Last Updated:
Fri 20-Aug-2010
Dedication - Kevin and Emma biking it to the crag.
Photo by shaggy the sheep.
The newly cleaned One Crack Mind.
Photo by Kevin Kilroy.
The Honesty Box.
The Castle Hostel reopens!
Mark McGladdery and Tim Wilson on Face Value.
Photo by Marek.
George Carleton's new routes at The Small Crag, Dirty Elvis at VS (4c) and Diggers Delight at E1 (5b).
John McCune's new route at Marconi's Cove, Eskimo Friction at E4 (6b).
Latest News
Campers are go
Following the success of the meet, Sean the farmer has now organised toilet facilities for the use of campers for the rest of the summer. Combined with the fresh water available in the Car Park, there's everything now in place to make this a comfortable campsite for however long you wish to stay. The cost is £5 per night per person which includes car parking. Please pay using the honesty box when you arrive, or if you are not sure how long you are going to stay on a day-to-day basis, first thing in the morning.
Castle Hostel re-opens
It's fantastic to let you all know that the Castle Hostel in Ballycastle has re-opened again in new premises, just a few doors up from where it was previously on Quay Road, close to the Marine Hotel. For visiting climbers it couldn't be better, close to the pubs, nice hot showers and a really welcoming and friendly atmosphere. Climbers have already used it giving it the thumbs up and noting that the accommodation was excellent, clean with a nice kitchen and big lounge dining area. £15 per person per night and the phone number is 028 2076 2845. Best to book in advance as it'll be very popular.
- At last I've finally got a new computer and am in a position to work on the site again. My old pc was on its last legs, creaking at even thinking about editing pages never mind editing photos so I'd kind of given up on it for a while. So anyway, I'm raring to go again to do a bit of sprucing up, updating stuff and getting the site refreshed again, so please do send me in any new snippets of info, photos, etc and I'll have them uploaded in a jiffy.
- Kevin Kilroy has kindly sent us in a few lines: "Myself and Emma Clarke camped up at Fair Head for a few days over the weekend of the 7 August, busing it up from Belfast. Excellent weather Sat and Sun and only seen one other team out climbing over the whole weekend; they did Railroad and Roaring Meg, reporting that the top pitch of Roaring Meg to be very green and in need of a clean. They said the bottom pitch was excellent though.
We did Railroad, Hell's Kitchen, Pangur Ban and re-cleaned The Jungle Line and One Crack Mind over at the Small Crag. I've attached a pic of the now clean One Crack Mind to help entice folks onto it. Absolutely loved every minute of Hell's Kitchen - cheers for the good beta about leaving the hexes behind! A big thanks to Sean the farmer who kept checking on us to make sure our tent hadn't been washed away in the last downpour! I think he thought we were a bit nuts but seemed impressed with our attitude to camping in the rain! To anyone without a car, the head is easy to do by bus from Belfast (change at Ballymena, takes about 2 hours max £8 single) and a quick taxi from Ballycastle £8 for a 6 seater to fit the bikes in. Definitely recommend taking a bike with ya to pop down to the town for restocking on supplies/pubbing. McGothigan Taxis have a 6 seater that you can fit two bikes and all your kit in, give them a bell on 07754 581 897 if you need a lift. Get up there and enjoy!"
- Andy Marshall had put up yet another new line, Rumours at E5 (5c,6a), just left of Baptism of Fire in the Bird Hide Block Area. The bottom pitch was first climbed with Ali Moles until a loose hold incident forced an early retreat. Andy recleaned it and then made a full ascent, seconded by Ricky Bell. Andy says the route is now in pristine condition and a must do for the top pitch which is fantastic! The full route description is here.
- Paul Brennan has been up on 3 July and reports: "Trevor Hartley and myself made it out for a damp afternoon and did Casablanca, Pangur Ban and Thunderhips. Thought Casablanca was fairly rough for VS, felt harder than Pangur! Thunderhips wa good craic too, lost a fair bit of forearms from my forearms! Great route. In terms of the Graded List, thought it was definitely a touch easier than Black Taxi."
- Mike Raine has sent us in a report of his latest trip in the last week of June: - Another fantastic week at Fair Head despite me not really being on form. We stayed at the Silvercliffs Holiday village which gave us a pretty good deal on a caravan for the week. Ruth Taylor and Andy Turner were with me and we did the following routes either as a three or in pairs. Black Taxi, Marconi, GBH, Brasser (in a oner), Blade Runner (in a oner), Track of the Cat, Toby Jug (in a oner), Mizzen Star, Face Value, Talking Heads (in a oner), Reilig, XL, The Vandals (in a oner), The Embankment, Salango (in a oner), Hell's Kitchen, Promised Land, Pyrrhic Victory and Thunder Road. In between I gave the top pitch of Pyrrhic Victory a brush and quick garden. I also brushed The Fame Game which I was surprised to see chalked up, is there any reports on this route it looks good but hard? Really enjoyed Reilig and XL, both worth three stars and bang on the grade. Thought Pyrrhic Victory was three stars (abbed in for top pitch only) best E2 on The Prow. Probably the most interesting news however was The Vandals. Absolutely brilliant solid three stars and solid E3 I did lead it in one pitch and loved it. It could however do with some brushing and traffic. Now! Thunder Road is desperate. I rested once and had to belay 20' below the top (good ledge to left) as I'd run out of gear. It's very sustained and hard. Solid E4 (6a) and high in the graded list both Kevin Kilroy and I thought it was harder than Promised Land. Regarding the Graded list the E1's look fine E2's I'd put Sandpiper higher I think it's harder than The Brasser, switch Titanic and Hurricane positions, Wouldn't promote Cool Hand Luke as The Hustler sort of supersedes it. E4's All fine except I'd move Wall of Pray to E4 and Rusty Halo to E5. E3's Hardest at the bottom with the ones I've climbed in bold:
Easier
Ocean Boulevard
Blade Runner
Salango
Reileg
The X-Men
The Hustler
The Vandals
Jolly Roger
Dark Forces
Visual Contact
A bit Harder
I would probably leave Flying Lizards out as it's superceded by Face Value.
Geoff says: Great work, I'll update the Graded List accordingly, the more people comment the more accurate this'll become. Thanks Mike...
- The big meet on Fri 4 to Sun 6 June was exactly that. It was huge, there's never been so many tents or people at the crag ever before so history was made for sure. On the Friday evening Paul laid on a super barbeque and on the Saturday evening Sean Villanueva aka "Belgian Sean" introduced us to a load of new footage climbing Mount Asguard. The film Asgard Jamming showed Sean and his team free climbing a huge big wall, redpointing pitches at about E8 taking massive whippers in the process. Mental! Sean's other film of climbing there is The Asgard Project. Many thanks to Sean for coming over and showing us that. Check out that link for some great video clips and pictures of their trips. Oh and this one. Folks certainly were inspired, even Alfie was doing pull ups afterwards. As for what folks got up to, well lets just say there were climbers everywhere, with many notable ascents like Primal Scream, Talking Heads, Track of the Cat, Salango, multiple ascents of The Wall of Prey and Face Value and great to see some of the lesser climbed routes getting ascents like Back to the Future 8, The Icarus Gun and X-Men. As for what else, I don't know yet, but if you did something that doesn't usually get a mention drop me a quick email with a few comments and I'll stick it on. Folks thrive on your comments. All in the weekend was a total success, fantastic weather except for some very light drizzle on the Sunday morning. A big thanks goes out to Sean the farmer for allowing us to camp and for power washing a huge barn for our use in the evenings. The theme for the weekend was loosely centred on "Inspiration" and there's no doubt everyone has left inspired for sure with plans to train harder, climb harder and get up more often. Sweet as!
- Fri 4 June: Tim Wilson and John Heron were up and did Solid Mandala and Reilig. Tim says: "Both fantastic routes and worthy of more ascents! I'll post a couple of comments about them on the forum..."
- Wed 2 June: Philip Smith (Kipper) was over from England for a few days with Shaun Quegan. Kipper reports: "Just a note to say I came over to Fairhead from England for the 1st time last week and really appreciated the information on the Website and wanted to thank you for all the time and effort you have put in. We had the best climbing trip in years. Can't believe that more folks do not come over as this must be the best crag in the UK. Just a note for the visitors section we stayed at the Castle Hostel on Quay Road. It's new. I understand that the old one burnt down and so they got permission to use the same name. The accommodation was excellent clean with a nice kitchen and big lounge dining area £15 per person per night phone number is 028 2076 2845. For the record we did the following routes: Hurricane, Toby Jug, Sandpiper, Jolly Roger, Equinox, Midnight Cruiser, Embankment, Railroad, Crib Pad Crack. Thanks for your efforts- we will be back very soon."
- Sun 23 May: Angus Miller and Geoff Somerville made it back for the magnificent Jolly Roger, with Geoff taking the first pitch and Angus the 2nd. Definitely this route isn't worthy of 3 stars, it deserves 5!!! Both pitches are hard and make the tick a good one for both leaders. Then George Carleton joined us, for Toby Jug, with George finding the top pitch no problem, describing it as bomber jams all the way. At about 4pm a weird temperature inversion thing hit the crag, bringing strong winds and a total white out with wet fog, which made the place feel very uninviting indeed, off to the car we ran.
- Sat 22 May: The temperature was roasting and heat seemed to be glowing off the rock, it was so warm to the touch, perfect conditions for Binnagapple. It may even have been too hot for the Ballycastle side of the crag. By jove the crag has been busy judging from the amount of chalk on the routes. Everything around at Binnagapple was chalked to the max including Track of the Cat and all the classics. Alfie Donnely and George Carleton did Burn Up and December, while Michael Hassan and Geoff Somerville did Hurricane with Michael loving the the 5c finish, followed by Geoff doing The Brasser and Sandpiper. There were 6 other climbers in this area too, doing Toby Jug, The Brasser and Hurricane, didn't catch their names though.
- Tim Wilson reports: "John Herron and I were up on Friday 21st May and did Jolly Roger (Tim), Sandpiper (John), and Toby Jug (Tim) - in each case we did them as single pitches to avoid the hassle of setting up mid-point belays. I've tried Jolly Roger twice before in a oner, but always pumped out close to the top! Was chuffed to get it clean :) Toby Jug was the last route we did, and I near came off a few metres from the top - arms were punctured! Love it :¬)
- Dayle Smyth reports: "Got up last night on Monday 17 May with Paul B and did Salango. That top pitch is so good! From right off the belay until under the big flake is just jam jam jam, then an awesome pull round the flake. Class 1st pitch too. Got on Track of the Cat on Saturday, brilliant line, never too hard but quite pumpy. Shane went to do Toby Jug as a oner and backed off in heavy rain a few metres from the top."
- On Sun 16 May, Angus Miller and Geoff Somerville had the whole crag to themselves. Angus upped the anti doing his first E4 on the magnificent Face Value. After that Geoff did April Arête.
- Despite the showers elsewhere Fair Head remained bone dry for the weekend of Sat 15 and Sun 16 May. On the Saturday, it started bitter cold, but by 2pm the sun came out and the place warmed up considerably. Geoff Somerville and Angus Miller started of with a bit of variety, linking the first pitch of Blind Pew and the second pitch of Mizen Star, with a juggy hand crack that traverses around the arête just above the Blind Pew belay. It's easy but fun at 4a and can be done in the opposite direction too. They then headed over to the Prow with Geoff doing GBH and Angus Marconi. Calvin Torrans, Claire Sheridan, Ian Rea, Stephen Ferris and Phil Homes did The Embankment, Railroad, Midnight Cruiser and a series of other routes at the Prow.
- On Wed 12 May, John McCune and Geoff Somerville headed up for Born to Run and Blade Runner. Geoff says: "OMG, Born to Run is a route and a half. John the rope gun did the 1st and 3rd pitches and I wobbled up the 2nd, taking a rest in the process. The route is full on right from the start with a hard roof to overcome at the bottom, which requires serious tenacity to get it clean, then a hard crack for another 10m before it eases up slightly as you approach the belay. The 2nd and 3rd pitches are totally straight up, in the middle of a huge face, and the 3rd pitch is hard as nails! The route is full on E4, a good bit harder than Face Value, with 5c/6a moves all the way and no let up. Way to go John for cruising it too. Geoff then took the 1st pitch of Blade Runner and John the hard 2nd pitch. There's a rocking block just after the belay of which I wobbled the heck out of it trying to remove it, but it's solid, disconcerting though if you don't know that. All in a superb day."
- On Sunday 9 May, Geoff Somerville and Angus Miller did The Hustler, Angus taking the first pitch and Geoff the second. Geoff says: "Flip that's some line. The first pitch is steep and thin enough and with belay sitting right in the middle of a big face. Looking up the second pitch, it looks ominous and a bit blank, but once you get moving it's truly fantastic. The first 10m is superb wall climbing, then an easy traverse out onto the arête, before it hits you full on with hard steep jamming right to the top with 60m of air below your feet. It was everything I could do not to pump out and had to really work to get it clean. An amazing route." Dale Smyth, John McCune, Shane Black and Kevin Kilroy have been busy, with Dayle knocking out 4 days in a row. Both Dayle and John have both led The Wall of Prey and then on the Sunday they both did The Mask before Shane had a tussle on GBH.
- Michael Hassan, Angus Miller and Geoff Somerville headed up on Sat 8 May for Blind Pew and Mizen Star, before they all went for a "top rope beta flash" of Primal Scream. We all got is clean on top rope, making us all think, hmmm... maybe it's worth a go.
Kevin Kilroy reports: "Experienced some rock fall on Crib Pad Crack Direct when on the lead. A Big TV sized block that looked like just a regular solid part of the crag slid off on me, just below the overhang crux, there were no holds on it and no visible cracks around it to suggest it looked dodgy. Dayle wouldn't have had a chance. I reckon its down to the cold winter and the warm temps we're getting now. Might be worth reminding folks of the high risk of more rock fall throughout the summer ...especially with the meet coming up...? Dayle and McCune were on the same route on Friday evening at sunset and all was fine and dandy. I'd say it was the heat of the day when I was on it that tipped the scales. I abbed in to get my gear back and the rock fall hasn't changed the climbing on the route ...hopefully its made it a bit safer! Food for thought. there's already been reports of bad rock fall accidents across the water... Apart from the minor epic, myself, Shane, Turk and Dayle got up Railroad, Darkness and Fireball (without any flying blocks). All great routes. Darkness is worth 3 stars in my book!"
- John Orr reports (check this for a tick list): "Was over at Fair Head 3-7 May with a few guys from North Wales; Luke Brooks, Chris Guest and James McHaffie. It was their first time at the crag and were well and truly blown away by it!!
Caff and I got through The Mask, Faerie Stories, Jolly Roger, Buttons and Bows (Caff and Chris in the rain as a oner!), Wall of Prey, Phil/Taming the Tiger combo pitch, Above and Beyond, Primal Scream and Racing Line. Faerie Stories is an awesome route, with Caff taking the 1st pitch up the super sustained hanging corner, reckoned hard E6 (6b,6b) overall, 3 stars. Phil/Taming the Tiger - Caff started up Phil then stepped over to join Taming the Tiger a couple of metres before the roof, climbed Taming the Tiger around the roof to rejoin Phil and then up to the belay. Reckoned E6 (6c) for the line which is quite a logical line to avoid the aid point on Phil. Above and Beyond - my big lead, awesome route in an amazing position!! Racing Line - Caff climbed this despite it having a slightly dirty start! Gives some great climbing, E6 (6b). Chris and Luke ticked their way through Face Value, Equinox, The Hustler, Wall of Prey, Buttons and Bows (in a oner again) and a couple of attempts on a persistently wet Promised Land! A couple of other North Walean residents, Owen Samuels and Rocio Siemens, where there as well for the week. Not totally sure of all that they did but routes included Midnight Cruiser, Conchubair, The Darkness, GBH, Sandpiper and Face Value. Brilliant few days climbing despite being fogged in for a day and a half! Everyone is already talking about a return trip this year!"
- Kevin Kilroy reports: "Got up on Thursday 6 May in the evening after a hard half days studying, with Dayle Smith. Stunning weather, blue skies and baking sunshine! We abbed down to do the top pitch of The Hustler, Dayle taking the lead. Interesting climbing... whoever got the wee green peenut stuck should work on their jiggery pokery skills... Its mine now! :P After a quick hello to a couple of other punters floating about in the fading sunshine, we nipped over to put GBH to rest. I got on the lead and took the obligatory fall! : D Loved every minute of it. Topped out in near darkness to a spectacular sunset. After work routing at Fair Head is definitely worth the drive! : )"
- John McCune reports: "Was up at head on Friday 16th April, with Jonny Parr. We warmed up on The Stoat, which is a tough enough E2 and a bit much for warm up, I did first pitch and Jonny had the second. It's a bit green but when its bone dry it isn't an issue. Both pitches offer good climbing. Then we did Face Value, which I've had my eye on for a while. I did first pitch and Jonny the second. Very enjoyable 2 pitches. Then on Thursday 22 April I got up with John O'hara, and did Track of the Cat, which is also fantastic. I'd heard many good good reports on this, and agree with them all. Cruxy bit seemed to be the top few meters. Then john was up for a battle and got on The Brasser in one pitch, as his first E2 and had his first lead falls, plus a lesson or two in jamming. I'd forgotten what a tough little groove that was. Good weather and delighted to be getting out."
- Mark McGladdery and Tim Wilson managed to get up for Face Value, Tim leading the first pitch and Mark the second.
- Gosh, what a weekend, Saturday 10 April had perfect weather and the Sunday was roasting! The crag wasn't that busy though with only a few locals up and 4 visitors from Slovakia. Where have all the climbers gone? Dusan Migra from the Slovakian party reports: "Vilo, Marek, Erik and myself left Dublin on Friday afternoon, the weekend was just amazing, weather was brilliant. On Saturday we tested our new 100m abseil rope dropping it down Primal Scream. Vilo lead his first E2 at The Head Blind Pew and Erik lead both pitches of Mizen Star, Marek and myself did The Stoat and Conchubair, latter has a beautiful second pitch. On Sunday, Vilo and Erik did The Fence and Fáth Mo Bhuartha. Myself and Marek did The Doffer, once it started it was a struggle inch by inch paid by blood and sweat, first moving one #5 along the way then #6, I wished I had taped my hands up to elbows and ankles as well. That Doffer probably deserves some cleaning as that mushroomy dirt (whatever it is) added to the excitement, you've got to show me how to clean routes one day!" I think that's about the 5th or 6th ascent of The Doffer ever so well done Dusan! Much respect. Meanwhile also over in the Rathlin Wall area, George Carleton and Geoff Somerville headed down for Mizen Star, Blind Pew and Equinox. Michael Hassan and Alfie Donnely in the Ballycastle Descent Gully saw Alfie getting his first clean lead of an E1 at Fair Head on April Arête, followed by Michael taking on Run Fast Run Free finding it tough for a little guy, before they finished off on Hells Kitchen. Alfie says: "Loved April Arête, a good E1 for anyone moving up to the grade, after every few moves there's a good rest and you can place a piece of gear and you just keep that going to the top. Has a nice out there feel to it as well on the Arête." George Carleton reports: "Sunday was a scorcher, the slovaks and the Polish guys where still about and where climbing on the Prow. There where cars in the car park but I didn't see any other climbers.
I ended up leading Curlew, The Fence, Fireball and Good Morning Judge, with Martin McGuigan. All good training for my next attempt on Mizen Star! I'm feeling a bit wrecked today after two days climbing at the Head, but it's all good." In addition, Davy Andrews and an american visitor Dylan done December and Girona on Saturday and Burn Up on Sunday. Dylan was heard to remark that: "Fair Head HVS's are - no joke!"
- On Thursday 8 April, Angus Miller and Scott Corkin made it up starting on Girona, then Angus led Run Fast Run Free and Scott had a rattle at Fáth Mo Bhuartha. Scott says: "Flip I got the pump on for sure, got up to the crux and was pumped to bits. Had to rest on gear but battled my way to the top. Soon it will be mine! "
- Sunday 4 April saw quite a mob hit the Prow to catch whatever routes were dry after the previous day of rain. Alfie Donnely, Michael Hassan, Scott Corkin, Angus Miller, Paul McGarrity, Trevor Hartley and Dave Millar all sought out enough to keep them going. Michael got the lead of the day on The Embankment, Dave led Fath Mo Bhuartha, Paul led Good Morning Judge, Angus led Simple Minds, Scott led The Black Thief and Stone Mad, Geoff led Fireball and Revival, and Alfie led his first E1 at Fair Head on Fath Mo Bhuartha, taking a fearless whipper in the process and loving every minute of it!
- Kevin Kilroy got up to a rather wet and windy Fair Head on Sat 3 April with Conor Gilmore: Kevin reports:
"Abbed into a sopping prow and decided to at least climb something there for the craic.
Something to the left of Simple Minds...(XS 5a)
It was wet, it was mucky, it had grass, weeds and worms growing out of it...
But that was ok, the gear was good enough... "Watch me Conor, I'm going to head left here and have a go at this (more challenging looking) crack..." Bad foot jam, a dirty wet hand jam, reach for a hopeful side pull out right... Suddenly, out of no where, the ropes gain an extra 10stone in weight...AGH!!!!! I'm still holding on...
Conor's not...
He's done a few head over heels and is traveling down the grassy bank below the crag...but wait, he's just stopped...a new definition for lead belaying!
Must include this in next year's QUBMC's Learn 2 Climb workshops...
Strength's not important in climbing...but it is useful at times! Conor regains his feet and figures out what happened...the wire he was belaying from pulled a "foot long subway" sized chunk of rock off the wall in a rather unexpected manner.
A good lesson in checking the rock you're placing gear behind...DMM can rate you're new shiny light weight nuts to whatever kN, but mother nature has her own ideas about her end of the stick.
Topped out on grassy ledges and wobbly blocks.
A shite route but a memorable experience. Then we went for a walk."
- George Carleton and Geoff Somerville got up on Sat 27 March and despite seriously strong Westerly winds, managed to knock out Fáth Mo Bhuartha, Good Morning Judge, Railroad and Fáth Mo Bhuartha (left variation) before getting caught in a light shower of rain causing end of play. Geoff says: "Flipping good fun though was a bit extreme to say the least, I'd so many layers on it was like climbing in a spacesuit!"
- George Carleton has been busy, taking his winter grafting to fruition on Sunday 21 March by establishing 2 new routes at The Small Crag. Climbing with Alfie Donnely, George established Dirty Elvis at VS (4c) and Diggers Delight at E1 (5b). The routes are located between routes 3 and 4 in the 2002 guide and are about 16m long. George and Alfie finished off over at the Prow George leading Railroad and Alfie The Fence.
- On Sat 20 March, Kevin Kilroy reports: "Good news, The Head is totally prime for early season action at the minute! Got up today after a week of slush climbing in Scotland and did more climbing than we got done in the whole week spent across the water! There was a decent crowd from QUBMC up - Dayle Smyth, John O'Hara, Jeremy, Patrick Conolly, myself and Kaz (she's not QUBMC (yet)). We hit the prow, as it was still a bit chilly but clear skies. No one else parked in the car park... However, we did find a gathering of sorts over by Girona. The crowd of strangers spent the day there but our paths didn't meet. They must have got value for money out of Girona. Together the lot of us clambered up The Fence, Good Morning Judge, The Offence, Jungle Rock, Emanuelle, Simple Minds, Midnight Cruiser and GBH. John O'Hara lead his first extreme on Midnight Cruiser and Patrick and Jeremy reported fun conditions on Emanuelle. Mournes tomorrow for a rest!."
- Dayle Smyth reports: "Was up at the head with John McCune on Wednesday 17 March there, surprised to only see one other team over by the prow. Got on Blind Pew to warm up then Talking Heads in a oner then John had a bash at top pitch of The Fame Game, few metres up the corner the crack widens, you need huge fists to jam in it or else super awkward laybacking, ended up pulling on cams most of the way, keen to get back on it in summer though."
- Mark McGladdery reports: "Myself and Tim Wilson got a wee trip up on St Paddys for our 1st visit of the year and were surprised to have the prow to ourselves - sprackled up Midnight Cruiser, Fireball, The Embankment and GBH (tight as ever!) - great to be out again!"
- Despite the chill in the air, if you're new to Fair Head conditions are perfect these days if its dry, sunny and you hit the Prow from the early afternoon. From about 2pm the sun creeps onto the Prow and by late evening it's hitting Girona, etc, leaving conditions spot on for climbing until sunset. If the suns shining and there's no wind it's positively roasting!
- George Carleton and Geoff Somerville headed up on Saturday 6th March. The sun was positively beaming, totally perfect conditions for climbing especially if you're in the sun. Between us we knocked out: The Fence, The Black Thief, Fireball, Stone Mad, Girona and Aoife. A great wee start to the season.
- Kevin Kilroy has sent us in a few lines: "John McCune, Darryl Wright (QUBMC President) , John Begley and myself got up for a few routes on Thursday 4th March. The weather was perfect- blue skies all day, barely a breath of wind and crisp but not cold conditions. Sticky, sunny quiet rock. Unbeatable. To get reacquainted with the place, me and McCune got on Midnight Cruiser. Brilliant route and I was buzzing after topping out. In fact, I'm still buzzing now! After some celebratory coffee and cake, John and myself went and did Talking Heads, John seeing off the 6a difficulties without any bother on the first pitch. The top pitch was also amazing, delicate, slabby climbing, a good contrast to the steep groove on the 1st pith. Talking Heads is in mint condition, despite what the ledge just below the top might be telling you. Darryl and John Begley had fun on The Fence and Black Thief. Everyone was psyched and cannot wait for the next cheeky Thursday away from uni at The Head!"
- It's great to be reporting that John McCune's line at Marconi's Cove done late last year does appear to be an entirely new line, with no-one making any suggestions to the contrary. John has named the route Eskimo Fiction giving it a spicy E4 (6b). Psyched to the hilt, John has been up this year already, climbing at the Prow with Dave Farquar on Friday 12 February. John did The Embankment, followed by Dave on Thunderhips, and they finished of with John doing GBH, getting it clean on his first attempt. Way to go guys!
If you've any other news old or new, mail it in...
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