Please do feel free to subscribe for all the latest Bald Eagle releases! A channel showing the exploits of an increasingly average climbing punter who likes to boldly go where quite a lot of people have been before... :-)
Finally got up this last month after watching your vid years ago way before I trad climbed. Thank you for the inspiration! What a route, got to be my top VS yet and most adventurous day on UK rock! Got to do the swim through jellyfish creek too 😅
Many thanks for the positive vibes Stephen and the very best of luck with your IML training. Hopefully you will get to climb the Mittellegi and descend the South Ridge one day to complete the classic traverse of the mighty Ogre! :-) Cheers Dave
Yes Doug Moller (aka the Lord of the Roaches) was quite a character and was very nice and helpful on the 2 occasions I met him when staying at Rock Hall Cottage/Don Whillans Memorial Hut. He popped into the Hut so I offered him a brew and biscuits and we ended up talking about his experiences and time living there with his wife for over an hour. His book called The War of the Roaches is also well worth a read if you can find it an AbeBooks or Ebay! Sadly he died in 2022 but a life very well lived... Cheers Dave
Lovely video. One for my wishlist before I get too old (though I've still got 7 years on the impressive 71 year old gentleman!). Numpty question..do you have to abseil into the start of the route?
Hi Chris I'm glad you enjoyed my wee video and the following regarding the approach (i.e. most people do a short ab) is a cut and paste from Rockfax: From the gearing-up ledge just up and left from a memorial plaque on the face of the ridge itself. Cross the ridge at the col via a short downclimb on its opposite side and follow a path down hill next to the ridge until steeper ground requires a steep downclimb or abseil from insitu slings. Continue down to sea level ledges and traverse smooth rock and ledges around the base of the ridge to a belay ledge. Cheers Dave
Ah can't believe you got to do the ladder across the quarry before it fell down. There was half left when I first did it. Great perspective though and just epic videoing from your go pro
Hi kadadventures the Bridge of Death finally fell into Twll Mawr around 9 years ago so I'm glad I did it whilst it was in it's rusty pomp and decaying glory! And I'm glad you enjoyed the vid! Cheers Dave
Thanks so much for this vid, it was very useful when planning. this trip. Went up the old man last Wednesday, a huge bucket list tick, what a beautiful day! I didn't watch the video in such detail before the climb but have just come back to it and realised we took a different (probably stiffer) route up pitch 3, oops! A few things to note - Much of the tat has been cleared away. There are now 3 nuts and a sling left for the tyrolean on the stack side and one static rope anchor point at the abseil. we came across a few bits of left gear en route and some tat anchors at the top of pitches 1 and 3. Also note there was a fulmar nest at the top of pitch 3, round to the left. The smell will give it away!
@j3xxy thanks a million for the positive vibes, congrats on the big tick and I'm glad my wee video helped with planning your day on the Old Man! If you have not climbed it yet, you may find my Am Buachaille (The 2nd of the Big 3 Scottish sea stacks) useful if you head that way. A more serious outing than Stoer requiring a swim or inflatable but just as rewarding and another day you will remember for a long time! :-) Cheers Dave
Devil's slide, Ulysees Factor, Diamond Solitaire, all great routes, but the biggest challenge is recovering from sea sickness first - helluva crossing. :) :)
Yep the crossing on the MS Oldenberg Ferry can be somewhat bumpy if the weather is less than kind. And some classic routes you've ticked there! Cheers Dave
I did this in the days before 'friends', it has some tough moves - a great Don Whillans memory, a great route. Really nice production, thanks for sharing.
Hey Arthur many thanks for taking the time to post your postive vibes and I hope my wee vid evoked some nice memories of your pre-friend ascent! :-) Cheers Dave
Hi Alice the climb is normally done in 4 pitches and accessed by a careful walk down an obvious grassy gully to the left (facing down) of the Devils Slide slab to an obvious large halfway block where most folks set up a rope to rap to the base of the slab. You can easily bail or escape to the right (facing up the climb) for the first 2 easy pitches. Above here it becomes much more difficult to escape as the Slide quickly steepens up to the 3rd and crux 4b traverse pitch. Hope this helps! Cheers Dave
Oh dear, we climbed the rotten buttress straight up to the hut, found a peg! I remember a couple of German lads popping up half an hour later looking spaced, I had the peg in my pocket, we soloed it, I was immortal at 22 in 88.....
Really enjoyed that chaps, was there in 1988, wonderful part of the British Isles. Would you consider filming an ascent of Kipling groove on Gimmer in the Langdales? I climbed it in 1968, a wonderful route. Kind regards Roger Tweedy
Hi Roger thanks for your kind words and I'm glad you enjoyed my wee vid! Kipling Groove is a fine route but logistically challenging as I'm Bristol based and being a high mountain route but you never know... Cheers Dave
Hi, I am contacting you from BBC Close Calls where one of our stories is about a man who climbed Amphitheatre Buttress. We would like to use a few seconds of scenery shot of the location at around 0.50 and wonder if you would mind us using this? It would be scenery only with no people shown at all. Thanks
Hi Rachel Many thanks for taking an interest in my film footage shot on Amphitheatre Buttress. I have supplied drone footage and film on many occasions to Close Calls on Camera, Countryfile, The One Show, Gardeners World and Channel 4 News over the last few years for which I had to sign a Material Release Form and normally received a credit plus a small fee for non exclusive use. Anyway I would be very happy for you to use some of my film to compliment your show and would be delighted to discuss further via e-mail. My preferred e-mail address is D.S.Linnett@bristol.ac.uk I look forward to hearing from you soon. Best regards Dave
Fun fact-the Anti-Atlas Mountains are actually an extension of the Appalachian Mountains in North America. They were the same mountain range back in the Triassic, forming a long strip in central Pangaea. After the supercontinent broke apart, the Anti-Atlas went with what is now Africa while the rest of the Appalachians drifted west with the landmass that would become North America. They are totally different climactically, topographically, and culturally today, but geologically you can find a lot of similarities. I hope you enjoyed your adventure! 🧗
Heya Hayven many thanks for taking the time to post the interesting geological facts. Anyway I very much enjoyed my adventure in belle Maroc and I hope you enjoyed my wee video! :-) Cheers Dave
That looks to be FAR less unpleasant than I was expecting! The rock looks to be more secure too, I was expecting it to be really crumbly and chossy, but it does seem fairly secure. The exposure must have been fairly intense in parts!! Excellent vid, thank You!
Thanks a million for the positive vibes and I was expecting the chalk to have the consistency of feta cheese! But it was surprisingly solid, the exposure was face melting and the route is one of the greatest "adventure" routes in the UK! Cheers Dave
I've watched lots of your videos to see how routes look, and for general enjoyment - all are excellent. So I thought I should just say congratulations and thank you. Good luck with the next adventures you have. Cheers, Finn.
I'm REALLY surprised at the grade! I would have thought that the approach and retreat would justify a HVS or more likely an E1 grade with having a technical grade of 5a!
Hi 24934637 I think you could make a case for HVS due to the seriousness of the approach and all, but it is only the first pitch which is quite tough at VS 5a. However you can walk around the back of the Old Man and avoid this pitch altogether! Cheers Dave
@@chdslDave LOL, I know an E9 where you can walk round the back and avoid that part! ;) The Old Man and this route specifically looks to be really nice, and surprisingly clean for a sea stack. Didn't seem to be much in the way of loose rock either, was that actually the case?
You often sacrifice the quality of climbing for the adventure on a sea stack. However the Torridonian Sandstone on the Old Man is superbly solid and hard with very little in the way of choss! One of the best routes of its grade in the UK... :-) Cheers Dave
Thanks a million for taking the time to post your positive vibes Andrew and I'm delighted you enjoyed my wee video! And the very best of luck when you pay the Old Man a visit! Cheers Dave
No worries Kevin and as much as I love Lundy, I have already filmed a couple of vids on the Puffin Isle which you may have missed: One Hands free with Johnny Dawes and another with a group of mates, both on the Devils Slide. However I have a few ideas for other filming projects so I need to pull my finger out and get on it! :-) Cheers Dave
I completely understand peaking a summit , but walking that Ridgeline must give you vertigo, coupled with the dizzying heights, must be what it's like in heaven
Thankfully there was no vertigo on the summit ridgeline Kevin! If you fell off to the right of the summit ridge of the Mittellegi it would be a one way ticket all the way down the North Face... :-) Cheers Dave
Cool Johnny, certainly beats dynos on the old Heights wall. One supposes having a slightly lower centre of gravity than back in the day assists. Rock on mate.
I did this route some years ago. Mostly ok but the exposure on the gedarms freaked me out a bit! Can you tell me on the time line where the crux is please?
Spectacular! Those pictures above the clouds seems celestial/other worldly. I have so much respect/awe for those who can do this. I would faint from fear and fall off mountain walking on that ridge. Omg. I am feeling scared watching on my iPad. Wow. Amazing
Awww thanks a million for your positive vibes Little Star and I'm delighted you enjoyed and felt slightly scared watching my wee video! : -) Cheers Dave
What glorious memories this video brought back to me! I did this route just before my fortieth birthday in 1990 with a chum of mine while I was on leave from Saudi Arabia. Not difficult, but I remember it as possibly the most enjoyable day I have ever had in mountains, Many thanks for evoking such memories.
Hi Rodney I'm delighted my wee video evoked some nice memories for you as the Face Sud Classique is a superb route on a beautiful mountain in a great setting! :-) Cheers Dave
