2006 News

In reverse order:

The weekend of the 9th and 10th September, saw a good few at the crag. Terry O'Neill and Dermot Sheils had a hell of a weekend doing Hurricane, Toby Jug, December and Burn Up, while Dave Craig and Sile Daly did Toby Jug, Jolly Roger, The Brasser and Sandpiper. Cranking them out or what? There were a load of folks over at the Prow end too. There were climbers on Aoife, Titanic and Salango (I think) plus Rob Hunter, Ben Gibson and mob were exploring the boulders around Ballycastle side of the crag. Send in any more details of who did what and I'll stick it on...
On Sunday 13th August, Ricky Bell established a new line, as described above. Go take a look at this the next time you are up. It's easy to study from the top of Hell's Kitchen and I can assure you, it's totally mind blowing, in the similar vane as Styx and Ricky's other new line there Elysium. A sight to behold.
Above and Beyond has now had 3 ascents this year! Ricky Bell broke the spell cast by this route by doing it with Ronan Browner in June. Then, Eddie Barbour and Andy Marshall did it in July, followed by Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll and Oli someone in August. Both Ricky and Eddie say: "That is without a doubt the best E6 pitch I've ever done, bar none. It's totally amazing in every way."
Planet Fear have published an article on the crag. There's a few new photos on it too.
The weather forecast link on the left has been changed to Met Check. They now seem to give the most accurate forecasts these days... It's a good site.
Flipping heck! Somebody tie Ricky down. No sooner has Calvin put up a new E4 than Ricky has followed suit in the same area with a direct start into Buttons and Bows. Now, Buttons and Bows has a bit of a reputation for being "A bit thin", so at 2 E Grades harder, Spirited Away, might just be a tad thinner, what with those Sky hook thingies getting a mention again.
Details on the New Routes Page.
Here's a fantastic bit of news, I've been able to track down and have a chat with Dermot Somers, the first ascentionist of Fáth Mo Bhuartha, who first led this route 29 years ago, in 1977. I've opened a thread on the message board for us to yarn about a proposition to split this route into 2 independent lines for the next guidebook. Comments welcome...
Ray Hunt and Geoff Somerville did the second ascent of Joints and Jams on 22nd July. Geoff says: "Very unpleasant, the cracks are all spilling loose soil and shard's of rock, which fall out all over you as you climb and you use your nut key to unearth holds and gear placements. The first pitch is 5c and not 5b, simply because the crack is so full of loose soil that it's impossible to use the good holds you want to. Overall the route is solid E2. It is steep and intimidating, however, thankfully the second pitch is not as hard as it looks. I was so disillusioned after the first pitch that I was extremely close to backing off, but only soldiered on due to thoughts of the horrendous walk out. If you want my advice, in its current state, don't go anywhere near it!"
Alas... I had jumped the gun, the left variation to Fáth Mo Bhuartha was done at the same time as the original, by Dermot Somers in 1977, but was never written up as an independant line. Both have now been added to the New Routes page for inclusion into the next guide. I dunno if Dermot is still kicking about, but if he is and we can get a hold of him, we'll get him to name it, as it is a perfectly independant line.
A direct finish has been done to Hurricane. Nearly everyone doing this route has looked at it wondering had it been done, but people must have been put off due to the heather and loose rock on it. However, that was all removed on 17th July 2006, before Geoff Somerville led it with Ray Hunt. Geoff says: "I was totally amazed how good this was, any time I've been on this route I've often thought the direct finish looked good, but never though I'd be able to do it. The positions are amazing, right out onto the face at the top of the wall, which adds to it enormously. There's one tricky section after the overhang, probably 5c and the rest is easier but steep jamming. It's a superb variation to Hurricane, as this gives two alternatives for the top pitch, hard or easy, whichever tickles your fancy..." Following this, Geoff and Ray also did Soylent Green in the Grey Man's path, a good first pitch if a tad dusty...
There's been a spate of cleaning done at The Prow. Energize (See above), Fáth Mo Bhuartha and Midnight Cruiser were extensively cleaned on Sunday 16th July, by Geoff Somerville and GBH was extensively cleaned on Monday 17 July, by Ben Gibson. All 4 routes are now totally immaculate as each had about an hour and a half of hard graft spent on them.
Such beautiful sunshine! The crag was bunged over the weekend of 15th to 16th July. Ellen Bruce and about 6 others hit the Prow, while about 10 Southerns stayed in the hut and climbed all over the place. One notable ascent was that of Kevin Power on Heaven Can Wait, see Kevins comments on the message board. Terry O'Neill was blasting away on the likes of The Embankment and Blind Pew. Dawid Norwak made it back after a good while away from the crag, doing Black Taxi plus a load of other stuff. Dave had forgot his big cams too and says the top of Black Taxi got the pulse a racing, to say the least! I can imagine. Geoff Somerville and Ray Hunt did Salango and The Embankment and Geoff says; "Oh my God, how hard is Salango, I nearly expired!" Ben Gibson and Johnathon Gisbon did a rare ascent of New City Allstars, but say it's a tad on the dirty side. There were loads of other people all over the place, so that's only a few of the routes done. Nearly ever route seems to have a lovely line of chalked up holds on them... awesome...
Dave Hollinger and 3 mates from Sheffield were over for a few days and during the week notched up Salango, Hells Kitchen, Conchubair, Rusty Halo, Sandpiper, Toby Jug, Hurricane and Cúchulainn. Dave says: "The highlight for me was hauling myself up Rusty Halo - what a sensational route, flip the body was aching from that workout!"
Tuesday 11th July was a busy day at the crag. Ciaran Kinney and George Carleton were up too each doing a one man rope shunt solo thing. Geoff Somerville and Ray Hunt got onto Cúchulainn and Marconi before establishing a new route at The Prow. Energize takes the left crack of Fáth Mo Bhuartha after 10 m and follows that to the top.
Alan Blair, Colin Colligan, his mate Dave and his 12 year old nephew all hit the Prow on Sunday 9th July and they all managed to do Dríodar n hAille, The Black Thief and Jungle Rock (not a bad wee solid route). The day brightened up nicely and the prow was bone dry and warm in the afternoon. There were also a couple of Dublin lads up for the weekend and done (amongst others) The Black Thief, The Fence, Darkness and Simple Minds - they thought Darkness was well sustained!
Ricky Bell has broken the spell cast by Above and Beyond doing the third ascent on 24th June, with Ronan Browner. The story goes they were doing The Wall of Prey but when getting to the belay Ricky thought, "What the Hell, sure now is as good a time as ever," so he diverted left and across the headwall into Above and Beyond. Ricky says "Yup, proper hard core E6 & way harder than Primal Scream."
Calvin Torrans has been hard at it, by establishing a serious new line, Waist Deep in Alligators beside Buttons and Bows on Sunday the 25th June. Calvin's been cleaning the route for a few weeks now and finally got onto the pointy end before he headed off to Chamonix for the summer. Claire says its well bold at the fine grade of E4 (5b, 5c/6a, 6a).
I'm sticking an: "Us lot - The Regulars" page together, to help to knit us all together like a big woolly blanket. If you climb there, then you're a regular so wack us in a pic... or even better one of someone else...
If you've broadand, watch this. Alex Huber, best in the world, bar none. Totally inspiring.
Bugger to those guys who think they're weather forecasters. They all said it'd rain on Saturday the 30th June & then the Sun blazed down. Awe well, the Sunday was perfect. There was a fair crowd up on the Sunday; Ricky Bell, Ronan Browner, Eddie Barbour, Paul Swail & Sam Gordon at the Ballycastle end and Ray Hunt, Julie Sutton, Val Houghton, Ben Gibson and Geoff Somerville over at Binnagapple. Paul did Blind Pew, but dear only knows what the rest got up to. Ray and Val did Duais and December. Ray describes Duais as: " It's a butch old-fashioned style of route. Loads of gear, if you've the strength to place it! Don't believe the guide book- the FIRST overhang is the hardest, after that you're warmed up and in the mood! Should get more traffic, as should it's neighbour Poor Relation. So, don't just go to the Prow and do the usual suspects: there's a wealth of experience and fun to be had in the lesser known routes like these! " Ben and Geoff did Hurricane and Toby Jug & totally loved them too... Ben says, "I just loooovvvve Fair Head!"
Mega news too is that Calvins route, Waist Deep in Alligators has already had a second ascent only 5 days later, by Ricky Bell and Eddie Barbour. Both say the top 2 pitches are awesome.
Hey, never mind all that climbing malarkey. Check out Declan "The main man's" latest offerings at the Barnish Coffee House. Lush! The Declan appreciation web page is coming soon. I'm heading up an hour earlier from now on!
Hell's Kitchen was given a thorough cleaning on Sunday 25th June. Geoff says, "I'd gone down with the intention of brushing a few of the smears at the top, but once I got into it I just kept going. Two hours later I hit terra firma. Flipping looks good now though." Enjoy it, it has never been cleaner...
Ricky Bell has done it yet again, by sending the first E7 (6c) at Fair Head on Wed 31st May. A Bad Skin Day takes a line from the middle belay of Equinox, traverses out to the right, and then goes up about 2m in from arete, on a rather steep looking bit of wall. Way to go Ricky!
More top news : Nick Colton and Martin Kocsis have put up a new E4 (5c,5b,6a) on a line to the right of Men of Kernow. Landscapes of Light runs for a full 85m, serious value for money.
Andy Marshall has established a mega new 85m E1. Joints and Jams starts 20m to the right of King Cobra away around in The Bird Hide Block Area. Andy spent over 19 hours on abseil cleaning this route all through last winter and says it's as clean as a whistle. Another big line at the magic grade, should make it a popular route. Everyone is encouraged to get onto it to reap the benefit of Andy's hard work. The race is on for the 2nd Ascent.
Ray Hunt says: "Stuff that £60 for a big cam malarky, why do that when you can do this for 57p? Cool, eh!"
Jackson's are cunning, here's a funky surreptitious spot of advertising from them. Well it is rather good. In fact, it's better than good, it's flipping brilliant, courtesy of the one and only Jonny Gibson. Right click on the link and select "Save Target As..." Eddie Barbour demonstrating how it's done. It's a 2.4 Mb download.
Andy Marshall has established another new line on Tuesday the 13th June. Joints and Jams starts 20m right of King Cobra. Route description on the new routes page. Way to go Andy.
Last weekend was as busy as I've seen it in a long while. About 6 teams floated about the Ballycastle Descent Gully side of the crag. Ellen Bruce made it up for her first visit to the crag ticking off;The Black Thief, The Fence, Girona and Roaring Meg. Ellen says: "Jeepers, Roaring Meg was tough at the start, 4c, aye right!" Calvin and Clare Torrans were up and Clare says: "Great weather at the weekend, except for a little drizzle late on Sat night, we did Conchubair and The Brasser. Just to let you all know, the new cafe in Ballyvoy is very good, the coffee is great and the filled soda-bacon, egg and sausage, is just the job for the crag. It's called the Barnish Coffee House, look out for it... "

Mon-Fri: 7am - 5pm
Sat: 9am - 5.30pm
Sun: 10.30am - 5.30pm

"Pity it closes so early at the weekend, but it's the closest thing to a climbers cafe on the whole island and deserves our custom, big time... "
Jonny Conroy has been back to the crag after a long time away enjoying himself: "Just a few titbits for you. Nothing too exciting, Colm Kelly and myself headed up yesterday evening. Oh it was near perfection. We went to Faranagdoo and climbed until 10.45pm. Only drawback was Wee Toms and the two chippies were closed on return to Ballycastle. Colm climbed Pangur Ban and then I attempted Slittery Slat. Have you all climbed it? Confusing route and looks scary as hell!"
Paul McArthur has a story to tell about Landscapes of Light:"Just to give some history to the line, the first two pitches where climbed by myself and Paul McGarrity back in 1998. I initially took a 30 ft ground fall off the first pitch when a foot hold broke and three or four weeks later I added 2 pegs to the first pitch and a peg high up at the beginning of the third pitch. I then led the first pitch and Paul led the second. We nearly had it but I backed off the 3rd pitch as I still had a fractured rib to try it at a later date and to give me a chance to clean it properly. Never got back to complete it, but glad it has been climbed as it is a brilliant line and worth doing. Great effort to Nick and Martin and the grade's about right."
Ray Hunt has cleaned Duais and Mongrel Fox on two separate visits to the crag . That'll be a pint you owe him if you do those routes anytime soon. The first few meters "the access bit" of Duais has been left as it is. That little bit'd need a Black and Decker strimmer to sort it out, but it's easy anyway so doesn't matter.
Martin Kocsis sent us a few lines, following their week at the crag: "Here's a quick summary of the Manchester has-beens tour of Fair Head: We arrived en-masse Saturday morning to typical Fair Head weather... mist, slime and rain. Top rope rescues from various route on the prow were the order of the day... from Sunday onward, the weather, whilst gale force, was also utterly marvellous. Most of our team of nine 'heroes of yesteryear' spent most of their time combing the Rathlin Wall and Terraces area for gems. Everything that had two or more stars saw some sort of attention, from Hell's Kitchen to the intricacies of Candy Kisses, Buttons & Bows and The Wall of Prey. We even did a new route. Normally, a rest day is inevitable when the clag comes in and the rain pours, but this time: no such luck...we just had to keep on keeping on until the bitter end: magnificent!"
Some additional info from Martin on their new line Landscapes of Light: "We met Calvin on the cliff top as we ambled back to the car. He told us that the pegs we found in situ were from an attempt by Paul McArthur way back when. He'd had a pretty bad fall on the top pitch and had never been back since. Nick cleaned the line on abseil. The great thing about it is that you can ab down the line of the route with the greatest of ease, giving it a brush on your way down. The middle pitch is fine and dandy, the first and third will, in the short term, need a sweep to ease the progress of the first few repeat ascentionists."
Mark Hounslea reports: "I was over with the Manchester boys this last week. What a fantastic crag - we had a great time, but could you arrange for it to be a bit warmer next time? Some thoughts on routes:

Titanic: Very intimidating for E2 , definitely 3 stars. Easier with a big cam.
The Hustler: Probably 6a. Very sustained after the crux. (aren't they all?)
Cúchulainn: Best route of its grade that I've ever done (but you probably know that already) I agree that its top of the graded list and maybe E3 but top pitch I felt only 5b.
Face Value: Absolutely brilliant. First pitch harder than second. There wasn't a long reach through the roof on the second pitch. Roof quite straight forward.
An Bealach Runda: Character building... but is that first pitch only 4c?
Dark Forces: Dark and powerful! ... very sustained over both pitches. On the first don't relax when you pull past the flaky bulge, there's still a lot of work left before the stance. Second pitch straightforward until the last 15 feet below the top roof when it kicks in. Be careful with rope drag if you run the top 2 pitches together as we did. This is an absolutely must do route.

We did loads of other routes all great. Thanks to all the locals who showed us round and helped with info. See you soon Mark Hounslea."
Ben Gibson has finally discovered nirvana. On Sunday the 4th, he hit the Prow properly for the first time, leading Midnight Cruiser, Fáth Mo Bhurtha and seconding Fireball, despite horrible white out mist and bitting cold (Total contrast from the day before). All he could say was: "Man I'm so stoked, does anyone wanna buy a Mournes guide, don't think I'll be needing it anymore..."
Jeepers Saturday the 3rd was a sunny day at the crag. Not Half! The place was pretty busy, 4 car loads up from Dublin plus 3 from the north, dunno how many were over at the Grey Man's Path side. Kevin Power and Pat Nolan did Blade Runner and were heading off for Promised Land when I left them. Calvin and Clare did Cúchulainn, then Blind Pew. Ray Hunt and Geoff Somerville got onto Conchubair and The Stoat and absolutely loved the both of them. Totally mega. Plus there was a shed load of people over at the Prow, Marconi and The Embankment got done, plus all the E1's again and again. Great to see the crag so busy, especially with so many people on the big stuff.
The visiting mob seem to have had a ball, Tom Briggs sent us a few lines:

"Just back after a superb week at the Head. It was very cold and windy for the first few days, but (most of) our team weren't put off (apart from wimps like me). Between us we did a lot of the classic E2s and E3s (Dark Forces being the highlight), as well as every 3-star E4 in the guide. Of this bunch, Track of the Cat was probably the best single pitch, Buttons and Bows was the boldest and Rusty Halo the hardest. The Wall of Prey, though superb is never E5! We all did The Mask and I did Primal Scream, which is 'baby E6'. It is a shame some of the 3-star E5s aren't clean... I tried venturing up End Game... not a good idea. We'll be back with some brushes next year. Can't think of the last time I did 13 3-star routes in 6 days! Mega crag! Cheers, Tom B"
Any chance of a few more lines or photos, for a bit of news from the Manchester and Sheffield guys. Folks love to see what other folks get up to. Cheers, Geoff.
Mark McGladdery reports: "Had a great day on Wed 31 May - blue skies and the crag busy - real climbers doing hard classics, crazy youngsters new routing, Tim almost cruising the Titanic overhang, me almost testing the "don't fall off" theory above the belay on Mizen Star... All in all a class day to be out."
Mark McGladdery reports: "Was up briefly on Mon the 29th with Colin Brennan at the Prow. Lots of folks around but hurricane winds seemed to put a lot of folks off climbing !! Never felt it as stormy... Did Fireball and Fáth Mo Bhurtha. Other folks on Railroad, Black Thief, etc. Chatted with one english guy - said there had been ascents of Face Value & Salango among others so far."
Found - Fleece in Tom's, The House of McDonald. If it is yours give him a ring and arrange, or let us know and we could arrange pick up. It's blue, identify the brand and it's yours. (It's not a lucky dip!)
Lost - Gold ring. See Message Board.
Sunday the 21st saw a good crowd up and it actually turned out to be a reasonable day. The Coop, Tina, Ryan and Rachel were on Girona and The Black Thief, all at once too... Rach Coopa, as she likes to be known says; "Well I actually liked The Black Thief better than Girona, I don't like bridging or jamming, but jammed away anyway up the Black Thief, yup, definitely preferred it." Ryan says; "I totally loved the wicked teeny finger holds on the top pitch of Girona, funky climbing." Ricky Young and Angela ventured up Chieftain, finding it quite green and greasy. Meanwhile Ken Lindsay and Colin Colligan were over on Bramble before Colin got his first lead in at the crag, on Driodar na hAille. Good effort Colin.
You could say it was a tad breezy at the crag on Saturday the 20th May. Ray Hunt and Geoff Somerville headed up despite the iffy enough forecast (there were two other cars parked, but I dunno whose). When we arrived it seemed grand, until we got over to the Prow and got blasted by hurricane force winds. The wind chill brought the temperature down to about -50C. Standing up was hard enough never mind climbing but still, not to be beat, we headed down and took advantage of the uplift to do Fáth Mo Bhurtha and Simple Minds, before Ray went a strange shade of blue, signaling it was time to get the heck out of there. Still, it was good to get up onto the pointy end, all good training.
Ronnie Smith and Colin Colligan were up a few weeks ago, climbing Girona, Hells Kitchen and Railroad.
The cam stuck about 4m up Bramble at the Prow has been retrieved.
The crag was scorched in sunshine on Sat 13th May. Ricky Young, Tim Wilson, Ray Hunt and Geoff Somerville made it up and between them they notched up Blind Pew, Aoife, Fáth Mo Bhurtha, Railroad, Revival, Simple Minds and The Black Thief. I saw loads of tell tale chalk marks on other routes, so folks have been busy. Cool.
Here's something to make you think, 49 routes have now been cleaned at the crag. That's about 12% of all the routes. Awesome or what!
There's been a frenzy of clandestine cleaning activity recently over on the small crag courtesy of Alan Blair & co; an area that hasn't been touched for years. Horse Feathers VS (4b), The Sting HVS (5a/b), One Crack Mind HVS (5b) and Duck Soup VS (4c), have all been left clean as a whistle. The small crag is the perfect venue for a quick session, for learning the craft or just an "easier day." Hopefully this rejuvenation will attract more folks to that part of the crag, plus don't forget about Andy Marshall's new route The Gypsies Nicked Me Squeegee which is still awaiting a second ascent, so it's worth a visit for sure.
A good crowd hit the head on 6th and 7th May 2006 on what turned out to be a scorcher weekend. The wind was offshore leaving the base of the prow as a total sun bath, totally lush. I haven't a baldy what every one got up to, but there was loads done, including Mizen Star (twice), The Embankment, Midnight Cruiser, The Offence, Balooba, The Fence & Stone Mad, to name but a few & as I left a load of folks arrived at the Prow to climb on into the evening. So who was about, the master himself Calvin Torrans, Clare Torrans, Ray hunt, Ali Wilson, Ali Moles, Ronnie Smith, Ciaran Kinney, Howard Hebblewaite (I think), Ricky Bell, Paul Swail, plus three or four others whose names I didn't get ... top notch to see so many up sporting big grins all round ...
Just a note to let you all know that the crag's in excellent condition, the Grey Man's path area is as dry as a bone, usually an area that can remain a bit greasy. Ray Hunt and Geoff Somerville have been down and did a rare ascent of The Famished Road HVS (5a,4c,5a). Ray says; "Quite an adventure with loads of variety in every pitch, it's probably been ages since this route was last done, but it's well worth it. The last pitch is the same pitch as that on Zulu and is a corker for sure, a short steep jamming corner and well hard for the grade."
Some good news is that the rock fall around Aoife hasn't effected the route at all. The slab that fell was from a hanging corner just to the left of the final pitch of the route. It was abseil inspected on 27th April and any loose debris has been removed. It's still a bit dusty, but that's all.
The sun's out, people have been getting up, both to the boulders and onto the routes, great to see. Eddie B has repeated James Pearsons sit start to Eat it Left which goes at a reputed font 7c+ and remains the hardest boulder problem at the head to date. May and June tend to be the two of the best months weather so its time to get up there...
What's been happening, anyone getting up yet? On the news front it's all quiet... Info needed.
Hmmm... another lump of rock has fallen off the top of Rathlin Wall on the top pitch of Aoife. Ciaran Kinney managed to check it out - there's about a 10m section that has fallen away which looks like all of the big flake above the second belay. Hopefully it's left a good pitch in its wake, fingers crossed.
The word on the street is that there's been a fair few exploits to the Murlough Boulders over the winter, with a number of repeated ascents of the hardest problems plus some new problems to boot.
The MCI have a series of Climbing workshops by Steve McClure and Dave Binney coming up in January 2006. If you are curious, The flyer is right here.

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

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