The Anvil Bites Back...

Having come tantalisingly close to success last Saturday, I might have guessed my luck would run out this Saturday. Dave Redpath and I went back to the Anvil, he for another shot at his amazingly difficult project (8something???), me to complete Friendly Fire (F7a). The weather wasn't looking great for Saturday morning so we thought a late start would give the crag time to dry. This meant the traffic was heavy going through Glasgow, and we didn't get there until 2.30pm. Just as Dave switched the engine off, the fuel warning light beeped on. It was raining....a bit. Everthing looked wet. But it was brightening.... we thought, hopefully.

We cycled in; wow, was that an effort. Just a wee bit too much of Dionysus' finest libation on Friday night, and I was about fnished by 3pm. The top 4 moves of Friendly Fire were dripping water, and it started to rain again.

Then the attack started.

You guessed it. Midges. Lots of them. Vicious little buggers. And it's only May! I mean, come on, give us a break, eh? It's cold enough to still be wearing my downie, and there are MIDGES! This might mean the end of the Anvil season too, which is a shame, since I left my gear there.

I don't know which picture is best, so I'm going to leave both in. My hands look like they have chicken pox; and they're just about as itchy. My ankles and even my face have been attacked too!

We persevered. The air was damp, still and the sky overcast. But the rock wasn't too damp, and the roof was still dry. Dave made some impressive efforts on his project, while I dogged my way up Shadowlands with enthusiastic encouragement from Dave (F7b+ - or F7c, depending which bit of the Scottish Climbs Wiki you read. Either way it was very hard). I was surprised to be able to do most of the moves, although I need considerably more strength to be able to lead it. As a result of being feeble, I've left my quickdraws up there. So if you see them, please don't nick them. I'm going back to get them, with Skin So Soft and a midge net.

The evening mist settling in the valley above Lochgoilhead

Time flies when you're having fun. We didn't leave the crag until 8.45pm. We flew back on the bikes, which was much easier than the cycle in, and left Lochgoilhead at about 9.15..... remembering as the ignition fired that we were almost out of fuel.

Loch Goil

Loch Goil, mirror-like in the evening dampness

The petrol station in Arrochar shuts at 9pm. The next one, we thought, was Dumbarton, 35+ miles away. Hmm..... so we tootled along at about 45mph hoping that the guage was wrong, while Diff, on the end of the phone, had his googling and mapreading skills tested. Bless him, he found us a 24/7 petrol station in Jamestown, only 15 miles away. We prayed hard until we were at least within walking distance (well, I did!!), and following Diff's excellent instructions (we didn't have a map...) we whooped with relief as the neon BP sign appeared in view. ("Isn't the internet wonderful? Aren't mobile phones wonderful?!") We reckoned there was 30 miles left in the tank; Lochgoilhead to Jamestown is 31.1 miles. We probably were running on fumes! Incidentally, The AA Route Planner can show you all the petrol stations on your route!

More bites....

An epic day; we got home at about midnight. Thanks to Dave for driving, and for making me try routes I wouldn't have contemplated in a million years. If we have a sunny and windy summer I might be able to retrieve my gear!

By the by, I just noticed that the Avon website is selling it's magical Skin So Soft Dry Body Oil (aka Midge Repellant) for £1.50 a bottle. I saw the same stuff in Tiso for £5.50 !!

My First....

...7a !! I have had the most awesome day today, at the Anvil; the best climbing day I've had...maybe ever. It's been a long day, I'm very tired, but still buzzing from near triumph. Sarah, Dave and I drove across this morning and walked the 4 miles from the road to the crag (I thought this is why I'd bought a bike!), to find the two other Daves working their projects. I swear they could wallpaper the ceiling using powers of levitation alone.

Dave Redpath making some interesting noises...

Concentration in the extreme! Dave Macleod on his 8somethingveryhard Project
(photo courtesy of Hotaches)

Sarah led Friendly Fire first, to get the rope up. It looked pretty scarily overhanging to me, and the first couple of moves were off little sharp quartz cystals, but there is a big pixie picnic ledge in the middle. So I top-roped it, three times in all, and with persuasive encouragment from all three Daves and Sarah, I had a shot at leading it. Despite some very long Zen moments on the pixie picnic ledge, I didn't get the redpoint clean. There are two cruxes, one just below the second bolt (which is clipped), and one apparently tenuous cross-through to a quartz vein above the fifth bolt (which isn't as hard as it looks). In fact both are fine and I did them both without any trouble. On my second attempt at the lead I did the first section clean, had some timeout with the pixies in the middle and then promptly fell off just two moves from the top! I just ran out of strength. Too much bouldering apparently...

Dave B on the first crux of Friendly Fire

Dave B stepping out right onto the top section. This was scary enough!

Timeout with the pixies...
(photo courtesy of Hotaches)

The Top Bit...where my stamina gave out.
(photo courtesy of Hotaches)

There are more pictures on the Hotaches blog and on Dave Macleod's blog.

Sarah also had a shot at Spitfire (now 8a+), which was very impressive. Dave B confirmed it was nails too. All very interesting to watch, especially with the first ascensionist on hand to advise! Oh, another first for me.... belaying with a Grigri!

Sarah on Spitfire (8a+)
(photo courtesy of Hotaches)

Dave B on Spitfire (8a+)

Sarah belaying Dave on Spitfire

Today was also a first for outdoor lead falls. Not big ones, thank goodness, but enough to make me feel ok about them. Jonni, if you're reading this, you'd be proud of me; I didn't squeal with fright...just with frustration!

Me and Dave Mac hangin' out!
(photo courtesy HotAches)

So, I can do all the moves quite comfortably. I just need a bit more stamina, and another attempt. While frustraing not to complete it in one day (given the two hour drive and the 4-mile walk!) I am much encouraged that this is clearly well within my capabilities. All this in spite of an injured rib, and no training for a week. I think Jules the Fizzy O would go nuts at me....

How's this for a place to climb...?

So much for leading 7a by Christmas; as Dave M said, "Christmas? 7a by 3 o'clock!"

The Trial of Skinned Knuckles

I've been slow to post pictures of Sunday, thinking I'd wait for my broadband to be connected. It's here! I will no doubt now waste a lot more of my life twiddling with things on the Web. At least uploading these pictures will be much quicker! I can't believe I've held out this long....

We went to Bowden Doors on Sunday, with me injured and not really psyched to do much. But we did have a go at the real Dog Eat Dog (6b) (see previous post!). It was hard! I went up to take pictures from the top. This problem has a reputation for having a very, very sandy topout. Oh how true. It was scary enough just standing up there, let alone pulling up from below with only hands for friction above a nasty landing. Maybe next time I'll feel brave enough to try it!

Sarah making good progress on Dog Eat Dog

Caroline hanging in there...

Then we went further along to the crimpy things we tried at Easter, now identified as the aptly named The Trial - a route at E3 5c, but no boulder problem grade. We both had another shot at it, whereupon we both suffered the same injury, in the same place, from the same bit of rock! Pictures of finger injuries seem to be a bit of a theme here, so I might as well carry it on! This time I took off, not only the skin on my knuckle, but also all the scar tissue I'd grown since Easter. It's still sore now, 4 days later.

Knuckles....congenital weakness? Or just a nasty bit of rock?

No climbing this week since Jules the Fizzy O thinks I have pulled a rib out of place (again!). Unfortunately, no climbing equates to beer-swigging and cake-making. Shame.

Rockdust

Today we beat the masses across the Bridge and headed to Rockdust in Perthshire. Just outside Pitlochry, these small crags are in the most beautiful location, with views to the Cairnwell to the east and ...er something with a little bit of snow on it to the west. Sunny, warm and cloudless, it was a fabulous day for some sport climbing. There aren't many bolts in Scotland (there are many threads on the arguments for and against this if you check Scottish Climbs), so it was a bit odd to be hanging off bolts in the cool Scottish air surrounded by greenery, sheep and teeny tiny lambs.

What a view, in spite of the phone mast.

Having over-stretched my shoulder last weekend, I was taking it a bit easier, so no hard climbing of note for me today. It was just nice to be outside and hang out with friends.

Post-climbing chill in the sunshine...

The lower crag

Meow

This is Pippin. I saw him yesterday, and he's very funny, very soft and a very nice kitty to have around.

Jocks and Geordies

Saturday dawned with a mild headache from a couple (yes, literally!) of glasses of wine the night before, so I packed my book as well as my climbing shoes, thinking that while the others would be climbing hard stuff, I would find a comfortable corner for a snooze and a read. We headed for Kyloe In, reasoning that if it were to rain (which was looking distinctly possible, and then became an actuality) we and the rock would be mostly dry under the trees.

Kyloe-in-the-Woods. Can you see the fairies?

In the end, the light drizzle didn't last very long. Nor did my ideas of curling up with my book. With Jerome's encouragement I had a shot at Jocks and Geordies (Font 6c/V5). The sit-start was ruled out immediately given that I can haul myself up, but can't then let go to make the move! But from standing, it seemed like a different proposition. After a couple of attempts, I found myself standing on tippytoes, right hand on the undercut, and left hand reaching up, apparently as far as it would go but still about a foot away from the top hold. So I fell off.

Still about a foot away... oh to be taller.

Feeling very pleased with myself at that alone, I wandered off to have another shot at Red Rum (Font 6b/V3 6a), but that wasn't happening. I tootled along to the other end and took a bit of time to remind myself of all the delicate, crimpy (and sharp!) moves on the Crucifix Traverse (V3 6a). Having done it right to left, I looked at the guide to find it's graded left to right. And that was much harder! So I did the Undercut Traverse (V4 6a) next to it instead.

Not satisfied with my earlier attempts, I went back to Jocks and Geordies, with greater but not complete success. The best attempt reached the tiny crimp below the lip, but I didn't manage to hold it long enough to slap my right hand up. Then I ran out of skin. Again.

How close? It's about 3mm above my left hand...

My right hand is aiming for the chalked up ledge

No more skin, so we went home. I'm hoping for good weather next weekend and practising the moves in my sleep to make sure I don't forget them...

Sunny Cairngorms

Having seen the weather forecast, I was intent on some climbing this weekend. So all my gear went with me, but when we got to the Coire Cas carpark we decided there was still too much snow and that Hell's Lum was probably either covered in snow or at very best running with snowmelt. Judging by he size of the cornices, we were right!

Instead of Auld Nick, we decided to head for Braeriach....and then to the Angel's Peak (with the unspellable, unpronounceable Gaelic name)....and Cairn Toul.... then down to the Corrour Bothy, and home through the Lairig Ghru.... 21 miles and 12 1/2 hours later...!! It was a beautiful day, but there were moments when I wondered whether we'd had ideas above our station in taking on such an epic walk. The Lairig Ghru alone is 6 1/2 miles long, and that was only part of the long walk back to the car. We managed without the one headtorch for all but the last 200 yards or so, but by 21.50hrs it was too dark to cross the river without it.

It wasn't a great day for photographs, since the air was very hazy. This was my first trek through the Lairig Ghru; it wasn't quite as I expected, but certainly a desolate, lonely, eerie and impressive place. I was glad we were through it before it was really dark.

The Lairig Ghru

The northern end of the Lairig Ghru at about 7pm

Looking into the Lairig Ghru from the Braeriach plateau

The Chalamain gap was freaky enough in the dusk... imaginings of goblins and elves and Jacobite rebels were running through my head while I tried to concentrate on not tripping over my very tired feet. Despite being very close to the lights of Aviemore, there is something very wild about being out on the hill in the dark. But then again, I still have to run down the corridor at home in the dark, convinced that there are monsters chasing me....

Chalamain Gap earlier in the day...the northern corries of Braeriach just visible through the Gap; an exciting view of the day's prospects.

I found some interesting lichens on the plateau. It's easy to see why the area is so heavily protected.

We got back to Mill Cottage at about 10.30pm, feeling somewhat hysterical with exhaustion. Driving back from Coire Cas in the dark was almost trippy. It felt as though we were whizzing through space, and the lights on the bridge at Kincraig (spaced about every 10 feet down the length of one side of the parapet) made for a vision akin to the trippy scenes in The Big Lebowski!

Needless to say, Sunday wasn't good for much. I felt as though everything below my knees had been beaten with a cricket bat. So I drove to Inverness and spent a lovely day in the garden with friends. On Monday I headed home, via Cairngorm again, this time with Emily (20 months), Gordon (3 1/2) and Mummy, for a short walk towards the Ptarmigan Restaurant. We had lunch behind a shed and Gordon learned how difficult it is to walk up spring snow slopes. Quite an adventure for a little person, as was walking across heather.

Further down the road I stopped north of Dalwhinnie at a place called Glen Truim.

There was a short but lovely walk along the river and back past a couple of beautiful highland cottages, one new, one old, both well kept and very welcoming (from the outside, at least).

Further down the river I saw a Dipper. It seems like a long time since I saw one of those. Amazingly, one couldn't hear the traffic from the A9, despite the road being only about 100 yards away. As I drove the rest of the way home it struck me how beautiful Scotland is at this time of year, with the last of the snow outlining the hills and the sun streaming between dark clouds. Why would I want to live anywhere else?

Two days in The County

Easter Weekend has been very productive! We spent Sunday at Bowden Doors and Monday at Kyloe-in-the-Woods. Bowden was windy and a bit chilly, but we managed a few problems, despite lacking a guidebook for most of the day. When we did manage a peek at a guidebook, we mis-identified our location and convinced ourselves we'd climbed Dog Eat Dog and the unnamed 6c next to it.

Caroline on the supposed "6b" problem

Ha ha. I thought it was a bit too straightforward for 6b. It turns out that we climbed two unnamed problems which come in at about 5b/5c. That'll teach us to a) read the guidebook properly and b) not to be so cocky!

Unfortunately, we have no idea which problems we did. No guidebook. We probably would have mis-read it anyway. Here is Caroline on another good mantle problem with a heel hook and a huge rock over:

Unfortunately, two days on sandstone doesn't come without war wounds. This was the result of a sharp crimpy problem that wouldn't have happened if I'd been tall enough to reach the big jug that was about 4 inches above my very best stretch.

Here are the two crimpy problems. The one on the right has my blood on it!

We did find some fabulous rocks though.

Monday at Kyloe-in was fabulous. Out of the wind, in the sunshine, we had the whole crag pretty much to ourselves. Badfinger (5c) took a bit of effort, and is (I think) much harder than Bad Company next to it (also 5c). I made some progress on Red Rum (6a), but still can't hold the top pocket, despite getting my fingers right in it. Next time...I just ran out of skin. Tonight, my fingers are very sore. I sense more yoga, more cake and less climbing this week...

Thought for today

Happiness is the difference between what you have and what you want. The trick, therefore, is to want what you have...

Good Friday or Bad Friday?

I don't know if you can see the sunshine in this picture, but it is there. Definitely. And I'm stuck in the office...

It was my choice to work today, and make use of the new rules my employer has adopted on the flexibility of faith holidays. I am transport-less today, so it seemed to make sense to work today and take the holiday when I am not transport-less and when it suits me, rather than when it suits my employer and/or God/Allah/Bhudda/Yoda. I'm utterly convinced that everyone else (except the four of us in here and the lovely mechanics who are getting my car through it's MOT) is outside enjoying a day off in the sunshine.

I am actually catching up on some work (believe it or not!) and getting through a lot of tea. But I'd still rather be out climbing....