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David Mason in Fairhead in N.Ireland

David Mason in Fairhead in N.Ireland

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13th May 2011

Ireland; home to leprechauns, Guinness and more unclimbed rock than you can shake your stick at! A friend Ryan said he was heading over there a few months ago and I thought it would be a nice break; a chance to visit somewhere new and check out some bouldering of the rock variety!

We were lucky enough to get a bed at Casa Bell. The hospitality we received was of the highest quality; not only comfy living quarters, training facilities and guided tours of Fairhead but gerbils to entertain us as we sipped (downed) Jagermeister!

Now to the climbing... there seems to be a LOT of rock in Ireland, I only visited Fairhead; this was reckoned to be the area in best nick at the time. I climbed 3 days whilst there and was pretty impressed. Bouldering in Ireland is definitely not as popular as routes and this means there is a tonne of projects to climb. The boulders that have been established at Fairhead tend to be the cream of the crop; tall lines on super good rock. I would go as far to say that the few things I climbed would not be out of place in Fontainebleau! Quite a bold statement but in my eyes true. I would also say that only 5-10% of Fairhead has been developed; it will take effort but for the explorers out there the potential is endless. I was lucky enough to climb most of the existing blocs there and add a few delights to the area as well as being coaxed into abseiling off the top of Fairhead, quite a scary experience and needless to say I won’t be swapping foam for ropes anytime soon!

I have done relatively little development of boulders in my time climbing and so the opportunity to add a few things to the area was really special. I can see why people get such a buzz from doing a first ascent. Ricky was nice enough to show me a wall he had brushed last year; we gave it another clean and had a play but didn’t have enough pads to make it safe and so returned a couple of days to finish it off. Now being from the Peak when someone tells you about a project I never hold my breath. So when I saw what later became known as Homme Jomme I was pretty blown away! A 35° overhanging wall with just a few holds and a spicy, slightly technical top out! The next time we returned it was pretty humid; I Abed down and chalked the holds, we had six pads this time so the landing would be transformed into a big hug! I then proceeded to wait for it to cool a little, after 20 minutes I was bored of waiting and pulled on my boots. Holds brushed, hands chalked and even a tops off 4POWER moment, I pulled on. I think after the first move I knew I was in, I just felt good, although a foot pop at the top nearly ended it all I managed to stay on and proceed to the top. Probably only 7c but so good; a mixture of power and technical climbing!

On our last day we headed to try a problem called The Penitent Man Shall Pass (points for naming what film this is from)! This is probably the best line at Fairhead; a tall, slopey arête with Fontainebleau style holds and climbing, and of course a compulsory scary top section. After doing the stand, I decided to look at the project sit start. Now normally I don’t think it is necessary to add sit starts to tall lines but this is the obvious place to start this boulder. A good finger jug allows you to pull off the deck and do a big move to a slopey edge; from here a throw to a good hold puts you into the stand. The nice thing is that it adds a dynamic two move 7c into a technical arête climb; variety is the spice of life after all! I stuck the first move but managed to drop the crux of the stand, a few goes later I managed to do the move again, and sticking the crux of the stand I just had one more scary move to do, I switched off my brain and went for it, catching the penultimate hold with two fingers was luckily enough and I topped out! This is probably one of the best climbs I have ever done and is definitely a world class bloc, doing it first also adds a little for sure!

A perfect end to a really good trip and I will definitely be returning to explore a few other areas of Ireland’s bouldering. Big thanks to Ryan, Rob, Ricky and Magek for making everything nice and easy!

A few snaps of David Mason on a recent trip to Fairhead in N.Ireland