Wild Country Wires

I’ve been putting some new (and very nice) Wild Country wires through their paces recently

Those precious days out...




Looking down Bad Skin Day from belay
 

I don't get out much. That stands as a fact at the minute but it doesn't mean I have to like it. Fortunately that makes me want to try hard when I do get out regardless of fitness etc... I think this is something that I can be quite proud of - I try hard, sometimes really hard. It may not be pretty. I may not have any gas left in my tank at the top. But I'm not afraid to try and in some cases fail. Long may this last :) Since my last post I managed some nice routes during psyche fuelled daytrips with the A-team.

Irish Climbing 2014

Interested in what goes on around in the Irish climbing scene? You could do worse than have a read through Daniel's awesome production - Emerald Allsorts #2. Contains all the major activity on Irish Rock that took place during 2014. Inspiring stuff and great to see so many of our team from Awesome Walls Dublin taking active roles in developing and repeating stunning lines and ground-breaking boulders around the country.

Danny's effort in producing this is epic and heartfelt and he's created something which in my opinion captures perfectly the beautiful and diverse scene that we know and love here in Ireland. Great work man!

http://www.flipsnack.com/DBONeill/emerald-allsorts-2-ftjs6if9r.html?b=1&p=20

Thoughts on Dalkey

Indecent Assault E8 6C, Dalkey Quarry, Dublin

 

A few weeks back I caught up with Ron and Howard at the Fair Head meet. I got to talking about Indecent assault and the story behind it. Turns out my comment about Ron "working it over a period" is misleading, apologies. He put a few sessions into it before leading it on trad gear - it wasn't a prolonged siege affair by any means and was a mind blowing ascent for the time.

Kerry

Air Time - Photo: David Flanagan

 

I attended the 2014 Gap of Dunloe climbing meet at the weekend. Wow! Great location, great routes and fantastic atmosphere. Very similar to Llanberris in North Wales but with a huge amount of development still waiting to be done. I teamed up with Brian (Honey Badger) and we set out to get trashed on the bullet hard sandstone. Heres the pick of the routes we did on Friday and Saturday morning...

Air Time 30m E5 6a – classic, clean and safe ***

Far Away Friends 10m E5 6b – flash after watching video, 5 cams all sound - more like E3/4 5c/6a **

Name Unknown 12m E5 6a – nice wall climbing above crux of Wickedy Wock **

The Crazy Horseman 9m E3 6a – short and sweet, kneebars a plenty, just bring cams **

Wickedy Wock 12m E3 6a – perfect rock, classic! ***

Hawker 12m E2 5c – safe boulder start, eases quickly **

Willie Wonka 20m E2 6a – Brilliant, no peg but great gear **

Mighty Mouse 10m E1 5c – safe positive climbing, 5b? *

Mother Of Prague 20m E1 5b – Classic at the grade, perfect ***

Did some bouldering too. It was all on beautiful rock in picturesque locations. The edge of the onion blocks were class as was Barry’s Cave roof. White lightening was worth just walking up to look at but the beauty block that stuck in my mind has to be the striking “Exit Planet Dust” – incredible!  

Can't wait to go back!