The Bat on Carn Dearg Buttress on The Ben has a fearsome reputation, and barring The Scoop, was potentially the toughest assignment of the remaining ten routes on my Hard Rock tick list (a hypothesis proven unfounded within 24hrs but that’s the next blog post!)

Climbed in 1959 by Robin Smith and Dougal Haston, it was the first route to tackle the central bastion of Carn Dearg, between Centurion and Sassanach, and was made famous by a harrowing account of the epic first ascent in the SMC Journal which came to a wider audience as the first of 100 articles in Games Climbers Play: The Bat and The Wicked. This in turn inspired a film reconstruction – you can find an excerpt here (fast forward to 5:44)

George had signed up for a quick 3-day foray north of the border hoping to reduce the count to 7 in an uncharacteristically hot and dry spell, and the weather certainly looked fair as we trudged up the Allt a Mhuilinn.

Moody over The Ben, but looking likely to clear…

A team already on Centurion with another roping up – luckily our paths only converge for the first 20m or so.

Looking toasty on the sunnier side…

… and a team on Torro inspired a future visit…

… but it’s round the corner onto the shady side for us. Graham and Michael are just setting off up the first (shared) pitch of Centurion and I’m reminded that it felt quite tough straight off the deck when we did it last year.

Centurion – The Ben

My turn, and it hadn’t got any easier.

The Bat soon heads off with a long traverse rightwards across a pink slab,  with a couple of thin moves. Here’s George questing sideways whilst Michael battles with P2 of Centurion straight up.

… and me following…

As I headed around the corner I got a last shot of Michael voyaging up Centurion’s second pitch.

I got the next traversing pitch leading further right, first down then up, through improbable territory.

This leads to the foot of the “Hoodie Groove” – a crooked little lichenous overhanging groove, looking as happy as a hoodie crow. Happily for us, it was looking pretty clean and George made quick work of it to arrive at the ledge beneath the main corner.

He shouted down that there was good and bad news: the bad news was that the corner was piss wet through. “what’s the good news?” I enquired. “It’s your lead”…

It was this corner that had inspired Smith and Haston to quest into the middle of the overhanging wall via their devious route finding, and their subsequent struggles which gave the route its name. As the guidebook alludes: Continue boldly, trying not to emulate Haston – “… as a black and bat-like shape came hurtling over the roof with legs splayed like webbed wings and hands hooked like a vampire.” Robin Smith on the first ascent

There followed a mighty tussle with the damp crack, with the crux perhaps being the elbow-jam in the sopping offwidth a few feet beneath the overhang. I was so relieved to clip a situ rusty wire above this that I gave into temptation and briefly fondled the draw before giving myself a stiff talking to – I hadn’t actually fallen off so there was no real excuse to resort to aid. At this point on the lead, Smith chided himself: … for shame now, where’s your boldness, see how good your piton is, and what’s in a peel, think of the Club, think of the glory, be a devil. Reaching the roof you get more good gear and then commit to some brutal laybacks up and over, before the security of the upper chimney.

No peeling or bat-swoops for me, and we were soon romping up easy ground before hanging a right to traverse across to the rap point at the top of Titan’s Wall. A couple of abseils (we made a 25m rap followed by a 60m though confusingly that’s not how it’s shown in the guidebook. Be very wary as the wall overhangs and you could easily find yourself dangling free at the end of the rope a long way above the deck!)

What a stupendous route, with a real sense of following in the footsteps of giants. E2 5a, 5b, 5a, 5b, 5b, 4c doesn’t really do justice to the epic voyage and you can only imagine how it must have felt in 1959!

Heading down we waved a cheery goodbye to the boys nearing the top of Centurion…

… and bade farewell (or au revoir!) to The Ben…

… before heading down in search of a well-earned beer!