Sun, snow, sun, snow, sun, snow, sun, snow...

I bought John Watson’s guide last year, and since I first opened it, I have been dying to visit Torridon. Unfortunately every time I planned to go, something went wrong. This time it was supposed to be the weather.

That was without taking into account the dedication of the stubborn boulderer that we can sometimes be. A week ago, Felix and I had planned to leave on Friday and be back on Saturday night, even though the forecast was not great: -3 degrees feeling like -18 in the wind above 700m, bands of snow coming from the north-west, freezing above 300 meters... Don’t check the Scotland mountain weather forecast, it really puts you off.

We left at 2 o’clock and arrived around 7ish. Considering we stopped in an Agatha Christy style empty hotel (Murder in the Highlands) for a burger that was as tough as leather (the murder weapon, served by a cross-eyed waiter), I considered this being a reasonable journey. However it was too late to go bouldering so we waited until the next morning.

We woke up under 3 inches of snow, and it did not seem to be getting any better. So after having checked that magnificent but wet Ship boulder, we decided we would visit the other bouldering spots around and come back in the afternoon if the weather had improved.


Kishorn boulders

Kishorn was the only spot we visited that morning. By the time we were at the boulders, the sun was shining and the boulders were extra dry, which gave us our first taste of that awesome torridonian sandstone.

Although the place is well described in the guide, we managed to miss the first boulder (Russell Boulder) and started the session on the Kishorn boulder of which the south face provided good shelter, dry landing and a hard project that is not indicated in the guide: just right of Kishorn Dyno is a little wall with a few fainted but brushed clean holds. I must say it looks more doable that it actually is and I reckon it must be harder than 7b.

The weather rapidly changed again and within seconds the sky was dark grey and it was snowing. But it lasted just a few minutes and only then we realised that these were cracking conditions as the rock stayed cool and dry thanks to the cold wind and bands of snow, while we could enjoy the real warm sun in between.

Before going back to Torridon, we spent a bit more time in Kishorn, Felix more specifically on the South wall of the Swamp boulder and I on eliminating the foot jam and the juggy arête of the Cave (I guess that makes it a completely different problem then....)

The best boulder problem in Scotland?

When we came back to Torridon, the Ship boulder was a bit like in the picture of the guidebook: big, reddish, very dry and Richie Betts was on a mission. Actually it was not the Mission, but Malcolm’s arête the very one line I was psyched for.

Richie and his mate Murdo seemed well equipped for the place. At first sight I knew these were not casual boulderers as both lads had come in their wellies. Moreover they had placed a huge tarpaulin over the pond -yes, we are talking DWS here. This and a wood pallet strategically placed offered a perfect landing area when combined with a couple of pads. Clearly they had to be “locals”.

Still they seemed a bit surprised when they saw us coming and they probably thought we were a bit stupid -though clearly lucky- to have chanced that unsettled weather for a one day trip only. But they had no problem sharing their landing platform and after a few tries I finally got my reward: would it sound slutty to say that it was better than I had imagined?


I don't know if it was because of the extremely good conditions, because of the pond below or because of the broken hold, but one thing is for sure, it was a bit different from what I had expected and I think that the picture in John's guide is actually misleading so I decided to do a bit of editing:


As Carrie Bradshaw usually puts it, I couldn’t help but wonder: what if Malcolm’s Arête was the best boulder problem in Scotland? (Yes, I’ve watched it several times, my wife wouldn’t let go the remote control, what’s your excuse?) As a matter of fact, I asked the lads if this was indeed the best boulder in Scotland but they eluded the question. So I decided to apply my 7 criteria and see how high it would rank:


Rock quality: Top quality sandstone with some pebble inclusions, behaving a bit like grit. 5/5

Approach: Although it is very close to the road, the place is a bog, so bring on the wellies. 4/5

Conditions: Ok, this one is very debatable. This is the highlands, so the weather is unpredictable. But that rock seems to dry fast and the big puddle at the bottom was actually constituting a great landing area once Richie had covered it with a tarpaulin. 3/5



Line Clarity: No discussion possible here. 5/5

Moves: Classic moves including both campusing and footwork, dyno and mantelshelf. The essence of bouldering... 5/5

Location: Well, just pick up any tourist information about the highlands, and you’ll know what I’m talking about... 5/5

Popularity: I may not be familiar enough with the Scottish bouldering scene to be able to judge, but the fact that we actually joined other people trying the line would lead me to think it is indeed a popular boulder. I also understand that the FA was sent by some dude called Malcolm Smith. Enough said. 5/5.

That’s a score of 32 out of 35, certainly a strong contender for the title of Best boulder problem in Scotland!

Most pictures are courtesy of Felix Davey.

"Dude check that boulder over there: it looks ace!"

Bouldering guide to Ireland 2009 version 4.0

The Short Span Bouldering guide to Ireland 2009 - version 4.0 is here!
It has been less than a year since the last update and over another 400 lines have been added.
Dave Flanagan says: "This guide is intended to be reasonably definitive but just because something has been climbed doesn't mean it is worth documenting so I haven't detailed every variation, eliminate, lowball sit-start or squeezed-in micro line. "
So it looks like the Irish bouldering has never been so vibrant!
More info on Dave's website.

Grading traverses I

Converting bouldering grades

From what I can read on the Short Span's message board Glendo has been fairly busy for the new year. A new area has been developed and documented: the Holiday boulders are located about 10 mins beyond the Fin area until the path levels off and a big sandpile can be seen. The area is downstream from the sand pile on the opposite side of the river just off the old miners track. There are 9 problems documented by Dave Ayton, included the very good looking Hugh.

Michael Duffy seems to have been there too. Although some of us expected some news soon enough about the Big Squeeze, he apparently focused on another line: Leftism is the full line of Rhythm and Stealth. Michael says: "It’s a really really good link up (16 moves) with a tricky section at the bottom into the airy and fluffable top section above. Start sitting in the cave with your bum on the little bloc at the obvious big layaway. Pull on and trend leftwards and up the arete to finish. 3 stars, lovely moves and pumpy." I would not be surprised if that came as a warm-up.

I personally feel sorry to have missed these interesting looking sessions but I also have been busy preparing my moving to Scotland and I hadn't got much time for bouldering since November. Surprisingly enough, I felt much stronger during every session that I had since the beginning of December. Maybe this is a sign that I am on that famous "peak" of the training curve. Maybe this is a sign that the conditions have never been that good. Maybe I have been going for Quality rather than Quantity. Anyway this was particularly enjoyable on Stephen's day, as I managed to send two of my own projects.

The French Connection II
I have been trying that line nearly every time I was in Clare since last January. It's a loop traverse around the roof of the Toit du cul de Clare. None of the moves is harder than 6c but this requires a little stamina for the boulderer that I am: true, the full line is approximately 40 moves, enough to constitute a route on its own. It starts with a cool deadpoint that leads to the lip of the roof and then traverses that lip on rather good jugs till it reaches the other side of the roof: there one must drop down to the mantelshelf/ledge below using a couple of crimps. This is awkward, particularly after a few tries, but if one manages to get a foot on the ledge below then it gets easier. The finish is an easy traverse of that ledge to link back to the deadpoint start of Cold Turkey.


I recently got another traverse link in Portrane ( I also wanted to call it the French Connection, but I later found out that Michael O'Dwyer had got the first ascent) that made me ask the same grading question: how can a 40 moves link traverse be graded the same way as a 1 move wonder? Well, I was first told that traverses are longer than boulder problems and are therefore easier. In fact we even had a bouldering grades chart that looked like this:

Old bouldering grades conversion chart

I suppose at that time The Wheel of life (Grampians, Australia, V16, 60 moves, Dai Koyamada FA) was still unclimbed. Basically what this table meant was that traverses should be graded like sport routes because they use more stamina and less explosive power. Problem is, later came the likes of Sharma, Hirayama, Rouhling or more recently a little midget called Adam Ondra, and they can use explosive power as a stamina basis....

So where one use to say "the hardest move of this traverse is 6a, the grade should therefore be 6c" they now say "this traverse is the hardest ever. But it cannot be as hard as the hardest route".

There is actually a good arithmetic system developed on the Australian bouldering website: that can be resumed as following:

V9 + V6 = V9,
V9 + V7 = V10,
V9 + V8 = V10,
V9 + V9 = V11,
V9 + V10 = V11,
V9 + V11 = V12,
V9 + V12 = V12

So anyway, this time I sent the French Connection II on my second attempt. So at 1 o'clock, I had nothing more to climb except a couple of projects that needed a bit of cleaning. And because I was not in the mood for gardening, I decided to drive to Doolin and try to tick off Fireworks, a cool problem opened by Gregor Florek a couple of years ago. Unfortunately every time I am around, so is the sea.

The Egg

So I retreated to the base camp and instead I tried another couple of lines on my tick list. The first one is an awesome overhang that was created by the cracking of one of the boulders during the last big storm. I already had a look at it back in March when Nigel Callender was trying it, but it felt impossible. Although this time I could do most of the moves, I was nowhere near getting the last slap from the undercut (which is obviously the actual problem).

So instead of trashing myself, I moved on to my own little project: an egg sit-start that stands literally right of Hider. This little gem does not look like much, but it is probably the second hardest line I have climbed after The Nose in the White bog (OK it's still nowhere near an 8a but hey, I'll be an old daddy soon!). From a sit-start on the tiny crimp right hand, one must slap to a "pinch" hold left and move up to an obvious sloper. If you can hold that, the rest gets easier.

Well folks, this post is probably the last one about Ireland before a long time. I have been fairly busy in the last few weeks as I am finally moving to Scotland. Not that I was looking forward to it (although from judging by the work of John Watson or Dave McLeod, Scotland is definitely a great location for bouldering), but I knew this would have to happen eventually and I am just moving sooner than expected.
By the way, 13 years ago I started as a "falaisiste", but the British call it a "sports climber" AKA a "French sissy" or more simply a "wuss". I only really got sucked into bouldering when I moved to Ireland. Therefore I would like to thank those who brought me to appreciate Ireland and its bouldering potential, particularly: Kevin Cooper, Seamus Crowley and Andy Robinson; those who were (nearly) always up for an early session: Michael Nicholson, Declan Tormey and Tim Chapman, and of course the rest of the Irish bouldering crew. And no, bouldering is generally not an "extreme" sport. But neither is that trad climbing thing, "a good deal of creative frigging, resting on protection, sneaky side runner, preplaced gear, and the introduction of prepracticed ascents" as Simon Panton once described it.
Finally I cannot resist to share with you a nice picture that I have recently received. I am not allowed to say where, what or who but I can tell you one thing: there's some serious potential for exploration in Ireland!

Glendo Classics

Bouldering in Glendalough, Co. Wicklow

Glendalough

"In any online discussion about grades, and there have been many of these over the years, you can almost set your watch by the arrival of some pundit who will roll out the aged old cliche that there are only two grades that matter: those you can do, and (wait for it) those you can't! The corollary being that grades are unimportant. [...] Grades and grading arguments are in our blood, and people who say they don't care about them are simply not being honest."

These are the words of the North-Wales Bouldering Guru, Simon Panton.

I personally tend to avoid mentioning any grade on this blog, because most of the time they would simply be wrong. Not that I am questioning any one's ability to grade problems, but for some reason as soon as you put a figure on a problem you get criticised. Either the figure is too high and you are full of it, or it is too low and you are a sandbagging scumbag ( not to be mixed with a scum bagging sandbag).

However there was various discussions recently about grades in Glendalough and more generally in Ireland and Dave Flanagan suggested me a post including a list showing in descending order the Glendalough problems that I have done and consider to be classics. Obviously this is expressing my opinion, and only mine (you can start shooting, I'm ready). So here it is:

• Superstars of the BMX 7a+
• The Fin SS 7a+
• The Egg SS 7a+
• 2.4 Pascal SS 7a+
• Andy's Arete SS 7a
• BBE (standing start) 7a
• Road house and mingeback 7a
• The Nu Rails SS 6c
• Chillax SS 6c
  
• Barry's Problem SS 6c
• John's roof SS 6c
• San Miguel SS 6c
• Greg's Problem traverse 6c
• Chuppa Chups 6b
• Quality Control SS 6b
• Superswinger SS 6b
• The Plum 6b

To grade a boulder problem, here is what I personally think that a climber should take into consideration:

• climbing level: if you send a new 7a every day for breakfast, there is no way you can make a difference between a 5 and a 6a. For instance John Gaskins climbed "Away from the numbers" a few years ago, a problem that was probably a piece of cake for him. At that time he roughly estimated the grade to be 7a+. I do suspect it is harder and I don't think that climb has received many ascents since then.
• climbing style and diversity: having a 6a level should mean that you can climb any 6a. However it is never the case as we hardly have access to a diversity of rock, heights, angle, holds and landings. Most climbers rely on their local crag for obvious financial/time reasons and therefore they usually get spanked big time when they go and visit different climbing locations. This has a big impact on grading because it means we tend to specialise within the grade level, i.e. we find easy those Glendo hard moves we are used too, but we find the Font warm-ups very hard, leading us to think that their grades are messed up.
• Amount of tries/ascents: when getting a problem after a hundred tries you cannot properly grade it, because you feel that you have achieved something far beyond your usual climbing. Conversely a problem that you have done many times feels much easier because your body knows the job perfectly: Has anyone ever seen Barry O'Dwyer in Glendo? The guy stopped climbing for a year but I bet you he still warms up on the Egg.
• Conditions: That's a big one. Grades are floating with the wind, the temperature and the humidity. It might sound obvious but everything feels easier when conditions are perfect.
• Climber's morphology: Another obvious one. I am over 6 ft (longer reach but bigger leverage), my ape index is negative (good for foot locks, bad for mantel), I have big feet (good for smearing, bad for edging), and long spatulate fingers (perfect on slopers but painful on pockets). So for me the Fin should be easier than the egg. It is probably not the case for a short monkey with tiny feet and stumpy fingers. By the way my wife says I also have big soft lips but she does not want to share them.

White Bog and Black boulders

Bouldering near the Windy Gap (Dundalk/Newry area), Co. Louth

The White bog ( Lat 54:03:03N (54.05) Lon 6:13:43W (-6.23)) is an upper valley nested in the Cooley Mountains, Co. Louth. The crags have some potential for a few small routes but the scree has some quality bouldering and is really worth the journey. I first visited the place in May 2008 with Declan Tormey. Although it was a very warm sunny afternoon, we managed to climb The Nose, an excellent powerful problem. I continued to develop the venue overthe following summer months.

The rock is an excellent dark gabbro. Although it is very sharp, the grains and crystals are very small which makes it possible to climb even on a hot summer day. The valley is well weathered, but the scree is facing south west and is high enough to get a lot of wind. So the conditions are usually good.

ACCESS


From Dublin: head north on the Belfast motorway (M1). Take the last Dundalk exit: Dundalk north/Carlinford/N173. Follow the N173 (Cooley peninsula coast road) until the entrance of the village called The Bush. Take the U-turn road to the left towards the Windy Gap and follow the road at the bottom of the hills. Pass the Tain way (sign), pass the highest mountain, a small forest and a few houses. Park on the side of the road before a couple of lane ways to the right (54.04364, -6.24816, the place is called Glenmore, but there's no sign). Approx. 45Mn.

From Belfast: Head south to Newry (A1). In Newry, follow the directions for Omeagh, pass the Carlingford Lough estuary (if you're on the Warrenpoint road A2, you're on the wrong side) and take the Fathom Line (small road). After the border, this becomes the R173. In Omeagh, take a turn right at the Petrol Station and follow this road towards the windy Gap. After passing the Gap (main car park) you reach a yield: take the road to the left. After approx. 2.5km / 1.5 mile, Glenmore and the waterfall should be on your left hand side.

Put on your wellies and walk up the farm lane way. Follow the path that leads to the bottom of the hill side behind the fields (two gates and an old cottage ruins). Turn left straight up the hill following the remains of old stone wall (steep but no ferns). Pass a couple of berms until you arrive in the White Bog valley: the scree should lay in front of you at the bottom of a crag. (20Mn a walk).



Remember: Do not block the field gates, and always keep them closed. I talked to the farmer and he seems to be a nice guy so let's not piss him off.

The Starter Arete sits completely on the left, hidden in a hollow. The landing is excellent, the rock is not too sharp and the problems are easy, making this area perfect for warming up.

Starter Arete is the obvious corner arete. It can be climbed from a sit start and has an eliminate on the right (basically eliminating the arete!). Starter traverse is following the round lip of the boulder from the lower right to the top left. There's also a nice little crimpy problem on the left side of the arete. To the right of the arete is another smaller boulder with a couple of sit-start deadpoints: Dec’s sit start takes the round corner and Pierre’s sit-start is the overhanging mini-arete.

PLATE BOULDER
The plate boulder is the huge flat boulder at the bottom of the scree. It has a good overhang on the left side and a big blank roof on the right side.


Lesbian Treaty follows the crack line on the left hand side overhang. Sit-start on the obvious bottom side pull right hand. Using a high flake far left, slap up to the break, match and move right on the crack. Avoid the easy V gap and go for a dynamic finish via the upper crimps. Three Stars.




Media Tick is standing to the right of the plate boulder. Sit-start on the crimps in the groove with a heel hook on the left (harder for the tall). Cross through to the crimps on the right, slap to the lip and rock over.



The Nose is the big obvious pointy nose at the top of the scree. An absolutely awesome problem with a nice grassy landing. Unfortunately it is rarely in conditions due to a green terrace above that keeps water running onto it. Start under the roof. Using a crimp to the right, the sharp arete and a heel hook, slap up to the nose then rock over the lip of the roof. Descent to the right. Sit-Start project from deep back wall.



The pebble is the huge boulder sitting in the middle of the scree. It has a couple of slopey lips with various slab top-out variations.

Blade runner, Sit-Start on the obvious jug. Go left onto the sharp crimps and left again to a hidden jug. Then reach the lip of the overhang to step out via the left arete or rock over onto the slab and top out.


To the rear of the Pebble is a little overhang with a nasty deapoint sit-start. Pull hard on the rather sharp and awkward break to reach the upper jugs. If you managed to keep your feet off the ground then top out.


The ship boulder is the big outcrop that stands on the far right of the scree.
The leak is the sit-start to the vertical crack with a high enough top out. Water-line uses the same sit-start but traverses the horizontal break crack and finish round the corner to the extreme right.






Dublin, November 2008

About sharing and more Glendo off-track

Weather conditions were very mixed for the last bank holiday weekend: although the cold wind was keeping the rock at the perfect bouldering temperature, rain was also around...

On Saturday I got a text from Michael Duffy saying he was meeting Ricky Bell in the Cooley Mountains to check "one of the best lines in Ireland". This frightened me a bit as I thought the boys were on the trail of my latest secret spot. Oops, did I just say it? The fact is I do have a nice little spot in the Cooleys, but it does not have one of the best lines in Ireland, but at least 2 or 3 of them. No need to get excited though, this is just my very subjective opinion.

Talking about opinions, I already had got fairly paranoid when Dave Flanagan gave his own on first ascents back in June stating that "by saying nothing you are relequinshing your right to complain when someone does the 'first ascent' of your problem. " But I do share my discoveries and first ascents and the proof is my good mate Tim Chapman rung me that day asking if I had read Dave's article: "Do you think he knows about your new place?" The fact is I met a good few hill walkers around there and it's only a matter of time before climbers hear about it so let's start the sharing:



As for northies, it turned out that it was not what they were after. They were actually trying some serious line on one of the numerous outcrops that can be found in the Windy Gap. I had a quick walk around there before, but had never bothered checking that overhanging bit. I did not take any picture, but let's just say it is a high enough awesome looking slopey prow with what looks like a strenuous overhanging start. Unfortunatly the rain arrived and ruined the guys hopes as the upper slopers became damp. I would not be surprise if we hear about it soon though.

Sunday was another good discovery day. Again Michael Duffy texted us saying he was going to try a good looking roof crack he had spotted high in the scree. However after having spent a good time warming up and brushing the line, the few attempts he and Ron Browner gave it were far from enough to crack the line before the rain. In the meantime, I had met my old buddy Michael Nicholson who had decided to explore the surroundings. A good idea that was: he found a couple of huge caves, one of them containing one of Glendo's best problems. Not that it is particularly hard (Michael Duffy flashed the first ascent) but it has the good benefit of being sheltered from the rain, a quality that is not common among Glendo's problems... I am not talking about moisture here: by 5 o'clock all boulderers had fled the valley under lashing rain except for me, Kevin Griffin and Michael Duffy, who also had the taste of bringing lamps to light up the cave. The problem itself is a roof line, not too unsimilar to Chillax, but slightly harder. I suggested the name "Perma-dry" but Michael has probably come up with something better by now.

So, Dave, if you are reading this, here is a thought for your website: how about a database of perma-dry problems? I'll start: Perma-dry, 7a?, Glendo, in a cave high in the scree, 100m straight up above superstars of the BMX.

Art's Cross

Following a few discussions and posts on the short span message board about the big mother arete in Art's Cross, I decided to post some information about it. Officially it was first visited back in early 2007 when Dave Flanagan got tipped-off by Sé O'Hanlon. However I have good reasons to believe that Seamus Crowley had already explored the place the previous year.The place is definitely worth a visit as it is quite awesome, even for non-climbers. There are a good few boulders around, which comes handy for warming up.

THE BIG ONE

The main boulder has probably the most beautiful line I have seen in Ireland. Its western side is the first you should see when arriving: a 5m / 15ft high prow with two fairly blank aretes (actually the left one is too round to be called "arete").

We spent a good while trimming the wig all along the top edge so top-outs are now possible. The landing area is very grassy. However there is a stream passing right at the bottom, and although it is quite narrow it is deep enough in the ground to break an ankle if you land in it, so make sure you come with enough pads to cover a good landing area. We also have cleaned and climbed a few lines around. The first boulder we tried was the low overhanging arete at the back: either really hard from sit-start or too easy and too short from stand start. We also tried a class overhang problem 10m further down (passed round a corner). Unfortunately a horrible spiky rock is standing right below your ass... The big one itself has a few variations on its south side slab either really hard or fairly easy.

APPROACH

The boulder field lay in the upper part of the valley nested at the bottom of Art's Cross Crag. Dave's team arrived from the Wicklow gap. Although this walk is quite long, it's a good opportunity to visit the Glanakeera boulder known to some as the "Sheep's head boulder". However if you are not to keen about long solitary walks, there is a shorter approach from the gleenremore brook valley. From Hollywood, drive towards the Gap (R756). At Coonmore, drive straight instead of following the main road to the left (do not pass the Kings River) and follow the electric overhead lines. Follow that road for a while (rough, 4x4 welcome) till it finishes in a path. From there continue on foot. Pass a gate and a bridge, then right and walk up hill following the side of the forest. Once you've past the forest continue up hill and stay on the left side of the valley (good chance of meeting the deers). The total walk in is about 45 Mn.

I have located it on my google bouldering map (check side panel on the right) and don't forget that you can use OSI online to explore Ireland.

Good Luck.

Cheap Bouldering

I am sure by now most of us have heard about that recession bug. I am not quite sure how you catch it, but they told me that if I get it, I will have to save more and spend less. Apparently it affects everything from time schedule to regular income.... And there is no vaccin, but it looks like you can prevent it or at least reduce its effects by being poor. So here's a serie of tips that might help:

1) Get yourself a finger board

It might sound expensive but think about it. Your local wall probably has one of the cheapest membership scheme, say €100 per year plus €3.00 per visit. Yet if you go twice a week for 1 year (40 weeks +), that's about €340 plus petrol. Now say you have bought a €60 fingerboard (or even a pull up bar) and you replace one of your weekly wall sessions by a pull up session at home, you will now spend €220 at the wall and divide your petrol cost by 2.




2) Reduce travelling costs

Stop flying abroad to these world famous bouldering spots and enjoy more of the unpredictible Irish bouldering (weather wise). Don't drive on your own, share car space and petrol costs. Stop driving to the wall, take up cycling. It will get you fitter - I know, I know, do as I say, not as I do...



3) Recycle

You don't need that €20 brush kit from Metolius. Recycle your old tooth brushes. You don't need the latest Patagonia pants. Recycle your old casual Friday trousers.



4) This is Ireland, not bleedin' Nepal

So what you need is neither a pair of Louis Vuitton flip-flops, not a pair of high mountain boots. Instead, get yourself a pair of these:

A pair of wellies will cost you 15 quid and will do the job just as well as gaiters - actually even better because they are easy to put on and off, which is a solid pro argument when it comes to bouldering.

You think I'm joking? Check out the following pictures and see if you can identify those smiling wellington boots aficionados:

5) To the sissies

I know, you have a nice soft baby skin which suffers a lot from these repeated attempts on Wicklow granite problems. 

Like many boulderers, you use the Climb On! bar because that stuff is "a completely pure (synthetic & petrochemical free), powerful skin nourisher and first aid product to be applied to burns, cuts, scrapes, rashes, cracked cuticles and heels, tissue nose, road rash, diaper rash, abrasions, poison ivy...all skin problems [...] the MOST powerful skin repair recipe on the market." 

So they say. 

But a 1 oz Bar (roughly 30 grams) costs about €10 and there is plenty of other stuff around.

I personally have tried a wide range of products from the famous Neutrogena Norwegian Formula to the expensive Lancome intense restoring lipid enriched cream, and so far I found the best you get for money value is the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula.

It is "enriched in vitamin E with a soothing emollient base. Heals and softens rough, dry skin. Helps smooth and blend unattractive marks and scars. Tones skin. Ideal for deep moisturization, including overnight treatments. Widely recommended for stretch marks during and after pregnancy".

Also highly recommended for climber's dry hands. Available in many shops, it 's 5 times cheaper than  the Climb On! stuff.  Sense.

Calculate your bouldering Carbon Footprint

The above picture shows the total CO2 emissions in kilotons per country (red left) and the emissions per head in the same countries (blue right). I am not sure when or how this data was established but I found it not so long ago in the online edition of some famous french newspapers.

I must admit I always have been concerned about my impact on the environment and I am quite sure that most climbers and more generally those who love the outdoor are environmentally aware. Like most of us I usually try to do my bit to help. I use low energy light bulbs, recycle as much as possible and completely switch off most of my electrical appliances at night.... As an architect I decided to live within the city so I can usually walk / cycle to work and I have a recently built apartment which is supposedly better insulated.

But as a boulderer, I wanted to know what was my impact of the environment. And an obvious tool to quantify this is the carbon footprint test. Ireland's Plan of action on Climate change has a fairly straight forward carbon footprint test on their website http://www.change.ie/. You just register and fill in sections about your home, transport and waste. This is the result I got:


As shown on the comparison table if I was leaving in France, this would be fairly average, but as an resident of Ireland this is a good result. The trick then was to calculate how much of this was produced by my bouldering activity. In other words what amount of my carbon footprint is generated by:

1. Driving to Wicklow / any outdoor bouldering venue


2. Flying to Font or any other bouldering location on the continent

(Please note that a more precise quantification should also take into account the number of times you wash you climbing clothes, and the electricity used to light your training facility !)

So after a rapid estimation I took the test again excluding these transports figures and got the following result:

That basically means that bouldering is responsible for roughly 30% of my carbon emissions. Not exactly a environmentally friendly sport activity, is it?

So it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what can be done:

1. Share your car as much as possible
2. Replace famous venues (Font, Targassone, Albaracin, Sheffield...) by local exploration (Gap of Dunloe, Black Valley, Polldoo Glen...)

By the way that may sound alarmist but the oil peak is probably well past anyway

:-/

Portrane Update

Although the last weekend was probably the wettest of the last 2000 years in Dublin, the overall summer has not been as bad as last year, and I am sure most Dublin boulderers enjoyed at least a couple good sessions in Portrane over the last few months.

Firstly I wish to mention the visit of two Austrian climbers, Connie and Alex, who had decided to start their bouldering trip around Ireland by staying a week in Portrane. I must say we were quite puzzled when they mentioned it and we advised them to shorten their stay in Portrane and quickly move to the West. And for anyone else planning to visit Ireland, I reiterate my advice: although Portrane has a good bit of bouldering, it is clearly not your main destination and does not deserve a full week of your time. Donegal, Connemara and Kerry have much more to offer in term of rock quality and variety of landscape!


Two new problems were added at the Arch: I personally finally sent an old project linking Girls on film / Planet Earth to the Ear via the Arch. (See previous post) Although none of the moves is harder than 6c, it constitutes a long sustained traverse which I named the French Connection. This will have hopefully got me fitter and my traverse project in Clare should soon enough become the French Connection II. (For those who have never seen these films, go and rent the DVDs, they are much more entertaining than any climbing video). Michael Duffy added a new problem to the left of Planet Earth / Girls on Film: Sit-start under the roof using a small side pull left hand and the stone ledge for your feet (sometimes buried in the sand). Slap over the lip of the roof to an edge and go up left to a catchy in-cut.
Michael also succeeded where many others had previously failed: he managed to flash X-men, the tricky roof problem that was once described by the Portrane bouldering guru Kevin Cooper as the un-flashable problem. However it was not clearly established if Michael's foot freded* the ground or not. Moreover Michael seems to have climbed X-men using his knee, a method that, although that is perfectly acceptable, can be considered as terribly ugly among proper climbers. Kevin advised Michael to shape up a bit and climbed the line the properly. I managed to take a little video on my phone:

It should however be mentioned that Michael was probably tired from the hard work he has put on the Arch: As I mentioned in a previous post Michael has cleaned the upper part of the Arch and has worked out most of the moves to the top brown jug. So if Mr Weather finally decides to settle down a bit, it should not be long before that stunning line gets linked. By the way Michael has also climbed a new 8a in the Scalp called Switch. He said that the first move is the hardest, (a tough far slap) but the rest gets easier... I cannot but agree with him!

In the Alley, I added a sit-start just left of Andy's Problem: from a low undercut , deadpoint to the top end of the ramp and top out to the left as per the ramp. For the bolder finish, go straight up through the high overhang (spotter highly recommended).

There was also a good few sessions in the Pit to try the sit-start to Mr Topsy Turvy. This is the low roof indicated has a project in the guide. That problem has actually been done by both Michael Duffy and Rob Hunter and is clearly harder than 7a when you start with both hands on the roof undercut. And for those who feel really strong, there is an even harder project to the right: starting under the roof as well, use two wrongly oriented sharp hold and slap really far out to the right to link onto the big ledge of Mr Silly.
Finally I spent an evening Clogerhead back in June: I found a nice traverse not far from Alice in Crimperland. The Spine follows a long spiky break line from the left to the right. I also found a nice vertical wall with a few crystal crimps. I climbed a couple of problems on it but they do not top out as the wall is fairly high. They would definitely be better climbed as some little routes or alternatively deep water solos (although I have not checked the waterline at high tide.)*to fred: this term intends to refer to Swiss climber Fred Nicole who claimed a first ascent although this FA climb got clearly affected by the fact that he had been involuntary "pushed" by one of his spotters. Anyone who knows the exact story, please do not hesitate to stick it in the comments.