Wednesday, June 01, 2016

Ardnamurchan Lighthouse climbing

Crag: Ardnamurchan Point (Ardnamurchan)
Routes: The Chimney (VD:sol/sh), Rick Diculous (VD:sol/sh), Eigg Scramble (D:sol), Home for Tea (S:sol/sh)
The wave-cut platform at the base of this crag is the most westerly few feet of land on the mainland of Britain, and is unlikely to have been trodden by many. That doesn't mean very much in these parts, with islands all around, but I have fond memories of Land's End's famous Long Climb in 1995, where you feel like you are climbing from the Atlantic into Britain. Ardnamurchan Point is further west than Land's End, and runs to a small crag that gives some nice gabbro climbs on rough rock almost directly below the famous lighthouse. I set up a shunt for some of the routes, clipping in at times partly because I was just guessing the lines of the routes. The first two were obvious, however. The distinct chimney is fun, as is the route up the arete on sharp holds. Much further right, I enjoyed a wonderful romp up a series of flake cracks on huge positive holds - preceded by a few awkward steps. I took this to be the line of Eigg Scramble, and I took Home for Tea to be the obvious clean open book corner/groove in the middle of the crag: the strongest line here. This was just a short family outing, immediately after lunch of local salmon at the nearby Sonachan hotel.

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