I haven’t posted anything online in a fair while, being very conscious of all the bad things happening in the world at the moment and struggling to justify posting about rocks. That being said, it’s great hearing about what everyone is up to, particularly in the smaller climbing community of Ireland. I had a pretty action packed year and thought it might be worth sharing.
 |
La Bisbal De Falset, Catalunya. Home for me and 5 minutes from Margalef
|
In 2023, I had been working for six months driving buses in Dublin until November, when I quit and moved back to Spain. I bought a small house near Margalef the year before and was keen for another long stint of sport climbing. I had spent the whole previous winter season there climbing with my girlfriend Jamie as well as a steady stream of Irish climbers coming and going. That season ended for me trying a vicious 8b called Nina Mala and failing on the same move up high over twenty times, three bolts from the top. Each redpoint it felt like I might do it but then I would power out and sag off. The slippy nature of its rock requires squeezing the holds pretty hard and a lot of body tension. As a more passive climber, it's an anti style route for me but I loved climbing on it and it never got boring.  |
| Scott at Balco De Coma Closa, Margalef |
In 2024, it hadn’t really crossed my mind to try it again but in the first few months of the year I had already climbed three other 8b's. I was feeling fit and even got my first 8a onsight which was a big confidence booster. In April, I decided to see how Nina Mala felt and ten days later I was through the boulder problem that shut me down so many times the year before. The last three draws were no pushover but I managed to power scream through and clip the chains. This was by far the longest I’ve spent on a project and it was a great exercise in perseverance, something I'd definitely do again. The trick is to find something you’re really psyched to climb on and willing to put in any amount of days.  |
| Chloe sending Sativa Patatica, 8a |
Jamie and I travelled back to Ireland at the end of May and I had some work lined up for the summer, rigging at concerts which allowed plenty of climbing time between gigs. We went to Fair Head in June, my 10th meet there which was kind of crazy. I climbed a brilliant E7 on Rathlin Wall called Faerie Stories, an immaculate well protected corner just left of the popular VS Roaring Meg. It was a pleasant surprise to find it spotless while abbing down to clean it. I also checked out The Complete Scream, a bold face climb on Rathlin Wall protected by sky hooks and was pretty keen to give it a go the day after. I rationalised a lead attempt as it's not pumpy and most of the climbing is quite secure and reversible. I gathered all the sky hooks I could find in Sean’s field the next morning and set off to try it but conditions were mank. Maybe next year.  |
| Looking down Faerie Stories |
 |
| Jamie at Murlough Bay |
 |
| Working at Coldplay in Croke Park |
 |
| Becoming a Swiftie |
We went to the Burren a few weeks later where I was keen to check out a potential new line. It involves climbing the first few meters of Stardust and stretching out right into the E5 crack of Sea Of Dreams to place protection and downclimbing back to the ground. The blank wall below the gear can then be climbed direct, essentially on top rope, to finish as for Sea Of Dreams. What it lacks in ethical pride it makes up for in difficulty. It's probably a mini sport 8a/+ in isolation, involving some funk and the 2 smallest crimps in the Burren. The first time I got through the bottom wall, the ascent was foiled when a hold broke at the very top of Sea Of Dreams. Luckily, the long days of the Irish summer allowed for many more attempts. At 10.30pm I finally got through the bottom again and didn't break off any more holds. I gave it the unusual grade of E5 7a and was oddly psyched about it. Guinness afterwards. Jamie did the classic E7 Very Big Springs a few weeks later, a fine effort!
 |
| Orchids on fleek in the Burren |
In July we took the van over to North Wales for a few weeks with no set agenda other than climbing loads. Even though the weather wasn't great, North Wales has so many quick drying crags to go to in between showers. We spent two weeks hitting up all the classic areas - Scimitar Ridge, Cloggy, Gogarth, Pen Trwyn, The Diamond etc. I still felt really fit from a few months of sport climbing and managed to onsight loads of E5's and 6's as well as a few quick E7 redpoints. Jamie climbed her second E7 in just 3 weeks with Painted Groove Direct at Rhoscolyn. It was great fun being in a van again touring around loads of crags and drinking beers afterwards.
 |
| Jamie somewhere in the slate quarries |
 |
| North Stack, Gogarth |
 |
| Clogwyn Du'r Arddu |
 |
| Painted Wall, Rhoscolyn |
 |
| Llanberis Pass |
We took a quick trip to the Peak District to check out “gods own rock”. The area is beautiful but we thought the climbing was massively overrated. There, I said it! Maybe it would have been more enjoyable if it wasn't so hyped up. The routes are really short and dangerous, with the ground never far away. The longer climbs at Millstone were more our bag and it was cool to do London Wall, the famous E5 finger crack. |
| More waves from Jamie at Chatsworth House, Peak District |
We moved on to Pembroke, a place I hadn’t been to in 6 years, and spent two weeks there on big well protected steep sea cliffs. After a few days of E5s, I tried Ghost Train, an E6 in Stennis Ford with a notorious run out. Standing underneath the route, the runout crux between the two fixed threads for protection looked huge. I climbed up to the first of the threads and committed to the massive runout. If one fell from the last few moves of the run out they would 100% deck from 15m up. Luckily this didn’t happen but something about the route didn’t add up, it felt too dangerous to be so popular. I got talking to a local climber a few days later that said the second thread is usually much longer and that it was only shortened the morning I did the route. Ha! Someone decided it was getting too long and shortened it. It may even be E7 like this, which is a grade I’ve always wanted to onsight but it clearly doesn’t count if you have the psychological advantage of thinking it’s an E6 ;)
 |
| Myself at the end of the runout on Ghost Train |
 |
| Jamie on Tangerine Dream E4 6a |
I knew Pembroke was the right place for a potential E7 onsight, with the routes being a bit steeper and more sporty. The gear is usually obvious and there’s often in situ threads which makes protection easier. I failed at an E7 onsight earlier in the trip but felt I stood a better chance when we got to Pembroke, especially with plenty of trad mileage in the previous weeks. Standing under the E7 From A Distance, I had a good pep talk on my tactics for the route. “Focus on the feet”, “don’t stall during the runouts”, “really go for it!”, “c’mon bitch!”, “there’s at least 3 in situ threads, it's just a sport route”, “it’s really well chalked, it’ll be graaand”. I really really wanted it and had to dig deep. After an hour long scrap, I topped out on my first E7 onsight. It was pretty surreal, especially as 14 years ago I was falling off severes in Dalkey.
 |
| Huntsman's Leap |
After a few more weeks of work, we went to the States for five weeks. We started off visiting Jamie’s brother in Baltimore, who lent us a car for our stay which we also slept in for the trip. After a few days in Baltimore and DC, we made our way to the New River Gorge in West Virginia for a week. The weather was far too hot but we still climbed a bit and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We went in September and the temps were 30+ degrees, apparently October-December is the best time. We moved on to Kentucky where we had 3 weeks at the Red River Gorge, famous for mega steep endurance routes. We stayed at the popular climbing/pizza campground Miguels, which was pretty quiet as the season hadn’t started yet. Again, the weather was far too hot and we also got unlucky with 2 weeks of non stop rain (and hurricane Helene) but we climbed nearly every day. The crags are so steep that most routes are permadry. It was actually really good fun going out every day in the bucketing rain and 30 degree heat, climbing loads of 5.12's and totally blasting our forearms. Kentucky was everything we thought it would be: guns, beer, jesus, stetsons, BBQ etc. The good conditions and crowds arrived just as we had to leave, heading North to Chicago and then back to Ireland.
 |
| Myself and the yoke in Washington DC |
 |
| Summersville Lake, West Virginia |
 |
| The Lode, Red River Gorge |
 |
| Deep dish pizza in Chicago |
We headed back to Margalef in November, feeling pretty broken after a year long climbing bender. Wishing everyone a happy new year, onwards and upwards for 2025. Thanks for listening! |
| Climbing Howlin Ridge, New Years Eve 2012 |
