Ever since I'd seen the following picture of Sean Villaneuva O'Driscoll climbing We're all Learning (E7 6c) on Slieve Binnian I'd been meaning to make the pilgrimage to Ireland and particularly the Mournes to climb on the spectacular looking granite tors. The weathered bulges of the rock to my eye form some of the most aesthetic climbs I've ever seen. I could fill this blog with pictures that get me psyched if I so desired, but that wouldn't really be representative of my particular trip.So instead you'll find a fair number of poor quality bum shots, though at least the sun is shining!
Myself and Ben's first day of climbing on our Ireland trip was on Slieve Binnian. After the pleasant walk into its tors we settled at the delta tor to warm up on what transpired to be some ridiculously sandbagged vdiffs. The scrittly nature of the granite on some of the less well travelled routes proved to be somewhat disconcerting. I'd stand on a little edge and then some of the granite crystals would crackle off underneath my foot and I'd slide a little. A bit of care and some prior cleaning of the holds as I climbed was needed for confident upward progress.
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| Nice Weather! |
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| Walking amongst the tors of Slieve Binnian |
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| Here be scrittly "vdiffs" |
Unsurprisingly our primary objective was not to climb some random vdiffs on the delta tor, instead we'd come to climb the classics most of which were on north tor. At the top of our list was Electra (E1 5b) perhaps the most famous manageable route on the tor. I had a couple of other routes I wanted to do, and others I simply wanted to stand under and look up at namely Thrill issues of the Jellyman (E7 6c). Another climb I'd seen some Incredible looking photos of.
First on the agenda was a really fun offwidth (is that an oxymoron?) called Meanstreak. The first time in my life I've seriously had to use a butterfly jam to aid my progress up the crack, which was a bit of a novelty. The size of the cams I was placing also made me chuckle to myself a little. The crack terminates just before the top on a little ledge, then the climb finishes up what the guidebook describes as "The squirmiest exit in the Mournes", this certainly proved to be the case! The finishing chimney is likely the most awkward thing I've climbed. I removed my jacket for fear of tearing the fabric (alas it was too late) as I shuffled with desperation up the finishing couple of metres of the route.
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| Squirmin' |
Ben quickly snaked his way up the route behind me and soon we were back on floor ready for Ben to lead blood in the cracks (E1 5c). Which proved to be a real lesson in Mournes technique, as a climb I enjoyed it a lot. The moves were technical and required you to focus on your feet and centre of gravity: definitely my style of climbing. It also finishes up the squirmy chimney of Meanstreak for added comedy value.
Next on the Agenda was Electra; one of the primary routes we'd come up here to try. The climb romps up on good flakes, with good gear, there's one slightly awkward move though on the whole I felt it was a little soft for E1 though still deserving of its 3* rating.
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| Good Gear and Good Climbing: A Mournes Classic |
Another climb on our agenda was to have a bash at Eazy Now (E5 6b) which is just around the corner from Electra. Due to the aspect of this part of the tor the crack had become filled with dirt; so Ben opted to abseil down the route to clean it and place gear before hand. Though in most cases these tactics might be questionable, it seemed fair considering it was his first ever attempt at an E5.
Ben quickly ran up the flake to its top where a totally desperate mantle move has to be made by getting your left foot at the same height as your hands. Ben tried a few times but in the end couldn't stick it and fell back onto his gear.
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| North Tor |
The day closed with myself leading Dreadlocks Holiday (VS 5a) a route with an easy blocky start followed by an abrupt and rather perplexing crux. I decided to climb it because it skirts above the slab of Thrill issues of the Jellyman; a route I was desperate to get a better look at because to my eye it's one of the most compelling climbs on the crag. The slab stands in it's pristine beauty far above the ground, one day I'll have to climb it!
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| Falcon |
Plans for day two were fairly fluid until the last minute when we decided to go to Pigeon Rock. The crag is much closer to the road than Binnian and is in a somewhat less scenic spot, though the climbing is still of a high quality and I definitely had a blast! We opted to start the day on the classic low grade Falcon, Ben strung both pitches into one and soon we were back down on the ground and I was gearing up to go for one of the most classic E1's in the Mournes: Phantoms. The climbing revolves around a pocketed seam in the middle of a blank slab intersected by thin ledges, the crux(es) were mantling onto these ledges, and once done good rests were found. You had to search a little bit to find the gear but once found it was solid, overall I felt the climb was soft but still great quality!
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| The bum shot ;) |
Our day had to end a little earlier than the previous as we needed to drive North to Ballycastle for the Fairhead meet that night so we only had time for one more climb: Yellow brick road, another route on the same slab as Phantoms though about 10 metres left. The route finishes up some cool flutings, almost like tufas. Which Provided some very unique climbing. After a bit of a dodgy abseil off of the top of the route we had to leave the crag to make our way up north.
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| Yellow Brick Road |
These 2 days spent in the Mournes have to be some of the best climbing days I've ever had, especially the day on Binnian which without a doubt is one of the best crags I've ever visited. Most northern Irish people I meet massively downplay the quality and beauty of the Mournes thinking them diminutive in comparison to their grander Scottish neighbours. Whilst they may be shorter than a lot of Scottish peaks the climbing to be found on them is just as good if not better in parts. It won't be long before I'm back I'm sure!
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