Dalkey Afternoon

I took the afternoon off work to go climbing with Tim who is visiting Ireland from the States for the week. When I arrived at Dalkey in the early afternoon Tim had already lead Thrust (HVS 4c,5a), Hyperion (VS 4b,4c), Gargoyle Grove Direct (E1 5b), and Stereo Tentacles (HVS 5a).

 

Tim leading Tower Ridge Direct

We stayed at the Upper Cliffs where Tim lead Frenzy (E1 5b) and Tower Ridge Direct (E2 5c). These are two routes that are on my list to lead this year but both spat me out before I eventually topped out. Last summer I top roped Tower Ridge and only managed to complete 2/3 of the route so I am happy to see that I have made so progress since then.

Tim on Graham Crackers

We next moved onto Graham Crackers (HVS 5a) which I think is one of the bolder routes for the grade. I took a nice fall from this route in March so I had a bit of a bad taste in my month about this route and was happy to second it today.

After a short break we moved down to the East valley where Tim lead Fang (HVS 5a) with the Stereo Tentacles finish. We finished the afternoon by playing around on top rope on Masochist (E3 6a). I have no idea how anyone can lead a route with such sparse tiny holds and questionable protection.

All in all I had a great days climbing and I believe Tim enjoyed his Irish climbing experience. It is always great to climb with a much stronger climber and be pushed to try routes I would normally hesitate to attempt.