With the hill meet
organised by Alex Cameron at the old Workhouse on the outskirts of Llanfyllin
being so close to the Y Berwyn it gave an opportunity for a number of people to
visit Foel Cedig, whose qualifying summit for a number of lists, including the
Marilyns, Humps, Simms, Hewitts, Pellennig, Yr Uchafion and Nuttalls was
earlier this year relocated from Cyrniau Nod.
As a part of this Carole
Engel had decided to postpone her Welsh Hump completion for a week and
re-scheduled this to coincide with the hill meet.By doing so there was a prospect of being
joined on top of Foel Cedig by a number of other baggers, but with many
different agendas and with people approaching this hill from different directions
and starting their ascents at different times, it would be interesting to see
how many gathered at this summit when Carole was having her celebration.
Having attended the
Friday evening meal at the Workhouse I drove back home in wet conditions through
mist and thick fog and wondered if the weather gods were to put a dampener on
proceedings for the following day.Thankfully although the weather was grey and murky, the rain resisted
temptation and the tops were clear of low clag.
I met Alan Caine at the
Workhouse just before 9.00am and we drove in two cars to the car park at the
north end of Llyn Efyrnwy (Lake Vyrnwy) where Carole, and Jeff and Enid Parr
were already waiting.It was good to see
all three, and this is one of the joys of occasionally dipping in to the
community of hill baggers as friends have been made and will be kept, and all
three; Carole, Jeff and Enid are people who I look forward to meeting up with
time and again.
Having donned my winter
wellies I then drove the five of us to the top of Cwm Hirnant and parked
opposite the gauged out track that leads toward the summit of Foel Cedig.This track eases passage to these heather
clad hills, and if not for it the task of bagging these hills would be a
daunting one.
On our way to Foel Cedig
we visited the summits of Pen y Boncyn Trefeilw and Stac Rhos, which were later
in the day surveyed by Alan Dawson with his Leica RX1250.To our east the grey morning clag was just
grasping on to the upper part of Foel Cedig, but this would lift as the morning
progressed.
Carole with Foel Cedig in the background
During our journey on
the track beside the moorland Alan Caine zoomed off in to the heather and bog
to bag any summit going, with Bridges and one or two ‘Deleted Tops’ in the
Nuttalls book all being fair game.
Approaching Foel Cedig
Carole led the way through the heather as I tried to keep up with a
digi-camcorder in hand, she reached the top and completed the Welsh Humps and
immediately set about logging her ascent online, which made me smile.One quick wind-blown interview later and the
bottles were opened and cake passed round.
As we arrived at the
summit Denise and Richard McLellan were just about to leave, they turned back
and remained with us as more and more people started to appear from different
directions.Richard’s ascent of Foel
Cedig was also of significance as he was re-completing the Marilyns and him and
Carole sat centre stage on the little rocky knoll that makes up the high point as
everyone else gathered around for the customary summit photograph.
Richard's re-completion of the Marilyns on top of Foel Cedig
The walk back on the
track was enjoyable and we reached my car 4½ hours after setting
off.It was good to see Carole, Jeff and
Enid again and many others who were on the summit of Foel Cedig and also at the
Workhouse, and thanks to Alex for organising the hill meet and Carole’s
invitation to join her on her special day of celebration in completing the
Welsh Humps.
Congratulations to
Carole Engel who yesterday; the 24th November 2018, completed the
Welsh Humps on Foel Cedig (SH 981 283) in the wilds of the heather clad Y
Berwyn.
Carole and Richard (and many others) celebrating on the summit of Foel Cedig
Carole was joined by a
number of friends for the walk, with more people joining her on the summit,
including Richard McLellan who was also celebrating his re-completion of the
Marilyns.
Congratulations to
Carole and to Richard and many thanks for the invitation to join the summit
celebrations.
I have approached a number of people to write
articles, but if readers would like to contribute an article please contact me.
The only two stipulations I make are that the article has to be hill related
and that I don't end up in court through its publication! Otherwise the choice
of subject matter is down to the Guest Contributor.
Guest Contributor – Rob Woodall
Rob Woodall is one of the country's leading hill baggers with first completions for the Deweys, Clem-Yeamans, Irish 50 Most Prominent, Thousanders, The Fours, Y Pedwarau and the SubMarilyns of England, Wales and Scotland. His bagging exploits are now taking him farther afield bagging the world Ultras.
Over the Wall – Success
on the St Kilda Stacs, 13 Oct 2014
The two big St Kilda sea stacks are
monstrous – rising straight out of the sea to heights of 170m+. The St Kilda
archipelago, 45 miles west of the Western Isles, is like nowhere else in
Britain - and Stac Lee and Stac an Armin are its boldest most audacious members.
Stac Lee from the east. Photo: Richard Mclellan
The trouble with the stacs, however,
is not so much their technical climbing, which by the easiest route is modest.
The trouble with the stacs is that they are covered in gannets in summer and
difficult to land on and climb in winter. The only ascents previously
documented have all been in summer – the St Kildans would collect young gannets
(guga) for food; more recent ascents
have been in May when the birds are on eggs. Such visits have not been allowed
for two decades and it was not known whether either had been climbed in winter
or how feasible such an ascent would be.
St Kilda stac-watching has become
something of an annual late-autumn ritual: seeing who's up for it, watching for
- and mostly not finding - a suitable window in the usually uncooperative
Atlantic weather outwith the breeding season for the gannets which nest in
large numbers on both Stac Lee and Stac an Armin, the two 150m-plus sea stacks
which have eluded Marilyn baggers since Alan Dawson published Relative Hills of
Britain in 1992.
The most recent recorded ascents of
the two stacs seem to have been in 1990 and 1994 respectively, neatly
bracketing the publication of the book for whose adherents the two monster
stacs have become notorious as the St Kilda Wall barring access to Marilyn List
Completion status for an increasing number of summit baggers.
The process of watching weather
forecasts for a suitable window and liaising with boat operators and prospective
summitteers to put a trip together at a few days’ notice has continued most
winters since 2009. The main requirements are a swell of around 1.5 metres or
less, and winds of force 4 or less with no southerly component.
In November 2013 a trip was mounted,
albeit with a marginal forecast and the sight of the two slime covered stacs in
a surging two metre swell was pretty intimidating. However, useful information
was gathered, and resolve not entirely dampened, although the nature of the
challenge was brought into sharper focus.
2014 was an excellent year for St
Kilda Marilyn bagging. A trip was mounted in mid-September, involving boat
operators Seaharris and Seatrek, with all four non-stac Marilyns being
summitted i.e the summits of Hirta, Dun, Boreray and the hard-to-land-on Soay.
October sometimes has opportunities,
and a window was identified around 13 October with swell around 0.9 - 1.1
metre, unusually low for October, coupled with light winds from the NE. Recent
research commissioned by the site owners National Trust for Scotland has found
that the majority of gannets on the stacs had fledged by 10 October and their
advice was that access should be possible by our proposed date, although
fledging will vary between years and there may be some birds still present which
should be avoided.
Seaharris who had transported the November
2013 "recce", confirmed that the Enchanted
Isle was available; a boatload of 12 would-be summitters was available
including a good mix of climbing expertise, so a plan was developed over a
couple of days for a 2-day trip with the night of Mon 13 Oct to be spent on the
main island of Hirta. To cover all eventualities, we assembled a range of gear
including jumars, a caving ladder and a few wetsuits, in addition to standard
rock climbing gear.
Stac an Armin south face from Boreray. Photo: Rob Woodall
A nervous two days ensued with the
forecast wind strengthening towards Force 5 meaning a day trip at best - and very
nearly cancellation. However by Sunday morning the forecast had settled back to
around Force 4 with swell holding around 1 metre so the team left home for
various Sunday ferries for a Monday day trip. I met Paul Reeve early morning at
Sheffield and he drove us up to Uig, collecting Colin at Glasgow en route,
speaking to Seumas Morrison en route to check he was happy with the improved
forecast. A spare half hour was spent climbing Craig Liath above Uig: a nice
wee hill with a view across to the hills of Harris. A beautiful afternoon,
boding well for tomorrow. Late evening we all converged on Am Bothan bunkhouse
in Leverburgh for a few hours sleep.
Monday 0500 we boarded Enchanted Isle and Seumas negotiated the
complicated navigation lane west out of Leverburgh then opened up to 20 knots
for an atmospheric moonlit 45 mile crossing which was completed in a brisk 2
hours 30.
Stac an Armin
An hour away, at first light the
familiar bulk of Boreray appeared and by 0800 we were nosing around the south
side of its angular neighbour Stac an Armin looking for a landing spot. Given
the NE wind, the SE corner wasn't feasible, and the southern slabs appeared
challenging. The 1994 report used a landing on the steep west shore at the SW
corner and Paul reckoned it was doable, so the two small tenders were deployed
(a tough plastic boat for landing, additionally a small inflatable to act as a safety
boat).
Stac an Armin south-west landing. Photo: Rob Woodall
Paul and I were landed first, in a
small recess a couple of metres south of an obvious basalt dyke. We scuttled up
to a ledge on what turned out to be nice grippy gabbro (despite its very green
appearance) angled at about 50 degrees. Paul took a rope up and fixed it at the
top of the slab and I quickly followed, with a jumar which I didn't really
need. Meanwhile, Seumas started landing the others in pairs.
Landing on Stac an Armin. Photo: Richard Mclellan
Above the steep slab is a long mostly
level traverse of easy-angled slabs above the south shore. We crossed these
keeping mostly to the top edge. Initially we were wearing Kahtoola
microspikes which are more or less compulsory kit for stac landings (some used
old crampons with shortened sharpened spikes). However with no recent storms
the rock was dry and grippy, and on reaching finer grained slabs we took the
spikes off (I didn’t use mine again on Armin).
Crossing Stac an Armin south slabs. Photo: Rob Woodall
Rounding the SE corner (short 2-foot ledge)
we scrambled a short section which was steep enough to justify leaving another
fixed rope marking the route. Above was a route choice. Keeping left near the
cliff edge following a line of cleits, an intermittent trail leads to the main
gannet colony. Keeping right of the colony provides the easiest way up once the
birds have gone.
Stac an Armin's grassy east slopes and cleits. Photo: Richard Mclellan
Instead keeping right and heading for
an old roofless bothy then once past it cutting back left, leads via a
grassy scramble onto the crest. Here the routes converge before a final
scramble (where Paul fixed another rope) leads to the summit area, with the
summit reached along an easy blocky crest. Most of us ascended the more scrambly
right-hand route, but Paul reported that the left hand cliff top route was
easier and largely bird free so we decided we would descend that way.
Paul summitted first; Pete Ellis and
I summitted together and photographed each other. The summit has a couple of
rocky tops a few metres apart, the northerly slabby outcrop probably higher,
with a fine view of the magnificent north and west faces of Boreray, then Stac
Lee with Hirta and its satellite islands laid out beyond to the southwest.
Rob Woodall at Stac an Armin summit. Photo: Pete Ellis
Stac Lee
With the early start and the
excellent conditions we were keen to make an attempt on Stac Lee, so we agreed
with the others following us that they would strip out the fixed ropes while
the first four would get established if possible on the second stac.
The return to the landing spot was
easy, with the fixed rope barely needed. We jumped back into the boat, having
spent about 1 hour 30 on the stac. Seumas was agreeable to the plan and in a
few minutes we were back in the plastic tender, exploring Stac Lee's south
face. Seumas wasn't too impressed with the usual landing spot immediately left (west)
of Geo Lee; the climbers weren't too impressed with the prospect of landing
further left in quieter water. As a compromise we agreed we'd try the usual
spot but if necessary on our return would board the boat in the quieter water,
if as forecast the wind came round to the east and the wave motion increased.
Again Paul and I went first. Seumas
nosed the little boat in; Paul with microspikes fitted and rubber matting on
the prow to facilitate jumping off, landed on gabbro slabs, I threw him the
coiled rope, he threw the rope-end back, I tied on the dry-bag with the
rest of the climbing gear and this was hauled ashore. I then jumped ashore - it
had all happened quickly and we were established on our second stac of the day,
hardest part over and half a day left to get up and down - all very doable.
Bill decided Lee wasn't for him but Pete was quickly landed and we agree to
climb as a three – not quite the original plan. Seumas headed back to Armin to
retrieve the others while we got busy.
Stac Lee south face showing route. Photo: Colin Crawford
The Stac Lee ascent route is well
described in Jon Warren's 1990 report and there were no real surprises. Paul
scuttled up the first easy 10m 50-degree gabbro slab and belayed us up the nice
clean rock, climbing together on a rope each. Another 50m rope length took us
to the corner. It was nice to have a rope for a short exposed narrow section
before the corner and for the short step-up immediately above the right hand
zig. The remaining ledge to the foot of the Pitch was easy with little
exposure. Vertically below, we could see
the next party: Richard, Denise and three others whom we assumed would climb as
two teams. However, a short while later there was just a party of three
climbing, the third being Eddie. We later learned that Michael and Colin had
turned back as it hadn’t proved possible to put together a third rope. As it
turned out, there wouldn’t have been time for a third party to summit and
return.
Paul Reeve leading the lower slab on Stac Lee. Photo: Rob Woodall
Ascending leftward groove on Stac Lee. Photo: Richard Mclellan
Paul led the 8 metre climbing pitch
and brought Pete and me up. Initially it
was a scramble, but suddenly I found the holds had run out. Searching around I
found a couple of small incut holds and was soon up. Around Mild Severe it
seems to me. Just below the crux move an alloy peg has been installed – origin
unknown. Above the pitch we climbed the big mostly-wide upper ledge leading
left, Paul belaying us until we reach the old bothy which nestles below the
overhang. It’s a superb situation, mostly not feeling very exposed - although
the Atlantic is a hundred metres more or less vertically below. From here a
slope of rubble and gannet droppings led to the summit slope. Initially we were
almost wading through manure-like gannet droppings. In summer, this slope will
have been packed with gannets, but today there are very few birds, easily
avoided. The west ridge itself was mostly guano-free, and with the vertical
north face immediately to our left this made a highly impressive route to the
summit.
Pete Ellis below the crux move on Stac Lee. Photo: Rob Woodall
Ascending the upper ledge on Stac Lee. Photo: Rob Woodall
Paul and Pete decided I should summit
first, given how long I’d waited for this summit, and I wasn’t going to argue!
Stac Lee summit itself was just a few rocks, nothing special. But of course a
superb situation, with fantastic views especially of Boreray’s massive west
face. Being here in the warm October sunshine was very special. 172 metres
below, Seumas saw us summit and sounded the ship’s horn – a great moment.
However we realised it was a long way down, and headed off after a few minutes.
Paul and Pete fitted their microspikes on account of the guano, although I
preferred to do without. Either way, careful footwork was needed.
Ascending Stac Lee summit ridge. Photo: Rob Woodall
Back at the old bothy, we roped up
and climbed back down the ledge, soon passing Richard, Denise and Eddie on
their way up. A little later we heard the ship’s horn again – Richard’s team had
summitted. Reaching the top of the Pitch, some time was spent finding a
trustworthy anchor for an abseil. Eventually we abseiled from a rockpile which
had some good gear placements. However this involved abseiling diagonally
across the fall line, and Pete and I (and later Denise) found this difficult.
An alternative might be to use a spike 10 metres further uphill, for a vertical
abseil direct to the foot of the climbing pitch. Reaching the foot of the
pitch, two more rope lengths took us along the last ledge and down the big
groove. Then a simple abseil and we were ready to leave. Seumas directed us to
scramble a few metres further east across the barnacle covered rocks to a
better pick-up point. Despite our earlier fears, the sea conditions weren’t
significantly more difficult than when we had landed, and the three of us were
soon back on the Enchanted Isle, receiving a round of applause from the others,
and also a coffee – both very welcome!
Denise Mclellan and Eddie Dealtry at Stac Lee summit. Photo: Richard Mclellan
We had taken about 7 hours, as a
consequence of pitching the whole route. Whilst parties have in the past done
all except the Pitch unroped, our lead climbers feel that teams of two would be
best, each roped but mostly moving together, placing protection as necessary.
This approach should save several hours. The Pitch would need belaying; the
short section immediately before the first zig (off-balance ledge) and after it
(1.5 metre scrambly step) would likely also need protection. The upper ledge
has very few difficulties.
Pete Ellis leaving Stac Lee. Photo: Rob Woodall
A nervous wait ensued as we watch Richard’s
team descend. They finished in the dark by head torch and were safely retrieved
by Seumas. We left at 2015 and were back at Leverburgh just before 2300.
It had been an unforgettable day,
with 11 of us summitting Stac an Armin and 6 summitting Stac Lee, more
successful than we had dared hope. This is possibly the first non-summer
ascent, at least since the 1930s evacuation. I wondered whether Denise Mclellan
had made the first female ascent of Lee and/or Armin, but it seems there have been
several on Stac Lee, including Norman Heathcote’s sister in 1900, two before
her, and the intrepid 1970s/80s archaeologist Mary Harman who likely summitted
both.
Best of all, Eddie Dealtry and I have
finished the Marilyns list – we have summited all 1556 peaks, fully 22 years
after Alan Dawson’s ground-breaking Relative Hills of Britain was published.
Stac Lee climbing pitch
and abseil detail
Photo: Mark Smith
Personnel
Stac
an Armin: 11 summitted: Paul Reeve, Rob Woodall, Pete Ellis, Bill Forbes,
Richard and Denise Mclellan, Michael Earnshaw, Alan Whatley, Colin Crawford, Mark
Smith, Eddie Dealtry.
Stac
Lee: 6 summitted in 2 parties: Rob Woodall, Paul Reeve (lead), Pete Ellis;
Richard (lead) and Denise Mclellan, Eddie Dealtry
2 landed, climbed above the high water mark then returned to boat: Michael
Earnshaw, Colin Crawford.
Jonathan
de Ferranti was the 12th member of the party.
Enchanted
Isle: Seaharris skipper Seumas Morrison, with crew members Chris and Darren.
Equipment
In
addition to standard rock climbing gear, each climber had either microspikes or
crampons with shortened sharpened spikes - for grip on slimy rock. Most had
jumars or ropeman ascenders. A caving ladder and a few wetsuits were taken but
not used for either stac.
Conditions
The
swell was around 1 metre all day with wind around Force 4, NE forecast to move
round to E during the day. The Armin landing (W side, just N of SW corner) was
sheltered and the landing quite easy by St Kilda standards. The Lee landing (S
face, just W of Geo Lee) was less sheltered and a little more difficult, but
quite doable in a 1m swell.
Summit Coordinates
Richard
Mclellan recorded the following summit co-ordinates (GPS, not survey grade):
Stac an Armin NA 15127, 06422 208m
Stac Lee NA 14211, 04923 174m
Monday 13th October 2014 and Rob Woodall completes the Marilyns
On Monday 13th October 2014 Rob Woodall became the first
person to complete the Marilyns with an ascent of the two St Kilda sea stacks;
Stac an Armin and Stac Lee. An hour later and Eddie Dealtry became the second
Marilyn completer as he also stood atop Stac Lee. I took the opportunity to
interview Rob and talk about the organisation behind the expedition and the day
of completion.
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