Foula

The Nebbifield

Definitely the remotest inhabited place in the British Isles.

Sure there might be isolated farmsteads further from a Tescos and without a post office but all in all Foula seems quite remote. The ferry to Lerwick takes 14 hours and the ferry/small boat from Walls to Foula takes a further two.

The Diving Board above the Nebbifield

Once your there the island holds thirty locals, some ponies, some sheep, some birds and some enormous cliffs.

The Climbing is Epic

The Approach is Epic

We climbed The Nose on the Nebbifield. This is an amazing 300 m 12 pitch spectacular, climbing the soaring arete of the Nebbifield. The Nebbifield is the second highest cliff on Foula but is probably the most interesting from a climbers point of view. It runs up from the small (200m high) cliffs of the Waster Hoevada in a huge inverted amphitheatre overhanging by 60 m at its steepest point to reach a height of 300 m where it forms an amazing arete.

This arete forms roughly the line of The Nose

Pitch 9 on The Nose

We rigged the abseil the day before and had an early start. It took three hours to walk in and descend the cliff and about 11 hours to climb the route. The climbing was a complete range from conventional E4 to XS on disposable holds! We commented that climbing at Crag Doris was good training for this route.

We left most of the important holds in place and despite some minor moments of excitement nothing came off with either of us attached.

Topping out whilst looking west at the sun dropping towards the horizon, was a powerful feeling. We were not equipped for bivies and the birds coming in to roost focused the mind somewhat!

The calling of the Lime

The customary summer rains have failed and attention has shifted to long forgotten limestone crags, reputed to have been seeping for years. The green and tranquil depths of Chee Dale have once again rang with the scream of drills as routes are dragged from their slumbers, stripped of their sopping raiments by the dry weather and sieged into submission by those without the necessary finesse for the flash.

After living in Sheffield for a few years and the North'ish since 2001 I finaly made it to the Chee Dale and Water Cum Jolly Cornices. I enjoyed myself. Possibly despite myself!

Positron - Gogarth

Gearing up, we carefully cherry picked route descriptions from the two Gogarth guides taking the easiest sounding passages from each. We then played paper, scissor, stone for the first pitch. James won (or possibly lost) and began to psych himself up.

The first pitch was dispatched with ease, the size of the holds compensating for the steepness of the rock. The second was hard and a little forced, deliberately looking for and finding difficulties.

James said afterwards that he briefly considered falling off the third before remembering that: I was belaying him on an Italian Hitch, he had no prussic cord, and the rope was too short to lower him into the sea.

Instead he cruised to the belay highlighting the fine line between a successful send and a major epic.

USA Ticklist

Wall Street - Utah
New line to left of Nervous in Suburbia 5.12b Second
Potash Bong Hit 5.10 Second
Static Cling 5.11- Lead
Nervous in Suburbia 5.10- Lead
Lucy in the Sky with Potash 5.10- Lead
30 Seconds of Potash 5.8 Lead
I Love Loosey 5.11d Lead
Fernando 5.11b Lead

Indian Creek - Utah
Kitty Litter 5.10d Lead OS
Kool Cat 5.11b Second
Unnamed 5.11 (between Choke Chain & Furr Ball) 5.11 Second
Choke Chain 5.12c Second dogged
Dead Crow 5.11d Second
Trip to the Vet 5.10d Second
Catsup 5.10d Second
Unnamed 5.10+ (between Super Cat of the Desert & Unnamed 5.12) 5.10c Lead OS
Elephant Man 5.11c Second
Chocolate Corner 5.10a Lead OS
Mr. Peanut 5.11c Second
Unnamed 5.11 (between Unnamed 5.10 & Slim Chance 5.11 Second
Cal and Andy's Route 5.10 Lead OS
Battle of the Bulge 5.11 Second
Power Play 5.11 Second
Unnamed 5.8 (betw. Batteries not Included & Flower Power) 5.8 Lead
Batteries not Included - Power Wall 5.9 Lead
Unnkown tips to OW (far left of power wall) 5.10+ Second
Eat Your Pudding 5.10+ Seconded
Brain Damage 5.10+ Seconded
Pigs on the Wing 5.11 Lead
Comfortably Numb 5.10 Seconded
Goodbye Cruel World 5.12- Lead
Run Like Hell 5.10 Lead
Sorrow 5.11- Lead
Quarter of a Man 5.12- Lead
Digital Readout 5.12 Second dogged
Unknown 5.11 (betw. crack attack & pigs in space) 5.11 Lead
Think Pink 5.11- Second
Perfect Hands all the Way 5.11+ R Alternate Leads
Gorilla 5.10 Second
Coyne Crack 5.11+ Second
Finto 5.11+ Lead
Beauty and the Beast 5.12a Second
Nagasaki 5.10+ Lead
Walkin' Talkin' Bob 5.9 Lead
Piano 5.10+ Lead
Unnamed 5.12 (between Powerline - & Batteries not Included) 5.12 Lead

Arches National Park - Utah
Heart of the Desert 5.10 Lead (with rest & backstripping of gear)
Owl Rock 5.8 Lead OS
Right Chimney 5.10 Lead (in one pitch with a fall at top)
Dune 5.10 A3 Alternate Leads but didn't finish

Canyonlands & Surroundings - Utah
Fetish Arete - Shark's Fin Tower 5.11ish Alternate Leads (basically free)
Standing Rock 5.11+ Lead
Unnamed new route 5.11 Alternate Leads
Dunn Route 5.11 Alternate Leads did not finish

Castle Valley & Big Bend Butte - Utah
Clearlight 5.11+ Alternate Leads
Kor Ingal's Route 5.9 Alternate Leads
Fine Jade 5.11 Alternate Leads
North Face 5.11 Lead first pitch
Honeymoon Chimney 5.11 Alternate Leads

Cirque of the Climbables - Utah
Corner Route 5.12a Alternate Leads

Fisher Towers - Utah
Stolen Chimney 5.10d Alternate Leads

Mt Potosi - Nevada
Raging Canine 5.11b Lead
PMS 5.11c Lead
San Torini 5.12c Second
Moment of Clarity 5.12a Lead
Whammo 5.11b Lead

Red Rocks - Nevada
Frogland 5.8 Solo
Super Guide 5.11a Lead
Makulu 5.11d Lead
Range of Motion 5.10d Lead
Keep Your Powder Dry 5.12b Lead
Dances with Begals 5.11 R Failed to finish
The Cookie Monster 5.7 Alternate Leads
Pine Nuts 5.10b Alternate Leads
Skid Mark 5.10a Lead
Mic's Master 5.10d Lead
Just shut up and climb 5.11a Lead
Sparky Spangerler 5.11a Lead
Number 3 5.11d Lead
Ambushed 5.13a Lead dogged
Risky Business 5.10c R Alternate Lead
Parental Guidance 5.10d Lead
Rock Warrior 5.10b R Lead
Epinephrine 5.9 Alternate Leads

Chuckawalla Wall - Utah
Dirtbag 5.10a Lead
Good Old Chuck 5.12b Lead
Popular Demand 5.10c Lead
The Garden of Eden 5.10d Lead
As the Jerks Fly 5.12a Lead

The Black Canyon - Colorado
Colorado Welcome Party 5.11+ R Alternate Leads
Maiden Voyage 5.9 Alternate Leads
Escape Artist 5.10- Alternate Leads
Scenic Cruise 5.10+ Alternate Leads
Checkerboard Wall 5.10+ Alternate Leads

Ouray - Colorado
Jim Donini's sandbag route 5.10'ish Lead

New Mexico

The inclement weather drove us south from The Black Canyon to New Mexico.

The Enchanted Tower

View from the camping at dusk

We headed to The Enchanted Tower to climb on steep volcanic tuff in the sun.

Henry sending yet another 5.12c

Part of the VLA

On our way back to Santa Fe we passed by the Very Large Array.

The VLA

Colorado Welcome Party

North Chasm View Wall - Colorado Welcome Party climbs directly up the middle of the right hand buttress crossing the two Pegmatite bands near the top of the wall.

Feeling slightly let down by the lack of fear experienced on The Scenic Cruse, we decided to climb Colorado Welcome Party. Blasting directly up the right hand side of North Chasm View Wall which looked a little more spicy. It also seemed a little less travelled; nobody we spoke to had climbed it and it had a reputation for providing interest.

As it was only fiveish pitches long a leisurely start saw us on the starting ledges trying to ascertain the line. The photo topo clearly showed the route starting to the left of a prominent thin Pegmatite band whilst the only fixed gear visible was to its right. After an hour or so traversing back and forth we convinced ourselfs we were in the correct place. Henry won (or possibly lost) the toss and led the first pitch.

Hard face climbing past three widely spaced bolts deposited him below a long run out to a unprotected mantle onto a ledge. The insitu copperhead protecting this move long gone. As Henry attained the ledge and clipped the next bolt he called down,

"thank god for all those evenings soloing at Stanage, I knew they would come in handy one day."

More face climbing and further poor gear led to a ledge and belay. Encumbered by the bag, shoes, water and spare clothing I struggled to follow. Swinging leads, I headed upwards, climbing steep ground on dubious holds to an overhang. Just as things might have appeared worrying a shiny peg beckoned and some laybacking saw me through a roof.

I had agreed to climb the third pitch also, it had the dreaded R attached to the grade. After bringing Henry up I continued, lacing a thin seam with small gear and then pulling through the first of two Pegmatite bands. After aranging a cluster of poor runners (equalised of course) I ran it out ten meters to a loose flake and in-situ wire before crossing the second Pegmatite band and slowly coming to a halt on an slab. Further holds beckoned above but the drop called out from below equally convincingly. I shuffled my weight around on two sloping footholds, eyeing the rope drooping off backwards towards the wires stuffed unconvincingly behind the loose flake.

The view upstream from North Chasm View Wall

I attempt a low line towards the promised holds, fingers brush them, grasping but with my body hideously out off balance I pull back and retreat towards the rest. Reversing proves trickier still and it is with much elation that the good sloping footholds are reached.

A high crimp is discovered and a mantelshelf effected onto my handholds, an attempt is then made at smearing sideways. Self preservation stops me committing to the sloping features and I retreat to examine other options.

Further views up the Black

Half an hour later and ten meters to my left, easy but unprotected climbing takes me up to a belay consisting of a flared cam placement, a micro cam, and a size one wire. I call down the words

"On belay, please don't fall off"

After this pitch the remainder of the route flew by. Well all except the last three meters of offwidth I found to gain the rim.

The Black Canyon

We arrived in the Black knowing three things:

Firstly we would be stung to death by the poison ivy in the horrific decent gullies. It takes little imagination to work out what the SOB gully could stand for.

Secondly we knew that should we made it to the base of the routes, then the run out scary climbing up tottering rock, cut through with Pegmatite bands, would be terminal.

Thirdly, upon the unlikely attainment of the canyon rim again, we would slowly be eaten by the myriads of ticks that would have hitched a ride on our bodys.

In short I was expecting Crag Doris stacked on top of itself 16 times rising out of enormous patch of stinging nettles. (the ticks are in there somewhere) The reality was somewhat different.

It is like being in some enormous mountains, at 830 meters high the cliffs dwarf most height gain on British mountains. That is 100 meters bigger than the height gain from Idwal Cottage to the top of Carnedd Dafyidd and all vertical. From a climbing point of view it gets better, one starts at the top, walks and abseils down a gully to the base and the climbs out. The routes top out on the flat and right by the camp site. It involves no uphill walking at all.

We started out with some warm ups and then sent the mega classic route, The Scenic Cruse. This is the popular variation on The Cruse with all the offwidth taken out! This basically involved a days worth of fantastic climbing up solid well protected rock, the "scary traverse" pitch the americans banged on about seemed a mellow rest compared to all the sustained crack climbing below. Attaining the canyon rim within sight of the warm beer (too cheep to purchase a cooler) was an added bonus.

We both became convinced we had spotted poison ivy, our candidate plants differed. Adamant I was correct and Henry wrong I offered to rub "his" poison ivy plant in my face if he would do the same with mine. Later we met a guide who cleared up our difference, we were both wrong.

In short, no ticks, no poison ivy and no loose holds.