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MAIL IN SOME NEWS

2005 News

In reverse order:

• The Dal Riada AGM went of a treat, with great slide shows covering the best of climbing in British Columbia, extreme skiing in Chamonix, some Eastern Europe place - Bulgaria I think, plus a spot of Fair Head stuff. Well worth the visit.
• Another rock fall has occurred at the crag and this one could be potentially fatal so please be advised. The top pitch of Dearg Doom on Ballycastle Descent Gully West has had a pretty substantial fall.  Approximately 6 metres of the middle of the third pitch has fallen down, some to the bottom and also some precariously perched on that grassy ledge that bisects that cliff.  It's just sitting there and is ready to topple, perhaps to anyone below or anyone doing the route. Take care.
• Some late news in is that Ali Wilson did the direct start to The Wall of Prey there, back at the start of June, a second ascent, the first done way back in '98 by Eddie Cooper. Eddie Barbour then did the third at the start of August.
• Mark McGladdery and Tim Wilson made it up recently. Mark went for the single pitch approach Sandpiper in one pitch and says: "No problems on 50m ropes - fantastic climbing with the obligatory "sprackle" at the top. Tim did Blade Runner (I had led it last week) and took a large hold off on the top left (5c) finish - not sure if the grade has changed."
• Scorpion got another ascent recently by Paul McGarrity and Ciaran Kinney. Ciaran says the route is in good enough condition to climb which was helped by Harry Cripps cleaning the top pitch. The 2nd pitch is 50m in length and is solid 5c all the way. Both Ciaran and Harry agree that overall the route is solid E3 and note that longer ropes than 50m are required.
• Found on Monday 29th August: Lowe Alpine neckwarmer/hat and a single leather glove at the base of the abseil for Hurricane. If they're yours drop me a line and I'll get them back to you. I've even washed the hat for you! Brian McAlinden and I found them during a great day doing Doldrum and Titanic, shear bliss.
• Ricky Bell has made history by producing the first E8 at Fair Head. The line is the pitch below Primal Scream and then continues up it in one mega pitch to produce The Complete Scream at E8 (6b). The route is an immaculate pitch, serious, with marginal gear, sky hooks and hard technical climbing and then there is the crux to contend with at about 25m. Once through that and with about 10m of rope above the last sky hook there is the E6 (6b) pitch of Primal Scream to contend with. Ricky led it placing the "protection" on the lead and had a feel of the crucial moves as he abseiled down it beforehand. James Pearson who would be well known for being "rather handy" had tried the line a few weeks previously and had been very close but when testing the crucial hold at the crux on the lead he suspected it may not be secure, so opted to lower off. The Complete Scream has to be up there with the best hard lines in the UK and at 58m in length will be one that'll raise a few eyebrows.
  
  More major news is the second ascent of Hallowe'en Arête by Paul Swail. This line has been looked at by a few over the last couple of years since its first ascent by Eddie Cooper in '96. Paul reckons the grade is more realistic at E5 (6b) instead of E4 (6b). Paul also did the second ascent of Hallowe'en Left and says; "A very good finish to the route giving Hallowe'en 3 very good pitches, as the easy corner looks really dirty and unpleasant.  As for the grade I thought is was very bold.  All my gear was very marginal, and don't know how well it would hold a fall.  I also didn't think that the technical grade was 5c maybe more like 5b.  Overall I thought it warranted a grade of E3 5b.  A very enjoyable variation to a great route."
  
  Another notable ascent was off Promised Land at E4 (6b, 5c) by Ali Wilson. This route is proving popular and has now seen a number of ascents this year. Ali says: "I would say that it certainly deserves the description in the guidebook - it is one of the best pitches I've done at Fair Head.  It is also very good value at E4, I'd say the hardest E4 I've ever done.  There is no defined crux, but rather a hard section which leads from about 1/3 up the pitch to a few metres below the top, with no real rests.  A super pitch.  The last few metres are superbly exposed and a really nice finish to the first pitch.  Would deserve 3-4 stars if the top pitch was any good."
  
  Eddie Barbour has led Hector Pickaxe which runs straight up from Run Fast Run Free. Eddie reckoned the grade was E4 (6b) and describes it as; "Balancy and hardish. 6b and a fall off the crux would possibly go forty foot 'cause a cam protects but when I tested it came out and is dead shallow. The gear below is bomb proof. Worth a star and I think probably bold E4. Don't bother with No.1rp." This is probably the third ascent, the second possibly done by Eddie Cooper.
  
  There has been a load more happening and this is only a fraction of it. Other very notable ascents include Paul Swail doing the very sustained Rusty Halo, and Ricky Bell doing Track of The Cat.
• Declan Murray and Dermot Sheilds were up on the Head on Saturday 23rd July: "We had the place to ourselves. Drove up from Dublin that morning through some shady weather and had to return that night so we only had time to go to the Prow. We led Fáth Mo Bhurtha, Midnight Cruiser, Fireball, and Railroad all superb E1 5b's and all in excellent condition. I even managed to retrieve my size one friend that I jammed in Fáth Mo Bhurtha  6 weeks ago!"
• On the 20th July Geoff Somerville And Ray Hunt headed over to Binnagapple for a session on The Brasser and Sandpiper. Geoff led the first pitch on the Brasser: "Definitely a quality jamming test piece; full on effort required; guaranteed to pump out the arms. Just about managed to get it clean. It's a good route to do as the gear at the hard bit just works around the rack, friend 1.5, then 2, 2.5 then 3, very handy." Ray led the first pitch of Sandpiper: "Tough enough and I had to take a couple of looks at the traverse before committing. Was relieved to get into the crack again after the thin section. Superb rock all they way. And about that last pitch, that really shouldn't be allowed..."
• Check out the superb series of photos of Eddie Barbour on Hells Kitchen Arête. That's all the beta anyone'll ever need!
• There's a major line no-one has considered before and it's been proved it's possible. Dominic Douglas met a few french guys at Fair Head a good few years ago and he top roped one of them up the wall to the right of Salango. Dominic says: "I sat pretty much where the picture wa taken and belayed him (his idea, not mine!!) rope went in a U shape then over the edge which is fairly sharp from memory - see sketch, was a windy day and he wanted it so I could see him for instructions (i.e. thumb up, thumb down). He said it would be 8a/8a+ so it might be something of interest to someone - remember abbing it and being amazed at how thin the climbing was, there were wires/rp's on it as far as I remember but they're were generous gaps between them. There were about three French guys, they pissed up/down everything - remember one was climbing fireball with one runner and the other was standing holding the rope, no belay plate, etc. think they put up some new stuff in the Burren later on that week." It's definitely a route there for the taking, at a magazine cover type grade. Dominic adds: "If I remember right the difficult part was at about two thirds of the way up it, I abbed it and climbed up the rope on the jummar trying the moves, think there was about one hold you could call a jug, everthing else is crimps. He pulled a hold off so there should be a small scar still. He managed to hang onto it and I think the word glue was mentioned but I told him that wouldn't go down too well. He spotted the line when they were abbing down to do Face Value and when I was up the next day he asked if I could belay him, think he did every move the first time and linked it together on the third go after some cleaning."
• On Sunday the 17th Brian McAlinden reports he was up with a group of 6 of us. "Micky McCann was back in the country and was loving being at the crag again. There was me, Micky, Johann, Tim Colgan and first timers Kelly & Katrin (Tims and Mickys significant others). We stayed on the prow because there was so many of us. I Tried GBH agaian and again it kicked me off...becoming my nemesis that climb is. Micky went up to finish it - had one fall and then crusied the crux making it look oh so simple." We met a few english floating around the crag - from Bristol. They were loving the routes and commenting on the E1's on the prow being quite tricky :)
  
• Dave Millar and Geoff Somerville headed up on the 11th July and in scorching heat abseiled in for Blade Runner. What a route, the guide description describes it as a powerful line and that it definitely is. We elected to do it in two pitches and found to my surprise the belay was fine, with both pitches providing excellent climbing. We followed this with Poor Relation, to find a tremendous 2nd pitch, a truly forgotten gem of a climb. Duais beside it also looks good but needs tidying up.
• Ricky Bell and Kevin Power have added two fine new variations to the crag. Ricky produced a serious direct finish to Styx at E6 6b, and Kevin an alternative final pitch to Hallowe'en at E3 5c. The details on the new routes page.
• Ray Hunt and Geoff Somerville hit the crag again after a bit of a layoff on the 28th June and the 4th July, managing to knock off Equinox, April Arete, Run Fast Run Free, Blind Pew and Titanic. Geoff says: "That was the first time I'd done the "proper" direct start to Blind Pew, which is a superb pitch in its own right. Titanic is a lovely line, once over the overhang, lovely steady climbing right to the top. Bliss. Man, that place makes you feel alive, can't wait to get back up again."
• Christian Brandtner has been developing the bouldering at the Murlough end of the crag and has added another four problems during a weekend visit in the first week of June. Easy to download and amend topos are now available from the Bouldering Pages.
• Harry Cripps and party made it back to the crag in a party of 9 between the 19th and 26th June. Harry says: " Although I've climbed on Fair Head for nearly 20 years, this was the first time I've had a 100m abseil rope. It is fairly exciting going over the top but more than justifies the effort in carrying it. As a comment on the time it saves - when we got rained off half way up An Belach Runda and An Goban Saor, Julian prussiked back up and got to the top more than half an hour ahead of those who walked out."
  The routes we climbed plus a few comments were:
  

  Crib Pad Crack
  The Fence
  Black Thief
  Railroad
  Embankment - as good as ever.
  Midnight Cruiser - getting a bit worn at the top.
  Fireball
  Mongrel Fox
  Darkness - suggest E2 5b rather than E1 5c. Sustained rather than technically difficult, harder than The Embankment or Blind Pew.
  Taoiseach
  Chieftain
  Girona
  Hell's Kitchen
  Titanic - superb climbing, definitely deserves ***. Crux would be easier if you have big hands for secure fist jam. By way of comparison, we didn't think it was significantly easier than Salango (done on a previous visit). If Salango is representative low to mid E3, Titanic would also just make E3?
  Blind Pew - deserves *** for the top pitch, probably only E1.
  Cuchulainn - excellent and sustained on all 3 pitches, top of E2 grade.
  Roaring Meg
  An Bealach Runda - as good as it was 19 years ago when I first did it. One of the best E1s anywhere.
  An Goban Soar (1.5 pitches then rain)
  Scorpion - Top section recleaned in May then climbed bottom up 23/6/05 led by Julian Maund. Bottom half was very grassy and still needs a thorough brushing. Has it had any other ascents since I did it before on 28/8/91 ? This is a superb climb and would be outstanding if fully cleaned . Extremely sustained on the big pitch and hard to the very top of the climb. In our opinion, in view of the large number of 5c moves, it definitely rates E3. Note on length of second pitch - The long pitch felt like at least 60 m when climbing it but we had enough rope left for it to have been just about possible, given generous 60 m ropes, to reach the ledge from the ground - ie 60 +/- a couple of metres from the ground. I subsequently measured my ropes as 64 m. If this is correct, the whole climb would be closer to 100 m rather than the guideboook 110 and probably just possible to abseil directly to the bottom on 100m rope. There isn't much room for error so future parties should check it before blindly parachuting it!.
  Burn Up - one team finishing it in the rain.
  Hurricane - E1, superb as ever, equivalent to a whole stack of *** gritstone HVSs on top of each other.
  Poor Relation - Lots of grass and heather on first pitch ( 4b ) but second pitch in good condition and merits **. Quite bold starting the traverse and quite hard but well protected on the crux.
  December
  

• Two new pages have been added to the bouldering section. The Murlough Wall page has yet to have the two topos blended into one. If any boulderers are over that way, it'd be great if you could have a stab at it.
• The head was bunged on Sat 25th June, the routes heaving with folks all over the place. I've been catching up with what everyone has been up to and basically the answer is everything! Nearly every route has the grass worn thin all around their base. That says it all. The place is buzzing.
• Without a doubt the party of 21 climbers visiting from England over the last weekend in June has to be the biggest bunch of climbers visiting the crag for years. Having a yarn with them it was clear they were totally stoked by the place. Ben Sutton put together the route tally, what a trip!
  

  An Bealach Runda - great route, we thought first pitch was 5a, I found it harder than the 5b pitch, but then it was 'traditional' and I was wearing a rucsack!  Definately worth doing in 3 pitches, not 4.
  Mizen Star - brilliant 3*, saw 7 ascents.
  Blind Pew - 3*, quote "the perfect rock climb", better than equinox. Saw 7 ascents and we all went direct on first pitch, much better.
  Conchubair - amazing top pitch, used the suggested belay from the web update which was fine.
  Girona - lots of ascents, consensus ** not ***.
  Chieftan - thrutchy.
  April - found this hard, with standard chimmney finish.
  Fireball - excellent again, v.sustained.
  Midnight Cruiser
  Marconi
  Embankment - badly protected at the top.
  Railroad - excellent.
  Fath Mo Burtha
  Black Thief - thought ** only.
  The Fence - a better introduction to jamming than The Black Thief and a much better route, ***.
  Stone Mad - one star, great crux sequence.
  Salango - amazing.
  Jolly Roger - done in one long 55m pitch.
  Titanic
  Equinox
  Hells Kitchen - superb.
  GBH
  Aoife - strenuous but great fun!
  Plus the *'d hvs and E1 over on farrandangdoo crag..can't remember names.
  Wall of Prey - brilliant, but thought E4 (6a,5c)

• John Jones and Paul Donnithorne have added a mega new 100m E5 to the crag taking a line to the right of Dark Forces. Men of Kernow leads up to the huge triangular overhang, passing it on the right hand side. See the new routes page for the description. John says: "We found a couple of nuts on slings in the vertical crack of the last pitch, so someone had been there before, but there was loose rock under the overhang and we do not believe that that pitch had been completed by any previous party."
• Martin Kocsis and Nick Colton did Visual Contact on the 20th June. Martin describes it as: "A more striking line than Jolly Roger, and at least as good. The 6b crux is fairly graded and well protected, meaning that if you can't do it, just pull on a wire and enjoy the remaining 40m of steep, sustained and occasionally puzzling moves. The legendary "Black Nick" Colton seconded me in a haze of superlatives, floated through the crux pronouncing it "Broughton 5c" and vowed to return to it again: high praise indeed! Without the incongruous crux, it's a true Fair Head E3 5c."
• Here's a few interesting comments from Harold Walmsley who visited over the weekend of the 18th June:
  1) Toby Jug: Greener than suggested on the webpage but perfectly do-able. If you belay at the first (and most obvious) ledge, both pitches are about the same length (~27 m - both slightly less than the marked 1/2 way point on our 60 m ropes). Good climbing but quite a few rattly blocks.
  2) Jolly Roger: As it says, pitch 2 is 30 m not 45 m. Also pitch 1 is little more than 25 m so it can be done quite comfortably (apart from rope drag) as 1 pitch on 60 m ropes.
  3) Mizen Star: Good, but the first pitch didn't seem quite as great as one of the web-page comments implies. It takes a long time to get away from the gully on the R. Also, I wouldn't single out the "dubious looking" rock at the top for particular mention, I thought the flakes on the exit to Hurricane were more worrying.
  4) Darkness: I disagree entirely with the comment that it is only 5b (although it wasn't quite perfectly dry and I did stick to the LH crack even where the next crack R could be easily reached - maybe this is unnecessary?). I found Sandpiper no harder, even though it was wetter in the crux niche, and it was less sustained (albeit very different style). Railroad and Midnight Cruiser, which are nearby E1 5b comparisons, seemed very much easier even though wetter. Therefore, if you stick to the LH crack, I would say it was E2 5c and not easy for that.
  All the rest seemed to fit the descriptions and grades pretty well. Salango and Jolly Roger deserve 4 stars!
• Kevin Power and Dave Ayton had a blast there over 5 days from the 5th to the 9th June. Check this out for a tick list:
  Dark Forces - E3
  The Mask - E5
  Primal Scream  - E6 (Dave led it, the 4th ascent)
  Promised Land - E4, the 3rd ascent
  Buttons and Bows - E4
  Talking Heads - E4
  Hallowe'en Left - new variation last pitch for Hallowe'en, about E3
  Born to Run - E4
• Brian McAlinden reports: "Headed up on Saturday 28th May with Johann and a group of three from Dublin - Gina Smyth, Darragh Curran, Richie Doyle - Richies first time up. We got on the crag about 3pm as it was a crappy morning. Abbed into the prow and it wasn't looking promising as the top of Midnight Cruiser was soaking. True enough everything looked wet but after a few looks Fath Mo Bhurtha looked the best. Yours truly headed up and it was in good nick. Belayed the other four up the route in ever-increasing windy conditions - seriously windy... big gusts of wind coming off the sea. Was good craic though :) On the Sunday - Gina and I went off and did Equinox - Gina did the second pitch - her first E2 on the 'head - fair play to her as thats not a soft touch E2 pitch...I didn't tell her that btw. Johann, Darragh and Ritchie did Girona and then Johann teamed up with Ciaran K and they went and did Odyssey - both said it was top class! It's a little dirty but doesn't seem to affect the climb. Darragh and Ritchie also did Chieftain. Eddie Cooper was up with a client and he did a few of the classic VS's and HVS's of the crags. Sunday was a far better day than Saturday weatherwise. The sun shone bright and by the end of the day we were soaking up the sun as Gina finished on The Fence."
• Despite the bad weather forecast Andy Marshall and Paul Swail headed up on 21st May and although driving through solid rain all the way up, on arrival they got a fantastic days sunshine. They were going well doing Blade Runner with Paul leading the bottom pitch and Andy leading the top. Andy says: "It is an amazing route and one of the best pitches I have done in ages!" Paul then led Track of the Cat and Andy says: "He ran up it. Even though I was totally pumped, he seemed to find it ok, a great afternoon then evening at the crag." Paul also reports last weekend that they managed to do a handful of good routes including The Mask with Paul leading the bold first pitch and Andy the hard second, then Marconi before finishing with Ocean Boulevard. Those guys a ripping the place up, mega.
• Paul Smyth and Pete Dodd were over last weekend, from the 13th May and Paul says there were a good few other guys over from England. He says it was interesting to hear what they thought of the grades, especially for The Fence! Between them Paul and Pete did; The Black Thief, The Fence, Pangur Pan, Casablanca (that's a real brute - nice!), Hell's Kitchen, April (with the nice finish), Chieftan, Girona and Fath Mo Burtha. Sounds like a good weekend.
• On Saturday 7th May, Sam Gordon led the first pitch of Face Value with Andy Marshall belaying before getting washed off by a brief shower. Sam commented on the route: "Man, that was hard!" Good going Sam. There were a couple of pairs of climbers over from Edinburgh too who just carried on climbing despite the rain, must be used to it, I guess. They were on Hells Kitchen when I saw them with their mates at the Prow, doing Railroad and The Black Thief. Kevin Power and Al Sarhan, abseiled in for The X-Men. Kev said it felt hard for the grade as it was green and scruffy. That route has only ever had a handful of ascents so its amazing to see it done in far from ideal conditions.
• The May Day Bank Holiday weekend was massive. Loads of routes done and loads of visitors. Here's a full report from Stephen McMullan:

"Myself, Kevin Power and Grainne O'Brien were due to go up to Fair Head on Friday night but unfortunately Kev had to pull out at short notice. Grainne and I switched to getting a lift with Joanne Hession and Claire Comiskey the following morning. It was a pretty drab start to the day in Dublin and didn't really seem to improve much as we went north. However by the time we reached Antrim, things were drying up but still looked pretty overcast. We met Will Rock walking away from the crag as we walked in.

He was unable to find anyone to climb with until we showed up and was on the verge of heading home! Myself, Will and Grainne teamed up and went over to Farangandoo. I was up for leading Pangur Ban (HVS 5a - 35m) whilst Jo and Claire went off to look for multipitch VS in the Ballycastle descent gully area. I started up Pangur Ban in a very light rain but the route was in good nick apart from a damp section just below the layback flake. Thankfully the climbing was not too difficult, the route very well protected and the quality of the moves very high so none of the usual excuses of "its raining" or "its wet" came into play. It really is a superb pitch. Next up was Grainne on Simple Minds (E1 5b) in the Prow area. Although less than 20m high its pretty technical for the grade. Early season rustiness meant Grainne missed a helpful hold on the left arete and off she came at the crux. A rest slightly higher meant this one was put down to experience or training or something. Wills turn next and off we went to Darkness. This is one of the toughest E1s at the Prow. Described as "like the crux on Midnight Cruiser except all the way". I had bought this really funky 6pack of Wild Country large wires sizes 9 - 14 to basically replace my hexes. As it turned out afterwards Will had never climbed Darkness before and thought it was a thin finger crack and left all the big gear behind. There ensued a pretty impressive clean ascent of a hard Prow E1 with about 8 pieces of gear in 40m of climbing :-) In the interest of preserving myself for a long weekend I let Grainne do the seconding which she did clean. I wouldn't have had time to climb. We pretty much finished up after 9pm. Jo and Claire had a mini-epic on a pretty manky Chieftain (VS 4b, 4b). The first slabby pitch probably could do with a brushing. It was damp and that didn't help matters. Having packed up we met up with Ciaran Kinney and the O'Reilly-Baekkens (James, Torril and Ciara) in Hunters pub in Ballyvoy.
James top roped December (VS) after Torril has second thought about the two of them ab'ing into the route leaving the baby alone tied to the ab point at the top of the crag. Strange that. Anyways we missed last orders for food and ended up in Flash in the Pan in Ballycastle. I reckon their onion rings beat deep fried Mars bars anyday for the worst possible thing you could ever consume. They have to be seen to be believed. A quick pint in Toms (House of McDonnell) but didn't really enjoy it. A wee bit too crowded and smoky. Still not bad for a day with a rotten forecast. The weather was only supposed to improve according to the forecast.

Saturday, we woke up in the pissing of rain. Off to the Park Deli in Ballycastle for coffees and toasted bagels. Didn't look like there was going to be anything happening but at about 3pm the sun came out and a warm wind was blowing drying off the crag at a rate of knots. Off to the Prow but unfortunately the Baekken-O'Reillys had to get back to Dublin - as the baby was kicking up (not Jams - Ciara - she's teething and has just had her polio and TB innoculations). There was also a decent sized group of English climbers over from around New Mills in south Manchester. They had been ticking off the Prow classics and some of the Main face stalwarts like Salango E3, Equinox E2, Jolly Roger E3, Hells Kitchen HVS etc. A couple of leaders had problems on the Embankment E2 5c, mostly by not bringing small gear for the crux 3/4 of the way of the pitch. Gear had to be lowered on both occasions. One leader kicked out her gear as she moved up and that wasn't the first time that's happened on this route. Will in the mean time had teamed up with Mark Russel.
Mark's sum total of experience was on indoor climbing walls and outdoor sports crags so Will (who reckons hes just getting back into climbing) took him on a rapid tour of The Embankment (E2 5c), Marconi (E3 5c) and Mongrel Fox (E1 5b). Will thought Mongrel Fox seemed like more effort than Embankment or Marconi but then again he seems happy with 8 runners in 40m. I had a crack at Fath Mo Bhuartha (E1 5b) and got it clean. I was absolutely delighted. Its been a while since I managed a Fair Head E1 especially as I had only been up the route once on top rope with Padraic Breen many many years ago and even then took a rest at the crux.
I couldn't remember much about the route at all. I did start up it last year but downclimbed after a few metres as the head wasn't right (it was the weekend after Marcus' accident where he broke his back in Pembroke - I was belaying, his gear zipped). Grainne also put away some demons by flashing Railroad (E1 5b) after seeing me and Sharon McGuigan (repeatedly) fall off at the crux overhang on the route last year. More exorcisms - Jo despite a nervous start led the Black Thief (VS 4b) in fine fashion and then Claire went off to do Pangur Ban. Claire ran into one of the English climbing pairs who had had a hard enough time on the route which was as wet if not wetter since the previous day so Claire top roped the route. Angela Carlin (climbing with Ricky Young) fresh back from 7a+ redpoint in Gorge du Tarn in the south of France found The Fence (VS 4c) tough going, damp and dirty (but no mention of loose?).
Perhaps the loose rock reputation from a couple of years ago has put people off this gem. Also on a scary note as I was belaying Grainne up Fath Mo Bhuarta I seen two young guys trundling a lot of rock from the Ballycastle end of the Farangandoo crag. This is the end away from Pangur Ban & Crib Pad Crack and not very popular but the English lads were climbing there at the time on Pangur Ban and must have been wondering if anything was going to come down on top of them. I let a yell at them but they didn't hear or ignored me. They started heading for the Prow and I feared for my rucksack and its contents including my wallet at the top of the Prow descent scramble but thankfully some fell runners came along and the two lads did a U turn as soon as they seen them coming. Ciaran reckons they might be locals from Ballyvoy so he's going to make some enquires and try and warn off this sort of dumbass behaviour. We ended up leaving the crag close enough to 10pm which is a personal record.

We went back up to the hut to cook and made all sorts of horrific discoveries. We made tea in one of the hut tea pots. We all had a cup and didn't really take much notice over the fact that the pot wasn't really pouring properly. I even had a second cup. Will, ever the adventurer, discovered that the spout was blocked by a large family of woodlice and a few spiders. We had just about recovered from this when I heard Grainne yell from the kitchen, she had discovered a large family back of salt and vinegar crisps (one of those awful 12 pack things) and thought "mmm salty" and then realised that the salty smell was more like ammonia and there were holes in the bags. Yup the rats had been in. The rat/s had also shit in most of the cooking pots too. While she was washing out one of the pots, a critter that we cautiously identified as a "freshwater shrimp" swam out of the faucet and did several laps of a saucepan. I then completely finished off the situation and completely grossed her out at this point by disposing of the mega crisp bag and shaking it at the opportune moment going "theres something moving inside". Having let the hysterics settle down and washed everything we settled down to a midnight feast of "Pasta a la Weils" with kidney beans "mmm - tastes like woodlice".

Seriously though we have to ban people leaving food behind. In fact I'd recommened not even leaving tea or coffee - nothing. The tea bags packet was damp - now it could have been from the air or...you shudder to think. Next time I'm up I'm going to put up a couple of posters saying "Leave NO food here", "Wash all pots and utensils in boiling water before use" and "Run the tap before use". If anyone has a better suggestion then drop me a line. I also think we need to highlight the responsibility of people staying in the hut a bit more to sweep out the place, wipe down surfaces, wipe out cupboards etc. and have cloths and disinfectants on hand like we would have toilet rolls i.e. it should be second nature. Nobody wants to get sick so its either that or clear out the place of all cutlery and pots so you have to bring your own for the sake of hygiene and just provide the water supply and gas cooker.

Sunday morning rose late and Will had disappeared home as it had been pishing down early in the morning. He had told a mate that he would do a 15km hill run in Wicklow that day but had such a good time climbing that he wanted to stay on but the early morning rain put paid to that. He would have kicked himself though. Monday was the best day. I went back to the Prow to get on Midnight Cruiser but abandoned it after about 10m.
The body felt tired and the mind wasn't ready for the struggle. Had to ab for the gear but ran into Paul McGarrity on the top. Ciaran was also about the place but has a sore shoulder or neck. The bad luck or lack of resolve seemed to be a bit infectious. Angela was having a hard time and a rest or two on Simple Minds (E1) and Claire on her lead attempt of Pangur Ban (HVS) took a rest on a gear place low down on the route which was still damp, had the gear pop. She took a 4m fall, bruised her ass and put an impressive graze on her calf. Grainne was thinking of April (E1) and Simple Minds (E1) but reconsidered and we decided to do a pleasant 2 pitch VS 4c, 4c - Taoiseach to finish off the weekend. I was up for the first pitch which I found very good but it has some very reachy moves and a series of technical enough mantleshelves but the gear is very good, the rock dry, clean and solid. Grainne on the top pitch found a slab in a similar grotty damp state to that which Jo and Claire had on Chieftain. I was also impressed on how many pieces of her normally excellent gear lifted out of the shallow placements and hit me on the helmet as I seconded. An impressive lead in the conditions. I also recommend care on the blocks just below the top. They look pretty "stacked" to me. I was climbing very tentatively spreading my 100kgs around. Grainne said "don't yard too hard on that one - that's the belay". Very reassuring. 8 o clock finish. The English gang had headed off for the plane from Aldergrove. They've already booked the hostel for their return visit in June. Met Smacks (Brian McAlinden) and a mate on the way out - they had done December (HVS 4c, 5a) and Mongrel Fox (E1 5b) Ballycastle pizza for 9pm and back to Dublin for 1am only to find that the 46a and 7 nitelink bus service isn't running on Sundays anymore (bank holiday Monday is Sunday service - doh!). Taxi back to Dun Laoghaire. Bed 2.30am.

Tired today - the full Fair Head sandwich but pretty happy."

• The mega news in is that Ricky Bell led Primal Scream on the 24th April, climbing with Andy Marshall. This ascent was Ricky's first lead at the head this year, which is some going considering the seriousness of the route. Awesome. Afterwards, Andy led GBH getting it clean at this his first attempt. Following this Andy, repeated his new route Thunderhips Direct, this time placing no gear at all in Fireball. Andy says its definitely not a route to fall on as the flake is decidedly questionable and there is little else in the way of protection. Ricky reckoned the grade was a fair E4 (5c).
• Not only did Ricky do it, but a few days later Andy and Paul Swail returned for Andy also to lead Primal Scream. They also did Equinox and Face Value too. A hard core day at the crag for sure.
• Also on the 24th April Stephen McMullan reports: "Kevin Power, James O'Reilly and myself drove out of Dublin and the cack weather reasonably early on Sunday morning for the Mournes. It was raining in the Cooley hills and it still looked claggy in the Mournes so we kept going only to be greeted by sunshine in Fair Head! We did December in two pitches (I'm still not ready for this megapitch lark ). December is a great climb for the VS/HVS grade. The rock is immaculate, protection good. I find the overhang ok but the chimney leading up to it hard (bane of the face climber). Kev flashed Rusty Halo. Wow, even the ab in is impressive. Looks hard, he doesn't talk on climbs but there were words (or whimpers perhaps) on this one. He told me later that what got him through the crux was the prospect of the effort involved in attempting it again. I left the seconding to Jams. Kevin had an attempt on the route with two rests at the end of last season so he's pretty much picking up beyond where he left off. Nice one!"
• An expanded Rathlin Wall Area topo is now also available from the bouldering pages.
• Rusty Halo at E4 (6a) has been led clean by Eddie Barbour on the 12th April. Eddie says: "Yeah, I'd done it last year but took a rest at the crux, which has been buggin' me ever since, so I just had to go back and do it again. It has a technical start of immaculate face climbing with good, spaced, though thought provoking, protection, to a slight rest below the final straight. Then the crux is pumpy going up through an overhanging crack on poor finger and hand jams that don't feel secure at all; its a case of just keeping going until past the bulge for a rest, and up slightly more easily to the top."
• Sam Gordon has been up recently and did the 2nd ascent of Master Chapster downgrading it to HVS (5a). He says: "It's tonnes easier when it's not wet and the weather is warmer, so isn't as hard as we had first thought."
• The bouldering crew were up exploring again on Thursday the 7th. The news of the day was the third ascent and of Carbide by Eddie Barbour. Eddie says: "Well once you've started it, it is either down climb, finish it, or take a really nasty landing. I went up, downclimbed it twice, then just went for it. I was rather relieved not to come of it, the landing is nuts!"
• Ricky Bell and Ali Wilson have got the first proper bouldering guide completed including 2 topos with anotated photos.
• Kevin Power and Willie Rock got onto the big stuff on Saturday the 2nd April doing Face Value and Mizen Star. Kevin says it was like a summers day, too hot to climb in a thermal. On the Sunday they were back along with Es Tresidder from Edinburgh. They did Fireball and The Embankment before retreating due to wind, cold and rain. Es was very impressed and will be back at some stage when the weather is a bit kinder. JP Quinn, Jenny O'Kane, James Boyle and Vincent O'Brien descended on the prow, with Vincent leading Simple Minds and Jenny for her first lead at Fair Head did The Black Thief, plus other stuff, I think. A number of people also made it up to boulder at the Murlough side of the crag.
• Classic: Jamalots The must have latest protection device.
• Christian Brandtner from Austria reports: "On Sunday the 27th we maybe did some new problems. On a boulder approximately 70m to the right of Moonman Direct, there is Hook And Reach. The other boulder is again about 50m to the right, where we did Wonderful World. We didn't see any chalk so maybe they haven't been done until our visit." See the bouldering page, great news indeed.
• On Sunday 27th the wind was up, so Brian, Gina and Jeff did Hells Kitchen. After that Brain had a tussle with GBH although Gina and Jeff cruised the crux on 2nd. The guys up from the south, sorry I didn't get your names, did Pangur Ban, Girona and Cheiften. Brian says the hut was great craic and the southern lads loved the place; they had been planning to camp!
• The crag was buzzing on Saturday 26th March, with a good few travelling from afar for the weekend. I counted 13 on the Prow at one stage and there was still room for plenty more. I'll only attempt to make a list of what was done but Tim Wilson, Brian McAlinden and Geoff Somerville, started the day off as a three on on Mizen Star, followed by Tim on Midnight Cruiser, Brian on Marconi and Geoff on The Embankment. A group of 4 from Dublin did The Offence, Stone Mad, Good Morning Judge and maybe a few other lines. Niall Gault did Railroad with Jojo, making it look a bit too easy. Jeff Gardiner and Gina Smith did Girona, Railroad and Midnight Cruiser. Most where staying over in the hut so it'll be interesting to hear who all did what on the Sunday.
• Check out the photos of Ricky and Paul's latest additions to the bouldering at Fair head; Moonman Direct and Carbide. They've been developing away and hope to have a topo of the Grey Mans path side of the crag finished soon.
• The mega motivated Andy Marshall and Jamie Egner have officially started the multi pitch season on Girona with Jamie leading the first pitch on Thursday 10th March. After the warm up, Andy upped the anti considerably leading Mainstream at E4 (6a) in the Grey Mans Path. That's some going this early, and Andy says: "It a class line, pumpy but well protected, I think I used a full rack of nuts on it. There's one great rest on a good flat edge at half height where I just hung and hung before the pump fest to the top. It's a fantastic outing. " Andy was chuffed to bits with this lead and rightly so, way to go. If you are curious about the route, Paul McArthur gives a good account in his article on the articles page.
• Ciaran Kinney has up again sneaking in the training sessions, doing his one man big wall thing again on Sun 20th, shunting up Midnight Cruiser, Fireball and Fáth Mo Bhuartha, in about 30 minutes flat. Brian McAlinden and Sharon McGuiggan were also up and Brian led Midnight Cruiser and Fáth Mo Bhuartha, both aiming to get the brain tuned in for the season ahead. Things are hotting up, even if the air temperature isn't.
• Andy Marshall has been busy again with Sam Gordon for another new route, this time at the small crag, on the 17th February. Andy has graded The gypsy nicked me squeegee E2/3 (6a) and says: "It is a lovely wee face climb with some exposed climbing." It takes a line around the corner from PP on the first of the three pinnacles. The photos are on the message board.
• The photo pages have been updated with a few new ones added. Once the season kicks off, I'll put as many new ones on as possible. If you've got a digital camera, snap away and mail 'em in.
• Andy Marshall, again climbing with Sam Gordon has done the much looked at, Thunderhips Direct. This obvious direct start has been top roped in the past, but no-one has took the initiative to do it on the pointy end, until now. It's not the only line Andy had his eye on, he tells me he has another in his sights. There's more info and a few photos on the message board. That's two new routes so far this year and the sun hasn't even hinted at coming out yet, a good effort indeed. This season is going to be massive!
• Andy Marshall and Sam Gordon have been braving the cold weather on the 15th January and have climbed a new route, Master Chapster, starting 7m right of The Brat. Andy's thoughts on the route with photos are on a thread on the message board. The route description has been added to the New Routes page. More info is needed on this area, so if you know anything please add your comments.
• A basic topo is on the bouldering page for the area below Rathlin Wall.
• Another good read has been added to the articles page. It featured in Paul McArthurs magazine Rock Climber, in July 1996. It's as fresh today as it was then.
• Eddie Barbour, Jamie Egner and Andrew Marshall hit the crag on Sat 18th Dec. Andrew says: "Jamie Egner did his first lead at the crag, flashing The Black Thief, hardcore style that is, with no t-shirt (yup, you read that right) Eddie cruised up Marconi's Arête, again! The rock was surprisingly dry for the amount of rainfall over the last couple of days; both The Black Thief and Marconi's Arête were dry and pretty clean . Why was nobody else up? With the offshore breeze the prow was totally sheltered as the wind goes right over the top, too many softy's out there !!!" That lead of Eddies was some going, his first outing since the summer and the third ascent of Marconi's Arête E4/5 (6a) to boot, the second also going to Eddie back in the summer. Way to go, Eddie...
• The word is a few hardy soles are venturing up, manys a weekend. The Jordanstownians have been exploring around the small crag, plus the bouldering is still being developed with some more exploring happening around the base of the crag by Ricky Bell and co. Eddie B's home too and hopes to get up. So it's all still going on despite the cold, which bodes well for the warmer weather when it returns again next spring.
• It's likely that there'll be very little news until Spring. But for those hardy soles, if you do intend to visit the crag, please can you continue to only park in the designated car parks, as stated in the guidebook. They are the National Trust Car Park at Coolanlough, and the National Trust Car Park at Murlough. Intelligent parking is essential to ensure that our good relations with the land owners continue.

If you've any other news old or new, mail it in...

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