George Cave

Stacking up: Old Man of Hoy

A full day out of type 2(.5) fun. Busy ferries meant we were restricted to a single day hit on foot from the mainland. It was going to be tight.

The approach took about 2.5 hours, and the first sight of the 137m tall stack is pretty intimidating. I led P1, a pile of sandy, jenga rubble, before Al pulled a marathon stint to get through the dirty off-width "coffin" on pitch 2's crux. A little French-free saw me through the move out of the chimney and up p3 before Al finished the route, including the spectacular, stack-splitting final corner pitch. This time, all fluffy white cruxes were easily dealt with by kind, gentle words.

Descent in 3 abseils was slick and we hit the ground at 5pm. The last ferry was 6:30pm, so we covered the long path to Rackwick in 30 minutes and were lucky to hitch to the last ferry home. Thanks to Erinna for some smart thinking on setting up the logistics for us!

The most type 2 day I've had in years.

Getting stacked: Am Buachille

Our summer Scottish stackstravaganza began in the far north west, camping on the beautiful Sheigra beach.

The next day's forecast was moody and grey, but we set off on the bike across towards headland and then hiked down to our first view of am Buachille. A short, sharp swim and two pitches later saw us on top after careful dodging of four fluffy white cruxes and the grovely grit and grease of Landward Face's pitch 1. As the ab began, the rains started to fall: a lucky escape. One stack down.

Afternoon Canyoning

Early evening canyoning trip with Al+Ali to their secret local spot. Great mix of bum bumpers, wet jumpers and back-and-footing slotters.

Scottish Black Mamba

A post-wedding trip with Al to the mighty Scottish Dubh-loch. I wanted to try something a bit harder but in the end we settled for the Black Mamba (VS). This turned out to be a wise choice with a Gary Latter navigational masterclass and buttcracks abound on the 9 big pitches. Combined with the 8km cycle and 90 minute approach on foot we managed a 13 hour day car-to-car. Lucky it doesn't get dark in the summer in Scotland.

A little crag at Bad Reichenhall

On an unassuming hill just south west of Bad Reichenhall, Al and I found a large cliff with a number of long, bolted lines including our choice for the morning: Die Schönheitskönigin von Schneizlreuth. With the exception of the detached, multi-storey flake which forms part of one belay, the climbing was excellent and a nice gentle end to a weekend of exceptional rock routes.

Platteneuphorie

SLAB EUPHORIA! A sweaty, two and a half hour morning approach to Hoher Nock was totally worth it for these incredible water-worn runnels. Bridging to glory for 180m with Al, Platteneuphorie fully delivered on its name.