UKC

In this piece UKC Chief Editor Jack Geldard offers ten simple tips to think about if climbing Scottish V is one of your goals

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6013

In reply to UKC Articles:

Neil Gresham's small side piece on the right about halfway down says this

"...and it should go without saying that you should be climbing leashless."

Just wondered why he said that?

In reply to NottsRich:



Well, he's talking about continental-style icefall cragging at that point, not Scottish gullies, so fair enough. But if I'm getting swamped by spindrift in a Nevis gully I'd rather be leashed, personally.

In reply to elliptic:

When mixed climbing in Scotland, leashless climbing allowed me to do moves I couldn't previously.

However, just the thought of dropping an axe on a tricky runout pitch in Scotland always made me a bit nervous and not totally confident.

I started using the Grivel Double Spring Leash and found they didn't get in the way too much but importantly provided extra backup. That made me relax and probably less likely to drop an axe.

In reply to elliptic:

He's talking about Scottish icefalls as far as I can tell, but why does he say go leashless? And why do you say 'fair enough' to that? I get the advantage of leashless on mixed routes or possibly more technical icefalls, but why on normal icefalls?

In reply to UKC Articles:

I'd emphasise making sure you have a climbing partner with similar ambitions; having a partner with a negative vibe is going to do you no favours. Ideally someone who already leads V to let you know you're doing OK but definitely someone you trust.
In good conditions V can be IV and Ben lines in particular can have footsteps and hooks that make life far easier. Keep your eye on the updates and make sure you get onto routes with a reputation for being in "easy" nick FIRST: being bombed from above is not a healthy occupation!

In reply to Mike Lates:

Completely agree with the climbing partner aspect.

My whole winter climbing stepped up a gear when I met my most recent winter climbing partner. He was unflappable and his whole persona gave me huge confidence to push it out a bit.

In reply to UKC Articles:

But what's the route in the first picture? Is it one of the twins on Aonach Mor?

In reply to HP:


Poachers Fall (V,5), Liathach.

In reply to Tom Knowles:

Thanks TK - a bit of a difference between those two!

In reply to UKC Articles:

my top tip for climbing grade 5. Point five gully, mid to late season in its tracked out state. Climb grade 3 and get the grade 5 tick.

In reply to NottsRich:




It's a very silly throw away line from someone who is very strong and has forgotten that most aspirational V leaders can't do laps on 7a.
Dogma is stupid and leads to stupid thinking like "if I use brand x I can climb route y just like my hero in that picture" oh, hang on that's called marketing isn't it.
James
James