Saturday, 5 December 2009
Stumbling around at Stronachlachlar
Bit of a mouthful eh. Popped out for a quick boulder the other day. In the abscence of a vaguely useful climbing scene in Scotland I'm trying to get to grips with the local bouldering. This first taster (apart from the mighty Dumby of course) was not the most encouraging: "local" translates to "an hour and a half's solid drive" and "bouldering" translates to "staggering around a frozen boggy hillside feeling sick and dizzy with exhaustion to discover that the two great lines at this supposed 'ideal in winter suntrap' are both seeping like a squid's snatch".
On the plus side, the hillwalking was tiring enough that I didn't need to go for a run, and the two classic lines looked cool and worth coming back for. Also, I managed a cool, classic V1. According to the guide it's Font 5 which is vague at the best of times (not least that Font 5 slabs are invariably harder than E4 6a slabs or Font 7as of a different style), but apparently roughly translates to V1 or English 5a. Hmmm. If I was pootling up an HVS 5a and found this at the crux, I would be somewhat perturbed...
...no posing, I was struggling to hang on!
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2 comments:
that's Boomer Font 5+ maybe, good wee dyno
Stron would be over your wellies at the minute...give it a chance after a long dry spell in spring, the Long boulder is worthwhile though it prob. needs a civic clean
no free lunches in Scottish bouldering!
Stronachlachlar ain't too bad, some of the boulders need a bit of hunting out though. Don't think they get alot of traffic, but Toy Soldiers v4, and Pimp with a Limp, V5, are quality problems. December and January are dark times for Scottish climbing, best to get yourself some axes and get into the hills.. Cheers
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