UKC

In July 2014 I saw a picture that made my jaw hit the floor. The news item, entitled "John McCune Climbs Ireland's Ultimate Granite Wall", had several photographs within it that blew my mind. Throughout this article, Rob Greenwood tells the tale of the events that ensued.

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In reply to UKC Articles:

Nice article.

"bears" not "bares"

In reply to Deadeye:

really.....

In reply to ferdia:

It's been corrected, but should have been edited beforehand.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Skilfully captures in words the magic of the adventure we had. Nice work Rob!

In reply to Ramon Marin:

Brilliant piece of writing Rob,really captures my experience of climbing as a sometime weekend warrior from London, particularly the feelings of route pressure and what I get out of the whole thing being much more than doing the routes.

Always the way when waiting for conditions - hope triumphs over experience and I invariably crumble about 45 minutes too early... the number of times.

In reply to UKC Articles:
I take it you enjoyed writing this Rob?

Lovely read.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great article - followed along on Google Earth. What a magic coast. And right opposite, of all things, a gold course. Bizarre juxtaposition.

In reply to UKC Articles:
I enjoyed this very much. Thanks!

In reply to UKC Articles:

The wall looks good, almost a bit like a Eureka Wall of the Northern hemisphere. I think you've been on both, how did it compare?

Great read, got me truly psyched. So true about all the other things being what stick in your head. I love this climbing game, not only do I get to have ripper experiences with my mates in the moment, I get to relive the trips, laughs and places whenever we want over a beer or on a rainy day in the lounge room. Cheers.

In reply to robertmichaellovell:

Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback, it's great to know that people have enjoyed reading it. I certainly enjoyed writing it, so it's nice (not to mention somewhat reassuring) to know the feeling is mutual.

With regards to the parallel with the Eureka Wall, I think there is something to be said for those routes that transcend conventional starring system - three stars hardly does things like the Eureka or Holy Jaysus Wall justice!

There are some routes/crags that are, quite simply put, anomalies - one in a million - and offer something so different and so special that it marks them out. Eureka and the Holy Jaysus Wall are two fine examples of this. Closer to home, I feel the same way about Dinas Cromlech: it's a great feature, the centrepiece of the Pass, and has only a select number of routes, all of which are classics. I remember the first time I saw a pic of Cenotaph Corner, it was on a DMM poster which had actually misspelt the name of the route; still, the line left an impression and I wanted to climb it from that point on.

You can't say this about many crags and I'm sure there's another article in this somewhere, but maybe one for another day. In the meanwhile, if people could get naming these crags it'd make my life a lot easier for when I do decide to get round to writing it

Thanks once-again.

Rob

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

In the UK, Sharpnose and Sron Ulladale are the first to come to mind.

In reply to john arran:

Now we're talking

In reply to john arran:

Not quite the same, but another crag/wall/picture that stuck in my mind for many years is that of Mucklehouse Wall.

I first saw it whilst flicking through a copy of Northern Highlands North back when I was working at Joe Browns in/around 2004/5. This job was perfect for me, as having what was fundamentally a library right next to me was ideal, as it provided the necessary inspiration for virtually all the routes I wanted to do both then and now, plus virtually every trip I've done in the subsequent 10+ years. Anyhow, with Mucklehouse Wall I just remember thinking the colours were incredible, unlike anything you'd expect on a remote Scottish Island, and that I had to go there (which I did last year and it was absolutely worth the wait).

I think it was around ten seconds later I thumbed across your photograph of Dave Turnbull traversing out above the void on The Longhope - all lichen and exposure. That too is on the never-ending list...

In reply to UKC Articles:

Lovely article but AWWWW...that photo of Crags magazine! Takes me right back to the late 70s/early 80s. I used to devour it. Ron Fawcett on ```Strawberries in a pair of battered EBs (and probably thick red socks). Thanks.