Friday 21 June 2013

A return to Rock-climbing in The Gap of Dunloe

This afternoon I went back to Killarney to meet Frank and do a spot of rock-climbing in the Gap of Dunloe, oh dear but it was evident from the off that I am badly in need of some practice.


As is often the case the weather was lovely when I left home but half way back it turned pants and it rained all the way into town. We met in Killarney and had a coffee and as the skies were showing signs of clearing we took a chance and headed the eight miles out to the Gap. Sure enough by the time we arrived things were looking much more promising and by the time we arrived at the crag it was lovely. We opted for Bothan on the sunny side of the gap. There is a fine range of climbs on this compact crag and it is pretty easy to get to. Anyway I won't bore you with the nitty gritty but suffice to say we both struggled from the off and by the end of my first climb both my arms were pumped. I would love to say I started with a gut busting E4 or something like that but alas it was a modest HS route that I was leading comfortably enough last year. I suppose it really shouldn't be a surprise as we have basically done almost no rock climbing in the past year. It is something we hope to put right as the summer progresses. Poor and all as our performance might have been we still had a great time and sitting and relaxing between routes, having a bite to eat and chatting amiably there is no doubt that we were fortunate indeed to be able to enjoy places like this at their best. Frank is off on his travels again next week so it will probably be another three or four weeks before we get the chance to improve our performance but we will see. Sometimes its not about how well you climb it more important just to be there and enjoy. We certainly did that.
What do you mean stop holding it in ??

A nice little abseil.

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