Latest News

Some great news is that the The REEL ROCK Film Tour is finally coming to Northern Ireland.
Hosted by Queen's University Belfast Mountaineering Club, it's happening on Thursday 16 February from 8pm - 10pm
Where? LT1 (Lecture Theatre 1), Queen's Medical Biology Centre (MBC), Lisburn Road, Belfast
Where's that? At the opposite end of Elmwood Avenue to the main Queens building.
How much is this brilliant event? Tickets £5 students / £7 non-students
All proceeds go towards the QUBMC Central Asia Expedition 2012.
Available at Cotswold Outdoors and Jackson Sports in Belfast or these can be purchased at the door.
You can also reserve tickets online from this link.

Check out the best dressed man at Fair Head, none other than the ubiquitous John Rutherford (JR), as sponsored by Cotswold Outdoors, up at the crag on Sunday 10 July for this fashion shoot. Here he is on Thunderhips and Fáth Mo Bhuartha. Alas the paparazzi got bored when he was also cruising up Mizen Star and The Black Thief.

Here's a question for you - does anyone know if Black Magic has ever had a 2nd ascent?
Sun 3 July: Seeking a bit of an adventure, George Carleton and I plumbed for The Artful Dodger and that's exactly what we got! The first pitch is a great pitch, a real puzzle but good holds keep appearing so it's a joy to climb. The second is the same pitch as Blockbuster, it really does need cleaning but George did it in style. I got the third pitch and with the route description making little sense I headed up on a bit of an exploration. After about 20m you've to traverse left into no mans land across blocky ledges which is nothing short of terrifying! It looks like there's no gear and I moved across twice and then escaped back again, seriously contemplating bailing before finally just going for it. Thankfully there is some gear in the middle of the traverse and after that I still used a hallelujah hold (the abseil rope) with only one thought in my mind and that was to get the heck out of there any way possible. Nuts! After that George led April Arête which was bliss in comparison. Meanwhile, Jules and Declan did April Arête, Toby Jug and Burn Up. Jules says: "All were superb!"
Sat 2 July: Gosh what a weekend. Beaming sunshine and oodles of warmth. The photos below show Jules Howard ripping up the top pitch of The Brasser. Jules was up from Dublin climbing with Declan Tormey and they also did the wonderful Hurricane. This was their first visit to this side of the crag and both seemed to be stoked by it all given the grins from ear to ear. The big news for me was that I managed to bag the re-ascent of Doldrum, climbing with George Carleton. Most of the second pitch had fallen down in May 2009 and it had often been looked at with trepidation at the huge offwidth that had been revealed. We think it's now a top of the grade E2 (5c). I had inspected and cleaned it on abseil at the meet a few weeks previously, so knew to take big cams with me. On the rack I had a friend 6, a camalot 5 and 6, so I was well equiped for what was up above. Turned out I sure did need them. Glad to say though that with those cams it's very well protected, so it should be a popular line, especially for the chimney/offwidth afficionado. It's quite the test, took everything I had to get it, but I hung in there and managed to get it clean. The new route description is here. Following that George led Duais, which is totally nails and I finished doing Toby Jug in a oner. There were a few others up too, I think they did Jolly Roger but I'm not sure. Send us in some details.

Climbing Instructors needed: Recently I've had a few queries from people looking to do charity abseils at Fair Head and could I point them in the direction of a suitable instructor or facilitator. It's made me realise that the information on individual instructors in general is a bit scant. So far I know of only two such places offering this in an official capacity: Tollymore National Mountain Centre and Rob Davies from Vertigo Outdoor, but there must be others so I'm keen to put a page together to advertise your wares for the benefit of all. Drop me an email and we can go from there.
Brian Seery sent us in this wee report form last week: "After the meet Jonathon (Jono) Redmond and I stayed up for a few days.
Despite the awful weather on Sunday, Monday turned out to be pretty ok. Once the crag had dried out we warmed up by jumping on The Black Thief. Still no sign of the rain Jono went and lead Railroad and I decided I wasn't happy on Fáth Mo Bhuartha after a damp bit of crack was enough to blow my confidence so Jono led that too. We finished off the day with Girona and I have to say what a fantastic route, very different style of climbing to the other stuff we'd been on. Tuesday morning brought the familiar sound of rain on the tents in the morning so we walked down to the cafe for breakfast and Brendan kindly ran us in and out of Ballycastle. After a very miserable day on Tuesday, things were looking up on Wednesday and we did Roaring Meg. Weather looked touch and go for the afternoon so we headed over to the prow so Jono could get on GBH. A storm which blew in all of a sudden from Rathin rapidly put a stop to all climbing as the Prow turned into a river. We're pretty sure there was sleet too! Thursday morning dawned and again the weather was looking questionable so we started off at the Prow and Jono did The Black Thief to warm up. Rain was threatening so instead of getting caught in another shower we headed to the cafe but of course once we started walking no rain appeared so at 5 we went back to the crag and just managed to squeeze in Hell's Kitchen before the rain began. Friday morning Jono decided it was time to actually do GBH as there was no rain clouds in sight. To get started I led up The Fence and Jono then went and got up GBH with a few grunts through the crux moves. I managed to make a meal of seconding and that was us done for the day. Sore arms all round. Friday night saw the return of Paul Brennan to save us from ourselves and having to walk to the cafe for breakfast, its great to have friends with cars! Saturday morning after a hearty breakfast in the cafe it was down to me to select the warm up climb. Always being up for an adventure I selected Emmanuelle a one star VS on Ballycastle descent gully west. I presumed no one climbed there because it was a bit dirty turns out I should have checked the thread on Fair Head climbers. Top pitch is extremely loose and very dangerous. Its also filthy. If this doesn't deter you I can only give Paul's advice, "Pull down not out!". A few exploding rocks later all three of us were safely at the top. After a bit of de-stressing in the sun and some food, we headed across the crag as Paul had his eye on the spectacular line of Jolly Roger. A while later both were safely at the top and we headed back to camp to cook outside for the first time in the whole trip! With a bad forecast for Sunday and me now stuffed with a head-cold, Jono and Paul headed out exploring, checking out some routes for the next trip up. It was an amazing trip and I was surprised by how quiet the crag was, always felt like you have the whole place to yourself. I must also say a big thanks to Sean for letting us hide out of the rain and cook in the shed all week. It would have been very miserable without his kindness."
Sat 11 Jun: Oh my what a day. Dayle Smyth and I headed up and despite heading through loads of showers on the way up, at Fair Head the sun was beaming and it was tops of for power it was so warm in the evening! We were up for a bit of adventure and plumbed for Dark Forces. What a fantastic route! Dayle took the first pitch which was hard, steep and technical. An awesome pitch and a heck of a lead from Dayle. I took the second pitch and was so pleased I got this one. A long jamming corner, of the most beautiful kind and interspersed with nice footholds every now and again to chill out on. The finish is fantastic, a short steep crack to turn a roof and get back out onto the headwall with 70m of vertical cliff below you. A stunning route. After that we did Ocean Boulevard. Dayle cruised the first pitch and I was pleased to see the new second pitch has remained clean and is in top notch condition. Both 3 star routes for sure.
Oliver Hegarty from Ballycastle has uploaded some excellent photos taken on the Saturday of the climbing meet. That link will take you to Oliver's website where he has them all displayed, plus other cool pictures and videos.
Some great new in from the weekend is that Kevin Kilroy successfully completed his project at the small crag to produce a fine new line. Kevin is quite unsure about the grade and thinks it's anything between E3 and E5 so he's plumbed for E5, just to be on the safe side of safe. The Walls of Jer'n Co climbs the overhanging wall between Focus and Jeffrey and the route description is here. It's easy to abseil directly down it for an inspection. Kevin's looking forward to finding out what grade it really is, so get onto it, the 2nd ascent is ripe for the taking.
Thanks to Colm Shannon the route description for the second pitch of Mizen Star has been updated to make it easier to understand where to go. The previous description was a bit vague and didn't make much sense.
Fri 3 to Sun 5 June: It's great to report that the weather for The Mountaineering Ireland meet was fantastic on the Saturday, though the Sunday was less kind. The meet proved to be a huge success and there must have been at least a 100 climbers on the crag on the Saturday, many of which got onto the big routes. By the looks of things everyone has got themselves a big abseil rope now, which is cool as. Not sure what folks got up to, but notable ascents include Danny O'Neill who sailed up Buttons and Bows plus Candy Kisses and Ronnie Smith taking Titanic as a single pitch. This single pitch thing is really catching on! If you did anything interesting or have any news send in a few lines and I'll pop it on. Paul also has a report and some photos on the Mountaineering Ireland site.
The report and photos for Ricky Bells' magnanimous new route The Rathlin Effect are now on UK Climbing and Craig Hiller has a load of superb photos on his website www.hillerscapes.co.uk. Also included there are photos and news of Andy Marshall's second ascent of An Bealach Eile which goes at the same grade - E8 (6c). Ricky describes his ascent in his blog and the route description is slotted into the guide page.

Thu 2 June: Some great news is that John McCune has been successful in plucking up the tenacity and having the balls to break into the E6 grade at Fair Head. John selected Primal Scream and calmly dispatched it, even though it was so warm he had to take his shoes off a few times while en route to cool his tootsies. John recommends the left hand crack at the top as a the best way to exit (See 2008 news, 3rd photo down).
The route description for Danny O'Neill's new highball The Big Blue on the boulders in Murlough Bay have been added to the guide page. For all the beta check out Ricky's video here.
21 to 28 May: Here is a bit of a report of what Team North Wales and Scotland got up to last week from John Orr! Should give you a good idea of what's relatively clean and climbable for the meet coming up! Most of the E2's were done as oners, as was Buttons and Bows, pretty standard now I think!

Team North Wales and Scotland consisting of John Orr, James McHaffie, Luke Brooks, Guy Steven, Tim Neill, Keith Ball, Martin Doyle, Chris Guest, Iain Small and Blair Fyffe (with a guest appearance by John McCune) were over between 21 and 28th May. The weather forecast at the start of the week was grim and did indeed turn out to be sub-optimal and rather wild and windy at times but it didn't put us off too much and we managed to get climbing everyday. One of the highlights was watching the wildest sea most of us had ever seen on the day that winds were battering Northern Ireland...amazing! We got through 45 routes between us with some routes seeing multiple ascents. Born to Run had 4 ascents in the one day all confirming it as one of the best routes of its grade in the UK!

James and myself got through a couple of less well travelled routes during the week. Highlight has to be James's onsights of both Charon and Rocafella. Caff managed to dispatch them very smoothly and confirmed the grade of both as E7. Having climbed them on 2nd they provide absolutely fantastic technical, sustained climbing from bottom to top. Charon would probably break down as E5 (6a) to the ledge and E6 (6b/6c) for the 2nd half; given the climbing is over 60m the E7 grade is well deserved. Rocafella is shorter but packs a greater punch for its length. Probably Fr 7a+ to the crux then Fr 7c for the crux. Bold start! My highlight was Hell's Kitchen Arête, super climbing in a fantastic position. Myself and Iain both did this as one pitch from the ground as it provides less drag from the cams round the corner. Other routes we did were Equinox, Buttons and Bows, Hughie Green, Fame Game (another great lead by James), Hells Kitchen, Born to Run, Halloween, (I did top 2 pitches of these last 2 routes as one - bring a big rack!) Paralyzed Power (well protected), Raglan Road Direct, Wall of Prey Direct and Face Value (in a oner, need to belay at bottom of the start of the proper climbing or be prepared to move together!). We also attempted Licence to Kill and End Game, I've started threads about these routes!

Luke and Guy ticked their way through Mizen Star, The Mask, Salango, Born to Run, Toby Jug, Hells Kitchen, Track of the Cat, Jolly Roger, Hurricane, GBH, Marconi and Midnight Cruiser. This was Guys first time at Fair Head and he was completely blown away by it all, thankfully not literally blown away...unlike Caff's shoe!

Tim and Keith take the award for most routes climbed during the week! Tim managed to fulfil his dream of climbing Born to Run and Fireball, 2 routes that apparently were all people talked about at the Queens wall back in the day! They also had an interesting lead of The Mask with rain suspending play halfway through, they then returned for Tim to climb the top pitch in some pretty strong winds! Tim and John found Back to the Future 8 to be dirty but climbable. Its cleaner now! They cruised their way through Mongrel Fox, Jolly Roger, Hurricane, Sandpiper, Born to Run, Burn Up - 'One of the best HVS in the UK!', Back to the Future 8 (Tim and John McCune), Raglan Road Direct (Tim and John McCune), Hells Kitchen, Equinox, Buttons and Bows, Talking Heads (reckoned E3), Toby Jug, December, Conchubair, Blind Pew, The Mask, Midnight Cruiser, Railroad and Fireball.

Martin and Chris worked their way through Hurricane, Toby Jug, Burn Up, An Bealach Runda 'Memorably Adventurous'!, Blind Pew, The Stoat (cleaner now!), Poor Relation and Midnight Cruiser. They abbed in to do Scorpion but found it very dirty and then it started to rain, not ideal!

Iain and Blair 'Team Scotland' came away with the 3rd ascent and onsight of Charon. Iain showed superb determination by enduring a couple of rain showers whilst on his lead of Charon, which included having to stand on the halfway ledge for 40ish minutes waiting for the rock to dry. The locals up for the day were suitably impressed! Iain also managed Hells Kitchen Arête in less than ideal windy conditions! Blair cruised Wall of Prey and Iain climbed Above and Beyond in somewhat more normal conditions. They also climbed Titanic, Face Value, Born to Run, Promised Land, Mizen Star, The Hustler, Raglan Road Direct and Talking Heads.

All in all a superb week despite the sub optimal weather. We stayed in the rather luxurious Cushleake House in Ballycastle, which for a group of our size was absolutely super and I would highly recommend it. (www.glenalla.com). I'm pretty sure we will be back next year...with cleaning brushes!
Thu 19 May: Jonny Parr and I made the most of a chink in the weather for a bit of mid week day activity. We started off on the Mizen Star/Blind Pew combo, which is an excellent variation. The lightest skiffle of rain turned the second pitch of Blind Pew into soap as I seconded John up it, it was slippery as heck! Thankfully it stopped, but with rain off shore and ominous looking clouds all around we headed for the prow to hopefully get a bit more in before we got soaked. Arriving at the prow we found Ray-O-El-Mundo, aka Ray Hunt getting in some secret training on The Embankment on a shunt, having just done Railroad. Way to go Ray! Jonny and I headed down and I had a blast on GBH, then Jonny did Darkness which incidentally is nails and I say definitely E2 because of the tight bulge at the top, that takes a full on effort. I then did Midnight Cruiser, before Jonny finished off on Revival. Not a bad afternoon given that we watched the showers passing Ballycastle and Rathlin all afternoon.
Sat 14 May: The great news is that Ricky Bell has been successful on his project to do the huge line up the overhangs below Above and Beyond. This monumental line has been eyed for years but no-one ever had the vision or talent to get onto it and folks are waiting with baited breath to hear what grade Ricky gives it; could it be the hardest route at Fair Head to date?
Mon 2 May: Mark McGladdery reports: "Got up in the afternoon with John Herron and Tim Wilson - blue skies and not another climber in sight! Tim sailed up Jolly Roger and I did Sandpiper - both brilliant as single pitches (any other way these days..) Hats off to Tim again - JR just never lets up!! John scampered up both with ease." Over on the other side Rónán Kernan reports: "Was up at the 'head with a group of 6 from QUBMC yesterday, brilliant day. Led The Fence and Railroad myself (did Aoife a few weeks ago, Railroad felt dead easy by comparison) and one of our guys, Conor GIlmour, accidentally did the first pitch of Cúchulainn instead of Roaring Meg, having to rest 2m from the belay! He called it Roaring Cúchulainn. Roaring Meg seems to be one a lot of QUBMC guys have trouble with, I got caught out halfway up it a couple of months ago and had to aid the top two pitches in a downpour. Hell's Kitchen, The Black Thief, Girona and Taoiseach were also climbed yesterday by QUBMCers... There's nowhere quite like Fair Head!"
Thu 21 April: George Carleton and I made it up for the fantastic Blockbuster and Cúchulainn, for sure 2 of the most exciting routes at Fair Head. The position on the last pitch of Blockbuster is something else, 60m of air below you as you step onto the headwall, then it's like that all the way to the top. Cúchulainn is the same, airy and out there, life enhancing for sure.
Sat 16 April: There was a fair crowd about, with 4 or 5 cars in both car parks. Ricky Bell, Danny O'Neill, Craig Hiller, Shane Black and Eddie Hawkins visited the Ballycastle Descent Gully side, while Michael Hassan, George Gilmore, John McCune and I headed over to the Binnagapple side. George and Michael started on Toby Jug, only to be thwarted by a huge loose spike, which was later removed with an almighty crash on abseil. The route should be fine again now. They then headed over for Burn Up. I had a rattle at Track of the Cat, taking one small fall at the start, before John McCune took on Rusty Halo. I've added some info to the thread on it. What a route!
Ronan Browner has updated us with some new 2nd ascent news, having done the 2nd ascent of Licence to Kill back in 2003.
Sun 10 April: An early start from Ricky Bell and Ronan Browner, saw them getting the early sun for Jolly Roger and Track of the Cat, before Ricky did The Wall of Prey as a single pitch. Not sure if that's been done before, so correct me if I'm wrong. Dayle Smyth, Shane Black and I starting off with Dayle leading Run Fast Run Free to get us warmed up. Geoff then did Talking Heads as one pitch which seems to be the normal way of doing this route these days if you've a bit of oomph still left after the top of the groove. After that a strange mist descended with a cold wind picking up, so over to the Prow it was to see if the rain would hit. Thankfully it didn't so down we went for GBH, which was great as the winds totally died again abseiling in. Meanwhile over at the Prow Eddie Barbour and Paul Swail, did GBH and something else. Paul McGarrity and Patrick Lemoine did Blind Pew and Fireball (I think), while Kevin Kilroy reports his antics as follows: "Emma Clarke got her first lead at Fair Head on Saturday past, taking on the odd line of Chieftan's first pitch..."the hardest thing I have ever done in my life"...commented a wrecked but happy Emma at the belay half way up this magnificent wall. The weekend before Emma had cooly dispatched a couple of value VS's in Mourne country (The Brucer at Upper Cove – her first VS and in a storm! And the top and arguably crux pitch of Virgo at Pigeon) but she definitely felt the change in climbing style at Fair Head. "It's so pumpy!!! But class!" Still buzzing after that Emma then went on to battle her way up the top pitch of Aoife, as her first 5a on the sharp end. After a mega effort and a wee gentle test of the bomber gear and she was there, at the top and completely psyched for Fair Head climbing! Loads of folk made it up for the weekend, some even all the way from Waterford! In total myself, Emma and John O'Hara climbed Fáth Mo Bhuartha (a tough wee bugger, in the dark on Friday night – fell asleep in the pub afterwards!) Chieftan, Aoife (probably the best E1 in the world!), Equinox (probably the best corner in the world!) and Mongrel Fox (probably the most strenuous route in the world!). Cannot wait for more!" All in the crag was very busy and half of that is probably incorrect, but well you get the gist. It was a busy few days.
Sat 9 April: Well I never, what a day. Not sure what folks were up to but I hear there was a fair few climbers and boulders up.
Dave Flanagan's new Bouldering in Ireland guidebook is proving to be a total hit and as a direct result there are more boulderers at Fair Head these days than ever before. Everyone I've met is totally enthused, loving the style and layout and greatly appreciating the hundreds of hours Dave must have put into it. It details all the major and minor bouldering areas across the length and breadth of the island of Ireland including Glendalough and The Wicklow Mountains, The Reeks, The Burren, Connemara, North West Donegal, Inishowen Peninsula, The Mournes and many more. The Fair Head section is excellent and places Fair Head on the map as a premier bouldering location in it's own right.

Dave has kept the price rock bottom, so help him out and buy it direct from www.theshortspan.com. There too you'll find links to reviews of the guide and every snippet of information there ever is to know about bouldering in Ireland. Way to go Dave.
I did a bit of a tweak of the graded list by adding the number of stars they have. Any ideas for slotting in a few more routes?
Tue 29 March: John McCune got out with John O'Hara and they did Salango and then Girona to cool down. John says: "I'd been putting Salango off for long enough, and wow, what a route. Seriously impressed. My hands are sore though."
Two good variations have been added to the Guide page: A Good Morning Judge/Fáth Mo Bhuartha variation, and a Mizen Star/Blind Pew variation.
Dusan sent us in an report of their trip up at the weekend: "Again it was another exciting weekend. Ivan, Marek, Vilo and I left Dublin early on Saturday morning and on arrival we decided to climb first at The Prow. Ivan and Marek climbed Marconi, Railroad and Fáth Mo Bhuartha. In the meantime Vilo and myself did Fáth Mo Bhuartha, Fireball. Then Vilo tried GBH and note I used the word tried. He climbs easily to the crux and it doesn't take him a long time to decide to go for it. A massive whipper follows and I get totally bombarded with camalots. What the f**k! Turns out a camalot had accidentally got clipped to the rope, turned him upside down and snapped the gear loop. He puts in 3 more attempts, then gives up and starts pretending he has some ankle injury. I think he knows now why it's called GBH. I then did The Fence and he followed eating humble pie. Ivan then did GBH with pre-placed gear (it's a nasty habit he picked up on Spanish crags). On the second morning I went to town with Vilo looking for a pharmacy, not sure what for but everything is closed so we go back to Sean's car park. After walking to the crag, I find Marek finishing some climb which Ivan led. They're both laughing. I ask "What's so funny here?" Marek answers: Ivan had done Ocean Boulevard shouting during the whole climb "Oh dear, Oh dear, I'm too weak, I must practice more, I must climb more." What a pantomime. Ivan then did Equinox and it takes him some time to finish it before declaring: "What was that? That wasn't easy at all and what was that fist jam about, you didn't tell me that was there you pigs!" and then he vividly describes all different body, fist and hand jam techniques he had to use. A brilliant weekend, see you up there again soon..."
Bored in work today? Play spot the climber and name the route, much more fun.
Sun 27 March: A colder day with a nippy wee northerly wind kept the temperatures a bit bracing at the top to say the least. Dayle Smyth, Kevin Kilroy and Emma Clarke headed over for the Mizen Star/Blind Pew link up, before Dayle did Talking Heads in a oner. Dayle says: "Yip on Talking Heads I just kept moving up a little bit at a time waiting for a harder move and the next thing I knew I was at the belay. Happy days." Meanwhile George Carleton and I met Dan Spencer to take him out for his first experience of Fair Head, ticking off Hell's Kitchen, before deciding it was too cold to do any more on the main crag so headed over to the Prow for GBH, Fáth Mo Bhuartha, and the Good Morning Judge/left crack of Fáth Mo Bhuartha combo, before finishing on RailRoad. That extra hour of light is glorious!
Sat 26 March: In the most glorious sunshine and dead calm Dayle Smyth and I enjoyed Face Value with Dayle ticking his first E4 lead of the year on the first pitch. Meanwhile John McCune started off on Hell's Kitchen with John O'Hara and Michael Hassan. After that the 2 John's and Dayle headed down for Buttons and Bows, while Michael and Geoff did Conchubair with Michael relishing the crimps on the second pitch. John McCune says: "Buttons and Bows takes a smooth approach and that traverse is a wee bit bold to say the least. Thankfully the hard move isn't too far from the gear at the start."
Wed 23 March: What a day! Beaming sunshine and zero winds, waoooooo. Dayle Smith and I made the most of it, taking a half day from work and making it to the abseil point for about 3:30pm. Dayle was up for a bit of a pump so down to Cúchullainn it was for that big up in the sky airy feeling again. Geoff slipped up to the belay via the first pitch of Roaring Meg and Dayle then took the top two in a oner for the full on experience. A totally fantastic route, best E2 at Fair Head and the hardest. A quick cup of tea and a reset of the abseil and they then dropped in for Conchubair. Geoff took the second pitch and says: "Oh my oh my, I'd forgot how hard this was. I got a full on pump moving up the overhanging crimpy section and it was all I could do to keep my cool and not fall off. That pitch just keeps coming and coming. Maybe the fingerboard session the night before was a bad idea, or maybe I didn't do enough over the winter, hmmm... Dayle topped out with just a sliver of light left on the horizon grinning from ear to ear. A perfect afternoon." John Rutherford (JR) and James Brown headed over to the prow with JR getting his lead head on, previously having concentrated on The Mournes. JR says: "I've been up a good few times over the last week or two and I'm finally getting my head around this Fair Head thing. This place is just so full on compared to the Mournes, but yip, I can see what all the hype is about."
Sat 19 March: Quite the busy day given how early it is in the year, the weather was spot on too with the wind dying away by the end of the day, so conditions were excellent. George Carleton and Michael Hassan started off on the big stuff doing Blind Pew before heading back to the prow for The Embankment and Mongrel Fox. Ryan McHenry on a fleeting visit back home from uni with I did The Embankment, Marconi, Railroad, GBH and Fireball with Ryan bagging the E3's. The UUJ old school mob were up too, with smiling Sharon at the helm doing Fáth Mo Bhuartha and a few others routes at that section of the Prow.
Thu 17 March: St. Patrick's day proved to be an awesome day with Dayle Smith, George Carleton and I utilising the brisk westerly wind to blow the cobwebs out and get onto the pointy end again. Thankfully the Prow had no wind at the base of the routes and between them managing 6 pitches, sharing the leads for Fáth Mo Bhuartha, RailRoad, The Fence, Midnight Cruiser, Fireball and Revival. Dayle says: "Climbing as a three worked a treat and with the 2nd and 3rd climbing at the same time, it meant we could rattle the routes out. We only started at about 3pm so it was ace to just blitz it for a few hours, with a full moon providing the enough light to pack up at the end of the day. Totally awesome, and it's looking good for the weekend too, can't wait."
Sat 5 March: 20 people made it to the Prow on the weekend with a load of folks camping already - things are hotting up!
I'm hatching a little plan to introduce some new folks to the crag in the early part of the season, to put something back so to speak. Often due to the intimidating nature of the place some climbers don't ever get a chance to break into it and hence miss out on the amazing experiences to be had when climbing there. Master it though and you'll get psyched like you'll never imagined. So here's the idea, I'm offering to take a different newcomer out over each weekend in May. When I say newcomer I don't mean beginner, more like if you can climb solidly in the Mournes or elsewhere, or on a climbing wall, have oodles of passion and really want to get into climbing at this brilliant place, then this'll be right up your street. The more experienced you are the better, but if not, provided you like to crank until you're knackered then all the better as you'll get more out of it. We'll get ripped into the best of the 3 star E1's at the Prow and the big E2's on the main crag - the likes of Hurricane, Sandpiper, The Brasser, Conchubair, Blind Pew, Mizen Star, Equinox and so on. So ping me an email and we can go from there.
Folks have been up bouldering over the winter, but I don't think anyone is venturing onto the routes quite just yet. The new season usually kicks off about St. Patricks day, so it's time to set the goals for the year and start getting fit again, can't wait.