I had a great day on the Ben with Joey when we did Green Gully which was in superb condition. Personally I thought it was a great climb with some superb icey neve pitches and never difficult, the scariest part being a top pitch of hard water ice and then a 30m run out on rock hard neve to reach the plateau. It was Joe's first proper winter route and he climbed it like a champ, even in a world of spindrift at times!
The following week Katie and myself headed up the Ben once again to have a look, there had been a fresh dump and all the big cliffs were plastered white again. We went with the intention of getting on Fatal Error on Pinnacle Buttress of the Tower but some dodgy slopes put us off and we ended up on the classic White Line. This gave us a sustained hard ice pitch at the bottom around grade IV (the White Line only gets III) but then we had some nice icy grooves and slopes to the top out on the upper part of Tower Ridge.
I spent the following day climbing a very powdery Dorsal Arete in SCNL in Glencoe. The walk in was super wet and I sweated more than I think I did on all the other walk ins this winter. It was worth it for the Fin pitch which was great mixed fun. Thanks to Al for letting me tag along and hold Ruairidh's rope.
Then a big warm and sunny thaw came in and washed lots of the ice away. This wasn't great but it meant we had great dry rock in the glens. I had been doing lots of training between going to the Ice Factor and bouldering at Kimbers place and was keen to see if the work had been worth the effort.
I had a quick hit one evening with Brodie which resulted in taking a fall on Clapham Junction, I was just really pumped. Not a great start!
I headed out the next day with Mark and we climbed most of the VS's on Styx Buttress at Polldubh and the mileage was greatly appreciated. Was great to see Mark back on the rock after his big fall last year and was glad to be holding his ropes when he went back and smashed out Hodad, the route he had fallen off. It's really quite hard and polished to hell!
The same day, Brodie and myself headed back round to Polldubh for an evening session. We headed towards Cavalry Crack Buttress with the intention of doing Storm. I'd had a mini epic on this route last year with stuck gear and rope tangles which resulted in climbing the last pitch in the dark. I was super psyched to lead the second pitch up the big diagonal crack with great gear and massive holds. Brodie then dispatched the top pitch and the E1 True Finish in great style, good effort on his second rock lead of the season, ha! I felt pretty smooth on it and I'm looking forward to leading it soon.
I had another couple of evening sesh's at Polldubh with Sarah. The first night we climbed Damnation and Iche. Sarah hadn't been climbing outside for ages but she followed up them in fine style. The next night we went and did the classic Phantom Slab and then Flying Dutchman with the Direct finish, Sarah smashed both them again.
The following day was set to be a belter so with a plan hatched, Lou, Brodie, Connor and myself headed to the far away land of Ardnamurchan to see what all the fuss was about. All I can say is that the journey is worth it, there are some of the best single pitch routes I've ever done out there with the climbing all on incredibly grippy Gabbro. I was looking forward to climbing some of the VS's there and having a go at Claude which had been given soft touch HVS, 5a.
It was a super windy day but the sun was high in the sky to help keep us warm. We climbed about 7 or 8 pitches in total all on clean Gabbro. I enjoyed seconding Lou on Up Pompei which gets E2, 5b but felt pretty soft to me, small holds with poor gear but great climbing. I'd like to try and lead it next time I head out there. After climbing Claude and the classic VS, Yir, Connor and myself went to try an E1 called Volcane. I took the first pitch up a beautiful curving crack, the second pitch looked great up ahead. Connor went and had a look but after a couple of goes he wasn't too keen for it. I wasn't full of confidence after Connor had backed off from committing to the upper moves on the 5b pitch but I went for a look anyway. If it wasn't for Connors encouragement and positive attitude I probably wouldn't have gone for it but after psyching myself up for a minute and then pulling through on a two finger pocket to some small slopey crimps I was committed. I fiddled in a small wire and composed myself for a few minutes and then went for it. I've never felt a buzz before like I did when I reached the next jug and a big nut runner, my first E1 lead! I was grinning from ear to ear all the way to the belay and then probably for the next few days.
Doing that route showed me what can be achieved in climbing with a bit of effort and the rewards you get back are absolutely incredible, I'm looking forward to a summer of being strung out and scared above my gear!
Been a mad few weeks with some good routes climbed, time to be a hermit for a bit while I get these six assignments handed in...
The Ben in incredible winter condition in April!
Leading the first pitch on The White Line
Getting past the crux on Resurrection
Mark cruising Hodad
Enjoying Claude!
On the crux moves of Volcane (E1, 5b)
Psyched to be at the jug and a bomber runner!
Brodie enjoying the climbing on Volcane
No comments:
Post a Comment