This august bank holiday the club went to Cruit Island for a meet. Cruit island is a fantastic mecca for all climbing types, from complete beginner to absolute badass.
As always getting to Cruit Island is a somewhat mammoth task (it can take 5hrs from Dublin) but worth it for the range of climbs.
On our trip we did not have any of the usual suspects (Gerry Moss, David Walsh, etc.) so the trip was a first in many ways (for me at least). It was the first time I had led any trip. First time being in Cruit without any having help identifying routes I had not done before. There was a lot of first timers there and some people got their first leads done.
The trip consisted of, in order of appearance:
- Myself
- Meave
- Grace
- Una
- Meg
- Duncan
- Richie
- Killian
- Nicola
- Mark (sat)
- Eoin (sat)
On the Friday we started to arrive around lunchtime, and Meave and I started on the Albatross Zawn area, where we were joined by Grace and Una. The four of us got about 6 climbs each in on the Friday afternoon, such is the power of Cruit.
Saturday morning, we were racing the tides, so we all made our way over to the outdoor climbing wall for some nice easy intros to the rock, for people who had never been there before. Once the tides turned, we moved over to the Far West Butress walls where there were many successful routes up the Tridents (and More Tridents). Also, in a first for me, a trip around the corner to One Move Wonder, a nice V. Diff route which was fun for all in the multiple ways to deal with the one move.
Pics – Gang at Outdoor Climbing Wall
Pic 1 – One Move Wonder, Pic 2 – Tridents
In the afternoon where the tide was higher, we went back to the Albatross Zawn area to do multiple routes from there. The outstanding lead of the afternoon went to Richie, and Duncan who both led “Best Poss Taste” (seconded by Meg & Mark), while for me my nerves were tested on the “Safe & Sound” lead (something I had vowed I would not be doing the previous day, then I only remembered saying it as I was half way up).
Gang at Albatross Zawn
When the tide was a bit lower some people decided to head over and do the iconic Cruit Crack, while some others decided to head off to the beach for a swim.
Saturday night turned wet and windy, and we had multiple conversations under the awning of Richie’s van roasting marshmallows on the BBQ.
But as can be usual in Cruit, Sunday morning was another nice morning with the rock sticky as ever. So, we went over to the Far West Butress for some of the easier climbs there. Grace did her first trad lead on the Minor Tridents while others were solidifying their anchor setups in the same area. Some were talking about doing Cave Rave, but the wind had picked up too much to be able to make the attempt, it will still be there for the next time the club has a meet up there.
Sunday evening was promising a storm (Floris) so just after lunch we packed up the tents and I started for home. Some people stayed on for another few hours to get more climbs in.
Grace on her first lead, Eoin and Nicola. All on Minor Trident
Initially, the thought of leading a climbing trip did daunt me. There were thoughts of what if it all goes wrong, what if someone gets hurt, what if nobody turns up, what if only people turn up who cannot lead.
But the group we had contained all different levels and just wanted to climb with a safe mindset. It was nice that everyone was cheering everyone else on no matter the climbs that were being done, there was no pushing to up the grade for the sake of it. Just extremely good company for the weekend.
I would urge anyone who is contemplating leading a trip, and have the same thoughts I had initially, to please ignore them even if you only get 3 or 4 others to join it is well worth organising a trip you will get a lot of joy out of it and so will the people you get to join you. Who knows you may even extend your climbing partners to allow you to get out even more.
