 60. Unroped downclimbing and dropping off the end of the abseil rope onto a small ledge was the temporary solution. One of the bolts had no nut and fell off just before Conor went to abseil so we had to sacrifice a club snapgate. We managed to traverse (Tricams!) and find the correct line about half way down, with working sensibly spaced anchors and all that. After racing the ominous clouds down to the Monzino in special snow shorts and snow trainers we met the Rab Power Rangers who had been up the Croux as well. Left here at one quarter past the nine, and bombed down the via ferrata and track to get back to camp at about the eleven, where a mostly-naked russian appeared from the shadows to rob us of relief.
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Other stories in this series include:
Via Nuova Idroelettrica £4.99 Camp &*$% Your Toolshed (I've a Snowpit Outside) £2.50 The Aiguille du Rochefort (including the short story, The Tragicomedy of Browne Bear and the Axe) £5.99 Half a Day on Adolphe Rey £4.99 The Best Day on the Gamba £5.99 Camp &*$% Your Hut (I've a Tent Anchor Outside) £1.50 The Best Day on Isabella £6.99
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Jul 8, 2012 17:12:02 GMT 1
Post by Duckfeet on Jul 8, 2012 17:12:02 GMT 1
Excellent as always Monkey king of babylon
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alek
Edward Whymper
Posts: 20
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Routes
Jul 10, 2012 14:12:54 GMT 1
Post by alek on Jul 10, 2012 14:12:54 GMT 1
Mr Monkey king of babylon, could I get a copy of your "Camp &*$% Your Hut" and "The Best Day on the Isabella"? They seem increasingly superior to my own productions.
So, lessons of the day: -Rain above 3000m is not an anomaly. It is however shite. -Bivvy bags won't always keep you dry. -There is no good guidebook for the Mt. B massif, just ones that are better than the L.G.BoL.... -Corrollary: There are no good grading systems for alpine, just ones that mean nothing and others that mean nothing and confuse the holy chicken fillet out of you. -Don't let Vlad abseil first, you will end up in the land of Oz. Don't let Alek abseil last (you will have a NDE). Do not combine- a house with a small dog will fall on your head. -One midnight express is worth more than 4 pairs of feet? -If the Col is infranchissable, then you really can't French cheese Colleen. Who'd have thought? -There is a wealth of brilliant obscure routes out there. -There is a wealth of obscure routes out there that deserve to languish in obscurity.
Glossary:
Steck Limit [n]: When climbing speed up technical terrain equals the time to run up an equivalent vertical distance. Cannot be attained by particles with mass or zero Steckness.
Campbell Constant [n]: The number of 4000ers Michael can summit on any one trip/exedition. n=1. If Michael summits a second 4000er Campbellistic effects will come into play (eg the mountain will fall down, meters will increase in length, world will end).
Conor Directissima [n]: A straight line, unless a squiggle is more fun.
Anyhow routes:
So went up to the Monzino wih Michael and Chris, to try something on Punta Innominata and acclimatise- observing the constant avalanache down the intended line we opted for the other route, but given poor forcast, set the turn back time to "when the sky is completely covered in cloud". Did not summit. Did not collect $200. Did not drop ice axe. Did manage to come down and move the bivvy site under a nice sheltered[ish] rock for when it just started lashing down. Small consolation victory.
Then we took the cable car to the Geant Glacier where Fort Awesome was constructed and routes were climbed.
-Aiguille de Rochefort by the ridge, (Alek, Vlad),. A mixed scramble, more delightful for parties that went off route is followed by a long, delicate snow ridge followed by some 60-70m of diff. terrain. Abseil or scramble down to the ridge. Best done without getting lost, jamming the rope and soloing from anchor to anchor. I hear that it is best to keep your axes (and dogs) on a leash, but can't think of why that is.
-Aiguille de Toule by N flank (Alek, Vlad, Thomas). A beautiful little daggering slope. Too short to be a real route. Since everyone was slightly wrecked and didn't feel like another big route the next day, we opted for this.
-Aiguile de Toule by E flank (Alek, Owen). A chossy, snowy scramble. Too short to be a real route, but believed to be a pleasant alternative for spending the day on one's backside.
Then me and Tim attempted an easy route on Pointe Gamba, but followed Conor and Monkey king of babylon up some grade 5 sports route. This would be fine with a belay plate and something other than B3s (good leading from Tim). Let the descent never be mentioned again. Ever.
-Durier Hut via the Miage Glacier (Conor, Alek) As a prelude to doing the traverse of Mt.B and Aig. de Bionnassay, we had to get to the start of the route, which involved a scenic hike across a large scree covered glacier followed by an adventurous ascent of Col. Infrachissable. By that I mean- we looked at the route and thought "Niall's Holy Battleaxe, there is no way in Gimli's name that we do this with my axe." Instead opting for the route up to Col de Miage, which proved almost equally adventurous.
-Bionnassay Mt.B traverse (Conor, Alek) Long. Though arguably not that long. Both sides of the Bionnassay ridge are brilliant, one with a nice mixed section, the other with the most delightfully exposed snow crest, if you're the kind of person who justly enjoys exposure that is. This is followed by a plot up the Gouter, and then up the Mt.B. Other than counting to around 700 and witnessing someone being helicoptered off with altitude sickness at the col de Brenva, nothing remarkable happened on the descent. I believe that Conor was declared officially f'cked, but I can't say that I wasn't about to keel over myself. Following a delightful bivi (by that I mean that not moving for the best part of 12 hours was delightful), we hobbled back to the Torino, taking an amusing Conor directissima, wherein we wisely chose not to jum over one particular crevasse system but climb into it and out of the other side (this was the amusing part- no axes were dropped). We then descended on foot to Courmayeur, hence completing a traverse of Mt. B in a pure style.
-Flambeau (Alek, Niall) Long story short, we wanted to do the Kuffner, but the weather didn't want anyone to climb anything anytime at all, so we climbed an unneccessary ice slope (but it was fun), followed by a an unneccesary pile of choss. Then we went home. Better than nothing but by god it wasn't mountaineering...
Attempt on Mt. B by the South West Face/Flank of the Bosses (Not the LGBoL route). (Alek, Niall- Monkey king of babylon's Tweed) So we wanted to climb the Tournette. Due to complications [read: several hours were lost, Niall may have turned grey] on the approach to the approach to the Q. Sella hut and due to the intimidating [read: I do not want to die] nature of the approach to the Q. Sella. Instead we bivied outside the Gonella hut (all six of us), whose guardian was nice enough to let us use their patio for this purpose. From here the proposed route was clearly impracticable, so we flicked through the guidebook in an attempt not to end up with the standard route. We found one and a lovely route it was! I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind an approach threatened by Seracs and crossing crevasses voluminous enough for all of Alek's bad jokes. The route itself was an 800m long snow/ice slope that topped out just above the Vallot hut. It was delightful. Then Alek found himself going up the plod to the top of Mt.B again. Except we turned back shortly before the summit due to being tired. As such the tweed had to wait for Owen's ascent a few days later before it could actually see the summit... Ofcourse then there was the descent to Les Houches and the silly (and unnecessary) walk to Chamonix, but that's another story for another day....
Overall a fun trip, despite the intermittently cruddy weather and snow conditions.
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Jul 26, 2012 18:45:04 GMT 1
Post by Duckfeet on Jul 26, 2012 18:45:04 GMT 1
So tuesday was a day to tan the taters and after a quick peruse of the Mass bulletin, bingo was off the cards. Though in August Camlough is going to host the Ploughing championships, hope to see you all there! As consolation me and Thomas headed to Forrest View for an easy walk in. Single berth S 4a Michael/Thomas A nice climb for the first 4m, after which it's all over and you can run up a V.diff ramp. But hey a tick is a tick! Final FU S 4a Thomas/Michael Much spicier than Single berth for the same grade. Similar in that after 4 or 5m you are on an easy ramp to the top but comparitively much more delicate climbing and then mantle on the rmp. Heavily recommended. Spanish burgundy HS 4b Michael/Thomas A much nicer variant on single berth where you only follow the ramp a short while before finishing directly up by jamming and eventualy bridging between two parallel cracks. Gear on the cracks is crap though so any fall would mean hitting the ramp with a crunch. Spanish burgundy HS 4b Thomas/Michael Reassured by seconding it clean moments before, Thomas geared up and without any of the faff or being a dafty that I'm we are known for he flew up it. Much more graceful than my first HS, well done to him. Then after a quick lunch that involved me eating a bowl of pasta with the back of my phone, always carry a spork! Charlene arrived! Single berth S 4a Charlene/Thomas Charlene flew up it, stopping only to laugh at the constant bickering between me and Thomas. The day had been incredibly efficient to this point, getting loads done in a short period of time when unfortunately It was my turn to lead. Ron Burgundy HS 4a Michael/Charlene In true Michael fashion I found the one climb that involved a big ledge just before an unprotected crux. After spending the guts of an hour mulling it over and placing a series of three crappy cams, hoping each would slow the fall as they popped sequentially in a swing, I manned up and moved down and across to gain the flake. The route itself is a meandering traverse across the length of the buttress. Unfortunately the guide book description ends at the flake, halfway along the route. So I had a bit of route finding to do, que more faff and time wasting. Interesting move sideways to gain a big ledge, which involved a calculated fall onto a pinch and then hauling on this and smears to mantle. From here I had three finish choices, up left to finish of single berth, straight up some awesome o rehanging muggy blocks or right up a garden. Left was daft for rope drag so I moved up. Was awesome climbing, until a jug gave way in my hands and proceeded to head straight for Thomas's head below. It missed, thankfully. But I lost all confidence in the jugs and proceeded to down climb and finished the route up the garden. 3m of hugging bushes and sinking hands into top soil, not a nice finish After all that faff Charlene finally got to second and made it look a lot easier than I had lol Though her face coming up the garden was hilarious Single Berth Thomas/Charlene Was time for home but having climbed the most of single berth 4 times that day and still not lead it, Thomas wanted the tick. So he geared up for a quick lead. I was bored and having climbed it 4 times myself decided to solo up it, finding a knee bar that I hadnt hung around to find before. All in all an awesome day
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Rónán K
Anderl Heckmair
Piggly
President '11/'12
Posts: 180
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Jul 29, 2012 20:47:05 GMT 1
Post by Rónán K on Jul 29, 2012 20:47:05 GMT 1
Ron Burgundy isn't supposed to be a traverse of the buttress - it starts beside Spanish Burgundy and finishes by Groove Armada. Good route though, forest view's a fun place to get tick tick ticking.
Also Final FU is quite hard for S i thought.
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Jul 31, 2012 10:44:14 GMT 1
Post by thomasohagan on Jul 31, 2012 10:44:14 GMT 1
Pre Alps Trad
Thinking that a spot of multi pitching was a sensible idea before the Alps me and Stuart gave Bernagh slabs a lash.
After a stiff early morning hike I found Stuart, who had camped the night before, enjoying a cup of tea and observing DOE groups making a poor attempt at taking tents down.
Hypothesis S 4a ** Stuart/Thomas alt leads
Excellent slab climbing was 3 pitches but could be done as two. It is very run out at one point I couldn’t see my last piece of gear, Stuart accidently went an inch off route on the first pitch which resulted in dodgy down climbing with terrible gear.
White Walls S 4a *** Stuart/Thomas With not much time left due to commitments with a fire engine and a large plastic stick we called the multi pitching a day and stopped at Spellack on our way out.
An excellent route worthy of its 3 stars, Stuart led her with his rucksack on as we didn’t fancy scrambling up the gully again.
Finished an excellent Alpine training day with the real relay which was a running relay of the entire Olympic torch route had to meet a man in Newry at 2.00am and run down the dual carriageway to Dundalk brandishing a 3ft plastic baton with a big satellite tracker on the end of it.
Post Alps Trad
With full intentions of going to go Upper Cove me and Michael got lazy and stopped at Lower Cove.
Pillar Variant (John Begley Variant) S 4a *** Thomas/Michael
For some reason this climb has always intimidated me and didn’t want to do it but after much abuse form Mr Mushroom Soup I manned up and did it and it was damm excellent form start to finish, I split it into two pitches as I was on a single. Michael was in full alpine mode as when I started climbing pitch two Michael decided the anchor was annoying him and dismantled all bar one piece while on belay. (which was a bomber sling). I am also banned from doing pirouettes on belay ledges as I managed to get an overhand in the rope about 2/3m form Michaels end, was funny telling him I can’t take in anymore with 3m of route left, I suppose I could have tied him off and dropped him down a loop but him manning up and climbing on also fixed it.
Fairy S 3c Michael/Thomas Cue the traditional part of the day where Michael finds something daft and faffy to do which takes at least two hours.
10m meters of very nice and at one point dynamic severe climbing was eventually done after hours of dodgy scrambling looking for this route. Never let him do a route which doesn’t have a topo.
New Decayed S 4a ** Michael/Thomas We finished the day with Campbell doing a quick ascent of this very nice route which brought painful flashbacks of me being a numpty. Got a bit confused with Micheal sitting on the holds at the top out and did a pull up off his foot. Aid?
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Aug 1, 2012 23:23:34 GMT 1
Post by Duckfeet on Aug 1, 2012 23:23:34 GMT 1
Ron Burgundy isn't supposed to be a traverse of the buttress - it starts beside Spanish Burgundy and finishes by Groove Armada. Good route though, forest view's a fun place to get tick tick ticking. Also Final FU is quite hard for S i thought. I finished up just right of Groove Armada, a bit left of Final FU. So traverse of the buttress was an exaggeration but it felt very diagonal. Followed the guide book line until it ended then made it up.
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Aug 12, 2012 16:17:24 GMT 1
Post by Duckfeet on Aug 12, 2012 16:17:24 GMT 1
The weekend is here again, so as per tradition Thomas landed at my house at stupid o clock in the morning and we headed to the Mournes before anyone had a chance to realise what we were at. I wanted to go to Hen, he wanted to go to Pigeon. He was driving so we went to Pigeon. Pi R Squared S 3c Thomas/Michael Great Route, better name. Thomas lead it without a bother. Nuclear Wheelbarrow HS 4b Michael/Thomas Would recommend to anyone for a first HS. The route is very well protected and you can lace below the crux. Which I did. At this stage a group from Warrenpoint landed. One of them was an instructor and he was teaching the rest the basics, but off the clock. Gulley wall suddenly got very busy. Class Distinction S 4a Michael/Thomas A classic that had to be lead. I found this harder than Nuclear Wheelbarrow, moving through the overhang into the open book corner was a tougher crux. Further proof grades are very subjective. That said you can lace it, 13 pieces in 25m. Ended up having to hang around at the top before we could ab down. Didn't mind was good to watch James teach. But this combined with having left the guidebook down in the car, we decided to move to the less busy Hen. Difficility VS 5a Thomas/Michael Thomas' first VS. He also managed to arrange protection which impressed me. I had been assured by Mr Prebble that it was a solo. Anyway, no excuse for Thomas to not climb HS now. Simplicity VD Thomas/Michael Was late in the day and we wanted more leads before home. So Thomas ran up this and I ran up . . . Ancientcy VD Michael/Thomas First VD I encountered with a layback.
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Aug 12, 2012 18:10:12 GMT 1
Post by bojo on Aug 12, 2012 18:10:12 GMT 1
There is gear in Difficility but you might as well solo it as its easy once you are a couple of metres off the ground.
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Aug 12, 2012 18:32:18 GMT 1
Post by thomasohagan on Aug 12, 2012 18:32:18 GMT 1
It was Michael left the guidebook behide. Fiar play to Campbell for previously soloing Difficility as if you fall funny your heading down the slab behide you. My nut key also had a good day as it was the only one handy at Pigeon, it enjoyed getting pulled up on the abb rope,getting passed up to a swearing second and being throw of the top of gully wall.
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Aug 13, 2012 14:15:22 GMT 1
Post by bojo on Aug 13, 2012 14:15:22 GMT 1
The mystical adventures of O'Hagans nut key. Coming to stores near you!
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Aug 13, 2012 16:50:07 GMT 1
Post by Duckfeet on Aug 13, 2012 16:50:07 GMT 1
It managed to find and pull off the only loose rock on hen!
And I hear that if the moon is high in the sky, the wind blows easterly and rub it just right, it will point to the fabled red desiel fountains of Lislea. Where a man can fill his car and drive from here to Ballinasloe without ever being dipped.
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Aug 20, 2012 11:19:05 GMT 1
Post by bojo on Aug 20, 2012 11:19:05 GMT 1
Its been a while since I have reported anything and I will do a monster report for everything since Gola at some point soon. Until then I shal do This weekend. Cove on saturday was glorious, if anything a little too warm! After a sweaty walk in the Swiss/Yorkshire alliance began their assault No Highway E2 5c Alt Lds A nice little route. Crux felt more 5b than 5c. Also Not sure why this is done as 2 pitches. route hight about 40 metres in a perfect straight line. Any ways a nice route. If you want to do it as 2 pitches then belay highup to the left and do the 5c pitch of Brewers corner giving 2 pitches of 5c climbing. Physical Grafiti E2 6a Benoit Physical by name physical by nature. With the crux protected by a peg (whoever put this peg in put it amusingly out of reach of beniot) this has a fantastic hard to read crux. I shall provide no beta as the fun in this route is working out the sequence while getting jolly pumped. Benoit tested the solid looking peg a couple of times before the sequence was sorted. I shall be back to do this on lead soon as it was a fantastic little number! Watersign E2 5c me Another example of poor route finding. look at guide book, look up, scramble, start climb, realise I am 5 metres to the left of the route, down climb slopey mantals, try to traverse to the start of the route, realise the whole route is soaking (hense the name) traverse back, attempt to continue up, soaking, realise no routes exist here, ponder.... new route ~ VS/HVS In a failed attempt to climb watersign I ended up escaping off left to find that what we were doing was a new route. With a nice start to the route and ending up Wee Mark to the left its not a bad little thing. There is a direct finish with would make it a complete new route which I wouldnt mind coming back and trying. Was sopping wet at the time but looks like 1 hard move to a flat ledge. For now this is more of an alternate start to Wee Mark that goes aroute VS/HVS The Arkansas Chugabug E2 6a Benoit Benoits turn to take on Niall Grimes' little number The Arkansas Chugabug. The crux is getting off the ground and with a sketchy landing, wet shoes and dirty rock this was never going to happen. With benoit not willing to use 'combined tactics' we headed up the best HVS aroute Gynocrat Gynocrat HVS 5a Benoit Still one of the best routes I have done. Fantastic climbing all the way to the top with a nice direct finish. perfect route for a first HVS
We shall not speak of the events that happened on the Sunday...
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