Fair Head – The Revival

Climbing the classic routes at Fair Head is an experience not to be missed. This article discusses the way forward for these magnificent routes.

Irish climbers could not be luckier. The volcanoes were very kind when they spewed up a cliff of this magnificence right on our doorstep. What is even better is that they left a dip for that little stretch of water, the Irish Sea to sneak in, to keep it exclusively ours. Sure, visitors come and go, we welcome them with open arms, but like visiting relatives, isn’t it great when they disappear again, and the place becomes ours once more.

Fair Head is all that is good about climbing. There are beautiful views that stretch over Rathlin Island to the North and to the Mull of Kintyre to the East, and these are a spectacle to behold from the solitude of the belay. The rock is smooth on the hands, offers great friction and is very sound. A two or three star route at Fair Head never can say enough to describe its brilliance. Indeed, for a route to get three stars, it isn’t just good, it is magnificent and the best to be had in climbing. These routes have to be experienced to truly appreciate the quality of the climbing on offer. The great thing is, Fair Head has loads of them. Fair Head offers true adventure and exhilaration, all with a bit of trepidation thrown in at the same time. But that’s why we climb isn’t it. Overcoming it is the best feeling ever. If you’ve ever climbed there then you’ll know what I mean.

However, there is a problem. Fair Head is suffering from a severe lack of activity. This summer was the driest Ireland has had in years but still the place was far from busy. The boom that was expected to have followed the opening of the indoor climbing walls, just never materialised. It seems that indoor climbing or bouldering remains the only choice for many. This is such a pity. While Yosemite is back in the focus of the worlds best again, it is also time Fair Head was back in the focus of Irish Climbers again.

Judging from the Crag News, it appears that there are still many climbers getting stuck in to new routing. But it seems everyone has scattered to the ends of the Isle in search of an undeveloped patch of rock. Everyone has turned their attention away from Fair Head. If it is new routing you’re after there is much potential to be had at “the Head”, and the rewards are even sweeter on a cliff of this greatness.

In the past any info reported on the crag always concentrated on new route development. A time may have come to take stock and think about where the future lies. The phenomenal contributions from the likes of Torrans, Cooper, Higgs, Ryan, McHugh and all those familiar names we see in the guide, is the legacy we now enjoy. The last period of major activity at the Head fizzled out about six years ago, but the next one has just begun and this time there is a new slant to it.

With the most obvious great lines already developed, the time has come to shift the attention back to the routes that are already there. In other words, cleaning them up and getting them back into shape again. Climbers who in the past originally developed the crag often put in long hours on abseil, working away, getting their new line into top condition ready for the first ascent. Thereafter, some of the routes stay naturally clean, but others gradually become overgrown or dirty, showing how relentless nature can be, when given a chance. The ‘Foot and mouth’ epidemic, saw the crag closed for most of the summer of 2001 and this may have assisted in the re-growth. It may also have assisted to divert the attention away from the crag.

Over the years a good number of the E3’s and E4’s have been re-cleaned, by a few who operate at the grades. Many of the routes in the lower grades, if not all, have not seen any attention since their first ascents. Sure, the odd fern or two has been pulled out on the lead, but little else has changed. People have gradually got used to the vegetation, believing that it is all part of the experience. Not in my book. No other crag in Ireland, comes close to the stature of Fair Head. The time has come to blitz the place once more, get the routes back into shape again, to see the crag re-developed in a new sense of the meaning.

The ball started rolling early this summer, when looking over at Titanic from the top of Mizen Star, I had the thought, “that looks amazing, but jeepers it’s manking, grass and lichen all over the top pitch. If I’m gonna do it, I’ll need to sort it out, get onto an abseil and get to work.” Easier said than done, I might add! But when I got back to do the route, I enjoyed it all the more, it felt like the best pitch I had ever done, absolutely brilliant! It has had about five ascents since then, and now is a route not to be missed. That first cleaning session, got the ball rolling. But there was no point going to the effort of cleaning a route if no-one knew about it, and so the idea for a website evolved. With this set up, a few events were organised for August to get those who do climb there together again and introduce newcomers to the crag. These proved to be a great success. A number of routes were cleaned especially for these events, and since then a clatter more have been worked on. There have even been a few new routes slotted in along the way and Calvin has been back to leave his mark once more. Here we have the first new routes at the Head since 1999. (A four year gap, jeepers!) But the key thing is people are turning their attention back to the routes again, real routes, not “the yellow route beside the fin”. This is what Fair Head needs, the spot light put back onto the fantastic climbing once more. And this recent effort seems to be working.

The website has proved to be the linchpin to the process. When it was set up the idea was to collect key info on the routes and help build up local interest. (Sure, I’m certainly no web designer, but it is the information that counts.) If knowing that a route had been recently cleaned and you needed a Friend 5 for the crux, got people onto routes then the idea would work. Since then, emails have been pouring in from all over, from people who have visited the crag in the past, about the routes they’d done and how they’re now itching to get back again. These have come from as far as Australia! I hadn’t even considered the British audience never mind further a field. Isn’t it strange how things pan out? The web is truly amazing.

So what is the goal for now? The aim is to concentrate on cleaning popular routes first, then the routes that would be popular if they were clean. The base needs to be broadened, the crag opened up further, to appeal to a wider audience. People think that there are not many low-grade climbs at Fair Head. This is not true! The trouble is many of those that do exist have grassed up or may never have been up to much. Routes such as Curlew or The Offence are good routes, but they have lost their appeal, due to the vegetation. Don’t get me wrong. Anything at Fair Head with two or three stars is usually in great shape. Enough to keep any visitor happy. But us regulars end up repeating the same routes due to the unappealing nature of the rest. Hence the need for a rethink. The spin offs to the increased activity are many: more partners, more beta, more trips away, and more people to help us keep up the work.

This is not just all waffle in a hope that others will take the bait. The work has been going on in earnest and the aim is to keep it up over the winter. But we need help. Think of it like this, most climbers jet off for at least one bolt clipping trip during the year. If you think of the effort and expense, the climbers on the continent have put into bolting their crags, cleaning up routes at the Head, pales in comparison. To abseil in and clean a route requires serious commitment, an unselfish approach, a sacrifice of time and is hard work. It's good head training though. Hanging about on abseil for long periods of time does get you used to the exposure. The crag needs more people prepared to do just that. If everyone who climbed at Fair Head offered to clean just one route the place would be mint in no time at all. Calvin and Eddie have never lost their drive and are still developing away; it is time for the rest of us to do our part. The key to cleaning routes is to ensure that you get something out of it. Opening up routes that you’d like to do, or freshening up those that you love. To some extent, a change in mindset is required. Most people would regard cleaning routes as all effort and little gain. However, there is an enormous amount to be gained if the effort is shared. This is the only answer if we are to get the most out of the crag. In no time at all, the entire place will be turned around.

For most people the interest in climbing at Fair Head is a personal affair. Many go for a pleasant social days climbing, while others work through their personal tick list of the greats, some more pushing themselves to their limits, and others just to see if they can climb there at all, without scaring themselves silly. Whatever the goal, the key emphasis is just on getting up there and returning home with a grin so wide that it doesn't fade for days. It makes you feel alive and can feel like shear bliss.

Whatever is your interest; please consider coming forward to help to get the crag into the best condition it has ever been in. After all it is our crag, our playground, the best in Ireland, so worth a bit of work to herald in a new period in its history. Roll on next summer, the revival has just begun…

FOOTNOTES

Check out the website for the routes that have already been given a new lease of life and those that still need attention. Let us know if you'd like to lend a hand, so far there are only a few of us, we need all the help we can get.