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Malcolm Smith's La Saboteur Dumbarton (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/sACf1edJoMQ/malcolm-smiths-la-saboteur-dumbarton.html)
8 April 2010, 7:57 am
La Saboteur is the latest hard link up by Mal Smith at Dumbarton, an 8a+ climbing Sabotage and finishing left along Mike Lee's French-inpspired Tour du Technique, further colouring Dumbarton's reputation as the black Fontainebleau - Mais oui, c'est noir...
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Arisaig Cave Project Sent (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/DFdiQ_bx5lA/arisaig-cave-project-sent.html)
8 April 2010, 8:03 am
Dave MacLeod took advantage of a rest day to arrive at the Rhu Cvae fresh to complete his journey into darkness with the link up of the big cave project, citing it as a long 8a and a superb trip on perfect rock. The angle of the quartzite is punishing all the way and clever footwork and full-on technique is key. Check out Dave's blog (http://www.davemacleod.blogspot.com/) for updates on this cave.
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Rum Bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/2Azmvb6Uc74/rum-bouldering.html)
8 April 2010, 1:13 pm
The Hallival boulders have finally seen a bit more of a concerted action, here Chris Everett highballs it out in this remote corrie! Topo on UKC (http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=11417)
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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All the Small Things - Video (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/n4tSALhKxZY/all-small-things-video.html)
9 April 2010, 7:04 am
Here's Pete Murray's taster of Dave on his new 8a at Arisaig:
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Lendalfoot Bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/5eagz9mHSKc/lendalfoot-bouldering.html)
11 April 2010, 7:39 am
Revisited this neglected wee coastal venue on a fine hot day with a cool sea breeze to dry the tidal boulders. Reclimbed a few old problems and have described the best here, named in absentia of any actual history - they have been done before. Paul Savage visited here years ago and I suspect his '8a' project was the black wall - a leaning tidal highball roof and wall.
Lendalfoot Boulders NX 134 906
Lenndalfoot is a summer shingle beach venue with a terrific view out to Ailsa Craig. The boulders along the beach provide limited bouldering with a few choice problems and some hard projects on the central black wall boulder. It is immediately accessible from laybys on the beach at Lendalfoot, a few miles south of Girvan on the A77. There are three sectors: the northern being the best with the Orange Walls and northern leaning ‘pinnacle face’, the central black wall boulder (tidal) and the village boulders and walls to the south. Summer is best when a drying breeze dries out the weepy shale.
? 1. Toffee Nosed Bastard Font 6cNorthern sector. Orange Walls northern ‘pinnacle face’. SS and climb the steep tapering toffee bulge via a long reach off an undercut to a diagonal crack, use holds in this to slap up to the left arête to gain reluctant jugs over the top left.
Pinnacle Face of the Orange Walls (Toffee Nose)
? 2. Toffee Nosed Traverse Font 6bSS on the far right of the pinnacle face of the Orange Walls and traverse hard left to gain the left arête and rock round this. Excellent technical lock offs and presses, the footholds are poor if the sand is high!
Project:
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Perfect Conditions at Craigmore (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/axY47Asz6m4/perfect-conditions-at-craigmore.html)
13 April 2010, 5:58 pm
Bone dry rock, moss crisp and , woods in bloom, bees buzzing round the willow, barn owl in residence...'HYMN TO NATURE!!' as Clambton might say... all in all a perfect morning at Craigmore. Here's a wee vid of the classic Wizard problem, feeling a little wobbly for an early season highball!
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Rum Bouldering - Hallival Blocs (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/2zVvxGCrlUU/rum-bouldering-hallival-blocs.html)
17 April 2010, 2:03 pm
From the Dibidil path all the way up to Coire nan Grunnd under Hallival lie hundreds of the cleanest boulders in Scotland in a wild lunar landscape of volcanic scale . Pristine 'allivalite' rock which feels grippier than gabbro - salt and pepper coloured, sculpted for the climber, generous grades on ridiculous angles and some big lines and perfect boulders... I hope to get back in the summer with Hamish Fraser who is working on a complete guide to this astonishing array of blocs.
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Firefight by Malc Smith (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/t4IybWmBnIk/firefight-by-malc-smith.html)
21 April 2010, 9:24 am
Malcolm Smith has done another incredible link up at Dumbarton called Firefight 8b. It climbs the Pressure cave then finishes up Firestarter. The hardest way through this cave had previously been Dave MacLoed's Pressure which finished up Smokescreen at 8b. Now that a slightly easier variation finish to Smokescreen (7c) was found by Alan Cassidy, Malc continued his journey to find the hardest link-up lines at Dumbarton and logically added Firestarter (8a) as the natural 'hardest' finish to the cave! Thanks to Will Atkinson (http://vimeo.com/user1228064) for recording this on the video...
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Triangulation 8a at Arisaig (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/QV2RNVrViT0/triangulation-8a-at-arisaig.html)
21 April 2010, 9:29 am
Dave MacLeod climbed the obvious steep crack from deep out of the Arisaig Cave on April 19th. The crack is a new classic from standing at about 7a but the deep cave start made moving into it a real conundrum even for Dave. Another bomber contender for the best 8a in Scotland - on immaculate rock in a stunning setting (look out for resident otters if you're there). The name of the problem might refer to the navigation methods to actually find the cave!
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Betaguides Site (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/hdUST_sxkDQ/betaguides-site.html)
29 April 2010, 8:12 am
Just a nod to the growing list of topos and info on UK bouldering at the Betaguides (http://www.betaguides.com/) site. Lee Robinson is slowly pulling together the complete wilderness bouldering resource. Check it out or visit the Betaguide blog (http://betaguides.blogspot.com/).
I really liked the look of this new North York Moors venue at Camp Hill, this problem looks like a mini version of West Side Story...
Lee Robinson on Phileas Fogg 7a+ Camp Hill Boulders(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-5683711928947823847?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Cullen Bouldering Update (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/YjFr_s6OBMA/cullen-bouldering-update.html)
4 May 2010, 9:15 am
John Brown was kind enough to send a new topo of the Cullen Caves bouldering, as well as a video of his new problem 'Twister' (see below). If anyone wants a copy of the PDF guide, I'll put it up on the Boulder Scotland (http://www.boulderscotland.com) website soon, or just email me (%20stonecountrypress@btinternet.com) and I'll send it on. Thanks for the updates, John!
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Glen Gyle (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/bJg3lpSdP7o/glen-gyle.html)
11 May 2010, 4:43 pm
Tom Charles Edwards has been beavering away at the top of Loch Katrine in Glen Gyle, developing the boulders here. The pleasant glen is remote but Tom seems to have unearthed a few gems, check out his new problems on Scottish Climbs (http://scottishclimbs.com/wiki/Glen_Gyle).
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Big Stone Country - New Blog! (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/7Gfhoj0zrSw/big-stone-country-new-blog.html)
12 May 2010, 11:42 am
Guy Robertson & Adrian Crofton, editors for the forthcoming magnum opus on Scottish Climbing called BIG STONE COUNTRY, have started a blog for the book, along with a call for material and photography. Above all, we are seeking dramatic crag photography or interesting action shots - if you feel you have a good photo, check out the list of crags on the blog and send any sample jpegs in the first instance to John Watson at Stone Country.
The project is effectively a community book, designed to pull together everyone's enthusiasm for and experience of Scotland's best climbing cliffs. If you have any stories, photographs or articles, please don't hesitate to get involved.
Check out the crag list and the articles on the BIG STONE COUNTRY BLOG. (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-7763057760240904910?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Lost Stones - Strathan Mor (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/2VG1cnjNQzU/lost-stones-strathan-mor.html)
26 May 2010, 8:11 am
Ron Dempster tipped us off about these massive blocs on the way to Carnmore, underneath the trad arete of The Beanstalk (HVS) on Beinn Airigh Charr. The boulders in the foreground look good for a few big lines and who knows what lies in the jumble? They lie just to the west of Loch na Uamhag on the northern side of Beinn Airigh Charr, just off the path on Strathan Mor.
View Strathan Mor Blocs (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&msa=0&msid=113854314308537324519.0004877aa6bc4999ab301&ll=57.731744,-5.462093&spn=0.016038,0.036478&z=14&source=embed) in a larger map
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Delirium at Clashfarquhar (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/Nj_ofjY8rOQ/delirium-at-clashfarquhar.html)
1 June 2010, 6:06 am
Tim Rankin succeeded this spring on the big roof project at Clashfarquhar. With repeats of OPSDS (Optimus Prime SDS), this is another 8th grade on a growing tally of high end problems on the Aberdeen coast. The problem lies on the prop boulder roof just to the right of the Big Grey boulder on the Clashfarquhar platform. Tim describes it thus:
Delirium 8a The obvious perma chalked horizonal prow of the platform with a prop boulder under it. SDS at the base of the prow at an obvious crimp. Slap out right to slopers on the lip and continue out the prow via powerful slapping and hugging to a desperate move off a poor sidepull gains the first real hold! A final hard move gains jugs on the finishing arete.
Delirium Crux Pic Tim Rankin(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-7257255857963401542?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Rock That Keeps On Giving (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/qpoHySf-lyA/rock-that-keeps-on-giving.html)
11 June 2010, 7:24 am
What I keep returning to in bouldering is its ability to absorb our imagination and its open-ended nature. Dumbarton Rock, despite its heavy historical footfall, still keeps giving new 'lines'. In bouldering, there is a crucial core to enjoying it and this is the simple sense of play. The eliminate philosophy of deciding what lines to climb means a single lump of rock can provide limitless entertainment and fun. There aren't any restrictions as to line - it is the movement and quality of moves which counts, which is why we can get so absorbed by graffiti-scrawled rock in a tawdry industrial setting and still feel like we are lost in a new world. This focus on the actual climbing rather than the line dictated by the architecture (these are always the obvious aesthetic lines which are climbed first) means anything is possible and any move can be as good as another: the rock doesn't really care which way you go, after all. Hence the birth of traversing, such as the classic Consolidated Traverse, which opened a whole new game at Dumbarton.
A case in point are the new 'link-ups' and traverses which seem to be the future of Dumby, as they provide this 'custom-climbing' approach which allows you to choose what problem you'd like to climb, a bit like a supermarket with hundreds of brands - just take your pick. Take the Mugsy Cave, for example. Chris Houston began linking and eliminating holds in new sequences with problems such as Houston, We Have a Problem (best name of the year!) and then Will Atkinson (and Malc Smith, amongst others) stepped in and linked up some old classic problems and suddenly we have a mini-Bowderstone! An example of Will's open-eyed approach is this classic link-up of Mestizo Arete, Mugsy Traverse and Malky, which he called Nice & Sleazy. It links a series of aesthetic (and hard) moves on a typically slopey and archetypal chunk of Dumbarton Rock:
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Tripping Up Trump (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/EDOQpwTjMCw/tripping-up-trump.html)
23 June 2010, 10:04 am
Donald Trump has ridden roughshod over a huge groundswell of protest to turn part of the North East coast into yet another enclosed artificial space (a golf course). Corporate purchases of land in Scotland should be resisted - we won't get our free access statutes back if they are bought for developments. It is a modern form of the Clearances, just very insidious and smoothed over with massive PR. Don't be fooled by the 'jobs' or 'local money' argument, profits are going into offshore accounts of Trump and his cronies....
Check these guys out who are fighting against it, sign up and at least give your voice to it. Could be your local crag next...
Tripping Up Trump | Tripping Up Trump (http://www.trippinguptrump.com/)(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-1498697179139553640?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Summer Offer: Yearbook 2010 only £3.50 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/3umCEC0iH64/summer-offer-yearbook-2010-only-350.html)
29 June 2010, 8:07 am
The Stone Country Yearbook is now available at half price. If you want a copy, it can be purchased through Paypal with Freepost and will be dropped through your letterbox next working day.
It includes sports updates and topos for The Orchestra Cave, Red Wall Quarry, Dunglass, Ardvorlich, Rob's Reed and bouldering for Shelterstone, Applecross, Trossachs and Glen Lednock, amongst many others.
£3.50 Freepost 1st Class
(https://www.paypal.com/en_GB/i/scr/pixel.gif)
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Craigmore Bloc (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/kPpi10Vjck8/craigmore-bloc.html)
8 July 2010, 2:59 pm
Not to everyone's taste, this great little crag is a little mossy and north facing (dank in winter, midgy and humid in summer), but it does have a selection of fine technical boulder problems. It is one of my favourite spots when conditions are right, such as in June this year, when the long dry spells crisped the moss off the rock. I've put a PDF guide on the Boulder Scotland (http://www.boulderscotland.com/) website, or click on the link below and print out. Unfortunately the humid July rains have returned the crag to a slippy, mossy jungle, best wait for the weather to dry again before a visit.
Open publication (http://issuu.com/StoneCountry/docs/craigmore_bloc?mode=embed&layout=http://skin.issuu.com/v/light/layout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&autoFlip=true&autoFlipTime=6000) - Free publishing (http://issuu.com/) - More scotland (http://issuu.com/search?q=scotland)(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-108631348067464264?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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North West New Bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/BwtbTSozrII/north-west-new-bouldering.html)
26 July 2010, 9:21 am
A week's ferry chasing on the ERT fares saw us through Moidart, Knoydart, Skye, Harris and Lewis, ending up in Ullapool. It was good to see Harris getting some bouldering attention, especially Aird Mighe, which is a terrific venue on the Golden Road, where it is almost impossible to keep your eyes on the road as you wind from Tarbert down to Rodal. I suspect there are some superb gneiss roofs hidden in this wilderness of water, light and rock. A walk through the vastness with binoculars and tent is a must for the next visit, though I am conscious that once in this eye-level maze, I might never come out again!
A new topo for the accessible Aird Mighe can be found on Scottish Climbs (http://scottishclimbs.com/wiki/Aird_Mhighe), I managed the excellent short roof problem of Crystal Voyage, which feels hard in the summer heat as the ultrabasic crystalline nature of the rock makes it a bit soapy. 6c in winter I'd say, but you'd probably not want to be here in winter, unless you have tent pegs to stake out your mat and tarp. The crag is typical of Harris: a rounded barrel of glaciated gneiss, but what makes it attractive to the boulderer are the undercut roofs that lead out to the walls.
Aird Mighe - Crystal Voyage 6c
In Ullapool, Ian Taylor and friends have been busy developing new routes and bouldering all around Coigach. Ian has produced an excellent new booklet guide to Ullapool New Routes, including the excellent technical bouldering at Ardmair, new routes at Rhue, Reiff, Ardmair and Rubha Dunan. The superb photo-topo booklet is a worthwhile addendum to the SMC Northern Highlands North. You can buy a copy in Ullapool's only real Outdoor shop at Northwest Outdoors (http://www.northwestoutdoors.co.uk/) (opposite the post office and beside Costcutters) , as well as Ian's Ullapool Bouldering guide.
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Back on the Boulders (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/R7uVq19oRIQ/back-at-dumby.html)
2 October 2010, 4:20 pm
Well, it seems we are well into bouldering season again and despite some hefty rain showers, September had some pleasant days as the leaves turned golden and the air cooled and cleared after the mugginess of August. Time to get off Willie Arrol's (http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=15738)sports walls and get the boulder mat out again.
Richie Betts took advantage of some fine weather to revisit the Coire nan Arr boulders in Applecross, some of look like the most perfect rock imaginable. A visit to try The Universal (below) is high on my list, but time and weather has so far conspired against a visit to the north. Hopefully we can get the area mapped and topo'd for the new Torridon and Applecross guidebook for next year.
The Universal - Photo by Richie Betts
Speaking of guidebooks, I've just received the proof of the Dumbarton Rock guidebook by Stewart Brown. It looks terrific and I should have stock by mid October in time for those returning from Fontainebleau to test their mettle... it's an 80 page guide and so far the most complete guide yet to the bouldering (it also includes the sport routes and Dumbuck).
Below is a wee vid of a good 7a eliminate of the Zig Zag sit . I dug some stones away and this allowed a better position for the tricky first move of the sit start. I think a good digging session might link the base of this to the black cave...anyone brave enough to dig down further under the Eagle boulder?
And check out Betaguides (http://www.betaguides.com/)new bouldering venues in the UK: this site is a terrific resource for the itinerant boulderer and has plenty of PDF topo's embedded in its pages.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-487826243653474562?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Something that makes the heart glow... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/RAZZer4TApw/something-that-makes-heart-glow.html)
6 October 2010, 11:33 am
will report back from the forest in ten days...
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Source: STONE COUNTRY (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Fontainebleau Notes (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/XQxE-U5g3wI/fontainebleau-notes.html)
20 October 2010, 8:07 am
Fontainebleau in October. It's like Christmas morning for boulderers, stepping out of the hire car and running into a pile of rocky presents and tinsel leaves under a pine tree. You get the idea. And despite the barricades and strikes and French indignation at the 'retraites', we made it there and back again. Arriving at Potala's ochre rocks in perfect autumnal stillness was, in Colin's words, 'as good as it gets'. Then the fun began...
The actual physical and debilitating ache of climbing every day in Fontainebleau for nearly 10 days ?has tramsformed into a nolstalgic ache (and lingering tendinitis!), but it was magical to have clear cool blue skies and crisp conditions to hand every day. Resting consisted of working through blue and orange circuits as it would have been criminal not to climb. Blistered pinkies from the sand at Cul de Chien led to customised rock shoes with flaps which allowed a day at Cuvier on some harder lines, but the Joker still spat me off with a perennial disdain.
To be honest, in such good conditions, it was more fun just traipsing through the forest getting away from the crowds and finding lonesome boulders with stunning lines, or just working my way through the circuits. The forest was truly at its best and walking in the footsteps of Denecourt, Millet and Stevenson only added to the mystique. There's much more to Fontainebleau than just the climbing...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6Y7VguiVI/AAAAAAAAb2I/kA9TDjXN_dc/s320/Autumn+Oak+leaves+Fontainebleau.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6Y7VguiVI/AAAAAAAAb2I/kA9TDjXN_dc/s1600/Autumn+Oak+leaves+Fontainebleau.JPG)
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6ZOKZO2CI/AAAAAAAAb2M/m_nE8OO-2JU/s320/Chestnut.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6ZOKZO2CI/AAAAAAAAb2M/m_nE8OO-2JU/s1600/Chestnut.JPG)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6Zo0ZW1OI/AAAAAAAAb2U/_y2wjlsuFIA/s320/Autmn+woodsmoke+from+Chateauveau.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6Zo0ZW1OI/AAAAAAAAb2U/_y2wjlsuFIA/s1600/Autmn+woodsmoke+from+Chateauveau.JPG)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6Z92rKWdI/AAAAAAAAb2Y/5HmVyTA3XBc/s320/Cuvier+Banlieu+Nord+7a.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6Z92rKWdI/AAAAAAAAb2Y/5HmVyTA3XBc/s1600/Cuvier+Banlieu+Nord+7a.JPG)Ban Lieu Nord 7a
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6aTHoIQOI/AAAAAAAAb2c/Ku104EylFm8/s320/Cuvier+La+Vie+D+Ange+7a.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6aTHoIQOI/AAAAAAAAb2c/Ku104EylFm8/s1600/Cuvier+La+Vie+D+Ange+7a.JPG)La Vie D'Ange, Cuvier 7a
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6axGhelXI/AAAAAAAAb2g/Lt0cYgceOjQ/s320/Surlpomb+Allayaud+Colin+Lambton.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TL6axGhelXI/AAAAAAAAb2g/Lt0cYgceOjQ/s1600/Surlpomb+Allayaud+Colin+Lambton.JPG)
Le Surplomb Allayaud, Jean des Vignes - surely 7a!!!
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Source: Stone Country Bloc (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Dumbarton Guide - Now Published (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/EAZ5xChOj0s/dumbarton-guide-now-published.html)
21 October 2010, 7:40 am
Stewart Brown's guide to Dumbarton Rock and Dumbuck has finally arrived! It is an 80 page, full-colour guide to the complete bouldering and sport at Dumby (and Dumbuck).
Stewart's efforts to reclimb (and clean) many forgotten as well as classic lines means the beta for the descriptions is very fresh and in many cases cleaned up from the 'fuzzy logic' of some mysterious lines and grades that had lain dormant for so long. All grades have been rationalised and updated, but it is Stewart's dedicated efforts to add his knowledge and detail that will save a few of us from battering away at hopeless sequences! The guide offers the most comprehensive tick-list to date for the sport and bouldering at Dumbarton, with 211 dedicated problems, plus all the sport and a little of the best trad. Circuits have been updated and included (Yellow through to Black) and projects are included, as well as feature classics, photo-topos for each boulder/sport face and some fine photography from Jonathan Bean of http://www.dumby.info/ - thanks Jonathan!
The guide is exclusively available through this site at £6.99 plus some P&P with first class next day delivery in the UK. It's an essential guide book for the Dumby afficionado and the visitor alike. To get a copy just follow the Paypal trail >>> Sample of the Introduction:
Open publication (http://issuu.com/StoneCountry/docs/dumbarton_rock_bouldering?mode=embed&layout=http://skin.issuu.com/v/light/layout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&autoFlip=true&autoFlipTime=6000) - Free publishing (http://issuu.com/) - More bouldering (http://issuu.com/search?q=bouldering)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-2799413987334880153?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Bloc (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Benmore Glen (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/wP1JL4m2ek0/benmore-glen.html)
25 October 2010, 6:41 am
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TMUhpY14D0I/AAAAAAAAb7E/iP0aQghVPQ4/s400/Ben%20More%20boulder%20in%20perspective.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TMUhpY14D0I/AAAAAAAAb7E/iP0aQghVPQ4/s512/Ben%20More%20boulder%20in%20perspective.JPG)
I spent a fine Sunday amongst the early Autumn snowcap peaks of Ben More and Stob Binnein, stomping round the giants of Benmore Glen. In summer, this area would make a good venue if you can stomach carrying mats up this far to protect some of the highball lines. The landrover track from Benmore Farm makes this higher glen reasonably accessible and an hour's slog at most. Some good short steep roofs can be found on the bigger blocs such as the Heather Head. There is some sound clean stone as well as the usual lichenous schist found on higher altitude stone, as though it needs a rhino skin to protect against the withering bealach winds.
The best rock was found on the giant of the upper glen - the massive and lonely Benmore Bloc which can be seen from the old rotten footbridge as you gain the higher glen. Sitting in the bowl of the upper glen under the Bealach, it has four distinct and just about boulderable faces (in terms of height). The bloc has some fine easy lines, some hard mid-range classic '7th grade' lines and some futuristic lines on its steep north face. All the landings are good (while other stones are typically boggy). The best stones are: the Heather Head boulder just uphill of the old bridge; the Ben More boulder itslef and the Bealach blocs.
View Ben More Boulders (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=113854314308537324519.0004936af7fa146f52537&ll=56.376124,-4.55718&spn=0.012595,0.008025&t=h&source=embed) in a larger map(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-540878224324530903?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Bloc (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Bouldering in Scotland 2010 - High End stuff (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/7v2TKmmmLn8/bouldering-in-scotland-2010-high-end.html)
9 November 2010, 7:37 am
There has been lots of new activity as usual this year in Aberdeen, the NW and Dumbarton Rock in particular. Some venues continue to expand their repertoire such as Glen Nevis, Glen Lednock and Torridon and Applecross, with Coire nan Arr the best of the bunch in terms of rock quality and stunning new lines.
Cubby, Dave MacLeod and Donald King found some good accessible conglomerate bouldering south of Golspie at The Mound, Loch Fleet (NH 766 978).
Macleod's Arisaig cave was a hardcore find and Dave found some high-end training traverses on immaculate quartzite. His two main problems there were At Eternity's Gate 8b, Triangulation 8a and All the Small Things Font 8a.
The sea-cliffs at Aberdeen continue to provide meaty testpieces and good traverse training. Tim Rankin did a new problem on the roof just right of the Big Grey boulder called Delirium at 8a+, very slopey and condition dependent through the lip.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNjxmR_ofMI/AAAAAAAAb_Q/Qam1yo8jn3o/s320/Delirium+8a+.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNjxmR_ofMI/AAAAAAAAb_Q/Qam1yo8jn3o/s1600/Delirium+8a+.jpg)Delirium 8a+ Clashfarquhar - pic Tim Rankin
At Coire nan Arr, Richie Betts discovered the Universal, a 7b of immaculate red Torridonian sandstone, as well as a handful of good circuit problems and mid-range grade classics. Hopefully we'll have the guide out in 2010 for this incredible area!
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNj2STxx35I/AAAAAAAAb_Y/DC56HTn6jDs/s320/Universal+Coire+nan+Arr.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNj2STxx35I/AAAAAAAAb_Y/DC56HTn6jDs/s1600/Universal+Coire+nan+Arr.jpg)The Universal, Coire nan Arr - pic Richie Betts
At the end of the autumn season, Richie succeeded on his project high on the slopes of Glen Torridon to bag the almighty prow of The Essence 7b+, which was shortly repeated (after 3 dedicated Scotrail weekend journeys from Glasgow!) by Murdo Jamieson.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNj3GasXLTI/AAAAAAAAb_g/zfSU5hxJgvU/s320/Essence+7b+.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNj3GasXLTI/AAAAAAAAb_g/zfSU5hxJgvU/s1600/Essence+7b+.jpg)The Essence - Torridon? - pic Richie Betts
At Dumby, Will Atkinson and friends set about the Mugsy roof to create a whole new breed of problems linking up traditional classic lines. Perhaps the best is Nice &Sleazy 7c, linking up Mestizo Sit, Mugsy traverse and Malky...not a bad line at all! Malcolm Smith also crushed out the obvious link of Pressure into Firestarter to give Firefight Font 8b.
Firefight 8b First Ascent (http://vimeo.com/11089789) from Will Atkinson (http://vimeo.com/user1228064) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
Harris saw some particularly avid attention this year, Dave MacLeod climbing Proclamtion 7c+ at the Clisham boulders, plus a few new problems at Sron Ulladale in between trad epics.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNj3qNb8pqI/AAAAAAAAb_k/MQt6_fgUu9I/s320/Procalamtion+Harris+7c+.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNj3qNb8pqI/AAAAAAAAb_k/MQt6_fgUu9I/s1600/Procalamtion+Harris+7c+.jpg)Proclamation, Clisham - pic by Dave MacLeod?
Mike Lee did his usual touring of remoe spots and quietly climbed some hard classic lines... at Glen Lednock he did a lovely 7a called Afraid of the Wave, a kind of direct of the Wave problem. He also did numerous eliminates at Dumbarton, including the excellent 7b+ Le Tour de Technique.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNj5YF0o2-I/AAAAAAAAb_w/o_lgZ-eg0FU/s320/Afraid+of+the+Wave.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNj5YF0o2-I/AAAAAAAAb_w/o_lgZ-eg0FU/s1600/Afraid+of+the+Wave.jpg)Afraid of the Wave 7a - Glen Lednock - Mike Lee
I'll add more if I hear of anything but next up is a feature on the new circuit problems - you know, the ones most of us can do!
?(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-896598675564756368?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Bloc (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Pinnacle - Review (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/SB1Sc-tqPHE/pinnacle-review.html)
11 November 2010, 12:08 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNvagomIjkI/AAAAAAAAb_8/SOzlgb4pHr0/s320/Pinnacle.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TNvagomIjkI/AAAAAAAAb_8/SOzlgb4pHr0/s1600/Pinnacle.jpg)
The latest film from Hotaches (http://www.hotaches.com/), The Pinnacle is a welcome historical tribute set amidst our normal dietary blizzard of modern Youtube ascents and techno-sodden bouldering movies. Tracing one epic week on Ben Nevis in 1960, and the two climbers who took to the wintry corries of Ben Nevis (Jimmy Marshall and Robin Smith), it brings into focus a clear Scottish ethic that climbing is about the landscape, the adventure, the friendships and the moment...something which Jimmy Marshall insists is the core lesson of a lifetime in the mountains - that climbing is not about the noise afterwards but rather those brief moments of unseen joy in the mountains.
This filmic tribute is in essence a remembrance of Robin Smith, a luminary climber of the 1950s and early 60s who sadly lost his life in the Pamirs in 1962. In one of the many poignant interviews in the film, an older but still rugged-looking Marshall describes Smith's climbing prowess with an undiminished clarity of remembrance, describing him as possessing 'startling brilliance' on the rock and ice. Had he not been outlived by Jimmy, Robin would have gone on to climb just as many legendary ascents in Scottish climbing, and in this particular case Smith's early demise does not romantically exaggerate his boldness, talent and vision.
The legacy of routes he did leave behind reads like a climbing version of the illuminated Book of Kells: Shibboleth, Smith's Route, Yo-Yo, Orion Direct, The Bat, The Big Top, Pigott's Route, The Needle... and so on. These routes, in most folks' guidebooks, lie underlined and starred but mostly unticked! Three of these are hard winter classics on Ben Nevis, climbed in that one special week in February 1960 when the two had the mountain largely to themselves - Marshall describes The Ben in winter as a 'wedding cake' and this is an apt metaphor for two climbers who combined a very special mountaineering marriage of skills. That week they entered a time of legend through the simple dedication of men with axes and gloves and nothing more than a length of old rope between them.
The film takes great pains to highlight this week as a watershed as much as a pinnacle of winter climbing achievement in Scotland. The routes that Smith and Marshall climbed were the last (and hardest) done in the old style of step-cutting without front-point crampons. This laborious style of climbing is the only moment in the movie where the two modern tribute climbers - Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner - look decidedly common and discommoded. They quickly return to their modern front-point crampons, curved drop-head axes and ice-screws for protection, all of which is roundly booed by entertaining old-schooler Robin Campbell of the SMC.
As the two modern lads smoothly tick off the daily diet of historical climbs, in lean but benevolent conditions on the Ben (something the producer Paul Diffley must have been thankful for!), the void between the new and old eras yawns open and it becomes apparent how our expectations, staminas and prorities can change so much in 50 years. Marshall talks of the difficulties they faced as irreversible in many instances and Ken Crocket provides some honest testament to how even three days on the Ben can wear you down dealing with fear and death at every climbing moment. The depth of fitness and inner resolve to climb for seven days on such an alpine set of cliffs (and pack in a day's Munro-bagging and an arrest for stealing dominoes in a Fortwilliam pub) is simply staggering to our modern sensibilities. The walk they did on their 'day off' leaves Macloed and Turner lost in the dark scrabbling for map and compass, exhausted, dehydrated and, in Dave's words, with their 'legs singing'.
The film is a rare jewel of climbing history and and a visual treat for the guilty armchair mountaineer! It ends on a grand panorama of Andy Turner topping out on the Ben Nevis plateau to a stunning Scottish winter horizon. It leaves me with a feeling of profound longing for those special mountaineering moments that become ever more rare and inaccessible.
Our greatest danger lies in growing reliant on exterior motive and engineered moments, rather than the indelible purity exhibited by elegant climbers such as Smith and Marshall. Thankfully, The Pinnacle never loses sight of this and both Dave MacLeod, Andy Turner and the production team should be proud of their tribute week on the Ben. The Pinnacle captures something very fleeting about the games climbers play and the joys they discover.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-4841180180418154702?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Friday Review - WHO OWNS SCOTLAND (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/PFyT94f-YpY/friday-review-who-owns-scotland.html)
19 November 2010, 4:03 pm
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TOadjEnohKI/AAAAAAAAcAI/DkVrHkPtidg/s320/Poor+Had+No+Lawyers.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TOadjEnohKI/AAAAAAAAcAI/DkVrHkPtidg/s1600/Poor+Had+No+Lawyers.jpg)
You would be mistaken for thinking that Scotland was the land of enlightened land access and ownership for all, given the high profile success of community-spirited buyouts such as Eigg, Gigha and the recent campaign against Donald Trump's (http://www.trippinguptrump.com/) Despicable-Me impersonation (if only it were impersonation).
But things are not as they seem and a new book which has opened my eyes to the deep land injustices of Scotland (not just the Clearances) is Andy Wightman's 'The Poor Had No Lawyers - Who Owns Scotland And How They Got It', published by Birlinn.
Andy is a longstanding campaigner and investigative journalist who runs the excellent website Who Owns Scotland (http://www.whoownsscotland.org.uk/), dedicated to a transparent listing of all the landowners in Scotland and how they got the land. The book to accompany this campaign is a follow up to his 1996 book Who Owns Scotland and goes a lot deeper than many landowners would feel comfortable with. It is refreshingly polemic for such a detailed analysis of 'feus', 'non domino titles', 'superiorities', 'entails' and all other manner of highly dubious legal tricks implying righteous ownership of our lands and commonties.
In a deeply researched account of the history of landgrabbing in Scotland, Robert the Bruce does not quite appear the hero some would make of him. Bruce was a murdering warlord who parcelled up Scotland for his own gain and influence, selling off land under feudal tenure to foreign lords and royalty, disenfranchising the people from a barely bawling Scottish state. The centuries fell one after the other as the rich and influential sold off a Scotland they simply did not own. Nobles colluded with the church and the Reformation helped 'legalise' their ownership by highly dubious acts such as the Acts of Registration and Prescription of 1617, 'sealing' land ownership in the hands of the rich who could afford Edinburgh lawyers and felt that a brief tenure of land (20 years!) was enough to claim the deeds to it. And so it went on through the tragedy of the Clearances until, all too belatedly, we had the Abolition of Feudal Tenure Act in 2000.
In that longue durée of 8 centuries, Scotland's land, totalling 19.5 million acres, lost over 10 million acres to 1550 private landowners in estates of over 1000 acres! And it has not slowed down - modern land grabs by the rich have attempted to seal off land for private use, tax benefit and corporate expansion. Andy Wightman feels the law must go a lot further to protect our common land from total disappearance: land laws must be repealed, Crown rights should be abolished, Land Funds and Land Policies should be enshrined in statutes for the benefit of communities and our new devolved government should set our Law Commissioners the task of reform on the scale Lloyd Goerge once attempted.
We may have National Parks, the Right to Roam and the new Community Buyout rights, but the bald facts are that Scotland is still at the mercy of overpaid law firms, absentee landlords, the self-absorbed rich and far too few enlightened enough to hand back something to the people.
The book is an essential read for all of us who want to live in the Scotland we imagine... it can be bought from Andy's own site here >>> (http://www.andywightman.com/)(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-2302743672262107746?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Snow Fever (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/6XAJ8TIfETk/snow-fever.html)
5 December 2010, 7:25 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TPvk7PqKraI/AAAAAAAAcA0/PIW2b4iuVFs/s320/P1000810.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TPvk7PqKraI/AAAAAAAAcA0/PIW2b4iuVFs/s1600/P1000810.JPG)
It's happening again. No-one expected last year to so gratuitously confound our winter expectations of this globally warmed era of hair-dryer westerlies and 'freezing level above the summits' forecasts, as though our precious 3000ft arbitration had forever sunk below the flirtation of ice ever again, but it's been panoramically sub-zero for nearly a week! Ad my God, the fickle Eas Anie has been climbed as close to November as I can recall.
Like thousands of others, I grew all goose-bumped as the deeper blue animations sank down from Scandinavia and a stubborn Arctic flow bullied in to the Atlantic seaboard and fought a frontal war with big ciruclar guns called 'high pressure', ranked in battalions like Zulu, but in isobars. I traipsed giddily along the Fhidhleir ridge last Saturday before the snows came in and watched with delight all week as the snows filled the air with prawn crackers (borrowed metaphor, thanks Lee!) and it seems our gullies have their 'classic season' stockings already filled.
A breathless and pecking snow-plod up the Inglis Clark ridge on the Brack this Sunday saw some testing leg fitness and usual over-optimism - we found the turf insulated, the gear buried and the snow trap-dooring all over the place, but hell, it's early season fever and it looks like a good one. Bring it on!
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TPvlMMFAq3I/AAAAAAAAcA8/PlFkUfuEgS0/s320/P1000824.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TPvlMMFAq3I/AAAAAAAAcA8/PlFkUfuEgS0/s1600/P1000824.JPG)(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TPvlg06Bh0I/AAAAAAAAcBE/pfoSIiZDA5A/s320/P1000823.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TPvlg06Bh0I/AAAAAAAAcBE/pfoSIiZDA5A/s1600/P1000823.JPG)(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-2372389607415386557?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Southern Highlands Freeze (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/ME2Id_igv_w/southern-highlands-freeze.html)
9 December 2010, 12:39 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TQDMGnvdlFI/AAAAAAAAcB8/YAvv8W9qNJc/s320/Eagle+Falls+Inverarnan.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TQDMGnvdlFI/AAAAAAAAcB8/YAvv8W9qNJc/s1600/Eagle+Falls+Inverarnan.JPG)
It's been a good week for the Southern Highlands winter scene with ascents of early season classics such as Inglis Clark Arete, Monolith Grooves, Menage a Trois and Salamander Gully, with many ice routes coming into nick such as Taxus, Quartzvein Scoop, Eagle Falls (above) and Eas Anie.
Highlights of the cold spell were as ascent of Messiah on Creag an Socach by DJ Brigham and Thom Simmons on Sunday 5th and an exciting new winter ascent of the Brack's summer E3 Mammoth by Guy Robertson and partner on Tuesday 7th December, more to follow...
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TQDLiPO68yI/AAAAAAAAcB4/GDcYQ32RpBA/s320/Mammoth+Guy+Robertson+FA+7+Dec+2010.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TQDLiPO68yI/AAAAAAAAcB4/GDcYQ32RpBA/s1600/Mammoth+Guy+Robertson+FA+7+Dec+2010.JPG)
'Mammoth' FWA(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-6890689200498480341?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Ullapool Sandstone (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/S-4W2sIR9fI/ullapool-sandstone.html)
4 January 2011, 12:46 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TSMVcMERMNI/AAAAAAAAc84/vSp3C3vGtNk/s320/Torridonian+pebble.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TSMVcMERMNI/AAAAAAAAc84/vSp3C3vGtNk/s1600/Torridonian+pebble.JPG)
Torridonian pebble
The icy Christmas lasted well into the New Year and some fine blue days could be had in between the grey ones. Bouldering at Reiff in the Woods, Tighnamara and Ardmair was perfect on those days with no wind, but what with temperatures so minimal, the slightest wind made for perishing days on the rock.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TSMVBrIypPI/AAAAAAAAc80/TTEmtCC8Zn8/s320/Tighnamara+traverse.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TSMVBrIypPI/AAAAAAAAc80/TTEmtCC8Zn8/s1600/Tighnamara+traverse.JPG)
Tighnamara Traverse
Reiff in the Woods has seen some new attention with Nigel Holmes cleaning and finding a classic wall on the Cubes area to give 'The Flood', a tough vertical grit-classic wall around the 6b mark which should become very popular.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TSMVqHWDaVI/AAAAAAAAc9A/tDa6lRrBgi8/s320/Ann+Falconer+on+the+west+wall+traverse.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TSMVqHWDaVI/AAAAAAAAc9A/tDa6lRrBgi8/s1600/Ann+Falconer+on+the+west+wall+traverse.JPG) Ann Falconer on Reiff In the Woods West Wall
Tighnamara is a fine training venue which tends to be overlooked above Ardmair beach, but provides a quality training traverse and some sit starts when the burn is dry. Cnoc na Breac has a super pink leaning wall and a good summer circuit of walls and roofs around the crags. These areas and more are available in Ian Taylor's 'Ullapool Bouldering' guide which we should have in stock soon.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-4588813478196979898?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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New Bouldering in Scotland site (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/yzCeypp1g1M/new-bouldering-in-scotland-site.html)
14 January 2011, 3:03 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TTBlU6LZBfI/AAAAAAAAc9M/cbhJT1mUl2s/s320/Bouldering+In+Scotland+website.PNG) (http://www.boulderinginscotland.stonecountry.co.uk/)
Just to let everyone know that I've created a new site for depositing all the Bouldering in Scotland (http://www.boulderinginscotland.stonecountry.co.uk/) topos I've collected over the years.. it's a sub-domain of Stone Country but designed to hold updated batches of PDF guides and topos for the whole of Scotland. I've added some long lost topos such as Fontforth, as well as Buchan Ness, Clach Damh, Ben Ledi etc. The site will gradually grow in size as we add more guides and books, so please do email me with any of your own feature topos and I'll add them as a PDF. As more venues are found, we'll be publishing local area guides with a long term view to a the fattest bouldering guidebook anywhere - 'The Stone Country Atlas'.
PLEASE NOTE the 'DUMBARTON ROCK' guidebook is currently out of stock at Stone Country...we'll have stock back soon, but if you need a copy urgently, try Cotswolds in Partick, or Tiso branches.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-3777795251509549921?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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'Heavy on fact, light on fairies' - The Stones of Strathearn (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/HerqCqx0gTk/heavy-on-fact-light-on-fairies-stones.html)
28 January 2011, 8:15 am
Andrew Finlayson, the producer behind One Tree Island Publishing, has brought out a lavish new guide to the standing stones of Strathearn. This fertile and secluded land, situated in the Earn valley between Perth all the way up its headwaters of Lochearn at St. Fillans, is home to some of Scotland's earliest monoliths, cup-marked rocks and stone circles. These distant echoes of a neolithic society still have a resonance to them, a tangible sense of place, and Andrew has produced this superbly illustrated gazetteer to the history and provenance of these stones.
This convenient ring-bound book acts as both a guide to each site and a detailed history to its neolithic society, engineering, farming, astronomy and symbology. He details each stone meticulously and with fine technical drawings and colour photography, including more famous monoliths such as the Sma Glen's Ossian's Stone, as well as 'quieter' but astronomically important stones such as Tullybannocher. The beautiful artwork re-creates the cup and ring marked artwork and makes us ponder the complex spirit of the neolithic mind.
This is a tremendously detailed re-imagination of a Scottish neolithic valley, leading us between its silent monoliths and capturing the rhythms and deep connections of a long-vanished culture, one obviously sophisticated enough to understand its small place in the universe. Unlike some fatally mystical books on the subject, it is refreshingly practical and lets the stones do the speaking: as Andrew says - it is 'heavy on fact, light on fairies'.
The ring-bound book also a fantastic walking guide to the stones and is available with a free 2011 calendar through the One Tree Island (http://www.onetreeislandpublishing.com/) site or here at Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stones-Strathearn-Gazeteer-Remaining-Introduction/dp/095654990X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282686948&sr=8-2). (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-8399271273717510436?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Ullapool Bouldering Guide (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/Km2eEjIS6dE/ullapool-bouldering-guide.html)
28 January 2011, 4:49 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TULwg96eDII/AAAAAAAAc-Q/zXzZlN0-rYY/s400/Ullapool+Bouldering.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0lz-dwFTZYw/TULwg96eDII/AAAAAAAAc-Q/zXzZlN0-rYY/s1600/Ullapool+Bouldering.jpg)
Ian Taylor's complete Ullapool bouldering guide is now available here and on the new Stone Country Bouldering (http://www.boulderinginscotland.stonecountry.co.uk/index.html) site. This gives the most complete low-down to date on the bouldering round the capital of the North West: Rhue Blocks, Cnoc Breac, Tighnamara, Ardmair Beach, Ardmair Crag, Reiff in the Woods, Reiff and other areas.
Ullapool BoulderingAuthor: Ian TaylorPublisher: Ian Taylor44 pp Full ColourPrice: £4.99
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-7823300332621451734?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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February News (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/KYj_aQHqWUo/dumbarton-guide-back-in-stock.html)
9 February 2011, 1:07 pm
We have more stock of the Dumbarton Guide available (on the climbing books page), though well done to Will Atkinson for putting it out of date with the send of the 'project' he calls Ladderman... one for the tall folk I think!
We have a very promising crag/boulder wall in the Northwest from Ian Taylor, but I guess development and location will be revealed this year... this does look attractive mind you!
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5015/5406796863_5db22740cc.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7538425@N05/5406796863/)
Mike Lee visited the Katrine Bloc:, the baddest, meanest, weakling-crusher rock in Scotland, here's Mike under the unclimbed front face. It takes over two hours to get to, best bivvi for a weekend and bring some fillet steaks...that face is 8a to 9a only. I retreated wishing I was younger, fitter, stronger... it's located under the Meall na Boinede crags overlooking the north end of Loch Katrine. The best way to get there is to hitch a lift with the postie bus from Strronachlachlar, or cycle/walk round the north end of the loch from here. Get off at Portnellan Burial Ground and the Black Island, then walk uphill on the left bank of the burn. You really can't miss it... good landings, the rock is a delightful scalloped and compact schist. GR NN410124
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5131/5405506915_84eb5097b6_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeleepics/5405506915/)
Looks like Tim Rankin has butched out another 8a at Cammachmore -Devistator - on the Optimus Prime boulder, hopefully more details soon but terrific to see the NE benchmarking again (or should that be bench-pressing?)
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5174/5414099451_deb14c2376.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rankers/5414099451/)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-2861370424458154510?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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'Bouldering in Ireland' published! (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/0lJyGWz4uwk/bouldering-in-ireland-published.html)
18 February 2011, 6:16 pm
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UZIe90gELIA/TV62jOWs2bI/AAAAAAAAdkg/lNS3pWtxiZw/s400/boulderingGuideCover.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UZIe90gELIA/TV62jOWs2bI/AAAAAAAAdkg/lNS3pWtxiZw/s1600/boulderingGuideCover.jpg)
I received a copy of Dave Flanagan's long-anticipated guide to Bouldering in Ireland (http://www.theshortspan.com/) and it is obvious from the first flick-through that this is one of the most stunningly produced bouldering guides out there! It is simply slabber-inducing and the sense of adventure jumps off each page. Some of the rock, such as the Fermanagh Brimstones and Loch Dan granite, looks superb and the growing plethora of coastal and mountain venues means a round-trip would fill a very long summer...
The guide is designed on the popular landscape format which allows the clear mapping room to breathe, as well as framing 2-page photo-location spreads to clarify the 'glen clusters' typical of Celtic landscape bouldering. The classic areas such as Glendalough and Carrickfinn are well documented and it was good to see the Fair Head chaos well mapped and represented for the north of Ireland.
It is packed with bright photos and the route descriptions are deliberately spare and modelled on the 7+8 Font guide, but accompanied by clear photo topos, which means you work out the problem for yourself once you're guided to it, which is how it should be - a guidebook should both be inspiring and useful in getting you to where the photo was taken - this guide seems to be just the ticket.
Dave has been very generous in keeping the price of this down at 18 Euro which is a miracle of publishing, I guess sponsorship and his own generous funding made this possible, so we should be thankful that this guide is tremendous value for a full colour production at 255 pages. I can only commend Dave on a fantastic creation and a book to treasure!
You can buy it on TheShortSpan (http://www.theshortspan.com/)...(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-4591578360817834914?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Where have all the trees gone? (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/0Drkz2z8cq4/where-have-all-trees-gone.html)
4 March 2011, 2:23 pm
Hard times we bring upon ourselves. Slowly, wilfully, over the centuries, things disappear, ownership takes all. Take the mythical Caledonian Forest. A canopy of blacky greens, flashed with broad red limbs, standing shoulder to shoulder through the glens, over the bealachs, climbing the mountain sides.
I was at the head of Glen Nevis, at the gorge car-park, having driven through a remnant of this forest, like a battlefield after the war, a few stragglers - twisted, wounded soldiers of gruesome witness and blooded limb. I was keen to go a step further into a 'lost corrie' cupped between the Ben Nevis and the arcing ridge of Aonach Beag (paradoxically higher than Aonach Mor by 13m).
Rarely visited and tucked away from the North Face crowds on The Ben and the skiers on the far side of Aonach Mor, this corrie translated as 'Corrie of the Pine Woods'. I climbed steeply up through the gap of the Bealach nan Cumhann (Pass of Lamenting!) and was stunned by the austere 'majesty' of the empty corrie, flanked by the pale schist crags of Aonach Beag and the watershed ridge on my left above Sloc nan Uan (the hollow of the lamb). A lone stag coloured suddenly as he ran into low sunlight across the valley floor and fled my fearsome stink into the shadows of the An Teanga boulders and crags on the tumbling lip of the corrie bowl.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BPicXdo0-38/TXD1ohbVikI/AAAAAAAAdk4/V0ePhSAxohc/s320/IMG_3101.JPG) (https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BPicXdo0-38/TXD1ohbVikI/AAAAAAAAdk4/V0ePhSAxohc/s1600/IMG_3101.JPG)
The corrie is a high hidden U-shaped valley, a textbook diagram from a geography schoolbook. Hidden behind the glaciated craggy lip of An Teanga (the tongues), I expected a few old Scots Pines, but not a tree was to be seen. The river meandered in languid pools between gravel beaches and reedy lawns, withering uphill into the Coire na h'Ursainn (the backing corrie), where an oddly named source stream was marked on the map as 'the river of the fringe'. The fringe of the forest, I took it; the mythical forest wherein deer might once have lazily grazed without the long human shadows from bealachs to scare them across vulnerable space.
But where had they gone? The Steall ruins at the bottom of the Allt na Coire Giubhsachan tell a tale of abandonment, of lost resource and wooded landscapes harvested of all hope. The high corrie bowls such as the Hollow of the Lamb and the Hollow of the Calfs face each other across a barren bog in a stripped world. It may suit modern tastes for 'barren wilderness', but it is overseen more aptly by the craggy hump of Meall Cumhann - the Hill of Lamenting.
Weather did change in the past, the peat bogs grew during the iron age, but in two millenia, this wooded corrie has seen the trees, those august red limbs, retreat downhill and vanish from sight altogether. Once gone, the sparse odds of a sapling surviving ruminating hordes or the sudden bleak exposure, highlights the ringing tragedy of Gaelic nomenclature. The words are indeed shadows, echoes, of lands of living, work and meaning. Each word is a lament, for the lowing high pastures, for the whispering canopy, for its own vocabulary of place.
Like the tide of itself, the woods and people have receded, as integrally as they did on Easter Island, the sheep arrived and further clearance continued. Humans just did for this land, out of synch with the longer rhythms, falling foul of their own self-hatreds, leaving nothing behind but the words behind the pointed finger...(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-5277590280371377405?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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If it's not Broch, Don't Fix It (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/IpRUac00ArI/if-its-not-broch-dont-fix-it.html)
19 March 2011, 3:18 pm
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-qCmYOzvJGOs/SEFUwgWV8II/AAAAAAAADKs/MQ-_8VJ_xVw/s320/IMG_5282_1383.JPG) (https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-qCmYOzvJGOs/SEFUwgWV8II/AAAAAAAADKs/MQ-_8VJ_xVw/s1600/IMG_5282_1383.JPG)
Anyone who has taken the sea road of the Eilean Siar (Western Isles), or skirted the high edges of Caithness and Sutherland, or meandered the archipelagos of Shetland and Orkney, will have noted a peculiar structure, often wore down to its foundational stump like an old tooth - the 'broch'. These blind eyeless towers once stood proud of the landscape on our northern Celtic coastlines (the tallest remaining is the Mousa Broch of Shetland), from around 300 BC through the Iron Age until they were either 'inherited' by invading Vikings and occupied until around AD 1300, or 'unquarried' for walls and other structures. It was the vikings who have given us their modern name from 'Borg' meaning 'fortification', though what they were called by their original architects swims in the deep Celtic well of lost tongues.
It is unlikely, however, they were originally built in response to insecurity. Their frequency, such as in the northern peninsulas of Skye, suggests an element of status and defence against the elements rather than a 'last stand fort' which could have easily been burnt out, starved out or scaled with knife blades. They are famously double-walled, housing a spiral staircase within to access higher galleries and levels. Their 15m or so diameter and up to 10m tall height meant it would have felt a little like living inside a modern day cooling tower, but maybe that was cosy enough in the long winters, with the animals brought in below, the family sleeping above, a fire dwindling in the central hearth and the heat and smoke rising out of the open eye of the thatched-roof oculus.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-900M_5kXvjA/TYTBPiT_YtI/AAAAAAAAd8U/VsxVZTgNb4Y/s320/Dunbeag+Broch+Stonework.JPG) (https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-900M_5kXvjA/TYTBPiT_YtI/AAAAAAAAd8U/VsxVZTgNb4Y/s1600/Dunbeag+Broch+Stonework.JPG)The signature work of the broch architect
So what brought about their rise and decline? No doubt the same as the pattern of the culture of the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island - the end of resource...
The first opportunity is easy in a land of stone such as northern Scotland. A lithic landscape gave a generous harvest of ready rocks and flagstones for building, a conspicuous flattened knoll (common volcanic features such as the large scale versions of MacLeod's tables in Skye) gave an elevated outlook and standing. A bright spark of an Iron Age architect would have made a lucrative living touring the wealthier families, dispensing 'the knowledge' to a tight degree of accuracy, doubling the wall, inserting the flagstones at regular intervals. At about 6ft height wooden beams could be inserted and a rough inner scaffolding constructed, though effectively the stone scaffolding of the inner wall with its 'steps' would allow a spiral progress to whatever height one desired.
A thatched wooden roof in a weather-resistant 'teepee' style could readily be wedged in at the top. Generations of families would have kept up with the Joneses, in the same manner as the Moai heads of Easter Island grew in stature over 1000 years, until the giants such as Mid Howe, Mousa, Dun Beag, Glenelg and Dun Carloway shouted their presence in a localised landscape of power and influence. Maybe the secrets of their concentric architecture vanished, or maybe the fashion simply changed, but maintaining the floors and beams and roofs would have put a stress on the tiny woods of the islands and barren coasts. Tall trunks and driftwood beams would have become high currency, firewood too would stretch the resource too far.
When the sparse woods of the seaboard diminished, when peat grew faster than wood, when the Vikings jumped onshore, life vanished to humbler areas of less exposed and less luxurious grandiloquence. Downsizing was inevitable...
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EGAwSI15C7U/SkDJ-gfpmrI/AAAAAAAAH7A/jyJ2Ja7ET_o/s320/Midhowe+broch.JPG) (https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EGAwSI15C7U/SkDJ-gfpmrI/AAAAAAAAH7A/jyJ2Ja7ET_o/s1600/Midhowe+broch.JPG)Mid Howe Broch, Rousay
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z0I1vOBK3XI/TYTA7g7YzlI/AAAAAAAAd8Q/ISteLndHkkg/s320/Dun+Beag+Broch+high+wall.JPG) (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z0I1vOBK3XI/TYTA7g7YzlI/AAAAAAAAd8Q/ISteLndHkkg/s1600/Dun+Beag+Broch+high+wall.JPG)Dun Beag Broch, Skye
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-85pBXiCjBDg/TYTC167t7jI/AAAAAAAAd8k/XuS-96Z5HY8/s320/glenelg_broch_dun_telve.jpg) (https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-85pBXiCjBDg/TYTC167t7jI/AAAAAAAAd8k/XuS-96Z5HY8/s1600/glenelg_broch_dun_telve.jpg) Glenelg Broch at Dun Telve
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-r93zhtgYuOI/TYTC24hAdvI/AAAAAAAAd8o/4WFtfii5SfU/s320/Mousa_Broch_20080821_02.jpg) (https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-r93zhtgYuOI/TYTC24hAdvI/AAAAAAAAd8o/4WFtfii5SfU/s1600/Mousa_Broch_20080821_02.jpg)Mousa Broch, Shetland
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wGC7luAhLc8/SEFU8tcREUI/AAAAAAAADLU/BFnG7ZgzDiI/s320/IMG_5287_1388.JPG) (https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wGC7luAhLc8/SEFU8tcREUI/AAAAAAAADLU/BFnG7ZgzDiI/s1600/IMG_5287_1388.JPG)
Dun Carloway Broch, Lewis
Books about Brochs:Towers of the North - Ian Armit(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-qeipVMMjQ28/TYTHvq7bzsI/AAAAAAAAd8w/lIFnl2IXM_o/s1600/Towers+of+the+north.jpg) (https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-qeipVMMjQ28/TYTHvq7bzsI/AAAAAAAAd8w/lIFnl2IXM_o/s1600/Towers+of+the+north.jpg)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Towers-North-Scotland-Revealing-History/dp/0752419323(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-4602560904776021433?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Full Circle on the Munros (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/kw-zlVLeyeQ/full-circle-on-munros.html)
13 April 2011, 3:47 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MnGuT3hINfA/TaXFCq0V1FI/AAAAAAAAd9s/ghuwh8pC9dA/s320/Pete+Murray+contemplating+a+very+purple+stone.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MnGuT3hINfA/TaXFCq0V1FI/AAAAAAAAd9s/ghuwh8pC9dA/s1600/Pete+Murray+contemplating+a+very+purple+stone.jpg)
I still haven't bagged them all and I guess I don't feel that urge or itch - just being on the flanks of hills, in the bowels of corries, in deep lush gorges with no escape, in echoey stone shoots, or buffeted on the steep faces of rock, it doesn't matter to me where I am on the hill, I'm just happy to be out, like the stag who knows there are parts of the mountain for every season. The summit is for a peculiar kind of beast and the odd and very British fad for Munro bagging is now a kind of institutionalised fever that is as popular as ever.
So what does a climber do when it rains, or tweaks a tendon, or is just sore and old...? Go for a walk...
I would recommend getting a good Munro guide and stomping around a few, you'll enjoy it and I guarantee you'll find some new rock. I was on Aonach Beag recently and was delighted to discover a tremendous face of rock high on the hill with only a handful of routes on it and in the corrie a host of largely untouched boulders (which I pawed as a zealot would a gold idol).
So what's the best guide to fit in a glove box or pack for that lost day? I was kindly sent a new edition of the excellent and essential rucsac guide: 'The Munro Almanac', largely rewritten by Neil Wilson who publishes under the InPinn (http://tinyurl.com/6259nv6) imprint though the guide still sports a foreword by Cameron McNeish (and a dayglo'd younger self on the cover). This is still an excellent pocket summary and perfect for the likes of me who prefer to bag a Munro more accidentally than on purpose. Quite amusingly, after over a 100 years and the continual minutiae of promotion and demotion, the list has come full circle to Munro's original total of 283 peaks...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hXURLSG0J7s/TaXE4y0gsYI/AAAAAAAAd9o/dUcw_4WDBaI/s1600/Munro+Almanac.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hXURLSG0J7s/TaXE4y0gsYI/AAAAAAAAd9o/dUcw_4WDBaI/s1600/Munro+Almanac.jpg)A copy can be picked up for 7.99 here (http://tinyurl.com/6259nv6)...support your Glasgow independent publishers!(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-8678135407523385929?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Some spring boulders (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/R9LI_epAQOU/some-spring-boulders.html)
26 April 2011, 7:27 pm
Along with the spring flowers, it seems quite a few new boulders have sprouted with the better weather.
Nic Ward found some fine new Torridonian rock above the Sanctary cave at the Applecross bealach boulders, with a classic line:
Don't Mess with the Shek 7a/+ Pull on using the right arete and a small undercut in the middle of the face. Aim for the obvious sidepull above. Then a tricky move to a couple of jugs, which offer some respite, before a long reach to small holds and finally the top. Awesome!
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-srEgHd1tUeI/TbcWbkJKYHI/AAAAAAAAd-A/G32uJ8mr6OM/s320/Applecross+Nic+Ward+The+Shek+Bealach+boulders.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-srEgHd1tUeI/TbcWbkJKYHI/AAAAAAAAd-A/G32uJ8mr6OM/s1600/Applecross+Nic+Ward+The+Shek+Bealach+boulders.jpg)
Colintraive in Cowal hides some good boulders on the old road by the shore north of the village. About halfway along this road there is this giant, needs a little clean but some good looking beefy roof problems:
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-56DgNIsnFvY/TbcWzN3l_wI/AAAAAAAAd-I/C-wc49ypjc0/s320/Colintraive+Boulder.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-56DgNIsnFvY/TbcWzN3l_wI/AAAAAAAAd-I/C-wc49ypjc0/s1600/Colintraive+Boulder.JPG)
I had forgotten what a fine little venue Loch nan Uamh is. In baking Easter sunshine, it felt magical climbing over the peppermint waters on the rough feldspar'd schist, or smearing up the wave washed slabs...perfect therapy for a climber back to basics after a year of injury!
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-07q51jWJHCY/TbcW00HKZdI/AAAAAAAAd-M/v2Lv3ZSkmmo/s320/Loch+nan+Uamh+bouldering+three+star+wall.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-07q51jWJHCY/TbcW00HKZdI/AAAAAAAAd-M/v2Lv3ZSkmmo/s1600/Loch+nan+Uamh+bouldering+three+star+wall.jpg)
And a visit to Gigha will lead you naturally to the highest point of Creag Bhan at 100m and some fine leaning rock and slabs on the other side:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fzZ2DZFC5MA/TbcWwPrle3I/AAAAAAAAd-E/CZKO5ebSrXc/s400/Gigha+leaning+wall.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fzZ2DZFC5MA/TbcWwPrle3I/AAAAAAAAd-E/CZKO5ebSrXc/s1600/Gigha+leaning+wall.JPG)
Richie Betts seems to have followed a tip off and found some awesome rock in Lewis in the wilds not far from Mealaval I think...
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jRSGtj3G6EA/TbcYs5q_snI/AAAAAAAAd-o/efhpgDYpttE/s320/Mealaval+boulders.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jRSGtj3G6EA/TbcYs5q_snI/AAAAAAAAd-o/efhpgDYpttE/s1600/Mealaval+boulders.jpg)
And a meet soon on Arran will reveal the whereabouts of these beauties:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N5TL9siVYOU/TbcZka0aQrI/AAAAAAAAd-w/GAoV-tVMrM4/s320/Arran+boulder.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N5TL9siVYOU/TbcZka0aQrI/AAAAAAAAd-w/GAoV-tVMrM4/s1600/Arran+boulder.jpg)
And Dave the Mac seems to have found some few hundred new boulders, check out his blog (http://davemacleod.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-horizons.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+DaveMacleod+(Dave+MacLeod))!
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-219704596789899929?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Arran Bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/N5Cjy2oLWhc/arran-bouldering.html)
3 May 2011, 4:22 pm
Granite is not the best rock to climb on in blazing heat, but at least they're not encircled in flames like Torridon at present. Checking the boulders on Arran for the new edition of Bouldering in Scotland, I'd appreciate any descriptions of problems done on the Corrie boulders or comments on problems and grades on these or the higher boulders on the island such as The Mushroom.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-94QRIBPXTOw/TcAlYyqI7HI/AAAAAAAAd-4/CYET6UjbQ0Q/s400/Corrie+Boulders.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-94QRIBPXTOw/TcAlYyqI7HI/AAAAAAAAd-4/CYET6UjbQ0Q/s1600/Corrie+Boulders.jpg)Corrie Boulders problems
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s9DBGQ8vjvU/TcAoIj8hQHI/AAAAAAAAd_A/TsOAzn_KBqY/s400/Arran+Druim+Wall+4%252B.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s9DBGQ8vjvU/TcAoIj8hQHI/AAAAAAAAd_A/TsOAzn_KBqY/s1600/Arran+Druim+Wall+4%252B.JPG) Druim Wall on Clach Mhor Druim a Charn
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JgI6LtQ5CLs/TcApq0H5fFI/AAAAAAAAd_M/ZFI6IuXetMw/s400/Arran+Fairy+Dell+Boulder.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JgI6LtQ5CLs/TcApq0H5fFI/AAAAAAAAd_M/ZFI6IuXetMw/s1600/Arran+Fairy+Dell+Boulder.JPG)The Fairy Dell tidal boulder
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-2834279145897419529?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Corncrake in a bird bath, I know, I know, it's serious (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/gbazmbhBwug/corncrake-in-bird-bath-i-know-i-know-it.html)
22 May 2011, 9:54 am
Stone Country Press' photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/) on Flickr.Apologies to The Smiths fans but I was surprised as anyone... I was wandering through an Iona patio garden to discover the rather intimate mating display of two adult corncrakes. The female was busy bathing in a BandQ water feature, happily ignoring me and the male corncrake below who was busy doing his 'copperwing shuffle'. His efforts became more and more insistent as he strutted manfully around his arena of white pebbles while she watched disdainfully. Finally, after a few rinses, she deigned to come down to watch him close up as he showed off his rather fetching ochre tuxedo.
I was invisible in the shadows, or just deemed unimportant, and I watched for five minutes before they retired to the privacy of the long grass of a nearby field. The corncrake may be one of the rarest and most secretive birds in the UK, and I had an internal whispered monologue going round in my head from David Attenborough about how lucky we were to see this, but it felt like I really should have bought a ticket...(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-4602963061396089246?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Erraid (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/wZjHhmUxg3M/erraid.html)
22 May 2011, 12:00 pm
Erraid (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/sets/72157626777292450/), a set on Flickr.Some fine bouldering on the island of Erraid. Idyllic pink perfection: seawashed granite, scooped walls, overhangs, roofs, cracks, slabs...you name it, Erraid is possibly the finest bouldering/cragging island in Scotland...it certainly looks the best!(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-3311090311595539989?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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New book on Rathlin Island by Stone Country (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/UxY-WLy4RVg/new-book-on-rathlin-island-by-stone.html)
26 May 2011, 3:55 pm
‘Rathlin: Nature and Folklore’ is on sale now for £9.99 at bookshops, on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rathlin-Nature-Folklore-Philip-Watson/dp/0954877985/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306425145&sr=8-1) or direct from the publisher at www.stonecountry.co.uk (http://www.stonecountry.co.uk/)
Open publication (http://issuu.com/StoneCountry/docs/rathlin_nature_and_folklore_sample?mode=embed&layout=http://skin.issuu.com/v/light/layout.xml&showFlipBtn=true) - Free publishing (http://issuu.com/) - More history (http://issuu.com/search?q=history)
IRISH AUTHOR CHARTS 50 YEAR LOVE AFFAIR WITH ISLAND
A FIFTY year love affair may feature in many tales, but a well known Northern Irish ecologist and writer is putting the island of Rathlin at the heart of his affections in a newly published book charting five decades of visits to its shores.
Philip Watson is a naturalist who has worked on several continents, but it is the lure of life on Rathlin island, just off the north Antrim shoreline, that has called him to explore the island’s mythical history, sealife, birds and wondrous natural terrain in ‘Rathlin: Nature and Folklore’.
Since his first glimpse in 1960 of her white chalk cliffs and dark basalts glinting in the sun, the 16 year old birdwatcher studying golden eagles on the mainland, has since spent many visits to the island for work and for pleasure, charting its changes - and sometimes beautiful lack of changes - in this new book, published by Stone Country Press Scotland.
Rathlin is Northern Ireland’s only permanently inhabited offshore island, sitting like a stepping stone in the narrow and turbulent Sea of Moyle between Ireland and Scotland, straddling cultures, habitats and peoples.
It is a busy, vibrant and beautiful place with a resident population of around 100 islanders who look to the future with confidence but can also hark back to a past of massacres, famine and emigration.
The tale, which can be as useful an island guide as a prosaic read, starts with Philip’s first work stint as he joins a small group of enthusiasts to set up a Bird Observatory to study migration, followed by other bird surveys on the island throughout the 1960s.
In the period 1970-75, his job as a fisheries biologist took him back to the island regularly for extended periods studying lobsters and crabs with the island fishermen, which accounts for several chapters in the book on Rathlin’s bountiful sea life.
In 1975 while working for the RSPB, Philip returned to Rathlin to negotiate purchase of large stretches of the northern and western cliffs for the RSPB, to become bird reserve areas.
It is over these two decades he built up friendships with fishermen and islanders that have lasted the course, and many have helped him piece together the island’s mythical and natural history in several chapters of the book.
In the 1980s Philip recounts how he became involved for a couple of years with Richard Branson’s UK 2000 environmental project; helping set up NI 2000, which took him again to Rathlin for community projects such as the restoration of the 18C Manor House.
Branson made a rare celebrity appearance on the island, when in 1988 he presented the islanders with a new fast lifeboat, in thanks for help when he crashed his trans-Atlantic record-breaking balloon just off its shores on 3 July 1987.
Working as North Coast warden and then countryside manager with the National Trust between 1984-88 and 1990-1999 took Philip much more frequently to Rathlin, as the Trust purchased some buildings and land for conservation and became involved with island life.
In the course of all these years on and around Rathlin, Philip gradually became aware of much more than its land, sea and birdlife - the island’s rich heritage of folklore. Tales were told to him of seals and mermaids that took human form, of the old woman who changed into a hare and back again, of legendary magical horses, ghosts and hairy fairies, of a whiskey-laden shipwreck and much more.
The footloose ecologist has returned frequently to the island in the 2000s doing seabird surveys – bouncing about in small island boats and scrambling about the cliffs and in the latter half of the decade he decided to make the golden anniversary of his first trip the subject of a book.
“I never need an excuse to go to Rathlin, it calls me. Now I visit regularly for the sheer pleasure of being on this magical island, to see old friends, to renew acquaintances with tens of thousands of seabirds, a hundred or so seals, the island’s rare golden hares (only 2 known there) and to revel in that unique feeling of being on an island – one that retains its integrity and beauty while coping with a fast changing world,” said the author.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-173961778453407698?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Rathlin book launch (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/86IneNIeiAo/rathlin-book-launch.html)
9 June 2011, 2:52 pm
Philip Watson, North Coast naturalist and social historian, will be signing and talking about his new book ‘Rathlin: Nature and Folkore’ which has just been published by Stone Country Press in PB at £9.99. Two events will be held:
Manor House, Church Bay, Rathlin - 3pm on Friday June 10th - free food and wine (1pm ferry from Ballycastle)...hopefully the weather will be good enough for an evening walk of the island...
Waterstones, Coleraine, 3pm on Sat 11th June 3pm - book signing
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CEaDkBM2rqQ/TfDd-jyM37I/AAAAAAAAeuk/3NsXtx7_RGk/s320/9780954877989+Rathlin+cover+web.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CEaDkBM2rqQ/TfDd-jyM37I/AAAAAAAAeuk/3NsXtx7_RGk/s1600/9780954877989+Rathlin+cover+web.jpg)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-2498178958721190526?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Garheugh Port (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/av9Az0IZSHM/garheugh-port.html)
16 June 2011, 8:11 am
Garheugh Port (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/sets/72157626845102263/), a set on Flickr.It's been a long time since Garheugh Port first attracted the boulderer, around the millennium in fact, when Dave Redpath, nursing a pulley injury, went exploring on the Galloway coast for some diversion...
'It was by chance that I pulled out an old guidebook, flicking through I happened to come across a place described as having a steep undercut slab and a few boulders. . .'
Sounded promising... Dave disappeared every weekend until a batch of superb problems on the greywacke rock of Garheugh was completed. It became a popular summer venue for bouldering the highball slabs in the sun and sea breeze, a good winter venue for catching low winter sun and holding the roof slopers. It saw a host of visits by excited central belters until it seemed to fade back to nature, as many Scottish venues tend to do when they have their moment and are left to slumber. I returned on the hottest day of the year on the 3rd of June - a real continental scorcher, southern air masses having drifted too far north. I was expecting to see ivy and lichen covering the slabs, but thankfully most of the classic problems were clean and there was even a little chalk here and there. Someone had built a rather fetching rock cairn from the flat echoey stones that litter the storm beach. Perfect day for getting the top off and sweating it out in the baking heat as seals slopped about in the weedy slackness of low tide...
It's located on the western foreshore of the Machars peninsula between Port William and Glenluce.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-3264535404395682485?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Stone Country Mountains of Scotland - Beinn a Chreachain (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/tJcC-XN_1yg/stone-country-mountains-of-scotland.html)
17 June 2011, 12:29 pm
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PUN36Al6ptw/TftGHZTji8I/AAAAAAAAewU/eKHR1mtK8_8/s320/View+from+summit+of+Beinn+a+Chreacainn.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PUN36Al6ptw/TftGHZTji8I/AAAAAAAAewU/eKHR1mtK8_8/s1600/View+from+summit+of+Beinn+a+Chreacainn.JPG)
The biggest peaks in each Scottish Mountain range - how many are there? Not as many as Munro's table of clustered bumps (pity the poor Skye bagger on the ridge!). The qualification is simple: the biggest peak in each distinct mountain range, though distinction is sometimes difficult. While this might seem lazy or just as arbitrary as Munro's fascination (a case in point is the Cobbler, much more dramatic than Ben Ime), it is at least not quite as obsessive, as each range gives a geological colour of its own and climbing the highest peak (usually) provides a good enough walking challenge, as well as offering a more realistic tour of Scotland's landscape, with landscape in mind rather than a tick-box. A good example of this is the northern Breadalbane range of hills sandwiching Glen Lyon. Beinn Dorain dominates only because it's by the road and it naturally captures the attention, but Beinn a' Chreachain provides a more remote experience entirely and arguably a richer experience of the landscape.
The most northerly sentinel of the Breadalbane range of hills (and the highest in the group), Beinn a' Chreachain ('the treeless hill' or 'the hill of the clam'?) rises to a blind bare summit cairn of 1081m. This fantastic hill is propped on top of the Coire an Lochain cliffs surrounding the dramatic clear pool of Lochan a' Chreachain. The walk to reach the start of this treeless hill paradoxically passes through a remnant of the Caledonian Forest - in Gaelic on the OS maps it is called 'Crannach': 'abounding in trees'.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pyEtbUbm_JA/TftEYqdAHdI/AAAAAAAAevo/eaCk8yoOCdg/s320/Ancient+Caledonian+forest.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pyEtbUbm_JA/TftEYqdAHdI/AAAAAAAAevo/eaCk8yoOCdg/s1600/Ancient+Caledonian+forest.JPG)
The walk starts at Achallader farm, home once to the duplicitous and treacherous land thief 'Black Duncan' (a graveyard of the original owners - the Fletchers - is supposedly nearby the ruined castle). The path follows the Water of Tulla along fine shingle banks where waders nest in the pebbles. The river is full of small, leopard-spotted trout.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VaqA7ABDvz4/TftHsE3QElI/AAAAAAAAewc/JZnaSE5gVXk/s320/Water+of+Tulla+Trout.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VaqA7ABDvz4/TftHsE3QElI/AAAAAAAAewc/JZnaSE5gVXk/s1600/Water+of+Tulla+Trout.JPG)
Soon you are diverted uphill into the wonderful old forest of Scots Pine, birch, alder and mountain ash and fine bog flora such as giant clumps of butterwort.The old trees I noticed had lost a few limbs in the recent storm of 23rd May, revealing fleshy white scars - thankfully the dry spell of April saw no fires (it's been a tough year for trees in Scotland!). It still retains that romantic magic of the 'Lost Forest', the Rannoch bog having failed to spill over and climb the northerly flank of the Breadalbane hills to which they cling. The railway barrels through the forest but is well hidden and I only heard two trains all day. The path loses itself at the end in a fenced off area where the density of saplings increases and the bogs deepen, one can almost imagine the primal Scottish habitat of boar, auroch, lynx, bears and wolves...
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qIpBwYUgdMA/TftF2vYlMkI/AAAAAAAAewM/F6ha5IY0IlY/s320/The+last+pine+on+way+to+Beinna+Chreacainn.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qIpBwYUgdMA/TftF2vYlMkI/AAAAAAAAewM/F6ha5IY0IlY/s1600/The+last+pine+on+way+to+Beinna+Chreacainn.JPG)
Suddenly you are spat out onto a fine grassy sward by the steep Allt Coire an Lochain - look out at the burn for a very old twin tree of alder and mountain ash, intertwined by centuries of growth. The path continues up the burn to the last bastion of a Scots pine at the 550m contour (your halfway height). From here you can take the easy left flank of the hill, but I prefer the steep climb into the dramatic corrie by the Lochan. I had my fishing rod, but over a brew of tea it became apparent there wasn't a single fish here. I wonder if they had been frozen out of existence by our last two arctic winters or if they were hiding in the depths, but not a single rise kissed a circle on the surface.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2AqUFg-iY0/TftIsHzTAeI/AAAAAAAAewo/f13BmT3ZwqY/s320/Coire+an+Lochain+Beinn+a+Chreacainn.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2AqUFg-iY0/TftIsHzTAeI/AAAAAAAAewo/f13BmT3ZwqY/s1600/Coire+an+Lochain+Beinn+a+Chreacainn.JPG)
I heard the ventriloquist fluting of ring ouzels somewhere in the scree, but could I spot them hell. I gave up fishing and bridwatching and bashed up the punishing gully on the east side of the cliffs to a bealach and a fine view into Glen Lyon. A short gasper to the summit quartz gained the highest peak in this massif, with grand views north over Rannoch to the Coe and Nevis ranges. Most folk return along the plateau via Beinn Achaladair to bag the peak, but not being a bagger I meandered down the ridge and back into the depths of the forest, rewarded by a late evening sun-glow on the red limbs of the old pines.
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-4599225153059008280?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Circuit bouldering Scottish style (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/1k5R1a6jGCQ/circuit-bouldering-scottish-style.html)
5 July 2011, 4:01 pm
Arran Bouldering (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/sets/72157627122727242/), a set on Flickr.The biggest, meanest, longest bouldering circuit?
I'd say Arran has a good chance of winning this one. Hop the 7am ferry, get a bus to North Glen Sannox and walk up into Coire nan Ceum, do about 20 of the best problems there (mostly slabs but a few choice roofs up to 6b), then nip up the Witch's Step to the Caisteal Abhail ridge. This has some fine bouldering all the way to the summit on some isolated blocs and on small tors beyond.
Drop down along the big arced ridge to the Cir Mhor summit and some architecturally challenging domino blocs with body-munching properties (and the Rosetta Stone, if you can find it). The silvery slabs on the south west flank of this hill have some compact rock and balancy problems.
At this point you might want to stop for some lunch, you'll be about 40 to 50 problems in. Got enough water? I couldn't find those springs marked on the 1:25,000 map, though I was convinced I could hear bubbling water under the stones.
Now drop down to Fionn Coire under the Rosa Pinnacle. Lots of fine easy bouldering on the howff boulders under the crag, then nip across the stream to the A Chir boulders, a fine compact collection of technical problems (and some big projects). About 30 or so problems up to 5c/6a.
By now, your feet should be raw meat, if it's a hot July day, and you'll be drinking water from the streams at every opportunity. Cramp-thighed, stomp down Glen Rosa to the Daingean boulders by the bivi stone at the path (Cuckoo pockets etc). About 10 problems here up to 7a, but you'll have no skin for that level.
A final haul down to the lower Rosa boulders (about 15 reasonable problems) and a well-deserved dip in the plunge pools of the Rosa burn, then see if you can make the 4.40 ferry.
To extend it properly into a form of alpine torture, walk over Goatfell's south ridge to drop down to Corrie and finish on this classic circuit and catch the later ferry (over 200 problems in total, about 15 miles walking). I made it to plunge pool in Glen Rosa and was done in . . . a blistering circuit, indeed.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-8121158668966108152?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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A little light comedy . . . (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/Op8jDxWZt74/little-light-comedy.html)
6 July 2011, 4:16 pm
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-7171901587092557013?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Hutton's Arran (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/tzTq3XfWC6Y/huttons-arran.html)
12 July 2011, 10:31 am
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PPcmsr_kEB0/Thwf9ht_0BI/AAAAAAAAfZM/nlIKK_2mrKE/s400/Caisteal+Abhail+blocs.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PPcmsr_kEB0/Thwf9ht_0BI/AAAAAAAAfZM/nlIKK_2mrKE/s1600/Caisteal+Abhail+blocs.JPG)
In my palm, I roll around three small stones taken from the waters. One is a blue schist pebble, slightly chipped, another a perfect egg of sandstone conglomerate and the last a pink and white granite sphere. When I force my brain onto the rack of geological time, exploding it out into a thousand ‘civilizations’ or so (my attempt at imagining a million years), then multiply this by, say, 50, I just about get an idea of each stone’s provenance. I feel I am rolling around three small planets in untouchable orbits; three lost worlds of breathtaking beauty, shape and form; elegant worlds which have been crushed, eroded, rolled into one another and, briefly, given this current page of a pop-up book: there you go, this is your planet for now; turn the page another million years and another world pops up. Stones are border guards of the unknown and secretive territories; bureaucratic knots in our states of understanding deep time . . .
...for the full article, visit the E-books page (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/p/bouldering.html)(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-7097872060770966876?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Chilling Out and Freaking Out (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/isyX9ln1UYE/chilling-out-and-freaking-out.html)
14 July 2011, 9:03 am
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rjjCWtzBDHc/Th6wshjh5lI/AAAAAAAAfa8/yigV6gxCRdo/s400/Jules+Lines+soloing+Spider+July+2011.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rjjCWtzBDHc/Th6wshjh5lI/AAAAAAAAfa8/yigV6gxCRdo/s1600/Jules+Lines+soloing+Spider+July+2011.JPG)
Taking photos in Glencoe for Jules' forthcoming book'Vanishing Point'. Managed to catch Daniel Laing and Murdoch Jamieson on the Freak Out wall ticking the classics, then some pleasant bouldering down at the boulders beside Loch Achtriochtan. Jules' book is nearly complete, will let everyone know the due date soon.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KOeP_aYl-5I/Th6vBmjujwI/AAAAAAAAfZU/Y7pdH696EuE/s400/Daniel+Laing+on+Crocodile+top+pitch+Freak+Out+wall.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KOeP_aYl-5I/Th6vBmjujwI/AAAAAAAAfZU/Y7pdH696EuE/s1600/Daniel+Laing+on+Crocodile+top+pitch+Freak+Out+wall.JPG)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7qBtQW0Bn-0/Th6vUTQDMBI/AAAAAAAAfao/XGkgORVGBZg/s400/John+Watson+on+Achtriochtan+traverse.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7qBtQW0Bn-0/Th6vUTQDMBI/AAAAAAAAfao/XGkgORVGBZg/s1600/John+Watson+on+Achtriochtan+traverse.JPG)(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-8098636767038327145?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Craig Minnan (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/YvQ9ba6FHzg/craig-minnan.html)
25 July 2011, 6:42 am
A forgotten, windswept moor with broken old crags overlooking Inverclyde, it's a good spot to escape in the high summer. I'd be keen to know if anyone has bouldered here - Little Craig Minnan, in particular, was a terrific buttress with exciting problems over good grassy landings. There appears to be more rock in Muirshiel than I remember, as though I'd missed some vulcanism in the last decade or so. Buttresses everywhere... but sometimes the high contrast summer light makes them seem more substantial than they are!
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RsMqcbxNCG0/Ti0O1XMkEdI/AAAAAAAAfc0/580vjGhXhu8/s320/Craig+Minnan_0285.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RsMqcbxNCG0/Ti0O1XMkEdI/AAAAAAAAfc0/580vjGhXhu8/s1600/Craig+Minnan_0285.JPG)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-2531916456387457288?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Glencoe (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/rCGCg0PS7L8/glencoe.html)
27 July 2011, 4:07 pm
(http://l.yimg.com/g/images/gallery-empty-icon.gif)(http://l.yimg.com/g/images/gallery-empty-icon.gif)
Glencoe (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/sets/72157627294065340/), a set on Flickr.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-8781602687753926741?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Reiff & Cnoc Breac (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/Suum8-HfYs4/reiff-cnoc-breac.html)
7 August 2011, 6:06 pm
Reiff & Cnoc Breac (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/sets/72157627253838345/), a set on Flickr.The last of the summer? What a scorcher at Reiff. Cnoc Breac was pretty good as well as a bouldering venue.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-6341331377742527769?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Powmill Blocs (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/8SFgUUdxKLI/powmill-blocs.html)
24 August 2011, 12:06 pm
(http://l.yimg.com/g/images/gallery-empty-icon.gif)
Powmill Blocs (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/sets/72157627507697520/), a set on Flickr.I'd appreciate any topos, grades, problems, names etc of the bouldering at Powmill that hasn't appeared on UKC for the A-Z of Scottish bouldering. Fine little venue for a dry sunny day in Autumn. I almost felt I was in a small corner of Font...(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-5237492041008226910?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Climbing Academy -new bouldering centre for Glasgow (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/5T2UyFApnww/climbing-academy-new-bouldering-centre.html)
7 September 2011, 11:05 am
It was kind of Rob Sutton and other directors to show me round the nearly complete 'Climbing Academy' bouldering centre at the old News International warehouses in Portman Street (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=200342304659584752201.0004aa610019d90bb7a19&msa=0), Glasgow (just below the M8 flyovers on the south exit of the Kingston bridge, off Paisley Road West). These premises are huge - thousands upon thousands of square feet of wood-panelled walls, at all angles, stretching down long corridors, circling into hidden spaces and tunnels. It is destined to become Scotland's largest and most ambitious bouldering centre and will bring bouldering to the masses as much as to the dedicated, jaded Scottish boulderer!
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D4vS_gNcrcA/TmdOL_Dq2dI/AAAAAAAAfn4/LBNw9xsRnrA/s320/The+Outside+.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D4vS_gNcrcA/TmdOL_Dq2dI/AAAAAAAAfn4/LBNw9xsRnrA/s1600/The+Outside+.JPG)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C_MqqavTLP8/TmdPKNUFQoI/AAAAAAAAfoA/nf4YXvTrHFo/s320/Snake+Head+feature.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C_MqqavTLP8/TmdPKNUFQoI/AAAAAAAAfoA/nf4YXvTrHFo/s1600/Snake+Head+feature.JPG)
Based on the popular 'TCA' ('The Climbing Academy') in Bristol (http://www.theclimbingacademy.com/), I was impressed as much with the holistic and rounded philosophy for development of bouldering as a mainstream health and fitness activity (both mental and physical!), as with the plans for a dedicated, world-class training centre and international competition space. The space itself is cavernous and tall, labyrinthine, with a cave-like insulation guaranteed to keep things at a steady cool temperature in both winter and summer.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AiRgh3ocCCY/TmdN0WayHxI/AAAAAAAAfnw/Qh17BTnCMdU/s320/The+Big+Prow.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AiRgh3ocCCY/TmdN0WayHxI/AAAAAAAAfnw/Qh17BTnCMdU/s1600/The+Big+Prow.JPG)
The facilities will be impressive and ergonomic: childrens' play areas; chill-out spaces; a good-food cafe; matted yoga and stretching spaces; rooms for professional treatments and therapists; showers; and a dedicated bouldering shop! The idea, I was told, was to create an uncrowded, explorative space, replicating the circuit feel of a compact outdoor venue. Walls of all angles link into each other, showcasing colour-coded 'natural' lines in graded circuits like Fontainebleau. Downloadable topos and circuit maps will be available for visitors to challenge themselves and benchmark their progress in the art of bouldering.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XWnWZXS6svs/TmdNYPI7zOI/AAAAAAAAfnk/ve0pqeMTO4o/s320/Big+spaces.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XWnWZXS6svs/TmdNYPI7zOI/AAAAAAAAfnk/ve0pqeMTO4o/s1600/Big+spaces.JPG)
This philosophy of inclusivity cannot be underestimated and it seems the directors have got the 'vision' spot-on: bouldering should be accessible to all and athletic climbing 'play' is the name of the game, no matter what circuit or grade you are chasing. Wandering under the painted, bolt-holed boards, I was in full visualisation mode, imagining 'classic' problems up prows, over lips, through roofs, round aretes . . . it truly will be a blessing to have such a venue for those long winter nights and those rainy summer days in Scotland.
The centre is planning to open in late autumn, with a super-flexible pricing policy. Keep up to date with their blog (http://www.tca-glasgow.com/glasgow-climbing-blog/) and join up as soon as they open - as a climbing art in itself, this is what bouldering has deserved all along.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CQaXbpYvfOw/TmdNj4M05uI/AAAAAAAAfno/kTIYX88K8OY/s320/Shiny+new+holds.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CQaXbpYvfOw/TmdNj4M05uI/AAAAAAAAfno/kTIYX88K8OY/s1600/Shiny+new+holds.JPG)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9rt3-Mw2y48/TmdN-SHjucI/AAAAAAAAfn0/JimsCgg-chM/s320/The+Comp+wall.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9rt3-Mw2y48/TmdN-SHjucI/AAAAAAAAfn0/JimsCgg-chM/s1600/The+Comp+wall.JPG)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-6632606382631309779?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Craigmore Crag (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/DcVQi0ygxOY/craigmore-crag.html)
25 September 2011, 4:51 pm
A few dedicated Craigmore 'believers' have been busy tidying up the bouldering for this crag (as well as the litter and the last of the chanterelles!). Stone Country is working on the new guide for Southern Scotland (Stone Country Bouldering in Scotland Volume 1), which will mean a lot of problem checking, grade arguments and very sore skin if my tendons and back hold out long enough - otherwise I'll need an army of guinea pigs.
Craigmore comes into magical conditions only occasionally, autumn dry spells being my favourite. Before the rain swept in today, I had a fresh, leaf-whispering morning on Jamie's Overhang repeating all the variations (apart from 'Surprise Attack', which I've done once and doubt I'll get done again for a while!). Look at the disdain here as I kick away my own boulder mat on the excellent wee Font 6c dyno 'The Art of War':
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-6360234522919750160?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Chasing the right weather . . . (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/CriaoQIbzyA/chasing-right-weather.html)
11 October 2011, 8:08 am
Not as odd a concept as you may think . . . with the amount of forecasting sites available on the web, 'chasing the weather' has become a black art.
All of us who love the outdoors have different priorities when it comes to weather: rock climbers, winter mountaineers, canoeists, surfers, walkers, paragliders. However, we all have one thing in common: the perfect forecast! For a surfer, this may be a settled period after a storm, with huge swells and little wind. For walkers and climbers, it is the eternal hunt for the 'blue day', usually a high pressure forecast with light winds and dry conditions underfoot. For canoeists, rain-swollen, low pressure systems whet the appetite, as the rivers boil into bursting arteries of peaty water. For paragliders, only the stillest, 'thermal' days will do.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TOUWuRJT7jU/TpP4d2bLPYI/AAAAAAAAfvk/VZGqSQPGycs/s320/IMG_2456.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TOUWuRJT7jU/TpP4d2bLPYI/AAAAAAAAfvk/VZGqSQPGycs/s1600/IMG_2456.JPG)
Many old-timers will smell it in the wind, or have developed an instinct for it, such as 'mixed' winter mountaineers. This rare breed of snow-scrapers seek out hoared up rock in the Highlands, with each hill-range cursed with particular micro-climates and eccentric thermal behaviours influenced by a largely maritime situation - only perfect combinations of temperature, moisture and wind direction will see the cliff face come into 'perfect nick'. Nothing is more disappointing after a 2am alpine start, a 4 hour drive, a powder-snowed 3 hour walk-in, than to find the cliff 'black' and dripping, rather than frozen into a turfy, dandruffed playground.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZU3-CywlX9I/TpP4LM0aQhI/AAAAAAAAfvc/8gbiEKBxyWQ/s320/Ben+Lomond+in+winter+Inversion.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZU3-CywlX9I/TpP4LM0aQhI/AAAAAAAAfvc/8gbiEKBxyWQ/s1600/Ben+Lomond+in+winter+Inversion.JPG)
For boulderers, only a dry, cold spell in autumn or winter, when the leaves wither into Barbecue crisps and the rock squeaks with chalk, will do. For trad climbers, long summer high pressures are the stuff of dreams, it seems more so these days.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zqAXPK5mb9I/TpP4kHEdB0I/AAAAAAAAfvs/Zpo_yyHTRS4/s320/Jamies+2.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zqAXPK5mb9I/TpP4kHEdB0I/AAAAAAAAfvs/Zpo_yyHTRS4/s1600/Jamies+2.JPG)
And so we all have our favourite forecasting sites, trawling through our list of Favourites to find the forecast that's 'just right', knowing fine well the weather will do just what it's going to do. It doesn't stop us picking our forecasts, though. Here are a few of my most visited sites for chasing weather in Scotland - my favourite is the Norway site. The Scandinavians are obviously used to Atlantic weather fronts and YR.NO (http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/Scotland/Glasgow/) is a great weather channel providing a time-slide animation which features wind direction, temperature and precipitation at once. It also offers pretty accurate long-term forecasts for those of us stuck at the coalface of dirty, jet-streamed low pressure queues...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Z4spZRlhNc/TpP05kUHt0I/AAAAAAAAfu0/d21LQXJ9PWQ/s320/Weather+forecast+for+Glasgow%252C+Scotland+%2528United+Kingdom%2529+%25E2%2580%2593+yr.no.png) (http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/Scotland/Glasgow/)
The BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/6?area=G42) also offers a reasonable time-slide satellite animation and good break-downs of daily local conditions:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5s_EOgDTutU/TpP2V0o7WLI/AAAAAAAAfvQ/4ri8aOpTnMU/s320/BBC+Weather+-+G42.png) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/)
The best mountain sites for Scotland are the MWIS (http://www.mwis.org.uk/wh.php) page, a PDF-based system, and the Met Office Mountain Forecasts (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/loutdoor/mountainsafety/westhighland/westhighland_latest_pressure.html)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GBBMeG27Zm0/TpP194QHE9I/AAAAAAAAfvA/fYj83fuvXfs/s320/MWIS-+Mountain+Weather+Information+Service.png) (http://www.mwis.org.uk/wh.php)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FSjyt0KMO58/TpP2A1ANzXI/AAAAAAAAfvI/6MLHwvx2ykw/s320/Met+Office-+West+Highland-+latest+pressure.png) (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/loutdoor/mountainsafety/westhighland/westhighland_latest_pressure.html)
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Italian Lakes interlude (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/4fO_p_Nj6mQ/italian-lakes-interlude.html)
23 October 2011, 3:24 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JaxSEqvVx2M/TqLnEOHZ8sI/AAAAAAAAf1w/P9-U6NJZKzM/s320/Varenna+from+the+Spluga+boat+to+Bellagio.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JaxSEqvVx2M/TqLnEOHZ8sI/AAAAAAAAf1w/P9-U6NJZKzM/s1600/Varenna+from+the+Spluga+boat+to+Bellagio.jpg)
A week of late autumn sunshine and soft alpine breezes made for a perfect walking trip, plus some stunning rock architecture curtain-walling the many well-marked paths of the Italian trail network. Lierna is a superb base for exploring Lake Como and the foothills of the Sondrio alps, underneath the high ridges of the Grigna and the Legnone. The high treeline allows shaded walks to about 1500m, I tripped over myself several times as 300m faces of rock reared through the gaps in the oak and beech.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WTdwj40sQwc/TqQs8Q5TeoI/AAAAAAAAf48/sZwNvGhPt1w/s320/Lierna+cliff+2.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WTdwj40sQwc/TqQs8Q5TeoI/AAAAAAAAf48/sZwNvGhPt1w/s1600/Lierna+cliff+2.jpg) It was also a trip to unwind, watch sunsets with a beer or two and swan about the jigsaw harbour villages of Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio. I even thought I might catch a glimpse of George Clooney on his Vespa - 'Ciao, George!' - but his name was banned on the holiday, just referred to as Voldemort...
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ePhUIlW4w3w/TqQs8zIqQrI/AAAAAAAAf5E/WFsBxG-hQrs/s320/Bellagio+from+high.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ePhUIlW4w3w/TqQs8zIqQrI/AAAAAAAAf5E/WFsBxG-hQrs/s1600/Bellagio+from+high.jpg) Lake Como is a leggy lake with two branches reaching down to old Etruscan/Roman towns of Lecco and Como, the hidden bays more accessible by boat than land, usually punctuated with peninsular castles and echoing the longue duree of history and struggle for the control of the high alpine passes. Etruscans, Celts, Gauls, Romans and then Longobardi fed the distinctive mixed-blood of these mountain lakes before the Italians just seemed to give in to a flashier culture of style, cars and football. You'd certainly be hard pushed to discover a sense of cultural and financial nervousness currrent in other European countries, there's a lot of brash money on display here. Some of the cars aren't quite so flashy, though...
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qEgFP3-r7Xs/TqLn5HhUuTI/AAAAAAAAf34/uiOravCr-Fg/s320/Vezio+garden+truck.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qEgFP3-r7Xs/TqLn5HhUuTI/AAAAAAAAf34/uiOravCr-Fg/s1600/Vezio+garden+truck.jpg)
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Mapping the forest, or mapping the mind? (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/IxgZCbJUFxs/mapping-forest-or-mapping-mind.html)
29 October 2011, 2:53 pm
In that Empire, the craft of cartography attained such perfection that the map of a single province covered the space of an entire city, and the map of the empire itself an entire province. In the course of time, these extensive maps were found somehow wanting, and so the College of Cartographers evolved a map of the empire that was of the same scale as the empire and that coincided with it point for point. Less attentive to the study of cartography, succeeding generations came to judge a map of such magnitude cumbersome, and, not without irreverence, they abandoned it to the rigours of sun and rain. In the western deserts, tattered fragments of the map are still to be found, sheltering an occasional beast or beggar; in the vwhole nation, no other relic is left of the discipline of Geography.
Jorge Luis Borges, "Of Exactitude in Science" from A Universal History of Infamy (Penguin 1984 p.131)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1INgBJlekE4/TqwMrjmXA4I/AAAAAAAAf6A/aWPFXukDd40/s320/John+Coll+a+little+lost+in+Font.jpg)
All maps are illusions, tricks of the mind, elaborate tapestries of scale. And they only exist in our head, despite their intricate keys and contours. Look at old political maps of the world, or Ptolemy's map of Scotland, or Timothy Pont's 'reformed' maps of the Scottish Highlands - they hint more at our imagination and preoccupations, rather than any 'physical' reality. Google maps are still just a satellite's myopic squintings, whatever their resolution. Anyway, being exact is impossible, fractals lead us into chaos, and by nature a 1:1 scale would be a ragged reality, as Borges suggests.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K3dIJlu0WK4/TqwL5HbAaKI/AAAAAAAAf5w/Vtxyb4IB7S0/s320/Ptolemys-map-of-Scotland.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K3dIJlu0WK4/TqwL5HbAaKI/AAAAAAAAf5w/Vtxyb4IB7S0/s1600/Ptolemys-map-of-Scotland.jpg)
Ptolemy's Map of Scotland, which way is up, what is north?
Mapping for a book, providing a topographical 'bird's eye' overview, is already an imagining and a very personal interpretation. How do you reduce the world to a page? What is the optimum reduction you need? To map Fontainebleau for a guidebook on bouldering, I had to take my mental canary, intrepid little visionary high above my head, directing the wandering biped far below amongst the trees, clutching his sketchbook.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0u0Hwz31OIQ/TqwMZ-zTdjI/AAAAAAAAf54/IWmdEZAtod4/s320/Autumn+2010+on+the+SB16.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0u0Hwz31OIQ/TqwMZ-zTdjI/AAAAAAAAf54/IWmdEZAtod4/s1600/Autumn+2010+on+the+SB16.JPG)
Mapping the chaos of boulders meant long wanderings with the mental canary controlling my scratching pencil from on high . . . I was a human puppet in thrall to shapes of rock, stacked cubes - Jenga-towers of plinths and boulders. I marked on my little numbers, drew my squares and circles, interlocked my rhomboids, laid down my contours and began to grow the imagined map of my Fontainebleau. Just as Denecourt had done with his featured trails in the previous century.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KpDPhFmqams/TqwM5zd97oI/AAAAAAAAf6I/syo2NVG-v9U/s320/IMG_0002.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KpDPhFmqams/TqwM5zd97oI/AAAAAAAAf6I/syo2NVG-v9U/s1600/IMG_0002.jpg)
Year after year, with a sketchbook and the trusty canary, I set off into the oak and pines and birch, like so many before, but into my own imagination of the place. I couldn't map every stone and boulder problem, I had to imagine what would be useful for someone visiting the forest for a first time, what would help them navigate through a natural chaos. What was a landmark? What could be erased from relevance? What was remote; what accessible?
Relativity is all, and thankfully Fontainebleau already has an in-situ mapping of colour-coded paths (thankyou, Claude-Francois Denecourt!) and a recent culture of painting numbered circuit problems on the boulders. My IGN map of Fontainebleau is ragged and holed in the creases from constant folding. I grew to love those little aluminium signs nailed to trees, stencilled with the old crossroads and bridleways of the forest - Chemin du Bois Rond, Chemin de la Vallee Close, Carrefour du Bas Breau . . . and so one, they all interconnected and gradually I encircled my empty spaces on the paper.
Road maps I drew with to magnetic north, to avoid confusion between separate maps, but down at the micro-level, amongst the trees, north and south are meaningless, so each map can be orientated whichever way you like, you just need a frame of reference. I stuck to the approach paths as frames of reference, marking the stones as I found them on the direction of approach, keeping the book page in line with the walking climber. Stomping into Potala, for example, the classic orange circuit appears at the base of the page as you suddenly emerge from the woods onto a sandy clearing and glowing, pristine ochre walls.
I know that the page becomes the map . . . the blankness feels its way into meaning, this block narrows against this one, round the back should be red 22, follow the corridor, turn left, there it is, the canary wheels high above, re-orientates . . . the small figure far below, under the canopy, moves off again . . . the forest landscapes of Fontainebleau appear like castles in a pop-up book of wizardry.
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Stone Country 'Bouldering in Scotland' news (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/x8y-AQg5Dtk/stone-country-bouldering-in-scotland.html)
15 November 2011, 10:52 am
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wwPweyRZNZQ/Trvjn75RaYI/AAAAAAAAgEU/zO8cZPGWeMk/s320/Coire+nan+Ceum+blocs+NR+978+451+the+Witch+block+slab+Font+4.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wwPweyRZNZQ/Trvjn75RaYI/AAAAAAAAgEU/zO8cZPGWeMk/s1600/Coire+nan+Ceum+blocs+NR+978+451+the+Witch+block+slab+Font+4.JPG)I've been meaning to build a website of Scottish bouldering for ages, but it's a hell of a job and Scottish Climbs has a lot of stuff anyway and many people have their own blogs and sites which prove useful for the wandering boulderer in Scotland.
Nevertheless, I've opened a Google Bouldering in Scotland (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/home) site where I'm putting draft topos and updates for the forthcoming updated editions of the Bouldering in Scotland printed guides. As time goes by, I'll add more videos, topos, maps and photos to complement the print guides. We're looking for area authors for the three new guides: Central & South/Central Highlands/Northwest Highlands, so please get in touch if you want to feature your hard-earned expertise on the blocs - there are a lot of folk who have put so much time and effort into their bouldering and Stone Country is a community publishing press!
Each area will be based on an accessible 'day-run' radius, including the islands closest to mainland ferry ports (eg. Arran will be in Central & South, Mull in Central Highlands) and the guides will be see a complete design overhaul. They'll feature photos from local photographers and activists, complete problem listings, photo topos, all-new maps and access notes, and of course, hundreds of new stones and venues developed since the gazetteer edition of 2008. Areas which feature new and exciting problems include: Torridon, Sheigra, Reiff, Aberdeen sea-cliffs, Glen Nevis, Galloway, Strathconon, Laggan, Trossachs, Dumbarton (of course), Shelterstone, Arran and a lot more!
The topos on the new site are free to download but are copyright of their authors, so please use them for personal use only. In many cases they require significant updates, so if you want to get in touch to tell us what you've done, please do so!(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-3328100001460189206?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Angus Glens bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/p4uOMA4BxDw/angus-glens-bouldering.html)
15 December 2011, 5:26 pm
I think the Angus Glens (Doll and Clova etc) have got some terrific potential beyond the Red Craigs if you get a good breezy summer day and fancy a walk with the mat... which is obviously what these adventurous lads at Collective Productions have done. The teaser trailer has some terrific looking rock. I especially like 'Vanguard'. Bring on the full film!
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Boulder Britain - a bolder guide (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/t4zwwTPNpFo/boulder-britain-bolder-guide.html)
23 December 2011, 5:50 pm
You know those people who push peanuts up a hill with their nose? Or Sisyphus rolling his rock? Such is the magnitude of the task and the strain on sanity which Niall Grimes was prepared to shoulder millenia ago, it seems, when the idea of a 'British Bouldering Guide' was a cute little puppy of a concept. Of course, it grew into a slavering beast of a project. And this colourful beast - the first and only bouldering guide to Britain (all 488 pages) - is now amongst us, like a bright new boulder that just materialised at your favourite venue. The book is, to quote a word Grimer likes, 'stunning'. Stunning rocks, stunning photos, landscapes to drool over, evening sunlight hitting rock... I could meander amongst its pages for hours, which is precisely what I did, throwing mental shapes and moves over all those lovely boulders.
Scotland is given a page or two per major venue, and this whistle-stop approach is general throughout the book. It is a mammoth task and Niall has performed miracles of editorial concision to give us the best each venue has to offer. The variety of bouldering represented is terrific, you get a real taste of Britain's geological smorgasbord, and the 180 venues have over 3,200 classic problems described with clean, sunny topos and clear approach maps.
Not only does the guide do what a guide is supposed to do, it is perhaps the most entertainingly written climbing guide I have ever picked up. Each page will raise a smile - just reading the history of the Langdale boulders will give you a taste of how refreshingly free from earnest, grade-chasing, navel-gazing is this book...bouldering is meant to be fun and Niall seems to have understood that message. Whether you are a solitary, heather-tramping, mat-hauler or a communal, gritstone Sunday picnicker, the guide covers all tastes and communicates the various characters of our rocks and our strange fascination with pebble pilates.
The production quality is to die for and Niall has no doubt spent many long nights embedded in the intricacies of Adobe software, or howling at the moon when a lovingly traced map crashes without a save... the sheer bloody-mindedness needed to produce something this good-looking would put creationists to shame: it is a sophisticated, technicolour creature that has evolved fully-formed out of the primordial swamps, magma chambers and silent seabeds of our geological past.
Of course, it is a book produced by the 'community of the realm' of boulderers and woudn't exist but for the obscure passion of multifarious souls who ditch all to huddle sniffling under a damp overhang waiting for a few square inches of rock to dry. Niall rightly sets the book in this context and, as some kind of beneficient overseer or scribe, has diligently pulled it all together into a biblical work of dedication. This 'good book' should really be the one handed out at Sunday schools around the country - go forth and clamber upon rocks, take thee this bible... perform your stations...
Amazing what a little paper, ink and a stony curiosity can produce - well done Niall, this book is all the richer for you taking it on. I am going for a long bath, and I may be some time... three cheers for Ape Index!
Support the poor wretch who went blind and starved and withered to bring you this feast:
Boulder Britain - what £25 was made for (http://boulderbritain.com/) (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-3410718081139438?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Northwest New Year (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/7TvSmQgUxkc/northwest-new-year.html)
8 January 2012, 11:37 am
A week in Ullapool over New Year saw us staring out of rain-lashed sash windows, or sqeezing blustery walks in between painful hail showers. Constant winds had brought up an impressive surf at the normally placid Achnahaird.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EguvT94pA7w/Twl-Sv9tUYI/AAAAAAAAhDs/gQbNFI3ZFBA/s320/DSC00223.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EguvT94pA7w/Twl-Sv9tUYI/AAAAAAAAhDs/gQbNFI3ZFBA/s1600/DSC00223.jpg)
I even tried to crank out the aptly named Clach Mheallain (Gaelic for 'hailstones') at Reiff in the Woods, racing to get myshoes on before the approaching storm, but fingers grew too numb and my boulder mat flipped over in my face - game over! a few boggy trots hunting down boulders led to one entertaining cleaning session in a full-on rain storm, which was like scrubbing a filthy land-rover in a jet-wash.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pRedl0cLMBY/Twh8BvJnf5I/AAAAAAAAhDA/qCT92l8dCQs/s320/DSC00238.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pRedl0cLMBY/Twh8BvJnf5I/AAAAAAAAhDA/qCT92l8dCQs/s1600/DSC00238.jpg) Rogie Falls in spate
A week of storms throughout the country has led to the most saturated ground I've seen in Scotland, rock didn't stand a chance of drying in the bitter winds. We retired to the Ullapool Bouldering Wall, trying hard not to pull down Ian's carefully constructed training boards after too many pints and pies.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PSNHoFJh4n0/Twl-Tg_J7zI/AAAAAAAAhD0/BDDNtR1MN_M/s320/DSC00233.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PSNHoFJh4n0/Twl-Tg_J7zI/AAAAAAAAhD0/BDDNtR1MN_M/s1600/DSC00233.jpg)
Corrieshalloch Gorge was the most impressive feature, in full flow and pretending (bar a few tens of degrees) to be something out of a tropical Jurassic period...
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mhMd8ACC5KM/Twh7jAcqrRI/AAAAAAAAhBY/4xgk38tvfhg/s320/IMG_4253.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mhMd8ACC5KM/Twh7jAcqrRI/AAAAAAAAhBY/4xgk38tvfhg/s1600/IMG_4253.JPG)
So on to 2012, we are due a high pressure or two and dare I say it, I am sick of the sight of the TCA!
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Losing the apostrophe on Ben A'an (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/I2fdQ1TGN2w/losing-apostrophe-on-ben-aan.html)
8 January 2012, 12:19 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-719gZWRuVN4/TwiBo_nsfPI/AAAAAAAAg_8/QujQHu7fUHw/s320/P1010581.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-719gZWRuVN4/TwiBo_nsfPI/AAAAAAAAg_8/QujQHu7fUHw/s1600/P1010581.JPG)
This well-trodden nub of steepness in the Trossachs is anglicized into Gaelic, if you can think of it like that. That tourist board poet Walter Scott, re-imagining the Trossachs as a heroic Celtic heartland, heard the original name 'Beannan' (small mountain) and came up with 'Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare'. Then, at some point, an apostrophe was added, I can find out no reason why other than to suggest a kind of imagined Gaelic by a confused OS surveyor or Victorian poets and guide-book writers trying to suffuse an element of throatiness into this tiny, confused and very simple peak. A bit like the 'h' in 'Rhum', it should just be sawn off at the stump.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WRxQDO38HJQ/Twh8HDNxlcI/AAAAAAAAg_s/OOBS8Qnwksg/s320/P1010577.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WRxQDO38HJQ/Twh8HDNxlcI/AAAAAAAAg_s/OOBS8Qnwksg/s1600/P1010577.JPG) After the storms on the Ben An path...
'Am Binnean' is the most accurate original guess ('small pointed peak') and the Gaels have always erred on the side of simple topographical description and human lives were generally too short, violent and irrelevant to christen hills otherwise. Timothy Pont's maps all had Gaelic names mis-translated into the more restrictive throat of English and to this day the English alphabet struggles to suggest the richness of the timbre in Gaelic, hence maybe the guilt over Ben An and the adding of the apostrophe. Older maps of the peak bracket it as 'Binnein' and we should stick to this, or 'Am Binnean'. If we do have to anglicize it, just go the whole hog and call it Ben An, with no mysterious and confusing retro-Gaelicization.
It was well windy up here on the 7th January and at the top, struggling hard to keep the camera steady, I could feel all those apostrophes flying uselessly through the air...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TNGNbCax53k/TwiBwhPrpHI/AAAAAAAAhAU/VyqDoGkg_tY/s320/P1010586.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TNGNbCax53k/TwiBwhPrpHI/AAAAAAAAhAU/VyqDoGkg_tY/s1600/P1010586.JPG)
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Craigmaddie in wellies (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/rnJbgUwYGsc/plinth-craigmaddie-font-6c-perfect.html)
13 January 2012, 4:26 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w4S9vPbXKwU/TxBWXK2eeSI/AAAAAAAAhGA/pOXiE3qHQ1k/s400/IMG_4276.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w4S9vPbXKwU/TxBWXK2eeSI/AAAAAAAAhGA/pOXiE3qHQ1k/s1600/IMG_4276.JPG) The Plinth, Craigmaddie, Font 6c+
A perfect morning at Craigmaddie on Thursday 12th as the weather finally settles and the blue skies return. Warmed up on the lower roof lip traverse, trying not to slip off into the boggy gunk below. Then settled on the first 6c of the season, 'The Plinth' left hand version. It starts off the plinth, using the big block underneath for the feet, slap up the crimps on the shield, then a crux throw left for the sloper leads to a tricky one foot smear as you stare at the slopey ledge hold for the right hand. Not over yet, an easy-to-fail snatch for the top - a super problem and under-rated - feeling harder as the sandstone is still bleeding a little winter damp and my right hand kept flipping off.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zlJWJUbDRbM/TxBX7-9rUoI/AAAAAAAAhIE/9SMDrkRNoY4/s320/IMG_4337.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zlJWJUbDRbM/TxBX7-9rUoI/AAAAAAAAhIE/9SMDrkRNoY4/s1600/IMG_4337.JPG)
Millstone circle or gnomon? What does the 'H' mean?
Reading up on Craigmaddie Muir, it has some interesting hidden history. Not only is there evidence of Neolithic and Bronze/Iron Age tombs and settlement, this is all confused by an overlay of millstone quarrying. I found some interesting symbols under the big roof, mason marks of all sorts, next to the names A. Cairns and J.Neilson and an unfinished 18** date inscribed on the rock. Must check Bardowie cemeteries for masons...
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Xs5EJ8OY_o/TxBX65pKBYI/AAAAAAAAhIA/cH6B5V5jZmQ/s320/IMG_4336.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Xs5EJ8OY_o/TxBX65pKBYI/AAAAAAAAhIA/cH6B5V5jZmQ/s1600/IMG_4336.JPG) Cogwheel pits
On the plateau are dozens of quarried 'cogwheel' pits distinctive of millstone quarrying. Holes would have been flooded with water and wooden splints inserted under the semi-carved stones. The water would swell the wooden wedges and snap off fully-formed millstones. The quarriers also had a mischievous bent, as there are 'fairy' carvings all over the place, including an Egyptian-style 'eye', a gnomon circle (or millstone peck-tracing), mason marks, names, mysterious 'H' marks, faces on the Auld Wives Lifts (and lots of Victorian graffiti), and even a 'fairy footprint' in the rock, a bit like the King's Footprint at Dunadd, but obviously moulded on a size 6 welly boot... or perhaps this was the ancient seat of a lost kingdom? I still haven't found the reputed serpent carved in a plinth and reported in an old archaeological survey.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u9zt1-sSQ7E/TxBX-113g3I/AAAAAAAAhIQ/oIHKWcLUSr4/s320/IMG_4340.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u9zt1-sSQ7E/TxBX-113g3I/AAAAAAAAhIQ/oIHKWcLUSr4/s720/IMG_4340.JPG) Fairy welly print...
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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February - Blue Skies at Craigmaddie (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/8eDSImcu5UE/february-blue-skies-at-craigmaddie.html)
2 February 2012, 7:00 pm
Took advantage of the high pressure drying out the gritty sandstone at Craigmaddie for a few hours bouldering before the skin could take no more. If anyone knows about Mason marks, have a look at the photo below and let me know what they mean. These marks are under the left sheep pen, next to (presumably) old quarriers' names 'A. Cairns' and 'J. Neilson'. I assume these guys, or colleagues, carved the mason marks onto the sheltered back walls of the caves, no doubt during long lunch breaks or wet days when they couldn't be bothered digging out the mill-stones.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HXiNFNondkY/TyrdK0v-CaI/AAAAAAAAhbM/g5nKqiwgHW8/s320/P1010602.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HXiNFNondkY/TyrdK0v-CaI/AAAAAAAAhbM/g5nKqiwgHW8/s512/P1010602.JPG)
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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In search of The Murder Hole (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/o_b9faSsXzQ/in-search-of-murder-hole.html)
26 February 2012, 9:18 am
(http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/46/23/462329_02eb7c83.jpg) (http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/46/23/462329_02eb7c83.jpg)
On a round of the rigs of Galloway Forest Park, via The Merrick and the glacial lochs of Enoch and Neldricken, we were intrigued by an OS reference to 'The Murder Hole', marked as a water feature in blue by Loch Neldricken. This is possibly an anglicized term for a feature once known in Gaelic, for the area was originally colonised by the Irish Gaels as suggested by the toponym of Galloway itself, named after the medieval Gaelic 'Gallgaidelib' and referring to a 'land of the foreigners/Gaels' - 'Gall Ghaidhealaibh' in modern Gaelic.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eT43Hyd3FHI/T0njLzrT0cI/AAAAAAAAh2Q/znH_tHg9UgQ/s400/P1010655.JPG?gl=GB) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eT43Hyd3FHI/T0njLzrT0cI/AAAAAAAAh2Q/znH_tHg9UgQ/s128/P1010655.JPG?gl=GB)
Gaelic for murderer is 'murtair', so an anglicization is easy if this was a pool renowned for murderous drowning, though it seems a long way to go to drown someone - the Buchan burn gorge is a lot more accessible! It was, however, picked up by the writer Samuel Rutherford Crockett as a setting for his novel 'The Raiders', in which The Murder Hole eponymises a chapter.
'I was carried among them, and there, not twenty yards before me, like a hideous black demon's eye looking up at me, lay the unplumbed depths of the Murder Hole...'
The watery hole that Samuel Crockett refers to in his adventure tale is indeed a looped bay of peaty, black water of no insignificant depth of around 105 ft (32 metres). This was measured by the hillwalker J.McBain, author of the 1929 book 'The Merrick and the Neighbouring Hills - Tramps by Hill, Stream and Loch', by the bold method of tiptoeing out onto winter ice, cutting a hole and dropping a plumb-line.
Murder is an integral theme of these hills. The name Buchan (as in Buchan Hill, Dungeon of Buchan, Buchan Burn etc.) refers to the Earl of Buchan - a relative of John Comyn 'The Red', who was murdered by Robert Bruce on consecrated ground in a Dumfries chapel in 1306, as part of a long-running feud over land-ownership and rights to the crown between the Balliol-backed Comyns and the Bruce dynasty. Bruce's subsequent guerrilla war against Edward I and II included a victory at Glen Trool in 1307, and nearby Claterringshaws, which set him on his way to eventual coronation after Bannockburn, 8 years later.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Bruce's_Stone.jpg/360px-Bruce's_Stone.jpg) (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Bruce's_Stone.jpg/360px-Bruce's_Stone.jpg)
The naming of remote, moorland 'murder holes' (there are others Galloway) is most likely a reference to murders perpetrated during the 'Killing Time' of the 1680s when Charles II and then James II brought murderous penalty to the cause of being a Covenanter and daring to interpret one's religion without a suitable intermediary (or spiritual landlord called a Bishop or Pope!). The religious persecution led to many high-profile deaths, but also many unrecorded but well-kent practices of murder in the Presbyterian south-west. Oral history relates tales of shepherds who would report finding murdered bodies on the moors, dumped in gullies or lochans or on the heather where they fell.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YhiduCSFrzY/T0njQZmUFNI/AAAAAAAAhw0/wZyTqn8qYPI/s400/P1010662.JPG?gl=GB) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YhiduCSFrzY/T0njQZmUFNI/AAAAAAAAhw0/wZyTqn8qYPI/s128/P1010662.JPG?gl=GB)
Which brings me to another possible toponymical interpretation of 'Murder Hole' and its actual physical feature in the landscape. Just above the entrance of the burn into Loch Neldricken, where the OS map notes the water feature of the Murder Hole, lies a distinct granite passageway (a geological fault) through which the burn pools and rumbles. You can stand on its edge and look down into its rocky throat and imagine it as a perfect 'murder hole' into which bodies could be dumped. Medieval castles often had a narrow passageway built leading to the main gate, with windows above known as 'murder holes', through which to fire arrows or pour pitch onto unsuspecting, or simply unfortunate, soldiers. So is this feature the original 'murder hole', before Crockett misinterpreted and fictionalized the deep pool of murder nearby?
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Stone Play 2 - The Art of Bouldering revisited (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/VHgX2Bdi-To/stone-play-2-art-of-bouldering.html)
5 March 2012, 7:26 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_gFUnQ8b2j0/T1UQXRml-yI/AAAAAAAAkCc/bg1QfKqshV8/s320/2+Stone+Play+400+px.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_gFUnQ8b2j0/T1UQXRml-yI/AAAAAAAAkCc/bg1QfKqshV8/s1600/2+Stone+Play+400+px.jpg)
One of the unfortunate consequences of doing a full-colour photo-book with essays is neglecting to give enough space for the written word. We published Stone Play - the Art of Bouldering in 2007 and it was well received as a book which gave bouldering a voice outside of the traditional climbing sphere, allowing it a little philosophy of its own. However, many articles had to be cut to allow a fuller complement of photography, one of the most expensive and unnecessary mistakes I've made in publishing!
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QQtFV5rXgPc/T1UP_pmuAUI/AAAAAAAAkCU/pT17t4iej0w/s400/Stone+Play+2+cover.png) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QQtFV5rXgPc/T1UP_pmuAUI/AAAAAAAAkCU/pT17t4iej0w/s1600/Stone+Play+2+cover.png)
Since then, much more has been written on the aesthetics of bouldering and there is a vibrant and growing literature to match its online presence in video and image. So, we've decided to revisit the book, but this time reducing the fascination with the image (heavily saturated in our online age) and allowing the written word to coax out the subtle and elusive experience of bouldering. On re-reading, the words are generally so much more adept at capturing the fluid inner-experience of the boulder problem. New articles have been gathered, original writings will appear at length, and the whole book is being given a fresh edit. Also, the format of the book is changing. We are producing a limited edition hardback at a reasonable price followed by an e-book, so keep an eye out in 2012 for the new edition!
This is all ahead of publishing an exciting new book on the philosophy of bouldering by US-based boulderer and thinker Francis Sanzaro - more on this remarkable writer soon . . .
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Glen Lednock (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/uK9aI_byA8M/glen-lednock.html)
19 March 2012, 2:44 pm
(http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6234/6996280067_a48e297608_b.jpg) (http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6234/6996280067_a48e297608_b.jpg)
Spring in Glen Lednock... red kites, buzzards, curlews, lapwings, munro-baggers and boulderers. Everything out at it, we attacked the blocs and shredded tips on this particularly vicious geology - a compact quartz schist, every pocket like a Piranha's kiss. Just grazing the rock takes the skin off your knuckles, so working a sequence out mentally, and visualizing your moves, is good advice for this venue. Or just watch someone else and absorb the beta... anything to save skin and allow more than the obligatory two hours before the tips start throbbing. Whilst there are some good 7th grade testpieces such as Tsunami, Manic Stupor, Monochrome and Reiver's Logic, the most fun is to be had circuiting the best problems around Font 5 to 6b (a Font red circuit, or Lednock 'blood' circuit). The outlook over the Sput Rolla waterfall and down Glen Lednock is idyllic.
Updated list of problems at:
https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/glen-lednock
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Spring 2012 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/HCVHYG6mIBU/dumbarton-spring-2012.html)
11 April 2012, 5:29 pm
Dumby... as the days lengthen and improve, so the litter grows! The place may be a mess and a hopeless example of citizenship, but hell, the bouldering is good and folk are getting out on their projects! Good to see Johnny Bean back climbing after his illness, plus some new fresh faces getting the psyche for the place, that's encouraging...
The rock has dried, the chalk grows like a white fungus and still there are new problems to be found. I took advantage of some cool spring weather to work my nemesis of Pongo Sit and did a few new problems. One in particular is a cracker and a 'project' I had stared at for years but never actually tried - the wee groove left of Kev's problem went via a bizarre but pleasing dyno to jugs. It feels utterly impossible until you throw for the lip, the wild swing from the jugs just feels magic when you latch it.
At Craigmore, the recent dry spell brought out the boulderers, but it appears someone is a little too eager with their cleaning and has gone a bit ape-shit with their saws - some trees were chopped and this is utterly unacceptable. Careful cleaning of holds is fine, but wholesale Napalming is not, nor is there any need to chop or even prune trees...they just don't get in the way of the problems, certainly not the worthwhile problems. And no problem, especially the shitty problems, are worth sacrificing 20 years or more worth of growing...
Anyway, rant over, here are the three versions of the Terror Problem explained in a vid. The project of the main face via the left hand on the crimp is still to be done...
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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French Impressionism (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/I-qG525jZ9U/french-impressionism.html)
3 May 2012, 3:10 pm
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mVyRrXZDk-Y/T6JmpoJkBZI/AAAAAAAAkSE/eYdvme2ypdo/s640/2012-04-24+11.49.15.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mVyRrXZDk-Y/T6JmpoJkBZI/AAAAAAAAkSE/eYdvme2ypdo/s1600/2012-04-24+11.49.15.jpg)
Fontainebleau again. Encore une fois. The more I visit, the more it impresses, and the more it grows its mental skins. I am becoming a Fontainebleau 'oignon', if not quite a 'bleausard' - layers of memory, repeated climbs, new areas, the dappled light, the sounds of the place; all co-mingled into an impressionistic mess of sensation that bangs an emotional gong when I hear the word 'forest'. Even injured and unable to climb, I am happy to let it soak in again, like a sudden April shower.
It was indeed a wet spring, with the forest lashed by the dirty tail of Atlantic fronts soaking northern Europe - a ragged, out-of-the-ocean dog-shake of a low pressure system. We sloughed off the Euro-glitz of Paris, not to mention the 8-Euro a pint nonsense and retired to a hut in the forest. We visited the market in Milly-la-Forêt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milly-la-For%C3%AAt) and stocked up for a spell of natural impressionism, with respectably priced Grand Vins from la Coccinelle, then long evenings of blurred masterpieces of forest light.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Ja9zcf1_0g/T6JlH5a4MnI/AAAAAAAAkNM/rVx5qMBHkGs/s640/_MG_4516.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Ja9zcf1_0g/T6JlH5a4MnI/AAAAAAAAkNM/rVx5qMBHkGs/s1600/_MG_4516.JPG)
With the weather wet, it was a real opportunity to explore some areas of the forest: the 'mini-Scotland' of Coquibus heath reminded me of Corot and Rousseau's winding, sandy tracks under stormy skies; the rocky plateaux and mature canopies of the Franchard gorges, now so much more overgrown than the 'deserts' of 19th Century postcards (the Napoleonic wars and charcoal burners had stripped the place to a rock-garden); the fancy galleries, museums and 'maisons forets' of Barbizon; the sleepy bridges and baguette-hungry ducks of Grez-sur-Loing; the rifle-crack ranges and pistes-cavaliers of Corne-Biche. The whole, vast matrix of the forest - the 'lungs' of Paris - breathes quietly from another century while the hyper-tensive artery of the A6 throbs through the core of the place, yet still the forest springs into life each year, the green leaves eager to shush modernity's clamour. There are constant surprises - what I think is a crow suddenly climbing a tree trunk is a giant black woodpecker; a psychedelic flash in the leaf litter is a green lizard; and a little mini-boulder turns out to be a twitchy giant snail, folding shyly back into itself like a plastic bag in a fire.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hb1T2Kl_DbA/T6Jl4R4nD3I/AAAAAAAAkP0/FWxYitJFbpk/s320/IMG_4540.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hb1T2Kl_DbA/T6Jl4R4nD3I/AAAAAAAAkP0/FWxYitJFbpk/s1600/IMG_4540.JPG)
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JIl688pSh5s/T6Jowt-0QYI/AAAAAAAAkYw/Fx6hH9MC3bo/s320/2012-04-25+19.27.07.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JIl688pSh5s/T6Jowt-0QYI/AAAAAAAAkYw/Fx6hH9MC3bo/s1600/2012-04-25+19.27.07.jpg)
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sqdhPmxLkZI/T6JlhkvtJII/AAAAAAAAkOs/u8nZ_nJTJ9g/s320/_MG_4528.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sqdhPmxLkZI/T6JlhkvtJII/AAAAAAAAkOs/u8nZ_nJTJ9g/s1600/_MG_4528.JPG)
I did some mapping, my own peculiar cartographies of rock. Despite compass, GPS and aerial photography, the best way to map a chaos of boulders is simply to walk round about them for a week, linking up the circuit numbers and doing bird's-eye imaginings from above. Each time I visit, there are more polished, clean slopers of new problems, and the low, chalky rubrics of desperate sit starts. It is remarkable how often you confuse one boulder for two - so many facets and only one perspective - the whole process is like doing a jigsaw with replicate pieces, gradually melding the drafts into tighter circles, merging walls and corners like a Rubik's cube, linking up perspectives and joining the old, sly logics of circuits into their intended stations. I appreciate circuits more and more; they are discreet passages of climbing philosophy, a kind of monkish addiction.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yIWiaRAjEa8/T6Jno5vVDOI/AAAAAAAAkUw/b8grMj60dkM/s400/IMG_4580.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yIWiaRAjEa8/T6Jno5vVDOI/AAAAAAAAkUw/b8grMj60dkM/s1600/IMG_4580.JPG)
There are a lot of good guides and maps out there but it makes me smile to see how everyone interprets the boulders... it's such a subjective art. Look how differently Bart van Raaj interprets an area in 7+8 (clever use of minimalism) compared to the holistic depth of Jo Montchausse (his 'complete Cuvier' map for three Euro, available in Decathlon at the Carrefour, must be the best value-for-money topo ever produced!). It all depends what you wish to bring to the attention of the wanderer - Denecourt had the same inspiration and the same dilemma, and no doubt he walked many routes in combination before committing to his little blue paint pot.
Reassuringly, people climb. Most of the guidebooks I see end up flapping in the wind on a flat boulder, rifling their own maps like inaccurate dreams, as they should; or they sit face down on the sand, oblivious, traversed by ants, as we chalk up and slap hands together, then begin to boulder...
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TdelKFwU_NQ/T6JnNJxDgOI/AAAAAAAAkTg/iLRyBuBelqM/s400/IMG_4562.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TdelKFwU_NQ/T6JnNJxDgOI/AAAAAAAAkTg/iLRyBuBelqM/s1600/IMG_4562.JPG)
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Before the rain in Mull (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/_w1HM4IV0Sk/before-rain-in-mull.html)
17 May 2012, 8:17 am
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4DN7q7krjWM/TdjBgI4_EVI/AAAAAAAAeDg/b-3cMWMcw6c/s320/Granite+on+Fhionnphort.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4DN7q7krjWM/TdjBgI4_EVI/AAAAAAAAeDg/b-3cMWMcw6c/s1600/Granite+on+Fhionnphort.JPG)(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vRW9cue31hE/T7FFwftNijI/AAAAAAAAkfc/wMCu6QM0h0A/s320/IMG_4679.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vRW9cue31hE/T7FFwftNijI/AAAAAAAAkfc/wMCu6QM0h0A/s1600/IMG_4679.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_SM42Iid5YQ/TdjCZxAL0pI/AAAAAAAAeIc/JlgJAvHB4zk/s320/Erraid+high+tier+wall.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_SM42Iid5YQ/TdjCZxAL0pI/AAAAAAAAeIc/JlgJAvHB4zk/s1600/Erraid+high+tier+wall.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bnT1y7zlgug/TdjCBJDUCyI/AAAAAAAAeGI/QMnFK4dPWFM/s320/Carsaig+columnar+basalt.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bnT1y7zlgug/TdjCBJDUCyI/AAAAAAAAeGI/QMnFK4dPWFM/s1600/Carsaig+columnar+basalt.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DseSzLAoa6U/T7FJDNZ7pCI/AAAAAAAAkn8/p5Q_kzyPKmk/s320/_MG_4752.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DseSzLAoa6U/T7FJDNZ7pCI/AAAAAAAAkn8/p5Q_kzyPKmk/s1600/_MG_4752.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MiZV-NE3tH0/T7FI4F5y16I/AAAAAAAAknc/eQ6RMNT8TbE/s320/_MG_4748.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MiZV-NE3tH0/T7FI4F5y16I/AAAAAAAAknc/eQ6RMNT8TbE/s1600/_MG_4748.JPG)
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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New Arran Blocs (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/-jKL4bWh9vA/new-arran-blocs.html)
22 May 2012, 6:39 am
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V7D6Y4ejP9M/T7nmWrZ7auI/AAAAAAAAkzg/Mo0t98UQPCs/s640/IMG_4796.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V7D6Y4ejP9M/T7nmWrZ7auI/AAAAAAAAkzg/Mo0t98UQPCs/s1600/IMG_4796.JPG) Simon working the big roof...
Arran is a like a big granite lump of dough that someone has pushed an icy thumb into several times - the big corries pinch out the crusty ridges and the crumbs have all tumbled down into the bowls, trailed out in long deposits by the slabbery dribble of glaciers. The fringe of the island is dotted with big erratics that have tried to make it to the sea, such as the 'Corrie' boulders, but the densest collection of rocks lies in the higher corries such as Fionn corrie, Garbh corrie and Coire nan Ceum.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kbeoYK1KGqs/T7nlsLFD6II/AAAAAAAAkyw/K7Z-n34QN10/s400/IMG_4787.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kbeoYK1KGqs/T7nlsLFD6II/AAAAAAAAkyw/K7Z-n34QN10/s1600/IMG_4787.JPG)
Coire nan Ceum...just a few of the blocs!
We took the opportunity of a good forecast to get the first sunburn of the year with a hike into Coire nan Ceum, via the bounciest bus on the island (the 324), then a pleasant stomp up the North Sannox burn to the boulderfield (45 min). Folk have mentioned this place to me over the years, Claire Youdale had said there were some big stones, and she wasn't wrong. The vast territory of rocks is a maze to navigate - a bit of a geological Narnia, everyone scattered through their own wardrobes of fascination to hunt for their projects.
We regrouped and decided to start at the top, at the biggest blocs, then work downhill along the vanished glacier's rocky scribble. The granite is ultrabasic in nature and fierce on the fingers, so failing repeatedly on roof projects leaves the skin tattered. Warming up on slabs, shredding toes rather than hands, then doing a few quality 'circuit' problems between Font 4 and 6a, warmed us up for the harder lines and the most attractive roof problems.
The granite-pure waters tumbling under and around the boulders were ideal for cooling throbbing tips and toes. A pint in the Sannox Hotel was just reward for a hard-fought collection of classic new problems. The area will feature in the new Bouldering Guide to Scotland - Volume 1...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NGw1D5VDPs4/T7nmKB4V5ZI/AAAAAAAAkzQ/MajWsv7u0yI/s400/IMG_4792.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NGw1D5VDPs4/T7nmKB4V5ZI/AAAAAAAAkzQ/MajWsv7u0yI/s1600/IMG_4792.JPG) Simon on the slabs...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1SpNw8brbYE/T7ntaV9_LjI/AAAAAAAAk8I/ALWC34NYK0I/s320/IMG_4886.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1SpNw8brbYE/T7ntaV9_LjI/AAAAAAAAk8I/ALWC34NYK0I/s1600/IMG_4886.JPG) The end of the day...
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Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Some Scottish Bouldering News 2012 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/2Qb_rpZys6o/some-scottish-bouldering-news-2012.html)
25 May 2012, 8:04 am
Some news from the travelling band...
May 2012
Greg Chapman of LakesBloc (http://www.lakesbloc.com/) and Rock and Run (http://www.rockrun.com/) has been busy exploring in the Ross of Mull, adding the hardest problems to date on the superb pink granite that pokes out from under Mull's tertiary lavas around Fionnphort. His two best finds were both 7c+ on steep prows north-east of Kintra. Many other walls and problems are being developed, with exciting new stones to be revealed soon! It's good to see such plum lines finding attention - Mull is full of potential for everyone. Check the Mull (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/mull) page for a sample Google map of some areas.
(https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/home/mull-1.JPG?height=200&width=155) (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/home/mull-1.JPG?attredirects=0) (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/home/mull-2.JPG?height=200&width=188) (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/home/mull-2.JPG?attredirects=0)
April 2012
Dominic Ward has done some cracking new problems high up on the Bealach na Ba at Applecross: a new direct problem on the Sanctuary Cave (Kneed for Sanctuary), and a new crag called the Sia Stone has given some quality problems. Nic has kindly donated a topo for the area on the Applecross (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/applecross) page, he'd appreciate some feedback, and maybe some traffic on these stones! Cheers, Nic.
(https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/home/Applecross_Shek_Nic%20Ward.png?height=147&width=200) (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/home/Applecross_Shek_Nic%20Ward.png?attredirects=0) (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/home/Applecross_Nic%20Ward_Sheepdog.png?height=150&width=200) (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/home/Applecross_Nic%20Ward_Sheepdog.png?attredirects=0)
March 2012
Dave MacLeod has succeeded on his long term project on the Skeleton Boulder in Glen Nevis. He climbed the project just before a bouldering trip to Switzerland, where he climbed Mystic Stylez, 8c.
Commenting on his new problem Natural Method, he said it was the '...Hardest thing I've one this year by a mile!' Dave has suggested 8b+ as a grade. I'm sure the Swiss experience, on similarly-styled rock to Glen Nevis, allowed him to contextualize the grade. It just looks superb, full of intricate and, of course, very powerful moves. Dave explains in his blog (http://davemacleod.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/using-natural-method.html?showComment=1337428948220#c7728817091866086727) how the climb was a return to the 'natural method' of improving bouldering by bouldering lots!
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-9195163226058169313?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Laggan bouldering topo (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/PhkZKgBItlw/laggan-bouldering-topo.html)
1 June 2012, 1:27 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QoG6kJ0drqs/TgjPbhcsTPI/AAAAAAAABcc/4gfv18dKJ0c/s400/Strongbow.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QoG6kJ0drqs/TgjPbhcsTPI/AAAAAAAABcc/4gfv18dKJ0c/s1600/Strongbow.jpg)
Gaz Marshall has completed his topo for Laggan, which is one of the better Central Highland venues and has featured regularly on Gaz's blog Soft Rock (http://gaz-softrock.blogspot.co.uk/). Strongbow is must-do problem and worth visiting just on its own:
'Two jumbles of schist boulders, one North and one South of the village, have been found and developed by local Aviemorons. This is a guide to current developments; Creagan Soillier, aka Laggan 1, North of the village, and Creag Bhuidhe, aka Laggan 2, to the South...'
More details on the Laggan (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/laggan) page... thanks Gaz! (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-7256888806844193226?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Requiem for the Boulders? (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/2o_gbz17uWI/requiem-for-boulders.html)
1 July 2012, 5:43 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5PzJJ885TBg/T-LomV1S8AI/AAAAAAAAl_c/uX7abiVidLU/s320/2012-06-21%252010.24.29.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5PzJJ885TBg/T-LomV1S8AI/AAAAAAAAl_c/uX7abiVidLU/s512/2012-06-21%252010.24.29.jpg)
DUMBY newsflash! SNH and West Dunbartonshire Council (http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/business-and-trade/regeneration/town-centre-regeneration/dumbarton-town-centre-projects/public-realm-improvements/) will be sandblasting/cleaning the boulders in an attempt to remove graffiti and climbers' chalk. It seems climbers have not been consulted and it's a little late in the day for any intervention or consultation - we await the blasters to see what damage they may do... whilst some may welcome a clean-up, it is possible the cleaning may improve friction, but equally it could polish holds and blast off bits of rock. It really depends on educating and informing the contracted body responsible for 'cleaning'.
I did notice the place had been thorougly cleaned of litter recently (the Council?) and there have been noises about the Council also fitting the night lights again. This activity may be welcome as a means of 'public realm improvement', but will climbers be viewed as vermin or activists of the public realm?
I think we should all (as climbers) inform the MCOS (http://www.mcofs.org.uk/contact.asp) as to our feelings about the lack of consultation. I would point out several positives from climbers' history with the venue, which should be made clear in any consultation with stakeholders at Dumbarton Rock:
1. We LIKE the place and USE it a lot, so naturally want to see a balance between conservation and the rights of our climbing heritage.
2. We clean the place up independently and ought to be recognised, or at least consulted, when decisions are being made on 'cleaning' the rock, which from our point of view, is a delicate topic - we treat the rock much more precisely than anyone e.g. sandblasting could damage the rock and radically change the nature of many climbs.
3. This heritage is not notional - climbers have brought decades of sport, social inclusion and personal development on a uniquely independent scale to Dumbarton and its population. Many 'youths' have got into climbing through Dumbarton Rock. We need cite only the achievements of Dave MacLeod who began his career here - arguably the world's best all-round climber.
4. Climbers are generally active conservationists and have the place's long-term future at heart. If visual pollution by chalk is deemed a problem, we can change to eco-chalk, liquid chalk on hands, no loose chalk and police our own pollution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution). Climbers have also made significant efforts to counter their own erosion by using mats and gravelling out erosion channels.
5. Hundreds of climbers visit Dumbarton every year, bringing significant revenue to the town through transport, shops, petrol etc.
If anyone has any other comments on why we should be seen as 'stakeholders', please get in touch (stonecountry@virginmedia.com) and we'll try and get a statement off to the MCOS (http://www.mcofs.org.uk/contact.asp) who act as our official access representatives in Scotland. (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-4650964365060787825?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Dumbarton Rock Update (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/AeqkCFMXvfE/dumbarton-rock-update.html)
4 July 2012, 4:38 pm
(https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTD6gbgoM5yw4N9_Zj3v-ZeKV0y_f-XqhQmfw2fGlwmv2DrO-iW) (https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTD6gbgoM5yw4N9_Zj3v-ZeKV0y_f-XqhQmfw2fGlwmv2DrO-iW)
It seems there has been some confusion and misinformation about cleaning of the boulders/crag at Dumbarton. Currently, the issue is in the hands of MCoS, Historic Scotland and SNH, so please check for official statements on the MCoS (http://www.mcofs.org.uk/home.asp) website, the most recent of which is here >>> official news (http://www.mcofs.org.uk/news.asp?s=2&id=MCS-N11031&nc=Climbing).
Whilst we may all have different views on how best to manage visual pollution such as graffiti - some would like to see it go, some feel it is part of the urban character of the place - the best we can do is represent our feelings on climbing heritage to the MCoS as our official access representative.
My own personal statement in defence of climbing here remains:
1. We LIKE the place and USE it a lot, in all seasons, so naturally want to see a balance between conservation and the rights of our climbing heritage.
2. We clean the place up independently every year and ought to be recognised, or at least consulted, when decisions are being made on 'cleaning' the rock, which, from our point of view, is a delicate topic - we treat the rock much more precisely than anyone e.g. sandblasting could damage the rock and radically change the nature of many climbs.
3. This heritage is not notional - climbers have brought decades of sport, social inclusion and personal development on a uniquely independent scale to Dumbarton and its population. Many people, young and old, have enjoyed the mental and physical benefits of rock-climbing at Dumbarton Rock. We also might cite the achievements of Dave MacLeod who began his career here - arguably the world's best all-round climber.
4. Climbers are generally active conservationists and have the venue's long-term future at heart. If visual pollution by chalk is deemed a problem, we can change to eco-chalk, liquid chalk on hands, no loose chalk and police our own pollution. Climbers have also made significant efforts to counter their own erosion by using mats and gravelling out erosion channels.
5. Hundreds of climbers visit Dumbarton every year, FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, as it is seen as a world-class crag - thus bringing significant revenue to the town through transport, shops, petrol etc.
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-8144496410450468653?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Summer Bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/fh-YasNSeUg/summer-bouldering.html)
20 July 2012, 6:55 am
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5yA-xe95Sfo/T__wMs-8_1I/AAAAAAAAC2o/J45GcjQ1jTE/s320/IMG_3572.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5yA-xe95Sfo/T__wMs-8_1I/AAAAAAAAC2o/J45GcjQ1jTE/s1600/IMG_3572.jpg)(http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/6_4/6_4_2.JPG)
The sandstone boulders under the cliffs of Raasay have seen some serious attention from top-end climbers Michael Tweedley and Dave MacLeod. Dave reported an amazing and very continental-looking project on the giant boulders round Screapadal. Dave reports on the stunning potential of the area in his blog (http://davemacleod.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/raasay-recce.html):
'We spent ages looking round the boulders finding countless problems in the V0-V3 range that looked great, but not much for ourselves. But finally we stumbled upon one line that changed our psyche - the biggest, baddest Font 7c/+ roof in Scotland!'
Beastmaker (http://www.beastmaker.co.uk/blogs/news/tagged/7b) Dan Varian has written a hilarious blog about the ups and downs of Scottish bouldering, cranking out some big new testpieces in Torridon and Applecross in June. Lovingly entitled '3 days in Paradise, 1 day in a Shithole', you can tell he wasn't impressed by Dumbarton! Don't worry, Dan, we feel you and are trying to get the place cleaned up! See here for further developments on the clean-up and development of Dumbarton Rock via the MCOS >>> (http://www.mcofs.org.uk/news.asp?s=2&id=MCS-N11031&nc=Climbing).
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8162/7171897067_84d3dfb8e6.jpg) (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8162/7171897067_84d3dfb8e6.jpg) Wee Baws, 7b, Torridon
Ann Falconer, Nigel Holmes and others developed some more accessible circuit problems at Coire nan Arr around the Dam boulder and on the excellent wee boulder across the loch, with possibly the cleanest rock in Scotland! The dam area is extremely accessible and has a good mix of hard lines, projects and perfect 4 to 6a problems.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7263/7607561744_620f87ebd1_b.jpg) (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7263/7607561744_620f87ebd1_b.jpg) Ann Falconer on a Coire nan Arr traverse
In the south, a few Glasgow-based climbers have been developing Arran's remoter corries with some enjoyable circuit-style bouldering and the odd 'blankety blank cheque book and pen' i.e. any granite testpiece:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7130/7607603974_944d0d0333_h.jpg) (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7130/7607603974_944d0d0333_h.jpg)
The Whangie has seen some attention as a summer venue for boulderers. This crumbly crag, long a classic trad ground for developing nerve and control on poor rock, actually has an enjoyable circuit of problems from Font 4 to 6c, with the Traverse proving a camouflaged classic 6c - very hard to onsight! If you're limited to an evening's bouldering and want to escape the midges, this will catch any breeze going and the outlook is biscuit-tin classic.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T34gKnBvL1o/UAj-wufyHjI/AAAAAAAAmaI/FtUySdlfxB0/s320/P1010842.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T34gKnBvL1o/UAj-wufyHjI/AAAAAAAAmaI/FtUySdlfxB0/s1600/P1010842.JPG) The Whangie >Andy's Lip 6a+
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-4529302723288927456?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Coiregrogain Blocs (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/43n9o8G_jKA/coiregrogain-blocs.html)
22 July 2012, 4:20 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E_FD6HgmTNQ/UAwfntGxX7I/AAAAAAAAmcI/uGzefFF0ymU/s320/shot_1342956821275.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E_FD6HgmTNQ/UAwfntGxX7I/AAAAAAAAmcI/uGzefFF0ymU/s512/shot_1342956821275.jpg)
A very wet Sunday in the Arrochar Alps, so I put the running shoes on and took the long escalator-paced track up to the Allt Coiregrogain in horizontal, soaking drizzle. I'd been tipped off by Tom C.E. that there were some impressive blocs in the hanging glen between Beinn Ime and Ben Vane. He isn't wrong! Some giant stones with attractive, steep walls and flying aretes... the usual bogs might be an issue, but a dry week might make them just about approachable, if you like 5km walk-ins with big mats. Some nice camping spots, so perhaps a dry spring trip would see some big lines climbed. Apologies for the retro-style photo - the phone battery was so low, this was the only camera app that would work.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R1F2AQpoK3A/UAwfpcoPqnI/AAAAAAAAmcQ/5A0iGXNoBbI/s400/shot_1342956826099.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R1F2AQpoK3A/UAwfpcoPqnI/AAAAAAAAmcQ/5A0iGXNoBbI/s512/shot_1342956826099.jpg)(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-5412227492979557466?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Raasay Classic climbed (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/27YLyhK6YCI/raasay-classic-climbed.html)
30 July 2012, 6:49 am
Dave reports on his blog about the success and pleasure of bouldering in wild and haunting places such as Raasay. plus he bags a 7c+ classic, giving Raasay a big pin-marker on the bouldering map of Scotland!
Check out geolocation for the access (prwo at bottom left of pic) >>> (http://www.geolocation.ws/v/W/File%3AJumble%20of%20rocks%20-%20geograph.org.uk%20-%20972613.jpg/-/en) (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-1474041832650436318?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Update on Dumbarton Rock access (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/SlaIkdVEAww/update-on-dumbarton-rock-access.html)
31 July 2012, 7:16 pm
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2200/2542353258_7fba5d3065_z.jpg?zz=1) (http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2200/2542353258_7fba5d3065_z.jpg?zz=1)
MCOS and myself attended a meeting with Historic Scotland at Dumbarton Rock with David Mitchell (HS Director of Conservation), Ian Lambie, (District Architect for HS) and Stephen Gordon (Head of Applied Conservation at HS): they are keen to 'de-schedule' the crags and boulders so climbing can become official, but there are a few issues to resolve first. A geo-technical survey commissioned by Historic Scotland will allow a climber to accompany the survey to promote better understanding; there will be a council meeting with a climber representative to discuss landscaping; and any graffiti cleaning will be accompanied by a climber so no damage to holds is done (cleaning is a priority for the non-climbing crag face below Omerta). Cleaning methods will be discussed and whilst non-climbing rock might be blasted, climbing rock will use a non-damaging solution/steam cleaning method.
So, good news really and a real opportunity to keep our heritage alive at the Rock... thanks for everyone's help and statements, please email any concerns/letters/statements to me John Watson (http://www.facebook.com/john.s.watson): stonecountry@virginmedia.com
MCOS are of course involved, and their access officer Andrea Partridge will be at all meetings, but I will make sure bouldering/climbing gets understood as a valuable asset to the community. If anyone wants to get more closely involved or add to the literature we have to support climbing at Dumby, please do give me a ring 07546 037 588
John Watson(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-6795064365392281011?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Requiem for a Boulder Mat (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/s7IzdTcuhdk/requiem-for-boulder-mat.html)
2 August 2012, 3:27 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aQo5Qrwlfwk/UBqVayKGepI/AAAAAAAAmkU/6Lrygzon4b4/s320/Coilessan+blocs.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aQo5Qrwlfwk/UBqVayKGepI/AAAAAAAAmkU/6Lrygzon4b4/s1600/Coilessan+blocs.JPG)
It must be an age thing, but I found myself ogling new bouldering mats online, in preparation for patio-ing out my autumn project, when I just realised, jeez, I had another mat already. It was up in the Coilessan boulderfield, hidden under a roof. Was it? Or was I losing it? Bloody hell, how long ago was that, I thought? Three years? Oh well, best stomp up, hunt around in the hope of retrieving it, in whatever state it had been left by the Scottish elements. I seemed to remember leaving it under a steep project prow, fully intending to come back the next weekend... it was old and manky then, what hope for it now?
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I4cWPRjFEUM/UBqVmiv2POI/AAAAAAAAmkg/5kUpU4OItUE/s320/July+sky+and+lochan+Arrochar.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I4cWPRjFEUM/UBqVmiv2POI/AAAAAAAAmkg/5kUpU4OItUE/s1600/July+sky+and+lochan+Arrochar.JPG)
The plan was to do a good 10km stomp-around anyway, for it was way too hot for a bracken-fighting, tick-picking bouldering session, so losing some weight seemed like a good idea. I ran up the track for a couple of km, found the white post, stomped up through the 'bastard' tussocks and made a beeline for the giant boulderfield. Just getting here with a mat earns a 7a, I think - especially when the vegetation is in full camouflage outfit in July. This is a place with more projects than completed problems, you'll see why when you get lost in the maze of gullies, trapdoors, chasms, roofs and prows - lots to come back to, maybe, but I always get here bushed, too hot and scared to death of the man-eating nature of the place. Jesus, even the horseflies were oversized, military-spec monsters!
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OEYcNe6Jvdo/UBqWNGd6n1I/AAAAAAAAmk0/P5s3c5Wp27A/s320/Horsefly.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OEYcNe6Jvdo/UBqWNGd6n1I/AAAAAAAAmk0/P5s3c5Wp27A/s1600/Horsefly.JPG)
I found a few more good landings and nice leaning walls, then found my mat, wedged like a geo-cached mattress between two boulders. It was UV'd to a sickly white, spotted with fungus and when I pulled out the foam, a flurry of confetti and scurrying mice disappeared into the blaeberries. Munched to death!
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BNiVhqDVZCY/UBqV6fT1qXI/AAAAAAAAmko/w0DYe9gCFv8/s320/What+mice+can+do+to+a+bouldermat+in+Scotland.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BNiVhqDVZCY/UBqV6fT1qXI/AAAAAAAAmko/w0DYe9gCFv8/s1600/What+mice+can+do+to+a+bouldermat+in+Scotland.JPG)
I stuffed in what was left of the guts of the smelly, damp old Dropzone and carted it penitentially over the castle-cragged Cnoc Coinnich and back down to Glen Coilessan.
If anyone knows a good seamstress and upholsterer, let me know...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2WArPoXeKvM/UBqcSXIEkiI/AAAAAAAAmlE/xlU6ZTSbHo0/s320/Cnoc+coinneach+bloc.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2WArPoXeKvM/UBqcSXIEkiI/AAAAAAAAmlE/xlU6ZTSbHo0/s1600/Cnoc+coinneach+bloc.JPG) (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-5558024389248039494?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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August eggs and extreme Johns (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/i0xz5tFkEow/august-eggs-and-extreme-johns.html)
19 August 2012, 8:10 am
As work on the new bouldering guide continues, the summer is often a time to explore and map and check out others' explorations. Tom Charles-Edwards is probably one of Scotland's most under-rated pioneers of the 'lost boulder'. A bit like Christophe Laumone in Fontainebleau, Tom often prefers solitude and exploration, stringing together king lines on remote blocs. It is thanks to Tom that future generations will have futuristic and adventurous projects to keep them busy and feed the rat when all the 'accessible' stuff is worked out by the 'car-boot raider' (park by boulders, unload 10 mats, flash all the 8a's, tick, downgrade, eat carrot, pack up and drive off...apologies for unfair caricature?!).
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--AEl0rBVl_w/UDCc3A3YbsI/AAAAAAAAmsk/k5ncKZ5qGCY/s320/Flying+Pancake.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--AEl0rBVl_w/UDCc3A3YbsI/AAAAAAAAmsk/k5ncKZ5qGCY/s1600/Flying+Pancake.jpg) Tom Charles-Edwards on 'the Flying Pancake'
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rc3U__Z_KSA/UDCdP_Pv-DI/AAAAAAAAms4/WhrINOFV4GM/s320/Ben+Vane+Egg+Boulder+TCE.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rc3U__Z_KSA/UDCdP_Pv-DI/AAAAAAAAms4/WhrINOFV4GM/s1600/Ben+Vane+Egg+Boulder+TCE.JPG) The Dinosaur Egg, Arrochar area
Anyway, Tom has suggested some very good ideas for the new guides, as I'm trying to develop a guidebook that does justice to the many tastes in bouldering and provide enjoyable circuits for the visiting boulderer in Scotland. Tom's idea is a simple one: the 'day-hiker/bouldering circuit', that is, using boulders to way-mark a day in the Scottish hills, combining the best of mountain and boulder. A small mat and pack lunch, a good topo (!), and off you go... some of Tom's finds may have big projects, but they also have achievable and impressive lines over good landings (a consideration for remote classics). Linking these together in an enjoyable walk is also a kind of perverted geo-caching, or perhaps a new form of orienteering...but suggestions for such trails are welcome (the Arran corries circuit is a big case in point, with the Rosetta stone as highlight). For more on Tom's explorations, check out his Scottish Climbs (https://www.scottishclimbs.com/wiki/Boulder-hunting_in_the_Loch_Lomond_and_the_Trossachs_National_Park) page.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uM0CzQUNJ1c/UDCdKSAHeHI/AAAAAAAAmsw/7KZZfeGCIcI/s320/The+Blaeberry.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uM0CzQUNJ1c/UDCdKSAHeHI/AAAAAAAAmsw/7KZZfeGCIcI/s1600/The+Blaeberry.JPG) The Blaeberry, Coilessan
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dncB8s7v_V8/UDCczxbsHRI/AAAAAAAAmsc/1IN-wkkzxnI/s320/Glen+Kinglas+prow+247100.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dncB8s7v_V8/UDCczxbsHRI/AAAAAAAAmsc/1IN-wkkzxnI/s1600/Glen+Kinglas+prow+247100.JPG) Glen Kinglas prow
Oh the Scottish weather. Woe to the projects. rain, humidity, heat, not good for any form of climbing...we took a chance on Craigmaddie's sandy gritstone, hoping that the drying winds after the downpours might have hardened the flaky, brittle sandstone. There were a few lip traverses we had our eyes on and in this heat we thought the rough sandstone might just be playable (as Dumby's glassy slopers were not an option). It proved the case and the jaded, overheated, August boulderer found some playtime on some projects. The 'cantilever' problem, climbed in extension by Colin Lambton as a technical 6c and woefully named as 'EXtrEMe John', is a worthy 6b in itself and the original problem before 'John' naively bought the car with the unfortunate number plate. It's on the Jawbone crag, taking the lower lip traverse from the niche, with one excellent crossover sequence in a cantilevered, horizontal position. Proof that there's always more climbing at a venue if you squint your eyes a little.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UWL0YY8YOSQ/UDCXw1usc5I/AAAAAAAAmr4/pbr1PFurVtM/s320/July+12+Cantilever.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UWL0YY8YOSQ/UDCXw1usc5I/AAAAAAAAmr4/pbr1PFurVtM/s1600/July+12+Cantilever.JPG) 'Cantilever', about to cross over...
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-06tEDCDaBG8/UDCYOgnggwI/AAAAAAAAmsI/GvvrBKAVhMI/s320/july+12+Owl+2.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-06tEDCDaBG8/UDCYOgnggwI/AAAAAAAAmsI/GvvrBKAVhMI/s1600/july+12+Owl+2.JPG) Owl traverse variation
In this vein, the Owl Traverse is seeing a re-visitation with some crafty sequences to provide a harder project. As is 'The Nose' on the lower crag. This awkward arete/nose can be climbed from the corner at about 6a, rather scruffily escaping up to jugs, but a better, harder sequence, stretches out to the lip from the shelf, then cuts loose to a clamp and dyno for an excellent 6b+, with possible link-up connotations to the Abracadabra finish.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C4Gevs8coz0/UDCYJqAwoxI/AAAAAAAAmsA/mYkT48k1vXU/s320/july+12+Nose+variation+lower+crag.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C4Gevs8coz0/UDCYJqAwoxI/AAAAAAAAmsA/mYkT48k1vXU/s1600/july+12+Nose+variation+lower+crag.JPG) The Craigmaddie Nose, 6b+
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-4632807211865891119?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Craigmaddie circuit addition (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/phhwRTYyY4Q/craigmaddie-circuit-addition.html)
21 August 2012, 2:44 pm
The direct version of 'Chockstoner' problem on Craigmaddie's lower roof - a rather scrappy 5+ on the left arete - is much more satisfying this method, stretching out to slopers from the foot plinth, then cutting loose to finish up The Nose (a 5 from standing jump). Hardish foot clamping and dynamic throws make this about 6b+, anyone done it this before this way?
Craigmaddie The Nose Direct (http://vimeo.com/47919918) from John Watson (http://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/). (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-5522732725802302069?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Donegal Bouldering and Tweed's Port (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/PcoLR51f7w4/donegal-bouldering-and-tweeds-port.html)
2 September 2012, 11:55 am
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LEF1suudpv0/UENCnmSZrmI/AAAAAAAAnyY/tPTNKV0kwKQ/s320/P1020023.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LEF1suudpv0/UENCnmSZrmI/AAAAAAAAnyY/tPTNKV0kwKQ/s640/P1020023.JPG)
A week in Donegal in late August is a dolly-mixture of weather. It certainly meant wind and the tent spent most of the week flattened under an invisible thumb of constant pressure. The bouldering around Dawros Head and Tramore is always interesting, with the sand levels playing tricks with your memory. The Tramore dunes have grown, for example, and totally covered one nice wall I used to enjoy as I couldn't for the life of me find it again. I felt suitably small, thinking how casually our efforts are buried by wind and time. It was no different for the neolithic and bronze age folk - a large finger of granite, which was once pointed on a hill as a marker or territory post, has lain buried for millennia by a giant sand dune which is only now walking its way east and revealing the top of the blinded stone.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Kcdb5di9Nkg/UENEvMjuH_I/AAAAAAAAn3I/mRUPFgMn1xM/s320/P1020052.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Kcdb5di9Nkg/UENEvMjuH_I/AAAAAAAAn3I/mRUPFgMn1xM/s512/P1020052.JPG)
However, Marmalade Rock in Loughros has some nice problems on walls and orange quartz, with the coves at Rosbeg providing some good steep, sea-worn schist, though mostly the the wind played tiddliwinks with my mats. And in Donegal chalk balls run away like tumbleweeds if you drop them... there is nothing more embarrassing than chasing a chalk ball down a beach, with rock shoes on...
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0gvPJU3-yck/UEND8apnasI/AAAAAAAAn1Y/rSl-MDSK5Us/s320/2012-08-28%252009.32.03.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0gvPJU3-yck/UEND8apnasI/AAAAAAAAn1Y/rSl-MDSK5Us/s640/2012-08-28%252009.32.03.jpg)
I stopped off on the ferry home at Larne to climb on the big bloc at Tweed's Port, just north of Larne past Carfunnock park (no fun at all and full of squealing kids). I'm sure the locals have climbed on it, but it has four worthy aspects over a shore which needs heavy matting. The straight up lines are all fairly easy, on the four cardinal aspects. The east slabs tiptoe easily up over the tides when full. There is a south roof which provides some sit starts up to 6a and a a traverse of the west and south face is a good 6c if kept low. The meat of the bloc is a beautiful sea-worn north wall with what looks like some harder projects. I'd be keen to know of established problems if locals have climbed here, it's certainly the most accessible of blocs!
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vfLfENr7L88/UEM_ncl0IeI/AAAAAAAAnsI/spGQMTqOiJw/s320/tweedsport%2520arete%2520ss%25205.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vfLfENr7L88/UEM_ncl0IeI/AAAAAAAAnsI/spGQMTqOiJw/s720/tweedsport%2520arete%2520ss%25205.JPG)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-1055766261987156901?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Meall a' Choire Leith and Glen Lyon (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/UO4n8AdXZsg/meall-choire-leith-and-glen-lyon.html)
9 September 2012, 10:11 am
This unremarkable and indistinct bump of moss is remarkable for its surroundings rather than the character of its summit. The more satisfying ascent (if not climbing Meall Corranach) starts from the Roro bridge in Glen Lyon, a few km east of Bridge of Balgie, with the recommended circuit going up the east glen and a grassy descent down to the west glen.
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IKDfj5b-y-s/UExaSqh3OuI/AAAAAAAAoQc/c_Eyluowtb4/s320/Glen+Lyon+in+autumn+sun+-+Copy.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IKDfj5b-y-s/UExaSqh3OuI/AAAAAAAAoQc/c_Eyluowtb4/s1600/Glen+Lyon+in+autumn+sun+-+Copy.JPG)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Glen Lyon[/td][/tr]
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Park at the Roro bridge testing station and swing round the road to a T-junction, heading left towards Roromore. Just before the fence at the Allt a' Chobhair, follow the burn uphill by a fence through more interesting scenery than the farm track across the river. It leads past some glacial boulders to the old shieling village under Coire Ban's scree slopes. Follow the wall uphill to the Coire and either strike up left steeply, or follow the fence right to the blunt ridge of Sron Eich. A gradually easing angle leads south to the summit plateau of Meall a Choire Leith, which I think is named after the adjacent Coire Liath (the grey corrie) rather than the translation as the 'hill of the shivering corrie' (though that's more descriptive of a winter ascent). The panorama of Meall Corranaich to the south and Ben Lawers and An Stuc to the east is dramatic and imposing.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h0PbnzHf4hE/UExoLwK-a5I/AAAAAAAAoh0/mnLOPCvkxp4/s320/An+Stuc+approach.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h0PbnzHf4hE/UExoLwK-a5I/AAAAAAAAoh0/mnLOPCvkxp4/s1600/An+Stuc+approach.JPG) An Stuc
[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-76Yn03GtC38/UExbyZ8uX3I/AAAAAAAAoR0/5Y9nvFD5c8I/s320/Meall+a+choire+lleith+summit.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-76Yn03GtC38/UExbyZ8uX3I/AAAAAAAAoR0/5Y9nvFD5c8I/s1600/Meall+a+choire+lleith+summit.JPG)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Meall a' Choire Leith summit 926m[/td][/tr]
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A grassy stomp leads down northwest to the tranquil Gleann Da-Eig past more shieling sites with the remarkable split rock of 'Fiann's Arrow', or the 'Praying Hands of Mary' (depending from which angle you view the rock, or who you talk to), situated at the base of the glen west of the burn. The twin-notched rock may be the eponymous feature the glen is named after in Gaelic ('Da Eig' -the two nicks/notches).
[tr][td](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KZtRC3F3Dr8/UExcCwD0qzI/AAAAAAAAoSI/zHhE49f0SzM/s320/fianns+arrow+1+-+Copy.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KZtRC3F3Dr8/UExcCwD0qzI/AAAAAAAAoSI/zHhE49f0SzM/s1600/fianns+arrow+1+-+Copy.JPG)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Fiann's Arrow/Praying Hands of Mary[/td][/tr]
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To the east of this is the rocky bump of Dun Chnocan, with a collection of large boulders and an interesting shepherd's cave with an arrangement of cup marks, bored into a silvery plinth at the best seating spot for waiting out bad weather. Who knows how old this is, possibly neolithic, as the glen would have been even grassier then and the peat unknown, so it would have been an isolated but fertile glen. The arrangement of the cup marks is interesting, a central large hole flanked on one arc with five subsidiary, shallower holes. It can be found as a roof shelter looking east down Glen Lyon at NN615464. My imagination resolves this as a single hole bored by a shepherd, the others representing, or perhaps added to, by his sons - a family tree. The fan-like geometry certainly invites interpretation, but the real meaning is lost. Perhaps they are no more than idle, bored doodles from long wet days as a shepherd, sometimes you feel this is as valid as more 'sacred' interpretations.
[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u7KfWjvGMbk/UExarw_UtuI/AAAAAAAAoQ0/j8nuBraNxx0/s320/Glen+lyon+cup+marks+1+-+Copy.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u7KfWjvGMbk/UExarw_UtuI/AAAAAAAAoQ0/j8nuBraNxx0/s1600/Glen+lyon+cup+marks+1+-+Copy.JPG)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Cup Marked Stone Glen Lyon[/td][/tr]
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Oh, and I found some good boulders as well. At NN622462, beside the Allt a' Chobhair, there are some attractive boulders, the highlight being the grassy patio'd roof boulder. The east prow is a good 6th grade pull and the central roof has a few similar grade exit lines onto the slab. Not high, but perfectly formed, I saw some signs of climbing but more brushing would help. The best development would be at the collection of roofs, walls and boulders round the contours at N614464, just south of the summit of Dun Cnochan. A track leads up to these from the east sheepfold of Balnahanaid Farm at Roro. Again, many need cleaned, but some rock looks very good - the red wall looks like a classic, if easier, 'West Side Story' and there is plenty of scope for short, butch roof problems.
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p1Nx9XoDWa0/UExcc7KzrJI/AAAAAAAAoSc/KTKY0pLoqLE/s320/lyon+blocs+lip+traverse.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p1Nx9XoDWa0/UExcc7KzrJI/AAAAAAAAoSc/KTKY0pLoqLE/s1600/lyon+blocs+lip+traverse.JPG)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Dun Chnocan blocs 1[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o2zCbNOAniA/UExbGj4w16I/AAAAAAAAoRI/RY7K1SF_Dy0/s320/Lyon+blocs+2.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o2zCbNOAniA/UExbGj4w16I/AAAAAAAAoRI/RY7K1SF_Dy0/s1600/Lyon+blocs+2.JPG)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Dun Chnocan bloc 2[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NPqYbmcDqwc/UExZTB_gkZI/AAAAAAAAoPs/A9quDzf3lzw/s320/Chobhair+Boulder+-+Copy.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NPqYbmcDqwc/UExZTB_gkZI/AAAAAAAAoPs/A9quDzf3lzw/s1600/Chobhair+Boulder+-+Copy.JPG)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Chobhair Roof Bloc[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--LBoq_9AOzo/UExZoBTxYAI/AAAAAAAAoQA/OLYFzqx8jYs/s320/Da+Eig+Bloc+2+-+Copy.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--LBoq_9AOzo/UExZoBTxYAI/AAAAAAAAoQA/OLYFzqx8jYs/s1600/Da+Eig+Bloc+2+-+Copy.JPG)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Gleann Da Eig Bloc 1[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gyaJpTtZkvk/UExbfaQVh9I/AAAAAAAAoRk/w9oTCQPJN4M/s320/Lyon+blocs+ornage+wall+-+Copy.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gyaJpTtZkvk/UExbfaQVh9I/AAAAAAAAoRk/w9oTCQPJN4M/s1600/Lyon+blocs+ornage+wall+-+Copy.JPG)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Dun Chnocan Red Wall[/td][/tr]
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(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-5615602689045539520?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Craigmaddie Flyover (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/Kt_bFWXl2go/craigmaddie-flyover.html)
6 October 2012, 6:02 pm
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8457/8060055737_871423681c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8060055737/)Craigmaddie flyover (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8060055737/), a photo by Stone Country Press (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/) on Flickr.Blissful autumn day at Craigmaddie, working through some classic problems and nailing down more aesthetic and less snappy sequences on the ! top tier. Abracadabra is definitely 7a, don't let anyone tell you any differentIf anyone can remember the beta for Farmer's Trust, Pete and I would love to know, we flailed about like demented goldfish... updated topo on the way.(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-8640585401005773141?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Eliminate shame (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/6dWiqH9X3t0/eliminate-shame.html)
8 October 2012, 6:19 pm
We have come a long way from the original stand-up start, indeed this didn't exist as a concept until we sat on our arses to add a couple of moves to a tired old boulder problem. The sit start is now so ubiquitous it might be better to highlight in guides which problems start 'homo erectus'. We have by no means stopped there in the evolutionary journey backwards to be as prone as a flounder under a piece of rock for fear one single, aesthetic udge might be missed.
We created the traverse as a crabby, contorted pump simply for the fun of it, or to create our own bibliography of extensions: ben, jerry, tom... Then came the crazy-golf world of the 'eliminate' which is kind of like an apartheid for holds, where mostly big holds suffer a deletion of rights.
The modern bouldering corollary to all this arbitrary nonsense is the link-up, the bastard son of the eliminate.
The traditonal idea of the line is, apparently, subverted and twisted out of all normal, mountaineery meaning by the sudden veer left, the drop-down, by the well-met 'no jugs' caveat; or by excising all idea of a natural line as soon as it becomes apparent you might actually be climbing something. It is usually an algorithm of grades or cruxes, climbing by numbers, but equally it could be the collection of satisfying moves and exotic postures, the limit being only how far you are prepared to leave your mother sport.
None of it matters a jot and it would only be natural to see a future of suspended-in-air slopers with no actual substrate, between which we happily one-arm like a gibbon in a fig tree, as the final evolutionary step in removing bouldering from the need for any summit. After all, we all grew up on those geodesic climbing frames, chasing each other round in circles, bat-hanging by the backs of our knees.
So why fret over the infinity of link-ups as an affront to climbing? In fact, right now I'm inspired to go and find the first 3-star downclimb into a sit start eliminate... no jugs allowed, of course.
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ykhexmazBm4/UHMZNNwwR7I/AAAAAAAAouY/4yUfszy_JZI/wallpaper.png)(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-1578915703942939906?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Ethics and Development (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/YkpdjoNhKOY/ethics-and-development.html)
9 October 2012, 8:00 am
Thanks to Chris Fryer for pointing out this video on ethics and development of climbing/bouldering in Mount Evans etc. in the US. Whilst Scotland is unlikely to suffer huge impact in terms of the volume of boulderers visiting new and pristine areas of our own Scottish wilderness, our responsibility is nevertheless undiminished. Places such as the Shelterstone, Torridon, Arran, Lewis, Rum etc. all have similar boulderfields to the one in this video.The weather, remoteness and danger (snapping an ankle in a talus field...you've a Joe Simpson on your hands) might all mitigate our impact on the environment, but it's worth stopping to think, especially for guidebook producers, film-makers and sponsored climbers, what are we promoting? How should we do it, if we do at all?
ABYSS - North America's Highest Bouldering (http://vimeo.com/49116780) from Louder Than Eleven (http://vimeo.com/louderthan11) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/). (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-7162335627625396456?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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New problems in Font (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/zvj0JDQiq_8/new-problems-in-font.html)
16 October 2012, 5:39 pm
Two new problems in Font, though one is a rehash of a Pepito 'lost classic' at 91.1:
Piège à Feu (http://vimeo.com/51464270) from John Watson (http://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com).
L'Écossaise (http://vimeo.com/51462737) from John Watson (http://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com).(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-8112310461734954982?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Dumbarton Rock safety report (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/XN8uxpmCb_k/dumbarton-rock-safety-report.html)
19 October 2012, 6:45 am
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0MV4D3xoj7c/UID24hetVQI/AAAAAAAAous/A95XngIGo-0/s320/20121003+NW+Inspection,+Letter+Report+Final.bmp) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0MV4D3xoj7c/UID24hetVQI/AAAAAAAAous/A95XngIGo-0/s1600/20121003+NW+Inspection,+Letter+Report+Final.bmp)
The recent geo-engineering survey at Dumbarton Rock, commissioned by Historic Scotland, on the NW face (main climbing area above the boulders) has thankfully found no major instability and we hope that responsible climbing can continue as normal at Dumbarton. The report summarises the situation thus:
'The principal potential hazard noted at the NW inspection area is unstable blocks becoming detached
from the face and falling onto areas below. It has been established through visual inspection of the area that the rock mass is generally tight, and although there are a number of well developed joint sets, there is little evidence that the intersection geometry is creating significant viable or active rockfall events. This is not say that rockfall will not occur, as from time to time material will dislodge from the face due to natural processes, but these are likely to be relatively infrequent and are impacting areas with only transient pedestrian traffic. Given these criteria – infrequent rockfall events and infrequent transient pedestrian traffic - It is considered that the risks to members of the public, both below the castle and within the walls of the Duke of York’s Battery area, may be managed through regular inspection and monitoring. The risk of instability and damage to the castle infrastructure may also be managed in the same manner. The installation of rockfall warning signs at the base of the slope to warn the public of the risks would be considered appropriate.'
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-1894649803398855804?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Torridon Bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/UTpf-Fn1AmU/torridon-bouldering-guide.html)
20 October 2012, 4:44 pm
It seems Torridon is maturing into Scotland's best bouldering venue considering all the qualities we associate with the sport: aesthetic rock, stupendous landscape, variety, king lines, accessibility (well, it's beside a B-road!). This autumn and winter should see another assault on the tiers above the village, with plenty of projects remaining and easier circuit lines galore. As Queen Victoria observed: '...not a lot of people come here.' Shame!
Dan Varian's new line 'Wee Baws'
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-5917114425040895552?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Long live autumn... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/87ocQ8H8O9A/long-live-autumn.html)
27 October 2012, 6:28 pm
Long live such autumns: clear skies, frost-cold rock and an orange-filtered low sun. Finally the bouldering season seems to have kicked into gear... I've been projecting at Dumby before the sudden sunsets above Langbank on the other side of the Clyde, and enjoying the pseudo-grit of Craigmaddie higher up on the moors for a change of geology. It seems everyone else is burrowing into their projects and enjoying what free time can be stolen in the shortening days. A full afternoon at Dumby went by in stop-motion oblivion as the tide crept up to the sea boulder from a low tide... no better way to dissolve the stress of deadlines and office life.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5N-ETaMGSBo/UIwkrr0eXDI/AAAAAAAAows/aTmGPE6LVww/s320/Dumbarton_sea+Boulder_6c+sit.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5N-ETaMGSBo/UIwkrr0eXDI/AAAAAAAAows/aTmGPE6LVww/s1600/Dumbarton_sea+Boulder_6c+sit.JPG)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T-0l55EuW1k/UIwk2FPuDiI/AAAAAAAAow0/qoA0HLIAAZA/s320/Dumbarton_sunset.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T-0l55EuW1k/UIwk2FPuDiI/AAAAAAAAow0/qoA0HLIAAZA/s1600/Dumbarton_sunset.JPG)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mcR7rcYGvs8/UIwlNwBnZqI/AAAAAAAAow8/ewocgiIp2h8/s320/Craigmaddie_Plinth+right+hand.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mcR7rcYGvs8/UIwlNwBnZqI/AAAAAAAAow8/ewocgiIp2h8/s1600/Craigmaddie_Plinth+right+hand.JPG)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dj2MsvMLbfY/UIwkZXAq99I/AAAAAAAAowg/KxZhWFWQJoU/s320/Dumbarton_cleaning+holds.CR2) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dj2MsvMLbfY/UIwkZXAq99I/AAAAAAAAowg/KxZhWFWQJoU/s1600/Dumbarton_cleaning+holds.CR2)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-3928921723129774548?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Pissing down today tho!!
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Abracadabra (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/wwXaEfojed4/abracadabra.html)
31 October 2012, 5:09 pm
This 7a seems to get harder the more you try it...a real workout for the back and ribcage muscles!
Abracadabra (http://vimeo.com/52335508) from John Watson (http://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/). (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-6041338094032520076?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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New book from Stone Country announced! (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/kX2ZCLxaBgI/new-book-from-stone-country-announced.html)
1 November 2012, 10:45 am
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QETIi2DLgKg/UJJQ-uLlkcI/AAAAAAAAoxU/yHmfwZWzGWE/s640/9780954877996+The+Boulder_cover+full.png) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QETIi2DLgKg/UJJQ-uLlkcI/AAAAAAAAoxU/yHmfwZWzGWE/s1600/9780954877996+The+Boulder_cover+full.png)
We'll be publishing an exciting new book by Francis Sanzaro in early 2013 and we've just got the cover (with thanks to Boone Speed for such a terrific shot).
The book's called 'The Boulder: A Philosophy for Bouldering' and it analyses bouldering in depth. It's an inspiring read, written with great clarity and poetry by a boulderer and academic philosopher who listens to what he does and is able to unfold the complex mental and physical origami that is bouldering. He explains to us what we're really doing, or perhaps what we are truly enjoying, when we boulder.
The more you think about bouldering, the harder it is to say what it is, but Francis has done a terrific job bringing a distinct voice to the sport. The book will be available in March 2013 and I'll put some sample pages up around Christmas as a taster. (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-6441367473056437368?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Ben Donich 846 m (2,776 ft) (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/_ORln5h8lTM/ben-donich-846-m-2776-ft.html)
17 November 2012, 4:20 pm
I'd always known there were big stones on Ben Donich - it's typical of Arrochar rock architecture with split schist crags and chasms and jumbles of scree giants in corries - but I'd never gone up for a proper scout. So, with the forecast promising sun in between hail and snow, I squelched up the speedy north east ridge to the summit in under an hour, then backed down the craggy east flank towards the Brack, stalking the boulder clusters, giving sheep the odd adrenaline-shock. Arrochar schist is not impressive in the wet of midwinter, its lichen coat soaking up slime and soaked heather-bunnets dripping down cracklines. Nevertheless, finding such a bloc as this bodes well for summer projects and those who like solitude and king lines topping out at 8m over, for a change, reasonable landings...
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4DMuVkTH2JE/UKexFJ0GCkI/AAAAAAAAoz4/7_E-1dnshmY/s320/P1020412.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4DMuVkTH2JE/UKexFJ0GCkI/AAAAAAAAoz4/7_E-1dnshmY/s903/P1020412.JPG)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-6318212337192184708?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Nice bloc dude.
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RIP Patrick Edlinger (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/zqV_rZbn1TA/rip-patrick-edlinger.html)
28 November 2012, 12:53 pm
It's not about the shoes... (nor the camera...though that footless hang and chalk blow is iconic!!!)
also, good post on Bloc de Pierre here >>> (http://pierreboulderingblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/bare-hand-climbing-aka-real-thing.html)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-1992530883526108759?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Perfect start to December (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/BSJtnSUSv3c/perfect-start-to-december.html)
2 December 2012, 12:48 pm
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8063/8237931174_6ddf1fb62f_c.jpg) (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8063/8237931174_6ddf1fb62f_c.jpg)There is no better feeling than cyan-blue skies and the first winter shroud laid down on the distant Highland tops... the rock conditions have been perfect and holds which were soap-bars in summer now feel like emery boards.
Craigmaddie and Craigmore have been in good condition, with new link-ups and traverses for the locals creating grade confusion - everything in these conditions feels two grades easier, which is why Font grades can feel so hard in the heat (they tend to be graded for the 'magic day' of perfect friction).
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8489/8236859177_8b8d449c96_c.jpg) (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8489/8236859177_8b8d449c96_c.jpg)
Craigmaddie now has over 50 documented problems, from Font 2 through to Font 7c, with the sunniest winter aspect in Central Scotland. This makes it a glowing and popular venue for those who can't afford the petrol for 'The County'. For the Central belt boulderer, this venue offers an under-rated alternative to Northumberland sandstone and you can get over 6 hours of sun in mid December, if your skin lasts that long! Colin Lambton has added a superb direct finish to Easyjet 7a, making this the classic problem on the High Tier roof.
Craigmaddie Bouldering (http://vimeo.com/54700158) from John Watson (http://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
Fiend here shows us some nice contortionism at Glen Clova :
Glen Clova stuff 1 (http://vimeo.com/54563778) from Fiend (http://vimeo.com/user1353663) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/). (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-4364990220485058482?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Archipelago Review (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/vnug53O-rM0/archipelago-review.html)
4 December 2012, 10:03 am
If you're interested in landscape writing, perhaps the finest collection can be found in the biannual literary magazine ARCHIPELAGO (http://www.clutagpress.com/archipelago/). It is published by Clutag Press and collects the best of landscape writing and poetry from the likes of Michael Longley, Tim Robinson, Robert Macfarlane and Seamus Heaney.
(http://www.clutagpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/arch-cover-7-104x148.jpg) (http://www.clutagpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/arch-cover-7-104x148.jpg) Issue 7, Winter 2012, contains a section from our very own Rathlin: Nature and Folklore (http://www.stonecountry.co.uk/page7.html), an extended version of 'Foorins and Cuddens' telling of the isanders' seabird-fowling and natural climbing skills akin to the 'guga' hunters on St Kilda:
'...some descended on homespun ropes from cliff tops, the ropes secured to an iron stake driven into the turf, or, in the case of one famous nineteenth century climmer (island name for a cragsman), from a rope tied to the leg of his horse.'
There is some terrific writing in this 'journal' of poetic landscapes. I liked Katherine Rundell's 'Ghost Storms', describing a Scottish storm '...like a German opera, like a drunk with a gun.'
Tim Robinson is typically fractal in his approach to place names in Ireland in his essay 'The Seanachai and the Database', echoing the magic of Scotland's more mysterious Pictish/Brythonic/Gaelic pasts:
'The giving or using or remembering of a placename stands for the primary act of attention - a discrimination, an appreciation of uniqueness - that turns a bare location into a place. Thus a placename is a creative force, a word of power ... it sits at the centre of many webs simultaneously, a hyper-spider.'
Michael Longley never fails to draw emotional blood, his poem on dementia ('Insomnia') being particularly poignant:
'In the asylum
Helen Thomas took Ivor Gurney's hand
When he was miles away from Gloucestershire
And sanity, and on Edward's county map
guided his lonely finger down the lanes...'
This volume also contains Roger Hutchinson's essay in honour of Sorley MacLean's poem Hallaig. Raasay's clearances echo painfully from this poem and it is here translated by Seamus Heaney, for those not lucky enough to 'have the Gaelic':
'...
The road is plush with moss
And the girls in a noiseless procession
going to Clachan as always
And coming back from Clachan
And Suishnish, their land of the living,
Still lightsome and unheartbroken,
their stories only beginning...
back through the gloaming to Hallaig
through the vivid speechless air,
pouring down the steep slopes,
their laughter misting my ear...'
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10918511-2746131307998692785?l=stonecountry.blogspot.com)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Skye (a land of myth much-missed) (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/gA4mWNFx42Y/skye-land-of-myth-much-missed.html)
26 December 2012, 4:20 pm
(http://www.8a.nu/(utjpmajhx3b0gf55izaramix)/images/206/SiO_TraceElement.jpg) (http://www.8a.nu/(utjpmajhx3b0gf55izaramix)/images/206/SiO_TraceElement.jpg)
In the early 2000s, a mysterious stranger began claiming a number of hard ascents, first in Glen Nevis (The Morrighan, Jupiter Collison...etc.)and then on the Isle of Skye (Extradition, It's Over etc.). In particular, the boulders of Coire Lagan held some great-looking lines which began appearing on a local blog featuring photographs of a lithe-looking climber on very steep lines, but usually static on one of the jugs and never on video. Many climbers had visited and tried the lines, coming back claiming they were futuristic and impossible. Dave MacLeod walked away from the mythical 'It's Over (https://www.scottishclimbs.com/wiki/Its_Over,_another_hard_highland_ascent)' with its wee undercut holds and obvious-but-out-of-reach double-sloper. The forums, for a year or two, were alive with debate as to who this stranger was and how the hell he had got so strong.
The legendary O'Conor blog (http://sioconor.blogspot.fi/), its posts notably created in the dark hours, like some intricate verbal death-star, has mostly been dismantled by its shamed owner, who was, at considerable expense and frustration, visited by John Watson on the Isle of Lewis to winkle out some element of truth to the whole debacle. Was this O'Conor the new Sharma? Him and his faithful dog padding up to the boulders, bivvying out in extreme temperatures, pulling off 8c problems 'out of the air'? Where did he train? How did he get so strong? Did the climbs actually exist? O'Conor, in person affable and personable, was at the same time evasive and only once put his shoes on in anger, struggling to get off the ground on his own 8a (6c) Atlantic Bridge at Port Nis (Watson flashed this and was bitterly disappointed to have to downgrade it so - he thought he'd pulled off a miracle). Who was the mythical 'Finn' he climbed with, who O'Conor claimed had spotted him on first ascents, but whom no-one had ever spotted themselves? The whole thing was an expensive outing for Watson (building to a whisky stand-off at 2am), who like others had been forced to mention these problems in early Scottish bouldering guides, giving the creature the benefit of the doubt... that he was indeed the Finn MacCool of legend, breakfasting on 8a's and crushing all under his fists of fury.
Well, things have quietened down a bit since those heady days, which is a shame since the online rants were legendary and much-missed by the Scottish climbing community. We wish Si well on his new ventures, whatever they may be - SBS extreme kayaking or some such - and we are at least delighted to witness, on video, and indisputably, the reality of some of these climbs under the audit of peer-reviewed boulderers. Climbed by boulderers with a propensity for detail rather than tall tales, these legendary Skye problems now exist - thanks to Mike Adam for his dedication to such remote imaginings. But maybe, just maybe, the legend will return, tripod in hand, pair of old 5.10 Moccasyms in the other...?
Isle of Skye - Coire Lagan Bouldering (http://vimeo.com/56216688) from Mike Adams (http://vimeo.com/user7044532) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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His hands must have been bloody stumps after that trip :o
Nice video, it's been a few years since I was there but that brought it all back, midges, marshes and a stunning landscape.
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Good report on the Lie O Conner legend :P :)
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Fallen Rocks (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/AsPmnYiO5io/fallen-rocks.html)
5 January 2013, 2:36 pm
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8098/8349975304_e42373a6b5.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8349975304/)Fallen Rocks (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8349975304/), a photo by Stone Country Press (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/) on Flickr.3rd January and finally a still day with no wind and rain. These blocs provide conglomerate pebble pulling in an idyllic location with some big project blocs higher up the hill...
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Arran North Glen Sannox (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/R5AxNR-BFnY/arran-north-glen-sannox.html)
5 January 2013, 2:39 pm
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8233/8349982696_55698f5a89.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8349982696/)Arran North Glen Sannox (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8349982696/), a photo by Stone Country Press (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/) on Flickr.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Arran Blocs (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/spSae9BfZUE/arran-blocs.html)
5 January 2013, 2:41 pm
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8348925879_14f7008fdc.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8348925879/)Arran Blocs (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8348925879/), a photo by Stone Country Press (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/) on Flickr.If you enjoy insecure pebble pulling and can't walk further than 20m from the road...
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Maol Donn (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/VplNLKwPluE/maol-donn.html)
5 January 2013, 3:13 pm
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8348906849_bf618e1514.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8348906849/)
Maol Donn (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8348906849/), a photo by Stone Country Press (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/) on Flickr. Maol Donn is the indistinct brown lump above the Corrie shoreline and, despite a painful approach through rough ground and forestry, provides remunerative bouldering on numerous tan sandstone blocs...topo forthcoming...
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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New Year challenge (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/1RqekdJFUgI/new-year-challenge.html)
5 January 2013, 3:54 pm
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8351/8348939103_72ca48eef9_c.jpg) (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8351/8348939103_72ca48eef9_c.jpg) Reading through old books and perusing maps on dark winter nights leads to ambitious fantasies not unknown at this time of year. This little topo of the Arran hills got me thinking...would it be possible to summit every granite peak in 24 hours? I think it may be time to get the 25 thou. map out and plot a midsummer escapade.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Arran 24 peaks (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/1RqekdJFUgI/new-year-challenge.html)
16 January 2013, 7:22 am
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8351/8348939103_72ca48eef9_c.jpg) (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8351/8348939103_72ca48eef9_c.jpg) Reading through old books and perusing maps on dark winter nights leads to ambitious fantasies not unknown at this time of year. This little topo of the Arran hills got me thinking...would it be possible to summit every granite peak in 24 hours?
Climbing every distinct granite peak would include:
1. Beinn Nuis 792m
2. Beinn Tharsuinn 826m
3. Beinn a Chliabhainn 653m
4. A Chir 745m
5. Cir Mhor 799m
6. North Goatfell 818m
7. Goatfell 874m
8. Mullach Buidhe 829m
9. Am Binnein 665m
10. Ciche na h' Oighe 661m
11. Suidhe Fearghas 631m?
12. Ceum na Caillich 758m
13. Caisteal Abhail 859m
14. Beinn Bhreac East 575m
15. Beinn Tarsuinn North Peak 556m
16. Beinn Bhiorach486m
17. Meall Mor 496m
18. Meall nan Damh 570m
19. Meall Bhig 438m
20. Meall Donn 653m
21. Beinn Bhreac West 711m
22. Mullach Buidhe 721m
23. Beinn Bharainn 717m
24. Sail Chalmadale 480m
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The fishing season begins... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/jFGp-73fAXE/the-fishing-season-begins.html)
17 January 2013, 12:21 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a_tbjsabAeo/UPfsV1hLcJI/AAAAAAAAo-Y/I-IYegUbqyY/s320/Sandwich+terns+at+Dumbarton+Jan+2013.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a_tbjsabAeo/UPfsV1hLcJI/AAAAAAAAo-Y/I-IYegUbqyY/s1600/Sandwich+terns+at+Dumbarton+Jan+2013.jpg)
I always think bouldering is a little like fly-fishing. I was at Dumby on a still January day as the River Leven flooded at high tide. A large seal wallowed in the slack water looking for salmon, sandwich terns screeching and plunging about his head. I was stood under a cave in bitingly-cold conditions,with an extended rod with a brush on the end attending to a chalk-caked hold.
Each attempt at the moves is like the cast of a fly line: it's got to be timed perfectly, with all strength in balance, waiting the optimum time between casts, and hopefully the line lands without a splash and the sequence goes smoothly. If not, it is all chaos and disruption and a large wake in the smooth waters of gravity, scaring off the big salmon of the send... I'm stretching the metaphor a little, but it's the same process of cast and cast again, trusting to the belief that everything will come together eventually in one perfect sequence. And like fishing, I could stand there for hours, absorbed in an obsession of tiny perfections. No better way to spend an afternoon and even if I didn't land a fish, I know the tide will come in again...
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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That has to be one of the best analogies I've ever heard for bouldering. Too true....
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Have you ever flashed a salmon?
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Have you ever flashed a salmon?
YES!!!! More than once I might add, and in more ways than one ;)
Hooked a Sockeye(red) salmon first cast on a new to me creek a couple of years ago.
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Have you ever flashed The Salmon?
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'Oceans' 5 star classic 'rediscovered' at Dumby (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/_EPeRTjz2KY/oceans-5-star-classic-rediscovered-at.html)
27 January 2013, 7:25 am
Dave MacLeod's 'Oceans' - the attractive orange scoop on the southwest face of the Eagle Boulder, has always repelled strong climbers, and appeared as a total mystery to most. Given 7b+, it seemed within reach of the indoor-trained beast, but this is Dumby and requires a more tenacious and arcane approach! It was good to see it reclimbed and classed as one of the best at Dumby by Niall McNair and Fraser McIlwraith, before the rain returned on Saturday 26th January 2013. They rated it a 'hard 7c' and one of the most unusual and classy of problems at Dumby. The first move twisting up to a poor undercut, then stepping feet through on poor slopers to a vicious cross-through to a crimp only leads you to a further, heart-fluttering power sequence to the lip... many mats and much spotting help secure this, which makes a lone ascent even more impressive. Now on the list of favourites to do, this approaches the magical formula in bouldering: poor footholds, masonic handholds, unusual moves, technique, torque, power and commitment all melded into one.
Oceans (http://vimeo.com/58272753) from Fraser McIlwraith (http://vimeo.com/frasermcilwraith) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Scottish Bouldering Update (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/2hJvs5rnL0I/scottish-bouldering-update.html)
5 February 2013, 7:47 am
As we move forward gathering the simply frightening amount of good bouldering in Scotland for the Atlas of Scottish Bouldering, it's worth looking through a few recent videos from those avid stone hunters on this Stone Country Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/groups/boulderingscotland) group. Please feel free to follow and add anything...
I thought some recent highlights would be the new Arrochar blocs (expect BIG LINES in 2013), such as the Flying Pancake, courtesy of Tom Charles-Edwards' vision, which to me looks like a doable version of Font's Carnage, almost verbatim...
The Flying Pankcake (http://vimeo.com/22781617) from Timothy Cross (http://vimeo.com/user1756762) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
Also, Fiend's continuing tour of Scotland's best problems (and whiskies), such as Laggan 2, which Gaz Marshall has discovered, shows an awesome looking line in Gale Force:
One of the best problems in the UK... (http://vimeo.com/58823144) from Fiend (http://vimeo.com/user1353663) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Iron and Stone - The Ross of Mull (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/fJh7oIfKddw/iron-and-stone-ross-of-mull.html)
23 February 2013, 6:58 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ShejQAejyfg/USkLuuDYTAI/AAAAAAAAo_M/nEphBXwCf-8/s400/2013-02-18+09.56.58.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ShejQAejyfg/USkLuuDYTAI/AAAAAAAAo_M/nEphBXwCf-8/s1600/2013-02-18+09.56.58.jpg)
A week on the Ross of Mull. A high pressure settling over Scotland in February. Sunshine and pink granite... iron and stone. The week is a lesson in learning how not to shred yourself on large quartz and feldspar crystals, learning what can and cannot be climbed; the subtle differences between a blank wall and a smearable slab...
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1bAo10SCM38/USkLjEx79eI/AAAAAAAAo-4/6vMBQjbZSv0/s400/IMG_5656.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1bAo10SCM38/USkLjEx79eI/AAAAAAAAo-4/6vMBQjbZSv0/s1600/IMG_5656.JPG) Danny's Wall Fionnphort
If you turn left off the ferry at Craignure on Mull, you’re heading west along a gradually ageing sequence of geologies, through the tertiary gabbro lavas of Glen More to the earlier basal lavas at Pennyghael and the older still Caledonian schists of Bunessan and beyond. Then it all goes pink-panther and you hit a very old and colourful granite around 413 million years old, lavishly outcropping around the ferry port of Fionnphort, like so many bald monk-heads poking out of the machair and turf, occasionally sunburnt to a deeper red. Then it gets all historical on the ferry to Iona and its ancient Lewisian bedrock mocking the zealotry of monkish learning such as bouldering.
The granite sequence here provides endless cragging and bouldering, too much frankly to document and it creates havoc with plans, topos and access descriptions ... you're scattered everywhere with the wind and it matters not where you wander, there's always something to climb.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KMEBUmO2fiI/USkLQNR7xqI/AAAAAAAAo-w/XTasuniRT0k/s400/2013-02-17+14.24.39.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KMEBUmO2fiI/USkLQNR7xqI/AAAAAAAAo-w/XTasuniRT0k/s1600/2013-02-17+14.24.39.jpg) The Scoop, Kintra South
The rock varies from a crumbly, scrittly granite as poor as Weetabix to an incorruptible red/pink Quarriers' quality the like of which graces the Jamaica Bridge in Glasgow, or the Holborn Viaduct in London. All forms, fine-cut or coarse-cut, are shredders of hands and shoe-rubber. Slab technique is critical, as is a thick padding to the skin. The technical nature of the blank and slabby problems is complemented by the butch and generous nature of the steeper cracklines on roofs and overhangs.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RbsNR4OsmUU/USkLnYyadaI/AAAAAAAAo_A/OiARaYcL5YY/s400/Kintra+South_Columba+Crack.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RbsNR4OsmUU/USkLnYyadaI/AAAAAAAAo_A/OiARaYcL5YY/s1600/Kintra+South_Columba+Crack.JPG) Colomba Crack *****
The Ross, the granite section at least, stretching from Bunessan to Fionnphort, north and south of the A849, is approximately 72 square kilometres of heather scrub, bogs and granite tors, of half-remembered topos, pub-phone updates, locals' narratives. I asked a local fisherman about the split rock so obvious on the beach at Fionnphort, which is known to tourists as 'Fingal's Rock'. The locals call it rather more curiously 'The Swordstone', and it does appear cleaved clean in two by a sword - the story goes that around 1870, the quarry had a lifesaving contract cancelled on a dubious quality control claim. This led to protests, the novel result of which was packing a crack in the rock with gunpowder and splitting the block in two, a symbol of the historical division between local loyalties and higher, vested powers in Scotland. A glacier may also have been involved in a much earlier event.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ewjeMCqmkMk/USkLwHu8yII/AAAAAAAAo_Y/7Vn57EIYSbY/s400/Zen+bouldering+shadow.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ewjeMCqmkMk/USkLwHu8yII/AAAAAAAAo_Y/7Vn57EIYSbY/s1600/Zen+bouldering+shadow.JPG)
Nothing feels specific, and the vast landscape tells you why. Indented with glittering sandy bays and peppermint seas, such as Erraid’s idyllic Balfour Bay, the place is a perfect summer/winter playground for all ages of boulderer, and a vast hunting ground for the hardcore superstar. But you will lose a lot of skin discovering the good amongst the bad, unless you've as generous a guide as local climbing pioneer Colin Moody (http://www.colinmoody.com/Site/Blog/Blog.html), who showed me around the classic areas and saved a lot of legwork based on rumour and dead reckoning.
If climbing tiny nubbins on endless slabs is not your bag, you'll want to head to the steeper roofs and cracklines . . . tape up, and smile!
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L3WolAN578U/USkLuKPtnfI/AAAAAAAAo_I/6Bk_QnNq4og/s400/Torr+Mor_granite+face.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L3WolAN578U/USkLuKPtnfI/AAAAAAAAo_I/6Bk_QnNq4og/s1600/Torr+Mor_granite+face.JPG)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Craigmore (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/mBBXSL4vpr0/craigmore.html)
24 February 2013, 5:48 pm
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8105/8503379851_e7b92254bd.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8503379851/)Craigmore (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/8503379851/), a photo by Stone Country Press (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/) on Flickr.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Craigmore Rubik's Cubes (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/QbJalz_9a1o/craigmore-rubiks-cubes.html)
3 March 2013, 5:50 pm
| (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8237/8524659356_0937ddab65_c.jpg) (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8237/8524659356_0937ddab65_c.jpg) |
| Mark Dobson on Jamie's Overhang Left 6b - a forgotten belter |
The boulders at Craigmore are tiny, the crag routes only a few metres. It is a place for locals only, for top-roping, not meant to be seen as anything other than diversionary. Travelling rock-rats shrug and do a couple of the over-starred routes on top-route, maybe pull a few of the more obvious problems and leave, thinking it a heap of dank green esoterica best left to, yes, you guessed it - the locals.
That's all fine with me and I'm not going to praise it to the skies and rate it as Scotland's last hidden secret - it's not. It's a north-facing crag. That usually keeps the crowds away. Everything bad about it is obvious on arrival, mostly: it's boggy, muddy, vegetated, slimy, midgy, repetitive, confusing, dark, chilly, always condition-dependent. Most happily affirm it is deservedly forgotten and overshadowed by its big neighbour at Dumbarton. But I love forgotten places and I go there to get away from it all, or climb with a few friends who have put the same time in here.
| (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8518/8523549719_0337a9c861_h.jpg) (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8518/8523549719_0337a9c861_h.jpg) |
Colin Lambton on The Art of War direct 6c
|
It's not always the big, shiny things that are valuable. I've sat under the last pine tree at Jamie's Overhang for hundreds of hours over the years: waiting for the rock to dry; or just catching the last rays as the sun dips west in the afternoon; or blankly staring at the wind in the leaves; or looking at the pinkness of my tips, peeling off little chalky flaps of skin. I know the dimpled nature of every hand-hold, the failure-pressures of tiny foot slopers, the windows of core-tension and when they're needed; the secret tricks of linking no more than four metres of rock. It's as intricate as a Rubik-cube and I twist it round and round, mixing up its endless sequence of colours. Clouds scud past in stop-motion. I'm not in the slightest hurry to solve it, nor am I aware of any solution other than just doing this. What would you be trying to solve?
I've done every conceivable eliminate on this little leaning bloc, on its 12 holds, mixing and matching to my own satisfaction and moving in circles, always absorbed, never fretting about concretions such as 'lines' or 'summits', the 'sends' are irrelevant as I've repeated them so many times. It is a repetition of simple knowing.
Craigmore in a dry, crisp spell, under the pines, is as meaningful to me as the alpinist's glimpse of an iced-up north face, or the trad-junkie's gaze on a 100m rock wall. This just happens to be a pine-needle-covered lump of leaning basalt a few miles north of where I live, in a quiet corner of a crag under a pine tree. It has a wide but modest vista of the Southern Highlands. I couldn't give a fig if people thought it an insignificant piece of mossy rock. In fact, I'd much rather they thought that.
[tr][td](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8086/8525095088_80cbe331c8_c.jpg) (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8086/8525095088_80cbe331c8_c.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Jamie's Overhang, the rockover move...[/td][/tr]
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Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Dumbarton Rock Closed for Cleaning 11-15th March (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/83r0d-omwik/dumbarton-rock-closed-for-cleaning-11.html)
8 March 2013, 7:02 pm
Just to let everyone know that Historic Scotland, who own the boulders and crag at Dumbarton Rock, have agreed to clean the boulders of graffiti, overseen by climbers so no holds are damaged. After excellent concern for our sporting heritage and good consultancy (thanks to Ian Lambie of Historic Scotland and Andrea Partridge at the MCOS!), I'll be attending the first day of cleaning on Monday 11th March.
I would like to ask climbers and boulderers to avoid climbing here in this period while the cleaning goes on, as for safety reasons parts of the crag and boulders will have to be cordoned off. I would ask all to respect the arrangements we've made on behalf of climbers, as much good work has gone on in the background to arrange the best form of cleaning and restoration. Unfortunately much of the 'historic' graffiti has vanished behind modern graffiti, so it's impossible to restore the lower 'layers' - it will all just have to come off.
If there are other local climbers who could attend during next week to oversee the cleaning, could you give John Watson (me) a ring on 07546 037 588.
This is a good opportunity (along with continuing local council development), to maintain good relations with Historic Scotland and improve Dumbarton as a visiting venue (or 'climbing park'). It is worth looking after our prime climbing heritage site in the Central Belt...
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lv6MCWkvFfs/UTo1Ff2RUVI/AAAAAAAAo_w/Jlab73hgDKQ/s400/Consolidated+Traverse+at+Dumbarton.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lv6MCWkvFfs/UTo1Ff2RUVI/AAAAAAAAo_w/Jlab73hgDKQ/s1600/Consolidated+Traverse+at+Dumbarton.JPG)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Dumby cleaning first look (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/suZbfNe5Eno/dumby-cleaning-first-look.html)
11 March 2013, 2:24 pm
Well it all looks spanking new and freshly minted rock as it first was... and the lads are doing a good job to be careful with holds and 'historical' graffiti after advice from climbers. As for the climbing I think there may be a short window while it feels grittier, but no doubt shoe resin and chalk and weather, and budding Banksies will see it back to good ol Dumby glass.
Remember no climbing this week until after 5pm to let the guys finish their work.
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/-BDSITvkxURw/UT3o_XGyOTI/AAAAAAAAo_8/EiAp8WuhyjI/s640/20130311_133936.jpg) (http://lh5.ggpht.com/-BDSITvkxURw/UT3o_XGyOTI/AAAAAAAAo_8/EiAp8WuhyjI/s1600/20130311_133936.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Nice one - great to see.
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Fontainebleau High Pressure (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/HUZbgZqkNQs/fontainebleau-high-pressure.html)
22 March 2013, 1:56 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0RL3sBGDwYI/UUxhui8yTSI/AAAAAAAApAc/d81lhA01WrI/s640/Fontainebleau+old+postcard+Apremont+in+19th+or+early+20th+century.png) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0RL3sBGDwYI/UUxhui8yTSI/AAAAAAAApAc/d81lhA01WrI/s1600/Fontainebleau+old+postcard+Apremont+in+19th+or+early+20th+century.png)
Ever since we did the Essential Fontainebleau guide, I have been overcome with a sense of dread that doing guides for this forest is putting far too much pressure on it, a bit like the woodcutters of the 19th century which paradoxically opened the unusually featured rocks to the the light and the painters of the Barbizon school. I'm not the only one doing guides, or chopping down the mystery of the forest, there seem to be dozens now - for cycling, walking and bouldering. A point-in-case is the new Fun Bloc by Jingo Wobbly, the methodology being to squeeze as much out of the forest as possible in 320 pages and coming close to being the definitive 'tick-it-all' guide (but missing the point of the whole affair?).
Then there is the cool, remote, and minimalist approach (my favourite) of Bart van Raaj's 7+8 and 5+6 guides, beautifully crafted works which allow you to discover the forest more intuitively and leave you to do what bouldering is all about - working it out for yourself (though the maps do a super job of getting you in position in the first place). The classic Montchausse guide is now in a clean new edition, and the Off-Piste guide is still useful, though the recent development of new sectors makes it a little out of date. The Versante Sud guides are a mess and less said the better, and I haven't seen the big German guide yet, does it come with a free VW camper?
Anyway, it's unlikely I'll be rushing to do a new edition of EF (Essential Fontainebleau) as there's enough out there and I think the forest could do with a break from foreigners 'milking it', as is the perception of many locals. Though EF was designed to be a short 'ethical' guide to appreciating the forest for Brits - and how to enjoy it responsibly, like a wee dram, rather than binging stupidly on the blocs as though it's a supermarket-sweep of grades and benchmarks to be navigated like Ikea - it still pointed a fat go-to finger at a delicate area. If any guide needs produced, it's one with a stronger sense of the history and quietude of the forest. Chuntering hordes of gym-monkey youths on uni-club trips are an unfortunate side-effect of our bouldering culture, its commodification swamping the forest in a noise of social-media twittering and Hulk howls.
Well, rant over, as it's not that bad and it's a big forest. It's still easy to find solitude and get away from it all. The English/US mentality of 'developing' a problem or sector might be the wrongly-chosen word for what the French call 'opening' a problem or area. I prefer 'opening' ('ouvrir'), as it also suggests we move on and the forest closes around again, which is the natural way of it all I hope.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gQG1BomQPMY/UUxhWsBCTNI/AAAAAAAApAM/FkyYbyfv8TI/s640/2013-03-17+10.41.43.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gQG1BomQPMY/UUxhWsBCTNI/AAAAAAAApAM/FkyYbyfv8TI/s1600/2013-03-17+10.41.43.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Dumby Clean-Up Weekend (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/sBcbB93x2E8/dumby-clean-up-weekend.html)
10 April 2013, 6:39 am
Saturday 20th April and Sunday 21st April. 10am - 4pm.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4CgVp57sBPA/UWUFzJEaTGI/AAAAAAAApCA/ChY8qsAAAXI/s320/Beer+Can+and+Boulder.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4CgVp57sBPA/UWUFzJEaTGI/AAAAAAAApCA/ChY8qsAAAXI/s1600/Beer+Can+and+Boulder.jpg)Please come and show your support for Dumby by lending a hand getting the place cleaned up along with the local people of Dumbarton. The idea is to pick up litter and get the place looking a little tidier and maybe do some anti-erosion work below the problems, as well as some other work in tandem with West Dunbartonshire Council. There will be a BBQ set up to make a focal point which will be selling food and drink for after and some climbing may even happen! It shouldn't interrupt your climbing plans other than making you feel guilty for not cleaning and going climbing instead, but that's fine, you can join in for a bit if you're there.
Things will kick off from 10am on Saturday 20th April and Sunday 22nd at the waterfront area beneath the Eagle Boulder where the BBQ will be set up. Some bin bags, gloves etc will be provided but if you could bring your own that would be great. Exact details of what will happen each day will be announced here: TCA Facebook Event (https://www.facebook.com/events/163530043810637/?ref=notif¬if_t=plan_edited) and you can sign up to attend there as well.
Let's get Dumby looking how it should!
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4WBCehDaFnc/UWUFwPq8tmI/AAAAAAAApB4/Qa1kY9M4mCE/s400/Clean+Up+Sat+14th+Feb.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4WBCehDaFnc/UWUFwPq8tmI/AAAAAAAApB4/Qa1kY9M4mCE/s1600/Clean+Up+Sat+14th+Feb.jpg) A previous clean-up at Dumby...
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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'The Boulder - A Philosophy for Bouldering' by Francis Sanzaro (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/xbuEIJhFKG8/the-boulder-philosophy-of-bouldering-by.html)
10 April 2013, 2:28 pm
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YASNOSdbXPk/UWGSaZlRdhI/AAAAAAAApBo/ygTXlfCN0i4/s640/9780954877996_Sanzaro_The+Boulder_Full+Cover.png) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YASNOSdbXPk/UWGSaZlRdhI/AAAAAAAApBo/ygTXlfCN0i4/s1600/9780954877996_Sanzaro_The+Boulder_Full+Cover.png)
Just published and now available! The new publication from Stone Country - 'The Boulder: A Philosophy for Bouldering' by US climber and philosopher Francis Sanzaro - is a paperback edition of 192 pages, with photographs, and features a foreword by none other than John Gill, perhaps the original guru of proper bouldering. Here is how he endorses the importance of this book:
"Finding a climber who perceives bouldering as a moving meditation, or one who values form and style far beyond difficulty, is a daunting task . . . bouldering needs its own analytical literature. In this book, Francis Sanzaro takes a significant step in that direction."
To read more about the book and the author, visit the Stone Country (http://www.stonecountry.co.uk/) website where there is a preview of the book and an interview with the author.
TO BUY >>>
For UK boulderers (only) the book is available at a special website price of £9.99 plus PandP (it retails at £12.99), which is cheaper and faster than Amazon!
(https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_GB/i/scr/pixel.gif)
For US boulderers the book is available at a special price of $18 plus $7 PandP (total $25), we will post airmail and you should have the book within a week or two:
(https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_GB/i/scr/pixel.gif)
For Europe and ROW, the book can be bought through our distributors at Cordee >>> (http://www.cordee.co.uk/The-Boulder-det-15-0-0-9857.html)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Really enjoying this so far, just wanted to say it really was pretty quick service- ordered late Wed eve, arrived first thing Fri. :clap2:
No cryptic crossword analogy yet though (I'm only about quarter of the way through), which is one of my favourites for bouldering.
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Dumby Clean-Up 2013 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/D73VSWHa_Ug/dumby-clean-up-2013.html)
21 April 2013, 11:26 am
Well, it's all done folks, so no need to turn up on the Sunday. The weather was clement, the Council had strimmed back the brambles and we got amongst it, lifting litter, clearing fire pits, dumping old fences and carpets, rolling rocks, re-drifting driftwood, discovering odd items (satellite dishes, grit bins, lifebelts, the usual Inverclyde 'sharps' floating on the currents from across the water etc.).
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lpopR--Z0Bo/UXOucTAEk0I/AAAAAAAApC4/9lChZGUJdSY/s400/2013-04-20+11.50.45.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lpopR--Z0Bo/UXOucTAEk0I/AAAAAAAApC4/9lChZGUJdSY/s1600/2013-04-20+11.50.45.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]...after 30 minutes...[/td][/tr]
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The effort was led by West Dunbartonshire Council's Linda Adam, the local Community Greenspace Office, and we were provided with rakes, high-viz vests, bin-bags, grabbers, gloves, pruners and a simply massive skip which is still at the back of the football stadium, so please do continue to gather litter as you find it and dump it in the skip. Chris Houston filmed the effort and will add to a forthcoming film on the history of climbing at Dumby.
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Li_snIGcEs8/UXOuVZBIYlI/AAAAAAAApCg/fxe-cnhwV8Q/s320/2013-04-20+11.24.19.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Li_snIGcEs8/UXOuVZBIYlI/AAAAAAAApCg/fxe-cnhwV8Q/s1600/2013-04-20+11.24.19.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Linda Adam - co-ordinating Greenspace Community Officer[/td][/tr]
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The areas cleared included the boulders and crags, the 'forecourt area' in front of Eagle boulder (now a very flat and open 'picnic area') and the shoreline area from Sea Boulder all the way along the old metal fence, which we hope to flatten and remove in the near future on consultation. We didn't quite sate the skip, but certainly filled its belly.
TCA (https://www.facebook.com/events/163530043810637/) provided a fine barbecue for hungry litter-hands, despite a high wind threatening a complete re-litter! Raffle tickets were sold to add to a prospective Dumby Fund and some climbing was done in the new 'bouldering park'. More details will be posted soon on the development work at Dumbarton Rock, as climbers join an action group called the 'Rock Liaison Group' whose first meeting is in May and features local walkers and community partners, West Dunbartonshire Council, TCA manager Rob Sutton and myself from Stone Country, Historic Scotland and possibly other concerned parties (local geology and history groups) - all moving towards opening up the climbing area as a promoted and tended, if currently unofficial, 'park'. The John Muir Way is scheduled to be extended to Helensburgh and will curl round the shores of Dumbarton Rock, I think John Muir would be proud to add Dumby as a site of such historical sporting heritage.
Thanks to all who turned up and lent a hand... well worth it and the difference made was significant.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L2mlgmb0y-g/UXOuUEYzC5I/AAAAAAAApCY/r87-PVvFicU/s320/2013-04-20+10.44.53.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L2mlgmb0y-g/UXOuUEYzC5I/AAAAAAAApCY/r87-PVvFicU/s1600/2013-04-20+10.44.53.jpg)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UMV03ZTofJg/UXOuV7r4zHI/AAAAAAAApCk/Kl60mHzHGvQ/s320/2013-04-20+11.27.08.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UMV03ZTofJg/UXOuV7r4zHI/AAAAAAAApCk/Kl60mHzHGvQ/s1600/2013-04-20+11.27.08.jpg)
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7_kRZ9gwFgI/UXOuagjK5ZI/AAAAAAAApCw/nAfvMy2yf9c/s320/2013-04-20+12.55.39.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7_kRZ9gwFgI/UXOuagjK5ZI/AAAAAAAApCw/nAfvMy2yf9c/s1600/2013-04-20+12.55.39.jpg)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ItDw1g-ypZY/UXOuf8Kva8I/AAAAAAAApDA/uuz1hSaZSTI/s320/2013-04-20+13.10.50.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ItDw1g-ypZY/UXOuf8Kva8I/AAAAAAAApDA/uuz1hSaZSTI/s1600/2013-04-20+13.10.50.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Boulder book - interview with author Francis Sanzaro (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/xD4RO0GvbBw/the-boulder-book-interview-with-author.html)
23 April 2013, 6:54 am
Here's the interview with 'The Boulder' author Francis Sanzaro - a fascinating insight into how to use thinking as a 'mental coaching' approach to better bouldering. The book is available for purchase on the Bookshop Page >>> (http://stonecountry.blogspot.co.uk/p/bookshop.html)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Dumbarton Bouldering Video from Chris Houston (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/wAp5tSMo0m0/dumbarton-bouldering-video-from-chris.html)
4 May 2013, 9:04 am
Latest update on Dumbarton and the clean-up in a fine piece of film by Chris Houston, capturing some of the problems as well - post-graffiti!
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Glen Croe - Spring 2013 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/MqAHxecLZvc/glen-croe-spring-2013.html)
8 May 2013, 4:17 pm
Glen Croe has seen and will see some big new lines this year. Some big stones on the flanks of the Arrochar Alps should best be attacked in May before the dreaded beasts that can't be named...
Alex Gorham managed the overhang right of Precious to give Semi-Precious 7c+/V10. He says on his blog about how much easier it is to climb in daylight:
'I did manage to pop out and nip up a climb I had only tried with a head torch before in Glen Croe. By headtorch it felt pretty hard but in daylight I found all these new holds that made the whole thing easier. It’s by no means a king line but it felt good to pull hard in good conditions on really small holds, culminating in a cool jump. So between the bouts of literature induced insanity, Semi-Precious (V10) was born, a line just to right of the popular classic-of-the-crag, Precious.'
That backwards leap looks crazy. The pic by Jen Randall (nice shot, Jen, it's hard to get the light right here) also reminds me to dig out my Saltire mats... !
(http://alloureggs.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/img_0342.jpg?w=855&h=570) (http://alloureggs.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/img_0342.jpg?w=855&h=570)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Scottish Bouldering Update Spring 2013 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/Xra4Nq5swIQ/scottish-bouldering-update-spring-2013.html)
24 May 2013, 5:44 pm
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4_eZzTGnkU/UZ-id0ddSyI/AAAAAAAApVE/ocTuDv19Cd8/s400/Islay_Sanaigmore+Bouldering.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4_eZzTGnkU/UZ-id0ddSyI/AAAAAAAApVE/ocTuDv19Cd8/s1600/Islay_Sanaigmore+Bouldering.JPG)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Boulder-prospecting on Islay...[/td][/tr]
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A long, cold winter extended the bouldering season into a chilly spring lasting well into May. If there is still ski-ing into May, it means then there is still good bouldering to be had.
The main news is Dumbarton Rock has had a face-lift. Local climbers, the MCoS, the TCA (http://www.tca-glasgow.com/) and Stone Country all worked hard with Historic Scotland and West Dunbartonshire Council to begin a long process of 'refurbishing' the crag and boulders in tandem with a local riverside development plan. First off was a scrubbing of most of the graffiti on the boulders, returning the rock to its unusual foundation of pitted orange basalt. After that a mega clean-up session saw the crag transformed into quite a pleasant 'green corner'. We plan to keep it that way.
[tr][td](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IvnIUwoM8iE/UZ-iaeLJVDI/AAAAAAAApUo/Ewd60sR7ayk/s400/Dumby+sans+graffiti.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IvnIUwoM8iE/UZ-iaeLJVDI/AAAAAAAApUo/Ewd60sR7ayk/s1600/Dumby+sans+graffiti.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Suckers Boulder with new face[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qp5G_1dAuu8/UZ-iVkaXA8I/AAAAAAAApUU/cJcMDeyNybE/s400/Dumby+Clean-Up+BBQ.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qp5G_1dAuu8/UZ-iVkaXA8I/AAAAAAAApUU/cJcMDeyNybE/s1600/Dumby+Clean-Up+BBQ.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]TCA BBQ after the clean-up[/td][/tr]
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Back to the bouldering. In Glasgow, Alex Gorham and others have been slowly unearthing the ptential of what is just called 'The Dark Side' by those in the know. More details will be revealed soon, but some fine sandstone lines have been discovered not more than 30 minutes from the city centre. It's only good in windy, dry weather in spring and summer, which is just what we have at the minute. The crags and boulders here were discovered years ago by Willie Gorman but he thought them too green to bother with. Not any more!
[tr][td](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8SlVoNMxKtw/UZ-iHM0urXI/AAAAAAAApT0/SkS_BEiEsig/s640/Craigmaddie+Dark+Side_J+Watson+on+The+Dark+Side+7a+.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8SlVoNMxKtw/UZ-iHM0urXI/AAAAAAAApT0/SkS_BEiEsig/s1600/Craigmaddie+Dark+Side_J+Watson+on+The+Dark+Side+7a+.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]'The Dark Side' new venue: John Watson on an unnamed 7a+ classic line[/td][/tr]
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In the North-East the Aberdeen seacliffs continue to be developed in terms of bouldering and sport routes. the bouldering at Pow Kebbuck (http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=18592), amusingly called Sharmasheugh by locals, seems to be the highlight of the season, with elegant roof problems providing the meat of the action. Luke Fairweather climbed the hard Dr Inferno at 8a, repeated by Marcus Bean. Tim Rankin did some burly rock-shifting to clear the Light Bulb bloc at Clashfarquhar, opening up several plum lines including the 7c of Neon. Photo topo below.
[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bid_9g0cdKo/UZ-ibOKIJOI/AAAAAAAApUw/1W24kI_ZO5k/s640/Inferno_Pow+Kebbuck_sharmasheugh.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bid_9g0cdKo/UZ-ibOKIJOI/AAAAAAAApUw/1W24kI_ZO5k/s1600/Inferno_Pow+Kebbuck_sharmasheugh.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Sharmasheugh: Dr Inferno 8a[/td][/tr]
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[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kyxavJEn5-Q/UZ-iN5PVA7I/AAAAAAAApUE/WKG7q7L6L-M/s640/Clashfarquhar_Light+Bulb+boulder.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kyxavJEn5-Q/UZ-iN5PVA7I/AAAAAAAApUE/WKG7q7L6L-M/s1600/Clashfarquhar_Light+Bulb+boulder.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Clashfarquhar: Light Bulb Boulder[/td][/tr]
[/table] A new guide for Torridon bouldering, from Richie Betts and Ian Taylor, should be with us soon, and Torridon has had a continuous gold rush of new lines, almost too many to mention. Richie Betts repeated Stokes Croft, a fine 8a on the upper tier. We are all just fiercely jealous to be so far from Torridon as every weekend seems to see a new 5 star classic!
[tr][td](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ymnMiGMoLjc/UZ-ik1bjQsI/AAAAAAAApVM/ddWNfV9irCU/s640/Torridon_Nigel+Holmes+on+his+own+Castaways+6b+.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ymnMiGMoLjc/UZ-ik1bjQsI/AAAAAAAApVM/ddWNfV9irCU/s1600/Torridon_Nigel+Holmes+on+his+own+Castaways+6b+.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Torridon: Castaways by Nigel Holmes 6b+[/td][/tr]
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Dan Varian, with film-maker Nick Brown in tow, has been mopping up the big unclaimed lines in Scotland. He has just completed two new 8as at the sickeningly-steep Carrick Castle bloc (next to the giant bloc with the sport route Trench Warfare). The main line is a traverse called Marra Time, traversing from a stand in the middle of the face to the left arete.
[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-peNIiJmpZks/UZ-iIcY-SlI/AAAAAAAApT8/ivM8DMeFAiw/s640/Carrick+Castle_Marra+Time+8a_Dan+Varian_Photo+courtesy+of+Nick+Brown.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-peNIiJmpZks/UZ-iIcY-SlI/AAAAAAAApT8/ivM8DMeFAiw/s1600/Carrick+Castle_Marra+Time+8a_Dan+Varian_Photo+courtesy+of+Nick+Brown.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Marra Time at Carrick Castle (Dan Varian's new 8a): Photo by Nick Brown[/td][/tr]
[/table]
Dan also climbed the 'futuristic' boulder at Ardgour saying it went at an amenable 7c, but a truly hard line still lies on this impressive bloc. He also claimed a direct line left of Precious in Glen Croe, bagging it another hefty grade of 8a. A variation of Precious was climbed by Alex Gorham to give 'Semi-Precious' 7c+ (see the excellent wee vid).
Semi Precious - Alex Gorham (http://vimeo.com/65241073) from Alex Gorham (http://vimeo.com/user17613886) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/).
In Edinburgh, it's worth checking out the Currie Wa's (http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/features/dougal-haston-exhibition-sheds-light-on-rock-climber-1-2867604) exhibition at water of Leith Visitor Centre. David Buchanan has a small but fascinating exhibition of photos and texts of the Curre Wa's, used by Dougal Haston and friends to boulder in the 50s and 60s. Most walls are now overgrown but some can still be climbed. I'll post some more photos soon on this historical bouldering curiosity soon.
[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H51DWmraOQ8/UZ-iZqebV8I/AAAAAAAApUk/fWN3zVH-6yI/s640/Currie+Walls+Dougal+Haston+on+Spike+Wall.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H51DWmraOQ8/UZ-iZqebV8I/AAAAAAAApUk/fWN3zVH-6yI/s1600/Currie+Walls+Dougal+Haston+on+Spike+Wall.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Dougal haston on Spike Wall on Edinburgh's Currie Wa's[/td][/tr]
[/table]
Paul Whitworth and friends have developed some bouldering at Levenwick in Shetland. The sandstone roofs look terrific quality, if you happen to be that far north. UKC details here (http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=17142).
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uWADYbZyvp8/UZ-il4rjaAI/AAAAAAAApVU/zETAX9LGSgw/s640/Shetland_Levenwick+Bouldering+wall+lower_photo+by+Paul+Whitworth.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uWADYbZyvp8/UZ-il4rjaAI/AAAAAAAApVU/zETAX9LGSgw/s1600/Shetland_Levenwick+Bouldering+wall+lower_photo+by+Paul+Whitworth.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Levenwick Bouldering wall on Shetland (Pic courtesy Paul Whitworth)[/td][/tr]
[/table]
Craigmaddie in Glasgow has seen some new lip traverses, taking the problem count to well over 50. Not many rate this venue, but if you stare harder, you begin to see more. It's a terrific outlook as well, and for rock-starved, Dumby-hrting Glaswegians, it's the perfect antidote.
[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z0-cxnx1wT8/UZ-iWJpm1xI/AAAAAAAApUY/HbaDnk-c3ys/s640/Craigmaddie_The+Short+Haul.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z0-cxnx1wT8/UZ-iWJpm1xI/AAAAAAAApUY/HbaDnk-c3ys/s1600/Craigmaddie_The+Short+Haul.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]The Short Haul, 6b traverse at Craigmaddie[/td][/tr]
[/table] Dave MacLeod is back bouldering like stink in the Arisaig Cave, working some very meaty project traverses and straight-ups. He's going to post a topo soon, but make sure you're climbing 7c to 8b if you want to take anything away from here, it's proper steep!
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uxd2Wn8wtU4/UZ-iAVDCgCI/AAAAAAAApTs/m4-aLWrzYRk/s400/Arisaig+cave+project_Dave+MacLeod_Photo+by+Claire+MacLeod.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uxd2Wn8wtU4/UZ-iAVDCgCI/AAAAAAAApTs/m4-aLWrzYRk/s1600/Arisaig+cave+project_Dave+MacLeod_Photo+by+Claire+MacLeod.jpg)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Arisaig Cave project: Dave MacLeod
| (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hI5DHbltXB4/UZ-iOX0WevI/AAAAAAAApUI/dQm6YJr59i4/s400/Craigmaddie+Dark+Side_Little+Bloc.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hI5DHbltXB4/UZ-iOX0WevI/AAAAAAAApUI/dQm6YJr59i4/s1600/Craigmaddie+Dark+Side_Little+Bloc.jpg) |
Dark Side bouldering...
|
[/t][/t][/t]
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Great update John. The Dark Side looks fantastic, that 7A+ looks superb and baffling! Good effort to Safe Betts for doing Stokes Croft too. Keen to get to Sharmasheugh next time I'm up that way...
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Good report. Hurry up with the Dark Side information!!!
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+1
Levenwick stuff looks a bit like Katy's Leap.
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Great update John. The Dark Side looks fantastic, that 7A+ looks superb and baffling! Good effort to Safe Betts for doing Stokes Croft too. Keen to get to Sharmasheugh next time I'm up that way...
Thanks. I should point out the way I did stokes isn't 8A. Dark side looks good, cool there are still venues like this getting developed near to Glasgow.
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You lanked it?
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:lol: not this time. I might have lanked the walk in though.
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Rum Bouldering Guide (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/S7vs11pBzs0/rum-bouldering-guide.html)
30 May 2013, 7:14 am
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hg40c2lazQ8/Uab8OwrBWDI/AAAAAAAApk0/tJDIuSmnRmo/s640/The+Bomb.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hg40c2lazQ8/Uab8OwrBWDI/AAAAAAAApk0/tJDIuSmnRmo/s1600/The+Bomb.JPG)
Rum is a magical island and one of Scotland's finest bouldering venues, with some simply awe-inspiring stones. Hamish Fraser and friends have developed most of the bouldering here, best left to Hamish to introduce:
'Rum is part of the small isles situated west of Mallaig. For years it has attracted many geologists for its interesting rock formations but hasn't had much attention by climbers, let alone boulderers. Thanks to the Bouldering in Scotland guide I first explored the island in 2008 and was amazed by the volume and quality of the boulders. Since then I have been making yearly trips to develop the bouldering with groups of mates. The following video was put together from the recent 2013 trip and shows some of the classic lines and quite a bit of the recent developments. We now have around 70 recorded problems and several hard projects up for the taking. The guide will be available shortly. In the mean time most problems are documented on UKC and you can drop me an email at rumboulder@gmail.com (boulderum@gmail.com) if you need more information.'
A PDF guide can be downloaded here >>> (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzJ60_gceZ1HeWdhbHlVUEdobnM/edit?usp=sharing)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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A PDF guide can be downloaded here
....if your browser isn't ancient like my work one.
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video?
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Welcome to Rum on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/65071248)
Rum Bouldering on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/11001478)
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Ta.
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You are so the youtube generation
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Lennoxtown Roof (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/_cH92U3yyJY/lennoxtown-roof.html)
19 June 2013, 3:12 pm
Top effort from Alex Gorham against the dank, the green, the midge and the hell of Scottish bouldering! The building should give you a clue if you are a Celtic fan...
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Arisaig caves (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/4ZGwd3NNRxc/arisaig-caves.html)
24 June 2013, 4:03 am
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5535/9121451281_c847720b25.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/9121451281/)Arisaig caves (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/9121451281/), a photo by Stone Country Press (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/) on Flickr.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Craigmaddie Summer (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/mqecHYczoac/craigmaddie-summer.html)
29 June 2013, 5:29 pm
Craigmaddie, the 'Northumberland in Glasgow' venue, really comes into its own in summer. Its rough sandstone is grippy and dries out nicely, leaving some of the damper winter roofs open for new lip traverses and deep cave starts. Colin Lambton, 'king of the lip traverse' and John Watson, unlocked the 'Stellar Advneture' lip traverse of the Sheep Pen left roof, which has brushed up well to give a classic outing... Read more » (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/2013/06/craigmaddie-summer.html#more)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Gighabytes (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/xcQF_b8CcPA/gighabytes.html)
27 July 2013, 4:37 pm
The most debebilitating illness for any climber aside from the obvious broken bones, death and torn tendons, is viral labyrinthitis, an inner ear vertigo which is like stepping off a kids' roundabout and the feeling sticks. For weeks. A recuperative bout of doing nothing on a non-climbing island seemed appropriate until I grew so frustrated with inactivity I wobbled out of bed and set about the island like a lunchtime drunk looking for a pub. Gigha is a pretty island of meadows and rippled beaches, but it has little rock above chin height, and if it were a PC it would be a 250mb laptop from the 90s, in climbing bittage. However, it is not quite devoid of bouldering algorithms: the craggy trig point marilyn of Craig Bhan has some white ampibolite slabs and the easy track up to the modest summit leads to some intricate and technical slabs and cracked grooves. An hour of rehabilitating wobbles on these slabs with friends spotting with big mats is the perfect antidote for stepping off the dizzy roundabout of illness. Thanks to Ann and Nigel for the support and tolerating a grumpy and hopeless layabout. Now, where's that cold beer...
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fD_Schm1OhE/UfP3Mqj3bhI/AAAAAAAArj8/6h24UK-h53o/s640/20130724_132134.jpg) (http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fD_Schm1OhE/UfP3Mqj3bhI/AAAAAAAArj8/6h24UK-h53o/s1600/20130724_132134.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Arran Bouldering - The Mushroom (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/CMoQmhnsWgI/arran-bouldering-mushroom.html)
28 July 2013, 11:20 am
Ben Brotherton has put on his civic-minded beanie and visited Arran with spade and brushes to help uncover the giant Mushroom boulder.
Read more » (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/2013/07/arran-bouldering-mushroom.html#more)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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More summer bouldering in Scotland (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/c6kJakgvOP8/more-summer-bouldering-in-scotland.html)
18 August 2013, 4:21 pm
Perhaps the worst time of the year to boulder in Scotland, July and August: midges still kicking about with the horseflies, the bracken at Jurassic height, the air humid and muggy, the rain biblical when it hits, impassable rivers in spate, the sun baking and lethargy-inducing. If you're not in the higher hills, it's a good time to head to the cooler coastal venues . . .
Read more » (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/2013/08/more-summer-bouldering-in-scotland.html#more)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Beinn Enaiglair Bloc (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/b5qHSRkPrYM/beinn-enaiglair-bloc.html)
20 August 2013, 8:17 am
A man with a mission to climb the whole of the North West - Ian Taylor - is also not afraid to carry a heavy mat 1 hour uphill for some highball aesthetics! Here is a video of him on a new and very scary-looking classic at the Beinn Enaiglair bloc:
Read more » (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/2013/08/beinn-enaiglair-bloc.html#more)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Nicely described! Needs an E grade surely!
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Bolt it..
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LOL, dear god, don't joke about it.
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That's an amazing lump of rock Ian, nice find.
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Dumby in September (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/4xSpNfzb4fY/dumby-in-september.html)
6 September 2013, 8:39 am
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7455/9682800377_9015cf33dc.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/9682800377/)Dumby in September (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/9682800377/), a photo by Stone Country Press (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonecountry/) on Flickr.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Recent bouldering videos Scotland (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/dkvo1ay3xwE/recent-bouldering-videos-scotland.html)
16 September 2013, 8:23 am
Some recent videos to get psyched for the autumn season:
Malcs Arete (http://vimeo.com/73158280) from dan mills (http://vimeo.com/user6205440) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Weem (http://vimeo.com/72182933) from Collective Productions (http://vimeo.com/user6204944) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Scissorhands 7a (http://vimeo.com/70398263) from dan mills (http://vimeo.com/user6205440) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Kennedy Boulder (http://vimeo.com/73487328) from Fraser McIlwraith (http://vimeo.com/frasermcilwraith) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Spoilt for choice in the North West of Scotchland (http://vimeo.com/72520692) from Chris Houston (http://vimeo.com/houstonioni) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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From 24th May :
"A new guide for Torridon bouldering, from Richie Betts and Ian Taylor, should be with us soon, and Torridon has had a continuous gold rush of new lines, almost too many to mention."
Any news on when the new guide will be ready? Got a trip planned in the October Holidays, cant' wait!
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drop either of them a message and ask? look up Ian Taylor or richieb
Torridon only has one worthwhile boulder anyway! :)
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Taylor is skiving in France just now but the new guide is very,very close.......... ;)
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We really, really hope to have it out sometime in October. If not October, then November. If not November, then December etc
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Thirlstane Bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/lOsLGSFDp18/thirlstane-bouldering.html)
6 October 2013, 12:23 pm
The Thirlstane is an oft-forgotten caved crag on the Solway coast. In dry conditions, and with the tide right, the steep cave walls dry out and provide some steep and technical bouldering, a favourite for locals. Here is Stewart Cable's selection of some of the problems . . .
Read more » (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/2013/10/thirlstane-bouldering.html#more)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Bouldering Essentials review (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/Kf-1BVjahj8/bouldering-essentials-review.html)
14 October 2013, 5:56 pm
I am glad every time I see a new independent publisher - Three Rock Books (AKA Dave Flanagan from Dublin) - as it's a tough, odourless, online world for those who still like the smell of freshly printed gloss paper. Especially publishers who design and produce such quality books on bouldering as this, bringing another life-giving breath of literature to the genre.
Read more » (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/2013/10/bouldering-essentials-review.html#more)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Achray Blocs (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/cpO5jW4cfAI/achray-blocs.html)
27 October 2013, 3:07 pm
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wlCNEIVDkTg/Um0e14C-HkI/AAAAAAAAva0/Dt4hoCHqHzs/w1153-h865-no/Loch+Achray+Boulders+Neckers+Cube+6b.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wlCNEIVDkTg/Um0e14C-HkI/AAAAAAAAva0/Dt4hoCHqHzs/w1153-h865-no/Loch+Achray+Boulders+Neckers+Cube+6b.JPG)
Managed a short session in between the rain storms and autumn winds at the sheltered Achray blocs, just by Loch Achray and featuring a lung-bursting walk-in of 20 seconds! It's a limited venue to say the least but the quality of the problems makes it an enjoyable quick fix for the time-compromised, and it's a fine spot amongst the autumn colours of the Trossachs.
A topo can be found here >>> (https://sites.google.com/site/boulderscotland/)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Torridon Bouldering Guide (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/AgRdCStX4PI/torridon-bouldering-guide.html)
6 November 2013, 11:47 am
It's here! The best venue in Scotland - a long-anticipated guide to the bouldering, from local gurus Ian Taylor and Richie Betts, who have both done a grand job of collating all the elegant problems so far etched out on the endless tiers of finely-grained red sandstone. From 'The Celtic Jumble' up the hill on the slopes towards Liathach, and south beyond to areas such as Seana Mheallan - all are given due attention. 92 pages of enough bouldering to drive you to tiers (!).
Available here through Stone Country for £9.99 plus some P&P.>>>
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3787/10588621336_cff5e4b472_c.jpg) (http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3787/10588621336_cff5e4b472_c.jpg)
(https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_GB/i/scr/pixel.gif)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Dumby Litter Pick - this Saturday! (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/6t3yk41kUPU/dumby-litter-pick-this-saturday.html)
18 November 2013, 4:25 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nBDs1_6HFrQ/Uoo_Q-jJh8I/AAAAAAAAxhw/wPDiu0CrZNA/s320/Dumby+Clean-Up+BBQ.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nBDs1_6HFrQ/Uoo_Q-jJh8I/AAAAAAAAxhw/wPDiu0CrZNA/s1600/Dumby+Clean-Up+BBQ.jpg)Go cleaning and climbing ... just to let you know there will be a Dumby clean-up this Saturday 23rd November 10am to 2pm (at the latest) - plenty of bods will make light work round the boulders and environs.
Linda Adam from West Dunbartonshire Council has organised a skip and all the cleaning gear like last time, including gloves, sharp-boxes, bin bags and those grabby things, so you just need to come dressed for a cold dry day, by the looks of the forecast. TCA will be organising events round this, to be announced.The council will strim the area of vegetation so we can make a decent fist of clearing the whole area again.
Some anti-erosion work may be going on so bring a bucket and spade if you like. There's plenty of gravel on the beach to place around some muddy holes which are forming under popular take-off aprons.
And it looks like perfect bouldering weather, so bring your kit as well!
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Boulder - reviews and discount offer (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/K5R8hoge_-E/the-boulder-reviews-and-discount-offer.html)
14 December 2013, 5:29 pm
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QdpKGlm09Qc/UqyAL6Y581I/AAAAAAAAyXU/MSEnJuRvGfQ/s200/web+cover+large.png) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QdpKGlm09Qc/UqyAL6Y581I/AAAAAAAAyXU/MSEnJuRvGfQ/s1600/web+cover+large.png)We're selling stock of The Boulder at £7.99 if you wish to pick up a copy for someone for Christmas. The book has enjoyed rave reviews from international climbers, we've a selection of the responses to the book below.
(https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_GB/i/scr/pixel.gif)
“Finding a climber who perceives bouldering as a moving meditation, or one who values form and style far beyond difficulty, is a daunting task . . . bouldering needs its own analytical literature. In this book, Francis Sanzaro takes a significant step in that direction.”John Gill, Godfather of bouldering & author
“… today, you rarely see much literature and reflection coming out of anyone. That just changed. Francis Sanzaro stopped what he was doing and took the time to reflect on bouldering and what it means to him and why he does it. The result is his impressive new book ‘The Boulder: A Philosophy for Bouldering’. In it, he presents some of the most thoughtful and interesting writing I’ve ever read about this sport. ‘The Boulder’ is a dynamic new addition to the body of climbing literature and philosophy.”Andrew Bisharat, Editor, Rock & Ice Magazine
“The language we use to describe climbing is pretty rudimentary, relying on lots of waving of the arms. If climbing is to become a serious competitive sport – and it seems to be heading that way – then there will be major advances in this area . . . this book will confirm what we know already: that there is a lot more to bouldering than meets the eye.”Dave Flanagan, author of ‘Bouldering Essentials: The Complete Guide to Bouldering’
“A brilliant book that everyone interested in moving over stone should read! At first it sounds like a difficult read, with concepts detached from actually "doing it," but Francis Sanzaro manages to describe complex ideas without ever losing touch to the challenge and joy of bouldering - highly recommended!”Udo Neumann, author of ‘Performance Rock Climbing’
“’The Boulder’ explores the philosophy of bouldering, what it can mean for boulderers and how we can use this examination to improve both our bouldering and what we take from it. For many readers, discovering bouldering will no doubt have changed your life, but surely starting out in a new found activity isn’t the end of the story? There are many life changes to be found as you learn more and more about what bouldering is doing for you. I would expect most readers to be helped along this path.”Dave MacLeod, author of ‘9 out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes’
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Dumby Bloc 300 out now (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/GWCdhExUMRU/dumby-bloc-300-out-now.html)
19 December 2013, 10:41 am
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8IAea2GGRrg/UrLMp3TT63I/AAAAAAAAy3o/ioev7YvxIfE/s400/Dumby+bloc+2013+cover.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8IAea2GGRrg/UrLMp3TT63I/AAAAAAAAy3o/ioev7YvxIfE/s1600/Dumby+bloc+2013+cover.jpg)
Dumbarton Rock, or Dumby as it is known to locals, is Scotland's prime urban bouldering venue. This is the first guide to document the complete bouldering at Dumby: the straight-ups, the traverses, the eliminates, the link-ups, the circuits and the test pieces, as well as the projects ... if you're visiting Dumby for the first time, or have become smitten with the place as a local venue, this is the guide for you!
Photo-topos, circuit maps, extended descriptions and historical notes provide the first complete tick-list for bouldering at Dumbarton - even getting to 100 complete problems will seem like an achievement, whilst ticking all 300 would be a world-class first. This notoriously fickle and difficult venue can safely be described as the spiritual home of Scottish bouldering.
We have stock available direct at £5.99 plus a little PandP from the bookshop page. Please note stock will be sent out up to Dec 23rd, thereafter only from January 6th, thanks.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Stone Country New Year 2014 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/wXBAtEQ9D-A/stone-country-new-year-2014.html)
12 January 2014, 9:46 am
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QNqlz3vIv6Y/UtJilUeoRWI/AAAAAAAAz5g/IY27_3Kmeds/s1600/Arran+storm+3rd+Jan+at+Corriw+south+pier.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QNqlz3vIv6Y/UtJilUeoRWI/AAAAAAAAz5g/IY27_3Kmeds/s1600/Arran+storm+3rd+Jan+at+Corriw+south+pier.JPG)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Welcome to 2014, Arran 3rd January[/td][/tr]
[/table] January 1st arrived with mild and stormy weather interspersed by long periods of continuing rain on saturated ground. After a grim December, optimism for the New Year is on hold in terms of the weather - an unsettled and wobbly jet-stream seems to have set in motion an endless stream of southwesterly water-baths.
On the 3rd January a perfect storm of sorts blew in, combining with spring tides to flood most of the Clyde basin. Exposed shoreline areas saw roads ripped apart and covered in marine debris, Ardrossan and Arran hit hard.
[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c3owkhHNZ8w/UtJhfLWlu2I/AAAAAAAAz4w/MZYfzx5EZ9A/s1600/20140103_121638.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c3owkhHNZ8w/UtJhfLWlu2I/AAAAAAAAz4w/MZYfzx5EZ9A/s1600/20140103_121638.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Arran 3rd January storms[/td][/tr]
[/table]We were staying in Corrie in the sheltered north harbour 'Wee Zephyr' cottage (a rather ironic name), accompanied by an unconcerned otter fishing the harbour bay, but still found both north and south roads impassable for a while at Sannox and Maol Donn shores.
[tr][td](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JAQ_uh1QgUM/UtJifgjMPPI/AAAAAAAAz5Y/y9OWgJDUFjo/s1600/Corrie+otter+on+his+back+floating.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JAQ_uh1QgUM/UtJifgjMPPI/AAAAAAAAz5Y/y9OWgJDUFjo/s1600/Corrie+otter+on+his+back+floating.JPG)[/td][/tr][tr][td]New Year companion[/td][/tr]
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Walks were the order of the day to shake off the alcoholic lethargy of New Year, up to the waterfalls at North Glen Sannox (golden eagle territory, the Hutton 'intrusion') and the iron age forts in North Sannox.
| (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Y83nEg1KpI/UtJiFB641MI/AAAAAAAAz5A/nHlhbQ35H-0/s1600/2014-01-01+13.23.54.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Y83nEg1KpI/UtJiFB641MI/AAAAAAAAz5A/nHlhbQ35H-0/s1600/2014-01-01+13.23.54.jpg) |
| Hutton's intrusive proof of vulcanism |
Higher ground remained wind-blown and swathed in impenetrable cloud, so we left this for longer summer days.
| (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iWteO-aUHgs/UtJiJtoB1tI/AAAAAAAAz5I/piSw30ucbhE/s1600/2014-01-01+13.48.55.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iWteO-aUHgs/UtJiJtoB1tI/AAAAAAAAz5I/piSw30ucbhE/s1600/2014-01-01+13.48.55.jpg) |
| Pete and Sarah in sodden North Glen Sannox |
I managed one sunny afternoon bouldering on Arran in between the fronts, at The Mushroom in Merkland Wood, part of the National Trust's grounds. The newly-cleaned rock of 2013 was remarkably dry for such a dousing, thought the slabby top-outs are still green, not surprisingly. It will take a concerted dry spell for the finishes to come into nick Still, it's a fine venue amongst the tall, swaying Scots Pines and to be noted are some hard project lines tucked in the left cave on the south face if it dries out enough to work.
| (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-If8gaLVMgkw/UtJiNTJBlmI/AAAAAAAAz5Q/An1NaaWrT04/s1600/2013-12-29+13.09.04.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-If8gaLVMgkw/UtJiNTJBlmI/AAAAAAAAz5Q/An1NaaWrT04/s1600/2013-12-29+13.09.04.jpg) |
| Merkland Wood |
Delayed ferries were the order of the week, Calmac diverting to Gourock to avoid the windswept Ardrossan, the Clansman boat was called in and many frustrated passengers, including Lord Jack McConnell of Glencorrodale, were getting red around the chops with Calmac's backlogs. The Arran Banner was incandescent with editorial rage, and rightly so, for island businesses taking the hit of an inadequately-appointed ferry fleet around the busiest time of year, though the Scottish weather is top trumps in this affair. To add insult to injury, Calmac delayed boarding on a sodden Saturday 4th to perform a fire-drill. Cue a rolling of eyes.
[tr][td](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-syGStw-tqS8/UtJh-oKMVEI/AAAAAAAAz44/csfIHWKcKT8/s1600/2013-12-29+10.04.03.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-syGStw-tqS8/UtJh-oKMVEI/AAAAAAAAz44/csfIHWKcKT8/s1600/2013-12-29+10.04.03.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Corrie end of 2013[/td][/tr]
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Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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January 6th-12th - a settling (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/gzDxhs6fPew/january-6th-12th-settling.html)
12 January 2014, 10:05 am
| (http://d243395j6jqdl3.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/visit-norway-new-northern-lights-video-840x550.png) (http://d243395j6jqdl3.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/visit-norway-new-northern-lights-video-840x550.png) |
| ...not Scotland, as was promised! |
Towards the end of the week, the weather has settled a little and some clear skies and frosts set in. A massive coronal mass ejection (CME or solar storm) was predicted to hit the atmosphere on Thursday, but it was weaker than predicted and evening jaunts to the higher ground round Glasgow were fruitless. Iceland and Norway stole the show, seen live on Skygazing live on the BBC, or the 'lucky-bastards show' as it should be called. Hopefully an active sun will continue to have colourful hissy fits this winter...
The clearer skies finally combined with a weekend, so on Saturday 11th, with the east of the country draped with medallions on the forecast, Colin and myself headed to Glen Lednock. Treacherous black ice on the pass over to Comrie (with a buckled jeep in a ditch behind a scribble of swerve-lines on the road) led to a slow approach but we made it up to Invergeldie Farm and stomped the locked-gate approach to the dam for the first enjoyable bouldering session of the year.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TkcpukdqaKs/UtJnMdhpztI/AAAAAAAAz5s/Z2YeSS8ZCtk/s1600/20140111_131339.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TkcpukdqaKs/UtJnMdhpztI/AAAAAAAAz5s/Z2YeSS8ZCtk/s1600/20140111_131339.jpg)The rock was still a little green and the top-outs coated in spindrift snow, but some stiff-fingered bouldering could still be enjoyed. A fine outlook and good venue, with Creag Iochdair on the east flank looking like it should really be developed more. Good to see another party arrive and brave the icy conditions - if the access to the dam car-parks were resurrected, this would be a popular venue, but an unenlightened and regressive landowning approach seems to be a thorn-in-the-side here. But Scottish law and access rights will prevail...
[tr][td](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YIWC9AfEDG4/UtJnMVULu8I/AAAAAAAAz5s/Sby3ObqgGjM/s1600/20140111_141009.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YIWC9AfEDG4/UtJnMVULu8I/AAAAAAAAz5s/Sby3ObqgGjM/s1600/20140111_141009.jpg)[/td][/tr][tr][td]Glen Lednock bouldering[/td][/tr]
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Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Floating Boulder (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/80LyTHJaNNY/the-floating-boulder.html)
20 January 2014, 5:26 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zZvYxwMwQ44/Utv3Qoo-p7I/AAAAAAAA0cs/eRCdpCN2-W0/w679-h905-no/20140119_142831.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zZvYxwMwQ44/Utv3Qoo-p7I/AAAAAAAA0cs/eRCdpCN2-W0/w679-h905-no/20140119_142831.jpg)
The Scottish winter is a long dreamtime. Especially in such wet, dark, dank weeks which visit us between old years and new. The Scottish climber probably spends more time dreaming about climbing than actually doing any. A lot of stones and boulders float round ambitious dreamscapes in drifting vistas of cool skies and sun-washed rock. The reality is just about waiting out the weather systems.
A Sunday visit to Dumbarton rock found it, not unsurprisingly, green, dripping. One problem was dry. High tides are floating the Sea Boulder again and it's time to take stock, or just bite the bullet and get down the training wall ...
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Whangie (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/PpggbzzYCfU/the-whangie.html)
21 February 2014, 6:00 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2UZ4-uf4MSg/Sl4HZVWrEeI/AAAAAAAALgU/XWcLdhLr1Lk/s1600/Whangie.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2UZ4-uf4MSg/Sl4HZVWrEeI/AAAAAAAALgU/XWcLdhLr1Lk/s1600/Whangie.jpg)A fine outlook is only spoiled by shattered rock but there is a little bouldering here if you work hard at thinking on movement rather than aesthetics. The curious camouflaged nature of the lichened basalt means climbing requires not only a patient approach but care with broken rock and an expectation that the rock may suddenly explode, so in many ways it suits bouldering more than trad, or, perish the thought, soloing. With bouldering you get to look at the view more often between attempts and the view, especially on a clear winter day, is by far the highlight. It is hard to bring the Whangie into the modern age of climbing...perhaps a deep freeze will bring out the dry toolers. Or perhaps we should have just brought a stove and sandwiches.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Good place for indoor wall climbers to learn the intricacies of leading on real rock.
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Cairngorms & Strathnairn (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/gonouyiIp3E/cairngorms-strathnairn.html)
7 March 2014, 3:12 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ByKYurw0oqQ/UxnbGkLE5gI/AAAAAAAA1O8/A_4QDFctO_s/s1600/20140301_100907.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ByKYurw0oqQ/UxnbGkLE5gI/AAAAAAAA1O8/A_4QDFctO_s/s1600/20140301_100907.jpg)
Before the milder weather arrived, we ran the Friday night bothy run from Glasgow to Newtonmore, then up early amongst the pines of the Sugarbowl into the Chalamain Gap and the Lairig Ghru. Lurcher's Crag provided an icy gully, sunny belays and views across to Braeriach's plateau S-carved with skiers. We meandered down snow-wisped slopes of Creag an Leth-choin, back to Aviemore for the night.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/02jcdrLSb4Ht6mxxHU_F6Ivzji5cv4FipI4xy2rHY5u-=w679-h905-no) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/02jcdrLSb4Ht6mxxHU_F6Ivzji5cv4FipI4xy2rHY5u-=w679-h905-no)
Strathnairn was next day's choice for some sunny bouldering, of course the Ruthven Boulder was the target after a visit to see the Farr boulder. A walker on his way up Stac Gorm called the uniquely rough gneiss 'Strathnairn granite' and noted to us that it necessitated wearing gloves if you were building a wall, as it tore the skin from your tips. We noted that too after an hour or so, as well as a general wilting of power on the butch bouldering on this unique stone.
Here's a short guide to the stone:
The Ruthven Boulder
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tKXiI070g8Q/UxnfieHjbhI/AAAAAAAA1Pk/KThG07H8xJU/s1600/20140302_122601.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tKXiI070g8Q/UxnfieHjbhI/AAAAAAAA1Pk/KThG07H8xJU/s1600/20140302_122601.jpg)
Ambience: steroid bloc
Rock: gneiss
Season: year round
Gear: mats, chalk, skin cream, true grit
Grades: 5 to 7c
GR: NH 636277
Access
· Come off the A9 at Daviot, 5 miles south of Inverness, west onto the B851 signed to Fort Augustus
· Continue through Inverarnie (shop) and another 8km past Brin rock on the right to a right turn signed to Loch Ruthven RSPB
· Another 2km to parking at Loch Ruthven
· The boulder is obvious below Stac Gorm, south of the loch, a 5 minute walk uphill
Bloc Notes
‘Clach na Boineid’ in Gaelic, it translates as the ‘Bunnet Stane’, but to boulderers is commonly called the Ruthven Boulder. This is the Hulk of Scottish boulders, a steroid-pumped glacial erratic packed with bulging gneiss veins. The bouldering is amongst the best in Scotland, and the moves are delicate despite the powerful approach required. The problems are described anti-clockwise from the arête opposite the ‘Baby Bonnet’ boulder.
Top Problems (described anti-clockwise from back descent)
The Descent of Man 2
A layback gains the shelf and easier moves to the top. Also the descent…
The Cheeky Girls 6a
The wall right of the descent. Gain slopers and travel right to rock left.
Austin Powers 4+
The excellent juggy groove a few metres right of the descent.
The Razor’s Edge 7a
SS jugs under arête to crimps, then sharp edges and crimp up and left to flake.
The Slippery Slope 6c
SS edges to lip sloper, twist up left to jug, then mantle right to high crack.
Sloping Off 6c+
SS as for above, but from sloper go right to holds and finish right over bulge.
Q.E.D. 7c
SS under roof and gain slopey lip, finishing right.
Barry Manilow 7a+
SS under the big nose and climb it direct via one jug under nose. Start on small incut hold under roof travel right to a good hold under the nose (but no jugs!), break left through the prominent slopey nose and beg your way up to a high quartz hold. A classic struggle.
Builder’s Butt 4+
Start on the jugs right of the nose and pull into the groove. SS 6a from left.
Ebony Face Beyond Communication 7c (8b sport)
SS Builder's Butt jug traverse along the front face to Big Lebowski around the corner to Rock n Roll.
Nefertiti 6b
2 small edges middle of left wall to good hold, RH incut then a long Egyptian up and left to a good edge, up to a layaway.
Pinch Punch 6c
SS small edge to shallow scoop, lunge for hold left, a RH pinch to a LH edge then up to layaway and trend left.
The Groove 5+
Start on small holds at the bottom of the groove, some nice moves lead to beter holds all the way up the groove.
Outstanding 6a+
SS roof off wee stone through jugs to hidden quartz hold, lunge to high jugs.
The Dude 7a
SS as above but a long move out right leads to hard sequence into hanging mossy groove. Direct top is 7b.
The Big Lebowski 7a
SS left roof traverse right to end of slopey ledge then wall via sidepull and crimpy finish.
White Russian 7a+
SS direct up through sloping shelf via pinch above.
Shreddies 6c
Stand start to undercut arête. Finish direct.
The Big Tease 6b
Stand start right of arête to quartz blobs up and right, finish direct.
Neil Armstrong 5
Start at a shallow horizontal crack and climb the wall on quartz holds.
Crystal Maze 6c
SS flat hold left to quartz jug, rock left.
Sylvester 6a+
SS flat hold left to quartz jug, back right over lip to crack and slab.
Tweeky Pie 6c
SS flat hold, cunning cross right to sloper and mantle lip to crack.
Rock ‘n Roll Baby 5
SS jugs under roofed arête right to crack and rock onto slab.
Cheese Grater 6b
SS jugs and climb right of the arête.
Lovely Jugs 3
Line of jugs between Cheese Grater and the descent.
Bitch Slap 6c
Baby Bonnet. SS on a small shelf on the front right. Follow the holds left along the fault to a jug, take a slappy sequence left to finish up the blunt arête.
Turn The Other Cheek 6b+
Baby Bonnet. Starts the same as above to the good hold then head right to rounded holds, struggle onto the slab.
Warm-Up Traverse 6a
Baby Bonnet. On uphill wall of Baby Bonnet boulder. Start at L end on obvious dish. Traverse slopers rightwards to incuts around corner then mantle.
Test Tube 6b
Embryo Stone. 100m uphill. SS on the downhill side of the boulder climb direct.
Brave New World 6a
Embryo Stone. 100m uphill. SS downhill side of the boulder climb out leftwards.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Top bloc!
Slippery Slope is desperate 6C+ and Outstanding is 6B+. Razor's Edge is brilliant and The Dude is great and easy 7A.
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There are a few other things missing from that list but I can't remember the names. The wall left of razor's edge and the wall left of nerfertiti are both about 7A from sit starts and a more direct version of barry manilow is about 7B.
As far as I know QED is unrepeated and could well be a bit harder than 7C. Dave M could well have done it on his visits to do the traverses though.
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Windyhill on a sunny day (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/zMqqCb8I-aY/windyhill-on-sunny-day.html)
15 March 2014, 5:51 pm
Glasgow's quarried hinterlands, such as the braes above Paisley, Johnstone and Elderslie, well what can we say of them, what is there for the climber: dank landfill quarries, briars flagged with poly bags, Tennents cans and Cider bottles, dog-shite, plastic detritus, road-dumps, graffiti splatters, neds, broken bikes and unmbrellas, abandoned tyres, fire-pits ... or, if you're in a brighter mood: sunbitten orange basalt, birds singing, blue skies and daffodils, technical moves & rough textures, silver birch, silence, a warmed back as you climb...
Windyhill is an odd little bouldering backwater, but a little attention, litter-picking, briar-bashing, in short a little bouldery love, and the place is fine for an evening's sunny bouldering in the lower grades. There's even a car-park 10 yards across the road now. No excuses then, but bring your secateurs, those briars are vicious!
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HLJlBc_AU-A/UySSfiyW0yI/AAAAAAAA1V4/pcaK8VjHt-A/s1600/Windyhill+topo-01.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HLJlBc_AU-A/UySSfiyW0yI/AAAAAAAA1V4/pcaK8VjHt-A/s1600/Windyhill+topo-01.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Lost Township of Grulin on Eigg (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/s4FC56m8kdc/the-lost-township-of-grulin-on-eigg.html)
4 April 2014, 11:03 am
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eihnh4TSq1E/Uz6MO-rPWUI/AAAAAAAA16U/tM0iUZ1OxFo/s1600/Grulin.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eihnh4TSq1E/Uz6MO-rPWUI/AAAAAAAA16U/tM0iUZ1OxFo/s1600/Grulin.jpg)‘The Stony Place’ as it translates, the archaeological notes on the RCAHMS database for Eigg, state baldly the lost humanity of Grulin as early as an 1880 OS survey map: ‘…eighteen unroofed buildings, six enclosures and a field-system’. Now a scheduled monument and memorialised as a ‘depopulated settlement’, though it is not obvious if the verb is passive or aggressive, Grulin Uachdrach (Grulin Upper) is, like Hallaig on Raasay, a place of violent silence and resonance.
Who lived here and why was the site abandoned? If it were not in Scotland, suspicions might fall to the climate, remoteness and apparent unsustainability of the stony place, a rabble of large rocks under the steep slopes of An Sgurr, but the carefully constructed walls tell us it was once a thriving township – the kilns, folds and blackhouse walls integrated with the giant boulders such as Clach Hosdail. In 1853 the whole of the village of Grulin, both upper and lower, housed fourteen families who were forced to leave, 57 people in all cleared aside from one family held as shepherds. One family was crofted at Cleadale but the rest found emigration to Nova Scotia the only option. In 1841 there had been 103 people but by 1853 Laig farm to the north of the Sgurr had been let by the landowner to a borders sheep farmer called Stephen Stewart, who took on the contract only on condition it included the fine grazing and pasture around the Grulins under the south face of the Sgurr. The subsequent events tell a similar tale to the hundreds of other cleared villages throughout Scotland.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ubucfdt-5G4/Uz6QdK7m57I/AAAAAAAA17Y/__dcmd16Q0o/s1600/Grulin+clearances+shieling.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ubucfdt-5G4/Uz6QdK7m57I/AAAAAAAA17Y/__dcmd16Q0o/s1600/Grulin+clearances+shieling.jpg)
Around the village lie hidden, sheltered runrigs with ingenious irrigation walls and channels. The place is still populated by cheviot sheep who wander oblivious in through the out-doors of the old shielings to graze on lush grass between the sheltered walls. Flag iris grows around the streams and springs harbour water cress, and on a summer day it is not hard to imagine this would have been a place of serenity and pride after the long day’s tilling. But then came the monetisation of the Highlands, the aristocratisation of the old clan system, the demise of a communal agrarian system and the volatile business of kelping and sheep-farming. The rest is a sorry tale of shame, though the modern drive for locality and breaking of the land regimes of the past has led Eigg to be considered a showpiece example of community ownership, having been bought in 1997 from single ownership. The island is now self-sufficient in energy with wind, solar and hydro in several locations and the 100-odd population thrives by itself with a little help from tourism.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PBJq663pKac/Uz6IPF74krI/AAAAAAAA15Y/c6k4fKMeSiE/s1600/Eigg+Galmsidale+farm+and+An+Sgurr.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PBJq663pKac/Uz6IPF74krI/AAAAAAAA15Y/c6k4fKMeSiE/s1600/Eigg+Galmsidale+farm+and+An+Sgurr.jpg)Further reading:Susanna Wade Martins, Eigg - an Island Landscape,PWM Heritage Management, 2004James Hunter, The Making of the Crofting Community, John Donald, 1976
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Isle of Gigha (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/AyOGSiZxMkY/the-isle-of-gigha.html)
22 April 2014, 1:55 pm
The maritime sliver of schist and quartzite that is the Isle of Gigha is an island of two coasts: a sheltered riviera of sandy bays on the east and a weathered and hardened west coast facing the Atlantic between Kintyre and the Oa of Islay. The central ridge of the island is wooded on the lee side and shelters most of the community around the hub of Ardminish and the old wooded Achamore.
For climbers, the best trail is the west coast from the south pier to the summit of Creag Bhan, which is a day-long walk between ferries with some good climbing and bouldering, largely underdeveloped. The northern island of Eilean Garbh has some steep crags for sport-heads and a remarkable tombolo beach, polluted to hell with plastic on the drift side but postcard-perfect on the lee side.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QDAXJTb_ZDs/U1YzqcEA58I/AAAAAAAA254/Hh9KvVfchZA/s1600/2014-04-14+10.28.53.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QDAXJTb_ZDs/U1YzqcEA58I/AAAAAAAA254/Hh9KvVfchZA/s1600/2014-04-14+10.28.53.jpg)Walk up from the pier to the village shop at Ardminish, turn left and south past the hotel to the south of the island, past Achamore gardens and Gigha windfarm - the ‘dancing ladies’, four windmills as of 2014, 3 originally, a fourth was added in 2013. March 2014 output made £11,200 and this excess allows the Gigha Community Trust to profit from wind generation power, selling it back to the grid.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GqJcxYunsDE/U1Y64aTZbTI/AAAAAAAA3EI/yavA7BO-TfQ/s1600/2014-04-16+10.44.01.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GqJcxYunsDE/U1Y64aTZbTI/AAAAAAAA3EI/yavA7BO-TfQ/s1600/2014-04-16+10.44.01.jpg)
The South Pier – splitting natural harbours of Port Meadhonach and Port na Carraigh - is where the ferry sleeps at night and is a deep berth opposite Gigalum Island. Walk south-west along the shore of Caolas Gigalum on a sandy bay, cross over a fence where it meets the rocks, then head up right onto the heathery hill by a wall, follow this south-west to where a small promontory juts out, on the south side of this is Uamh Mhor, the ‘big cave’, a well-hidden quartzite cave.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vw_ZhF407QE/U1Y1UeEjJ0I/AAAAAAAA28Q/QeLvhTBdx9Q/s1600/2014-04-14+09.44.34.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vw_ZhF407QE/U1Y1UeEjJ0I/AAAAAAAA28Q/QeLvhTBdx9Q/s1600/2014-04-14+09.44.34.jpg)
Remains of a dun (or just a raised beach?) can be found on the boulder shore on the way to the cairn-marked craggy hill-top above Port Mor, opposite the three little islands of Eilean Leim, where the sea is usually rougher facing the westerly winds. Descend to the headland west of a rocky outcrop hill (Carn Leim), where a roaring cave can be heard, marked by a choked boulder in a chasm, this is Slocan Leim, the ‘leaping cave’, where in a strong westerly storm, geysers spout violently up around a choked boulder in the black gorge. In calmer weathers, pebbles turn and rumble with a deep bass in the hidden cave.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eKtqoELHguU/U1Y2Lfs0HwI/AAAAAAAA29g/lj_gA4oQZsY/s1600/2014-04-14+10.01.28.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eKtqoELHguU/U1Y2Lfs0HwI/AAAAAAAA29g/lj_gA4oQZsY/s1600/2014-04-14+10.01.28.jpg)North along the craggy headland by the high tide mark is another hidden cave, or blowhole, usually covered with seaweed blown up by the geyser of Sloc an t-Srannain, the ‘snoring hole’, though this might be more apt for the cave further south. The names might best be swapped around.
A few hundred metres north leads to a stile onto the beach of Grob Bagh under Leim farm. This has a raised beach and an old spring at the north end, sometimes bleeding out an alluvial fan of sand. The beach bends west to a grassy shore and a gap through wind-exfoliated outcrops to a rocky coast west of Leim Farm, under the grassy hill of Am Pluc, full of unusual boulders worn into strange ships by the wind – this soft schist sits on top of a quartzite stone in parts. The skerry out to sea is Dudh Sgeir – the black reef.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jzSrzIMCuB0/U1PxJPiG0_I/AAAAAAAA2lQ/0JCoNX3txAs/s1600/Gigha+Bouldering_the+Oyster.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jzSrzIMCuB0/U1PxJPiG0_I/AAAAAAAA2lQ/0JCoNX3txAs/s1600/Gigha+Bouldering_the+Oyster.jpg)
Continuing north past the reefs and islands of Port a’ Gharaidh to the slabby walls under the wind farm, where round hollows on the slabs show the site of a Quern Quarry. This garneted schist seems to have been ideal for making quern stones – they can be seen on slabs just before the bay and tidal island of Eun Eilean. Out in the bay lies the rocky Craro Island. Skirting the shallow sandy bay of Poll Mor (the big pool), where common seals roll and play in the turquoise waters, sometimes with attendant otters, is Port nan Each, a sheltered headland just under Cuddyport cottage (Tigh nan Cudainnean) with its sheltered ‘rock garden’. The west side of the headland directly under the cottage has a good series of slabbed amphibolite quern pits.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pux7wb801Yo/U1Y7dAvhZPI/AAAAAAAA3Es/EAqyuQ2vkKA/s1600/2014-04-17+09.55.36.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pux7wb801Yo/U1Y7dAvhZPI/AAAAAAAA3Es/EAqyuQ2vkKA/s1600/2014-04-17+09.55.36.jpg)
The next headland is accessed along a beach to a path up to a Cairn or Cist, before the bay of Portan Craro, opposite Craro island. The wild headland walk leads eventually past some caves to Port an Duin, with its attendant farm and old mill.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6nrHXRzw-rs/U1ZyQ5jEM3I/AAAAAAAA3QE/sAgQVdWDeGw/s1600/2014-04-14+14.50.50.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6nrHXRzw-rs/U1ZyQ5jEM3I/AAAAAAAA3QE/sAgQVdWDeGw/s1600/2014-04-14+14.50.50.jpg)
Above the bay a track leads up to the 100m summit of Creag Bhan, with some fine slabby crags on its west flank facing Jura and a steep cracked crag on its east flank. The summit trig point also has a marker plinth listing distances to Ireland, Kintyre, Arran, Knapdale, Jura and Islay, a fine vista on a clear day. The track leads down to a farm track east to Druimyeoin More farm and the road back south to Ardminish.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q_moiHcMBYQ/U1ZxMnUhvrI/AAAAAAAA3Hk/BIYU9TUPm_o/s1600/2014-04-19+07.56.44.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q_moiHcMBYQ/U1ZxMnUhvrI/AAAAAAAA3Hk/BIYU9TUPm_o/s1600/2014-04-19+07.56.44.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Craigmaddie blues (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/eYWcmvp1J-M/craigmaddie-blues.html)
29 April 2014, 8:25 pm
A long winter and finally my favourite local venue is dry... (http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7DBiBIQyCvs/U2AKoomApZI/AAAAAAAA3fU/NKvwTXd44UU/s640/20140429_175807.jpg) (http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7DBiBIQyCvs/U2AKoomApZI/AAAAAAAA3fU/NKvwTXd44UU/s1600/20140429_175807.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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When design ruled the world... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/lZjUL7h6BCI/when-design-ruled-world.html)
1 May 2014, 6:49 pm
No one will ever be nostalgic for e- newsletters. Here's EUP 50s and 60s marketing. (http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zBEeZW4w1Ts/U2KXNcK2dII/AAAAAAAA3f8/0kbKTmtlyz8/s640/20140501_164225.jpg) (http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zBEeZW4w1Ts/U2KXNcK2dII/AAAAAAAA3f8/0kbKTmtlyz8/s1600/20140501_164225.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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St Bride's Wall (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/aa-02CGZEgM/st-brides-wall.html)
7 May 2014, 4:17 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qQvyvBeMiJo/U2krlkoJYMI/AAAAAAAA3is/SY26sO_cJyc/w647-h862-no/20140506_171842.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qQvyvBeMiJo/U2krlkoJYMI/AAAAAAAA3is/SY26sO_cJyc/w647-h862-no/20140506_171842.jpg)This quartz-veined schist wave of rock is a south-facing glacial crag easily spotted in a field on the A84, opposite St Bride’s Chapel and graveyard, a few kilometres north of Callander as it passes along the Garbh Uisge’s ‘Falls of Leny’ and the south end of Loch Lubnaig. It is easily accessible from a straight-road layby south of the chapel, cross the road (carefully, as traffic is fast), walk north and enter a field to walk over to the crag - two minutes.
The bulging crag has a number of short traditional routes surmounting the ramp onto slabs, such as the flake crack Bride’s Crack (HVS) on the right, but below the distinctive rising ramp feature is a steep wall with increasingly hard and higher problems from left to right. The wall has been bouldered on only sporadically since the 70s, so names and grades are speculative and first ascents are murky. Angus Clark and John Watson repeated the obvious problems in 2007 and 2008 respectively, possibly documenting and naming already existing problems.
Feedback welcome on this accessible but obscure little venue ...
Draft topo here >>> (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/105126359/Bouldering%20PDFs/St%20Bride's%20Wall.pdf)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Walk-in is a bit alpine but the crag is good!
White Matter is solid 6c+/7a and the crag classic.
Stem Cell Reasoning sounds more reasonable now, the previous implication of it climbing the blank wall left of WM was bollox.
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Dumby to go 3D! (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/e2xBpPbE9cg/dumby-to-go-3d.html)
15 May 2014, 12:55 pm
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DAcXB9Nlq5A/U3ExilPDZeI/AAAAAAAA_z4/ckghXzvQJyo/w1149-h862-no/20140512_181600.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DAcXB9Nlq5A/U3ExilPDZeI/AAAAAAAA_z4/ckghXzvQJyo/w1149-h862-no/20140512_181600.jpg)
I have been going on for years about Dumbarton Rock being one of our finest examples of modern 'sporting heritage', a kind of living history and an example of community 'ownership' (I use this in the least possessive sense) through simple occupation and use, under the shadow of more static heritage that is purely conservatory (I mean no disrespect to Historic Scotland and the castle!). It's how we create identity after all and is part of the greater weave of history, but seen from the ground-up and the everyday, which is an approach that is gradually displacing the top-down perspective of traditional historiography.
One of the most exciting projects around is a community-history project with the acronym ACCORD, which stands for Archaeology Community Co-Production of Research Data.
What does this mean? Well, for climbers, it means we are gathering a group in early July to photograph the boulders and maybe the crag, with loaned equipment and cameras, to create a 3D collage of all the blocs. When the processing is complete, along with interviews, written material and interpretation, we'll have a full archaeology of our climbing heritage.
We'll also have Creative Commons rights to use the material, imagine a 3D topo! Better still, we'll be able to plug the data into 3D printers and print out our very own Eagle Bloc. Not a bad paperweight to have on your desk at work!
If you want to join in, the dates are from July 7th to 10th, give me an email if you want to know more >>> John Watson (jsw1969@btinternet.com)
Learn more about the project here >>>
From ACCORD's blog: (http://accordproject.wordpress.com/)ACCORD is one of eleven projects across the UK to be awarded funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s £4million “Digital Transformations in Community Research Co-Production (http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/Funding-Opportunities/Pages/Capital-Funding-Call-for-Digital-Transformations-in-Community-research-Co-Production-in-the-Arts-and-Humanities.aspx)” programme. Led by the Digital Design Studio of the Glasgow School of Art, (http://www.gsa.ac.uk/research/research-centres/digital-design-studio/) the project it is being delivered in partnership with the University of Manchester Department of Archaeology (http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/subjects/archaeology/), Archaeology Scotland (http://www.archaeologyscotland.org.uk/) and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/). The ACCORD project seeks to examine the opportunities and implications of digital visualisation technologies for community engagement and research through the co-creation of three-dimensional (3D) models of historic monuments and places. Despite their increasing accessibility, techniques such as laser scanning, 3D modelling and 3D printing have remained firmly in the domain of heritage specialists. Expert forms of knowledge and/or professional priorities frame the use of digital visualisation technologies, and forms of community-based social value are rarely addressed. Consequently, the resulting digital objects fail to engage communities as a means of researching and representing their heritage, despite the now widespread recognition of the importance of community engagement and social value in the heritage sector.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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New bouldering at Sheigra and Loch Sloy (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/HPddbVznjGo/new-bouldering-at-sheigra-and-loch-sloy.html)
4 June 2014, 2:02 pm
Check out this fine little video of Lee Robinson and Mike Adams raiding Sheigra after driving straight up there after Glen Croe (respect!). Some fine looking problems were done just as the midge season is kicking in. They then scooted back down the road and stomped up to the dam boulders at Loch Sloy, where Mike did a fine-looking 7c+ called Berlin Wall. It appears to be a new line between existing projects, that high heel looks committing! Here's the video, thanks to Mike and Lee for their intrepidity of character.
To Sheigra and Back (http://vimeo.com/97172138) from Mike Adams (http://vimeo.com/user7044532) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Nice one, good publicity for Loch Sloy, god knows it needs it, so much to be done up there.
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Good effort lads. There is hunners to go at in Scotland but no one can tear themselfs away from dumby. Plenty strong lads and lassies coming out of Tca but I fear the exploratory spirit is dead. Or at least it needs a good boot up the arse.
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Good effort lads. There is hunners to go at in Scotland but no one can tear themselfs away from dumby. Plenty strong lads and lassies coming out of Tca but I fear the exploratory spirit is dead. Or at least it needs a good boot up the arse.
Any tips on any places with potential? Have camper and will travel! ;)
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Loch Sloy.
Also there's a potentially mighty boulderfield beneath Creah Nan Shormalie.
HTH :-*
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Good effort lads. There is hunners to go at in Scotland but no one can tear themselfs away from dumby. Plenty strong lads and lassies coming out of Tca but I fear the exploratory spirit is dead. Or at least it needs a good boot up the arse.
Any tips on any places with potential? Have camper and will travel! ;)
Shout next time you are up this way Adam, got some things you might like, sorry I missed you last week.
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Good effort lads. There is hunners to go at in Scotland but no one can tear themselfs away from dumby. Plenty strong lads and lassies coming out of Tca but I fear the exploratory spirit is dead. Or at least it needs a good boot up the arse.
Too true, sadly.
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what about the loch Maree boulderfield you can see on the road to Gairloch??
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Good effort lads. There is hunners to go at in Scotland but no one can tear themselfs away from dumby. Plenty strong lads and lassies coming out of Tca but I fear the exploratory spirit is dead. Or at least it needs a good boot up the arse.
Any tips on any places with potential? Have camper and will travel! ;)
Shout next time you are up this way Adam, got some things you might like, sorry I missed you last week.
will do mate, hopefully soonish.... don't show them tim ;)
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what about the loch Maree boulderfield you can see on the road to Gairloch??
That's one of many.
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will do mate, hopefully soonish.... don't show them tim ;)
He's got his sport climbing head on right now.
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will do mate, hopefully soonish.... don't show them tim ;)
He's got his sport climbing head on right now.
I accidentally stumbled across his new cave. Ooops :whistle:
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Want a free 3D model of Dumby? (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/DuMvJ0FE-pE/want-free-3d-model-of-dumby.html)
4 July 2014, 11:48 am
Help please!We really need some climbers to volunteer for fun sessions at Dumby next week at the 3D scanning project. It's informal and fun and you'll have access to free 3D modellings of the Dumby boulders. Imagine a 3d print-out of your favourite bloc...
How to get involved:
The timetable is below and we really need some folk for the Focus Sessions and/or the photography of the blocs...give me a text or call on 07546 037 588 if you can come along! Or just turn up during any of the events... it relies on volunteers. The sessions will finish before the World cup games as well and you don't have to attend for the whole time, even a bit of time would help!!
Afternoon Tuesday 8th July: Meet in the Dining Room, Dumbarton Castle;
2pm Meet & Greet (tea & coffee)
2.30pm Intro to ACCORD by Mhairi
2.45pm-4.30pm Focus Group session; co-design
4.30pm-5pm Tea/coffee
5pm-8pm Data Capture (laser scanning and RTI)
Evening Wednesday 9th July: Meet at Dumby Rock;
5pm-8pm Data Capture (Photogrammetry)
Afternoon Thursday 10th July: Meet in the Dining Room, Dumbarton Castle;
2pm-5.30pm Processing, Archiving and Final Focus Group (may extend into local pub!)
What to bring:
- Please bring any cameras, tripods, tablets that you may have.
- Bring any pieces of Dumby heritage along with you! (not necessarily smelly old boots!- was thinking old routecards/ guidebooks, maps, photographs, stories) all of this can be used to enrich the 3D models that we create together.
- Flasks of hot tea/coffee for the evening sessions.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Bouldering on Rum 2014 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/OZyKhfiM1D8/bouldering-on-rum-2014.html)
6 July 2014, 4:30 pm
Hamish Fraser and friends, incluidng Chris Everett on a return to the island, have uncovered some hard classic lines on the immaculate allivalite boulders under Hallival. Hamish says: 'Chris smashed out a few hard classics that were worthy of some footage.'
Problems on video
Cell Block H - Font 7C (Chris)
Serious Music - Font 7B+ (Chris)
The Kracken - Font 6C (Stu)
La Jura Jura - Font 7C+ (Chris)
Bouldering on Rum - Hard Additions 2014 (http://vimeo.com/93164471) from Hamish Fraser (http://vimeo.com/hamfunk) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Dumby scanning complete (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/aoyAaqTq7Yc/dumby-scanning-complete.html)
13 July 2014, 3:41 pm
Well, it's done! The Eagle Bloc scanned for full photogrammetry 3D, the crag laser-scanned, some RTI-based imagery of the graffiti and carvings and the Pongo face 3D'd as well. We'll post the results shortly once I figure out the plug-ins for the 3D modelling, but it was an impressive process and my thanks go out to the ACCORD (http://accordproject.wordpress.com/)project which initiated this digital heritage of Dumby climbing. We'll archive all the results. Thanks to all who turned up to help: Sven, Alex, John, Eddie and Frank in particular, there was some good storytelling at the Focus group sessions and the weather was terrific throughout to allow for those hundreds of photographs!
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q6Hz7eXRD7A/U8KnT3_cWFI/AAAAAAABNCc/AIHVTNKrKro/s1600/2014-07-08+19.14.01.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q6Hz7eXRD7A/U8KnT3_cWFI/AAAAAAABNCc/AIHVTNKrKro/s1600/2014-07-08+19.14.01.jpg) The ACCORD group led by Alex Hale, Mhairi Maxwell and Sian Jones
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nxW9LYfyaTY/U8KneJm1J7I/AAAAAAABNCk/csyOqH-57Ec/s1600/2014-07-08+18.49.40.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nxW9LYfyaTY/U8KneJm1J7I/AAAAAAABNCk/csyOqH-57Ec/s1600/2014-07-08+18.49.40.jpg) Alex and Sven doing some photogrammetry work on a pole
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FnQJJzdltmU/U8KnjehYf8I/AAAAAAABNCs/CagKgn8pWiE/s1600/2014-07-08+18.41.11.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FnQJJzdltmU/U8KnjehYf8I/AAAAAAABNCs/CagKgn8pWiE/s1600/2014-07-08+18.41.11.jpg)Kevin ignoring us and doing some climbing...the reason for the project
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yz3ZY6KPW1g/U8KogZJ8LZI/AAAAAAABNC4/MNgb2Otxrfo/s1600/2014-07-09+19.30.15.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yz3ZY6KPW1g/U8KogZJ8LZI/AAAAAAABNC4/MNgb2Otxrfo/s1600/2014-07-09+19.30.15.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Wild Scotland - new map published by SNH (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/WgjTT22eo4k/wild-scotland-new-map-published-by-snh.html)
16 July 2014, 12:18 pm
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QqK1yIjad6Y/U8ZtNNvuDfI/AAAAAAABNw8/28zvXR997S4/s1600/Wild+Areas+of+Scotland+2014.png) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QqK1yIjad6Y/U8ZtNNvuDfI/AAAAAAABNw8/28zvXR997S4/s1600/Wild+Areas+of+Scotland+2014.png)
Scottish Natural Heritage (http://www.snh.gov.uk/) has published its 2014 map of Wild Land Areas of Scotland - designated areas of coast, upland and undeveloped land - or 'wilderness' - which should be considered inviolate. Some of the areas are notably under protection via bodies such as National Parks, the John Muir Trust, or the National Trust and other private bodies, but the worrying note is that since the draft map was published in 2013, 0.8% of wild land has been developed (20.3% down to 19.5%). If it continued at that rate we'd have no wild land left by 2039 . . .
The conclusions of the report and mapping were as follows:
- The concepts of wildness and safeguarding of wild land enjoy strong support from the public and many stakeholders in Scotland. Areas of wild land are widely acknowledged as important assets, providing a number of significant ecosystem services that support a range of social and economic benefits and outcomes.
- Despite the inherent subjectivity of the concept, the physical qualities most strongly associated with wildness and identification of wild land can be mapped in a robust and repeatable way through applying a systematic and transparent methodology.
- A map of wild land areas important in the national context is required in order to provide greater clarity to all stakeholders and better inform decisions affecting them.
- The name ‘Core Areas of Wild Land’ resulted in some confusion and we therefore propose the use of the nomenclature of ‘Wild Land Areas’. We suggest that the application of this name should be restricted in use to those areas shown on the map.
- The map of wild land areas should be considered a useful and important strategic tool in decision making. Its application will be enhanced by two further pieces work that are being developed during 2014-15: descriptions of the character and nature of each of the areas, and revision of our interim guidance on assessing the effects of proposals on wild land which allows a case by case assessment of proposals in relation to wildness character.
I like the fourth point that there s no such thing as a 'core' area of wildness, it either is or isn't wild. However, there are some who may consider the issue of remoteness and wildness much more complex. For example, what about wild urban areas and brownfield sites (landlocked 'waste' land, no matter how small); underwater wildness; community (commons) wildness versus private, estate-managed (landlorded) wildness . . . it's a complex issue but it's welcome seeing SNH producing a map which can be used practically to inform major policy decisions on what we should just leave alone if we can.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Bealach Feith Nan Laogh (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/00OBIEV64WU/bealach-feith-nan-laogh.html)
27 July 2014, 8:16 am
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eq5_YlqIs7g/U9SzI0tS6OI/AAAAAAABQO8/WsSu9veS-9M/s1600/20140725_180113.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eq5_YlqIs7g/U9SzI0tS6OI/AAAAAAABQO8/WsSu9veS-9M/s1600/20140725_180113.jpg)
First of all, having a couple of 'refreshing pints' in the Strontian Inn was a bad idea . . . the hottest day of the year at the fag-end of July, the tarmac bubbling, it seemed wise at the time. The Bealach Feith Nan Laogh could wait a bit. I checked the specs of the climb, which seemed less electrically-shocking at a pub picnic table in the sun: 2.6 km with an average gradient of 11.8% . . . steep, but no killer, I reasoned. Something at the back of my head crawled and writhed, trying to fathom what higher gradient would average it to 11.8! I clipped into the bike and set off, my mind a fuzzy blank of summer bliss.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z94shRRlxNU/U9SzI5YhZxI/AAAAAAABQO8/nRQwI7JmgSo/s1600/20140725_173618.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z94shRRlxNU/U9SzI5YhZxI/AAAAAAABQO8/nRQwI7JmgSo/s1600/20140725_173618.jpg)
Turning north off the main road at Strontian towards innocuous-looking hills, the wooded first few kilometres are flat and surfaced with new rolling tarmac, I was in a pleasant dream of cycling paradise, spinning without a chain, listening to birdsong, still on the big ring. A small sign turned me left up a short wooded hill towards 'Pollochro 8m'. Not far really . . . I knew the climb began shortly but the small ramps weren't difficult and I was still outstripping the chasing horse-flies until a sign above a lost hub-cap said 'RAMP' in big capitals on a red background. The road didn't seem that steep, I was still spinning off the beers, marveling at the rock-garden scenery. Things focused down to the width of my front tyre as I got out of the saddle at Belgrove House and dropped to the wee ring to turn some sharp corners through the old pines. No biggie.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HXI96j87MDo/U9SzI2qf5II/AAAAAAABQO8/ziefIs2ZeoU/s1600/20140725_174011.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HXI96j87MDo/U9SzI2qf5II/AAAAAAABQO8/ziefIs2ZeoU/s1600/20140725_174011.jpg)
Then the vista suddenly opened up and I looked uphill to a shocking sight. The strip of gravelly tarmac took off up a hill that seemed to be a painted grey vertical line on a green background, a Rothko painting on its side. Half way up the hill, a camper van and two chairs sat perched precariously on a rocky ledge of a layby, looking out over Loch Sunart and the punishing evening sun. I endured a mild gut panic, there was an audience, and the beer was making me feel suddenly queazy rather than refreshed. Oh well, down to the second-last gear, out of the saddle. I passed the run-off for the old lead mines, clunking up to the big ring's last-chance-saloon, grinding at just above fall-off pace, trying not to go into the red. Jeez, this was steep. Just 50m or so to the camper-van, then I'd be okay, it flattened there, I said to myself.
The people in the deck-chairs watched me like an old curious tractor from the 60s, going to an agricultural fair. Not far off. I passed them and gasped a greeting, more like a plea for help. The horse-flies had found me, mocking my pace, so I spun a bit and went into the red, rounding a corner to a sudden and sickening rise in gradient to a hairpin. Jeez, that must be 25% I thought! I ground up it, heart racing to the max, sweat washing my eyes with battery acid. I rounded the corner and another rise of the same punched me in the gut and I unclipped, steeping a foot to the ground just to catch my breath. Hell! I wheezed for a minute, eyes full of tarmac, then turned and rolled down to a layby, reclipping, turned again tightly and ran at the beast this time, grinding out the switchbacks and trying not to spin in the melted tarmac and gravel. If I didn't dig a little deeper, I would end up a tarred and Ruskolined mess on the Bealach Feith nan Laogh.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q22nJR1v6zY/U9SzIzFaguI/AAAAAAABQO8/rHEheZNmZDc/s1600/20140725_175900.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q22nJR1v6zY/U9SzIzFaguI/AAAAAAABQO8/rHEheZNmZDc/s1600/20140725_175900.jpg)
The road finally straightened a little but continued to rise at a punishing gradient, bellying up through the rocks and whispering grass towards what looked like a mobile mast - perhaps the pass, a sign of the end to this punishment? It ended thus, hung over the handlebars beside an old gas storage tank, it was full, I was empty.
I've never burned off two beers quite as quickly in my life.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bln4hx9aHvw/U9SzI7N_BLI/AAAAAAABQO8/jf2GnBL1NQA/s1600/20140725_180506.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bln4hx9aHvw/U9SzI7N_BLI/AAAAAAABQO8/jf2GnBL1NQA/s1600/20140725_180506.jpg)
... the downhill ...
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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3D Dumby blocs - a new beginning (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/tzK9ezwVh5s/3d-dumby-blocs-new-beginning.html)
29 August 2014, 5:33 pm
What is the future of climbing topos and guides? It's a question which has been evolving rapidly in the last decade as we get more and more used to accessing data online, or viewing topos on our phones or tablets. Guidebooks, like vinyl records, are collectable objects and still useful and resilient formats for getting the beta you need.The Youtube/Vimeo revolution has changed bouldering beta for good and a realtime topo might include a video, a description, and, perhaps now a 3D model of the boulder.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OT3be7aqQpY/VAC2pWfusBI/AAAAAAABQ-s/VEMpntIM2LU/s1600/Dumby_FreeScotlandBoulder.png) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OT3be7aqQpY/VAC2pWfusBI/AAAAAAABQ-s/VEMpntIM2LU/s1600/Dumby_FreeScotlandBoulder.png)
In collaboration with the Glasgow-based ACCORD (http://accordproject.wordpress.com/) project, we've been exploring the conceptual and practical challenges (and the usefulness) of exploring our sporting heritage in a 3D-modelling project. This has involved collaborative approaches to record the climbing and geology at Dumbarton Rock. The history of climbing at Dumbarton is now rich enough, and has built up enough generational layers of development, that a statement of intent has to be made in terms of voicing our heritage here. Historic Scotland has been proactive in listening to the climbing community, but it really took this summer's project with the Glasgow School of Art/RCAHMS and local climbers to recognise Dumbarton Rock as a valuable community heritage to place alongside the castle heritage and the community/industrial heritage on the banks of the River Leven by the Rock. The SMC (http://www.smc.org.uk/) and the MCOS (http://www.mcofs.org.uk/) have always dutifully recorded the history and routes at Dumbarton, and represented its climbers nationally, but this project is motivated by bringing climbing into the community as an integral part of its local history.
To see the work and projects we have initiated, you can download a sample bloc (the Sea Boulder) here, you just need Adobe Reader to play around with it. let me know if the link and the 3D works for you, we want to make these models freely available under Creative Commons >>>
Sea Boulder 3D model in Acrobat PDF (https://www.dropbox.com/s/nqqpp0wvo2trglo/Dumby_Sea%20Boulder_3D.pdf?dl=0)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Driest September 2014 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/PETKIDb1Aew/driest-september-2014.html)
27 September 2014, 3:17 pm
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4jPmd57NdhQ/VCbNsoez5rI/AAAAAAABVRs/pnYpKRGSMD0/s1600/Cir+Mhor+bouldering.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4jPmd57NdhQ/VCbNsoez5rI/AAAAAAABVRs/pnYpKRGSMD0/s1600/Cir+Mhor+bouldering.JPG)
September has brought crisp dry weather unprecedented in Scotland in recent years, with opportunities for walking, climbing and cycling in fine dry conditions. It has felt almost continental in the sense of blithely venturing out any day, or at least being able to rely on the weather setting fair to coincide with your time off.
Mark Garthwaite took advantage and subdued the mighty Dalriada on the Cobbler with a sports-style pre-placed gear ascent (perhaps an opportunist methodology best for our weather), on the notoriously unreadable scooped schist of the Cobbler. Fraser Harle was on hand to take some stunning and inspiring shots of this modern classic rock route, check his photos here >>> (https://www.flickr.com/photos/70132285@N07/)
Dan Varian amongst others has been exploring the tidal reaches of the Solway to add a new, as yet unreleased, venue on this pleasant and sunny coast. Sea-washed rocks and eliminating foothold limpets seem to be the character of these coves, topos to follow shortly.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/OVzKafOpD9YHTHocds9ISLUvTr2fwULMMrql7OklQXzz=w366-h549-no) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/OVzKafOpD9YHTHocds9ISLUvTr2fwULMMrql7OklQXzz=w366-h549-no)
Tom Charles-Edwards is back climbing and he prefers big lines and stones over the 600m contour, discovering king lines for anyone who can show the legs to get there, if you are brave enough to camp out high in the boulderfields amongst the rutting stags that sound like Minotaurs hunting for you when you're in a tent! John Watson continued his plus-800m exploration of granite Arran tors and fought losing shoes and chalk-bags to the winds now presaging the changes of October.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m_lA3u0QOFQ/VCbTS4OFm4I/AAAAAAABVZM/9bGd51OMK8A/s1600/Coire+nan+ceum+Tom+CE+on+the+prow+2.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m_lA3u0QOFQ/VCbTS4OFm4I/AAAAAAABVZM/9bGd51OMK8A/s1600/Coire+nan+ceum+Tom+CE+on+the+prow+2.JPG)
Alex Gorham and friends developed some big stones in Crianlarich, again around the 600m contour and despite the long walk-in, these stones are some of the best in Britain but are unlikely to get much traffic due to the remoteness, a story many stones in Scotland are happy to tell...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NMtTL1gQ4Xw/VCbTNEnxC2I/AAAAAAABVY8/eb5zBErfwfo/s1600/Cruach+Ardrain+Bloc+1.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NMtTL1gQ4Xw/VCbTNEnxC2I/AAAAAAABVY8/eb5zBErfwfo/s1600/Cruach+Ardrain+Bloc+1.jpg)
The Ayrshire Coast has also unearthed some steep cave bouldering, with fine weather, low tides and a west wind needed to maximise conditions.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ely_sfOKKMc/VCbQmgkQnYI/AAAAAAABVUo/VcvkxC4CTFo/s1600/Cave+X+Arch.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ely_sfOKKMc/VCbQmgkQnYI/AAAAAAABVUo/VcvkxC4CTFo/s1600/Cave+X+Arch.JPG)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Looks like you've been keeping busy John! Any details on the Crianlarich blocs?
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Might be better messaging him on his blog, this is just a feed from it. Crianlarich stuff does sound good though.
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Great Mountain Crags of Scotland (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/GvZm_vO5Xls/great-mountain-crags-of-scotland.html)
21 November 2014, 4:55 pm
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nyF9VJdsOOw/VG8zYX5yh6I/AAAAAAABk0w/7Alw-zgyo6Q/s1600/great+crags+of+scotland+cover.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nyF9VJdsOOw/VG8zYX5yh6I/AAAAAAABk0w/7Alw-zgyo6Q/s1600/great+crags+of+scotland+cover.jpg)
Ages ago, oh, well only 7 years I'd say, I recall discussing the idea of a grand book on Scottish mountain crags with Guy Robertson and Adrian Crofton, a kind of regional upgrade and remix of Extreme Rock/Cold Climbs. They wanted to create something grand and poetical, giving the landscape as much presence as the climbing, and mixing the best writing with the best photography. It was a 'Big Stone Country' project and one too big for a small independent publisher. It gradually grew into a concept requiring significant resource and commitment, possibly even beyond Trustee based publishing such as the SMC.
The history of publishing Scotland's climbing has now over a century of documentation. The first SMC journal was in 1890 (the journal including a chapter on Arran bouldering in 1897!) and it has kept a diligent and accurate record ever since, as well as including fine articles and writing over the decades.
W.P. Haskett Smith produced volumes of guides in the 1890s to England, Wales and Ireland, but neglected Scotland. A. Abraham produced a Climbing in Skye guide in 1908 (and G. Abraham produced British Mountain Climbs in 1909, at a time when regional nationalisms had yet to fracture Britain's unity and consolidate boundaries again). The Scottish 'master' Harold Raeburn published books, such as Mountaineering Art (T. Fisher and Unwin, 1920), but this was for an Alpine age and Scotland, let alone Britain, was still considered a practice ground, or drilling square, for technique which was to be taken to the Alps and higher ranges of the Himalayas.
A compiled narrative of the Scottish experience of climbing wasn't produced until the resilient W.H. Murray rewrote from memory (after his first prisoner-of-war draft had been destroyed) the now classic and poetic Mountaineering in Scotland (J.M. Dent,1947). This captured the wealth of philosophies, geologies and moods to be found in the Scottish mountains whilst climbing, from the Cuillin's sticky gabbro flanks to the lonely step-cutting epics on the Ben in winter.
W. A Poucher brought out his classic hill guide to Scotland - The Scottish Peaks - in 1965 with some very suggestive photos for climbers (such as the overhanging beak of the Cobbler's north peak), but again the black and white photography seems gloomy to a modern eye, though perhaps originally it captured the imagination of black shadow and silvered, watery light that Scotland does so well.
It was Hamish MacInnes' 1971 twin volume guide Scottish Climbs: A Mountaineer's Pictorial Guide To Climbing In Scotland (republished in one volume by Constable, 1981) which was the first 'complete' compilation of Scottish mountain rock and winter routes, though its pictorial claim was dulled somewhat by poor paper stock flattening a lot of excellent (and now historical) climbing shots. Its photo-topos of the great shadowy monoliths in the hidden corries still managed to spell out a hefty dose of adventure and character.
Then came the legendary Ken Wilson 'quadrilogy' - Hard Rock 1974; Classic Rock, 1978; Cold Climbs, 1983; Extreme Rock, 1987 - which published in large format and in colour, mixing narrative with topos and photography. Despite Scotland getting a more-than-fair share of crags and dwarfing some English craglets (quite naturally due to its topology), the books rapidly became the go-to reference for keen British craggers out to 'tick the lot'. Not many did, as 'The Scoop' (Sron Ulladale) saw to almost everyone in the Hard Rock challenge! These books in the 70s and 80s have now thankfully been reprinted, though the plates were lost for Extreme Rock and its rare editions now fetch hefty prices on the second-hand market.
The laudable SMC/SMT area guides (and 'The Journal') continued documenting Scottish climbing and the endlessly re-editioning and morphing ticklist of The Munros (first edition 1985) gave an approach-led introduction to discovering new crags, often mentioned in passing as the walker was led to the summit tick. For climbers, the mountain area guides provided the best narrative introductions to the climbing conditions and main routes on the mountain crags: North-West Highlands, Islands of Scotland Including Skye, Southern Highlands, Southern Uplands, Central Highlands, The Cairngorms, Ben Nevis - Britain's Highest Mountain (2009), whilst the pocket climbing guides to each area are renowned for their detail and accuracy and are in every climber's nearest access pocket.
Yet still a comprehensive tribute to Scottish mountaineering and cragging was missing. In the 'modern' era of decades since the 70s, ever since cams, sky-hooks and RPs, and since modern precision-designed rock shoes, new rock routes proliferated and grades jumped to E5 and above, now up to the famous E11s by Dave MacLeod. Technology, especially in winter kit (drop-head axes; front-point crampons; thinner, longer ropes; thinner clothing and gloves), allowed a surgical rather than bludgeoned approach to the rimed cliffs, and consequently the 'mixed' tradition in winter has upped the scale of technique and boldness above grade IX.
Excellent modern guide compilations include Kevin Howett's self-illustrated (these crag drawings are now classics) Rock Climbing in Scotland (1st ed. Constable, 1990), though again the imagery was black and white and the text had to be limited to pitch descriptions rather than expansive narrative. Even at 480 pages, this was subtitled 'a selected guide', but it was the only guide that had all the classic extremes (not to mention the famous midge-rating system!).
The proliferation and popularity of climbing set in train a number of new guide-books to Scotland in the 2000s, such as the excellent SMC guides, including the full-colour selected guide: Scottish Rock Climbs, (ed. Nisbet, 2005) and Scottish Winter Climbs (2nd ed. 2008, ed. Anderson, Nisbet & Richardson). Gary Latter's Scottish Rock in 2 volumes (Pesda Press, 2008), focused on colourful photo-topos (and remarkably Mediterranean weather!) but they of course, as guidebooks, could not make room for too much narrative. Even bouldering had a look-in as a 'mountain activity', with the first Stone Country Guide to Bouldering in Scotland publishing in 2005, focusing on the stony landscape, narrative and photography of Scotland.
Still, no-one had ever really thought to collate the massive geologies of Scotland into one giant book of photography and narrative. The guidebooks were there, but the coffee table was empty of tribute. Thankfully Vertebrate Publishing has fixed this and we have, like a thunderous alpenhorn of calling: The Great Mountain Crags of Scotland (Vertebrate, 2014).
Vertebrate Publishing has stepped into Scotland with a genuine enthusiasm for the unique character of climbing here. It has brought a coffee-table commitment to the format of the book, which is laudable in a digital age when publishers are reining back from costs and large format printing. For those long years, Guy Robertson and Adrian Crofton kept gathering and editing (and climbing!), as well as cajoling reticent writers and talented photographers to buy in, at their own cost, to the project.
The result is a collection of everything dear to the Scottish climber (or 'climber in Scotland', whatever you prefer, though climbing here does tend to make you a 'Scottish' climber if you stay long enough). The book is a compilation of the main mountain crags represented through the words of climbers, the eye of photographers such as Colin Threlfall and Dave Cuthbertson (amongst other talented snappers), and the clarifying lenses of poets. Perhaps climbers performing are just physical poets, at least when they get the moves right!
Each section is introduced by a stunning landscape photograph and a poem from Stuart Campbell. He sets the climbing in context to the land in each area, combining stone and ice with resonant geologies of human presence in the Highlands, and some of these really stand out, my favourite from 'The Islands' containing these echoing lines:
'Here you can look over the edge
into the half-life of the earth,
see: the spoor of the dinosaurs on the Jurassic shore.
We camped on the footprints of a croft
a man once kept at Coruisk;
little remains, everything so far removed ...
pinnacles, geos, ridges ... Crimps, smears ...
You give everything; to risk it,
not the falling, but that exaltation ...'
Some of the photography is the best yet published. Dave Cuthbertson's shot of Dave MacLeod on Dalriada on The Cobbler, in MacLeods's 'apprenticeship' piece on the venue, with the black sea of nothingness behind him as he crimps up a bottomless wall, ropes telegraphing commitment beneath him, is beautiful to behold in print. Colin Threlfall's broad panoramas of the Cuillin, and crag shots such as the remote winter cliffs of Mainreachan Buttress, as well as his frontispiece spreads for the sections, are some of the best landscape photographs out there. The individual 'action' shots from belay partners are remarkably good and often unposed, due to the nifty digital cameras available today: Tony Stone on Sron Ulladale's The Scoop is at once both inviting and terrifying.
Highlights in the writing include:
- Mark McGowan's candid account of soloing Shibboleth (E2) on Slime Wall, the photographs make me shiver with disbelief every time
- Guy Robertson's account of a winter ascent of centurion on The Ben - thrilling and elemental stuff leading to a summit experience more akin to the Himalayas
- Ian Taylor's baffled account of finding Church Door Buttress apparently dry and having to climb its classic extremes...
- Jason Currie's puzzlement at a marginal guidebook scribble leading to a technical and physical resolution on Beinn Eighe
- Roger Webb's tale of the fickle Quinag and new-routing in winter
- Kevin Howett's historical entertainment of competitive tradding on Arran
- Grant Farquhar on climbing and nostalgia and the Great Prow of Bla Bheinn
Possibly my only criticism would be that there were no female writers in the collection, despite a number having contributed to Scottish climbing over the years (Cynthia Grindley, Jo George etc.). The ratio of male to female is certainly not to zero. Perhaps in future the gender imbalance on the extreme routes will not be so obvious as climbing abilities between the sexes narrow, due to the opportunity to train and the precedence of a few notably talented and active female traditional climbers raising the expectations, such as Tess Fryer.
The selection of crags and venues in the book is well balanced between rock and winter, and of course it is a selection, as many major cliffs remain almost devoid of routes for their size, such as the mighty Sgurr on Eigg, though it has a few modern classic extremes and seemed a glaring omission from this collection. Then again, there are plenty of large crags that didn't 'make it' and Scotland is a massively folded, 3D landscape with many hidden and remote crags, so this is hardly a criticism, and the book is really meant to be inspirational rather than completist. It couldn't be, considering the territory and the history of climbing we have.
This is an essential book to own if you are a climber. It is truly inspirational. And the thing about this book is its dual end-product: its archival worth and its visual and literary inspiration. As an archive, it is a document of a community's soul, each climber's experiences adding to the spirit of the Scottish mountains, despite it all being necessarily personal and individual at the crux moments! And inspiration, because a book like this shows that the climbers in this book are channeling something much bigger than themselves - an energy of challenge and adventure which will send an electric charge through every reader, youthful and experienced alike.
Amazon are selling the book at discount here >>> (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Mountain-Crags-Scotland-Mountaineering/dp/1906148899/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416579142&sr=1-1&keywords=great+mountain+crags+scotland)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Invisible Archaeology – Dumbarton Rock (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/Pg8zB-Tfw6c/invisible-archaeology-dumbarton-rock.html)
5 December 2014, 5:30 pm
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When I first arrived at Dumbarton Rock, I never thought the dramatic geology I saw – the square-cut overhanging main faces, the giant beaked boulders, the moody facets of black and orange rock – were anything but solid and unchanging. I never thought there would be a character to the rock other than its intimidating immediacy and its industrial ‘clash and bang’ of sheer physicality and its contextual setting in the post-industrial decline of Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven.
Maybe that’s what happens on all first visits to a climbing venue – a kind of heightened sense of the place’s physical presence – but if you spend years repeating visits to a place, it becomes a more temporal or invisible thing, in fact it almost vanishes before your eyes, first impressions rubbed out, to be replaced by folded-in memories of faced-down failures and subtle successes, and countless other small details. In fact failure and success become meaningless terms and there is just a space between these two almost irrelevant ideas, there is just a long memory of ‘being there’. Despite the apparent unchanging background of geology to us, the crag and boulders disappear over time and in their place I now have, after two decades visiting ‘Dumby’, a resonant space of movement, change, plasticity and memory.
Dumbarton Rock has layers of history and generations of climbing to its name, it has what we would now confidently call a ‘sporting heritage’. Though these generations often overlap, there is often a sense of different camps, of ‘new-school’ versus ‘old-school’. So it goes with climbers. When I started climbing at Dumby in the 90s, I was aware of the legacy of the 80s generation of Cuthbertson, Latter, et al, but I was just vaguely aware of the 60s and the 70s generation, with occasional ‘remnant’ climber such as Tam McAuley turning up to scoff at my fancy new boots, but more often my shoddy technique on the treacherous basalt of Dumby. Frank Yeoman occasionally swung by and blithely repeated the highball circuit problems, while I was more wrapped up in the powerful ‘new’ problems and traverses being created by Andy Gallagher and Cameron Phair. It felt like there was a conceptual gap, but a thread of history between the generations nonetheless. My respect for previous generational visits only grows as my own sense of newness is gradually subsumed by levels of knowing, and perhaps the fossilisation that happens to all sporting endeavour.
Climbing is a singular visitational activity locked into a philosophy of risk and release. We arrive, we climb, we tick the route, we move on, like a raiding party of colourful leisure-locusts. This can happen in swarms, to which anyone who has been to Fontainebleau at Easter can testify. Boulderers in the US invented the term ‘rampage’ to suggest a kind of mercenary raiding of something valuable and collectible, but also maybe disposable – a spoil of war, a dismissive trinket of vertical pleasure. But has climbing finally evolved a mature language and philosophy of meaning, or at least its own canon of sporting literature (like boxing or football has its classic works of journalism), despite this apparently disposable/replaceable attitude to its substrate, or its arena?
The problem with developing a philosophy of climbing, a sense of place and even a 'sacred ground' attitude (a unique sense of ownership in landscape, ‘dwelling’ as Ingold might name it), is the fact that it is an invisible tourism of sorts: in Britain particularly the ethic of ‘leave no trace’ has been prevalent. The climber visits a swathe of vertical rock and can now leave practically no trace, utilising a running technology of temporary protection or ‘gear’ such as ‘friends’, ‘nuts’ and ‘sky hooks’, rather than an older technology of ‘in-situ gear’, such as ‘pegs’ and ‘tat’. Climbers come and go, they vanish, usually without trace, making their own archaeology largely an oral history. Sure, they can now leave a noisy colourful trail online via Facebook and Vimeo etc., as well as the traditional print media of magazines and guidebooks – perhaps that's our archaeology – but despite the digital/print trace, what remains of the climber at the crag or boulder? What have I left at Dumbarton to mark my heritage aside from so many hours staring blankly over the time-lapse tides of the River Leven?
Is it possible to leave a coherent archaeology as you do it, as it is performed? Or is all this for future anthropologists of 21st century leisure – and is it really your duty as a climber to actually think about it, or just do it? We can of course ‘just do it’. This is the primal attitude of youth, the desire to better, the incentive to be unique, the performance towards the end of everything before (cue Hulk-pose and roar). The drive to perform, without necessarily understanding that history in terms of ‘dwelling’, is fine as it goes in our scale of numbers and their excession. Sport does this all the time, it’s the Olympics, it’s the 100m sprint, and youth understands this so well, it celebrates its current technology of power, its ‘body’ and the older generations accept it with grace, just as youth comes to accept it in time as they age, and its remains are ‘coached’, to another generation. This is all healthy and the natural rhythm of sport. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
In the summer of 2104, an interdisciplinary archaeology project, with the acronym ACCORD (Archaeology Community Co-design and Co-production of Research Data), came visiting at Dumbarton Rock, curious at the recent drama of 'graffiti-gate', or basically the dilemma of climbers trying to determine if graffiti-artists were fellow 'rock-artists', or simple delinquents with nothing to add to the heritage at Dumby. It had created something of a minor stir in 2013 and the BBC even did a brief feature piece on radio and online. It was all a pickle of access issues, heritage bodies, community rights, and Health & Safety concerns, as well as the aesthetic argument over paint on rock. But what it did do was bring together concerned individuals who all valued 'The Rock' from differing perspectives. For climbers, we mostly wanted graffiti artists not to mess with the friction and aesthetic qualities of the rock, whilst Historic Scotland naturally wanted the rock to appear in its pristine state in a Commonwealth Games year. The community wanted to resurrect an old right-of-way path ('Washingstone Way') round the north of the castle mound. Some climbers suggested 'de-scheduling' the rock's north-west faces and boulders (classified as a protected or 'scheduled' monument) and allowing climbers to create their own 'climbing park', involving Dumbarton's community. There was a lot of positive talk and genuine community action. ACCORD saw this archaeology in action and stepped in with a project to scan the physical climbing arena with 3D imagery-techniques, thus archiving the physical sporting heritage and the older layers of community involvement at Dumbarton Rock (such as the carved graffiti and painted graffiti), deliberately recording outside its more static and traditional status as an ancient castle. It was effectively trying to capture the living archaeology of Dumbarton Rock as it is experienced in the early 21st century – a 3D postcard if you like.
To us as climbers beginning to fret about the invisibility of this heritage, and the threats against our activity (whether legal, developmental, or other), I felt a strong sense of 'Commons' ownership of this area, without wishing to fence it off to others in the slightest. I felt we had rights which needed expressed, even if the exercise of those rights happened mostly invisibly to the outside world, beyond its concern and frame of reference. As a small community, we valued the place as 'sacred', in the sense that we'd be distraught if it was quarried away, fenced off or somehow forbidden to us. Maybe this was an over-reaction, or paranoia, but it seemed more like an opportunity, provided by the kind people at ACCORD, to express our heritage and voice our natural delight at a place most people thought post-industrial, grotty, and no more than a brown-field curiosity. To us, these perspectives fell far short of our connected feelings for the place, the landscape, as regular climbers.
So what is our archaeology as climbers, beyond the personal? Climbing has its own language, boundaries and ethics, these are all understood without the need for a rule book or dictionary. This is unusual, as most sports rely on a statute book or set of rules. Climbing does as well, but these rules are curated by a community of oral historians who hold the keys, the ‘beta’ and the ethics of an ascent. Any crime committed is apprehended through a well-developed communal conscience, though nowadays legitimised by video footage more often than not. We are a self-regulating lot, our own police, judge and jury. We do have official bodies such as the SMC and the BMC, but whilst they suggest ethical behaviour codes, these are created by climbers first and foremost and there is no equivalent of a Football Association with a rule book for outdoor climbing. Nor do they create the field for our play, this is given to us by nature, and we approach it with all the conscience we can muster to such a variable arena, so it does tend to fall outside the remit of 'regulated sport'. That is not to say climbers do not value their environment and their substrate. Far from it, they just don't want to regulate it unless entirely necessary.
Over time, visiting a place regularly, purely for leisure reasons, like a round of golf, but in this case to climb on rocks, leads to profound and gradual changes in perception and perspective. I have to ask myself: what is it that vanishes and what takes over, what long silent process has carved out my perspective from the sheer physical geology of the place I first saw 20 years ago or more, sounding out of the Clyde like a large bass note? For me, it has been a growing sense of community, a place of belonging, almost of habitation, (with Commons rights only, no fences please!). Nature, place, history, environment, seem to have reasserted themselves over the personal interventions we perform such as climbing. It is a good and positive thing and leaves me with a sense that, if Dumbarton Rock's familiar double-humped profile suddenly vanished from the Clyde's shores, a deep and wounded hole would open in my heart.
ACCORD 3D image of Pongo Face >>>(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BHBs46UJcSc/VIHqOoGY2LI/AAAAAAABk4s/yBewbz_49o4/s1600/PongoFace.png) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BHBs46UJcSc/VIHqOoGY2LI/AAAAAAABk4s/yBewbz_49o4/s1600/PongoFace.png)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Essential Fontainebleau 2nd edition - OUT NOW! (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/RgKCmtao1o8/essential-fontainebleau-2nd-edition-out.html)
9 December 2014, 8:17 am
The new edition of Essential Fontainebleau is now available to order at £11.99 (plus a little PandP), we've just got copies in and it looks terrific, we think! Order it now and we'll post out first class for next day in the UK.
The full-colour guide introduces the climber to the classic bouldering in the forest of Fontainebleau. This new edition has been expanded and improved to include:
? Classic circuits and highlight problems
? Walk-in oriented topos to over 30 key venues
? Test piece tick-lists 5+ to 8c for 320 classic problems
? Photo topos for multi-problem blocs
? Visual index, maps and detailed access notes
? Essential information for first-time visitors
? Feature bloc photography
(https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_GB/i/scr/pixel.gif)Have a look through the preview on Issuu below:
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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New Year enfolded in Kintyre (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/vWTGsUEfMro/new-year-enfolded-in-kintyre.html)
9 January 2015, 3:55 pm
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The years fold into one another, and layers appear...
We ran away to Kintyre over New Year, to the sheltered nook that is Carradale, on the east coast of Kintyre, facing the west coast of Arran, to ride out the storms and see in the New Year, a convenient 10-yard meander from the Cruban Bar (http://www.carradalehotel.com/bar.php) (and an old-fashioned pool table I came to know well). In the short 6 hour window of light (and the 3rd of January was spectacular in its stillness between the fronts), the plan was to find some bouldering on the east coast - I'd never found much aside from the shark-fins at Skipness which were not that satisfying. Finding the perfect line in a remote corner of Scotland is always invigorating and you just know the fractal coast will reveal something amazing just round the next bay if you keep going.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5d4H-8IUxXw/VK_4H5rSU-I/AAAAAAABmNc/XlnbRT4Zssg/s1600/2015-01-02+14.11.53.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5d4H-8IUxXw/VK_4H5rSU-I/AAAAAAABmNc/XlnbRT4Zssg/s1600/2015-01-02+14.11.53.jpg)
So I took off round the headland south of Carradale, which on Google Earth looks like a giant pointed-finger cursor pointing south to the open sea. Most of the headland is a rhododendron-jungle populated by wild goats, but it is fringed with a unique schist geology - heavily banded, juggy lateral rock, folded and crimped into bizarre scalloped features, giant blocs and endless caves. It doesn't make for hard bouldering, it's too generously featured, which was good as my shoulder was wrecked, but rather provides remarkably steep roofs and prows climbed on juggy ripples of mostly-solid rock, but snappy enough in places to provide the thrill of insecurity. The best I found was just opposite the headland fort on the path down to the shore - a rising traverse up a prow not far off the tracking bank of grass, and not much more than 6a. An excellent place to explore if you like steep hauling and monkeying around footless.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6BswKMHhD08/VK_4W6uR-EI/AAAAAAABmNk/JU6e7arrdXE/s1600/2015-01-03+14.56.42.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6BswKMHhD08/VK_4W6uR-EI/AAAAAAABmNk/JU6e7arrdXE/s1600/2015-01-03+14.56.42.jpg)
The whole point of exploration I think, certainly on your own, is getting enfolded in the landscape, losing the mind for a while and coming 'back to consciousness' in a different moment. There's a lot of words written about this by many philosophers, not least Heraclitus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus) and his idea of not stepping in the same river twice, so I'll not labour a good point badly, suffice to say Carradale is a good place to dissolve yourself for a while . . .
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3VwSo7OeeXc/VK_4lTF4UvI/AAAAAAABmN0/ez8ZPQUmN58/s1600/2015-01-03+11.43.39.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3VwSo7OeeXc/VK_4lTF4UvI/AAAAAAABmN0/ez8ZPQUmN58/s1600/2015-01-03+11.43.39.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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That is some funky looking rock there!
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February bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/KVm1IWWCeP0/february-bouldering.html)
8 February 2015, 4:53 pm
With the high pressure settling over most of Scotland and providing windless weather and cold temperatures, the bouldering conditions are pretty good at the start of February. Some new projects are being worked on across the country.
On the Moray Coast, a new sandstone roof venue akin to Cummingston looks excellent, if this little video is to go by, thanks to Hamish Fraser, Dave Wheeler and friends.
Flexor Strain (http://vimeo.com/116057356) from North West Outdoors (http://vimeo.com/northwestoutdoors) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
om/117063792">New Bouldering Project, Moray Coast from Hamish Fraser (http://vimeo.com/hamfunk) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
In Glasgow, Serious Climbing (https://www.facebook.com/seriousclimbing?pnref=story) is putting the finishing design touches to the Commonwealth Games legacy project that is the Cuningar Loop Boulder Park. This park is due to open in the spring sometime, and first glimpses look jaw-dropping. The site features what appears to be about a dozen moulded blocs on a forested plot of land in a loop of the Clyde river, near Dalmarnock.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-skct5QwOli4/VNc5uWTQzMI/AAAAAAABmTw/Dde8Qfcpwzc/s1600/Glasgow+Boulder+park.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-skct5QwOli4/VNc5uWTQzMI/AAAAAAABmTw/Dde8Qfcpwzc/s1600/Glasgow+Boulder+park.jpg)
Alex Gorham has blogged a picture of a nicely-cleaned sandstone bloc near Milngavie, hopefully we'll have some hard projects to work soon when he reveals where. The sandstone escarpment that runs under the Campsies from Faifley to Lennoxtown has a number of undeveloped spots, dank roofs and lost blocs, often requiring significant cleaning, but this looks like another belter to rival the Lennoxtown roof.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LLhVuafdLe0/VNc5uWKdD_I/AAAAAAABmTs/QgZvnvFCdhw/s1600/Milngavie+bloc.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LLhVuafdLe0/VNc5uWKdD_I/AAAAAAABmTs/QgZvnvFCdhw/s1600/Milngavie+bloc.jpg)
Kintyre has seen some exploration round Carradale, where a tortured schist geology provides unusually juggy steep climbing and some giant highballs.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ofzg_f_Q4RQ/VNeRh5HulgI/AAAAAAABmiE/1fLHhOGVe4o/s1600/Carradale+Bloc+the+prow+6a.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ofzg_f_Q4RQ/VNeRh5HulgI/AAAAAAABmiE/1fLHhOGVe4o/s1600/Carradale+Bloc+the+prow+6a.jpg)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mnE_tQwRH8w/VNeRjvgypDI/AAAAAAABmiY/FGCT87A1X0w/s1600/Carradale+giant+blocs.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mnE_tQwRH8w/VNeRjvgypDI/AAAAAAABmiY/FGCT87A1X0w/s1600/Carradale+giant+blocs.jpg)
In Arrochar, a number of large blocs have been discovered recently, with Dan Varian about to reveal an awesome hidden bloc (http://www.beastmaker.co.uk/blogs/news) sure to be a new classic in the area. John Watson has been developing some new areas in remoter parts, just waiting for the elusive combination of conditions and form...
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3J9X1EA0wFE/VNeRqwiC58I/AAAAAAABmjE/tvkfw5jnjcw/s1600/Arrochar+new+bouldering.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3J9X1EA0wFE/VNeRqwiC58I/AAAAAAABmjE/tvkfw5jnjcw/s1600/Arrochar+new+bouldering.JPG)
In Coigach, it seems slabs are the fashion of the day, perhaps because they are so often ignored due to the profligate ubiquity of roofs and steepness on the sandstone. 'Flexor Strain' is the 'hardest slab in Coigach':
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5UdMsuQw4jY/VNeRkwN_xmI/AAAAAAABmig/JIRpCMROXZI/s1600/Coigach+slabs+Nige.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5UdMsuQw4jY/VNeRkwN_xmI/AAAAAAABmig/JIRpCMROXZI/s1600/Coigach+slabs+Nige.jpg)
Flexor Strain (http://vimeo.com/116057356) from North West Outdoors (http://vimeo.com/northwestoutdoors) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Bouldering rampage Scotland-style (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/t-ceKqJx5rQ/bouldering-rampage-scotland-style.html)
29 March 2015, 7:55 pm
I hate the term 'rampage', as though boulderers are locusts devouring some resource and moving on, it's an awful term and I'll talk about it in another post, but it's maybe an apt term to explain the pent-up energy released when weather and new blocs coincide in Scotland. Cabin-fever can lead to a frenzy of sudden activity after the long winter months, on boulders so good they crave movement and release themselves.
We've had a good spell of weather recently (now over!) and the usually dank blocs have dried out. I won't release any location details out of respect for the hard-working and civic-minded pioneers, but the Highlands in particular have always held project stones generally ignored by the global bouldering community, maybe they have good reason. If they want 8c's and 9a's, they are here for the taking, though we're hoping some home-grown talent finds a way to move Scotland onto new levels. After all, this is the home of Malc Smith and Dave MacLeod, amongst others, who have somehow found international levels of strength and grace on rock, despite the weather!
Here are a few tasters of Scottish bouldering stones currently in development, if you do stumble on stones with chalk and cleaning marks, please respect the projects, though it's unlikely you'll find these stones without a highly developed radar which only kicks in when you've lived in Scotland for a while ... or you have something to trade!
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gAhoPJzXRkk/VRhGgFYTYjI/AAAAAAABnsg/sjDrepBMyiI/s1600/Girvan+the+Enterprise+bloc.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gAhoPJzXRkk/VRhGgFYTYjI/AAAAAAABnsg/sjDrepBMyiI/s1600/Girvan+the+Enterprise+bloc.jpg) Hige Girvan bloc awaiting a low tide...'USS Enterprise'
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-txj9Ly_z28I/VRhGoO9p9wI/AAAAAAABnss/tIKw_WA-isM/s1600/Agas-size+XL+7b+plus+F8a+by+Pierre.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-txj9Ly_z28I/VRhGoO9p9wI/AAAAAAABnss/tIKw_WA-isM/s1600/Agas-size+XL+7b+plus+F8a+by+Pierre.jpg) New Traverse from Pierre Fuentes at Agassiz Rock 7b+
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IWsH5ayT1hE/VRhGn8BYsMI/AAAAAAABnso/9IKwt_mqbfM/s1600/Devo+max+7a+traverse+salisbury+Craigs.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IWsH5ayT1hE/VRhGn8BYsMI/AAAAAAABnso/9IKwt_mqbfM/s1600/Devo+max+7a+traverse+salisbury+Craigs.jpg) Pierre's new traverse at Salisbury - 7a
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hy7uENoKsuw/VRhHD_igbDI/AAAAAAABntA/9awY87JNh_I/s1600/2015-03-26+13.14.19.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hy7uENoKsuw/VRhHD_igbDI/AAAAAAABntA/9awY87JNh_I/s1600/2015-03-26+13.14.19.jpg) This giant arete sits in someone's garden unfortunately...
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rt606Y2ubxA/VRhHJ_OZM2I/AAAAAAABntQ/zRC7gx56kUg/s1600/2015-03-26+13.21.39.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rt606Y2ubxA/VRhHJ_OZM2I/AAAAAAABntQ/zRC7gx56kUg/s1600/2015-03-26+13.21.39.jpg) Loch Lomond giant awaiting someone strong...
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nrY2poWOgOM/VRhG_Q8M7wI/AAAAAAABns4/1Qm9DUSi-WM/s1600/2015-03-26+13.23.24.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nrY2poWOgOM/VRhG_Q8M7wI/AAAAAAABns4/1Qm9DUSi-WM/s1600/2015-03-26+13.23.24.jpg) Giant roof with a possible 9a for someone who likes huge spans...Pierre Philosophale but harder
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-95-VV4reJIk/VRhHMKHozwI/AAAAAAABntY/bUUR_wco1jU/s1600/Colins+Arete.jpg) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-95-VV4reJIk/VRhHMKHozwI/AAAAAAABntY/bUUR_wco1jU/s1600/Colins+Arete.jpg) Colin Lambton on the Aberfoyle project bloc, coming soon...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YdPyH6scDts/VRhHJEm0pUI/AAAAAAABntI/SPxaaem4X-g/s1600/Perfect+Catch+7c+plus+DV.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YdPyH6scDts/VRhHJEm0pUI/AAAAAAABntI/SPxaaem4X-g/s1600/Perfect+Catch+7c+plus+DV.jpg) Dan Varian near Strontian...on the project bloc
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OugsKyxvofo/VRhHWWidM3I/AAAAAAABntg/0KTsE0egwYg/s1600/Coire+nan+Ceum+project.JPG) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OugsKyxvofo/VRhHWWidM3I/AAAAAAABntg/0KTsE0egwYg/s1600/Coire+nan+Ceum+project.JPG) Tom Charles-Edwards on his Arran project
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DnKzLgodOYE/VRhHmp1c_tI/AAAAAAABnto/K1PIWiyU41c/s1600/2015-03-13+10.54.46.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DnKzLgodOYE/VRhHmp1c_tI/AAAAAAABnto/K1PIWiyU41c/s1600/2015-03-13+10.54.46.jpg) One of the giant blocs at 'Mini Magic Wood', details from Alex Gorham forthcoming
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I4Ps5ax2lnM/VRhH0iRFtGI/AAAAAAABntw/pBrBqJHUi1o/s1600/Black+Linn+bloc+roof.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I4Ps5ax2lnM/VRhH0iRFtGI/AAAAAAABntw/pBrBqJHUi1o/s1600/Black+Linn+bloc+roof.jpg)
Glasgow sandstone bloc topo to be released soon...
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Spring bouldering Scotland 2015 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/UnP41xl2OAc/spring-bouldering-scotland-2015.html)
15 April 2015, 9:16 pm
Social media is good at one thing: telling us how good the weather is elsewhere. There's nothing like the itch aroused by hearing that pop-up alert sound and a cobalt blue sky behind a climber on Facebook/Vimeo/Flickr etc. But sometimes good weather does coincide with a day or two off and it all works out. Here are some examples of people timing some good conditions with a bit of fine bouldering weather in a Scottish springtime...
Dan Varian on his new direct on the States bloc at Garheugh - Big Mac 7c
Richie Betts on his 6c (???) at Reiff
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eIUqelpxa48/VS6oXAPpawI/AAAAAAABouc/hsWFjTLzIaE/s1600/Arrochar+new+bouldering.JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eIUqelpxa48/VS6oXAPpawI/AAAAAAABouc/hsWFjTLzIaE/s1600/Arrochar+new+bouldering.JPG)
As the forestry is gradually being cropped round Arrochar, dozens of new stones are appearing. Luckily, after decades in the pine-dark gloom, they are silvery and clean, and require little gardening. Topos for the new stones will appear in the new Bouldering in Scotland guide, hopefully with all the other new areas, though venues are being opened faster than I can map them!
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bBysuOaZ0Mc/VS6oXjq628I/AAAAAAABoug/dAuwTQqrhdU/s1600/Craigmore+Tiger+Wall+topo-01.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bBysuOaZ0Mc/VS6oXjq628I/AAAAAAABoug/dAuwTQqrhdU/s1600/Craigmore+Tiger+Wall+topo-01.jpg)
The Creagh Dhu always said there was 'another Craigmore' at Carbeth, but I never found anything other than the scrappy outcrops further east. I've scoured the whole west flank of the West Highland Way, giving it up as a typical red herring, until I found this little red-striped wall east of the Queen's View car-park. It gives a superb and slopey vertical test-piece we call Tiger Wall 7a from the sit and maybe 6c from the stand, if you get the conditions!
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q2g3qOF1Q98/VS6ocJW_RnI/AAAAAAABous/U_9XoEcoCQU/s1600/Dan+varian+on+the+Succoth+beast+first+ascent+web+res.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q2g3qOF1Q98/VS6ocJW_RnI/AAAAAAABous/U_9XoEcoCQU/s1600/Dan+varian+on+the+Succoth+beast+first+ascent+web+res.jpg)
Dan Varian has been exploring Arrochar, and made short work, in a good spell of weather, of his project The Beast of Succoth, a new 8a at Glen Loin. The Arrochar Caves area has always attracted boulderers but there were never any obvious king lines, perhaps we were looking in the wrong place! The hillside above the parking, up towards A Chrois, hides some awesome blocs and good rock under all the old moss and lichen.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ne2Hk5RKe_g/VS7CsdF1nCI/AAAAAAABovg/TK1e9KkjV10/s1600/Ben+Vane+dinosaur+egg+(2).JPG) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ne2Hk5RKe_g/VS7CsdF1nCI/AAAAAAABovg/TK1e9KkjV10/s1600/Ben+Vane+dinosaur+egg+(2).JPG)
Nearby at Ben Vane, Tom Charles-Edwards has been meandering higher and higher looking for the perfect boulder. He climbed the obvious south groove line on the Dinosaur Egg bloc (above), calling it The Dragon's Eye is Always Watching, at a reachy 7b (SS).
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tBcygHwGLnk/VS6otUhmwpI/AAAAAAABou8/IdtZoFQJxrM/s1600/Girvan+orange+bloc-01.png) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tBcygHwGLnk/VS6otUhmwpI/AAAAAAABou8/IdtZoFQJxrM/s1600/Girvan+orange+bloc-01.png)
Girvan and Lendalfoot has benefitted from a fluke of nature as tidal gravel has filled in some awful rocky landings, so it's worth stopping off if you're on the Stranraer road, it's got a lot of potential but suffers a little from tidal damp, so choose a low tide with a drying westerly. Dave Redpath and Paul Savage and friends climbed here years ago and put up most of the obvious direct lines, so apologies if some of these are repetitive descriptions. The bouldering is powerful and technical, with precision footwork required on sea-washed toe-holds. John Watson repeated some of the old lines on the toffee-textured south wall of the big orange bloc near the Varyag memorial. The pick of the bunch is Paddy's Milestone, the left arete of the south bulge.The Scoop problem is also a classic line with a technical sequence.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NmMz-8nx9VE/VS6owsGT9WI/AAAAAAABovE/l4wZQuMSvpk/s1600/Paddys+Milestone+6a.JPG) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NmMz-8nx9VE/VS6owsGT9WI/AAAAAAABovE/l4wZQuMSvpk/s1600/Paddys+Milestone+6a.JPG) Paddy's Milestone, a 3 star 6th grade problem at Lendalfoot
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TtOXymuCxq4/VS6orBH4tcI/AAAAAAABou0/LnmKgADgJp0/s1600/Torridon_Two+Worlds+Collide_R+betts_New+and+fairly+morpho+prob+left+of+Bracknell+Prognosis..jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TtOXymuCxq4/VS6orBH4tcI/AAAAAAABou0/LnmKgADgJp0/s1600/Torridon_Two+Worlds+Collide_R+betts_New+and+fairly+morpho+prob+left+of+Bracknell+Prognosis..jpg)Richie Betts on Worlds Collide at Torridon
I'll not talk too much of the north-west,as I've not been up to see all the recent explorations, but Gaz Marshall has put up a good post detailing some new explorative stuff >>> Inverness (http://gaz-softrock.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-clamour.html)
Enjoy the spring weather...
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Bouldering updates April 2015 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/sXnb-243FmM/bouldering-updates-april-2015.html)
25 April 2015, 6:47 pm
Dan Varian visits Glen Nevis and confirms two hard lines by climbing them and filming them, no edits, no doubt... the first is 7c+ and the second the amazing arete of the Cameron Stone at 8a+.
Nice conditions at Reiff-in-the-Woods, Ian Taylor repeating The Rasper:
And Ian again on a nice looking line, Unknown Air, near Stac Pollaidh, which would have made a nice walk-off:
And a nice topo from Ian Rankin for the highball bouldering at Cairnrobin Point, which looks good, and incredible geology to boot:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GYR9_i-Q--M/VTvLNWq_-LI/AAAAAAABpQk/ixDx3OB-jCg/s1600/Cairnrobin+Point+bouldering.png) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GYR9_i-Q--M/VTvLNWq_-LI/AAAAAAABpQk/ixDx3OB-jCg/s1600/Cairnrobin+Point+bouldering.png)
Some new backwoods bouldering round Glasgow as things dry out in the good weather:
Cochno Prow (https://vimeo.com/125998950) from John Watson (https://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Craigmore north tiger wall (https://vimeo.com/125998951) from John Watson (https://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Cochno Stones: Archaeology and Bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/6IMNrLqqBW8/cochno-stones-archaeology-and-bouldering.html)
26 April 2015, 5:40 pm
High above the residential northern shores of the Clyde is a strip of sandstone geology outcropping all the way to Craigmaddie Muir in the east. It lies hidden under a mossy understorey mostly, and varies in consistency and quality, but was once the attention of neolithic archaeologists, until they had to bury what is one of Scotland's greatest rock-art sites.The 'Cochno Stone' was uncovered by the Rev James Harvey in 1887 on open land near what is now the Faifley housing estate. It is covered with dozens of cup and ring marks, grooved spirals, along with a ringed cross and a pair of four-toed feet. It was briefly a chalked-in tourist attraction until it was buried to prevent vandalism in 1964.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-420ivEkFL1c/VT0SR46BUiI/AAAAAAABpR0/eYesLFgtD9M/s1600/Cochno+stones.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-420ivEkFL1c/VT0SR46BUiI/AAAAAAABpR0/eYesLFgtD9M/s1600/Cochno+stones.jpg)
Rock-art these days is a kinaesthetic thing, recorded as bouldering on photo-video networks, rather than pecked out on rock plinths. I've always like the connection between the vibrant, fluid circles and lines inscribed on the rock and the modern tracery of bouldering; there is a long connection of being in the same place, despite the different physicalities, changed rituals and contexts. Bouldering is a ritual of uncovering climbing movement, moving on in stations to the next problem, a kind of sporting religion. Every climber knows the call, the Sunday bells of unclimbed rocks...
The Cochno Stones, as I call them, are nearby crags and blocs at Auchnacraig car-park which have seen the light after a rhododendron cull. Under their mossy garb are various gritstone-like problems complete with embedded river pebbles from an ancient flood. Drying out nicely and desperate for traffic, they sit at the entrance to Auchnacraig House by the car-park for the Faifley walks. Take a wire brush and go make some modern rock-art!
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ma6pKapEasE/VT0SuNO0cTI/AAAAAAABpSA/Yz7glrJNEso/s1600/2015-04-23+19.10.18.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ma6pKapEasE/VT0SuNO0cTI/AAAAAAABpSA/Yz7glrJNEso/s1600/2015-04-23+19.10.18.jpg) Smithless Wall 6a
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8BYGJrOXarQ/VT0SwlshTbI/AAAAAAABpSM/na1KIDQoXRo/s1600/2015-04-23+19.22.03.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8BYGJrOXarQ/VT0SwlshTbI/AAAAAAABpSM/na1KIDQoXRo/s1600/2015-04-23+19.22.03.jpg) Cochno Prow 6b
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UyujHsqF2SY/VT0St4I3RkI/AAAAAAABpR8/0HHMIiUb7Oc/s1600/2015-04-23+19.58.43.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UyujHsqF2SY/VT0St4I3RkI/AAAAAAABpR8/0HHMIiUb7Oc/s1600/2015-04-23+19.58.43.jpg)
Punjab Buffet 7a+
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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If it really is gritstone, surely a wire brush is a bad idea?
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I think that was slightly tongue-in-cheek... Looks like a great venue anyway!
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Hope so! Looks good though, might stop by.... once it's been wire brushed clean :)
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Summer Bouldering on the Scottish coast (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/ByikVPfCOVE/summer-bouldering-on-scottish-coast.html)
10 August 2015, 2:45 pm
Girvan Bloc (https://vimeo.com/135855605) from John Stewart Watson (https://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
The Wind Oyster (https://vimeo.com/135377404) from John Stewart Watson (https://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Escaping to the coast has been the only bouldering option in the summer heat, especially in a summer where the bracken seems to have gone Jurassic. The first video shows the excellent 'Wind Oyster' boulder problem on Gigha, and the second video is of the fine little Pinbain pinnacle at Girvan.
Good news for those new to bouldering in Scotland - the third edition of the guide is well under way and we hope to have it available by early 2016. These two new venues feature in it, amongst about 150 other venues. It's almost impossible keeping up with all the localised developments and this will be the last gazetteer of Scottish bouldering before it goes entirely fractal and into area guides, so email me your venue information if you want it featured >>> (jsw1969@btinternet.com)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hYF7N_XE914/VciqS2emjdI/AAAAAAABtK4/y_V8opcGdNc/s640/Boulder+Scotland+3rd+edition.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hYF7N_XE914/VciqS2emjdI/AAAAAAABtK4/y_V8opcGdNc/s1600/Boulder+Scotland+3rd+edition.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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;D
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Submerged Bouldering (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/UBQ-w2oci24/submerged-bouldering.html)
17 August 2015, 10:56 am
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VYGeY9V_kUc/VdCbsJ7pCCI/AAAAAAABtPE/0toaki638Do/s640/Noah%2527s+Arklet.JPG) (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VYGeY9V_kUc/VdCbsJ7pCCI/AAAAAAABtPE/0toaki638Do/s1600/Noah%2527s+Arklet.JPG)
Fancy bouldering underwater, floating up holds? Try 'The Ark' blocs at Loch Arklet, beside the Stronachlachlar boulders. Usually submerged, they emerge clean and smooth and rippled in late summer, when the thirsts of Glaswegians drain this feeder loch enough to reveal a pair of conjoined blocs. There are a few nice sit starts on perfect schist, with a tough wee roof on 'The Arklet'. Being 3 minutes from the road, they are a perfect summer's picnic venue, with often a breeze rippling the loch to keep the midges to the higher blocs in the bracken up at An Garadh.
Loch Arklet (https://vimeo.com/136433010) from John Stewart Watson (https://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
The Arklet (https://vimeo.com/136440851) from John Stewart Watson (https://vimeo.com/user2102580) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Primrose Bay (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/z8Swhdjci98/primrose-bay.html)
14 September 2015, 7:48 am
Some quality new sandstone problems from Hamish Fraser near Cummingston:
Primrose Bay Selection 2 (https://vimeo.com/139117094) from Hamish Fraser (https://vimeo.com/hamfunk) on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/).
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Good work Hamfunk.
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Yeah, some good stuff on offer there now. Guided tour?
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Yeah, some good stuff on offer there now. Guided tour?
I'm sure that could be arranged... :thumbsup:
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Need to show you some new local stuff too.
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Mountaineering in Scotland (The Early Years) - Review (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/c8wxAOkVSEk/mountaineering-in-scotland-early-years.html)
11 December 2015, 12:59 pm
Mountaineering in Scotland: The Early Years by Ken Crocket (SMT, 2015)
Review by John Watson
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OOVQXhvua84/VmrIXcm3WnI/AAAAAAABy9M/bKsQ6BM0mqg/s400/Mountaineering+in+Scotland_Ken+Crocket_SMT+2015.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OOVQXhvua84/VmrIXcm3WnI/AAAAAAABy9M/bKsQ6BM0mqg/s1600/Mountaineering+in+Scotland_Ken+Crocket_SMT+2015.jpg)History is the silent traveling companion of any mountaineer. The thematic thrust of this major work – as the back cover copy suggests – is that a knowledge of history and landscape enhances our climbing experience. Indeed, it is necessary to appreciate this fourth dimension as grounding for a longer-term sense of place and deeper satisfaction of our sport. Climbing in Scotland follows a deep palimpsest of visitation as climbers since the middle of the 19th century have traced each other’s steps on vertical ground, deviating only where the technology allowed deviation. Difficulty is always relative, but the landscape is the same, the challenge always present. There is one thread between us, and a hungering urge for return and revisit.
The first chapters guide us through the transition from landscape and geology as necessitous bounds of life and politics (bird fouling on St Kilda; General Wade's military mapping) to the possibility of landscape as recreation (Forbes, Raeburn and their ilk). This transition largely occurred in tandem with the Victorian penchant for tourism (inspired by Walter Scott and other romantic authors) and via academia and Natural History (geology expeditions and birding trips, such as Raeburn's climb with bird fowler 'Long Peter' on Shetland in 1890). This broader landscape history is detailed in classic works such as Ian Mitchell's Scotland's Mountains Before the Mountaineers (Luath, 2004), and in the lavish production of Chris Fleet's Mapping the Nation(Birlinn, 2011), but Crocket here gives us some rediscovered historical gems from the climbing literature, such as Raeburn's account of Long Peter's rock – climbing skills (and bold attitude) on the Lyra Skerry. It reads as though Long Peter is exhibiting to Raeburn an enjoyable athletic skill he has cultivated, focusing down on the exposed moves on the 'bad bits', with the aim of collecting eggs somewhat incidental to the immediate difficulties. Eggs are apt metaphors for what is about to develop.
The period 1866 to 1886 sees a nascent exploration of the steep cliffs in the highest ranges, largely in Skye, frequented by the likes of William Naismith and of course the dynamic duo of (Norman) Collie and (John Morton) Mackenzie, that golden era of exploration on the gabbro walls of the Cuillins. There are some interesting technical asides on alpenstocks and a fascinating portrayal of that old stalwart – the 100 foot hemp rope – as an illusory piece of protection. It is remarkable to think that these climbers, in clumping hobnails, found the delicacy of approach and toe-touch to negotiate difficult ground for around 80 years as effectively solo ascents, with nothing but a psychological umbilical threaded between them. Sometimes it was window-sash cord!
The mini-biography of Collie contained within these chapters is told with fondness and the astonishment of a modern climber at the underestimation of the achievements of these early explorers, for that is what they were – Collie finished off the intricate mapping of the Cuillin Ridge peaks and bealachs when the OS had only managed 8 measurements. His life-long relationship with JM MacKenzie is one of a friendship bound in landscape through time, and immortalised in it with their names suitably Gaelicized on neighbouring peaks of the Cuillin, echoing the twin headstones side by side in Struan graveyard. The writing does well here to take the reader beyond the catalogue of ascents and climbs towards the character and style of the two great climbers, and captures the refreshing thrust of youth finding in the world novelty and thrill rather than relativity and memory (we tend to imagine Collie and MacKenzie as grizzled old guides moping around the Slig Hotel).
It is to be commended that the volume looks at the wider context of landscape and politics, as quite naturally the arena for climbing is set in what were effectively 'private' estates in the Highlands, with land access and rights for walking becoming a particular and newsworthy feature from the Victorian era onwards. This mostly urban leisure coterie suddenly found itself encountering the entrenched enclosure mentality of landowners that crofters and Highlanders had been suffering for centuries. These access wars included the Glen Tilt botany expedition of 1847 and led to legal action and the Scottish Rights of Way Society – notably a group able both to afford legal representation and co-ordinate their resistance without fear of eviction or worse. James Bryce, a Glasgow-born Liberal MP, was foremost in representing this movement as far as Parliament in the Access to Mountains (Scotland) Bill of 1894. It would be 2003 before this statutory revolution would win through against feudal landownership as the Land Reform (Scotland) Act and modern climbers should do well to realise their now-enshrined rights were born of other centuries.
This era of curiosity in all things high and steep (largely 1866 to 1914 in this book) mirrored a wider social mobility and of course greater economic capability and leisure. This led to much professional occupancy in the Highlands with meteorologists, botanists, surveyors and the like, and was accompanied by the rapid growth of mountaineering societies trying to emulate the Alpine Club enthusiasm for high peaks. The Cairngorm Club was founded in 1889, followed shortly by the Scottish Mountaineering Club, the birth of which was induced by the Glasgow-based William Naismith, who published appeals for such a society in the Glasgow Herald. Its initial roll-call consisted of academic professors, baronets, doctors, lawyers, reverends, businessmen etc. and it would be notable that a separate Glasgow-based club (The Creagh Dhu), would later arise from the working class as a reaction perhaps to the discomfiture of climbing next to a wealthier class of mountaineer who could afford to travel further. But these were not men and women bred to exclusion and Mason-like enclosure. Crocket points out here the greater social benefit of these clubs aside from keeping the wealthy amused, such as the ancillary activities of recording their tradition in journals and area guides (the SMC Journal first appeared in January 1890), organically spreading experience, technology development and skills-based knowledge to a wider audience of potential mountaineers. These days we often underestimate the difficulty of actually sourcing and spreading knowledge in pre-internet days, when people valued face-to-face meets as essential knowledge-dumps or social Googling. Local newspapers, limited guidebooks and young club journals were the only repositories available for climbers to spread their enthusiasm to the wider population, and the author interestingly points out the absence of listing mountaineering as a 'sport' in Thorstein Veblen's sociology text The Theory of the Leisure Class, published in 1899. Mountaineering, it seemed, would always fall outside the pale of public consciousness and was still very much the privately documented leisure of the wealthy (at least until access, technology and skills became cheaper and more public after the wars of the early 20th century). It is an odd irony that the first SMC journals, entertaining snow-globes of those early mountaineering moments, can now be read online by thousands more people than were ever first read on publication. The recording and diarising impulses of these early pioneers is now digitally embedded (thanks to such print and electronic publishing efforts by the SMT) and consequently gives us a longer perspective than the fading legacies of oral history, or indeed total silence on the matter.
With the publication of ‘Hugh Munro's Tables of Scottish Mountains’ in 1891, along with completion of the Fortwilliam rail-route in 1894, industrial expansion would transform the mountaineering pursuits. Rock-climbing, rather than a nascent Munro-bagging, as the author notes, was the natural challenge for the club climbers, many who were prepared to walk huge distances to ascend climbs, compared these days to often only a maximum ‘two hours from the car-park’. The author reproduces some of the key documentaries of ascents in this era from the journals: epic rounds of Munros; appalling gully assaults such as the infamous Black Shoot; as well as the early fascination with Cir Mhor’s NE Face in the 1890s, where today we mirror this adventure with the technical stealth-smearing on the blank slabs on the southern flanks of the Rosetta Pinnacle (then beyond the capability of boot technology). In fact, the whole book feels like this: a kind of mirror image of technical and wondrous ascents on unknown rock territory (in tweeds and hobnails rather than Pertex and rubber), with the appalling watershed of WW1 separating the generations of rock climbing in Scotland. It is no underestimation to say the rock-climbing community had to evolve again from scratch, with new fascinations and technologies, and with new appetites for risk and adventure untainted by the realities of war.
Ben Nevis receives its fair attention with accounts of ascents by William Inglis Clark, Raeburn, even George Mallory amongst others, in the era when Ben Nevis was actually less forbidding with the shelter of the Observatory and Summit Hotel should the weather cave in (ascents often started with a ‘down and up’ climb to the hotel, rather than the modern-day ‘up and down’ to the CIC Hut). The bulk of the book recites the gradual opening of such great cliffs of Scotland, the exploration of gullies and ridges, and the gradual mental mapping of vertical areas, the names of which are often used as reference or access these days (Tower Ridge, Gardyloo Gully, Observatory Buttress etc.), the drive to deviate and explore being what it is. Perhaps the most impressive rock ascent of the era was Raeburn’s solo summer ascent of Observatory Ridge in June 1901. This long ‘V Diff’ route still feels exposed and tricky in our modern era and shows the qualities of route-finding and composure this generation possessed. Raeburn would continue to dominate the major ascents on ‘The Ben’ with the impressive winter ascent of Green Gully in 1906, and Raeburn’s Buttressin 1908. In Skye, the first complete ascent of the Cuillin Ridge was made by Shadbolt and MacLaren in June 2011, and this seems to round off the achievements of this remarkable generation of climbers, despite their lack of awareness of what lay round the corner. The last chapter ‘The Darkness Drops’ is an aptly named epitaph for those who didn’t come back from the First World War, and marks a significant reset in the nation’s consciousness as to the purpose of going into the hills. It would be a long time before those that were left had the energy, or even the urge, to return to the hills.
We should congratulate Ken Crocket on a tour-de-force of reanimation and for his dedicated enthusiasm for a lost generation of climbers, rapidly in danger of being forgotten not only by modern climbing, but by the obliviating erosion of fashions, and dare I say it, the blinding blizzard of the digital present. Reading this terrifically detailed chronology of an era when the cliffs were largely all virgin territory, it is chastening to think that not a single climbing fatality was registered, and that the self-reliance of this generation far outweighs the blithe reliance on technology we could perhaps be accused of these days! That is not to diminish modern achievements, but one of the crowning achievements of this book is that it puts in true perspective the depth of resilience and judgment these early climbers brought to the Scottish hills. The photographic plates are a highlight and I hope the SMT continues to deposit more historical photographs and documents on their website http://www.smc.org.uk/ along with their continued devotion to recording a sport and tradition which is embedded in landscape and history, and all the better for it.
This wondrous book is available on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mountaineering-Scotland-Early-Ken-Crocket/dp/1907233202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449837512&sr=8-1&keywords=ken+crocket+mountaineering+scotland), and it should inspire any climber in Scotland to return to old haunts, wearing a new layer of understanding and respect, a little tweedier perhaps, and maybe, briefly, without a phone signal.
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Cobbled Together (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/nOSw4juDskU/cobbled-together.html)
13 December 2015, 4:04 pm
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wzglQ-5YIh4/Vm1xEn450fI/AAAAAAABy9s/Zijy3xrM4uo/s640/014411580ef96d2f248ea054552257f2ba2bfb8219.jpg) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wzglQ-5YIh4/Vm1xEn450fI/AAAAAAABy9s/Zijy3xrM4uo/s1600/014411580ef96d2f248ea054552257f2ba2bfb8219.jpg)The south peak ('Jean') on The Cobbler, 12th December 2015
Here's an interesting round-song of place-names for Arrochar, in cartullaries and statistical and printed records since 1395: Arrochar/Arochar/Arrochquhair/Arrochquhare/Arroquhar/Arachar/An Tairbeart Iar/An t-Àra ...
I was walking uphill wondering what sticks, what's in a name, why do they change, does the landscape care, who are the caretakers of a place-name? We might just be flecks of mica flashing briefly on a sun-struck pebble in the streams, but names are important to us in or brief mappings of our landscapes. Our human territories are marked by names, sign-postings, marker boulders, paths and cairns, amongst other structures, oral and physical. 'The Cobbler' mountain - Arrochar's finest and most distinctive peak - is a curious example of the fluidity of naming the landscape, of confusion, habit, fashion, politics and misinformation.
The confusion starts even with the regional name of Arrochar. Ben Humble, in his his 1960 pamphlet Arrochar and District: A Complete Guide, states that "...Arrochar is a curiosity as it is taken to be from a Latin term aratrum meaning plough once used as a land measure indicating the amount of land which could be ploughed by one man in a season." This gives a clue, but isn't quite correct.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RXZd8HQxRSM/Vm1wy_07b5I/AAAAAAABy9g/AsJdkQ8-Ir4/s640/Arrochar+And+District+-+A+Complete+Guide+2.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RXZd8HQxRSM/Vm1wy_07b5I/AAAAAAABy9g/AsJdkQ8-Ir4/s1600/Arrochar+And+District+-+A+Complete+Guide+2.jpg) Ben Humble's Guide to Arrochar
Would the Britons and Gaels have adopted such a foreign Latin term, would they not have had their own? It doesn't sound like the modern day 'Arrochar' which has a Gaelic guttural roll which seems a stretch from the clean syllables of 'aratrum'. This sounds more like a Chinese whisper. Other online sources say 'Arrochar' derives from the Gaelic 'Ard tir', meaning the high land, or the land on the East. Intriguing, but not quite there. A better hypothesis is that it derives from the Gaelic 'arachor', which was the name for an old Scottish measurement for an area of land measuring 104 acres. The old English term 'acre' is also close, and closer still is the Old Norse 'akr'. The Vikings certainly knew the area, having portaged their ships from Loch Long to Loch Lomond on a raiding party during King Hakon's doomed war campaign which ended at Largs in 1263.
Possibly, at a stretch, the old Latin 'aratrum' could be obscurely linked to the later anglicisation of Ben Arthur (another name for The Cobbler), but this is probably a fantasy. Geoffrey Barrow, renowned Scottish medieval scholar, notes in 2003: “Lennox is well-known to have been the home of the arachor, a word fittingly preserved in the name of the village of Arrochar ... Like carucate, arachor has an obvious etymological connection with ploughing, and the texts leave no doubt that arachor was in fact a Gaelic term for ploughgate.” Barrow notes other examples that arachor was a Gaelic term for ploughing, quoting, "three quarters of land of Akeacloy nether, which in Scotch is called Arachor". It sounds very close to the Old Norse Akr, or the Germaninc Aecer (acre of land).
An t-Àrar or An Tairbeart Iar - this 2003 source (Mac an Tàilleir) says: “The English and first Gaelic names are obscure but may be related to the name, Ben Arthur. The second Gaelic name is “the west isthmus", comparing it to Tarbet on Loch Lomond.” A closer glottal Anglicization from the Gaelic might thus make sense: An t-Àrar as an ellipsis of An Tairbeart Iar, but likely more closely is the derivation from from An t-Àrchar (the ploughing/sowing place), which makes topographical sense due to the flat acres of fertile landsqueezed in at the bottom of Glen Loin. So to The Cobbler, which has been named Ben Arthur on generations of OS maps. Ben Arthur seems naturally to be an Anglicization from an older 'Ben an t-Àrar' (Hill of the western isthmus) which might have been favoured by English-speaking cartographers. Timothy Pont, who misheard many names on his travels (being a Reformation scholar and very much a non-Gaelic speaker) favours Àrchair: hisc. 1591 Pont map 17 gives Suy archire, which could be Suidhe Àrchair (Arthur's Seat?). To get to 'Arthur' we must look to a 1926 source (Watson), who in a naturally post-Romantic period believed it was Beinn Artair, after King Arthur, a figure always wistfully linked to the Highlands. Ben Arthur may also have come from Beinn artaich, (stony mountain), via the same route of English ears hearing the romantic name 'Arthur' in place of 'Artaich'.
The Cobbler has become more popular in the 20th century due to the natural Last-like features of this horned mountain. And popular names, in a popular era of tourism and hill-walking, tend to stick, with publishers, map-makers and tourist companies favouring a feature-based mentality to touring (such as Denecourt's 19th century rock-featured trails in the forest of Fontainebleau). The Cobbler may also possibly come from gobhlach, meaning forked, with English pronouncing the plosive 'b' sound (a bit like hearing 'cobbla'). But this would assume a written source on an early map being misconstrued and transmogrified, for in Gaelic speech 'gobhlach' is a lot softer. In a text ‘Local Scenery and Manners’ by John Stoddart (1800) he states that the local people called the peak ‘an greasaiche crom’, ('the crooked cobbler'), and today’s name is thus just a translation.
In reality our toponymical mental map is a palimpsest of Chinese-whispers, half-understood local languages, oral history transmutations, cartography assumptions and the popularity of ruling classes as the landscape is renamed not by those who live there, but by those who come to represent it, especially in the globalised world of landscape and leisure. A local Gaelic farmer who would never have traveled far, nor had the need to, had no other requirement than to be obvious about the landscape in a local sense. Hence the popularity of the name Ben Mor ('the big hill') in Scotland. Why would he have had the need to call a hill anything other than what was relevant to the everyday?
Ultimately we can't really isolate how place-names change and why, there may be moments when they do, but so many other interpretations and mis-recordings lead to a bit of stew, especially in the written record. Place-names may simply be what's formed when everything is cobbled together into one ...
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pUQQQSeqM1Q/Vm1wyXATaBI/AAAAAAABy9c/J3nJ-cVHrio/s640/Romantic+image+of+The+Cobbler+from+railway+Tourism+posters.jpg) (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pUQQQSeqM1Q/Vm1wyXATaBI/AAAAAAABy9c/J3nJ-cVHrio/s1600/Romantic+image+of+The+Cobbler+from+railway+Tourism+posters.jpg) Tourist poster of Arrochar 20th century (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RXZd8HQxRSM/Vm1wy_07b5I/AAAAAAABy9g/AsJdkQ8-Ir4/s1600/Arrochar+And+District+-+A+Complete+Guide+2.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Hareline (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/yU408c7e0Wk/hareline.html)
25 March 2016, 6:20 pm
Bouldering in early March in Scotland can be graced by cold sunshine and serendipitous moments. This is a nice little traverse into the frustratingly good smear work of The Plinth, a problem which got me going again after a long winter of injury and downtime. Named after two hares I spooked that set off like random fireworks, it's a starting gun for 2016.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oRndcnv5iBw/VvV_t_0UFmI/AAAAAAABzwA/o4u13kRXANo/s640/blogger-image--477614648.jpg) (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oRndcnv5iBw/VvV_t_0UFmI/AAAAAAABzwA/o4u13kRXANo/s640/blogger-image--477614648.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Glencoe March 19th 2016 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/zRWD8Qy1Sy4/glencoe-march-19th-2016.html)
25 March 2016, 6:30 pm
March sunshine over the Buachaille from the best-sited hut in Scotland
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-74wqbSIoAQU/VvWDp-2NmgI/AAAAAAABzwM/pnQGolkkeIU/s640/blogger-image-1891659298.jpg) (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-74wqbSIoAQU/VvWDp-2NmgI/AAAAAAABzwM/pnQGolkkeIU/s640/blogger-image-1891659298.jpg)
Source: Stone Country Blog & News (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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The Legacy of Names: Craigmore Crag (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/3Kr54LR35dY/the-legacy-of-names-craigmore-crag.html)
13 April 2016, 11:39 am
Craigmore Jamies Overhang x4 from John Stewart Watson on Vimeo. Craigmore has always been a favourite haunt of mine. It's a small forested crag near Carbeth, north of Glasgow, just off the beaten track of the West Highland Way. It's been a popular top-roping and soloing spot for decades, ever since John Kerry (blog here about him) bussed out with gardening equipment to clean and garden
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Outwith the Anthropocene (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/3Iw4tWiZ-uE/outwith-anthropocene.html)
17 November 2016, 4:40 pm
...move lightly, trace the rock like shadow, let it return I was struck by one sentence in Robert MacFarlane's darkly sparkling article on Generation Anthropocene in the Guardian recently, when he is pointing us to the artistic response to living in a new geological era created by our own presence and detritus: '...salvation and self-knowledge can no longer be found in a mountain peak or
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Ben Lomond - a Gaelic palette (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/v2h2roP-Yss/ben-lomond-gaelic-palette.html)
28 December 2016, 6:39 pm
Loch Lomond, Wednesday 28th December 2016 Mist, water and silvery light: a very Gaelic palette in midwinter between the storms, which these days all have names - we've been through Barbara's tantrums and Conor's backlash, but today was one of those steamed-up car sort of days. Warmish air from the southwest is rolling about Loch Lomond and gathering a chill as it picks up speed towards
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Lifescapes #1 (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/QT575nUICIk/lifescapes-1.html)
2 January 2017, 4:56 pm
As counterpoint to a new series of books coming from Stone Country Press, I thought I'd introduce a few more elements of landscape theory and philosophy on this blog. The new series - Lifescapes - will reflect the mix of outdoor activity and philosophy as a means of expressing contemporary thoughts on various ways of 'being' in the outdoors. After the mechanisation of farming, the
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Lifescapes #2 - Sound and Landscape (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/gSBNjLYAicM/lifescapes-2-sound-and-landscape.html)
6 January 2017, 8:50 am
Sound mirrors at Denge, Dungeness I have perched on icy ledges in a winter storm, listening to the main-sail buffeting of a wind against a large rock buttress. It creates deep booming sounds on impact and surreal whistles and songs as it howls through fingered gaps in the shattered rock rims of corries. There is a high lonely corrie to the east of the summit of Ben Dorainn called Coire
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Boulder Scotland - 3rd edition now published (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/95TjWriiFew/boulder-scotland-3rd-edition-now.html)
13 January 2017, 9:42 am
The new third edition of Boulder Scotland has now been released! It's 320 pages of full colour adventure! If you want to get hold of a copy, it retails at £19.99 and can be ordered through the following suppliers: Amazon >>> Cordee >>> The making of this guidebook took a lot longer than expected, rightly interrupted by dozens of new venues, plus the interim issue of the new edition to
Source: Stone Country Blog (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Schiehallion (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/ItPW2tWpwEs/schiehallion.html)
27 January 2017, 3:49 pm
'The hill of the Caledonian pixies', if you like, is the classic pyramidal mountain - a stalwart of Scottish Munroists and regal in its isolation amongst the feeder lochs for the Tay and Tummel rivers. In 1774 its isolation was what attracted Nevil Maskelyne and Charles Hutton as they sought a regular and massive part of the earth they could measure, weigh and extrapolate the weight of the
Source: Stone Country Press (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Boulder Scotland - waterproof editions! (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/DZmFRW22DlE/boulder-scotland-waterproof-editions.html)
3 February 2017, 3:14 pm
I have a number of new Boulder Scotland guidebooks with wraparound plastic covers (after all, Scotland is often wet!), which we're selling at £23 which includes all P&P. First come, first served! If you have a copy already, the waterproof covers can be ordered from Gresswell here >>> (the code you need for the plastic cover is: 420 6512 Slip-Over Cover H202mm (W310) Pack 10)
Source: Stone Country Press (http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/)
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Fakes and Archaeology - the Whitehill 'runes' (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/eEUhjF0bxK0/fakes-and-archaeology-whitehill-runes.html)
24 April 2017, 8:28 am
Sketch of fake (?) runes, Whitehill, 2011 The Whitehill 'runes' - real or fake, it matters ... The danger with fakes, if they are done well, is that they legitimise every construct built upon them. Any archaeology, but especially one with faded logics and contexts, is susceptible to imagination. A few years ago I found this petroglyph beside a grouping of cup and ring marks in
Source: Stone Country Press (http://www.stonecountrypress.co.uk/)
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Spring Blocs Scotland (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/fcZio7nUPEE/spring-blocs-scotland.html)
8 May 2017, 12:33 pm
There is that magical transitional time in Scotland between the green dankness of winter and the dreaded muggy midgeness of summer ... a dry springtime. April 2017 was cool and fairly dry so allowing some pleasant sessions on the blocs and the sudden blazing high that arrived at the start of May turned the highlands into a paradise with a cool north-easterly airflow. Those lucky enough to
Source: Stone Country Press (http://www.stonecountrypress.co.uk/)
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Dumbarton Rock article in World Archaeology (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/LQ8LWOuJY6E/dumbarton-rock-article-in-world.html)
23 June 2017, 10:19 am
Dumby gets an academic approach in this article published by World Archaeology. This multi-authored article was the result of archaeologists, climbers and heritage professionals examining the meaning of Dumby for those who frequent the place, especially climbers. Abstract The notion of counter-archaeology is echoed by the opposing faces of the volcanic plug of Dumbarton Rock, Scotland. On the
Source: Stone Country Press (http://www.stonecountrypress.co.uk/)
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Plato's Cave (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stonecountrynews/~3/r-In1IcQm28/platos-cave.html)
18 August 2017, 11:02 am
In his famous 'allegory of the cave', the Greek philosopher Plato pondered the artificiality of reality in imagining how we could be fooled into thinking shadows on the wall (i.e. virtual reality) could be seen as 'real' life. I'm paraphrasing, of course. What has this got to do with climbing? Well, I was pondering this myself recently while sitting on an artificial concrete boulder at the
Source: Stone Country Press (http://www.stonecountrypress.co.uk/)
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I'd missed the June post about the archaeology of climbing at Dumby - very cool.