Climbing part 2

I want to climb outside in Ireland.

I have tried on numerous occasions to find good rock to do so on.  However, I have had few results until recently.

Before leaving the states I did some research and found an index of outdoor climbing routs in Ireland here.

I recently revisited this sight to find that one of the climbs is within biking distance of Lousburgh.  With this in mind, I, and my brave partner in crime Joy, decided to look for it. 

After about two hours of biking running and rollerblading we came to the base of the hill with the cliffs.  We hopped a fence and a river and started the accent to what appeared to be the tallest cliff.

About half way up I noticed a red splotch moving up the cliff.  I soon realized that we were not the only ones looking to climb today. 

When we got to the bottom of the crag we introduced ourselves to the fellow climbers who were from a college in a nearby town.  They regularly climb in the area and it just so happened that we were out on the same day.

We chatted a bit and got some information on a man in the area who leads climbing groups.

Joy and I then continued our own exploring and I did some bouldering of my own.

It looks a lot scarier than it is in this picture, I am actually pretty close to the ground.

The rock in this area is pretty nice, and we had a good time bouldering and really enjoying the view from the top of this hill.

When we had had enough we walked back down and ran into the same group again who then offered us a ride to Louisburgh.

We got dropped off at the filling station on the outskirts of town, and we biked and roller-bladed the rest of the way home.

It was a pleasant supprise running into that group and we hope to organize some climbing or maybe some sea cave exploration through the school in the next month.

Climbing Part 1

I am sorry for my temporary hiatus from blogging.  Last week was spring break and I was too busy to blog.

I will talk about my travel experiences soon, but today I want to talk about climbing.

Recently I have been climbing a lot.  I started at the wall at css, and sense the end of last semester I have been hooked.

Coming to Ireland I was disappointed to find that there was very little climbing to be had in or around Louisbourgh (I have heard of one group but haven’t been able to find them yet.)

Therefore, in coming to Dublin and going on spring break I decided that I really wanted to climb at some point.  After a little poking around on the internet I found this, and after some asking around in the class I found some willing adventurers. 

The whole group did a tour of Kilmahnem Gaol as one of the last things for the day today, then a pack of four of us split off in search of this bouldering wall.

We were in a completely forign city with little to go on other than my memory of the google map location.

Nonetheless we walked confidently into what seemed to be a few blocks of storage units.

Noticing a sign for “Gravity” our confidence was bolstered, and we soon pulled open the door with a handle made of a climbing hold.  We walked in, to the front desk, and introduced ourselves.  The two women working the desk seemed a little surprised that a group of four Americans who had never been to Dublin before had found their gym, but they were very helpful despite their surprise.

The gym was excellent. There were many routs that were suitable for all levels of climber.  If you ever find yourself looking for a place to climb in Dublin, I would recommend it.

We climbed for about two hours, then we started our walk back.

Google Maps says the walk should take us an hour and six minutes.  We thought that we could to it in much less time.  However, between stopping for a street burger and not being completely sure of where we were going, we ended up taking the whole hour.

It was a great adventure; I was very happy to get the chance to climb.  The group we had was just the right size, and we all had a dandy time.

As always your comments are appreciated.

Climbing part two is on its way

Thanks,

Willie