An otherwise highly successful trip last year, to tick off some of the remaining routes on my Hard Rock to-do list, ended on a frustrating note. Having done

The Bat

… and

Raven’s Gully

… I ended up getting rained off after 5 pitches of…

Swastika

leaving a rather unsatisfactory 7.4 routes to complete the set.

Another productive trip earlier this summer saw the total whittled down by another three, with ascents of Goliath and King Rat…

Feeding the Rat in the Cairngorms

… and The Prow…

Skye – an island of contrasts

… but with monsoon conditions for much of the “summer” it looked like the remaining 4.4 would be carried forward into 2024.

The hint of a September weather window and an available and enthusiastic (as always) partner in Paul raised the prospect of making further inroads. The logistics of any of The Scoop, South Ridge Direct (on Arran) and Dragon and Gob would all be challenging in a three-day window, but there was certainly scope for at least rounding the task down to a whole number. Swastika take 2 – here we come!

The deluge continued through Sunday night, and the Etive Slabs were still shrouded in clag as we started on the approach.

Things were looking a bit black and streaky as we neared the crag and I was wondering if I’d be thwarted again.

Happily a bit of a breeze and the occasional burst of sunshine was doing enough to dry the worst of it. P1 was a good reminder of the marvel of tiny cams.

Here’s Paul following, and the weather is certainly perking up.

The Moustache pitch is a comedy classic, but one benefit of the previous recce is that I’d taken a #3 Blue Camalot which protects the second when making the crux move over the overlap (I’d been looking at a 40ft pendulum when I’d seconded it last time.

Smiles all round

Here’s Paul leading the first Quartz Band (the furthest extent of my previous excursion)…

… which is a good warm up for the second one. This is definitely “don’t fall off” territory – a good 30ft runout from decent gear on the ledge to a poor wire in a pocket, at which point things ease off. Brilliant climbing though…

The next couple of pitches are out of keeping with what’s gone before, as outstanding E1 5a/b padding gives way first of all to a tough 6a move through an overlap…

… and then a very sustained, steep 5c (or 6a?) corner.

With the extra excuse of some residual dampness we had no qualms in embracing the original tactics of a spot of aid on these pitches – after all, that’s how the route is described in the book.

Back to Craigallan (the Rucksack Club hut on the banks of Loch Linnie) for a well deserved pint in the sun-room. Just 4 routes to go…