Orange

So post names can sometime be hard to think of so I chose a colour which sums up my climbing recently. Its been sunny and warm, I've climbed on a lot of sandstone and feldspars in dolerite can look a bit orange at times.
I haven't posted since my return from Pabbay and Mingulay but don't think that I haven't been climbing. I have climbed in Yorkshire (Caley Crag, Caley Roadside and Shipley Glen), Northumberland (Rothley, Simonside, Kyloe In, Bowden and Shaftoe) and in the Central Belt (Dumbarton, Auchinstarry and Limekilns). I have mostly climbed by myself but I have been partnered by Oli Read, David Mayes, Greg Brown, Chris Williams and Karen Munro on occasions.
Describing each of my days out would he hard (there have been 12 of them) so here is a quick summary.
I had a nice run of form managing to climb font 7a on 6 consecutive climbing days. This all started at Shipley Glen on the 29th June where I climbed Parker, a nice little 1 move wonder undercut arete. On the 30th I stopped at Rothely crag where I climbed 2 font 7a's. These were Reclaimed, which is very soft, and Numbian, which is very hard to grade.
A couple of days later I returned to Rothely and despite spending most of the day working a 7a called Gloom, and failing to link it, I managed to climb another called In The Corner. I had tried this on my previous visit but I didn't get it. It went down pretty easy in the end though.
On the 5th July I went to Simonside and managed to flash a 7a called La Proue. I feel I must have done something wrong as it felt very easy and I did it in about 3 moves. It was mostly compression moves on slopers, and Im climbing pretty well on those particular holds at the moment so maybe it just suited me. I also almost ticked a 7a mantle called Baps but I kept on falling off with my hand in the finishing juggy pocket.
On the 7th I headed to Kyloe In were I managed to tick Jocks and Geordies sit start (font 7a). I had previously climbed it from standing but on my first attempt I couldn't remember the sequence at the top and fell off. I managed it on my next go though.
On the 10th I made my way to Bowden and spent lots of time falling off things, but I did managed to tick Y front direct, which really is a little more indirect when you look at the line, which gets 7a. This was my final 7a in my run of bouldering form.
In the last few days I have been getting out in the central belt. On the 15th I headed to Dumbarton for a day of polished bouldering. I spent lots of time working hard things before getting on a route called Physical Graffiti. PG gets E5 in the guide but I think high ball font 6b is more reasonable. This was only my second E5, although I don't really feel it is one. I have been on the shunt in the last 2 days at Auchinstarry and Limekilns. I went to Auchinstarry to work a route called Nijinksi (E5). This route takes a slabby arete next to the car park, and due to it situation and that it has bolts at the top it gets top roped a lot leading to it being quite polished in places. My initial attempt was quite poor as I worked out the moves but I managed to climb it clean on my second go. I wasn't really feeling the solo so I went home. I returned the next day and shunted it clean twice more before jumping on the solo. I managed to climb up to the crux (8m?) but I didn't want to commit to the moves around the arete. Luckily I could reach my ropes so I descended. Maybe this is one I will have to lead. On my way home I went to Limekilns were I attempted to shunt Slow Handclap (E7), but I didn't finish it as it's very hard!
I have bought the Scottish sport guide so hopefully I will get out on some sport routes soon. Sorry for the long post and no pictures!

Road Trip 2013

Sunset at Reiff

At the top of Blankist, Arran

Since the18th May I have managed to pack in loads of climbing. I have ticked a total of 123 routes and boulder problems and only had 2 days without climbing anything outdoors, although one of these days I went to Red Goat climbing wall in York. It is needless to say that I don't have much skin left. I have been to nearly 30 different crags in this time too. It would be a very long blog post if I described everything I did, so here is a summary.
The interesting part of my recent climbing, and the posts name, starts on the 25th May. Here I set off road tripping with Matt Harle and Sophia Borgeest. Our desitnation for the evening was Arran but we decided to stop off at Dumbarton rock on the way past. After Dumbarton, and on the way to Arran, we climbed on a cool little erratic boulder in the corner of a field called the Clochoderick Stone. Arran saw me head off on a solo trip up to the Rosa Slabs where I climbed Blank (VS) and Blankist (HVS). The plan after Arran was to road trip for a while, with Anne Peale as well, but unfortunately the weather wasn't looking very good up north, so we went to the county. Kyloe In seemed like the best bet and we had a nice day climbing around the steep crimpy sandstone walls. Matt and Sophia had to be in Edinburgh on Wednesday so Anne and I set off up North together. We were headed for Reiff but stopped off at Creag Dubh on the way past and climbed a nice HVS called Inbred. At Reiff we met up with some others from Edinburgh Uni.

Scooped Wall Traverse, Reiff in the Woods (Photo Credit: Anne Peale)

On Wednesday John De Lyser, Alistair Rocke, Katie Main, Anne Peale and I made the long walk into the leaning block cliff at the North of the peninsula. Here I onsighted The Quickening (E5) and Freedom (E4), among others. They both felt very easy, so I may have been having a good day. The Quickening is my first E5 onsight, and first E5 clean (I don't think I have even top roped one). It takes a traversing line of massive buckets with good foot holds along a steep face and onto a slab. The next day we all went to the seal song area at Reiff. I managed to climb the route Seal Song (E3) which gives the area its name. I thought this felt much harder than The Quickening. On Friday Anne and I went out East in preparation for the EUMC's Dinner Meet in Dornoch on Saturday. We went to Cummingston and Huntleys Cave.

The Quickening, Reiff (Photo Credit: Anne Peale)

Seal Song, Reiff (Photo Credit: Anne Peale)

On Sunday Matt Harle, Sophia Borgeest, Anne Peale and I went to Sheigra to climb its famous steep sea cliffs. On Monday, after a morning at Sheigra we made our way south, climbing at Ardmair Crag on the way past. We spent that evening in Gairloch, climbing at Aztec Tower and Grass Crag the day after. The rest of the week was spent in Torridon, although I made a short trip to Helmsdale to do some work.

Bloodlust Direct, Sheigra (Photo Credit: Matt Harle)

Western Skyline, Ardmair

This trip has not only taken me around a large number of amazing locations, and featured some amazing sunsets, but the geology has also been very interesting. I have climbed rocks from the Dalradian, Lewisian, Torridonian and the Cambro-Ordovician within the past 11 days. Im not sure if I climbed on anything that was from the Moines though. This is possibly the best way to cement my knowledge of Scottish stratigraphy possible. I have even climbed within all the terranes of the Lewisian, those being; Richonoich, Assynt, Gruinard and Southern.
I'm having a rest for a few days now before I head to Pabbay on Wednesday!

Northumberland Wall, Diabaig (Photo Credit: Anne Peale)

Here is a summary ticklist:
E5: The Quickening, Reiff (o/s)
E4: Western Skyline, Ardmair (o/s)
Unleash the Beast, Ardmair (o/s) (2nd)
Freedom, Reiff (o/s)
E3: Brave Heart, Reiff (o/s)
Seal Song, Reiff (o/s)
E2: Cross Eyed, Reiff (o/s)
Huntleys Jame, Huntleys Cave (o/s)
Pete's Wall, Huntleys Cave (o/s)
Bloodlust Direct, Sheigra (o/s)
Wanderings, Sheigra (o/s)
Northumberland Wall, Diabaig (o/s)
The Pillar, Diabaig (o/s)
Colours Fly, Limekilns (o/s)

Font 7a: Problem 37, Edlingham (o/s)
The Groove, Caley
Fony 6c+: Haven, Reiff in the woods

Malcs Arete, Torridon

Font 6c: The Prow, Hepburn
The Wall, Hepburn (o/s)
Jocks and Geordies, Kyloe In
Avoiding the Main Issue, Reiff in the woods (o/s)

F 7a: Like It Hot, Grass Crag (o/s)
F 6c: The Dump, Grass Crag (o/s)
All The Arts, Grass Crag (o/s)

Like it Hot, Problem 37 and The Quickening are all personal best onsights for me!

Inchnadamph. Its Gneiss

For the past 2 weeks I have been on a field trip up in the far North West of Scotland. We stayed at a hostel at Inchnadamph, on the North shore of Loch Assynt. The region itself is called Assynt and is very interesting in geological terms. The rocks here show what happens when continents collide and the crust shortens. This is going on right now beneath the Himalayas.
The process which shortens the crust is called thrusting. Rock units get thrusted  on top of one another. The main thrust in the area is called the Moine thrust where Moine schist has been thrust upon the younger cambrian succession. This can been seen at Knockan Crag, near Elphin. There are lots of other thrusts in the area but this is the major one. At the end of the two weeks we had a mapping project around Cam Loch, which is near Elphin.
Despite my previous post saying that I wasn't going to get out and climb much over those two weeks its proved not to be the case and I managed trips to the Rhue Blocks, Ardmair Beach, Ardmair Ruins and Achmelvich beach.
My most frequented venue has to be Ardmair Beach. Here I have ticked all but 5 routes. The most notable thing I have done is Boulder Ding, at font 6c+, although I found Jumping Bristletails (font 6b) much harder.
On the trip whilst looking at rocks I did notice lots of things that should be climbed so I will hopefully be back in the not so distant future to add some new routes too.
Prior to the trip I managed a few days out. Firstly I went to Bowden in Northumberland with Joanna and some freshers. I spent most of the day bouldering but I did managed to lead Stretcher Wall (E1), which is well named. I finished the day by climbing Dog Eat Dog (font 7a).

Danielle seconding New Gold Dream (Photo Credit: Joanna Lisowiec)

Later in the week I went to Limekilns with Joanna and Danielle Arnott, who has taken my old room in GBH. Here I climbed Marleys Ghost and New Gold Dream, both E2. Joanna had a good day and managed to onsight her first E2, Elgins Crack. She managed to make it look really easy aswell!
The day before leaving I went to North Berwick Law with Joanna and John DL. I climbed Necktie (F6b+), Dosage (F7a+) and ROWYCO (font 6c). I was very close to onsighting Dosage, but fell from the last move of the crux on my first attempt.

Dosage (Photo Credit: Joanna Lisowiec)

First E4

I have spent both days this weekend at Limekilns. On saturday I went there with Joanna Lisowiec, Mark Olsthroon and Lizzie Jenkins. I began by belaying Joanna on One Ringer (HS 4a) and then lead Through the Motions (E3 6a). This felt like the hardest onsight lead I have done!
Next Joanna did Red Flag (HS 4b), which I seconded. Mark managed to lead Grasp the Nettle (E2 5b) and Through the Motions.
Next I decided it was time to have a go at The Ivy League again. The bottom section up to the large foot ledge felt ok and I was soon at my psychological crux. Here I managed to place a few decent bits of gear and contemplated the next move. Once I was happy with the whole situation I got a high foot, rocked over and reached for the good break. The move went suprisingly easily so Im not sure why I was finding it so hard before. I then topped out without oo much drama and finally had my first E4 in the bag!
I was back again on sunday where I soloed Grasp the Nettle, Elgins Crack (E2 5c), Protectless (E1 5a), Wall Straight (E1 5a) and Slots (E1 5c). I also tried the full block traverse again but the East side felt quite greasy so I couldn't stick the finishing holds.

Fossils, freshers and falling

Today Joanna, Mary Leese, Nina Hersher and I went to Limekilns, again. Im not complaining I actually quite limekilns. There are lots of interesting fossils to look at, the climbing is good, the crag has a nice setting and I never feel like my stuff is going to get stollen when its sitting at the bottom.
Nina is new to the club this semester, she is on exchange from Boston, and Mary is a fresher, studying medicine.
I began by warming up on the Gellet Block Traverse (font 6b). This route traverse around all of the faces of the Gellet block, starting on the West face and finishing on the East face, with each face harder than the previous one.
Next I soloed bouldered slots (font 5+) and then lead White Ensign (VS 4c), which Nina seconded. Next I moved onto do Grasp The Nettle (E2 5b), which Joanna seconded very smoothly. The only gear on Grasp The Nettle are two pegs, which are apparently very big deep.

Nina on White Ensign

Joanna seconding up Grasp The Nettle (Photo: Nina Hersher)

My last route of the day was Ivy League (E4 6a). I had attempted this route a while ago on top rope but today I thought I should tied into the sharp end and go for the lead. I managed to get to the big crack, which gives the first proper gear, and placed some gear. I hung around here trying to work out how to get higher. I finally worked it out and abit higher. I couldn't really rest in this position so I had to try and find a way through to the next ledge. I tried, but failed, and took a small fall. It felt good to takes this, as it was safe. I got back on and did the moved but failed to get any higher, as I didn't really trust the nut I placed, and I remembered finding it hard when I tried it before. I lowered to the ground then went to the top, abbed for the gear, then tried it on top rope, and did it easily.

On the lead on The Ivy League (Photo: Joanna Lisowiec)

Today Joanna also managed to lead DTs (VS 4c) and Mary did White Ensign (VS 4c), as her first trad lead, and Red Flag (HS 4c).

Joanna on DTs

While Mary was climbing Red Flag I busied myself by looking at the fossils at the bottom of the crag. I noticed what looked like a large band of corals and some bivalve shells. There were even what looked like some load casts within the bay splitting the South wall, although I'm not too sure about these. Maybe the paleoenvironment which the Limekilns limestone formed in wasn't as much of a mono culture as I first thought.

Limekilns

The weather wasn't looking too bad on for wednesday, and as I had handed in an essay that morning, Joanna, Ted Angus, Lizzie Jenkins and I all went to Limekilns for the afternoon. It was abit colder and windier than I'd have liked but it was nice to get out all the same.
Limekilns is a curious small out crop of limestone in Fife. It is curious at there isn't any more of the stuff within atleast a 3 mile drive of edinburgh. The limestone used to be in the shape of a hill, but quarrying has turned this into two small buttresses, one of which used to support the flag pole for the near by Rosyth Dockyards. The blocks are shallowly tilting in a roughly North East direction, and show some nice signs of bioturbation. These include some algal matting and what I think may be Echinoderm fossils. I expect that the sediments would have been laid down in a very shallow warm ocean, probably when Scotland was around the equator. 
Joanna and I warmed up on the East Face traverse (font 6a+), while Ted and Lizzie climbed Red Flag (HS 4c). I also managed to climb Link Arete at font 5+.

Lizze seconding Red Flag

It was my lead next and I went for Forbidden Colours (HVS 5a). I had intended to do the direct finish, at E1 5c, but I hung around too long where the two route diverge, which meant I couldn't feel my fingers as it was so cold.
It was Joanna turn to tie into the sharp end next. She decided to go for White Ensign (VS 4c). Despite some hesitation at about half height, which she over came with abit of gentle encouragement from myself, she seemed to not find it too bad. I think this is only her second VS lead.
Because it was getting quite windy, and the wind was a southerly, I suggested we move to the other block, which is more sheltered, and I wanted to try a route on the sheltered north face of it.
My route of choice was Velvet Glove (E4 6a). Velvet Glove is one of the classic climbs in the Edinburgh area and features some well protected hand jamming up greasy, polished hand sized cracks. I attached my headtorch to my helmet, in anticipation of it getting dark whilst climbing. The route can be split into two sections. A starting, roughly E1, corner  leads to a short traverse out right into the hand jamming crack. I managed the E1 bit without too much drama but I hung around on the traverse abit too long, making the holds all nice and sweaty. When I'd figured out how to make the move out right, and then made it, my feet popped. I held this mini fall but got my head stuck underneath a small overlap on the traverse, which meant I couldn't see to replace my feet, and so slumped onto the gear. A few more futile attempts later and I decided I should leave it for another day, and so abbed to get the gear back.
I am abit disapointed that I wont be able to get the onsight tick on such a classic route, but I really need to start getting on hard things if I'm going to improve. I will definitley be back for this one.