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.

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!

Odd bits

I cleared out some odds and ends from some HD cards that had been building up since late last year - nothing of great quality but not worth throwing out all the same... The First problem "One for the Road" is a line Ricky cleaned and let myself, Michelle and Gaz play on. I ended up lanking it first before Gaz swooped in for the second ascent. Nice we problem and a good addition to the Scalp. The second problem is fast becoming the most popular problem in the Scalp, Michael Duffy's "Space Machine" - people often overlook the time spent cleaning and building landings for what soon become classic problems - Space Machine's landing is a constant reminder of the hard work that goes into developing new blocs - The problem gets 10 cool points for the climbing and an additional 5 just for the platform. The final problem shows James Gernon's awesome Arete, "Maniacal Laugh". This thing is a beauty! Big, proud and great climbing - I switched the camera on after the start sequence that begins in the middle of the face to the left. Once on the slab an airy traverse to the arête and then some sweet moves to the top. Rarely tried but a fantastic addition by James - one of my favourites in the area!

Teaser

Following on from the press release about the wall building plans here is a cheesy clip Dave D slung together to get people interested.... enjoy!


I've been so busy that I've not had much time to do anything physical lately but things are going great on the build and a routine is forming - lots of Blogging to come in the next few days!