Curve gully Nov 27th.

Well I had my first snowy experience in the Reeks this winter. As a cold spell is underway I headed back to Kerry more in hope than expectation. There was a liberal dusting of snow down to about 250mtrs and the place was looking great. I decided to have a look at Curve gully.

Carrauntoohil

Cnoc na Peiste

Gradually as I gained height the temperature dropped and the wind became more intense. Soon enough when I gained the third level there were clouds of spindrift being blown straight into my face. Real winter had arrived. I climbed quickly up to the second half of the gully and was hopeful that at this height (800mtrs) there would be some quality ice appearing. So I donned crampons and brought out the axe and headed up. Unfortunately things alternated between drifting powder and cruddy ice. Still the biting wind and cold (complete with hot aches) made it a genuine winter experience.

Summit cross

Looking up Curve gully

A quick lunch on top and i decided to have a look at thr Beenkeerach ridge. Things were looking great but the wind was problematical so I decided to decend O'Shea's gully instead. Progress was rapid and I enjoyed the decent and the wonderful views. Work unfortunately is in the way to further outings in the next five days, here's hoping the artic weather lasts until next weekend.

The Hags Tooth overlooks the Hags Glen

Cnoc an Chuillinn Gully

Good neve and steep

View up wide gully

I went up the gully at the back of Coumeenmore to Cnoc an Chuillinn yesterday. This was my first time here and it was a good experience. The bottom was not in condition but the top 200mtrs gave a very nice grade 1 outing. There are a few small steps on the lower half that were just about in condition and the upper half was a lovely wide gully which gave some nice exposure. The snow was icy and only the points of the crampons were biting in. The weather is set to get milder so perhaps this was the last chance to put the crampons on here for a while. From the top of Chuillinn I went along the ridge to the devils ladder and then enjoyed the delightful slog up to Carrauntoohil. Down Curve Gully again and back to the car. Another good day.

The Lick on Carrauntoohil

The Lick a grade 3 ice climb

I went up the "Lick" on Carrauntoohil yesterday. The "Lick" is an ice climb which starts at about 680mtrs and rises in a series of steps to about 950mtrs. It doesn't often come into condition but there was just enough there to give it a go. Tim Long joined me and suitably booted and suited we started up the climb at 11.30am. The bottom was banked out with snow but soon the climb proper started. I led the first section of about 30mtrs. This was very thin in the middle and nescessated a move onto the rock for about 7mtrs. There is practically no protection to be found here and the exposure is quite serious. The wind was very strong and communication at any distance was impossible so when I reached a snow bay Tim joined me. Axe belays were the order of the day and we decided to use the 20mtrs of rope which I had forgot to take out of my bag to complete the climb. This worked out perfectly as most of the remaining steps were of about 12 to 15 meters long. We made good progress and summitted at 2.15pm. The climbing was mostly on hard water ice and some of the bulges gave vertical steps of up to 7mtrs. All good stuff and a very nice grade 3 climb. A rapid descent of a nicely banked out Curve Gully finished off a fine day out. The cold weather is set to continue for the rest of the week so we shall see what that brings. One bummer was that neither of us thought to bring a camera and some dramatic shots went a begging. I took one with my phone from the bottom but whole climb looks flat. Still it will give the excuse to do it again.

Carrauntoohil East Face

Carrauntoohil's east face

The weather is great here at the moment. Frosty nights and sunny days with a real hint of spring. Yesterday was a good day on the reeks. I went up Curve Gully on nice neve to the top of Carrauntoohil and continued on to Cnoc na Peiste. All in all a lovely day. Its great to need crampons at this time of year.I'm hoping to do more interesting stuff in the near future.