So after the 'easy' day yesterday I headed out west with Martin to climb on Stac Pollaidh. As we drove west I got a little worried about two things, Martin mentioning climbing some E4's..... and the lack of wind and possible midge-geddon.
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| There she blows |
At the carpark the midges were very bad, but as we walked in to the crag there was a little breeze which mainly kept them at bay. The walk in reminded me of Gimmer in the Lakes, about an hour up hill.
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| Looking for the bat route! |
Luckily we didn't have to climb any E4's on this trip but climbed the brilliant November Grooves (VS), which was roughly 100m of great climbing even though the pictures from one pitch makes it look very vegetated. There was lots of bridging and a few muscular moves.
The second 100m route we did, 'Release the Bats' was also great. The same grade at VS, but much easier. It went over a few gendarmes, and we caught up and nearly overtook a party who had got stuck ropes and been on the route all day (it only took us 1 hour!)!
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| bridge to freedom |
The second to last pitch was great, popping out onto a rounded gendarme, following the ridge, before having to carefully down climb off the far end using just friction, and no gear on the whole pitch really... great fun.
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| A fine setting |
My legs were spent the day after, but definitely worth it and I really want to go back for 'Jack the Ripper, a classic E1.
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