A few weeks ago Steve said he had been to Scoor and he seemed to be keen to get out on the rock again, he didn’t know what he had done or what grade he had climbed. Last week the weather improved and the forecast was good so I phoned him and arranged to go out after work. Having been away for a week and done very little before that I was taken aback by the number of tourists on the road, they didn’t seem to be able to reverse and I got increasingly irritated with them as I tried to meet Steve on time. The forecast appeared to be slightly out as I was using the wipers.

I met Steve and said that White Shite might be worth climbing, it is a diagonal line above and below bulging rock, not ideal for beginners but it tends to stay dry in light rain.

I geared up as the midges bit away (as well as forgetting about the tourists I had also forgotten how bad the midges were). Steve’s rock boots looked at least twenty five years old so I asked him where he got them, he told me he had got them as a swap for a flat screen monitor.

We moved to the start of the route and the biters didn’t seem as bad.

I thought two ropes were best but I only have one 50m 9mm so also tied into a 30m 10mm, years ago it was 60m but I halved it and now use it occasionally when I want to lead with a soloist.

Steve hadn’t quite got the hang of his sticht plate (the old type with the bit of string that gets in the way) so I tied him in, showed him how to belay then set off up the route. The start was a bit white and smelly, despite all the rain this summer, but I’ve been on it in worse conditions.

The fat rope ran out before I got to the steep bit so I told Steve to let go of it and tie in after he reached it, I continued on the thin rope to the belay.

I hoped he would climb quickly as the midges were getting really bad (he was probably thinking the same about me when I was leading). The man climbed well but had a problem removing a friend or three. From the belay I tried to explain how to hand jam while the midges feasted on me and he seemed to get the idea, I then did a diagonal abseil to retrieve the friends.

I abseiled on the fat rope while trying not to swing into space then top roped back to the belay on the thin rope. By then the ropes had turned into an impressive tangle of knots.

The next pitch went without a problem and I watched the sun set as I belayed at the top.

When I dropped him off at his house he suggested Ardtun might be easier next time.

Photo is Mark Shaw on the first pitch of White Shite a few years ago.