It’s been an uncharacteristically miserable start to May, but things are looking better with what appears to be a drier spell starting yesterday…
Saturday was just plain wet, so our ‘outdoor’ children’s session at Polldubh (starting with an optimistic, but uncancelled, morning rendezvous up Glen Nevis) was promptly brought indoors to the Ice Factor. But Guy, Lorenzo and I still managed to cook up an ‘indoor outdoor’ session for the kids, setting up and running releasable abseils, teaching some belay building and generally providing something a bit different for them as well as more helpful to me with the SPA Assessment getting closer.
Saturday evening saw Jamie Bankhead and me heading for Ullapool in the expectation (or just hope?) of a fine north-west Sunday and, despite some lingering rain on the drive up and not quite dry roads in the morning, we were rewarded with what we sought. So we hastened to the fine sandstone sea cliffs at Reiff, skipping the popular climbs (and supposedly obligatory solo of the V Diff Moonjelly) closest to the road since there was a heavy swell breaking halfway up the crag, and fetching up at the more sheltered Seal Song area. Where we soloed up and down Guttersnipe (Diff) before climbing Overhanging Crack (Severe, and Jamie’s lead), Moody Blues (VS, my lead, and definitely worth the two stars and ‘superb’ awarded by Gary Latter over the SMC’s failure to highlight it at all!) and The Grateful Dead (Severe, and back to Jamie). After which we moved on to the Pooh Cliff, where I led Sticky Fingers (short ‘two star’ VS, but not as good as Moody Blues) and Jamie led The Ramp (Severe) before finishing at the Minch Wall. And here I got well and truly spanked (or maybe hanged?) by Judicial Hanging (HVS 5b according to SMC and VS 5a, which it’s not, in Latter), a nice-looking crack line with a baffling boulder problem start. So I managed to get into a few weird and wonderful positions including lying down (yes, I know, but it was a ‘no hands rest’!) in the slot between the undercut lower slab/wall and crack above, but failed every time to pull through into the crack. Could still be HVS 5b with some nifty trick move that I just couldn’t work out, but could equally be a rare VS 5c (have to say that because I should have been able to get it if it’s 5b!) because it’s just that sort of route.
The photos show John Bull from Macclesfield and Martin Silcock from Northampton (our only company all day!) on Moody Blues (the corner crack taking two steep steps and more airy ramp above), with the parallel line of Overhanging Crack obvious to the left and below.
And so to another scheduled outdoor children’s session at the Onich Slabs this afternoon, when Chuck, Ben and I took a group of eight younger kids abseiling and top-roping after school. The weather was fine and the venue right (apart from a desperately muddy descent/ascent path brought into the equation by some overawed children backing out of abseil or lowered descents), so it’s nice to be able to report that even the most nervous enjoyed some climbing in the end. Now hoping the weather plays ball for another session scheduled for a slightly older age group on Thursday because they’re not likely to need quite so much coaxing (if any!) to get them going. :-)