Three Ridges...The Hags Tooth..Howling Ridge..Benkeeragh Ridge

Last Wednesday, just a week after coming home from four very enjoyable days hiking and camping on the mountains of the Lake District, I decided to take advantage of a great weather spell and I headed for my normal stomping ground, the Magillycuddy Reeks.
Sometimes you have to go away to really appreciate just what you have at home. Wednesday was a case in point because as I walked into the Hags Glen from Cronin's Yard I was struck anew by the beauty of the area and I realised that, while undeniably beautiful, the Lake District didn't have anything as wonderfully rugged and spectacular as what lay before me. The Hags Glen and the encompassing amphitheatre of seven 3000 foot peaks is inspiring and impressive and on a stellar morning such as I had  there can be few finer sights on these islands. I was also really looking forward to my outing as I had decided to climb Howling Ridge so I could get my hands on some quality rock.

Excellent scrambling heading towards The Hags Tooth

Airy Top

Carrauntoohil and its ridges

I have been on a health kick for the past month and I had lost a stone in weight and I was feeling the benefits of that as I walked in. When the impressive Hags Tooth came into view I decided I would climb that as well as it is easy to link it with an ascent of Howling. After crossing the stream I veered right and climbed the many rock steps that lead to the Tooth. Some are straight forward and some are bloody difficult and it would be an easy thing to get into a bit of bother on them. Exiting at the top of some can be particularly awkward. Still any difficulty is easily avoided until you reach the more sustained stuff on the tooth itself. Now some exposed scrambling presents itself but when the rock is as dry and grippy as today it presents no difficulty. I soon arrived at the tiny little top and after a brief enjoyment of my situation I dropped to the western side and descended the steep but straight forward gully to reach the first level of Coumeenoughter.

Quality rock steps..Stick to the crest.

Next comes the climb to reach the Heavenly Gates, where I turned and started up Howling. What a joy it was to enjoy steep exposed but easy rock steps that lead ever upwards to ever more spectacular ground. I must say that the exposure never bothers me when I'm here as I tend to concentrate on the climbing and movement more than anything else. It is absorbing but never difficult and today when options presented themselves I took the harder and most direct lines I could and revelled in feeling strong. This route is graded at VDiff, but lets just say, I have climbed harder at this grade. Nevertheless it is very enjoyable and gives one the feel of a proper mountain route. It is however all too short and after just 27 minutes I was past the difficulties and I climbed the steep easy ground to reach the summit of Carrauntoohil. Sitting, enjoying my lunch in the warm windless afternoon, was a simple joy and it was nice to feel that I had done something worthy with my morning. Next came the always enjoyable grade 1 scramble across to Benkeeragh and a descent over Knockbrinnea completed the day. It felt quite warm when I got back to the valley floor and it was a relief to have a long drink back at the car. When the sun shines there is little to beat these mountains.

On the Benkeeragh Ridge

Trying To Rockclimb In Snowdonia

It's been a difficult time lately but with my good wifes blessing I headed across the Irish Sea for a few days in wonderful Snowdonia. I had been in contact with a guy on UKC (Nicholas Marriott) and we agreed to hook up for a few days with the aim of getting some easy rock routes done. I have been doing precious little in the way of technical climbing in recent years and I'm afraid the proverbial chickens came home to roost on this trip.

Saturday May 20th;

I travelled on the overnight ferry out of Dublin and using the excellent public transport links I arrived in Capel Curig at 9am. The dodgy weather forecast was proving accurate and I just managed to get my tent up in the basic but nicely situated Bryn Tyrch Farm campsite before the rain started in earnest and it was an easy choice to make to snuggle down and catch up on some much needed sleep. I awoke at 14.00 and once I saw that the day was much improved I had a bite to eat and decided to climb the nearby, elegant mountain Moel Siabod 875mtrs. The beauty of this campsite is that you can do several hikes directly from your tent. I walked through the hamlet of Capel Curig with its couple of shops and a few houses and on until I passed the outdoor education centre and crossed over the river and entered the pleasant woods. From there I followed the well made track that rises easily up the gradual slope. The woodland section doesn't last long and soon I was out traversing open slopes and enjoying more expansive views. I was feeling good and as I was only carrying a light bag I made good progress. I only paused to take a few photographs and I reached the blustery and chilly summit at 16.20 just one hour twenty minutes after setting off. I donned some warming clothes and after a brief rest I opted to descend via the Daear Ddu ridge which made for a pleasant excursion into the wilder east side of the mountain. Once down in Cwm y Foel things become a bit of a bogfest but once you exit the Cwm a good track once again leads down to Pont y Cyfyng nestling in the woods below. The weather was really nice now and it was a joy to gambol easily down and bask in the beauty of this special place. Once down to the road I took the beautiful woodland trail that follows the riverbank  and returned to Plas y Brenin and back to my tent. It was just seven pm so after approximately 12 kilometres and 750mtrs of ascent I was ready for dinner. I met briefly with Nicholas and we agreed to meet in a nearby cafe tomorrow morning at 9am when we would see what the weather brought and decide then what to aim for.

The elegant Moel Siabod soars above beautiful woodland

Towards the Snowdon Horseshoe from near Plas y Brenin

The hills that gradually get higher and stretch to Carnedd Llewellin

Tryfan makes an appearance

Wonderful summit views

Looking towards the Rhinogs

Looking north from the summit

Sunday May 21st

It rained most of the night and early morning and at 8am we decided to postpone our meeting until 10am. The weather was now dry and showing signs of getting better and another text from Nicholas confirmed that the forecast was quite good so we hooked up at 9.10 and decided to head for Pinnacle Rib on Tryfan. This would entail a bit of a hike up to the base of the route and we were hopeful that the rock would be dry by the time we got there. We arrived at a fairly quiet parking area and were underway by 10am. The path climb steeply from the start and Nicholas set a stiff pace that had me regretting my offer to carry the rope😊. As we rose higher so did the chilly wind and by the time we were up on the "Heather Terrace" I was in no doubt but that this would be a bracing outing. We went too far initially and had to retrace our steps until we reached our route on the right side of a grassy bay. The route is 164mtrs long and is graded as either Diff or VDiff depending on where you look but I was confident that it should be comfortably within my compass. That said, as I stood at the base of the climb and saw the occasional runnels of water on the rock my enthusiasm waned so I asked Nicholas to lead off.

Looking up pitch 1 of Pinnacle Rib

Now I should say at this point that Nicholas climbs at a much higher level than I ever have and leads climbs in the E grades and this was pretty obvious as soon as he set off. He made light work of the start until the initial groove ends and the exit proved problematic. Damp rock and shoes certainly didn't help but he was soon up and over and at the belay. Now there was nothing for it but to follow on. It was pretty much as I feared and as I got into the meat of the climbing my confidence in the grippyness of the rock pretty much evaporated as quickly as my fingers became numb. Bollocks to it. It really shouldn't feel this hard even if I have done little or no climbing of late...should it?. Reaching the belay my appetite for leading was long gone and I was only too happy to let Nicholas continue at the van. While belaying him on the second pitch I even got a slight dose of the "hot aches", its May for Christs sakes. Anyway the route continued in the same vein and by the time we reached the base of Thomsons Chimney, a short Severe pitch I opted to give it a miss and we walked to the summit. As promised the weather had continued to improve and by the time we were descended the gully on the west face it was sunny and warm out of the breeze. We were heading for Milestone Buttress as Nicholas suggested we do a route or two there so I could get some leading done on one of the easier routes. It was warm and sunny as we approached the crag which was fairly busy by the time we got there. I was also surprisingly exhausted and I really couldn't face more climbing so Nicholas graciously accepted that we head home.I'm not sure if it was lack of sleep or mental fatigue or a combination of both but I have seldom been as tired after a relatively short day. I retired early to my tent and wondered what tomorrow would bring.

View from by my tent

Monday May 22nd;

It was a cloudy but dry morning when I got up at 07.30 but suddenly it seemed out of nowhere a shower of rain arrived and it appeared that climbing might be off the menu, but it stopped quickly and  the cloud lifted more and we were good to go. Nicholas has an injured right foot with soreness in some small bones towards the front of the foot and the long descent from Tryfan had aggravated it. He therefore was anxious to avoid any long walk ins to any route so he suggested that we head to Tremadog this morning. Now, I'd heard the name and knew it was a rock climbing venue but that was the extent of my knowledge so Nicholas filled me in en route with the details. It is an extensive collection of crags sitting just above a road behind some mature woods. To reach the base of the cliffs you have to do a short steep climb through the trees and its not a place to turn up without a guidebook as it would be impossible to find routes otherwise. Across the road there is a little campsite and the Eric Jones Cafe where ample parking (for a small fee) is available and it reminded me a little of being in Servoz near Chamonix. Eric Jones is a climber of some renown and also ventured into skydiving. Pictures of his exploits adorn the inside of the cafe. One picture in particular caught my eye, of a base-jumper perched on the top of a skyscraper, in a squatting position and tilting over just past the point of no return. It looked amazing 😨.

Some of the crags at Tremadog

Thankfully Nicholas had all the necessary guidebooks and he suggested we do Hail Bebe 68mtr VDiff. We found the base of the route and we geared up and today I opted to do some leading and I set off up the first pitch. This has a sloping niche near the start and it made for a tight squeeze for me as I squirmed into and up it and exited near its top and then up to the nearby belay. It was a short pitch and nothing too taxing but I always feel better when I'm leading and I was enjoying myself much more today. Nicholas led the second pitch which traverses left on a grassy ledge before rising to the next belay. The top two pitches are great and I led the next one which offers steep sustained climbing for twenty meters which I again really enjoyed. The final pitch has a delicate traverse on a flake before climbing a nose to the top of the crag. Again it was great. I totally enjoyed the climb and I was now hungry for more. We abseiled down the crag from an in situ point and went in search of the next climb.

Pitch one of Christmas Curry

This time Nicholas suggested the nearby route Christmas Curry (Severe) and by doing the Micah Eliminate finish this would make the outing Hard Severe. I was pretty confident again and looking forward to it. I led up the short easy first pitch and Nicholas led the second. I'm sorry now that I didn't take up his offer to lead this pitch as well as I think I would really have enjoyed it as it made an exposed rising traverse of the rockface until it reached a good ledge belay. Now the climb became steeper and tougher and Nicholas led up. I must say that it all looked a bit desperate to me and any confidence I had gained from the climbing thus far was fast evaporating and once my turn came to climb I was dreading it. It turned out to be pretty much as tough as it looked and I was struggling big time to get up the route. I realized that my lack of any real climbing these past years had finally taken its toll and I was seriously out of condition. I did get up the route but I was a nervous wreck by the time I reached the top and I was ready for a lunch break in the cafe.
After a nice bite to eat Nicholas suggested Poor Mans Peuterey a route a couple of hundred meters further west along the crag and graded at Severe. We found the base of the route and Nicholas led up the first pitch. It was a steep slightly greasy looking start which looked quite tough to my eyes but I gave it a go. I started up and only a few moves in I was startled when the fingers in my right hand suddenly spasmed and folded into my palm. My left hand was also inclined to cramp up and I realized that I was in a bit of bother. I called up to Nicholas and informed him what was happening and we decided that I would try to climb up to the belay. I literally straightened out my fingers and they actually worked okay for the rest of the way up. By the time I got to the belay they felt all right but we decided to abseil back down as it would have been more of a problem to retreat from higher up. So it was a rather ignominious retreat and meant the end of climbing for the day. We decided to meet again the following morning and see what that day would bring.

Pitch one of Poor mans Peuterey

Tuesday May 23rd;

It came as something of a relief to get a text from Nicholas to let me know he would not be climbing today as he wanted to rest his sore foot. When I got up I had aches in muscles that had been little used in far too long and the probability was that I would have been rubbish on rock anyway. He had another week to get quality climbing done and I could only feel sorry that I was less than a good partner for him. Despite the good forecast I decided to forego a hike and left straight away for the return journey home. One positive about the trip was that I got a timely wake up call about my physical conditioning and I am resolved to do something about it. I have been doing more hiking than anything in recent times and I plan to continue with that but I'm not ready to throw in the towel with regards to climbing either. Of course it is always a joy to visit Snowdonia and it looked particularly good just now with the trees newly in leaf and bluebells still carpeting the ground in places. It was my first time driving the road to Tremadog and the wonderful scenery gave me ideas for further outings in the future. There is definitely more to the area than just the 3000ers. Meanwhile the kettlebell has been dusted off. Training has commenced.☺

The Hags Glen Horseshoe Including Alohart and Howling Ridge Plus Rockclimbing at Knockadoon

Last weekend was a good weekend. The weather was good and I was determined to make the most of it.

Always a great sight

Saturday April 8th;

I went back to The Reeks on Saturday morning and decided to do the Hags Glen Horseshoe. This gives a fine outing of perhaps 15kilometers in length and 1600mtrs of ascent. I was feeling quite strong this morning for the first time in a while (I had had a virus a few weeks previously) and it was such a pleasure to be out and about. I decided to include the lovely area of Alohart in my day and this adds about an extra kilometer to the outing but offers a more pleasurable way to the airy top of Cruach Mhor and avoids the slog of the "normal" route. The skies to the west were mostly blue and some cloud clung to the eastern tops as I walked in but I was hopeful that things would clear up as the day wore on. The walk across the boggy ground towards Alohart goes on a fair while but once you enter the glen the climb up the wide gully to the saddle between Cnoc na Bhraca and Cruach Mhor soon passes and once there you turn to climb the pleasant ridge towards the 932mtr summit. The strength of the wind when I  reached the ridge came as something of a surprise and it was quite buffeting at times. I feared that I would have to forsake the delightful scramble between the top and Cnoc na Peiste but thankfully it was just about okay and the only concession was avoiding standing on the knife edge sections on the second half of the ridge.

Cloud spilling over the East Reeks

The ridge towards Cruach Mhor

Finally the cloud is clearing

What a view across the Hags Glen

As an aside I noticed that I was unable to see the wing of the WW2 plane that crashed in the lake below and I wonder if it had finally rusted away. From Cnoc na Peiste I really enjoyed the easy walk to Cnoc an Cuillain and I felt strong and my knee didn't affect my stride in any way. I was in great spirits and I decided to climb to the summit of Carrauntoohil via Howling Ridge which again adds around an extra 100mtrs to the days ascent but it also offers a whole other dimension to the outing as the ridge offers a very entertaining VDiff climb some 200mtrs in length and this required some concentration but was hugely enjoyable. I enjoyed a brief rest on the busy summit before heading for Benkeeragh 1009mtrs and again enjoyed the scramble across the ridge before wearily climbing to the summit. Next comes Knockbrinnea 847mtrs and the long descent back to Lisliebane and my car. It had taken me 7 hours 15 minutes and I was very very happy with my day.

A good spot for lunch

Lots of people on the "tourist route" on Carrauntoohil

Looking up Howling Ridge

Don't fall

Looking down from the end of the ridge

Carrauntoohil is a fine mountain

Sunday April 9th;

Lately it seems that Kevin and I have had no luck with the weather whenever we try and arrange days out so it was great to finally have a weather forecast that allowed us to spend some time rock-climbing at Knockadoon Head in East Cork. This is Kevin's home patch and I had never been there before so I was really looking forward to it. It is always a pleasure to spend time with Kevin and straight away the banter flowed as we set off from near the lookout tower towards the cliffs. I haven't been climbing much in recent years and I had no illusions about my abilities these days but I trusted that Kevin would find some stuff for me to try. We started at a nice slab that gave us three routes of about 12mtrs in length and two are graded at VS. We top-roped them and they provided very nice crimpy climbing with good holds just where they were needed. It was wonderful to be climbing near the sea and no wind and pleasant temperatures made it even more pleasurable. We both led the climb at the left edge of the slab which was very easy but all the more enjoyable for that for me.

What do I do with this again??

Lovely climbing on the first slab

A wonderful place to be

Spider Féar Spider Féar

 Next we upped sticks and headed to a steeper crag a few minutes away with the excellently named climb Crack a Doon in the offing. This climb is perhaps 15mtrs and climbs a steep corner with a delicate crux in the middle. Enough holds are to be found and it was certainly slightly tougher than the other climbs so it was a big surprise to google it afterwards and see it graded as Severe. All I will say is someone was obviously climbing in superb form when thy set this route to grade it so easy and to my unpracticed eye it would warrant a solid VS. We climbed the route a couple of times and then went out onto the face and climbed another tougher route which had a super smooth and blank crux which Kevin managed okay but I had to have my ass hauled up past it. We finished off by climbing the broken rock to the left of Crack o Doon which was fairly straightforward. Back to Kevin's house where I was treated to fine coffee and great cakes and off home I went. It had been a delight and hopefully it won't be too long before we get out again. Thanks Kevin.

Abbing down the Crack o Doon

Difficult climbing on this face

Final route