My Blog
My Blog
Pocks
This is a very very long story, my second recent Cuillin blog.
7th June 1988
I climbed at Loudon Hill. Two days earlier we climbed The Big Ride on Etive Slabs while George Szuca was next to us on Tous Les Deux.
8th June
I drove north to Onich on the bike, George was living there. He had a good system, a note on his front door that he added to each day to let everyone know where he was. I read his note then set off for Car Park Crag in Glen Nevis to meet George and Yan Taylor.
Seven years earlier a Cumbrian team (with a token Scot) did a few routes at Car Park Crag in cold weather, they had a bonfire so they could warm up between cleaning sessions. Pete Whillance did a route that was so good he called it Quality Street, this started a confectionary theme for the crag.
Yan led me up The Mint while George continued cleaning his new route. George’s route was thin and scary so he decided to call it after laxative chocolate, I went into a chemist in Fort William High Street to find out how to spell it before it was written up. Ex-Lax was led by both Andy Nelson and Kev Howett soon after, they thought it was pushing 6b.
Photo George and Yan on Ex-Lax
9th June
We did four routes on Aonach Dubh. One of them was a new route between Solitude and Quietude which George named Gertrude. It turned out this route had been climbed before, but hadn’t been recorded properly so didn’t appear in the guidebook.
Photos Yan and George on The Fly. George on Solitude.
10th June
Four routes on Wave Buttress in Glen Nevis. Yan then went back to Glasgow so I suggested Skye. We loaded up my motorbike and got as far as Fort William, then got a puncture. We had managed 11 of the 124 miles we were intending. We unloaded the bike and hitch hiked back to Onich.
11th June
Mark Garthwaite gave us a lift back to Fort William, I removed the wheel and a garage fixed the puncture then we went up Ben Nevis and climbed The Bat.
12th June
We loaded up the bike again and this time managed the full 124 miles, we walked up the hill did Strappado then camped in Coire Lagan.
Photo George on Strappado
13th June
More class routes.
14th June
George led Spock than we went back over to Creag Dubh Grooves, one of the routes we had climbed the day before.
I had noticed the obvious crack left of the first pitch, George led it but he didn’t believe it was new and was convinced it had been climbed before.
I wanted to climb a second pitch but George wasn’t interested. I was trying to lead it while scrapping a little moss off it with a hammer that I dropped. The hammer nearly hit George and we then had a little argument. I climbed down, then we coiled the ropes and soloed down the first pitch of Creag Dubh Grooves.
I wanted to give the pitch a Star Trek name (Klingon) but George decided to call it Pocks because of the Pock holds (ever though he didn’t believe it was new). This pitch was brilliant, like Arrow Route but steeper (photo of Kelly Staples on Arrow Route at top).
Andy Nisbet told me that Martin Moran had commented on how good this pitch was, which Andy said was rare for Martin.
15th June
It was misty so we couldn’t find our gear which we had left at the bottom of the cliff, we eventually found it then moved to a mist free Kilt Rock. We ‘walked’ in to climb Grey Panther and then Edge of Beyond in rock boots which I thought was fairly dangerous, but we didn’t have extra ropes for abseiling.
Photo George’s tent at Kilt, George swore a lot and was called Fn George.
16th June
Even Kilt was in the mist so we went back to Onich.
Kev Howett was also living in Onich and writing his guidebook of Scottish climbs, George told him he had to put Pocks in (he seemed to accept it was a new route by then).
Kev just looked at him, I suspect he thought it was called Pox. The route did get a mention in the guide but Kev changed it from E2 to E1 without even looking at the route.
23rd May 1992
I soloed three routes on the Coruisk side of Sgurr Mhiccoinnich.
24th May
Neil Smith, Roger Lupton and I climbed a fine E2 called Uhura. We all thought it was E3 so I got in touch with guidebook author John MacKenzie.
Photo Neil and Roger on Uhura.
When Neil was leading the first pitch I was taking photos and looking at Pocks again, after Uhura I wanted to try Pocks. Roger went off to look at boulders.
I tried to lead the second pitch of Pocks and backed off again, then Neil did the same so we finished up Creag Dubh Grooves.
I dropped Neil and Roger off then drove to Bruce Taylor’s in Kintail. While Bruce was cooking dinner I was drinking beer and couldn’t stop thinking about Pocks; I knew the holds and where the runners went. There were three runners; a very small quadcam half in, an rp and a small rock and they were all still on my harness. I knew I could lead it so I asked Bruce if he wanted to do the route.
25th May
Bruce and I arrived at the crag and got the gear out, I couldn’t believe I didn’t have the three essential runners.
We did vulcan Wall.
On the way down the road we stopped off at Neil’s, I asked about my gear and he looked out his harness, my three runners were hanging from it.
6th June
I soloed seven routes on the Cioch.
7th June
I went back with Neil. We abseiled down the route then Neil led both pitches; it was quicker that way.
Sunday, 17 February 2019