Classic Scottish Problems No.1

Ardmair - Stones & Seaweed V2 6a

Okay, this is entirely subjective, but please make any comments and a consensus may develop (some hope!). I'll be posting candidates for Scotland's select 100 problems, with a film in mind... here's my first candidate: the Ardmair pocket problem Stones & Seaweed ss V2 6a.

First of all, I believe a good problem is one you remember long after you do it, one you will no doubt return to. In fact, any problem you really enjoy. It usually exhibits a natural line (though not always, it can be blank or an eliminate); it has enjoyable or unexpected movement (it demands 'solving'); the rock and holds are attractive or curious; it requires balance, power and subtlety in one; other people mention it in passing... there are lots of crtieria for a good problem, but these are my favourites, what are your's?

So, the problem. Ardmair is a beautiful beach north of Ullapool, with waves lapping on a pebble shore that has for aeons swirled against a roofed crag at the south end of the beach, giving smooth footholds and in parts soaring roofs to monkey through. This problem takes an innocuous looking bulge at the south end in the entrance to the cool ear of the first cave...

From a sit start at large smooth undercuts, a difficult smearing test allows a crank to a scooped pocket, which leaves you staring point-blank at the sidepulls you want your right hand on, only you find you can't let go of the undercut... a deft manoeuvre with the left foot allows a counterbalance to snap the just-good-enough sloping edges and a reach up to a right-hand hold (which is not as deep as you might first expect). A final grunt over the bulge and the rest is easy... a delightful little problem, not long, but uses the Torridonian sandstone's best features - slopers, pockets and rounded edges. Echoes of Font.

A word on the grading I propose to use. It is a trial system merging the simplicity of V grades and the technical nuances of Font grades. Also, I feel we should also import the 'feeling' between the E grading system for routes and its technical counterpart, we all know what E5 5c means... so this idea can easily be felt even in the hybrid bouldering system, eg. V6 6c might reflect a traverse grade, whereas V5 7a might reflect a short hard sequence... I also think it can reflect boldness, eg. V3 6b short but hard as opposed to V3 5+ long and committing...

Filming in Morar

Pete Murray and myself travelled up to meet Dave MacLeod at his '8c' cave in Morar. This secretive and impressive venue took us a while to find, but was obvious once we did - a 50 degree walled quartzite cave with no moss or drips or lichen and a singular line of chalked holds disappearing into the triangular darkness - Dave's 8c project. I pulled on a few holds the first day and tried one or two moves, but the sheer brutality and power required was too much and we let Dave show us his rubric of moves and contortions that allow the cave to be climbed. The 'easiest' lines appear to be butch 7a's and the top level is close to Dave's idea of Nirvana - long power-plays and complex link-up sequences. We bagged some good film and a short interview about the place which will be forthcoming in a new short film from Pete Murray, to go along with a new collection of writing on bouldering from Stone Country.

Ben Lomond - a Gaelic palette

Loch Lomond, Wednesday 28th December 2016 Mist, water and silvery light: a very Gaelic palette in midwinter between the storms, which these days all have names - we've been through Barbara's tantrums and Conor's backlash, but today was one of those steamed-up car sort of days. Warmish air from the southwest is rolling about Loch Lomond and gathering a chill as it picks up speed towards the snow-patched summit, so I take the clockwise 'wind with my back' option, steeply up the Ptarmigan ridge from Rowardennan, hearing a chuckle in the mist which is either a red grouse or the eponymous bird. Each landmark on the map is a clue to the Gaelic landscape - Tom Fhithich I think may be the raven's beak-nosed boulder or crag half up towards the knoll of Ptarmigan, which just breaks the mist, and assumes the role of target summit for the meantime as the main peak is in cloud. The small hidden tarns are full of slushy grey ice and the 'yellow bealach' is a...

Echo Wall Review

This is an exceptional film about the bizarre relationship between mountains, humans and risk. No matter that it features probably the most serious high-end route on the planet, Dave and Claire MacLeod have created a unique vision of obsession, determination and stress. 'Echo Wall' captures all the emotional trauma of climbing at the limit in a situation where failure is unacceptable. As an independent team, Claire and Dave have obviously worked really hard to bring this film together and they succeed in showing some of the sacrifice and pain of climbing what is effectively E12 on the most inhospitable mountain in Britain. 'The Ben' is not always inhospitable and the film opens with some fine time-lapse images of clouds clearing and alpen-glow washing down the peppered eminence of The Comb high in Coire na Ciste. Some helicopter shots give us the right impression that the north face of this mountain is something truly alpine and alien to the lush land 4000 feet below....

Stone Country – Landscapes and Lifescapes

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