Blackford and Holyrood

I have been working the last couple of weekends so I haven't been able to head North and take advantage of the Scottish Winter. However, an early finish yesterday meant that I had just enough daylight left to make a quick tour of the local hills.

Heading up Blackford Hill, Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle from Blackford Hill, Edinburgh

Looking Northwest from the top of Blackford Hill, Edinburgh

I really wanted to head into the Pentlands and catch the remaining snow before it melted, but there just wasn't the time. Instead, I headed up Blackford Hill first. The air was mild and there was a major thaw in full swing. The majority of the snow had melted away and only slush was left behind; no sign of ice. Looking over at Craiglockhark it was a similar story, while the Pentlands were slowly blackening by the minute. By this morning, as I feared, they were very green.

Craiglockhart from Blackford Hill, Edinburgh

Arthur's Seat from Blackford Hill, Edinburgh

Braid Hills and the Pentland Hills from Blackford Hill, Edinburgh

After passing the Royal Observatory, I set about negotiating the back streets towards Holyrood Park. I was soon looking up at a rather green-looking Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat. I headed straight up the main path up the West face. Although most of the snow had melted, the path was still full of slush on the blocks and treacherous. This didn't seem to deter the tourist masses, and I passed many plimsolls, converse and even the odd sandal - worn by folk with a death wish! At the top, the polished rock in combination with the slush was even more hazardous.

Salisbury Crags, Edinburgh

Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

Looking down to Salisbury Crags from Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

I didn't loiter, so headed down the Northeast path to escape the hoards. There were only patches of snow covering the grassy slopes of Whinny Hill. I went over the top and descended down the steep North bank, looking down on St Anthony's Chapel and St Margaret's Loch.

Tourists on Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

Tourists on Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

The Pentland Hills from Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

Looking back to Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

I descended to the Loch for a seat and a much to enjoy the fading evening light with the swans and the ducks. Then I headed back into town, glad to have made the most of the daylight that was left.

Looking down to St Anthony's Chapel and St Margaret's Loch, Edinburgh

St Anthony's Chapel, Edinburgh

St Margaret's Loch, Edinburgh

EMFF 2012 - Friday Night

It's that time again: The 10th Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival.

This year, the lineup was looking amazing and with a rare completely free weekend, Emily and I went all in and bought full weekend tickets. My Dad was also keen to come over and check it out as we had told him so much about it.

Last year, the Friday night session was at the EICA but this year every session was to be held at the George Square Lecture Theatre; a large venue with great facilities. Herbie's flight was delayed from the Isle of Man so he had a bit of a mad dash from the airport but only missed a couple of minutes of the first film that was changed due to some 'technical difficulties'.

THE FILMS

OF WET AND WILDNESS

A short film by Paul Diffley that follows a group of kayakers exploring some rapids in Spain. The film is short but highly atmospheric and poetic; featuring dramatic narration and stunning HD slow-motion images of kayaking tricks.

ECHOES

A brief portrait of the current life and routine of Nick Bullock. Now a professional climber, Nick left his full-time job in the prison service to focus solely on climbing and adventures. I had already seen the film online and his latest book (also called Echoes) is next on my reading list. But I was more than happy to see the film on the big screen as it is one of the most inspiring short films I have seen this year and has matched up with my own thinking and direction of late. A brilliant short film.

HIDDEN GULLY

This short film was made by a couple of Scottish skiers who made a ski ascent of Hidden Gully, a grade II climb on Aonach Mor. It was clear that these guys were quite accomplished skiers and they had some great footage of scottish skiing as well as some of their runs in the Alps earlier in the year. Their message was: sometimes the best adventures are in your own back yard!

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY (FLIGHT OF THE FRENCHIES)

This was only a small portion of this full-length film that follows a group of French folk who travel to Norway for some BASE-jumping and high-lining. This film had some stunning footage and was also very amusing, with the personalities of the individual characters really shining through. The highlight was a clip of one chap free-soloing on a high-line - crazy stuff but very entertaining.

THE LECTURE

BORGE OUSLAND - AGAINST ALL ODDS
I must say: I was really looking forward to hearing about Borge's adventures to both the North and South poles and I didn't really know much about the guy. He didn't disappoint. Borge came across as a very interesting and humble chap, who I could have listened to all night. He spoke of various adventures that he had embarked upon including: successfully reaching the North pole in winter and walking across the Arctic Circle solo. The highlight for me was his story about arriving at the North pole and seeing a helicopter land in front of him and out stepped an Arab Sheikh who had also decided to visit the North pole that day! A riveting talk - certainly one of the best speakers I have heard.

Salisbury Crags Bouldering

The weather forecast was for today to be a cracking day so I was keen to make the most of it. I had recently got hold of a DMM Highball crash pad from eBay so I was dying to get out on some boulders to try it out - review coming soon! I was struggling to decide where to go, but I knew I didn't want to drive too far and ideally I wanted somewhere that wasn't directly in the sun. In the end I opted for Salisbury Crags, South Quarry.

When I parked up in Holyrood Park along Queen's Drive, the Park was rammed with folk enjoying the good weather. Ignoring the crags, I grabbed my gear and my pad and headed up the slope to the path leading round to the South Quarry. There were a couple of other folk there but mostly it was folk just messing around at the back of the quarry. I dropped my gear at the foot of The Black Wall (in the shade) and headed to the back of the Quarry to warm up with some footwork and easy traversing.

Twenty minutes later, I returned and studied the moves on The Black Wall Traverse font 6c+***. My flash attempt didn't go particularly well; I managed to get a couple of moves past the initial traverse along the high rail but then lost my way and had to bail to the mat. There was another chap there working the problem: Oly Leask. We chatted a bit and spotted / helped each other on the problem but it didn't look like it was going to go today. I was struggling to get down low and make the big reach across to the right before going into the final sequence. No matter what I tried I just couldn't quite make the link. After Oly left, I had a few more tries but didn't get any closer and started to fade. Eventually, the afternoon sun crept round and onto the front of wall - The Black Wall no longer. I decided it was just too warm in the sun to improve any so I called it a day.

A rather frustrating but extremely enjoyable afternoon - I'll get the traverse next time!

Scald Law Ridge

We were just back from a great tour of the west coast of Scotland and to my astonishment, the good weather was still here in Edinburgh. My folks were still over from the IOM, so we wanted to make the most of the time with them too; this meant that we didn't want to travel too far to make the most of the weather. I had explored much of the Pentland Hills during my time in Edinburgh, but it struck me that I had never stood on top of Scald Law. Emily had never been up there either so she was keen on getting up there too.

Carnethy Hill summit looking northwest to Turnhouse Hill and Allermuir Hill

We had a bit of a long lie, so we didn't set off that early but we had parked up at the Flotterstone Ranger Centre by midday and were soon on our way with our light packs. Being such a nice day, there were plenty of local Edinburgh folk out enjoying the hills and we met many a dog walker and mountain biker on our way up the tarmac road through the woods. We headed off the road to the left and through the gate to take the large track along the edge of the wood before crossing the river to the left. Now on the path heading west, we were certainly climbing now; straight up the steep grassy (muddy) slopes of Turnhouse Hill. It was certainly good training, and we paused under a small clump of trees, halfway up, to catch our breath. Another push and we were soon at the top. On our way we passed a number of 'tourists' who had clearly underestimated the scale of the undertaking that lay ahead of them and were now clearly struggling and contemplating retreat. Our reward was spectacular views over Edinburgh in every direction, as it was a superbly clear afternoon.

Scald Law from Carnethy Hill, Pentland Hills

We headed along the ridge to the southwest and began to enjoy the easy walking on the soft, grassy turf. Great views down to the reservoirs to the north with the sun glistening on the chilly waters below. The gradient steepened a little to gain the summit of Carnethy Hill, where we looked across to the main event: Scald Law. We then had to loose over 120 metres in height to reach the bealach; much to Emily's disgust! It was a bit of a slog to the top but it wasn't long before we were triumphantly leaning on the trig point at the top and admiring more stunning views. We paused here for a bite, and while Emily munched down her piece, I ran over to bag South Black Hill just because... it was there.

Allermuir Hill above the Loganlea and Glencorse Reservoirs from Carnethy Hill, Pentland Hills

After a nice rest and some catching of rays, we headed back down to the bealach to pick up the path heading down to The Howe. On reaching the road, we really regretted not bringing our bikes and dropping them off here before starting out on the route. On a bike, we would have been back at the car in no time. Nevertheless, we had a very enjoyable stroll along the by the water on our way back to Flotterstone; no rush, and back just in time to meet up with the folks for dinner. What a day.

Scald Law summit trig, looking north, Pentland Hills

Blackford Bouldering

After an amazing week in The Lakes, I was super keen to climb as much as possible this summer. During the trip, Adam had suggested that I try a bit of bouldering at Blackford Glen on Agassiz Rock. Keen to make this my local crag, Emily and I set off after work with a couple of school bouldering mats into Blackford Glen. I had purchased a copy of the excellent guide book: Bouldering in Scotland and a bit of our local knowledge helped us find the crag in no time at all. The guide book and the ScottishClimbs page show diagrams of some of the illuminate (harder!) problems but I found them quite hard to pick out, to be honest. I stuck to the traverse problem: High Traverse F6b**

Agassiz Rock, Blackford

Agassiz Rock, Blackford

It was quite hard, I thought! Obviously not having climbed outside much wasn't doing me any favours, and the rock was quite harsh on the skin... to say the least! I had a few goes on it but couldn't quite get through the middle part, so I decided to split it up into two. The first section was easy and was mostly good jugs with polished footholds. The second half, from left to right, is on smaller holds and some slopers. I found the crux was moving from the high first section to the lower second part. I just couldn't make the link. Ah well... I would be back... hopefully frequently!

Climbing Hands, Blackford

Homeward Bound

Day 12 of GWC S3 Projects 2008

As we left Raasay and started the long drive back to Edinburgh, I reflected on the experience of the last two weeks. Being a GWC Projects newbie, I really didn't know what to expect. Back at school, it was simply a word that you would hear every now and again and it was often talked about with great enthusiasm by the older members of staff. However, if someone had asked me, two weeks ago: "What is Projects?", I would have to admit that I really had no idea at all. Certainly, no one had explained it to me so I would consider that a very good question. A question that, I would be willing to bet, all the kids were thinking two weeks ago as well. Now I feel I know what GWC Projects is all about. It's not all about climbing big mountains and pushing yourself to your physical limit. It's more about the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the personal challenges you overcome and the friends you make on the way. Just as important and influential in your life as your first day at school, your driving test, the day you leave home, or your first day in your new job.

Knackered!

Part of me was glad to be heading home, as two weeks is quite a long stretch away from home, and part of me was going to miss the delight of doing something new and making the most of each day. I knew that the kids would be different back at school too. They would go back to their preferred friendship groups and we would pass each other in the corridors almost like strangers. But I also knew that every one of them would remember this trip for the rest of their lives and that they would take much out of the experience. Better than any classroom at school can give. A vital part in the education of these kids, for sure.