Stone Country – Landscapes and Lifescapes

Go cleaning and climbing ... just to let you know there will be a Dumby clean-up this Saturday 23rd November 10am to 2pm (at the latest) - plenty of bods will make light work round the boulders and environs. Linda Adam from West Dunbartonshire Council has organised a skip and all the cleaning gear like last time, including gloves, sharp-boxes, bin bags and those grabby things, so you just need to come dressed for a cold dry day, by the looks of the forecast. TCA will be organising events round this, to be announced.The council will strim the area of vegetation so we can make a decent fist of clearing the whole area again. Some anti-erosion work may be going on so bring a bucket and spade if you like. There's plenty of gravel on the beach to place around some muddy holes which are forming under popular take-off aprons. And it looks like perfect bouldering weather, so bring your kit as well! 

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Managed a short session in between the rain storms and autumn winds at the sheltered Achray blocs, just by Loch Achray and featuring a lung-bursting walk-in of 20 seconds! It's a limited venue to say the least but the quality of the problems makes it an enjoyable quick fix for the time-compromised, and it's a fine spot amongst the autumn colours of the Trossachs. A topo can be found here >>>

I am glad every time I see a new independent publisher - Three Rock Books (AKA Dave Flanagan from Dublin) - as it's a tough, odourless, online world for those who still like the smell of freshly printed gloss paper. Especially publishers who design and produce such quality books on bouldering as this, bringing another life-giving breath of literature to the genre.

The Thirlstane is an oft-forgotten caved crag on the Solway coast. In dry conditions, and with the tide right, the steep cave walls dry out and provide some steep and technical bouldering, a favourite for locals. Here is Stewart Cable's selection of some of the problems . . .

Some recent videos to get psyched for the autumn season:

A fine spell in September for bouldering on the Dumby classics >>>