Misty Mountains and Sparkling White Granite Part One

After a long wait - a trip to Ireland was a reality at last, found a great place to stay on the West side of the Wicklow mountains just five kilometeres away from the dramatic peak of Lugnaquilla.
On the first morning Lisa was tired so sneaked out and shot up Lugnaquilla, hoping to get a glimpse of the North and South Prisons, even though the mist covered the view, thoughts of it clearing spurred me on to the top....  No luck!

    What I saw!                                    The North Prison - Impressive cluster
For me the trip back down was an enjoyable experience everyone was so chatty and friendly, a very warm welcome to Wicklow.

Be aware It is quite dangerous as the North Prison is part of an artillery range - You can phone the Glen of Immal Army Warden Office on 045404653 - for information.

A wet day monday saw a retreat to Dublin for a bit of site seeing - Guinness - Eating - a bustling friendly city.

Tuesday saw a turn in the weather and we were lucky enough to have Dave Flanagan join us on a trip down Glenmulure. Dave is working on a long awaited bouldering guide to Ireland that should be out early 2011 - you can download his free guide here (Click Here to Download), And a sample of the new guide can be downloaded here (Click Here to Download) The area is Glenmalure and is scattered with glittering white granite. Here are the highlights of our day in the Glen and upper terraces.

Fraughan Glen named after the sheer amount of Fraughan berries growing, Lisa and Dave had a good attempt to try and eat them all! very tasty. 

Dave Flanagan on Crowd Control 6a+ - Fraughan Rock

Fraughan Rock the largest boulder in lower Glen held lines almost all the way round - with varied climbing on quality problems.

Tricky moves on Blue Tongue 6c (no arete) - Fraughan Rock

After this we ventured up to Art's Lough and the upper terraces this had some amazing unclimbed blocks and edges to explore.

Dave on Art Attack finish

Art Attack 7a - Art's Lough - Ciaran's Boulder - Classic

Lastly up to the higher Foxburrow terrace to a stunning clean cut block called the White Elephant

Dave on the Immaculate Slab on the Elephant Boulder

The Elephant Boulder

Musophobia 6b - Elephant Boulder

The problems were world class and the climbing so varied, I found myself using every tool in the box to gain success on the problems and the setting speaks for itself, the rock is a pleasure to climb - wild bouldering at it's best.

Thirsty Work

A big thanks to Dave, who flew up and down the hills like a mountain goat!, Check out sample of the new guide - it looks fresh and simple to use, full of projects, great problems and undiscovered classics to come, I'll order mine now

Also check http://www.theshortspan.com/ and http://boulderingireland.blogspot.com/  for news and area updates - you can also submit any new problems onto a database.