Glenmalure

Ped and I headed to Glenmalure this morning. Mostly clear skies, strong wind and cold air made for really great conditions. Headed up to my project and worked some moves. Made progress, have done all the moves bar the really hard one. Going to have to do some specific training for it I think. Fortunately it was sheltered from the wind otherwise it might of been a touch too cold. Next went to the 45 wall and tried the really nice groove on the right. Hard and not that long but perfect rock and very technical.  Tried the problems on the 45, Ped faffed on the right hand line much to my pleasure.


Headed up the valley to check out a boulder, The Diving Board that I had spotted. From a distance it looked like it had a long thin plane sticking out from one side. It was hard to judge the scale and it was only when we got within about 50m that it became apparent that the boulder was a good size. Maybe 12 foot high, 20 long with a 12 foot long nose sticking out of its left hand side.

Perfect. It's not unusal that a boulder would grow in your mind from one sighting to another but it is rare that it on close viewing exceeds your expectations. This did. The rock was quite dirty as that side of the valley is quite shaded but no big deal. I set about cleaning the right arete while Ped sorted the landing under the roof. The arete went pretty easy, Blue Robot 5, nice holds.

There is an obvious start to the roof on a good flat hold and it looked like the best finish was on the uphill of the nose where it became more incut. The sloper on the lip were generous and I started to believe it would go there and then but the first two moves were a bit powerful for my tired arms and thin skin. A lovely reach back to a small finger jug followed by a very long reach and flag from a high foot allows the good holds to be reached. Can't wait to go back and do it next time. Will spill the beans on the location once it's done.