Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Working Out Routes: Pinnacle Crag

Yesterday was a first for me although it reminded me of planning a weekends hillwalking from a few years ago. I wanted to sort out our first outdoor climb. I started on the UK Climbing website  forum and asked about decent top roping locations nearby.
I then purchased Highland Outcrops and 'studied the form' looking for locations with some easier graded climbs.

 Pinnacle Crag near Loch Duntelchaig fitted the bill. Yesterday I went on a reccy just to make sure of decent anchor points at the top. I then took several photos including these two:

Which I then had to do some work on. I consulted the guidebook and had to work out the routes from the descriptions given. It was my first time doing this and it was really interesting. Unlike some route guides I have seen I didn't go the whole hog and draw dotted lines up the crag. I may do this when I have climbed them and worked out exactly where the lines should go !
I then 'stitched' the two pictures together using Hugin. Here is the result.


 
I must admit that on first inspection it looked quite difficult, but when reading the guide the routes seem to appear out of the rock. Time will tell if this is the case :) I personally want to try number six which is called Tapered Groove and graded Very Difficult in British Trad Grading,

Here itis on the right of this photo:

 There was a decent amount of boulders at the top for anchors and further back someone had planted a stake. Hope the weather is good at the weekend.

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