Trip Participants: Ash O’Brien, John Lyster, Matthew Campbell, Richard Mott and Steph Buijs
Happy Camping! Photo Credit: AO’B
Initially, the 2024 Inishowen trip was planned for the late August bank holiday weekend, but in line with much of the summer, the forecast was rotten and with excuses as weak as “I don’t want to be washed into the sea and die”, numbers quickly diminished. Eventually, just Ash and I headed up on the Saturday night with the hope of a few dry hours on the Sunday. The campsite did not disappoint – it was quite and secluded, with the noise of the waves crashing on the rocks below only drowned out by the rain hammering down on the tents!
The following day brought the forecasted dry weather, and we handed over to Dunmore Head as it is “the most popular crag in Inishowen, owing to its convenience and the huge concentration of routes at all grades, some of which are excellent”. The first issue was getting to the crag, which can be seen from the road, but is protected by 200m of waist high brambles. There is a path, but it takes some finding.
At the start of Catatra Crack. A bit of gardening required! Photo Credit AO’B
Having found the crag, the next problem was that we had failed to bring a strimmer, pressure washer and wire brushes. Overgrown would be an understatement, not helped by everything being soaking from serval days of heavy rain.
We started on Catatra Crack, which was quite a nice V.Diff with anchor stakes at the top. We then moved to Dusty Mayday, which was very much not a V.Diff (read UKC before you try a new route)! The final route on that slab was OXO in October, a nice S, just very overgrown at the top. With the rain due to come in, and having seen enough of dolphins hunting in the bay, we called it a day. The highlight was that both of us picked up our first ‘crag swag’, which proves we weren’t the first people to climb there recently, despite the vegetation!
A revised Inishowen trip was then planned for 7-8 September, as the weather forecast looked to be better. On the Saturday morning, John, Steph, Matthew, Ash and I headed straight for Malin Head with the aim of tackling The Cutting Edge, a 3-star 5 pitch V.Diff.
Stunning photos from the day at Malin Head. Photo credits: A O’B, JL, and SB
Weather was absolutely stunning, possibly the best day of the year, and The Cutting Edge did not disappoint – it’s a 3-star route for a reason. John and I climbed first taking it in turn to lead, with Matthew, Steph and Ash close behind us climbing as a three. After the third pitch there was some abseil tat which had been placed to avoid a rather unpleasant and unprotected scramble down to the start of the next pitch. The ropes where in good order, but the carabiner had seen better days, so John donated one of his to the noble cause. Matthew didn’t like the look of John’s carabiner, so donated a second. Consider this our contribution to the Colmcille Climbing Club!
At sunset we all headed to the campsite to pitch tents before heading to the pub. It was at this point that we discovered that we were sharing the campsite with a crowd that were clearly intent on partying hard. With tents up, we headed into Culdaff to eat, drink and swap stories of the day’s daring deeds. I can personally endorse the quality of the Guinness in the Culdaff Arms.
Returning to the campsite at midnight, we found the vodka-fueled part only just getting started. We headed to our tents, but I don’t think anyone got to sleep before 4.30 am. Annoyance at being kept awake was tempered slightly by being in earshot of the “I don’t want to be your f***ing girlfriend” conversation at 4 am! Ahhh, young love…..
Richard on Novice Outing. Photo Credit: SB
The following morning, Ash and Matthew headed back to Belfast, leaving Steph, John and me to find something else worth climbing. With the vegetation at Dunmore Head and apparent access issues at Brazil Rock, we opted to head South to Port a Doris. It was about a 20 min walk in but was well worth the effort. The crag forms two sides of a small, secluded cove with routes from Diff to HVS. We climbed Novice Outing as a three, but by this stage the forecasted rain had made an appearance, so we headed on home.
Inishowen has some great potential. The campsite is great (if you don’t have to share it) and there is some phenomenal climbing at Malin Head, where you could easily spend several days. I really liked Port a Doris, and if you didn’t mind carrying all your gear in, you could potentially camp on the beach in the secluded cove without being disturbed by anyone. Let’s get an Inishowen trip in the diary for next summer and hope for some decent weather!