Feature
Summer 2004
Climb Scotland
By Dave Macleod
Second in a twice yearly report of new climbs in Scotland, this time—what were the most significant new finds last summer.
If 2004 was anything to go by, I will continue to be amazed until the day I peg out of this game by the volume of new climbing in ever more diverse nooks and crannies. From Cowal to Caithness, Montrose to Mangersta, you name it, something new happened. Unfortunately I have enough space only to cover the juiciest bits but all the same it’s a fun-packed report.
It wasn’t an exceptional year for weather, so activity in the mountains was fairly limited. In fact, 2004 seemed to be the year of the sport climber in Scotland, with exciting developments and a few boundaries pushed too. In fact, that provides a handy place to start…
Sport ClimbingThanks to Edinburgh explorers Dave Redpath and Michael Tweedley, the Cowal peninsula in Argyll is rapidly turning into the place to clip your bolts in Scotland. However, the new crags here are not ‘convenience’ crags and will appeal to the more adventurous. What they lack (at the moment) in terms of sheer numbers of routes they make up for in spectacular and quiet locations. First off the Dunoon ferry in early February was Redpath to complete Event Horizon 7c+ at the Tighnabruaich Viewpoint crags, taking the undercut lip of the Savage Slab buttress. The redpoint was completed after repeated falls from the 5c finishing slab (having cruised the 6c crux below!). Redpath then moved across to The Lost World Buttress which can be seen from the car park to open Crouching Tiger 6c+, which provides an atmospheric wall climb followed by a spooky but easier trip across the huge capping roof. Next to this Dave climbed an ever-steepening groove culminating with a groovy crux at its Vanishing Point 7a+. At the left side I flashed Distant Cries 7b+ despite getting all tangled up below the technical capping roof. Top marks however go to Redpath for completing Shield of Perseus 8a on the excellent Kraken prow. This is a good one to know about for all those 8a hard movers out there as its perma-dry, proved by my second ascent in a raging thunderstorm. These, like so many of the Argyll sport and bouldering venues, provide superb cragging in early spring before the big venues have dried out and the midges wake up and smell climber. All the topo details can be found on <www.scottishclimbs.com>.
Michael Tweedley, on one of his legendary productive wanders into the wilderness then stumbled on an even better crag; Uamh Innein, translated as Anvil Cave, on the east side of Loch Goil. This 40 metre high anvil shaped boulder sports an immaculate leaning front face with a spectacular prow on its left side and following another season’s attention is sure to become Scotland’s most futuristic sport crag. I kicked things off by climbing the left arete of the front face to give Anvilfire 7c. The right arete was much easier; Way Out West 6b with a lovely diagonal line leading into the finishing moves from the left, Hammertime 7b+. Redpath, after a long hard summer on his woody, nailed the hardest line so far and one of the best routes of it’s grade in Scotland; Spitfire 8a.
In early summer I finally got round to opening two superb lines on the left side of Tunnel Wall which had been eyed by many over the years. The left hand line, The Third Eye 7c provides a slightly softer option than the line up of 7c+s on this wall. Just to the right, Axiom turned out to be rather more challenging with a hard and devious crux section. Its initial grade of 7c+ was thought to be a little harsh by Dave Birkett who made the second ascent, thinking it was more like 8a. While on the subject of Tunnel wall, congrats go to Roger Everett for his redpoint of Fated Path 7c+, which marks an impressive comeback following a serious accident and arduous rehabilitation. Steall also saw some attention with Alan Cassidy making a rapid third ascent of Leopold 8a+. The unusual but excellent conglomerate crag near Duntelchaig, dubbed The Camel has seen a little more attention from Neil Sheperd and Ali Robb who completed Paralysis by Analysis 7a+ and There’s Sand in my Pants 6c+ between them. These routes complement a line up of long and interesting routes on a crag which is often in condition and suffers less from midges. See <www.scottishclimbs.com> for a topo.
Various abandoned projects at the Stronachlachar and Inversnaid crags on the east side of Loch Lomond were tidied up by myself, the best being Live In Skin 7c on the G-Spot by myself and Ric Waterton. Details of these quiet but beautifully situated crags can now be found in the new SMC Lowland Outcrops guidebook.
Stronachlachar in particular provides another evening venue accessible from Glasgow with a good selection of lower grade routes. Cambusbarron closed Quarry saw its first sport route, Sexed Up 7c by Simon Munro, a fine and technical route but controversial for some because it is protectable with trad gear. Interestingly, the folk capable of repeating it didn’t find it controversial, instead thinking it sits well with the hard trad lines.
Dumbarton Rock’s sport climbs saw a major facelift after I re-bolted the entire crag with financial support from many local climbers and others (a big thanks to all!). This action was prompted by a bolt failure in 2003 and it was only a matter of time before a fatal accident occurred as the nickel bolts corroded in the salt air. Although more expensive, stainless steel bolts really are the only sensible option for equipping routes to last. This also provided an opportunity to get rid of the unsightly old tat, chains and rusty krabs and put in more logically placed bolts and lower-offs, not to mention a couple of new routes. All the lower-offs now have double ring bolts to thread so you never need to leave krabs behind to corrode and jam shut in a few months. During the work I also climbed Abstract Art 6c on the slab below Requiem which seems to have become popular and also Negative Creep 8b on the leaning wall left of Appliance of Violence.
Nearby Dumbuck was the real centre of activity though with myself completing Happiness in Slavery 8b+ at the left end during May and then returning in October to finally climb Devastation 8c which (if the grade is confirmed) is Scotland’s first 8c. Voodoo Magic 8b also saw a 4th ascent from Ric Waterton in double quick time and Stephen Richardson made a third ascent of Dirty Sanchez 7c+ after my repeat. Glen Ogle also saw some activity in the spring when I climbed the long standing Concave Wall project to give Snipe Shadow 8b after a bit of a battle with split tips, midges, rain and a lack of finger strength to hang it’s shallow two finger pockets.
Many of the new sport crags have a lack of low-grade routes so far due to a scarcity of climbers operating at this level willing to put the effort in to open new routes. One person bucking this trend has been Scott Muir who followed up his hugely popular developments at Benny Beg with a new crag at Lower Glen Lednock. Scott, along with Richard Egan, opened 10 new routes between 5 and 6b+ to transform another ignored and slightly scruffy crag into a worthwhile and popular venue. Lower Glen Lednock is close to the road, gets the afternoon sun and dries up very early/late in the season. The full topo is on <www.scottishclimbs.com>.
The northeast has also seen some action courtesy of local main man Tim Rankin. Tim has opened a new low-grade crag at Clashfarquhar Bay near Portlethen. There are 3 routes of 6a-6c+ and Back From The Brink 7a+, which are quite long. A visit can be combined with the famous trad crags Craig Stirling and Floors Craig just to the north. Tim also did Trouble Monkey 7a+ at Boltsheugh, featuring a 3 metre roof. At the tiny but intense Sportlethen wall, Tim added another meaty variation to The Terrier; Stray Dogs 8a.
Further good news for Scottish sport climbing is that the SMC Scottish sport climbs guide is almost finished so we should see it out some time in 2005. Also out soon will be Pete Murray’s film ‘Chains’ about sport climbing in Scotland.
Trad climbingThe eastern mountain crags saw little real action, but further west, a few activists snatched some significant repeats. Dalriada on the Cobbler saw a 4th ascent from Dave Birkett who echoed my opinion that its classic E6 6b in its clip up, peg ridden form. Wild Country saw its 4th ascent and first onsight from me, although I had the benefit of it being freshly cleaned by Michael Tweedley. Again, this is E6 6b but with hard (7b+) climbing for its era. It took 25 years from first ascent to first onsight!
I also made a long overdue 2nd ascent and onsight of Kelpie E6 6b on Garbh Bheinn, 18 years after it was put up by Murray Hamilton. I can’t understand why this hasn’t seen more repeats since its safe, quick drying and superb. Niall McNair made a scary sounding onsight of Fear of Flying E6 6a on Stac Pollaidh. The peg on this route seems to have become defunct making the sustained snappy nipple tweaking above, all the more spicy. All in a days work for a climbing pornstar.
In the Cuillin of Skye I finally returned to a line I’d looked at in 2002 on the steep side of The Cioch and headpointed The Gathering E8 6b. The route has no protection until the easy bit at the end. Its onsightable if you are up for 7b+ wobbling on slightly snappy crystals, with guaranteed death on the slabs below if you mess up. Local James Sutton bagged an obvious line on Cioch Buttress, Drop The Pressure E3 5c, taking the flake through the big roof above the first pitch of Krugerrand.
Moving onto the islands and the spring teams on Pabbay and Mingulay seemed to have a difficult time with poor weather but a few significant new routes were done by Kevin Howett, Gordon Lennox and friends. Kev and Gordon found some spectacular unclimbed rock remaining in the 150m high Arena with an initial foray producing Eye of the Storm E1 up a perfect groove line right of the Great Cave. Then a complex and scary abseil landed them on an isolated pillar under the cave from where they space-walked the lip and the immaculate overhanging wall above to give Hakar E4. On Creag Dubh, Dun Mingulay they filled in some gaps with The Darkness E2 and Kev managed to almost completely sever his thumb when a block came away during the ascent of The Brazilian E3 – a close shave indeed! The youngest pioneer out in these islands to date was Robert Mackenzie who, at the age of 12, with his dad Ruairidh, climbed several new lines including Too Young for a Ginich E1 next to Mick Tighe’s previous classic Grey Wall on the Arena. The big news however was Paul ‘Stork’ Thorburn’s ascent of 101 Damnations E7 6b on Pabbay’s Poop Deck. An impressive ‘comeback’ as he very nearly succeeded onsight!
On Lewis, A Sheffield team including Leo Holding and Ben Bransby visited the Mangersta area and despite poor weather came away with a clutch of mid grade routes, the best of which were Crimebusters of the Sea E5 6a and The Eagle Has Landed E6 6b in the back of Magic Geo. Ross Jones and John Sanders made a very productive foray up to the Butt of Lewis, climbing many new lower grade routes and sea stacks including Conspiracy Stack, 100m west of the lighthouse. Lewis regulars Rab and Chris Anderson also racked up their perennial sackful of new routes, too many to list, probably too many to fit in one outer Hebrides guide!
The Northern Isles saw rather more action with a rare new route on the awe inspiring St John’s Head by Orkney locals Iain Millar, Les Gorham, Darren Fox and Ross Jones. Their new climb, Testament to the Insane XS 5b is 477m long and was climbed in a single 26-hour push. Good effort. Shetland regular (well, as regular as one gets with cliffs as remote as these) Dave Turnbull and Ian Butler visited the huge cliffs of Foula, climbing two E4s on Mucklabrek. Back on the mainland Adam Wainwright and Andy Cave found an excellent sounding 45m conglomerate crag, so good they were ‘Lost For Words’ to describe the quality of their photogenic E5 6a there. Dave and Ian were also in on the act, adding Magnus the Brave HVS.
With the mountains often remaining out of condition, the outcrops and sea cliffs of the mainland were buzzing with activity. The North West saw a trickle of new routes including Gary Latter and Karin Magog’s Misha E5 on the Spaced Out Rockers Cliff. However, there were some important repeats including the first onsights of the classic Gruinard E6s Major Domo and Dead Calm by myself and Naill McNair. Niall also onsighted 2nd ascents of Balding Oldie E6 6b in 10 minutes flat to escape a chasing pack of midges and El Passe E5 6a, both at Loch Tollaidh. I was also trying to escape midges in the NW so headed up to Sheigra to make onsight second ascents of the trio of E6s there, followed by a rapid headpoint of Otto E7 6c at Reiff; a 7c+ toprope grade and four stars! I followed this up with a 3rd ascent of Cubby’s Undertow E7 6c (minus bucket balance at the start), climbed second go after I fell off high on the onsight and had a look at the last few feet on an abseil rope.
Over on the east, the increasingly popular sea cliffs in the Caithness area have seen a long list of new climbs at Sarclet, Mid-Clyth and Latheronwheel courtesy of Raymond and Allan Wallace, Rob Christie and others. Allan tells me he has a great new crag to report up this way but he’s holding off for a bit yet since development was interrupted by a 9m winger by Raymond which left him in Wick General getting his arm plastered up. Ouch! Their haul is a report in itself so you will have to find the details in the SMC journal.
Lochaber only saw a couple of important events including myself headpointing the staringly obvious arete below the Tomag cracks at Polldubh to give Misadventure E7 6c. Maybe it was the 7c+ climbing that saw off previous suitors?
The new edition of the Lowland Outcrops guidebook caused a bit of a dash to tidy up the numerous gaps on many crags. In particular there was loads of activity at Auchinstarry and Cambusbarron with many lower grade routes being cleaned up by Raymond and Allan Wallace. Allan’s highlight was Le Bal Oiseaux Fantomes E3 5c in the west quarry which he reckons is his best new route, and he’s done a fair few this year. The Lowland guide also has details of several new venues such as the trad quarries on the Roseneath peninsula by George Scuza (150 routes!). Staying at Cambusbarron, Gordon Lennox finally linked his long standing and perma-chalked crack project in the closed quarry to give Nandrolone E8 6c after several years of effort. Well done. I managed a second ascent and managed to place the gear on lead, confirming it as no pushover with 8a climbing. Big Gordon’s previous big route in the quarry, Anabolic Steroids is now E6 6b after some new holds appeared at the crux and this saw an impressive onsight from Niall McNair. Gordon also continues to beaver away in Glen Lednock, this year completing a long term project, Hong Kong Fuey E6 6b next to Solutions for a Small Problem. Niall also made a nail biting first onsight of my route Blackout E6 6a at Dumbarton, with obligatory sketching on its blind and tricky crux. A fall from this would not have been a laughing matter, a bold effort.
BoulderingIt hasn’t been a huge year for bouldering in Scotland (only 300 new problems!) so I’ve left this till last. I’ve little space to wade through this mountain of new problems and venues, so below is a wee list of probably the top ten inspired moments/events of Scottish bouldering in 2004, in no particular order:
1. Tim Palmer’s third ascent of Pongo SS Font 8a at Dumbarton; 2. John Watson’s completion of his groundbreaking book celebrating Scottish bouldering which will be on shelves in March. See http://www.stonecountry.co.uk/ for some very juicy tasters; 3. Si O’Conor continues to lead world bouldering standards from the Butt (of Lewis that is) with an endless list of sick hard creations as well as an endless list of questions about the man himself; 4. Michael Tweedley’s epic spree of new routing on Ben Ledi and the northwest in May, see Lowland Outcrops and SC; 5. Firestarter Font 8a, the first of several futuristic projects at Dumbarton to be completed by myself; 6. James Sutton and friends continued enthusiastic development of Coire Lagan on Skye with a huge haul of finger ripping problems on the gabbro; 7. Yet more excellent topos to check out on SC for Cummingston, Ardmair and Coire Lagan; 8. Gary Vincent’s 2nd ascent of King Kong Font 8a at Dumbarton; 9. John Watson’s incessant raids on new venues from the “most bonny” West Highland Way at Loch Lomond to the bloody far away on the Bloodstone at Rhiconich; 10. Craig Henderson’s efforts to document properly for the first time the extensive bouldering in the south west around Dumfries, as well as climbing stacks of new problems.
Phew! All that’s left now is to make some predictions for 2005. I reckon this year we will see the arrival of F8c+, E10, D13 and a trad E8 will be onsighted. I also think we’ll see a bit of a resurgence of climbing in the mountains, which leads me to my final prediction, that it’ll be a beautiful summer. You know, just like last year…
Look out for a winter 04/05 round up from Guy Robertson in a future issue