Petestack Blog

Some more trouble with my aching and increasingly strange-looking fingers (see July’s Upside-down post) and I’m thinking maybe it’s time to seek a professional opinion. So I took them to Chris Ellis today, with the result being confirmation of my suspicion that they’re getting arthritic. Probably, given the amount of climbing I’m doing and non-continuous nature of my climbing past, exacerbated (rather than caused) by climbing. And probably also therefore (to quote/paraphrase Chris) ‘involving an element of bad luck’.

So Chris pointed me at some useful material on the web, we discussed the implications and I came home happy enough to have a definite diagnosis ruling out the kinds of other finger injuries that could prove more instantly traumatic when climbing. Because, let’s be quite clear about this, it doesn’t mean no more climbing although it might well affect route choice (think I’m possibly already over-gripping on the kind of steeper, more fingery routes I’m looking to improve on) and how I manage it. And probably isn’t great news long term for either my hobbies or my day job.

That said, you know where I’m heading tonight?

(Clue, two words, something like cl*mb*ng w*ll!)

:-/

With the thoroughly deserved but all-too-short little Indian summer that followed weeks of rain looking like it might just last into this weekend, switching the Polldubh Club‘s second weekend meet from some lowland outcrops to the stunning north-west setting of Torridon seemed like a good bet. But the weather was already on the turn, and only Johnny MacLeod, Ed & Rona Grindley and I made it north in the end.

Since Saturday was compromised by regular showers and fresh, cold winds, Seana Mheallan proved to be the wrong choice of venue for Johnny and me. So, while it didn’t take long to identify The Deerstalker (VS) and Route with a View (HVS) as more amenable targets than Dave MacLeod’s recent Kolus, Kelvinator and Present Tense (E8 6c, E8 6c and E9 7a respectively!), we ended up retreating (without doing them) to the pleasant Inveralligin Sea Cliffs, where we soloed a number of easier routes with Johnny taking on some interesting-looking Severes including Post-Op on The Skull buttress and me sticking to the V Diffs and below.

An interesting evening’s entertainment followed, with Ed and Rona arriving at the Torridon campsite minutes after we left it to look for them and both parties heading to Shieldaig on hunches to look for each other before finally meeting up at The Torridon Inn for a good dinner, drinks and chat.

And so to today, when we all headed for the glorious gneiss outcrops at Diabaig to climb the impeccable HVS Route Two some 34 years after Ed made the first ascent with Allan Austin. An absolutely brilliant, sustained 75m trip taking the obvious line up the centre of this superb crag, with a steeply exciting first pitch giving way to a slightly more slabby second that’s more my ‘style’ and I’m now thinking I could/should have led. So it rained first thing and it rained later, but we got the breaks, snatched the prize and surely all had a good day out!

Today I was climbing with Johnny at Polldubh, where we also had the good fortune to bump into Ed and Rona.

First up was my personal bogey route of Damnation (VS), which I first seconded (without drama) back in 1990 but have been falling off on the lead ever since (NB I exaggerate, because today’s single fall only means that I’ve fallen off it three times out of three when leading)! And I basically had it, with both hands on the crucial block above the overhang and my feet in the right place, before effectively just letting go for a silly fall and cruising it second go. So is it still my bogey route? Who knows, but probably not because I really shouldn’t have come off at all today and redemption is hopefully at hand ‘next time’…

After that Johnny led Maintenance on Pine Wall Crag, which goes at a soft HVS 5a (it’s really just 4c and probably just VS) and had been a target of mine for some time. And then we did a possible new route at about Diff (or maybe just V Diff) that Johnny’s been cleaning and might or might not have something to do with the rarely-climbed Dead Pine or Why (on which note, the jury’s still out after checking the original 1970 Schwartz/Wright guide and 1978 Schwartz follow-up). At which point we met Ed and Rona on their way to attempt a new route Ed’s been cleaning up on Black’s Buttress, and were invited to join them.

So, while Ed finished the cleaning, Johnny led Ed’s recent Seven Fours (a really good route!) to the left of Shergar at E1 5a and I led the excellent (once you’ve got off the ground and past the weep that could just explain its name) VS Crybaby before we all followed Ed up his new E3 5c with various degrees of style of which none (especially mine) came close to the poise necessary for Ed to lead this serious route in the first place. So do I feel I’ve really even seconded E3? Nope, I wouldn’t claim that but, in spite of frigging things a little, I seem to have made my first 5c moves (along with some sustained 5b) without undue drama, and am still happy to have been included in the fun! :-)

Before signing off for this post, I must say what a difference the recent tree felling has made to the Alp area (SW, Pine Wall and Styx Buttress) and how nice it is to be able to see all the routes on all the crags. So well done to all involved with that.

I’ve got my brother Angus here at the moment to do some climbing and, in spite of having to work round some pretty uncooperative weather, we’ve managed to get some good stuff done.

Last Tuesday we bought him some new rock shoes because he’s recovering from a nasty cut to his heel (of which more anon) and the pair he bought at Easter left no room for dressings and tape. So, after a quick trial at the Ice Factor that day, we headed for Aonach Dubh on Wednesday with thoughts of Eve’s Arete and Quiver Rib, but finally did Lower Bow and Quiver Rib (a slower repeat of my July solo expedition) after finding both Eve’s Arete and Rowan Tree Wall too wet to appeal as attractive routes to the Terrace.

With Thursday’s forecast looking much better, we planned to do Spartan Slab on the Etive Slabs, but nearly lost the chance after an unexpectedly rainy morning. However, it brightened up eventually and we thought it worth a look, so set off in the afternoon. A good call, because the main sweep of slabs was mostly dry (although the lower right-hand slabs were soaking) and we had the crag to ourselves. Have to say I found the overlap harder than I remembered from having led it twice before many years ago, and poor Angus had to finish that third pitch in a shower that had us briefly thinking we’d have to be abbing off, but the rain relented again and we were able to complete the climb with no further ‘moments’ beyond crossing a treacherous weep on the fifth pitch. All in all, a great day snatched from the weather (carpe diem) and a fitting route for Angus’s birthday!

A curious Friday afternoon of sunshine and occasional showers saw us at Polldubh, where Angus led the Gutter (his first lead on rock) and my headache (maybe dehydration-induced?) and general lack of enthusiasm saw me fail to tackle anything. But Saturday was properly wet, and a planned ascent of Observatory Ridge on Ben Nevis with Rich and Jamie H turned into an almost viewless ascent of Ledge Route and traverse of the Carn Mor Dearg Arete. So that’s the second time Angus has done Ledge Route (we did it together in March 2000), the second time he’s summited the Ben and the second time he’s seen sod all from the top. However, the saga of his troubling heel took an interesting turn for the better on Sunday morning when he pulled a 10mm sliver of glass (which had been there for three weeks and missed by two doctors) from the cut!

After a quiet Sunday at home when it rained, we got some stuff done about the house, lifted the mast down from the boat and discovered that the inside of said boat was in a terrible state, we headed for Skye early yesterday morning in the hope that the apparent agreement of several forecasts showing a good day in the North-West might actually mean something. So it was a gamble, with the Cuillin still invisible in cloud as we arrived and Sron na Ciche visibly drying before our eyes as the cloud cleared and we started up the crag, but a gamble worth taking as we had a great day on the great classic VS Shangri-la, which has been near the top of my ‘hit list’ for a *long* time. And I’d have to say I thought it was quite hard (although some short sections were also still quite wet) and fully agree with everyone who’s said the final pitch is ‘nails’ for the grade (on which note I’d say go expecting steep, strenuous 5a and regard it as a bonus if you find it easier). We met just one other pair of climbers (who topped out almost simultaneously from Integrity after approaching it via Cioch West and Cioch Nose) but probably had the cliff to ourselves apart from that. And, with spectacular views to the Small Isles and Outer Isles in glowing evening sunlight as we descended south-west from Sron na Ciche to pick up the path from Coir a’ Ghrunnda to Glen Brittle, it was worth all the effort of a long, long day from Kinlochleven (where it’s raining again on Tuesday!).

Tonight I was climbing with Al Halewood on Scimitar Buttress at Polldubh, where we did Nutcracker Chimney (steeply awkward HS 4b, and Al’s lead because I’d done it before… in 1990!) and Diagonal Crack (simply steep VS 4c, and my lead).

Now, Al’s already got a very prompt report with some photos up on his blog, but what he doesn’t tell you is that I fell off Diagonal. And quite spectacularly after building myself a nice little nest of gear at the crux (so did I really call down ‘sorry about the gearfest’?), latching the last big hold of the last real move above that, finding that my hand just didn’t want to stay where I’d put it, catching a leg in the ropes and being unceremoniously flipped to take the first upside-down fall of my life (beautifully fielded by Al)! After which I got straight back on it and finished it somewhat more stylishly in the full knowledge that the move I fell from wasn’t even that hard…

So perhaps I might add that I’ve been having a bit of finger/hand trouble recently (RSI, arthritis, whatever, I don’t know) and consequently finding my grip suspect from time to time, but I’m also aware that I’ve caught the rope below me round a leg before and need to watch that in future. On the plus side, while it’s naturally deflating to take the fall at a grade that’s technically quite straightforward, it’s almost liberating (when I hate falling at all at all) to know that I can take a fall like that onto good gear from steep routes without getting hurt when feeling better about that might (strangely enough) help me to stay on next time!