Some bastard took a shit on us on Point Five Gully.
Lofoten visitors: how did you get there? I've looked into going but couldn't work out the most up to date logistics around flight routes etc.
Here we go again. It's been another fun year squeezing climbing around family life. I've added Instagram links to some so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about. Best established boulder problems Keystone Prow 6C, Loch EribolA lone problem on a lone block on the shore of a north coast sea loch. Great moves through a really obvious feature with the crux right at the end. I had a week off in September and after a bit of time at Sheigra drove up to check out this beauty. What I didn't know was that it's tidal and as I arrived the sea was just creeping under the crux. I worked out the moves but just didn't have time to rest enough to get it done before it had turned into a shallow water solo. Tides, weather and other plans took me elsewhere but I made the journey again at the end of the week and got it done. A 5 hour round trip for one problem. Is that the definition of madness?https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci5darUDiZV/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=Potential Seven 7B, TorridonA long haul. I cant even remember when I first tried it but recall thinking it wouldn't take that long back. But it did. I tried various ways to do the crux last big throw and eventually settled on a way that I was very close to doing. With a couple of inches more reach I'd have done it years ago but I kept coming up short. Covid and other projects intervened but I worked on big moves and flexibility and when this season came around I was closer than ever, but still not enough. I could go from the start to the crux every time but then straight down to the pads. I'd never made the big move, even in isolation. By degrees I worked out slightly different foot positions until I found that a way I'd previously written off as too lanky was actually feasible and suddenly I could stick that big move. Then it was just a matter of rest and good conditions to make the link, but I was kept guessing till the last minute and the stars finally aligned on the last session of the year on the 28th of December. Phew.Best new boulder problemsAm Bàta 7Bish, TorridonPossibly as good as it'll ever get for me. Back in 2019 I stumbled upon this beautiful little ship's prow sticking out of the slope just beyond Torridon village: a truly aesthetic feature that screams out to be climbed and is probably as good a line as I've seen anywhere. It took a few sessions to clean and sort the landing and I did the stand start back then, but the full line has to be done from a sit. Of course, Covid lockdowns came along so I didn't get back for a while and it wasn't until January this year that it all came together. I really miss those sessions up there, overlooking Loch Torridon and over to Beinn Damph, eagles circling above me on Liathach, oystercatcher and gulls foraging on the loch shore. Magic. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CYwzXiUIWiJ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=True Gold Dance 7A+ish, Gold Dance Boulders, StrathcononThe king line of Easter Ross choss. A bit of a filler, but actually the most logical way up a proper feature. Back in 2018 I did the original problem Gold Dance which squeezes between the obvious arete and a crack and starts sitting in between them on a wee boulder. As soon as I did that I realised the true line was to start sitting on the ground to the right, directly beneath the arete, but it was a fair bit harder. Ted Collins came along and climbed the arete direct without the crack to give True Gold, but that's actually an eliminate (all be at a very aesthetic one) because it avoids the Gold Dance crack which is within reach. So one cold night in January I took out the lamps and managed to link Ted's start into Gold Dance to give the logical line.https://www.instagram.com/tv/CY9JrQXoGPh/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=The Missing Lynx 6C+ish, Aspen Terrace, Strathconon Summer in the Highlands is often pretty shit for bouldering. It's warm and humid, there are midges and ticks and there is loads of tall, wet bracken crowding round the bottom of crags and boulders. Rather than get frustrated trying to climb its a good time of year to get out the cleaning kit and scrub new problems that will be in good nick in the autumn or winter when the midges, bracken and ticks have all fucked off. This was the best (so far) of a handful I unearthed from this cool wall, and the ascent itself was made all the more memorable by dragging my kids up there with me and making a real mini adventure out of it.https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjyRqUdDzU4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=Best established trad routesOssuary E5 6b, Reiff in the WoodsI don't think I've ever had a day out like this one before, when from the outset both Murdoch and I agreed we'd be headpointing. I was keen to do this route of Ian Taylor's, having looked across the loch at it from the boulders for years. A crack up the middle of the face of a giant block, guarded by small roovesbelow - safe but a bit of spaced gear and hard enough to feel justified in trying on a rope first. And the view from the belay above, looking over to Stac Pollaidh, is pretty special. Suffice to say, Murdoch onsighted it years ago and was headpointing harder things that day.The Crank VS 5a, RamshawBack in my trad days I always shied away from cracks and jamming, always being tempted more towards delicate slabs and open faces. I always knew it was a weakness and a new route I wanted to try (see below) meant I was keen to change my ways. On a hot day in August my very patient (non-climbing) wife offered to give me a belay while down in Stafford with the in-laws and Ramshaw was the obvious place. I don't think I've ever tried so hard on a VS, but it was nice to see that the work I'd put into learning how to jam had paid off.Best new trad routeKatie Morag E3 6b (ish), Camas an Leim, Shieldaig Bonjoy tipped me off to this one, a short fierce crack through a roof into a groove on a small crag on a beautiful beach in one of my favourite parts of the world. I gave it a clean and checked it from a rope and realised it was very safe but had a pretty hard sequence turning the lip and getting established in the groove - particularly tricky as I've always been shit at jamming. I tried it by myself over a few sessions but found it almost impossible to work the section under the roof (need to improve my ropework skills) and eventually realised I just needed to come with a belayer and try it from the ground - easier said than done as I don't know many folk that would be willing to essentially give up a day just to belay me. In the mean time I built some cracks on my board and watched some Wideboyz videos. Andy E of this parish kindly came out one day and after a lob on the first attempt I got up it 2nd go. The things dreams are made of.https://www.instagram.com/p/CdT3qNtjHla/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
. A 5 hour round trip for one problem. Is that the definition of madness?
make friends with some horses that come by
Durrance, ~HVS 5b, Devil’s Tower
Quote from: cheque on January 01, 2023, 01:12:15 amDurrance, ~HVS 5b, Devil’s TowerHopefully it’s not too tofu eating wokerati to suggest we should be calling this place Bear Lodge these days https://www.nps.gov/articles/devilstower.htm