45m, 2 pitches.
This route is described in Northern Highlands North as 'Original Route' - the vague grooves up the face just left of the arete.
Photos (online) of the 1970 FA of North Gaulton Castle show that team went directly up the south side of the east arete, thus the more accessible (and popular) corner cracks just to the left are added here under their 1979 name, Out of the Deep.
Follows the prominent crack line on the right side of the south face. From sea level (low tide) at the bottom of the landward arete the first 15 feet of climbing to a good ledge can be problematic. This short hard section is unprotectable and has a technical grade of 5b. There is however a crack line starting under the roof, 20 foot to the left of this arete. If this crack is dry it can be led at HVS with a big move on to the ledge (The bolt here gone in 2016). From this ledge climb up obvious cracks and horizontal breaks to a large ledge/platform on the landward arete, about a third of the way up the stack. The second pitch follows the big crack through an open book corner to the left of this belay ledge on the south face. At the top of the open book corner walk left on a huge ledge to the bottom of a well defined further open book corner/groove in the center of this huge ledge, climb this to the summit. On the last few meters the rock becomes looser.
Photos (online) of the 1970 FA of North Gaulton Castle show that team went directly up the south side of the east arete, thus the more accessible (and popular) corner cracks just to the left are added here under their 1979 name, Out of the Deep.
Follows the prominent crack line on the right side of the south face. From sea level (low tide) at the bottom of the landward arete the first 15 feet of climbing to a good ledge can be problematic. This short hard section is unprotectable and has a technical grade of 5b. There is however a crack line starting under the roof, 20 foot to the left of this arete. If this crack is dry it can be led at HVS with a big move on to the ledge (The bolt here gone in 2016). From this ledge climb up obvious cracks and horizontal breaks to a large ledge/platform on the landward arete, about a third of the way up the stack. The second pitch follows the big crack through an open book corner to the left of this belay ledge on the south face. At the top of the open book corner walk left on a huge ledge to the bottom of a well defined further open book corner/groove in the center of this huge ledge, climb this to the summit. On the last few meters the rock becomes looser.
H. Folkard, T. Robins Jun/1979.
Ticklists
Feedback
| User | Date | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| samsterx777 | 3 Jul, 2024 |
Show βeta
βeta: Climbed with Carla and Robbie on this adventure CONDITIONS: The metal (double angle) spike on top is fairly good, and currently has full on rope backing it up via 3 different points on the summit. I would still bring up a fair bit of paracord in case the rope deteriorates, but it was quite bomber when we went. Late June 2024. --We put in 3 stakes across from the closest Cliff to the stack. And backed those with a 3rd ancient one. Bomber. They are still in situ, unless local climber Robbie repurposes them lol --at the lowest tide there was only about a 4ft radius that stayed dry ish, but even that got hit a couple times every now and then with the little swell we had. --The crack described to the left is in a dihedral and unless that thing gets nice and dry looks like a good way to get seriously injured (bc of slime and waves). The arete option looks blank from above but once my hands were dry, I felt fairly confident soloing up that bit (5.9+) to the ledge but be careful as getting on the ledge was a bit crawl-y/balancey. We broke the route into two pitches because of the wandery nature and sharpness of the rock. P0: carefully climb arete to ledge, get everyone and bags up P1: climb a short pick up and right, following what route suits your fancy. We stayed fairly close to the arete. Build a BOMBER anchor with some hand-sized cams at the pedestal P2: climb the right facing dihedral with limestone-sharp rock that is also fairly friable at times. (I skipped one of them to traverse further left to the last couple) Decent pro here and there. Maybe PG at one point. Boom! Great summit. Epic adventure. (Someone bring a little waterproof summit register if you're keen as there is none) For further photos: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/114280375/north-gaulton-castle | βeta? | |
|
Show beta
βeta: Climbed with Carla and Robbie on this adventure CONDITIONS: The metal (double angle) spike on top is fairly good, and currently has full on rope backing it up via 3 different points on the summit. I would still bring up a fair bit of paracord in case the rope deteriorates, but it was quite bomber when we went. Late June 2024. --We put in 3 stakes across from the closest Cliff to the stack. And backed those with a 3rd ancient one. Bomber. They are still in situ, unless local climber Robbie repurposes them lol --at the lowest tide there was only about a 4ft radius that stayed dry ish, but even that got hit a couple times every now and then with the little swell we had. --The crack described to the left is in a dihedral and unless that thing gets nice and dry looks like a good way to get seriously injured (bc of slime and waves). The arete option looks blank from above but once my hands were dry, I felt fairly confident soloing up that bit (5.9+) to the ledge but be careful as getting on the ledge was a bit crawl-y/balancey. We broke the route into two pitches because of the wandery nature and sharpness of the rock. P0: carefully climb arete to ledge, get everyone and bags up P1: climb a short pick up and right, following what route suits your fancy. We stayed fairly close to the arete. Build a BOMBER anchor with some hand-sized cams at the pedestal P2: climb the right facing dihedral with limestone-sharp rock that is also fairly friable at times. (I skipped one of them to traverse further left to the last couple) Decent pro here and there. Maybe PG at one point. Boom! Great summit. Epic adventure. (Someone bring a little waterproof summit register if you're keen as there is none) For further photos: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/114280375/north-gaulton-castle |
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| Carla Huynh | 27 Jun, 2024 |
Show βeta
βeta: What an adventure! Put 3 stakes in, 60m abseil. Had planned to ab down with a SUP, but seeing the sea state we opted for swimming at low tide (7.30pm). Swell for still pretty big, but just about manageable. Pulled the bags across with a 50m static. Sam solo'd up to the ledge and put a line in places for me and Robbie to jumar up. From there the climbing was straightforward and rock quality ok. Topped out at 9pm to a surprised seagull and it's 2 chicks. In-situ tat was fine for ab down, but added a back up for good measure. Tide had already risen considerably and larger swell for the swim back across, but we'd left the end of the ab line accessible to haul ourselves back onto the ledge on the mainland cliff. An epic day out!! | βeta? | |
|
Show beta
βeta: What an adventure! Put 3 stakes in, 60m abseil. Had planned to ab down with a SUP, but seeing the sea state we opted for swimming at low tide (7.30pm). Swell for still pretty big, but just about manageable. Pulled the bags across with a 50m static. Sam solo'd up to the ledge and put a line in places for me and Robbie to jumar up. From there the climbing was straightforward and rock quality ok. Topped out at 9pm to a surprised seagull and it's 2 chicks. In-situ tat was fine for ab down, but added a back up for good measure. Tide had already risen considerably and larger swell for the swim back across, but we'd left the end of the ab line accessible to haul ourselves back onto the ledge on the mainland cliff. An epic day out!! |
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Route of Interest
Saithe
Grade: HVS 5a ***
(Sandgeo)