2003 News

In reverse order:

Johnny Conroy has sent in a few words about the Dal Riada meet held on the 22nd Nov: "It was quite a small turnout, I think due to us not having the hut but good news is that we're likely to be getting the hut back again in 2004. The slide show went well but the highlight of that was definitely JP Quinn's collection of short climbing videos. Calvin Torrans described them as better than some of the films he has seen at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. The films can be seen on the UUJMC website, but they are low resolution. Make sure you listen to the sound. Finally not much climbing was done with the exception of a seige attempt on Burn Up by myself, Martin Sweeney and Pskes Boyle. Martin climbed the first pitch on the Saturday but we ran out of light so we fixed the ropes and on the Sunday Pskes and Myself jugged up and finished it. Nice route although a wee bit wet in places at this time of year. Also, Paul McGarrity and Patrick Lemoine did Girona and Fath Mo Bhuartha on the Sunday of the weekend as well. That's all." Johnny Conroy.
A link to an article by "Grimer" has been added to the articles page.
The December issue of the Irish Mountain Log published an article on Fair Head with and an excellent cover shot by Mike Matiasek. The only trouble is that the text has been edited significantly from the text that Ray Hunt, Julie Sutton and myself took the time to put together. The published article is disjointed, does not read correctly and left out the crucial footnotes that tied it all together. Very disappointing. The full unedited text may be viewed here.
History: From the 1981 guidebook. A route named Cruthin, to the right of the Brat, was climbed in 1976 by S. Billane and V. McCartney and is described as follows: Cruthin 15m V. Diff 1976. Some of the cracks between the Brat and the top of the gully have been climbed at up to Severe. One of these is Cruthin which takes a slanting groove line to the right of The Brat.
History: An interesting line from the same guide states; Routes at Ballygalley have been star-graded, but we consider that it would be pointless to put stars on Fair Head routes as almost every climb would merit at least one.
The Dal Riada AGM and annual slide show is taking place the weekend of Saturday 22nd November in the House of McDonald, Ballycastle. The club is heading to the crag during the day so if you fancy linking up, either meet up at the crag or in the pub for 9pm. The slide show will detail the hard core exploits of the club during the previous year.
Eddies Snippet: Midnight Cruiser used to be regarded as one of the hardest E1's at the Prow. This was because in the days before climbing walls, climbers just weren't used to face climbing on wee stuff. A fat crack was always regarded as the prefered option, regardless of the difficulty. How times have changed, with this route now considered as a good one to get going on. It is still quite out there though, that'll never change.
The news for the year is far from over. Eddie Barbour and Duncan Halliday have been up and done An Bealach Rhunda on the 31st October. They loved it, and Eddie says, " The step onto the detatched pillar at the start of the second pitch is just wild. Not wild hard, anything but, just wild exciting. There's about 40m of air to swing across, and then you have to hang right out over it before getting up onto the pillar. It's fantastic, total fun and a great day out. The big E2s are next on the agenda, here we come."
Eddies Snippet: Don't do Manannán!
Young Philip Markin's lead of the year was Fath Mo Bhuartha. Phil says, "The move out around the second bulge was the bit I found tricky. I've found that winning the head game was the key for breakin' into the E grades. But with that hurdle crossed, next summer's gonna be something else."
Sam Gordon's been telling me he saw the light this summer, putting the bouldering mat to one side (for a while), and breaking into the head E-Grades on Midnight Cruiser and Fath Mo Bhuartha. Sam has been going well in the Mournes this year, getting a number of E3's under his belt, and is now itching to get onto the big stuff at the head. P.S. Ricky Bell says he wants your mat!
Eddies Coopers snippet: For a better variation to Solid Mandala, do the first pitch of Bates's Motel and then finish up Solid Mandala. This avoids the hard and awkward first pitch. Eddie reckons Bates's Motel has only ever had three ascents which is surprising given the Grade of E3. The reference to Norman at the pod seems to have put people off.
Late news in is that Born To Run and Childs Play were cleaned by Ali Moles in Sep '03. Ali spent 4 and a half hours cleaning Born To Run and says it is now immaculate. Childs Play, though clean, will always need a dry spell to ensure is is not greasy.
Eddie Coopers ascent of Closing Tune on the 6/08/03 was the first on-site ascent of the route and for this approach Eddie says the grade is good for E6 (6c). When Doni O'Sullivan first did it , he had spent about three weeks getting it wired, had exactly what he needed on his rack and had a long sling pre-placed on the peg. Eddie says the route is well and truely one to go for as the gear is good.
There were 15 climbers in all at The Prow and Marconi's Cove on Saturday 18th October. That is news.
Slittery Slat and The Kerb have been cleaned on 18/10/03. The clean up of the main section of Farrangandoo is now complete. The next time you are there take a moment to stand back and look up at the crag. The transformation is quite something. It was also encouraging to see plenty of chalk on Loosestrife, so someone has been back to take advantage of Ken's work on that one.
Alan Blair has cleaned Jezebel HVS(5b) at Farrangandoo on 14/10/03. This route, together with Samson and the recently cleaned Lazarus, would make setting up an abseil into this gully very worthwhile. Well worth a visit.
Note: The route description for April - variation finish, should read. "Climb April until the top of the second short ramp (after the crux of April), move right onto the crack on the arête and follow this to the top."
Climber Magazine is in the shops, complete with the Fair Head article, what a feature, or rather collection of photos. It was dissapointing to see that Calvin barely got a mention for his 50+ routes and when he did, was incorrectly attributed with putting up Hells Kitchen! Also, Hurricane described as an offwidth, ah, em, fist crack more like, wack, wack, oops. If you haven't got your hands on a copy, get one, it does do the crag the justice it deserves, and the photos, they're brilliant!
Dark Corners has been cleaned on 5/10/03 by Ken Lindsay. Dark Corners is a very good E1 and is often considered a route to make that move into the E1 grade. This adds greatly to the appeal of Farrangandoo, together with the other recently cleaned routes.
The Doffer, an amazing pitch of gargantuous proportions, has been cleaned by Ray Hunt on 1/10/03. Ray has put the word out to see if he can muster a gear pool big enough for a full on assault. Rumour is, the route has only ever had three ascents. There's a little more detail in the route news. So that explains why Ray has had a serious look about him recently.
Loosestrife, an excellent E1 at Farrangandoo, was cleaned by Ken Lindsay on 28/09/03. The bottom bit is still a bit grassy but it's clean where it counts. Ken also says Alleycat is a good route, much better than it looks.
New items found, details on the Lost and Found page!
Stone Mad was cleaned on 27/08/03. It's a cracking HVS with a distinctive crux, moving out around the bulge. If you haven't done it get onto it, you won't be disappointed. It had three ascents since, these are probably the first for some time, since its been hidden under a lorry load of heather and grass for ages.
The Fence was cleaned on 25/09/03. This puts The Fence in contention for a third star, well worth it.
Its thanks to Alan Blair that Hell's Kitchen has been cleaned on 24/09/03. Alan also cleaned Lazarus a few weeks ago. Great news, let the good work continue. See cleaning info.
Read an article from visiting climber Gregg Fell here. Lots of info from Gregg has been added to the Route News.
Eddie Cooper and Ali Moles did a rare ascent of Closing Time on 6/08/03. The correct name of this route is Closing Tune. Photos on the photo page.
Three climbs have recently been damaged by climbers scoring initials into the rock. To the culprits: This can only be described an act of total vandalism and must cease. Boredom at the belay is no excuse! Climbing just doesn't need this.
Edward Barbour on his first visit to the main crag with Eddie Cooper on 13 August, did The Wall of Prey and Mizen Star. The interesting part is, Edward led top pitch of The Wall of Prey & 1st of Mizen Star and was still back for his paper round. These were his first leads on the main crag.
Aoife - Rock has fallen onto the belay at the top of the first pitch. Most of this has been cleared but at the top of the first pitch there's a square block just below the top of the pillar - this moves when you pull on it....take care.
See Route News for new detail on the belays for Conchubair and The Stoat.
Simon Moore and Ronan Browner, yet again have been hard at it with yet another ascent of The Wall Of Prey on 25/08/03. It's become Ronan's warm up route recently! Ronan and Simon followed the next day doing, The Mask and Buttons and Bows. Simon took the first pitch on The Mask and Ronan the top pitch. Simon described his pitch as, "Totally amazing, you like, end up, standing right out on the arête on this small edge, with the rope disappearing away around the corner, and the ground is way way down, its just totally amazing, as the guide says, a totally must do route".
Talking Heads got another ascent by Marty Bare and myself on 27/08/03. Also did, Conchubair and The Stoat. The peg on Conchubair is useless, and the peg on The Stoat has broken off. The gear is good, so it's no worries. Conchubair is fantastic.
Titanic has had at least 5 ascents since it was cleaned. Deserves three stars, now its clean.
Ricky Bell got his best lead to date in, with a smooth ascent of The Wall of Prey on 17/08/03 with Ronan Browner. Ricky took the first pitch and Ronan the second. This was a cracking lead from Ricky and expect to see more from him soon. Following this they abbed in for Talking Heads.
Blind Pew: A fantastic enjoyable route offering two options for the first pitch. The route has been extensively cleaned on 17/08/03 taking over 3 hours. Its three stars are now brighter than ever. Enjoy it.
Gossip: Hell’s Kitchen has also been climbed as a single pitch, as well as Blind Pew (lots of rope drag, however). The longest single pitch at Fair Head is the top pitch of Semaphore Signals. The route is about 49m in length with 1m spare to use for the belay. If a stamina test is required, that's where to find it.
A new route has been done at The Prow. "Impossible," I hear you cry. No, indeed it is true. The route has been buried for all these years under a lorry load of heather, muck and loose rock, just sitting there, waiting, ripe for the picking. It took two days of hard labour to get it into shape, but by jove it was worth it. Revival has turned out to be a good find and is likely to be a popular line. It's already had a second ascent by Anthony Warnock and Colin Wright (Photos on the photo page). The climbing is thoughtful and absorbing, like a mini, HVS version of The Embankment (a good imagination is required for that one) but what's more there's no jamming! Route description on the New Routes page.
The website address has been upgraded to www.fairheadclimbers.com
Dave Miller, keen to get a good long pitch in, went for it on Equinox on 10/8/03. Dave climbed the route in one single pitch using twin 60m ropes. Although expecting a little bit of simul-climbing Dave was pleasantly surprised to find he had about 5m of rope left at the top which proved more than enough to set up the belay. Dave has his eye on a few other lines that may suit the mega pitch experience. The other well known one is to run the top two pitches of Cúchullainn together, providing a taxing pitch that is just possible on 50m ropes.
New Route Flashover, was at last climbed clean after two previous attempts by Geoff Somerville and Tim Wilson at a suggested grade of E3 (4c,5c). The route is very straight forward to about half height on the second pitch, then requires steep and sustained jamming. It might just merit the E3 grade, but needs this confirmed.
Pangur Ban: Best single pitch HVS at the head. Cleaned on 8/08/03 and now mint.
Crib Pad Crack and the Direct Start: A soft touch for E3. Cleaned on 8/08/03. A brilliant pitch.
At Farrangandoo: Samson, Lazarus, Jezebel and Hard Rain. All cleaned a few years ago by Ken Lindsay and are good routes, well worth doing. They need cleaned again though.
Hard Core Crew on Tour: The news is indeed true that the hard grit gang where in town for a couple of weeks in July. Seb Grieve, Adam Wainright, Neil Gresham and a good few others, blitzed the place doing many of the big lines such as The Wall of Prey, The Fame Game and so on. An obligatory photographer was on tow so expect to see an article in Climber Mag soon.
Equinox: Top pitch confirmed at 5b and is very well protected. This route was meticulously cleaned on 29/6/03 and is in immaculate condition.
The Black Thief: Well cleaned on 30/07/03 by Dave Corbett.
Fath Mo Bhuartha: Extensively cleaned on 29/07/03 by Gary Wilson. Immaculate.
Titanic: This was cleaned on 29/6/03 and is in the best condition it has ever been. The top used to be very grassy and covered in lichen, this has all been removed.
July 2003. The idea for Fair Head Climbers was hatched, complete with the realisation that the first climbing to be done, was up the steep learning curve to work out how the hell web sites worked. But a basic page was launched and it went from there.

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