TheShortSpan

Bouldering in Ireland

27/01/10

Plans for a print guide

TheShortSpan is 10 years old soon. I can’t remember its birthday but it was some time before the end of February 2000 Check it out on archive.org here and here. This website started off with some very scant information about bouldering in a few obscure spots in Dublin and Wicklow. It grew as bouldering become more popular. As areas became discovered and documented new web pages were created with some fairly crude topos. A few years ago it became apparent that having the topos spread over many – difficult to print – html pages was not the way to go, the answer was to assemble all the information from the web pages into one document. The first edition of the guide was 50 pages and it has grown to 123 pages in the latest and fifth edition. The updating of the guide has been my main focus and so the rest of the site hasn’t been updated with articles, news and photos as much as it might of otherwise. As the guide got bigger it took more and more time to update and the gap between updates started to get larger.

So.

I have decided to publish a printed guide to bouldering in Ireland. The information contained in the web guide will be the basis for it but the print guide will have loads of photos, everywhere will be re-research and the topos and maps will all be redrawn. Over the years a good few people have encouraged me to do a print guide and I always felt the time wasn’t right so what has changed? From a personal point of view I now have time on my hands and I felt if I don’t do it now I never will. Also the rate of discovery of new bouldering areas has slowed down so there is less risk of the guide being out of date before its printed.

At this time I hope to have the guide ready for Christmas. This may be too ambitious as I have never heard of a guidebook meeting its deadline. Guidebooks are expensive (€25 seems to be about average), I will do everything I can to keep the price of mine as low as possible for two reasons firstly I want to sell as many as possible and secondly this isn’t a money making exercise for me.

Once the print guide is finished I will be taking down the web based guide but it will be freely available until then so no panic. I will be looking for as much feedback as possible. I really want to hear from people about what they would like to see in the guide. Also feedback on the information in the existing guide would be very helpful. I would especially be interested in hearing from anyone who has any good photos so please get in touch.

To make all this easier I have started a blog to keep people up to date on my progress, I will use it as a sounding board, I will post up previews as I go along and hopefully there will be some useful insight into creating a guidebook.

Keep an eye on http://boulderingireland.blogspot.com/

22/01/10

Irish Bouldering Meet 2010

The Seventh Annual Irish Bouldering Meet will be on the weekend of Friday 19th to Sunday 21st March based in the I.M.C Hut in Glendasan Country Wicklow.

The Hut has cooking facilities and bunks/wooden platforms (you will need a sleeping bag and something soft to lie on - bouldering mat?) for about 40 people on a first come first served basis. If the hut fills up there is plenty of room to camp in the garden (It can get a bit noisy in the hut so those looking so a quiet nights sleep might be better considering camping also). Either way the cost is €10 per night (please pay me as early as possibile on the weekend).

Usually we plan to go to Glendalough on the Saturday and Glenmacnass on the Sunday but when the weather was very changeable we would give Glenmacnass a miss . Last year a few decent new problems were climbed in the scree in Glendalough, it would be good to continue that trend this year. Another possibility would be check out some of the less popular - but very good - bouldering in the valley above the hut, there is well over a hundred problems in the Glendasan/Wicklow Gap area and plenty of the new problems to be done.

So come along, the weekend is a great laugh and is a good chance for to meet up with your fellow climber and do some great bouldering.

This year we hope to have a bouldering quiz on the Saturday night in the hut if I can get a loan of a digital projector or in the Hotel if they will let us use a room for free.

You can download a larger verison of the poster to put up at your local climbing wall or anywhere it might be seen.

03/11/09

New hard problem in Carrigshouk, Wicklow

Michael on Contact

On the 20th of December Michael Duffy climbed his long standing project in Carrigshouk, Wicklow after a protracted siege. Contact 8a+ is a tall, hard and very elegant arete on the large boulder on the righthand side of the cliffs. Michael's suggested grade of 8a+ makes it a contender for hardest problem in Ireland alongside John Gaskin's Darkness before the Dawn 8a+ in Glendasan. It's great that Michael has climbed a hard problem that is such a great line and really representative of Wicklow bouldering being a slopey arete. Darkness is a great line as well but a bit more atypical as it's an overhanging face.

Contact is less than five minutes from the road and right beside the more popular area of Glenmacnass. Makes you wonder what's hiding in the middle of the forests and valleys?

Michael's description "The imposing arête of Carrigshouk is one of the finest and most striking lines in Co. Wicklow and has been a long standing project for years.Climbing the rhs of the bulging arête, a dynamic dead point to a slopey edge leads to delicate climbing above with a tricky move to gain the top."

03/11/09

Bouldering in Tramore, Waterford

Jade on Motion Carried 6A

Jade O'Connor has written a guide to the bouldering in Tramore, County Waterford. I don't think Jade was the first to boulder in Lady Elizabeth’s Cove but she is the first to document it, the South East doesn't seem blessed with bouldering so its great to have some concrete information.

Jade on Lady Lunge 5+

The guide can be downloaded from Jade's site and will be integrated in the next version of the guide.

"I love bouldering by the sea, as it combines two of my great loves, waves and rock, a feast of sensory pleasures. When I first approached Climbing and Bouldering in Waterford in The South East of Ireland I was amazed at the amount of shear sea cliff, and felt every bit ‘A Child In A Candy Store’.

After many weeks of exploration, both physical and virtual I was disappointed, as the quality of rock was poor and friable everywhere I went.

One Morning, purely by chance I stuck my head around the pier at Ladies Cove (also sometimes known as Newtown Cove). After a closer inspection of the wall I was quivering with excitement…. I had found bouldering at last! That evening armed with crash pad, shoes and chalk I set about finding problems."
Jade O'Connor

29/10/09

Åland,Finland Bouldering

Words and photos by Michael O'Dwyer.

Ry on Zen 6c+ Fågelberget

Ry Morison on Mister T 7a dyno Fågelberget
Ry on Puerto Rico 6c Fågelberget

Åland are a group of Island off the coast of Sweden. The population speaks Swedish and there is a distinct Swedish feel about the place, but the islands belong to Finland. Therefore in the €uro zone.

Walking out to Zen Fågelberget

Grottan Area

High Tide 7a+ Grottan

Huts at Soltuna

Getting there is easy from Stockholm. There are ferries from Grisslehamn 1.5 hours from Stockholm 2 hour boat journey Kapellskar, 1.25hours from Stockholm 2 hour boat journey Stockholm 5 Hour boat journey. The ferries are all really cheap. € 25 should cover a car and 2 people return. The fares and food on board are subsidised by the sale of duty free alcohol! The Finns and Sweds drink a lot.

www.vikingline.fi
www.eckerolinjen.se

The climbing is on good pink granite and is concentrated in the north of the main island in the district of Geta. It is most famous for its steep overhangs and layered rock. The northern part of the island is very rocky and since there are strange laws on Åland about trespassing and camping I would advice to stay in the huts at Soltuna. € 10 per night per person. Nice wooden cabins near to Grottan.

Soltuna Restaurang & Café
Västergeta 22340 Geta
Tel. +358 (0)18-49530 Fax +358 (0)18-49440

Please read more on 27crags about access to the bouldering areas. I think there might have been some problems before. There is also a small shop in Geta for supplies. They don't open on a sunday!

Antti on Dodo 7c Kasviken
Neverland Boulder Fågelberget

Olle on Martikainen 6c+ Grottan
Pictor 6c Fågelberget

The best of the climbing is to be found in Grottan, Fågelberget and Kasviken.

The best time for climbing is from September until the first Snow, December-ish and then from when the snow melts until the summer heat. April to June.

For more info and topos go to www.27crags.com

29/09/09

Ailefroide Guidebook Review

By Pierre Fuentes. Pierre is a tall Frenchman who lives in Scotland.

Ailefroide’s new guidebook (Ailefroide, Topo des blocs, Team les Collets, 2009) was published last June, right on time for the coming summer event, the Ailefroide bouldering meet following the “Tout à Bloc” competition. I was going to spend a week there in August so I spent the money on what I thought was the result of some hard work by the locals.

Apparently this 2nd edition is an improvement compared with the 1st guide. According to Zebloc (www.zebloc.com), 100 new problems have been added to the original 200 in the first edition, with 5 news areas and 2 children circuits added. The quality of the paper is better and the cover stiffer. The whole document is in black and white apart from the usual colourful sponsoring ads.

The info is plain but well organised. For each area you get a numbered list of climbs with their names, grades, and a quality indication based on a 3 star scale. Each boulder has been photographed and has been attributed a letter. The problems have then been indicated on the photos by a white line and the number corresponding to the list. And if you’re not sure where you are, a basic map of the boulders and their corresponding letters is also given for each area.

A small “Edito” introduces the guide. It is written by a certain Gilles Estrambouli but you cannot be sure if it is the right spelling because the name is handwritten and does not appear anywhere else. However the guy clearly wants to become famous because he claims Ailefroide “contributed to making him a legend” I might be wrong but when you have to tell people that you are famous, somehow I think you’re not there yet.

Apart from this you do not get much text and this is maybe why I felt a bit cheated. It looks like the authors have wanted to keep it easy and simple. The photograph approach is indeed very handy for identifying the problems. On the other hand photographs do not give you indications of how to climb the problem. Of course we do not want the tricks to be given away, but when no description is given, you always come across that one problem where the question remains “Is this in? Naaah, can’t be, that’d be too easy... wouldn’t it?” So you climb the line again without the hold to make sure you have done the problem properly. It can be fun and it can be a good way to get strong. I think it can also be a good way to frustrate visitors, and this is how I felt a few times.

So the question remains, is it worth €13?

Here is a comparison table including various guidebook details I gathered on the net:

Area Guidebook Problems Pages Format Price Year

Ailefroide Topo des Blocs 300+ 66 Black and white book €13 2009

Albarracin Boulder Albarracin 200+ 7 PDF free 2007

Fontainebleau 7+8 2000+ 288 Black and white book €28 2002

Ireland The Short Span 1400+ 114 PDF free 2009

Northumberland Northumberland bouldering guide 1800+ 433 Color book €22 2008

Peak Peak District bouldering 2000+ 384 Color book €22 2005

Scotland Bouldering in Scotland ? 188 Color book €22 2008

Targassonne Targabloc 2005 350+ 35 PDF free 2005

Area	Guidebook	Problems	Pages	Format	Price	Year
Ailefroide	Topo des Blocs	300+	66	Black and white book	€13	2009
Albarracin	Boulder Albarracin	200+	7	PDF	free	2007
Fontainebleau	7+8	2000+	288	Black and white book	€28	2002
Ireland	The Short Span	1400+	114	PDF	free	2009
Northumberland	Northumberland bouldering guide	1800+	433	Color book	€22	2008
Peak	Peak District bouldering	2000+	384	Color book	€22	2005
Scotland	Bouldering in Scotland	?	188	Color book	€22	2008
Targassonne	Targabloc 2005	350+	35	PDF	free	2005

However to really find out the answer to our question, we would need some sort of rule of thumb to compare prices. For example, spuds are priced per Kg, childminders per hour, and translators per word. So I think guidebooks should be price per problems. This way we can see that The Peak and Northumberland are roughly £0.01/problem, while Font is about €0.014/problem. We can also note that the sneaky John Watson does not want to give away the price of his hard work. The real deal is coming from people like Dave Flanagan who give you the best competitive rate on the market at approximately €0.00/problem: the guy must be Chinese. But Ailefroide’s guidebook, at €0.043/problem is far from the crowd and should not therefore be contemplated...

...but if you are not one of these brainless traders who made a fortune by bringing the world’s economy on its knees, you might be able to acknowledge somebody’s good efforts (someone had to clean these boulders, right?) In this case, you can buy the guide on the following webpage:

boutique.tlcprod.info

04/09/09

Updated bouldering guide to Ireland 2009

Dave Flanagan not doing the beautiful Bone Yard Arete, Black Valley, Kerry. Photo by Pedro Delgado.

Another edition of the guide is ready. 123 pages for the bargain price of €0.00 The main addition is a guide to the Black Valley, Kerry. I have added a vague topo for Carrigshouk, made some other cosmetic changes to the Lough Dan and Wicklow Gap information (and done lots of tinkering with topos) and have added most (not the shit ones) of the new problems submitted to the new problems database.

To download the guide right click and select "Save Target As..."

guide5.pdf 4.9 MB

Huge thanks to all who contributed (especially Eoin Kennedy for the information about the Black Valley and the Gap). Comments, corrections and feedback welcome on the message board.

Next job is revise the Glendo information into a completely new format.