[aly]

The one in the cairngorms, not trowbarrow I'm afraid.  Posted the same thing over on the other channel but without much luck.

Anyone got any beta?

Hiya,

I've got a couple of questions for any Cairngorm aficionados or folk with knowledge of the Shelterstone. Firstly, does anyone know how long the escape pitch up to the plateau is from the high ledge/finish of Harp/Pin (or conversely, how far is it from the plateau down to the high ledge)?

Will a 70m ab get you most of the way down the central slabs? Guidebook suggests that The Pin is about 70m, is this about right?

Lastly, anyone been up there recently that can report on seepage? Do the slabs tend to dry out fairly fast (I know the cracks can stay damp) or are there drainage/seepage lines down them?

Any help much appreciated,
Cheers.

(Mods - sorry if this should be on the locations board - feel free to move it).

[slackline]

Bar SA Chris and a few others north of the border, you might have more hope of an answer on Scottish Climbs (if you haven't posted there already!).

[SA Chris]

'fraid I haven't been on it, all a bit rich for my blood recently. Scottishclimbs might be a better bet. Fultonius may have a better idea, I am pretty sure he has done (most of ) the Needle at least. Richieb may check in at sometime as well, I know he has done a route or two on there, but is in Alps at the moment.

Your best bet is to PM Andy Nisbet on the other channel. If anyone knows, he will.

[aly]

Cheers guys.  I tried posting on Scottishclimbs last week but to no avail.  I'll maybe try dropping Andy Nisbet a PM, cheers.
In my experience UKB is normally the place to get climbing-related answers though.
Useless if you want to know if a plane will take off on a treadmill though 

[slackline]

Useless if you want to know if a plane will take off on a treadmill though 

Will it? 

[galpinos]

Useless if you want to know if a plane will take off on a treadmill though 

Will it? 

If you're serious, yes. Assuming it doesn't hit the bit at the front with the controls for speed/incline etc.

[slackline]

Useless if you want to know if a plane will take off on a treadmill though 

Will it? 

If you're serious, yes. Assuming it doesn't hit the bit at the front with the controls for speed/incline etc.

Just put the treadmill in reverse and take off the other way round 

[sharkey]

From memory (hazy) from the high ledge it is a shortish pitch to the plateau, have only been on that part in winter finishing Sticil face, other trivia The pin seeps quite badly and is one of the last routes to dry.....the routes on the main face, Steeple, Needle dry very fast, just a few days of warm weather required.

Not sure if any of this info helps as i guess you are planning one of the slab routes, run of the arrow?

[Neil F]

At the risk of stating the obvious, The Shelterstone is a big crag!

When you are at the base of the slabs, they look enormous, but if you look at a long distance shot showing the crag in the context of the whole hillside then you will realise that the slabs actually form a relatively small part of the overall cliff.

This photo illustrates the point well:-

http://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.html?id=62170

It is a considerable distance from the top of the slabs, to the top of the cliff - I haven't done it, and to be honest, I can’t think why anyone would! - but describing this as "the escape pitch" (singular) is probably somewhat optimistic!  In fact given that the approach scramble to the bottom of the slabs effectively bypasses the whole lower wall, you can pretty much subdivide (vertically) that section of the Shelterstone into thirds – the lower wall and grassy ledges; the central slabs; the upper escape pitches.

This is in contrast to the middle section of the cliff where routes such as Haystack and Needle all finish on the flat summit plateau, with no scrambling needed to get off.

Not sure about your 70m bit, but abbing off the top of Pin definitely requires 2 longish abs with twin 50’s.  But Pin – which follows the big dark vertical streak clearly visible on the right of the slabs in the linked photo - is effectively the shortest part of the slabs.  The routes to the left start a bit lower and sometimes finish a bit higher.  We also abbed off the top of Run of the Arrow, and again you can again do this in two (rather longer) abbs on twin 50’s.

As for coming in from the top, Cubby told me he approached that way when he took photos of Julian Lines on one of the E7’s a few years back.  And to facilitate this, he hauled a huge static rope all the way in to the top of the crag.  I was humbled by the mammoth effort this must have involved, but it was nothing to Cubby.  He wasn’t completely satisfied with the framing of the pictures he had taken – I thought they looked fine! – so a few days later he repeated the whole exercise and re-shot the pictures.  Anyone who has been to the Shelterstone will realise just what a super-human effort that must have been.

Seepage-wise, the slabs themselves are remarkably clean – perhaps the cleanest large sweep of mountain rock I can think of – and as such they will dry almost immediately.  But the cracks, overlaps and seepage points will be your problem, and they will probably still be wet.

I hope this helps.  What are your plans?

Neil

[aly]

Hi Neil,
Thanks for such a detailed reply, I was kind of hoping you'd see this as I know you've done a fair bit up there.  I've just got back from a couple of days up in Loch Avon, hence my late reply, and what you said seems pretty much spot on.  The crag is certainly pretty huge.  I'll probably be back round there again next week on my own with Mr Shunt and was thinking of going in from the top to have a look at some of the slab routes, anything that's dry really, perhaps Icon... or Realm... or something.  Especially if it avoids having to climb a wet crack to get up above it.

The slabs do seem to stay very clean and dry.  The cracks were pretty wet, as was the Thor diedre but we managed to do the first pitch of Run of the Arrow and then the Missing Link avoiding most of the wetness.  Pin was pouring with water though but we managed to get from the niche above where ML joins it to the ledges on 50m ropes.  It seemed to be drying fairly slowly so we ended up on the short slabs left of Hell's Lum the next day rather than fight the wetness.

That's an impressive effort of Cubby's with the static, was that carried up from the base of Loch Avon?!  Cheers for the info, if I head up I'll maybe make sure I've got a long rope to get into the top of the slabs in case a 50 falls short.  I reckon 70m would at least get you down the start of Realm... with some to spare once you've reached the top ledges.
Thanks again.