Kirrie rocks our world

Ellis and me met Phil at the camera obscura in Kirriemuir today, with the hope of venturing up Glen Clova for what may be the last mountain day of the year. Despite gorgeous weather in Dundee, it was cloudy in Kirrie when we arrived, and the clouds were thicker and damper the further North we looked, so we settled for some bolt clipping in the local quarry.

The sun appeared as we made out way down the hill, and we were greeted by a quarry full of other climbers. Never before had i seen it so bloody busy! We made our way round to the main wall, and despite all three of us having the guidebook, none of us had throught to bring it, so we just threw ourselves at a few routes.

Looking back, it seems we managed (not very cleanly or with any grace) a fe 6bs, managing to work our way through any problems we encounterd, mostly through siege warfare, and because of our desire not to leave gear behind!

All in all a wondeful day, with loads of people out enjoying the sun, in what seems to be a reasonable September. Hope it holds out a bit longer, i want another long hard route before i dust off my axes and crampons.

Adam

Boys in the Glen... (pt 2)

Sunday 7th Spet 2008: GLEN NEVIS

Sunday morning was sore head territory, so after packing our kit away, we headed to Morrison's for some breakfast (at least me and Ellis did, Neil was in no fit state for food!). Despite the locals being used to hill-weary climbers, we must have been an extra scary site, as the number of strange glances we got suggested we stood out. Maybe it was the smell of skin so soft, malt whisky and bonfire rolled into one pungent brew!

Anyway, we headed up the Glen, back to our parking space at the roadside, and spied our potential target buttress, hiding in trees no less than one hundred yards from the road. We left Neil in the car to sleep off the effects of exhaustion, dehydration and a stinking hangover in the car, making our way to pinnacle buttress, a seemingly featureless and uterly blank slab from the car. On closer inspection, it was an amazing site of interesting and delicate rock formations, making for very varied and interesting climbing.

I started on the classic route Pinnacle Ridge (Sev), one of the most popular, and possibly oldest routes in the Glen. Needles to say, the start was polished, but it was fairly easy and consistent slab climbing on the arete at the far left edge of the slab. Up through a tree belay, then along a large flake and up a small left facing corner, before the most enjoyable final section of shallow angled slabby climbing to the belay stance, located on the top of the ridge running along the buttress edge.

Top section of Pinaccle buttress, with climber taking hard slab finish on Pinnacle Ridge (Sev)

Once at the top, Ellis and I spotted another buttress, hidden in the trees behing us, no more than 20 yards away, so headed over and Ellis lead Pinnacle Plus (Diff) a nice but very polished crack line up the centre of the mini buttress. Once back down at the bottom of Pinnacle Butress, we looked for any decent climbs, but were limited with the guidebook we had which only had a small selection of the hundreds of routes in the glen.

Ellis chose to lead the variation start to Pinnacle Ridge, which is a weird off balance staircase, followed by a tenuous and balancy move to regain the original route 10m up. Just as we were about to set off Neil appeared, having fought his way through the jungle to the rockface, and he joined us climbing the route. Ellis caught the party above us, somewhere around halfway up the climb, so belayed us upto halfway and hung around for the party above to move up.

Neil 'manning up'

Ellis starting up the variation to Pinnacle Ridge

Neil heading up the stairs

At the belay, we rearranged things and Ellis lead up to the finish, before bring me and Neil up to the magnificent views down the glen. Whilst i was waiting on Neil finishing, i thought i had better capture the moment and get a self portrait with some decent scenery.

The boys at belay stance 2, Ellis ready to lead on

Me and the Glen...

Neil took my camera and scarpered up the final section ready to snap me completing the route. Back on to the fantastic and delicate sund soaked slab to finish. Wow, what a climb! Deserves 3 stars!!!

The view from the ridge-line belay

Me on final slab of pinnacle ridge

Determined to get one more route done, we headed over to the classic Three Pines (Sev), just 5 minutes up the hill. My lead, and looking at the start, it seemed to be a runout and rather featureless slab, so i improvised with a sling round a tree around 5 feet up. Not that it would have done me any good the next gear was around a further 10 feet up the slab. I felt i might as well have been soloing the route, until i reached the next section where the route changed character completely. From blanks slabs to super positive jugs and flakes up the left edge of an exposed arete, with the risk of slipping off down one side of the wall.

Thankfull there was a bit more gear, and i made my way up to the three pines that the route is named after. Once protected in the rocks around them, i moved into the crux which was a slightly overhanging corner which was super polished and once again, all climbing technique and grace went out the window. I squirmed and used the good old knee to wedge myself in before moving up and over to the belay. FEW, bit necky, but an amazing climb in amazing surroundings!

Neil came up, and made the crux look easy (I tell him it's his gangly arms and legs!), then Ellis worked his way up and was on top before i had a chance to get a picture. Congratulations all round, and Ellis got his camera out for a group shot at the top of the Crag looking down the Glen. Can't wait to see it!!!

Well done boys, and awesome weekend pulled from the grasp of disaster by a willingness to explore unfamiliar climbing grounds.

Just wish Dave and Phil could have made it, they would have been in their element!

Boys in the Glen... (pt 1)

Sunday 7th September 2008:

I was up before the sun on Saturday morning to get my kit ready for a weekend climbing and camping in the Cairngorms with Neil and Ellis. All my gear was packed, my plan for the weekend was formulated, and the weather looked great, so i was stoked to be getting out with two good mates for what might be the last mountain route of the year.

Making our way up the A9, the clouds were doing their best to hide the sun rising in the East, and upon reaching Glenmore, the thickening clouds started to unleash their load. Not a good start! Once at the ski carpark, we looked at the weather forecast to check for any changes, but it was still there in black and white: A good weekend ahead. Trouble was, the weather wasn't playing ball!

We headed off to Aviemore to get breakfast and give the clouds and rain a chance to clear, with our destination being the Mountain man cafe (very appropriate name!). I nipped out to Tesco to get some cash for the weekend, only for the bloody machine to swallow my card as it crashed spectacularly in error (Do ATM's run windows?). Looking back, i can now see the pattern of unfortunate turns, that did not bode well for a good weekend.

Ellis was good enough to shout me breakfast, and from our perch at the upstairs window of the cafe, we could see the clouds dropping and getting thicker. Not good! To commisserate our misfortune, we went downstairs to the gear shop and ogled at all the shiny climbing and camping gear. Ellis spotted Classic Rock, so we had a good dig through that, all pointing out classic climbs in our 'to do' list. So far, I am one climb down, 49 to go!

On reccomendation of the store manager, we decided to head out West in search of better weather, but still uncertain exactly where on the West coast to go. Neil was up for Reiff (another 2.5hrs away!), Ellis was keen for Glen Nevis, and I fancied Glen Coe, so it was decided to head to Fort William and see what the weather was like. At leas that way, we left our options open.

Lochaber was in great condition, with virtually no clouds in the sky, so we headed into Glen Nevis (Virgin territory for Ellis and me alike!). Neil showed up the start of the tourist track (which we both promised to avoid for our first ascent of the Ben), and then onwards to the Polldubh crags on the side of Carn Dearg. The guidebook pictures do the Glen a diservice, with buttresses littering the glen, and outcrops popping up all over the place. There was so much rock to look at, it was quite easy to lose your way in the trees. Despite this, Ellis found a lovely buttress in the centre of the South slope called Cavalry Crack Buttress, providing interesting multipitch climbing.

Arriving at the bottom, we were met by a greeting committee of bearded elderly climbers and the infamous Glen Nevis Midge. Much Skin So Soft was sprayed, but these buggers seem to be immune, and annoyed us until we got higher up the buttress. Ellis had a quick look at the guide book and decided upon a climb called Vampire (named after the midges?) graded HS. He lead on up a slabby arete, to a horizontal break and moved high above his last peice of gearm, across a desperately thin section of slab up to the Scots Pine tree that was the first belay stance.

Ellis about embark upon the crux slab on Vampire (pitch one), Hard Severe.

Me and Neil were getting eaten alive at this time, so i urged Neil to get a wriggle on, and he moved up to the final slab, where he nearly swore in frustration at the lack of anything substantial to climb on. Despite this, he made it up to Ellis and the belay ledge.

Neil, happy belaying Ellis, before he had to tackle the hard route.

I was desperate to get a move on (it was already 2 o'clock and i was getting eaten alive), so moved up the arete quickly, taking out Ellis's gear before reaching the final slab section. From the ground it looks easy, but once up close and personal, it was like a mirror, with minute imperfections for feet to smear on, and hairline diagonal cracks for hands (purely for stability). I looked around thinking there must be more than this, surely. It was only a Hard Severe after all!
I settled myself and committed to the move, thanking my shoes and the dry slab for not parting ways, before i reached the safety of a 'thank god' hold at the top.

My climb next, so we rearranged the belay and sorted gear whilst i located the direction of the next pitch. Up through a steep corner slab, with a rather large dose of exposure, then a diagonal traverse along fault lines and steps (this time with lots of exposure) and up to the final move up and through a diagonal off width chimney.

Me at the top of the initial tricky slab corner on pitch 2

It was only when i reached this final move, that i discovered how popular the route actually was, with the important final hold being polished like an ancient river worn pebble!!! All sense of climbing grace went out of the window, and i squirmed and slithered through the slot to the belay. Wow! what a great pitch, with an amazing view across the glen in to the heart of the Mamores.

2nd pitch of Vampire, looks blank, but adequate hold all the way up with significant exposure!

Neil came up next and enjoyed the pitch, with the combination of exposure and better holds appealing to him more than the first pitch. Ellis came up straight away, and was most impressed with the view.

The view from the 2nd belay

I rearranged the belay and Ellis lead on up the next pitch consisting of a section of easy and enjoyable slab climbing, before another hard section of delicate slab. Neil zoomed up and i followed up to the top, where we all soaked in the views and were impressed with the grand scale of things in the Glen.

Ellis heading up the 3rd pitch to the tricky finish slab

Glen Nevis in all it's Beauty

A quick walk down to the base of the buttress and were ready to go get food, but i enjoyed the climbing that much that i wanted one more lead. Right in front of us was a route called Heatwave (Mild Severe) that followed a natural and appealing line up a corner slab, with lovely steps all the way up to the first belay. I started up it and got through the inital highly polished section (seems most popular lines have polished starts here) and made fairly quick progress up the route, setting up the belay and bringing Neil up.

As i started to belay him, i noticed a body moving up the climb free of a rope. A bloody weegie climber had jumped infront of Neil and was soloing the route whilst Neil was at bottom. Not only was this anti-social but put both Neil and I at risk should he slip. Selfish bastard i thought as he approached my belay, where out of conscience i had to lower the rope for him to finish the route safely, meaning Neil was effectively of belay halfway up the climb!

He then proceeded to solo up the difficult corner slab right above me!!!! It was a hair rasing few minutes waiting for him to get upto the next belay and out of my way should he fall. Neil made it up easily, and we felt it was time to go, so we abbed off the nearby tree as the rest of Heatwave was a scrappy grassy gully.

On the way down Vampire, Ellis told us to look out for a nut that had been abandoned halfway up by a party after us. Apparently they got to the hard part and bottled it, leaving behind a nut and a cam. Unfortunately for us, the Idiot soloist had soloed up to the same point not long after them and hit the same hard patch, only to lose his nerve and down climb/slide down in an almost controlled fashion. Despite his apparent fear of falling, his tight wad Glaswegian nature would not let him leave a cam in the rock, and he lifted it on the way down. Bastard!

Anyway, i got the nut out, and we made our way back to the car, heading towards the wee inn at the foot of the Ben for some grub. It was heaving with people after the Race up the Ben, so we expected a long wait, but were pleasantly surprised by our food arriving 5 minutes after we ordered. Awesome service and great banter from the waitressess.

By this time it was getting late, and we still didn't know where were staying that night. A quick trip to Morrisons to use their conveniences, and to pick up last minute supplies (milk and water in Ellis's case, a bottle of single malt in Neil's). Fighting to beat dusk, we headed along Loch Linne and Ellis spotted an amazing promontory of land which looked excellent. It already had one tent up with two girls round a fire, so we bombed in, grabbed the tents and established base campi in ten minutes flat. Next thing was to get a fire going, so we made ourway along the shoreline looking for timber in the dark. Never a good idea after a few pints!

Not much later and we were surrounding a small but warm bonfire, finishing off the box of Tennents that Ellis had brought. Didn't last very long, so Neil got the whisky out. Mistake! We each had two small(ish) nips, and Neil noticed half the bottle had already gone. It was time to cut our losses and we got our bags out to sleep in the open. Neil's experience kicked in, so he crashed into his tent, leaving me and Ellis to sleep in the open air. After a few hours, Ellis had to answer a call of nature, and with the whisky having worn off, he saw sense and dive into my tent. I however, was hard as nails and slept in my bivvy bag, only to wake to a pounding headache around 7 am.

After pretending to myself i could fall back asleep, Ellis made it up and then Neil. Thankgod we didn't have mirrors, our faces would have no doubt broken them. Poor Neil was still recovering from the cold/flu, so he took the brunt of it, feeling like death warmed up. Me and Ellis just had pounding headaches, which we attributed to the day in the sun, lack of water, and copious beer intake. lesson learnt.

Mere mortals would have given in, but we were determined to get the best out of Sunday which was scheduled to be even better weather, but that story is for part 2. Stay tuned....

NEWS JUST IN!!!!!!!

Ellis informs me that he is now an Extreme climber. Turns out that he lead the Variation route of the first pitch of Vampire, graded at...

E1!!!!

Bloody Nutter!!!

Welldone Ellis

Dave the birthday boy!

Friday 29th Aug 2008:

Sport sport sport.

As a treat to our long suffering climbing mate Dave P, we agreed to head out sport climbing on friday to Kirriemuir. For regulars of this blog, you will know how i feel about sport, so Dave was lucky to drag Ellis, Phil and me to a sport venue, but he has been good enough to indulge our addiction for all things trad this summer, so i suppose it was time to return the favour.

I got stuck in traffic on the forfar road junction of the kingsway, so it was well after 6 before i made an appearance. Before long, we were all climbing, getting used to the unique rock at kirrie. Phil and i were about to start our route when he nudged me and guided my view towards Ellis who has just begun the route to our left. Something looked wrong but i couldn't for the life of me figure it out.

Only when he reached the bolt and moved to find a quickdraw on his harness, did we realise. Phil had all of Ellis's quickdraws from the last climb, and Ellis took a second to realise what was wrong, much to Phil's amusement.

Pushing on, both ropes started to step up the grades, working through two overhanging routes, then Phil and I moved left to finish on a high note, attacking a 6a+ (the name escapes me) with a squirmy and delicate initial move to an interesting overhang.

Ellis and Dave moved out right, cracking both of the harder routes that take the diverging lines up the prominent arete on the right hand edge of the mound.

After that, it was off to the pub in Forfar for celebratory drinks for Dave P's birthday. All in all a brilliant night, and i'm not afraid to admit it, but it was great to get back onto a sport route again, just concentrating on technique rather than the whole trad game. Don't get me wrong though, i won't be getting rid of my beard and wooly jumper any time soon!!!

3 star classic, this time Dunkeld.

Dave, Ellis and I headed upto Dunkeld on Sunday for another day of interesting climbing and banter, with the promise of Neil and Phil making an appearance sometime later in the day.

First thing first, get Dave on to Hard Severe ground, this time in the form of Beech Wall. He moved up through the first section with no real problems, then got to the crux, a 2.5m high 90 degree corner with a perfect example of a vertical layback crack up its centre line (think El cap in miniature...). The problem being is that someone has wedged a small cam in the only (obvious) handhold, causing the move to feel off balance slightly risky. Add to this, the damp nature of the climb, hidden so effectively from the sun and wind by it's namesake tree, and the crux move is a bit of a mental struggle, relying on trust in your feet, and the presence of good holds at the top of the move.

Dave worked through the problem, and disappeared from sight, moving up and left to the large flake belay at the end of pitch one of Kestrel crack. From here, he progressed up (now in the sunshine!) on to thin ground, with small but useful holds moving through the grassy bay and up to the final 5m of the climb (or so we thought...).

All the while, he was out of sight, and ear shot, so he was relying on the quick view of the guidebook he got down at the belay. Ellis and i began to wonder what was happening, so i moved out to see if i could see him, but his comical big red helmet was nowhere to be seen. After a few more minutes, i decided to make my way to the top to see if things were ok. After a slimy squirm up the descent gully, i made my way up to the belay ledge, only to see no Dave, but his ropes continuing up the hillside for another 10m or so, where i spotted Dave in a comfy little alcove, ready to belay. In his enthusiasm, he had overshot the belay, but made an extension to a nice route, and got a safe belay, so he brought Ellis up. Oh how we all laughed.

Now it was Ellis's turn, with his eyes turning to Carpetbeater, an HVS 5a at the east end of the crag. Once the gear was sorted and we had some grub, Ellis set off, working has way through the grotty start, then onto the airy traverse section, placing gear at regular gaps to ensure the safety of the 2nd (me AND dave this time). Once through the traverse, he worked up to the crux, felt around for the best foot and hand holds, then moved up and placed a stonking size 3.5 cam just a the lip of the crux move. FEW!!! it really is a confidence boost to have that there.

Moving up to check out the holds, and secure the sequence in his head Ellis was concentrating hard, and i grabbed his camera to get a few pics of him pushing through the crux section, with some of them coming out well. A final dusting of the fingers, and Ellis attacked the crux, moving through it with confidence before settling on the slab above the crux. Despite facing away from us, Dave i both knew Ellis would be grinning like the proverbial cheshire cat (and rightly so). From there, the climb degenerates into a vegetated scramble, before reaching a stonking tree belay.

Before we knew it, it was our turn to climb, with Dave going up first, finding the traverse interesting, but with little to trouble him at the crux. Then it was me. I knew the sequence (having done it before), so the traverse posed no real problem apart from retrieving the gear. One climb up to examine the holds and the sequence, then i was up over the crux and scrambling through the brambles to the top.

After some more food and a move along the crag, i felt i needed to crack another 3 star classic, this time 'The Groove', a VS 5a. It looks intimidating, but is a well balanced and interesting climb. Once at the first overhang, it's a bit of a challenging and intimidating move up and over to the in situ peg, before heading up the crackline to a patch of grass. From here i progressed left on small hand holds, but reasuring foot holds for 5m, all the while with out any serious means of protecting a fall.

From a position of comfort, i was forced upwards and even further from protection to the next decent nut placement. Few... moving up and right, the move seems off balance, and with a questionable right hand crimp, i forced my feet to stick to the rock, allowing me to reach out right for a lovely but distant flake. Few, again...

From this point, the climb changes completely, relying on discrete but secure flake pockets, presenting comfortable and highly enjoyable climbing right to the top, before a long stretch to the final hold, a dreaded sloper, fortunately accompanied by a nice ledge to the side. WOW, what an interesting climb!

Once the belay was up and running, Ellis zoomed up it, having lead it clean onsight a few months ago. I tied him off on the edge of the cliff so he could get some pics with his papparazzi-esque telephoto lense. Dave started up the climb, moving up through the first overhang, with Ellis ready to catch the moment he appeared, only to witness his camera die the death of a low battery. Dam it!!! Poor Dave would have no photos of him on the best route of the crag. I felt a bit guilty as i had taken loads of photos of Ellis on Carpetbeater, hence the wasted battery....

No matter, Dave made his way up and was at the top in no time, only to be greeted by two crazed and smiling wooly jumper wearing trad monsters. Poor guy, he has to deal with me and Ellis's obsession with 'real' climbing, but it's all in the best possible of taste :o)

We caught up with Neil and his mate Dave, and found out Neil had bagged an HVS called Poison Ivy. He really is a dark horse!

Off to the pub for a drink, where we were enjoying a pint of our summer tipple (Five pints of tuborg Barkeep!), before the quiet was ruined by a loud crash. It was only a bloody road accident, 15yds from our table!!! A young lad had jumped out into the road on his bike in front of a touring van. Thankfully the driver had sharp reflexes, and slammed on the breaks, only hitting the rear end of the bike, but with enough force to throw the boy onto the bonnet then to the ground.

Despite this, he got straight up and was ok, just a few grazes. We went back to our beers and hoped he realised how lucky he was!

Neil and Dave (his mate) left to go home, and me and Ellis and Dave P got a chippy and sat spinning the shit on the banks of the silvery tay for half an hour before going home. All in all, a really great day, one that i will remember for a while.

cheers guys!

3 star Cairngorm classic!

Sat 16th Aug 2008:

Cairngorm Classic!!!!!

I'm just in from a big day in the cairngorms, and am knackered but felt i should write this whilst the memory is still sharp.

Neil picked me up this morning at 0700hrs, and we headed up the A9 to the Northern corries for a day out, with the intention for the day being to tackle the 3 star cairngorm classic, Savage Slit (Sev). Only me an Neil made it, with others calling off, heading down south for better weather, or family commitments, but despite this, i was keen to give it a go.

The weather forecast promised clear skies by the afternoon, improving as the day went on, and with the weather at the ski car park upon our arrival, i was hopeful for an accurate forecast, as the clouds were low, and the wind gusting.

Despite that, we made our way into Coire an Lochain, and followed the well worn path along to the locahns in the bottom of the corrie, all the way in, watched over by the imposing and seemingly overhanging cliffs, guarding the south end of the corrie.
The imposing cliffs of coire an Lochain.

It was at this time, that Neil was having second thoughts about letting me drag him 100 miles up the country for what seemed a crazy and committing climb on some serious territory. He did well not to let me know what he was thinking, but internally i was having doubts about the climb as well, possibly a mix of the imposing nature of the climb, and the less than ideal weather (gusting up to 50mph at that point of the approach).

Despite this, we made our way past the lochs, and sat down in a sheltered spot to have lunch and recce the rest of the corrie, our noses buried in the guide book. After lunch, we decided that as we had already come this far, we might as well head up the hill and look the climb straight in the eye.

Once at the bottom of Savage slit, it is an imposing, but highly attractive natural line up the slightly less than vertical east facing wall of No 4 buttress. At this point, we were joined by two other keen climbers with the same route in mind.

Savage Slit follows the dark crack on the left of the corner line.

I lead up first, with cold and stiff hands, not entirely convinced about the less than brilliant hand holds, but impressed by the high friction of the rough pink granite. I continued up, finding nice ledges for feet, but little good holds for hands (that were frozen by then!), and at one point got a rather alarming case of the hot aches as i shook my hands out and blew warm air onto them. Never a good thing on a route with amazing exposure. At this point, i was seriously asking what i had got myself into. I was only 20 m up the 100 or so metres of the route, and i was already having second thoughts. The only thing that drove me on was the sight of the belay stance (a lovely large ledge). Easy climbing lead up to it, and before he knew it, Neil was on belay and i was shouting for him to climb.
My belay after first pitch, with 2nd pitch behind me (eeek!)

Little did he tell me, but at this point he was starting to ask him self what I had got him into (seems to be a recurring theme with my climbing buds!)

Neil just of ground on pitch 1, thinking "what am i doing here?!!!"

After 10 mins, neil was up at the belay and my well laid out stance helped us to transfer the gear and switch belay in record time. Upwards and onwards, through the chimney, then back onto the face, with slightly more confidence, and some better hand holds, i was beginning to revel in the exposure, and soaked up the experience. The sun made a welcome appearance, boosting my confidence as the wind dropped and the clouds parted to give an awe inspiring view down the corrie and off to Glenmore and Loch Morlich.

Soon enough i was at the end of pitch two, and with some sadness realised that the best of the climbing was over, with only a crappy scramble to the top. Neil came up with relative ease, and posed at the large ledge for an amazing photo op. Well done that man!Neil topping out on pitch 2 (with No 3 buttress behind)

We sat for 5 minutes and enjoyed the views, seeing cairngorm, the ptarmigan, the fiaccl ridge, the ski centre, and loch morlich surrounded by glenmore forest, and recalled our favourite bits of the climb. What an experience!

All that was left was to head up to the summit and bring Neil up through the grotty and lose gulley. Not a fitting end to such an amazing climb!

We stood on the summit and soaked in the views, and watched the patchy clouds scud past only feet above our heads. After a few stops to enjoy the views, we made our way down the fiaccl ridge, and rejoined the path in t'sneachda before racing down to the car, making it in record time.

The view from the top.

The short ride into Glenmore Lodge was a welcome stop for a pint, then off to Aviemore for some food. All in all an amazing day, and both of us freely admit that we went way outside of our relative comfort zones, but we both dealt with the pressure and the exposure well, and came out of it better for the experience.

Thanks Neil, it's a day i know i wont forget in a while, hope you won't either...

Katie and Morag, nice pair!

With the sun out, i felt i was obliged to climb today, what with the very intermittent nature of sunshine in our part of the country this summer, so i met Mel at Dunkeld for an afternoons climbing. The weather was glorious, so i wanted to do an on sight of something new.

As a warm up, Mel and I did the classic Twisted rib (V diff), with Mel leading pitch one, and me the airy traverse, then slab up to the belay. It was lovely in the sun, and i was glad to be out with a good friend in great surroundings and with the sun on my back!

We had a wee bite to eat, then i lead the first pitch of Katie Morag's First steps (MildVS). It is a lovely route that runs to the right of Kestrel crack, and has a few airy steps at the crux, but plenty of gear. We split it in two so mel could lead the 2nd half, and i belayed from the flake next to the belay point halfway up Kestrel Crack. Mel came up with ease, then moved onto the 2nd pitch. It was a bit of an anticlimax from the first pitch, but Mel did bloody well on some really scrappy ground, and made her way through small trees, bushes and ferns, to emerge victorious at the top of the crag before bringing me up.

All in all a nice day in wonderful settings.

Going back up Tuesday night with Dave to get him leading a wee bit harder. Results later...