tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38762835720077637192024-03-04T23:56:57.824-08:00James DunnJames Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.comBlogger121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-7626866497867820372012-01-09T13:00:00.000-08:002012-01-10T03:21:30.679-08:00Training Again 09/01/12<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DHOK9gw2jT5ewkYAqJF2eTrLswRt_2_tCwdsd4yxpsXOH5S5hlfMLun4SExSVbGalL8g3PyIRCgrEiCDazRGjEr0YyM4xcX7RP9JYd8HVy2ol3_U9QNf7mOgFZKCb-owqndqBA112eA/s1600/20120107-_DSC0009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DHOK9gw2jT5ewkYAqJF2eTrLswRt_2_tCwdsd4yxpsXOH5S5hlfMLun4SExSVbGalL8g3PyIRCgrEiCDazRGjEr0YyM4xcX7RP9JYd8HVy2ol3_U9QNf7mOgFZKCb-owqndqBA112eA/s320/20120107-_DSC0009.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695743951847821826" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>After a good Christmas of catching up, chilling out and generally indulging I have been back on the tools in Newtyle again due to a distinct lack of winter. I'd had one short session working Torchlite before winter arrived back in early December so was keen to get back on that and have had two sessions working the moves. After a rest day yesterday (aka ten hours of Xbox) I was feeling pretty psyched and since I had made consecutive high points on my last visit up to the crux moves I was hoping the route would go down today. I warmed up and was feeling psyched but ended up getting flash pumped and ran out of steam near the top, feeling slightly despondent I lowered down and decided to have a long rest and eat...a lot! Feeling much better and after all having a good laugh (with Adam trying the death slab pendulum a few times) and now not feeling any pressure I jumped on again and managed to battle through to my previous high point and man up and finish the crux moves into and through the scoop! Super psyched! <div><br /> <div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DHOK9gw2jT5ewkYAqJF2eTrLswRt_2_tCwdsd4yxpsXOH5S5hlfMLun4SExSVbGalL8g3PyIRCgrEiCDazRGjEr0YyM4xcX7RP9JYd8HVy2ol3_U9QNf7mOgFZKCb-owqndqBA112eA/s1600/20120107-_DSC0009.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ul8qUoWqJdRkHvmcDFC8u9tm3en-Y8ERak-nHGGh1X8nH6x4nFtr83ZIPKTJEdMajmXWhGCr7B88Q5zyoj5yctI6y8GWwivmULr5eG-15BQ-fPbjtOsbwyxQgviTLKZAMZlOu3WjCcI/s320/400190_10150565989826418_575761417_11015688_1474745464_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695961774576657522" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone else has been making progress on their projects too and the send train is surely coming again soon.<div><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccV580K0INbbBSN5velIw6svrOsKxjTQ8fjGtUDTTu2qvZ30dES-3Q7VzoD23MJuScQDbghKCOBYtztYv_yrMDE-9Htlz6iWXbKUEgN59UmVHLTEpCLRwSeKSP4sAIIiy1j-iQa_q1ng/s320/20120109-_DSC0003.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695743366471732834" /></div></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-73816653853196641892011-12-21T01:49:00.000-08:002011-12-29T02:00:02.088-08:00Shooting in the hills 21/12/11<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPGicljlaJBXt3WKmrwbgLuSazr6TKe5SQ8tnUfxEbe4s_j6ULqxgK2OFr4JQSSrgXsnY7vw5uJyE4RWfIdE3idob8NIF9iA6YK8oBlOIujSxLc2I_pFK9CmBDwVTRgIqX7a9h0Ysl5bI/s1600/20111221-P1070137-2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 199px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPGicljlaJBXt3WKmrwbgLuSazr6TKe5SQ8tnUfxEbe4s_j6ULqxgK2OFr4JQSSrgXsnY7vw5uJyE4RWfIdE3idob8NIF9iA6YK8oBlOIujSxLc2I_pFK9CmBDwVTRgIqX7a9h0Ysl5bI/s320/20111221-P1070137-2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691487065137521842" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></a><div>With the weather forecast turning poor I was thinking that winter would be over before Christmas but it turned out that Greg was hooking up with Ian Parnell for a few days to get some climbing done (hopefully!). I didn't have anything else on and was keen to come along and get some photos so we all headed up to Aviemore and discussed options, it was going to have to be early, accessible and high. With a target in mind we braved the wet snow showers across to Carn Etchachan and eventually arrived at the top and I set up an ab rope for photos that the guys could use to access the upper tier and the start of their route. All went relatively well except for the moments of fear jugging back up a dynamic single rope over some granite edges and I got some shots I was happy with. Unfortunately the weather was getting increasingly more humid and everything was fogging up immediately in between lens wipes, but that's part of the game I guess!</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPGicljlaJBXt3WKmrwbgLuSazr6TKe5SQ8tnUfxEbe4s_j6ULqxgK2OFr4JQSSrgXsnY7vw5uJyE4RWfIdE3idob8NIF9iA6YK8oBlOIujSxLc2I_pFK9CmBDwVTRgIqX7a9h0Ysl5bI/s1600/20111221-P1070137-2.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPxBnx7rEVUL8TKREisKRqPY3AmGWKiQsKzBHlRepj5TKVuZ8Q0BzcoT291t8lAc9vs2goP_kaKGL5xwsl8T2Bf86R1OTPAz7ieeeyMRw3CGfDZsNYCbvYFpKHrOKsca_4clF5CFRff_A/s320/20111221-P1070173.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691487067623109314" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span ><u><br /></u></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div></div></div></div><div>Good to be out anyway and again pretty cool to see Greg doing his thing and of course to climb with another guru! Thursday was super warm so we ended up back at Newtyle where Ian sampled some of the tube routes and we had a laugh.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLtpMWd0HK-AK5hOAtHgS2kcVlOcOAE6ZVlmSeK9RxfD7MKTfvLMb_5MgTZP58m8p_jusCdDa-BBP_X-2m9tZx_3IyAaZ8kAN2pzm6ols4fhEveGV2_wNdyT-s-rhu6pKIKYzb8Zm6es/s320/20111222-_DSC0099.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691487075208252002" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 165px; " /></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-24708242055559185342011-12-15T01:21:00.000-08:002011-12-29T01:49:10.253-08:00Sticil Face Attempt 15/12/11<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCVYExraZZZRy_41ZmvUJkWW6F4dYMZcZ6fZsPkZMZaEV3UILu4oojQeT8LcYmYMoW0YULTdT_2yBpbMKaybYtROItjN7HUupjFTcy7Iy17ITsDI3zJSekAVai2JL5VVgM874vJSjxP0/s1600/20111215-_DSC0013-2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCVYExraZZZRy_41ZmvUJkWW6F4dYMZcZ6fZsPkZMZaEV3UILu4oojQeT8LcYmYMoW0YULTdT_2yBpbMKaybYtROItjN7HUupjFTcy7Iy17ITsDI3zJSekAVai2JL5VVgM874vJSjxP0/s320/20111215-_DSC0013-2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691484203006722754" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></a><div>After grabbing a lift with Greg and Will as they went to do <a href="http://gregboswell.blogspot.com/2011/12/3am-start-im-tired-my-muscles-are-sore.html">Stone Temple</a> I met up with Andy Moles and we decided to go and have a look at Sticil Face as we had heard this classic route was in great condition. After leaving the house in Aviemore at 2:30am so the guys could leave the car park at 3am I went back to sleep for a few hours in the car and met Andy around 6am for the trudge through plenty of fresh snow over to Loch Avon. It took us a long time to get across due to the snow conditions and we should have really noticed this and linked it to the fact that Sticil has a lot of 'easy' ground in it, unfortunately we did not!</div><div><br /><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3iTWnFaVEFXfw0psNSX9xAt43pPf8ahlMPWwg7IS3ACi35-_cGp2TRbvD6sQbUHZB5I95lnJcwJ4g0Xe2Dvn82pcYTd7v7RjF9X0uoRinkMj3YkZAKc13Y_CymNBOwXc4BT5YuES2xl8/s320/P1070121.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691484206137485250" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>After an engaging and awakening first pitch of steep, dodgy snow traversing Andy led up the first pitch of ledgy ice bulges and belayed under the crux corner. I thought this looked very straightforward as it was in exceptional condition, however I was glad I placed some high runners when I was half way up as it turned out to be much steeper than it looked and I haven't climbed any ice this season! After some great moves I was atop the corner and made my way through more deep snow up to below the chimney pitch. Andy then led up this in good style after removing his rucksack and then I came up. The next pitch was a lot of traversing, again on pretty dodgy snow and whilst it was a moderate angle there was not much gear at all. After quite a long time I made it across and belayed Andy across too. When he arrived it was dark and we decided that since this was taking so long and we weren't 100% sure where to go above (and the fact that it looked hard!) we decided to bail. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCVYExraZZZRy_41ZmvUJkWW6F4dYMZcZ6fZsPkZMZaEV3UILu4oojQeT8LcYmYMoW0YULTdT_2yBpbMKaybYtROItjN7HUupjFTcy7Iy17ITsDI3zJSekAVai2JL5VVgM874vJSjxP0/s1600/20111215-_DSC0013-2.jpg" style="text-align: left; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhYh2W5yicUvhHbQb3ta6TDlQQXHP7xf5A8dhE3wnGKDnpTevMbdbydr_k5x6ZKifXLGfrqPjZr1ahKOIgownWMdwt5GfJd-JD1ozmDZno0FYK86u-bJzsr0XgYzCfWI0Sfy5WbF_S4g/s320/P1070124.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691484214656186194" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>By now we had traversed most of the way across the upper ledge and I was very reluctant to reverse what we had just climbed so we got the guide out and decided we could ab down The Pin if we could find the equipped stations. Andy set off down the ab and found the first station in good time which was a slight relief as this was starting to get a bit epic! I came down and we re-threaded before Andy set off again. Unfortunately his head torch failed at this point and after a good deal of searching for the anchor he had to just tie himself off onto a nut he couldn't see properly and hope it was good! I came down and managed to find the anchor and all was back on track. We went to pull the ropes and for some reason we failed to check who was taking the knots out of the ends of which ropes and so as I cam to the knot, the rope got stuck. Now we were in a rather precarious position; both on different ledges, Andy with all the gear but no head torch and clipped to a hopefully good wire, with only one 60m rope, potentially more than 30m to the ledge that we were hoping to ab off again to the floor (which was definitely over 30m) and so a big traverse across more dodgy snow. Fortunately the weather was incredibly settled and whilst the moon didn't appear until we were off the crag, the lack of wind was very much appreciated! Thankfully we weren't more than 30m from the ledge and so could retreat to that and then retrieve the rope in order to climb out; 3 full pitches with 3 pieces of decent gear and plenty of snow with a wonderful slabby abyss dragging at our heals later and we were back at the start of the route where we had geared up. We sucked the last of our water and started the long walk back to the car before getting some food and somehow making it back to Edinburgh with only one quick power-nap. I'd been up for 24 hours by the time I got home and had been climbing for 17 hours so slept pretty darn well! A good day though, always good to learn from some mistakes and remind yourself that you have to much more switched on for winter climbing! See Andy's <a href="http://throughother.blogspot.com/2011/12/epic-threshold.html">blog</a> for his take on the day.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDXBNZfGxIhMEfF3YU6oaDSbWSt-Xwq3qPhYSDjP9KvfFBk-7jxAue3METgsTjNu3gr05j7H233zPQGMch5I3hHsfIj82Dbq8v56K4aIT_2-Ex8MoHjvkPiEn0KyzR9Wdki0GoYAHOrA/s320/20111215-_DSC0025.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691484199289790466" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 102px; " /></div><div><br /></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-11160901193301643592011-12-10T04:10:00.000-08:002011-12-28T14:36:08.794-08:00Winter climbage 06/12/11-10/12/11<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s1600/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s320/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691305429178533298" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></a>Tuesday I headed up to Beinn Dorain with Adam to have a look at Messaih or The Sting, we deliberated for a while whilst watching Greg and Will sprinting up Defenders of the Faith. We decided on The Sting, couldn't find the start as per the description, changed our mind to go and do Messaih, set off up there only to find the turf unfrozen over there so went back to find The<br />Sting! We set off up what seemed like a more obvious first pitch and then did the second pitch up an obvious right facing corner to a small cave which was a brilliant pitch. Adam then came up and had a look at the next and following (crux) pitch but given it was getting late we decided to bail from the fixed gear at the top of the earlier corner pitch which took us straight back to the bags. We then said goodbye to Adam and headed up to the CIC Hut in some fairly heavy snow.<br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I2hE2-Zt_i2Pv46M-fFN0ERLeiSUZceRYQ-5ILLnGo6essXMeQTyluFZVruNYlsNbkxfOa99t_H2wBDn4uGlBe4VqY6iOrsqCabRrD10uXIJoajQ1lkv53_3XvJBTHDqmRxZmEy1cSE/s320/20111206-_DSC0262.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691305434940799986" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 184px; height: 320px; " /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><u><br /></u></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left; ">Wednesday dawned and there was lots of snow around, we decided to go up towards Echo Wall as the guys had their eyes on something new, unfortunately it wasn't playing ball so we went up Great Chimney which was home to little ice, some fun old-school climbing, and tonnes of spindrift! Good to get a route done though.</span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s1600/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg"><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAuQIY_OOH1uZoKaAM2mMYdsZptDJVpaIDvI5Kgucide1lIbScq1gLuqDShY1BXMm8HJkPd7rDpnTcl3tfpN9v-EywngsLeZPH47dbqCHeWqWfMpPImaGq4SVztsDue77TQeTH9oEXBc/s320/20111207-_DSC0269.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691305436515493042" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><div><span><span><span>Thursday brought the forecasted hurricane forece winds and we spent half the day sitting in the hut playing cards before noticing some debris being blown around outside. After going out to investigate and realising half the roof had blown off we decided to bail down to Fort Bill. Unfortunately after about half an hour of trying to walk in 100mph+ winds and having only made about 100m of progress in half an hour we went back to the hut to sit it out.</span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><object width="400" height="224"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/10151050282290381"><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/10151050282290381" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="224"></embed></object></span></div><div><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s1600/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgH_TgX6KL6ogXW9L9yrHwTaynCDhUqCiYPAHqqzve2fUCejTMwcfEhE831qJ-EXkZpl9E912wCRdmGQsP2jsrbLdA9w79wnyykf-g6StP01pE1m12cDQ-efPXSU7jZhDAccrBln5_2Q/s320/20111208-_DSC0270.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691305448759006482" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s1600/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg"></a></div>This turned out to be the better decision in the end anyway as Friday came round with no wind whatsoever and even the occasional glimpse of blue sky! We headed off up to Number 3 Gully Buttress and the guys made the second ascent of The Knuckleduster which was home to some pretty thin and bold climbing, sustained as well. We topped out in the clear moonlight and the whole coire was lit up brillitantly which was fantastic! An absolutely awesome day.</div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s1600/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg"></a><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s1600/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s1600/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg"><div style="text-align: center; "><br /></div></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s1600/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFunUjamTO1FkEXa8bPo0AKuX4bD_1ml85SqeOPbgznwWGSyqjP0j4XE0yj0JcafOEId0oasBOo0uip25IQMo0ZHRfR_41yFnJ_Z9pC8HPSWGAeuVaKstFmNbKb2LI7tZaodW_3mi_cQ/s320/20111209-_DSC0290.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691305457466333570" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 120px; " /></a></div><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s1600/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg"></a><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div>After a full on day yesterday and helping Robin Clothier and some other SMC members do a bit of clean up and fixing this morning we headed back down to Fort William and homewards. A brilliant week even if the weather was mental!</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4EqS6gC0LqS0Rv3P3Mx9e6oQ89ykhpnQs1JALUo6brPtzgr9m6GBP14F7gg5QJuIYPBIVQqZgX6-4dYLXKGlJSsHUZKbzabmNFSD3Sm4S9zZAvvjgzo1K4lfke0yRyFY5kimVutn8GQ/s1600/20111206-_DSC0204.jpg"><div style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJ7rCjug8CabIKDv2ToRLmzUBJLLwtR8PpCHyRFenxv1OF37H7TlIOfdrqseMgZTT945QBoRMjtqRIZSGErh53teQkyvfy_IZztx1MWcICCPqV5dTWE8Ok__PCdRW2k91-9TgFFSues4/s320/20111210-_DSC0363.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691309966566581138" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></div></a></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-80980715370109202172011-12-03T03:57:00.000-08:002011-12-28T13:56:11.639-08:00STS on the Ben with Big Tree Campervans 02/12/11-03/12/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8r-QQ7lj3H70hR0DzF_A9fLk_Kmcpwptx7v9pY0Pt-s0vQ5fZ99KF404_smmqFelFw-8THD0QuqnMS1nPxdyUIpJprMdR81ktaMe5cNV0BCqim7GYz5R1EwSqIqoH5oq26v5YBhhjISs/s1600/20111204-_DSC0153.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 184px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8r-QQ7lj3H70hR0DzF_A9fLk_Kmcpwptx7v9pY0Pt-s0vQ5fZ99KF404_smmqFelFw-8THD0QuqnMS1nPxdyUIpJprMdR81ktaMe5cNV0BCqim7GYz5R1EwSqIqoH5oq26v5YBhhjISs/s320/20111204-_DSC0153.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691301385511783058" /></a><br />I was up on Ben Nevis this weekend courtesy of STS (http://www.scottishtoolingseries.co.uk/) and Big Tree Campervans (http://www.bigtreecampervans.com/) filming their series prize of a weekend in the CIC Hut with some host climbers.<br /><br />The weekend went well despite the forecast and everyone had a great time.<br /><br />Check out Greg's blog for his thoughts; gregboswell.blogspot.com<br /><br />and JDV for some pics; http://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Dunn-Visuals/334450496581376?sk=wallJames Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-47036644012136519632011-12-01T03:45:00.000-08:002011-12-19T03:57:13.143-08:00JDVisuals<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJxcKJGW_95fCrEEkEErRx3clbeJ7jvBxECHapiPMq2RGJ9DXn5akPW-0_5ir06kJPTCp0GyHHk9Wu4CNQmLsyraXGTSwL-5_NiP8Sy0MHVJ0_A5VuDDuqW6uAOIVdfXGm1ZC0ZZ_Dmzo/s1600/392256_334965966529829_334450496581376_1333222_1972945477_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJxcKJGW_95fCrEEkEErRx3clbeJ7jvBxECHapiPMq2RGJ9DXn5akPW-0_5ir06kJPTCp0GyHHk9Wu4CNQmLsyraXGTSwL-5_NiP8Sy0MHVJ0_A5VuDDuqW6uAOIVdfXGm1ZC0ZZ_Dmzo/s320/392256_334965966529829_334450496581376_1333222_1972945477_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687807102364399522" /></a><br />JDVisuals is up and running! <br /><br />Keep your eyes peeled for photos/videos dotting around the place.<br /><br />To get in touch please email; jdvisuals@hotmail.co.uk<br /><br />For up to date info, please 'like';<br />http://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Dunn-Visuals/334450496581376?sk=wallJames Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-3438473023459259072011-11-28T10:20:00.000-08:002011-12-10T10:44:35.205-08:00Training for winter 28/11/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1V8Je1O6EvCaZy0yfgA28KKYlKLVo6C7Z4ayMkcUKrFa2QSXOFlZW5s9nk_OXm4a1bsR01K4GP3relyIS8Mfe5IqmgqkV0JEnaJvdYdKypFKAojs612jglbihri-vHqHBJRTCmkIZy4/s1600/20111102-_DSC0191.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 162px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1V8Je1O6EvCaZy0yfgA28KKYlKLVo6C7Z4ayMkcUKrFa2QSXOFlZW5s9nk_OXm4a1bsR01K4GP3relyIS8Mfe5IqmgqkV0JEnaJvdYdKypFKAojs612jglbihri-vHqHBJRTCmkIZy4/s320/20111102-_DSC0191.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684568458891787618" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Over the past month or so I have been balancing uni work with trying to get some training in on the axes. Initially this was on Greg's circuit board but after his Glenmore Lecture (great success and very interesting) at the <i>Scottish Tooling Series Competition </i>we all headed to Newtyle Quarry. I was a bit skeptical as the last time I was here a few years ago I could barely do the first moves on the Fast and Furious. I had a few shots and the moves didn't feel too bad in isolation, but I got super tired trying to work out the sequence.</div></div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdnCVi0AuqJlfYc1DzKFz4_6vab8lrM_jdMPxkhtGOb_y0167UrAQJoNRxDIBafk_tLJI1mPaJpR0GF79bhlaTK5ARvAPsbxCQ18HqPiRdcMuN0WB_IG1V70ordiIl2IsbsIxBWZVXEFE/s320/20111102-_DSC0169.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684568451109042930" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 171px; " /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><u><br /></u></span></div><div>Training on the circuit board continued and we spent a fair bit of time at the cave and I made good progress on the route, getting the clean ascent on my 5th redpoint. I was pretty psyched about this but keen for more training given we were moving the circuit board and building a full on cave - The Stable.</div><div><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOp4CxSWsZE9I7-lWbhelCwcY21oJ9XTWnlxo-Mpyw171jGOkxhJhenqnmku4z1J5NvZLrdKb5cXq2QAa6_uW_bONXK31RAUTtMh4laBTp_wfhzY3EhEV8d_ndivk8KH6jHxpzyas4-qM/s320/20111127-_DSC0050.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684568447160454146" /><div><br /></div><div>Training has been continuing and I have been working the extension Too Fast Too Furious which is home to some awesome moves but much longer than the original and very pumpy. I have also been working The Torchlite but it looks like winter is arriving soon so I may not be playing on this too much!</div><div><br /></div><div>I've also been taking loads of photos and videos; watch this space for more info. </div></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-24323833189743428772011-09-29T10:09:00.000-07:002011-11-16T10:22:34.670-08:00Northwards for rock! 27/09/11-29/09/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNno_4axJaLTA9Gfmrr9CFE2BzbR1_Xm53LdQYbOghQT0nRV3glps686c4j973kxKzTM4qd7RrJlFukYSQbk1pEEfaDCSJanEs-A_pVq163JeTLsO7K2UrBfFOcqC4A9EIj9XMvRI8RY/s1600/321560_919781598751_61015386_45479502_683164087_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNno_4axJaLTA9Gfmrr9CFE2BzbR1_Xm53LdQYbOghQT0nRV3glps686c4j973kxKzTM4qd7RrJlFukYSQbk1pEEfaDCSJanEs-A_pVq163JeTLsO7K2UrBfFOcqC4A9EIj9XMvRI8RY/s1600/321560_919781598751_61015386_45479502_683164087_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrO832WnIMCUlMlz3iZnl1Dv0VTQbpRKdK9MrdJ30iF9_K5cOLE6QJ3ZNX2XS1Xpa-qBxCtr7wwaNETZ20nbi2CY-4QManOde8cyaNkN3cKlTBHmYuMgq0x89p4WVYZL2VRDetIW-aNA/s320/20110929-_DSC0183.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675660061949842482" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 112px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center; "><br /></div><div><div>Adam and I headed up north to Aviemore hoping to climb up high, unfortunately the wind prevented us from getting up there as it was gusting over 60mph everyday. We had a pretty good plan B though and after cranking out some evening routes at Huntley's Cave we headed to Creag Ghlas in Strathconon for a day of multi-pitch slab climbing.</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNno_4axJaLTA9Gfmrr9CFE2BzbR1_Xm53LdQYbOghQT0nRV3glps686c4j973kxKzTM4qd7RrJlFukYSQbk1pEEfaDCSJanEs-A_pVq163JeTLsO7K2UrBfFOcqC4A9EIj9XMvRI8RY/s320/321560_919781598751_61015386_45479502_683164087_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675660086696160674" /></div><div><br /></div><div>After a leisurely cycle the path becomes significantly steeper but we eventually made it up to the base of Salamander, our chosen line. The route ended up being 5 excellent pitches, with pitches 1,3,4 all being brilliant. The crux pitch for us was the first as the crack was damp which made it quite interesting!</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwsUEHqjhwZsHPvIfDBwOhzfQZ2iSoh9ZG4hpLL983HyjtdGu8SSW-6PQBEc9w34w5ICmhWrAlv9fZtM-nkX-lB3JkgDiZ_VRPBzFH1pRio9K-KJZbGaQQyEaBglKiqB3SGirrGEc9ww/s320/313161_919781409131_61015386_45479500_1977170740_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675660074477564946" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div>The corner fourth pitch was excellent and probably the best pitch on the route, very Hammer-esque on the Slabs.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7sqdV9Y6rvN81xmwC_BeM6aUHo7hhoUkWbD4wMgmsBhV0pEtRtlsEjy_rZcYatKcMZAHBOWfuvvd5IqsLHOv7lvsEHyJ7LQ95WH8feIwr3g4umw8DPy8C2ZMobwb7hhGcWXg5giW6F9o/s1600/316081_919782417111_61015386_45479509_1339121283_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7sqdV9Y6rvN81xmwC_BeM6aUHo7hhoUkWbD4wMgmsBhV0pEtRtlsEjy_rZcYatKcMZAHBOWfuvvd5IqsLHOv7lvsEHyJ7LQ95WH8feIwr3g4umw8DPy8C2ZMobwb7hhGcWXg5giW6F9o/s320/316081_919782417111_61015386_45479509_1339121283_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675660078479572706" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>After heading back and climbing on Moy Rock to totally knacker ourselves we headed up early to the Cairngorms but were again thwarted by the wind so headed home via Logiehead and then Creag Death and had fun climbing King Bee which was nails! Another great trip though and Salamander was a brilliant route in a new location which is always nice!</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrO832WnIMCUlMlz3iZnl1Dv0VTQbpRKdK9MrdJ30iF9_K5cOLE6QJ3ZNX2XS1Xpa-qBxCtr7wwaNETZ20nbi2CY-4QManOde8cyaNkN3cKlTBHmYuMgq0x89p4WVYZL2VRDetIW-aNA/s1600/20110929-_DSC0183.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnIbXWwpxIKYTBqUKMJTjS1Clv_FbZMfU2zR-vMbT0K3Gj7Z1U4NrH92_V4cf4uQ4VDapGp9NqLDdwC8r2p9Vh4pMXdvwJ-PzGrq4WNJGs2We33oLZeSNadoLLSY_B4q5pFUZ3qXwwJY/s320/296585_919781274401_61015386_45479498_1161572781_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675660061534678754" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></a><div></div></div><div><br /></div></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-44054798605661029072011-09-23T10:02:00.000-07:002011-11-16T10:09:35.391-08:00Back to Newtonhill and a boulder 22/09/11-23/09/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzRtQtQqJXQnZXjGFq8Vwv5PukN6_GsqhN4PfSJFvElXDG5gf1VB-MH6u-CgahHUdPcviU-EQ_iSmTqGrMJrcyTu9C5up6RidZBxE8l2nMuxQdIRHE4Dl_hnEfYJRk8WDQYNxGJ_zNqo/s1600/20110923-_DSC0092.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 109px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzRtQtQqJXQnZXjGFq8Vwv5PukN6_GsqhN4PfSJFvElXDG5gf1VB-MH6u-CgahHUdPcviU-EQ_iSmTqGrMJrcyTu9C5up6RidZBxE8l2nMuxQdIRHE4Dl_hnEfYJRk8WDQYNxGJ_zNqo/s320/20110923-_DSC0092.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675656842565306322" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Sean, Mark and I headed back up towards Aberdeen to get back on the steepness of Newtonhill North.<div> <div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLPUtfDrNvYUhwI9xsc_e4P1Z4nDhgXZThIOYRUE84N2LWBvEouaKI_6W-gXS8AgFtNlgm1ft4u4XdJ5Yj11a77Pt27MHV4VFKC76F6kliIM8Lvm1twcbejtpAM7-tCXHPsrUEaWTlf8/s320/20110922-_DSC0104.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675656838668208418" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>We had a good day in great weather; Mark and Sean had fun ticking off some of the classics and I did two awesome HVS's, both flashed with little beta, which I was psyched about!</div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWoG_lpvthRvhyphenhyphenEwyXUJBFwLtS39ATEqX8BTZpoVizql5JG1WbW_67tXSo4aqDqxvApjxU26Z7KG0lDkpFTbQ-0SnyON0Fws2MSQhewlqh0y215SbIgJar1GOapo3p3TR8HTuI_kWrak/s1600/291876_10150323062163252_699708251_7926004_1286504738_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7aDYrNchVhmewq6kSQXp9Ko86rc11dhB8tj7PCCS_6T5ur59ds42nGLIOgLA9mrfJdvWukbx_SkI0RxOEdYZxIX1vEI0a59Qg3_px2JVWAZz5fQ6rbFoaf3oH-Sog6a5YUcn-FCozJs/s320/319572_10150325648898252_699708251_7939349_1688710706_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675656825621527106" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 172px; height: 320px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><div>Feeling somewhat tired we had a day bouldering at Bowden and doing some of the easy routes there. It was great to get back out on the rock again!</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWoG_lpvthRvhyphenhyphenEwyXUJBFwLtS39ATEqX8BTZpoVizql5JG1WbW_67tXSo4aqDqxvApjxU26Z7KG0lDkpFTbQ-0SnyON0Fws2MSQhewlqh0y215SbIgJar1GOapo3p3TR8HTuI_kWrak/s320/291876_10150323062163252_699708251_7926004_1286504738_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675656824955491026" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 181px; " /></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-31117620480886538292011-07-24T09:48:00.000-07:002011-11-16T10:00:20.083-08:00NW Trip 22/07/11-24/07/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7aEuGgn4qftoLnofcGdW8RlilzzN7tRCXLw8SzfIFm4GEitVEwJrC-199HyFqeFvnobgqH-rLFRj7KoTH_tEJZPNKhNSZeX9Xdliw2PMtDQKdQelSGEcpYJePS-Ii-i1Ee7ldROrMZs/s1600/252016_1893870669121_1312173353_31669047_574666_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 126px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7aEuGgn4qftoLnofcGdW8RlilzzN7tRCXLw8SzfIFm4GEitVEwJrC-199HyFqeFvnobgqH-rLFRj7KoTH_tEJZPNKhNSZeX9Xdliw2PMtDQKdQelSGEcpYJePS-Ii-i1Ee7ldROrMZs/s320/252016_1893870669121_1312173353_31669047_574666_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675654551435572898" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With a little time left and some good weather before I start 6 weeks of internship I was pretty keen to get out climbing again. Neil, Scott and Sophie were also free so after a few days of mountain biking and wakeboarding we headed up to Reiff for two days followed by a day at Ardmair.</div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOf0WEjx6dQNGsBGhOwRGzhCZTqiIShs-JMajQ9cy5uvCq7yYsy6wBggHioGo4GhifQ7APa1ehzDpBQ5c-DNu9UVm5MjREwvdTcGSfrMdmC-7ZYl7i_wNfR1lz076ykNlFvprbTzwmEUA/s1600/20110723-_DSC0197.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOf0WEjx6dQNGsBGhOwRGzhCZTqiIShs-JMajQ9cy5uvCq7yYsy6wBggHioGo4GhifQ7APa1ehzDpBQ5c-DNu9UVm5MjREwvdTcGSfrMdmC-7ZYl7i_wNfR1lz076ykNlFvprbTzwmEUA/s320/20110723-_DSC0197.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675654526102965042" /></div><div><br /></div><div>We visited a number of the crags which was good and did lots of climbing. The weather was stunning and after cranking out a number of easier routes we finished the day climbing the classic Black Gold.</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOf0WEjx6dQNGsBGhOwRGzhCZTqiIShs-JMajQ9cy5uvCq7yYsy6wBggHioGo4GhifQ7APa1ehzDpBQ5c-DNu9UVm5MjREwvdTcGSfrMdmC-7ZYl7i_wNfR1lz076ykNlFvprbTzwmEUA/s1600/20110723-_DSC0197.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtqI1BMZgFNI6QoaDszBUj5nUSnNfQ3GLi7gRAMNGxlUuF1RcQdu_zrGh_BCxTmiSyNzWZvFHInrZ_2YzVAt7lbaRqjTY0Qm3lACG288oE4yUpIW7FZ80cg5_UiUnwbtw1GggwkRYahU/s320/225695_1886152716177_1312173353_31659834_1605789_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675654546715113474" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 201px; " /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><u><br /></u></span></div><div>After another morning waking up by the sea (a theme this year!) we headed back to Reiff and had some more fun on a whole bunch of routes. I was psyched to get another E1 onsight and it was another brilliant day, what more could you want!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MpCKKsq-jloP7xXnP5QHs7CQLkX_VXuiCUQQTM5OvX00uL1pWs9fbjwZjUk70rHnGdKiiiHODUhLDtqK2waH3rdJeOPTs5RWJTKfOVtjojeoXpN6HOLM7ssS5KWnEv_C6mqK01E_zAY/s320/20110724-_DSC0287.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675654522984324578" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 320px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div>We finished the trip with much fun at Ardmair again cranking up some brilliant routes! More excellent weather. North-west is best!</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOf0WEjx6dQNGsBGhOwRGzhCZTqiIShs-JMajQ9cy5uvCq7yYsy6wBggHioGo4GhifQ7APa1ehzDpBQ5c-DNu9UVm5MjREwvdTcGSfrMdmC-7ZYl7i_wNfR1lz076ykNlFvprbTzwmEUA/s1600/20110723-_DSC0197.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0tAAJCNN-WykiiORe0TKhxJ4f5La2RCrnpl6BtRSZcIRd6E47MssTZEjMqApMtTfmk-rYE2KveNWperiZqLpz1KBzrUCo5v5vdfeROhlYsfdz1516MQq_RXykDx0ekA2OeHvelecLjlU/s320/20110722-_DSC0101.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675654545536002962" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 193px; " /></a><div></div></div><div><br /></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-76658280751325962742011-06-25T09:38:00.000-07:002011-11-16T09:47:56.688-08:00Newtonhill North 25/06/11<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>A slight let down climbing on the mainland after Pabbay and Mingulay but a good day out nontheless on some quality wee routes with much entertainment for their seemingly short appearance! I had a good day and was pretty psyched to flash Acapulco which is a steep little E1 in the middle of the face with some great moves. Steepness was the order of the day!<div><br /><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 121px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomIh0t6mqUrklk_t2ol91k8ircMnJ003focb-VGJnGgnQIGd49Os_Qkv772Y5nYAfCWRr34P37eJcy1tnmmDNT-pWdOWLSje7vpM6XOBlKsr7lrDSEfwpyyH4lQ_TwXPqjhKkLkwsW4E/s320/20110625-_DSC0281FB.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675651821652622658" /></div><div><br /></div><div>On the way home the sunset was absolutely incredible; the whole sky was lit up bright pink/purple, I got set up just in time and managed to catch the last rays. It really was crazy ten minutes before I took this shot!</div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-62094739211481055642011-06-18T10:56:00.000-07:002011-11-16T09:30:37.596-08:00Pabbay and Mingulay 08/06/11-18/06/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjLiKIJUbxOAdQ5IWFdcpgxdm9JaLkHcjpShlV32lzyBXX4lsbBmt-VBveBmSryXPxTf_QRLRvrEUjyd5bh9bWPrze6ZUx6JN66qhPsy3LB8TWkjqSVUZRhEyZb5TkRVf7suihkiPkTE/s1600/20110610-_DSC0252FB.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 117px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjLiKIJUbxOAdQ5IWFdcpgxdm9JaLkHcjpShlV32lzyBXX4lsbBmt-VBveBmSryXPxTf_QRLRvrEUjyd5bh9bWPrze6ZUx6JN66qhPsy3LB8TWkjqSVUZRhEyZb5TkRVf7suihkiPkTE/s320/20110610-_DSC0252FB.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675647235972060098" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">After hauling all our gear out the car, onto the train, off the train, onto another train, off the train, across a car-park to the boat, meeting up with everyone and hugely increasing the kit pile, heaving it all onto the boat, heaving it off the boat, struggling to lift it onto a last boat, off the last boat and up the beach we had finally arrived in Pabbay!</div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHJ1W_5UTQSSldQgb4DF0ZWbQRn8I8AX4vsNx_8IOlnk4fvxKH8uf6titmvwTb2MSfI2FsA0pgrCrGKzjIBh0QFiT32plWLddNgZqTgVajIBZpNMNOgu7clWCIMm9tHwiiQJGLWXdxnA/s320/20110609-_DSC0170.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675647233952974290" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>After setting up camp and getting everything sorted, aka laying out all my tinned peaches, we settled in and got to know everyone a bit better as I only knew 4 people on the trip before going. After a good night's sleep and waking up to the sounds of crashing waves and birds we headed across the island to Poop Deck having a look at The Priest/Prophet on the way. This pretty much set the scene for the rest of the trip - steep juggy climbing, blue skies (apart from the brief hail shower!), and seas. It was pretty incredible! Everyone had a good day getting stuck into some routes with Greg, Adam, Ed and Swail crushing (again another theme to continue for most of the trip!) I was feeling a bit tired but managed to tick off the first routes from my ticklist which was great!</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2uy5UmWHOerqeHMKuqNW_iYIVZWfxe5fTK-_lzex5kyDu-yN3pXXYpie-u_HFUaDVVS7uRj5vuANYcD8BHckupez_548xtKTA3kPkWMN9qRPXEUW0m9G6EbwKsq8nZkbPyVPriDiyGI/s320/20110609-_DSC0049.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675645005276510386" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 320px; " /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>We had been planning on going to Pink Walls but with the weather being super windy we decided to head to the more sheltered Bay Area. This was a cool area and again we could see Basking Sharks and Minke Wales floating around close to the shore! Ed, Swail and Adam got on the amazing looking "Herbrudean" but I was feeling tired from yesterday and had a pretty rubbish day getting scared above dodgy gear on an E1 further right!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqr7dydemAOJJmz0EF9ojMJl2C_5W0cQj8Zj7HBKxvJ7DfCZ5xAXvtAzCpr2Za4k43OumVOYt2bUpmAJyYP0ixluUNZfCePJ4kdlpjK7MXZ1u37PeApmEai4C0jfU8qM8hTOZ7Y6gQzg/s320/20110610-_DSC0216.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675644992244657618" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 178px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div>Whilst we were climbing yesterday Donald the boatman advised that the weather was changing and so he would come and pick us up a day earlier to change islands. With this in mind we headed to Pink Walls where Adam was super keen to try "In Profundum Lacu". I was knackered (no one told me how much walking there was!) so was happy to belay and take photos. The position was totally incredible and it is definitely one of the most impressive places and especially cliffs I have ever been.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; "></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2HZ3hSkVrrEO32jzPGu0OEDQy1vH2aPfn8hweUpaUpc6H50_cpnI2me3ubUa7ZKM4MK6QnZZXvKNM7_D32I1HhcPt9o5G5Rn8ByqhH9hRVppNVnX7N0Dfg-MN4cgsHXDjU7iAmySEdg/s320/20110611-_DSC0300.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675644980983421298" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 320px; " /></div><div><br /></div></div><div>We were presented with another incredible sunset on the way back to the campsite. What an incredible place!</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv08HD6oaVWvYMsmqXKz0dXxPR3hY06xaHLb9i2cCMn97VjF6QKDRESjRSvnynxnUQJRsOkjTnoWzutsgiqGm5iUS-E9z91JaCRVr3_S57RUBZ3NZdOsDGLiHz8sl79RBX9bfMGvnF_pw/s320/20110611-_DSC0291FB.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675644973872385794" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 126px; " /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>After transferring Islands we were all a bit knackered but Eddie and I headed across the Island for a mostly unsuccessful trip in terms of climbing but it was a great experience being attacked by the fleet of Bonxies and again just incredible being in this amazing and untouched situation in the middle of nowhere!</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG8OypIT2TNUTzGbpH69WfXNKiCkcDhMK0KzbeLRsNSNJ5Llh-yt53syP8c4RtcFimY0GHbsukz0VyVLDjfGw2EvjhzOJkda6SsuM7hJPQ30LkFJBt5FjFoF8OrpBrYg-cM1j31pIwblk/s320/20110612-_DSC0342FB.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675644969528338962" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 88px; " /><div style="text-align: center;"><div></div><div><br /></div></div><div>Today we headed to Guarsay Mor, The Boulevard and had a great day climbing a whole bunch of routes. Adam was busting out more moves to earn his nickname "shoulders"! It was a scorcher and almost everyone got burnt!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMK-3fTmgIvSL0WkaCZjaN2MCIV1QI3AwGRaF4o8qdqNPEvO5H0yNrlv6xQMLVhBtGA_37bWItQBX15RdXYJ4Ulu13H91lJkKOG_wyAO4PY0aVbNGSBwXzP0FRdOVlJEI6X3cJaPoLoY/s320/20110613-_DSC0465.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675641440215023634" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 139px; " /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>Dun Mingulay today and Sula with Ed, an amazing route with a totally epic second pitch! Slightly loose on the top pitch as Latham and Liam found out when I dropped a shoe-box sized piece of rock from the top of the last pitch nearly 100m abo</div><div>ve them! And there were some other strange items falling from the top of the cliff courtesy of Swail and Adam!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53Hc3gwyNVGsTxVze9xXGnLckIsJpFFcl6U0ifyNcWRkUSIpMVTkfWO91cSMU8R1qhvNULpHCnviPMd-JzGBIc3WM-YmLcSLR-tGdWS-KfoRzlfz7CffStZNQbM6TmEL2zXsvdFZRtpU/s320/20110614-P1070023.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675641430251942434" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px; " /><div style="text-align: left; "></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Resting today as totally knackered but we managed to see some incredible wildlife up close and get some beautiful fish as well!</div><div><br /></div><div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtGmI_-kBnYk9KCcoSXPHwllkJULwAYx8uxPDdJprn3AanzUFHc43_hqLn3ghRN59k9LqAnbKMPg-_F38oqQSr_bgKrNeGhP6-gaS5eLXKJxluwTRdZ1qDTf6gueUyGnR7vzPsTPH9Yw/s320/20110615-_DSC0009.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675641417319320898" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div>There were plenty of Puffins around to keep us entertained in the evening too!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJRraHYd-1-6hzcaoMuo-7Q5Lo-yAuv27dNjdBpqJH-XnCt3Mo-VTTOXq1Hoyacr6CtP_PPgvj42F7km5ADL0jmAXKkpNORHJcywyh9Rnbo_bEe_ZXmV_qwiLNf0dXnnW9w1LNpGVblU/s320/20110615-_DSC0916.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675641415381983922" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 320px; " /></div><div><br /></div></div><div>Today Adam and I walked across to Guarsay Mor again but after sitting in rain showers and very high winds we decided to call it a day and head back to camp to finish off any remaining provisions. The Puffins were back too!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7OBV9QcZdxbyM9ceZADj1tcfI_oqRxoihXPthpZSCQ9d0ngfdH7_njSkk-U0GJcgAvQ3J1yvMmxA3DN7QrrcoNCk_ldW5S_Ig2wJ0XYF6KRnN5vIR3gvqrzcvrRpy7D_ajvIttuNBWEU/s320/20110616-_DSC0043.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675641404373721554" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div>Back home via a series of trains and lifts. What an incredible trip, and what Islands! It really did live up to the huge hype that surrounded it! WOW!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2-e3SjyluyYD9Xu7CBq_r8WwNH8_t32ass1rimk9gEHheQPD3M3ZJlQES2OkBcFqQ34lPHTk74ZhCiD4HFA0kZ1UJXibnaG3iV0LcRs5n6jRkJBbpBMBSp_vdITHPmKzn1GALKRTS8Js/s320/20110618-_DSC0076.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675639437478169554" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 124px; " /></div><div><br /></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-26255681290919862822011-06-02T10:53:00.000-07:002011-10-21T14:07:35.962-07:00Training 02/06/11<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8N531bl6sbes6yxc765F492bpknqmias-x7A4m27KRMvVojMZ2A3DsGZ5j4kloppYZVwWnuYfeCL7OQPHZFY2TJhyphenhyphenVGD5VD1Qc_YEJk4N2_5qzDVb938E6MwiTur4vkYh2SmB3In_GDU/s1600/20110529-_DSC0272.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8N531bl6sbes6yxc765F492bpknqmias-x7A4m27KRMvVojMZ2A3DsGZ5j4kloppYZVwWnuYfeCL7OQPHZFY2TJhyphenhyphenVGD5VD1Qc_YEJk4N2_5qzDVb938E6MwiTur4vkYh2SmB3In_GDU/s320/20110529-_DSC0272.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666054289753254242" /></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><u><br /></u></span></div></div><div>After I finished my exams I got a last minute invite to fill a spot on a trip to Pabbay and Mingulay and I didn't hang about to grab this opportunity to go to one of the places I've always wanted to visit since I started climbing!</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivq4FbFXdUhiZgqNt3pKMffMfMvNrYj4WLvfG5uAW-tXO1Ba4LMutayCzaGbRyygpljPbBDDpKmMssL67cjI2R7f4S-RXJ9fcaSpHCfSGIsoPAupRnc-jbvAQRpd-Fvch3himYYdIqr90/s320/20110528-_DSC0209.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666054287554121778" /></div><div></div><br />As well as some training at Ratho I've been trying to get out and about as much as possible and get some mileage in; Bowden, Clova, Cambusbarron was a good week followed by some more training. </div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-CJbXCjw2euyvrLZwO2uHDbenquw9zX0Q3NBfQsWFoAILcH1BC9E-fYBFOPrsVKdzELgB5Dl238OBroWXINVZKsMtWfmAe_b9Kl5SP7cDTibostLX7z67Pw88J5qe8NioEA5G5pzLqMk/s320/20110525-_DSC0017.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666054278833649362" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /><br /></div><div>Then Galloway (disappointing) and up to the complete opposite end of the country at Rosehearty the following day capped off with a short day at Hawkcraig to continue the sea theme before a bit of rest and heading off to Pabbay and Mingulay! Super psyched!</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-h345GoiCb5zc5FfTWG9lOCb8FUU9W9t7SInC6Ar_183bYbR6eOGS-iqVaFGZNpjfRM69UrdX599B4sVWK0H4d-A1E8RevBLNt2g_b0M8rm_a2NtCTzgXvaetW2mWMUxc7zFbSxc8uUc/s320/20110601-_DSC0217.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666054297867850338" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 204px; " /><div><br /></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-67504760086810275482011-05-13T23:41:00.000-07:002011-05-13T23:44:07.026-07:00Revision Break 13/05/11After my exam this morning I needed to get outside and get some fresh air to clear my head and burn off some energy so I decided to head down to Innerleithen and session some of the downhill trails. When I arrived I had forgotten my body armour and after one tentative run I decided (given a spate of recent bad luck with people I know!) to get the camera and do some self filming in an effort to avoid injury!<div><br /></div><object width="400" height="300" ><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/10150615822880381" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/10150615822880381" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><div><br /></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-14991921606544975502011-05-02T04:48:00.000-07:002011-05-06T05:01:03.279-07:00Etive Slabs Again 02/05/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1kZPsouRA2zelWu12-HlfT5BGK7hvveuCPToZ1LPEOjd7-1br7nGyk02PRQM0zDjMRn2mgnLMZW9cU7c10YGp5f41My4yMcuQEod7i_3C4GCTfEUoBrKkc0kx0Lw58VzJgf6JgkMCFw/s1600/227071_10150178502053252_699708251_6741841_6951552_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1kZPsouRA2zelWu12-HlfT5BGK7hvveuCPToZ1LPEOjd7-1br7nGyk02PRQM0zDjMRn2mgnLMZW9cU7c10YGp5f41My4yMcuQEod7i_3C4GCTfEUoBrKkc0kx0Lw58VzJgf6JgkMCFw/s320/227071_10150178502053252_699708251_6741841_6951552_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603571592366260098" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With continued incredible weather I was pretty keen to make the most of it and so I headed back to the Etive Slabs with Scott and Sean. After walking in we scrambled up to the base of Hammer which was our first route. The entry pitches were a bit scrappy pulling through heather in quite a few places but once you get onto the route proper the climbing is fantastic. I led the scoop on P3 and the following corner which was a brilliant pitch, and then Sean had the fun and games of the crux traverse on P4 which we all found quite tricky I think!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinHZ67-sPNimzUvBeM2ujjLNlOVnnQ9Lke8pOTK2bqgFhV11RWJw020HMhfdRIyz-lPRKqWLamwWjuZqnzOaIh-q7-iF8ly2acTbA_61NHpeG-GuigmaA3ALXbiWgxEm-8KnLcrwSKwok/s320/231090_10150177105858252_699708251_6731216_5720913_n.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 222px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603571586186946978" /></div><div><br /></div><div>After finishing the rest of the route and having a quick bite to eat back at the Coffin Stone we decided to head up The Pause, another Slabs classic. I joined the first two pitches together which seems sensible on 60m ropes and then Scott went for the high traverse option on the crux traverse which looked engaging, Sean and I followed on the lower traverse which is pretty mental, it feels like you are using nothing for your hands or feet at all, crazy slab climbing. We then continued up the route and skirted right at the top to avoid the steeper exit pitch as we were running out of daylight and it's not at all in-keeping with the rest of the route anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_pgP39zWHlLEZUPh5BX-clyLz5XFo-nG4uYIgVkPBiyUhjTtjxWPRIowIIa-k3067yTm7RdJOZiXIwhnaHcYAA0RNnqZGcj3v0LUoBd8f27M6E5eEwGh9MlabY3-vEd3SM68hoalmTcg/s320/20110402-P1060947.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603571586465173858" /></div><div><br /></div><div>We then ran it out back to Stirling before being able to get some late dinner and heading back to Edinburgh. Another great day out, at the Slabs again. I have now ticked the routes I want to do there before my manliness increases so it's back to the books for a while as exams are looming, but shortly I shall be free again!</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqGOuV8RC7WTpzK_pCbd02gheQSjFQVnwRsGSAg0XlirNz1Yo6u1mHSoR8R0uGAyYbJuh9FkPsOH0aS8KtMJbGVNcY6oMHHT5cIk5CvIntd3GMHmDSHyav92bXObMmZrniuR-McpLlX0/s320/20110505-Scott.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 141px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603571578626841266" />James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-37867915340340347742011-04-29T10:46:00.000-07:002011-05-01T11:00:06.164-07:00Mysterious Rain in the NW 28/04/11-29/04/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJXgiefmJvWCgX2lviEQYglDksAqZKuZ0uZRgxg2WlR2Co_DArjlSWIYZ688kkOG-0dPwb_40wi-JlwSx7ImEcAMuUfRuds-x4F3FfocETKIwYAMDO7kHHQ37Lwx9DqG9v0KnJq6j-YCM/s1600/20110427-_DSC0134.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 69px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJXgiefmJvWCgX2lviEQYglDksAqZKuZ0uZRgxg2WlR2Co_DArjlSWIYZ688kkOG-0dPwb_40wi-JlwSx7ImEcAMuUfRuds-x4F3FfocETKIwYAMDO7kHHQ37Lwx9DqG9v0KnJq6j-YCM/s320/20110427-_DSC0134.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601808556980988274" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With another amazing weather forecast I was massively psyched to head up to Reiff for a couple of days with Greg, Neil and Niall. We decided to head to the far north coast of Reiff to Leaning Block Cliffs as Greg had his eye on a few things and Neil also wanted to climb there. We made it there for about 2pm after driving up from Edinburgh.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDqHMHIJxcN4a8-sf63YF8Y_TNH7lNZW3zPhAm7k-weKrvmfQFHFX3s7WrYkTgTUKhFVDPmrXQcfeuFhYcWGUQsKgoNHKamGC2HVsRQL1otW3oQk72TzoYhMIiDoCLU45LE7mjugNlMo/s320/20110427-_DSC0160.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 198px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601808550988115554" /></div><div><br /></div><div>The location is amazing and the routes, whilst short, are also very impressive. We made the most of the afternoon and I climbed some good routes with Greg before getting on Waigwa which Niall and Neil had thoroughly recommended. I was pretty psyched to get the onsight as it was a good battle, great to be pushing myself again and going through the mental battle that is trad climbing near your limit! Greg then made a sterling effort on The Quickening before some mysterious rain stopped play and we had to head back to the car and to find a camping spot.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPbFssyChXw6DJYNpntLLjmD_4DxtDmTYWqcs_8t-VOrTtJr1svoI8qJud6_aai0QrTQUyA_oFIGwVVi9L48S7lXZu8IiMIi57fwLrQQb-R38evtOwUapyPVQxyLIkfatqyM7PkMsxQM/s320/210702_1692604317588_1312173353_31432779_8058145_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 193px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601808537469061570" /></div><div><br /></div><div>After some more unfortunate mysterious rain throughout the night we decided not to risk walking back in to Leaning Block area and so instead headed to Ardmair. Niall and I managed to get two great routes in; Gravity's Rainbow and the amazing Le Petamine which I was again pleased to onsight, and managed to climb in much better style than the previous battle yesterday! Unfortunately the non-mystery rain then started and everything was soaked within five minutes. We packed up shop and headed down to Creag Dubh (my favourite crag!) where Greg started up some burly line near Oui Oui before deciding he was too tired and not mentally psyched so traversed off to give a nice little 30m pitch of about HVS before we abbed off and</div><div> headed back down to Edinburgh.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDkSyQgfEN3y_qLsugCq8oqt44NTMDPqWDP05jO_lPnAYkS_5zOUE7q8TK1152O3OJE1xWlUhsq39Wzs889yPUF26cTGRRvMiIw8GYbuFUIqRC8iRLyFqRg2134iq7m4A3TTPwGx9pCM/s320/201570_1692605917628_1312173353_31432785_3618526_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 184px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601808538651785650" /></div><div><br /></div><div>A short but very worthwhile trip with some great routes and really good company.</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNnbXADhDLu_vmwiH7EGNE0CIOWu7xmcqmew3G7wJu9NIRWOGKg-5PVuNXkmkscCyteT5stCHWHedSjVC7IWnOB9whjZ0op1E4ocX-CNcofEqLDC-UJY87RiYrSBFpeb5xO4QtzcdArM/s320/220861_1692606557644_1312173353_31432788_5691580_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 210px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601808535169134850" />James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-3653124794279844852011-04-25T10:41:00.000-07:002011-05-01T10:46:06.571-07:00This is Sparta (n Slab)! 25/04/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxEjgiTcZV9sgwHq7iosjQmYv4tIMN85FTn5BK8TF0SfNm85oboxMbRKsDuKQVWzmyvT2LA9AyfgCUOXLHT3HaCUj8JPXYhH-VK8o6GJhRmfM0nUeyesegy59YuvcKVtWykzuL0Kg2ME/s1600/20110425-DSC_0026.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxEjgiTcZV9sgwHq7iosjQmYv4tIMN85FTn5BK8TF0SfNm85oboxMbRKsDuKQVWzmyvT2LA9AyfgCUOXLHT3HaCUj8JPXYhH-VK8o6GJhRmfM0nUeyesegy59YuvcKVtWykzuL0Kg2ME/s320/20110425-DSC_0026.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601805299386517970" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>With a glorious weather forecast I couldn't resist getting out to the Slabs again. Sean, Sophie and I headed up and made the walk in, not 100% sure if they would be dry but fortunately they were and we made a leisurely ascent of Spartan Slab which was great fun, an awesome route. It was a bit weird not to be feeling much exposure, whether this was feeling comfortable on the route or just having climbed in some exposed places this year I don't know! A fantastic day anyway. Maybe time to squeeze in a couple more routes before cranking out some revision!<div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5rEKEBh8KZvkHn0qX_Kib-elOq-zrJaDxYpqMiNnojIiRRZkVDUvylgGg-zeNq8J2R0-vmBu39DTZ0ispwcyEyip7Q9lTDGhXxjnFGqfosIrpr_Z-vl4bKZahSZ1ycmSJ2e2hTXDuF0/s320/210047_1951330592549_1521155700_2115361_1359053_o.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601805296780814978" /></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-60792698288788255332011-04-17T06:14:00.000-07:002011-05-06T06:25:55.319-07:00A visit to Applecross 16/04/11-17/04/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82oilY83eY69TOZVgpVX28vqyYAnaNzeAb1qUFzYcrGm_HZNGW24-c1DdT2tYHgtPlM3XEedK9QgKDKzsr0v4f932ZtkYTnBhLGG8vZYilV-pIRqGhw_-ZQwAH4YLad40trkPeZ908tg/s1600/20110416-DSC_0306.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82oilY83eY69TOZVgpVX28vqyYAnaNzeAb1qUFzYcrGm_HZNGW24-c1DdT2tYHgtPlM3XEedK9QgKDKzsr0v4f932ZtkYTnBhLGG8vZYilV-pIRqGhw_-ZQwAH4YLad40trkPeZ908tg/s320/20110416-DSC_0306.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603593307899049042" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Over the weekend I headed up to Applecross with my Dad, Brother, and 3 of my Dad's friends on the motorbikes. I met everyone at Lochearnhead as I had been staying at Sarah's and then we headed on up to the Green Welly stop at Tyndrum, through Glencoe to Fort William, up to Loch Cluanie, passed Eilan Donan Castle and towards Kyle of Lochalsh, round Loch Carron and over the Bealach nah Ba road into Applecross.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfYQJQHoHOAO9g2_aUGeB_bnueKR37xaR0wlVZ7zgO6WM7TjSuOOLfE04-H4zKU2U7gzddjDZMmhavX1cSOeqZ_mC7ARHMODMDlSDBk8iqlbleVIOzIx7jO_1u-peGO2rMVB-0DUmKIFI/s320/20110416-DSC_0339.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603593304746261202" /></div><div><br /></div><div>The scenery and roads were, as you would imagine, stunning. And we even had mostly dry weather to boot!</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcSHFj56JJNwpUXYGN39xZea-pszr-4dCTJf7WRl8SDog0SdZ8l3b4DjzoM94iND136sNCA-L7z6BiFblCSUDAYg_5Nr82w_jhcCDTWmrhsYBMrIJIfZN3K_PMurzgRvq13weIvirVsM/s320/20110416-DSC_0343.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603593294197041186" /></div><div><br /></div><div>After a great fish and chips in the Applecross pub we headed back to the fixed campsite shed things where we were staying which turned out to be really nice.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJDdI0tLG9sJMV9mHLmY5ozYxc7c4xtB5fuMFZostQI0YOm-DdiGjhLwSsMRK6du6ZjweZJvGGklbvkQoX03DPMoz6Z01bKSXZcFH05SPatuUKiiXQXHHAVzhMIVLwhun7k_bhi_LlRs/s320/20110416-DSC_0388.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 117px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603593286446681362" /></div><div><br /></div><div>On Sunday after a good cooked breakfast we reversed our route after driving round the Applecross peninsula and headed back down the road for Edinburgh.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Lz6apdUsP9rnEMLHYKO1QgPzdhGwaqcNI_-Vd-eq4Hg5WfqnNr1jat-2hpNzqZikMyUPLjNE0bzpv9x2OQgKmxTx20By_KByXfLkGCqkd3LAnBT5FetL9av6i7xQNIU-63VRPmRKrzs/s320/20110417-DSC_0455.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 158px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603593280712843858" /></div><div><br /></div><div>It was a fun weekend and I think everyone had a great time enjoying dry, swooping tarmac!</div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-73266791464249744172011-04-14T09:50:00.000-07:002011-05-01T10:40:19.888-07:00Welsh Trip 08/04/11-14/04/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHrmTkyieeyh2RgJBiiYYldDRtuTNrDLrLZFb-4jygDPh77LTv3t7x_tPVHoSWa4BcI1hVXglAF7_V0xjr8TJtZRRl1x07QoZ52Ftfh0WVTMegzNrtiw1XS_6wepyZhggTAAp0I2zPDw/s1600/207372_1668183707088_1312173353_31400578_4685763_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHrmTkyieeyh2RgJBiiYYldDRtuTNrDLrLZFb-4jygDPh77LTv3t7x_tPVHoSWa4BcI1hVXglAF7_V0xjr8TJtZRRl1x07QoZ52Ftfh0WVTMegzNrtiw1XS_6wepyZhggTAAp0I2zPDw/s320/207372_1668183707088_1312173353_31400578_4685763_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601800740322365634" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>With an amazing forecast Neil, Sophie and I drove down to Keswick on Friday morning after squeezing three people's kit for biking, climbing and camping into one car. We arrived in Keswick and after dumping the bikes and tents we headed off to Shepherd's Crag to get some climbing in.<div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXYD1EbPBsryppGMfnNUP2T0XAlUPsTwHnsXQvAs_BMChGrXhkpnlRyFwUVMV6_9w7H28r9yWsVdMQUmkLcuIOIFCwvFa1R1I9txnVGp5PJ7F_MXjP2TTGCK8jQ_PR8IUwh8zVfhIecc/s320/20110408-DSC_0049.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 221px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601800731684049618" /></div><div><br /></div><div>The crag was quite busy with the glorious sun but we managed to get three quality routes done;Ardus, Adam and Eve. All three were good fun and it was good to get back into the trad mindset of working things out and staying relaxed, or trying to anyway! After this short session we headed back to Whinlatter where we had been for some "snowbiking" in December. The trail fully lived up to expectations this time and we did a truncated loop of the best bits which was amazing fun. A great first day and hopefully this weather continues for the rest of the trip.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk7Mx7yEB9Ohr5N_HrzE4E0olVUEfTHBxiErePsjQme7j5Yx0d3zdYiCNwor9e6p7udeIl12dAwBPvZhfhFSUgwDmjmkXaZpMNsKvJop0XpgxqJG696xJWDsfVmxocQqBYB0dxzfP1ZHQ/s320/20110409-DSC_0161.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 208px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601799947560446882" /></div><div><br /></div><div>After sorting ourselves out on Saturday we were able to get to Wales to make the afternoon climbing. We wasted no time in ticking some classic mountain routes as they were dry and the sun was shining. We headed to Clogwyn y Grochan and started up Spectre which was home to an awesome off-width on the last pitch which gave some good sport. After a quick bite to eat we headed over to the other end of the crag and Neil led up a HVS/E1 called Wind which was relatively short but really nice climbing with some fun moves. To finish the day we headed up Phantom Rib and finished in the dark to keep the interest up! Another great day ticking off some Welsh classics.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETWTErCd4H922flFavyhyVYyUI1YY05fd1Nx2CYWqvoSKB1YPMjr0TaHcNGRWl_O3Z5f1X28LI5FuUrocVjt-PTxXojO7IXiSogpWAukqE50e8IK6gidXF_pSd84QM2tvOUHa8uSRGIw/s320/20110410-DSC_0003.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601799937662044946" /></div><div><br /></div><div>Sunday again dawned beautifully so we headed up towards Dinas Mot. Llanberis Pass was extremely busy however and so we couldn't get parked and ended up driving back to the campsite before walking up to the crag. Again there were people climbing but we didn't have to wait about and headed up West Rib which was a great route with a really nice second pitch. After abbing off we headed up Diagonal which is another classic, I got the final pitch which was a nice corner crack system which was great to get back into the swing of things as I'm definitely not as strong or relaxed as I was at the end of last summer (to be expected really), but climbing much better than at the beginning of last summer which is an improvement. To finish the evening off we headed to Vivian slate quarry and Neil led up Mental Lentil which I then stripped. Slate was </div><div>weird to climb on! Not sure if I liked it or not...good to experience anyway!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNwO3Yx8keUpvVEtd1Zo4oj2Q_uZgVGxtpE03uzZ3OCiEuuERp846TRsNgKleu5owJCKni-j1wuw0jDqDtdrYrFlVRGS-5mZ2OSqf48mqR3qSUl3RWD_H_rA39VNWGT5ZRDigDCdqavzk/s320/20110411-DSCN0495.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 304px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601799937030966770" /></div><div><br /></div><div>On Monday we awoke to some heavy cloud and it was much colder than previous days so we decided to head to the coast to see if the weather was better there. I was pretty nervous about climbing at Gogarth as it has a massive reputation but having two hours to kill in the cafe when we arrived meant I could settle down somewhat. We headed to Castell Helen and stood at the top trying to decide if it was too cold or not. Thankfully we decided to abb in; the atmosphere was amazing and our first route Lighthouse Arete Direct also proved amazing; jug hauling out over the crashing sea! After some lunch we abbed back to the belay ledge and Neil led off up Blanco/Poseidon link up which goes through some impressive scenery. This was one of the best routes at the grade that I've been on, the route was just absolutely amazing with biffer jugs everywhere! An absolute classic! To finish the day we headed to Holyhead Mountain and Sophie led up Black and Tan, Neil took photos and I cleaned the route before we headed back to Llanberis.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzAUxyeM0-pQP2wX9l1dy1UXmZgVUd6BkxlgJss3NJNAivILAbPwE20SkI4y6pmMzvVG642H9BbRqgx6RcCDkuF_H8R39374bNIlV_shOGBa6xRkAwj-Tw1q-9ZtoImpLAnBBfJC93nj0/s320/208281_1668185547134_1312173353_31400588_6226976_n.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 197px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601800735879449938" /></div><div><br /></div><div>Tuesday again was slightly cloudy, cold and wet in Llanberis so we headed back to Castell Helen as I was psyched to get on Rap which was supposed to be high in the grade and brilliant. Again I was a bit nervous as we approached but as we abbed in all nerves went and the psyche started to build massively, it's such an inspiring place to be! I led up the route with no real difficulties but it was possibly the best pitch I have ever led, well up there anyway and arriving on the mid-way ledge I had a huge grin on my face. Having had my fun we then headed across to Wen Zawn where Neil was keen to get on Britomartis and I thought I would shoot some photographs. The route looked awesome from above but turned out to be quite traversey (especially as the tide was too high to do the low level traverse so Neil had to traverse in through Vend-t) so I ended up climbing back up the ab line whilst Sophie seconded. Another amazing day. Gogarth is possibly the best place I have climbed at; no loose rock at all, atmosphere but not atmosfear, long routes...everything you could want!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieI-ESn_hC-hTWaFSFgZNntILcLSMURhRB5LOYrwhTYvjZMS8x8dl2des9lCKQRtGNWzYkvNE6WcZHQWoI-ia35L2o94nnR3IHNPwEsDB7BR3fmtLuzyFLfSQc2NStV6BXWuBI3AAsXBc/s320/20110412-DSC_0324.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601799922503647106" /></div><div><br /></div><div>Feeling somewhat tired on Wednesday I guess we were all slightly glad it was chucking it down when we woke up. We decided to pack up and see what the weather did whilst we went for an xc ride. The weather (and bike trail) ended up getting worse and worse and we were going to head back up north but we decided to risk staying another day in case the weather improved, saying as we were all the way down there anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div>On Thursday we headed to Tremadog to try and avoid the weather. We managed to squeeze in Mesach before the rain hit and we started to bail homeward bound. After speaking to some of the guys in Betws y Coed we decided to risk a look at the Marin trail for the afternoon and to everyone's surprise it turned out to be incredible! Again we did a truncated loop of the last three descents and they turned out to be mentally fast and generally gnarly. I ended up well and truly on my head in a pretty impressive over the bars maneuver but thankfully avoided all injury! I decided to chill out after that and took some photos of Neil before we squeezed into the car and made the journey back to Edinburgh.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFo7vs0G2RyegcJ52uy8lfVik5VbzgLuAG5WQc9NZ0s12YmylrNnHrTieoHSl6Lfsi3AbeVWo4nIP_DAF2xp7u-UJDktqPjgpomh4RAGYs3bodSblKOSEKq8_U3wBw-20gjGroBBI1OlA/s320/20110414-DSC_0573.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601799914670325042" /></div><div><br /></div><div>It was an amazing trip and we ticked loads of classic routes and had a blast biking too. I can't wait to get back to Wales later in the season for some more quality routes. </div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-27611093847459568932011-04-03T09:44:00.000-07:002011-05-01T09:50:33.969-07:0003/04/11 Rain<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hIvEuwJIyON6P1tI4YldOk_eI_1OQxstQi46cXqgOjmvrNJMM7En3nfinY58icZhCLG-0ZxJFlNjzmkL3-ZBFhT2cQFFdxcwRix8lJ1RmxkgowUMPUHbH2rzrplGjg4Bd9FXD0cD2Us/s1600/20110403-DSC_0293.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 177px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hIvEuwJIyON6P1tI4YldOk_eI_1OQxstQi46cXqgOjmvrNJMM7En3nfinY58icZhCLG-0ZxJFlNjzmkL3-ZBFhT2cQFFdxcwRix8lJ1RmxkgowUMPUHbH2rzrplGjg4Bd9FXD0cD2Us/s320/20110403-DSC_0293.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601790971186108194" /></a><br />Today I headed up towards Glen Clova again but this time to get on some trad. Unfortunately as we geared up at the bottom of Upper Doonie the rain started and didn't have signs of letting up. As a back up plan we headed to Kirrie Hill which turned out to be a great little venue, much better than I was expecting, certainly if you want to climb 6a-6b+. It was great to salvage the day and get some mileage in.James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-88320493301222313152011-03-24T09:58:00.000-07:002011-03-26T10:47:05.111-07:00First Rock Trip Of The Season 23/03/11-24/03/11<div><div><div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuIQhDZfna7RR6pNzOsJsgw1Rpgpqa1mRrtG7Yhaecpi4kRgfax6K8q18n8BGuIBmeRCWvwaRVGxrCLVNPYrDyEb5t2vqUaaIUvkWXVgqwqlkgXMO59MSZDRYJG3lQOpjAc_qeqnnN-k/s1600/mhari.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588443304397930050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 224px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuIQhDZfna7RR6pNzOsJsgw1Rpgpqa1mRrtG7Yhaecpi4kRgfax6K8q18n8BGuIBmeRCWvwaRVGxrCLVNPYrDyEb5t2vqUaaIUvkWXVgqwqlkgXMO59MSZDRYJG3lQOpjAc_qeqnnN-k/s320/mhari.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_Bzf0marEkuoECpZNPzxsVla2WM93E97wGjVuNvTkiHStz67WciQnXwa9dbk6mjWHO0YUlbOv0dgkB6dtlczjIhQjabKp5Zmm7LGmvSZQZhoGjeTNB58CXAKX7uyr_Ugqppk8Ifdnxg/s1600/DSC_0015.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588443289241709426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 195px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_Bzf0marEkuoECpZNPzxsVla2WM93E97wGjVuNvTkiHStz67WciQnXwa9dbk6mjWHO0YUlbOv0dgkB6dtlczjIhQjabKp5Zmm7LGmvSZQZhoGjeTNB58CXAKX7uyr_Ugqppk8Ifdnxg/s320/DSC_0015.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><div> </div><div>After last week's good session at Clova, Greg, Mhairi and I decided to head away for a quick two day bouldering trip. As usual, weather dictated the venue and we decided to head up to Cummingston and the surrounding areas as Greg's new "Bouldering Scotland" guide has an awesome Inverness area.</div><div> </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588443285592866066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFg05RUgMA1F-goUC3zW0jPyrJIP9bdaNKgtLWV85LD1YR2wp2l4Oy2AkD2qCsrU1CEK_CuLV4V5dNFmlI9_4Q77KxCfa1jmktGtxuCUw6CS5mewndtG8IxhZzXs4U8t4xOBCIXKmzac/s320/DSC_0041.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div><div>After driving up on Tuesday night we had a long day shredding our skin on the sandy beach at Cummingston and did a circuit of the shore from the right-hand side all the way across to the cave on the left. There were some awesome problems in all sectors and in between bouts of failing strength I managed to take some photos, it's such a photogenic venue with the stone beach and sea.</div></div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588443282206099538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjodc909aqaoarPkACzprgAuf6O7OYTN3krFECzR5xcFOZo5RYuX50oIgglpQRAZuNSl9ua8TvSZr-He1Jc9f0-xTqojsibi3sFtVhpPWfFbWdlTLEiNIg3nyUuWS1GW72qt_ejlNi9quo/s320/DSC_0074.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div><div>As skin and strength failed we decided to end the day with some tradding on some of the great routes. I climbed "Centre" and "Left" which are both VS but great fun and with some great climbing. It was great to be back on the sharp end and working out the moves without having a spongy mat to soften a short fall, feeling relatively strong which is great and I'm pretty psyched for the upcoming trad season.</div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588444863347866034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdaxuYD7t3vvpMPFl90eHKV0HLB2sYCMTEQQWLO63v_gWQsgKl7YatjhTrx4PKanGcANEZOXgKs79iXRABr0AfvgH-80MY_ll-fkUB6a2yYWeZS_gYvG0bOdjWmz2TnE2u_m3NB_0y3cA/s320/DSC_0147.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div>After a stunning sunset and an extended exit from the crag via the playpark, we headed back to Aviemore and had a feast before spending some time sanding/super-glueing and doing general finger maintenance!</div></div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588444866546351266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTw3u4BeKfxa-MRoT9OkD8SC5tOXixPWHyuoOc47M3vMaEsxVAlNtbs_6a_Aumrc8qDi2p-M3q67xq_mSSYFiCqJ2_EHGZnQTJ0rKH3ZbQsyxAefYqW7BWImCN02NtHF06X64iIr1djf4/s320/DSC_0076.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div>On Thursday we headed towards Inverness and across to Ruthven Boulder. Psyche was built on the drive as Brin Rocks looked amazing, incredibly steep but perhaps it is deceptive; will have to go back and see anyway! Ruthven is very much a boulder and it's a great place to climb over looking the little loch and surrounding hills. Again sore skin played a part as some of the gneiss is incredibly sharp; routes such as "Cheese Grater" and "Shreddies" give some indication! However the wonders of super-glue and finger tape are very impressive and we had another good day enjoying working around the boulder getting more mileage before heading back down to Edinburgh.</div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588444871153001266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe1o0h4ICLjGz8RCcPkBpUKCYbdJd2rk1myUhb7UL09qExBByN5qy6hasjZZEhhF9KJsp2L3GwvS2NwSQhYbzocInadEGATZd_ULyhIVtHq1e_kpCuNBALee1sPE-yflxjz53ZlQt1xZw/s320/DSC_0034.jpg" border="0" /></div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588444877567543842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xtrm0DEts4N9SogJKJ6ctvDVDh-HebOkghCY4jpvx8FgBS0WbKKltwA7SA9CamwjHh11zVGZ1ZT6vpUgDVzd_dzfhhxqte0y1sgGLSoYmWFl4lSUwe1HufgQczgNrDc6eB0o4WNi2l0/s320/DSC_0013.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div></div><div>It was a great trip and mega-psyched for a summer of trad and more new places!</div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588444890570204754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 187px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgppPwstoA8U4A7KLdagg3ZTK_MdM3tPk-DsHKCU4eEUWz2XxbHcsAghYhVuSarFGXMXtYjr1E_acYpHctrU9XOjXppKbn0taUdUivPBSdc3oy6i1l2gwOUqjau18L2lreqfF1aClD439o/s320/DSC_0011.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-57253239440868249312011-03-18T08:28:00.000-07:002011-03-19T08:45:36.967-07:00Glen Clova Again 18/03/10<div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmU9pJmZ6h_2M5INX7jWQQlSkDOtSovvxZruJ1rqx5p3A7LvqHarXQtZP3tIDjiSyvyRNQoYwz7TaVN-IoLhR5GEG99UjV83Jo9omtUMiP-WDcXrc2O7deIXTMwWR4F2i2dE2gZYbZgb8/s1600/Greg2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585817103656719490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 182px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmU9pJmZ6h_2M5INX7jWQQlSkDOtSovvxZruJ1rqx5p3A7LvqHarXQtZP3tIDjiSyvyRNQoYwz7TaVN-IoLhR5GEG99UjV83Jo9omtUMiP-WDcXrc2O7deIXTMwWR4F2i2dE2gZYbZgb8/s320/Greg2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURwmXoqH3cufqGqZ6OE3UzWNHDRKRKQSdpl93Ujf-cPeWAWAKCNvyKGdhMrdLmx9A_nvJ2OUqNo6W_YzHL2tMo4VY3bD_0o4EgZJIcSkCXj58EM4r5iH0wfnTNuiJeOQnK5R6F9vvMwA/s1600/DSC_0450.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585817093634580434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURwmXoqH3cufqGqZ6OE3UzWNHDRKRKQSdpl93Ujf-cPeWAWAKCNvyKGdhMrdLmx9A_nvJ2OUqNo6W_YzHL2tMo4VY3bD_0o4EgZJIcSkCXj58EM4r5iH0wfnTNuiJeOQnK5R6F9vvMwA/s320/DSC_0450.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Back up to Clova today with Greg and Mhairi; totally loving the bouldering at the moment! The weather was great again for most of the day, and we enjoyed some of the quality boulders in the Red Craig's area. I was psyched to tick Peel Session SS which goes at V3, font 6c and Red Nose, V4 6b. Greg and Mhairi were also crushing. Another good day out at Clova, my skin is feeling it now though!</div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585817110715905906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 317px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtXQ66vy8I8o-mACEyctEet4mI7nNKylK_nmCSod9_OiooWPIDWq3HgGFXrkzn2TbTVFgpVzZEMsg8kdZTHUlZZpqPnM3DlR92hgwcb3AEsmOgFL59cXrcq4wscCn8nmY3C9a4lkXIbA/s320/Mhairi.jpg" border="0" /></div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585817114876763426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb8WDCd4LGVPWqpkyQDy9h9nKQL5Otc9xfPtj5RKhnoD2s-aXXtEQ-SJ-fLCqBB-StGqZmDc7MZ83ONN2DDGnH2S7_hJpj39OT1XZ6Pt2lH_nTztm5MMvua_s5psJaJCPn2axcX3nUlfs/s320/DSC_0511.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-49199425213470535552011-03-14T12:30:00.000-07:002011-03-14T13:16:18.846-07:00Kyloe In, Out, Shake It All About 14/03/11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtJiRMcggEwz5mWot3wX0LhQ65WY6hZc4AVrROsHjcysIvW4rqFRoXxrvWc4bEMG7SJUqKlH69s5L2cNsibj37BGltMSij0DPHFBy5J7oPf9al3xEToV8sPXZ7dcQ2cqd97siZZ2viAjg/s1600/DSC_0372.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584030906124039378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtJiRMcggEwz5mWot3wX0LhQ65WY6hZc4AVrROsHjcysIvW4rqFRoXxrvWc4bEMG7SJUqKlH69s5L2cNsibj37BGltMSij0DPHFBy5J7oPf9al3xEToV8sPXZ7dcQ2cqd97siZZ2viAjg/s320/DSC_0372.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div>I was back down at Kyloe today with Greg and Andy. We started off in the woods and we all had a good day ticking or making progress on projects, I was working Monty Python's Direct which is a great little project and it's good to have something to work on. After some lunch we headed out of the woods and had a look around to see what was dry, after scoping the crag we settled on a little cave which had a good traverse and a snappy little problem pulling through the roof which was quite smeggy so we headed left and did a great little problem; The Saint before continuing left for more slabness of The Fat Lady Sang. This was an apt name; as I came off from above the mantel on the slabby madness and slid down onto the mats! Slight twist of the ankle but it seems fine now which is good. More climbing later this week hopefully! Bring it on :)</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584030917379396258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEHu58rl6bTaObvBRn8HnwC3wCJLDNJrJxKUpU32P57WHTk3PgvzQmYNygqg-sqLfT_vLhC2xByOzGJWVOlAO38mDmIMOKqMbyU0aYxuJvS2FyQsesulp7ZgabQGg_Ged_UzZaOjWxK4U/s320/DSC_0376.jpg" border="0" /></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-46432379081333274422011-03-11T13:48:00.000-08:002011-03-16T06:30:31.195-07:00Kyloe In 11/03/11<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5lP0JI_Svx3jreIPcY3Vb7tFmPGUU_UV5kZBy8L-PhJ8bITzYRf4rOdBCH7FIigV31MLnfB1ogvKdfRMYdWyEBeC-ZuWsFtSIAgVQYYfp8hIP3t-TFUj6Wvlztk6Q0IVEr6exQjmSEE/s1600/189208_10150119962723252_699708251_6346911_2149518_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5lP0JI_Svx3jreIPcY3Vb7tFmPGUU_UV5kZBy8L-PhJ8bITzYRf4rOdBCH7FIigV31MLnfB1ogvKdfRMYdWyEBeC-ZuWsFtSIAgVQYYfp8hIP3t-TFUj6Wvlztk6Q0IVEr6exQjmSEE/s320/189208_10150119962723252_699708251_6346911_2149518_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584669391338875778" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qpQyNosb_bJrLqpwQ5eq91oLSxYyfLevXp4B2bAlGaWYvI8sCwf99u4z1-NQyntQ6c7sjHTTfTOLoNKw6Ep6VlHgwAJWWlKhUwPJWU-csg3Hl3F8EACoitHqLIrQT10t1bI-EWkhsZ4/s1600/DSC_0258.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583315901230526066" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 202px; height: 320px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qpQyNosb_bJrLqpwQ5eq91oLSxYyfLevXp4B2bAlGaWYvI8sCwf99u4z1-NQyntQ6c7sjHTTfTOLoNKw6Ep6VlHgwAJWWlKhUwPJWU-csg3Hl3F8EACoitHqLIrQT10t1bI-EWkhsZ4/s320/DSC_0258.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div>Today I headed down to Kyloe In with Andy, Greg and Sean. It was my first time to this classic Northumberland venue and I was suitably impressed! </div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583315913965147602" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 214px; height: 320px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftMkz0GUdtRQDdXng_nzGbTwLUxlSfllpDWPdg26kOCNRbuHzjjtF-emHi0AmRM8MMFzIebkNyJ8dI_z199PsKIfcG17le4yE9ZAAvt5cyKBFEdbMETavyVi8i9jVMqsD6ThxGC2SoW0/s320/Greg+on+hitchikers.jpg" border="0" /></div><div> </div><div>It's a really cool place and the climbing was amazing, everyone had a good day climbing wise and we had a good laugh to top it off. Sean kindly let me play with his lens and lights when he wasn't using them and this was a lot of fun, Sean obviously got some incredible photos as usual and I was quite pleased with some of my shots too. </div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583315929858952018" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 214px; height: 320px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GdlTR7VspzIpGIw0K9zovx6aAlBcxzJoqiI_tl4Gifu5NpUPH-XmblmLzRmQZkQYet3qhdJtuV8WvBXBKw4iC7jB6aPD6pE1arRWGIOfJV6Deb-KBRYz9eu-fx9Oqi9NHRHKZ91A1Tg/s320/Sean+Jocks+and+Geordies.jpg" border="0" /></div><div> </div><div>A weekend of healing the fingertip skin and watching the weather before maybe some last winter routes or more sunny rock climbing to start off the summer. Winter seems to have made a reappearance today though, there was about an inch of snow lying on the ground when we woke up!</div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583315923423810706" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 214px; height: 320px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvEX4YwV4tF79uGroahi_b7tpRu88S6u6dLPoVlhWTfOCnGNDUQO8IMSyHvyfT5VNajhDUKsizUcob4cc0mdRBfrc6pwy_bgMn5soyv1-Z9wlBE_NNVVzak42D7Ib-9_bGPWmJJ3Bf48/s320/Greg+on+monty+pythons.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3876283572007763719.post-22925436659941949172011-03-06T13:02:00.000-08:002011-03-12T13:47:40.121-08:00Glen Clova Bouldering 06/03/11<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphen8MqK9cv4-HVHpz5KNSt08blaGsAbT48t5Hd2-t43cMG3UOMy-3eK0sgZ3_oc39122VbYc0iO3fnA6htgtwHLvluFULgka6MYgfgGmik5hWFmCnaRFU7yoMj1rSMY4vmqbKOICQfhSI/s1600/20110306-20110306-DSC_7885.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583312817254532210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 229px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphen8MqK9cv4-HVHpz5KNSt08blaGsAbT48t5Hd2-t43cMG3UOMy-3eK0sgZ3_oc39122VbYc0iO3fnA6htgtwHLvluFULgka6MYgfgGmik5hWFmCnaRFU7yoMj1rSMY4vmqbKOICQfhSI/s320/20110306-20110306-DSC_7885.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pV1-q81_X27cHtXU3HslM9_rvl3Vfb03qwUFb0blFp2658oZULufXozsLAHe0W5AKd0mjaIhLxyqwts8BI4P6909Zb9d6RYthZ0Mo1YlouH-4tpOI4qKjFgQLU7SYFiMJlQjUZtYjOE/s1600/Greg.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583311321683665522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 124px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pV1-q81_X27cHtXU3HslM9_rvl3Vfb03qwUFb0blFp2658oZULufXozsLAHe0W5AKd0mjaIhLxyqwts8BI4P6909Zb9d6RYthZ0Mo1YlouH-4tpOI4qKjFgQLU7SYFiMJlQjUZtYjOE/s320/Greg.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><div><div>With a stunning weather forecast Greg, Pete and I headed up to Glen Clova to sample some of the bouldering there. There was still some snow road-side on the way down the glen but the boulders are on the south facing side of the glen and were in great condition. We headed up to The Hollow area and once we found the boulders we had a great day sampling the rhyolite delights. </div><div> </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583312820633471618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHQIWbFyxAb1PBN-HZT6b6sxW5_vFjWJohpHO1Ud7d6dfU8r9MhNWM4u_VsrM6MeFP4rfx0K_6la_wlLw_5qcat6ooMXItt0SZ0FDOGCSN492SevoP6Uqt2NuuOo7WO-C-rnNW7HfHew/s320/James.jpg" border="0" /> <div></div><div></div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583311309385896338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikjDtrLSAwpFGK_3uZ26q0GXOl6ulV_zZW_ngTEz5K5fkY64W44BueOcZw-HCqcMDY5-7PZX88Oz0F73xmN8SqmmmyVV2THY_g8rtckyRGSmLgQbRnGf5Yx14yLFElq0nsq2oxNEFZYUw/s320/20110306-20110306-DSC_7844.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div><div>We did a variety of problems which were all good fun and didn't require much cleaning. I will definitely be heading back up here soon for some more bouldering and tradding, Clova is such a great venue!</div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583311315962000610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_ttxVF8uCPy9Z1G970W7Dmz0Smvvq7OPe6glus2X1jbd7Tb93234Fjb6VSwMLNcpx7-ay_O3EzNR8z6OUdX_GvQ3o-KQqjEnVrnnT57T7uSoYV9K0Rfbs8GZm0yxj44ieQL56MrBTZY/s320/James+2.jpg" border="0" /></div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583311311750328114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEQLrzynFyqhlqzDyXAGTnGX43uW0oEFwDv4ArbyAsapbu1TjufI8avJYozImabZq0YKgPNDVk-urQgjEOTevgiZSi1CnCT83P2fMvgXtrs1LTLpq1YMXzxh2JCnh3jyZMm-J0MKzoEk/s320/20110306-20110306-DSC_7860.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div>James Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16510422925498711360noreply@blogger.com0