Trad Climbing at Burren, Co. Clare, Ireland.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light:" and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."

                                                                              (Genesis 1:1-5)

Compared to rock climbing, Ireland is more notorious for it's capricious weather. There are good routes, while good weather is as rare as the leprechauns to be found. Personally, I have been on rock climbing trip with the OPC for 4 times, twice to Burren and Ballykeeffe each. And I assure you, no sun seen there. Before I came to Ireland, I swore to write articles for every climbing spot I go to in Ireland. Nevertheless, I have postponed the task for months since I visited the wall in Shannon Sport Center. As a typical procrastinator, it seems to be reasonable for me to be lazy and 'forget' to write them, while there's no surprising climbing experience may be a better excuse for me. 

The wall at Shannon is definitely not an ideal choice. I hardly believe there's actually a wall shorter than the ones in Taiwan. Lack of special features and angle variation, the only advantage I can think of is 'it's better than nothing.' €5 entrance fee is not a lot, while any cent spent on a flat climbing is unnecessary.

In my point of view, climbing spots adopted from quarries cannot be regarded as good spots for recommendation, and that's why I lose interest in writing anything about Ballykeeffe. They are definitely not natural, and, as any climber can see, these spots are distinguished for crimps, carved by mining machine. So, leave your friends and hand-bandit at home because there is not need to bring them. The losen rock structure makes trad climbing inapplicable at these sites, and cracks suitable for gears are barely found there as well.  The advantage of Ballykeeffe is there's big shelter right in front of the wall, which is quite useful under Irish weather.

Ballykeeffe Quarry

The OPC climbing wall saves me from the brink of disillusion. Finally there's a place you can climb without worrying about safety, weather, and entrance fee. However, there are still some defect which I believe are because of compromise with the university bureaucracy and construction regulations in Ireland. Only if the overhang were taller and the 45 degree slanting face could have reached out for few more meters, it would be perfect.


Generally speaking, I miss Long-Dong at Taiwan not for the 600 routes along the coastline, but for the fine weather and the turquoise Pacific .

I am glad I went to Burren with Janette for trad climb yesterday, and I am even gladder it's the few right things I have done in the last few weeks. We did 4 routes at Alliadie, 1 at Ballyryan: Lisdonnfarout (HS 4a), Jet (HS 4a), Bonnain Bui (VS 4c), Genesis (HS 4b), and Ballyalpine (s). 

We started by Lisdonnfarout, a nice and easy route. Janette led it so that I had time to regain the guts to do trad climb. It's surprising to see her using nuts only. Friends/Camalot provide me too much confidence and make me rely on them too much. Lisdonnafarout may be too easy that I didn't have special feeling when I seconded it. We use a lot of slings and crabs for belay station in Taiwan, while I discovered Janette used clover hitch for setting up station. It reminded me Edgar had warmed me I use too many gears, such as daisy chain, for belay station. I think it may be true because daisy chain seems to be a strange thing for trad/sport climbing here.

I didn't think I have enough courage to lead for the second route, Jet, so Janette happily prepared to lead it. However, we met some problems in the beginning of the route. It may due to some rock deterioration, there's no proper place for gears in the beginning. We tried about 10 minutes to set up 2 nuts, which looked not really reliable, and Janette placed another camalot in case of accident. Two doubtful nuts and a camalot right on a comfortable handhold for the first step, we were left no too much space at the very start.

The climber has to stand on tiptoe on a boulder to start  Lisdonnafarout so the fall distance will be even longer if the gears fail at the very beginning. After got on to the wall, Janette was caught into the dilemma for not finding any available spots of grabbing and stepping. Fumbling around, she couldn't find a proper position to stand higher to reach the first ledge on the route. After she struggled about 5 minutes, I proposed I take over, though I was not sure if I was confident enough to finish it. There was a finger hole on the left, and the 4cm deep hole, with a little slope inside,  allowed only one finger. After a few attempts, I gave up the idea about one-finger pull-up, while there's no hold available in my reach. Fortunately, I glimpsed there's a edge above me, and it looked big enough for me to hold. The only problem was I had to make a dyno to get it, yet the three flimsy gears mocked coldly at me meanwhile. The 4-meter fall distance did intimidated me, but I decided not to be a chicken in my first trad climb in Ireland. I told Janette to pay extra attention, and I took a deep breath and jumped! Hoo! I didn't miss it, and I agitatedly writhed over the ledge and start the next section.

The second section was majorly composed of slabs, great for side pulls. Because I had not climbed for sometime, and I usually practice in indoor gym, I am really strange to some movement like jamming, side pulling and smearing. It was easier to install nuts in the cracks along the slab, while I found no points for feet. If I am more used to smearing, Jet should be even easier. Janette and I discussed about this route later, and she thought it's even harder than Bonnain Bui (4c). I agreed with her in the beginning, while I reconsidered it's level. If the poor protection and high handhold at the start are excluded, Jet should be 4a, or even slightly easier. However, the difficulty level changes with people. Since Janette could barely reach the hold, and the protection looked really scary, it should be a 4c/5a to her, then.

We came to the Bonnain Bui (4c) and this was the route with 2 stars, which means it's highly recommended. I seconded this route so I didn't know the detail of this route, but I would say the crux should be around where a medium bulge was around the middle of the route. The bulge created a small overhang, and make people a little bit confused when you see it for the first time: small crack on the right side for gears, and smooth face on the left, making climbers confused and eager to look for handholds. There was an old friend stuck under the crux, I think it can be used as a auxiliary protection if you don't trust the nut too much. 

Genesis (4b) naturally became our next target. It brought me a strange feeling because this was not the first time I see the route. Due to the bad weather, we didn't climb in the first climbing trip this term, and I saw it while I was sulking over the shitty weather and loitering along the Burren coastline. "This chimney looks beautiful, and it will be awesome to climb on it," thought I. The scene was like you met your childhood crush after years, but you don't know how to say 'hi' to her. Yeah, it's a little bit awkward, just like the route itself. 

Genesis starts from a 3-meter high ledge. There are 2 ways to get on it: shorter climber can start with the slope, while taller climbers like me can jump up and grab a big handhold obtruding like a horn. There's nothing on the right side, and the whole Genesis runs straight up to the top. Hex will be very helpful on this route, especially in the very beginning. 

About 7 meters over the ground, there's a rock, at the size of scooter wheel, masterfully stuck in the corner. I placed a camalot on the right side of the rock, and I found it's big enough for a natural protection later, so I put a sling around it. After passing the rock, I did arm jamming all the way up to the crux where the crack was shaped like a 'V.' There was a rock horn at the top of the V, but it's doubtful whether it could sustain a really severe fall so I placed another camalot at the bottom of the V.

I think it's the crux because you would find it awkward if you lead this route. I happened to step on the big rock below the V feature, and it was shaken! The camalot placed next to it was losen and slipped down, and I was surprise by that incident. Although I got back-up protection above, the doubt in my mind increased and came with fear. 

Fear is like the stalker who grabs your ankles with cold hands. 

As mentioned, the crux was shaped like 'V,' and the wall on both sides went a little bit cramped. Although the rock horn was a very big hold, it's still not easy to pass it, especially when it's slightly over-hanged. To me, the hardest challenge was to find some proper places to step. There were some overly open slopes on both sides, and the exposure drastically increased once I did the spread-eagle movement. Even though there's a small ledge inside the bottom of the V crack, I could barely step on it because my foot was somehow struck by the narrowing walls first unless I twisted my foot and step with foot side. I hunched like a scared cat when I held the horn and fitted my right foot into the foot-gnawing crack.

I was fucked up, I have to say. While I was caught in the awkward position, with legs spread open like a Chinese character '人,' I noticed something different. I heard the rumbling sound of the waves, echoing in the arrete corner. The splattering notes, along with the broken sea foam,  were wildly played behind me. When I turned my head, I saw the reflection of the setting sun broken, torn, shattered, ripped into infinite sparks glittering below the horizon. It looked just like the interplay of an epic poetry and the symphony of natural forces, a visionary and acoustic symposium at the same time. For a transient moment, I felt blessed and I totally understand why this route is named 'Genesis,' and it reminded me of the Birth of Venus at the same time. The Beauty itself rose out of the sea surface and demonstrated its most astonishing secret to me. I felt lucky I was there to witness it, and the overwhelming sensation enthralled, captured my soul.

Of course I didn't on-sighted it. The long struggle at the crux made me exhausted, and my arms were totally pumped after the short battle for 5 minutes. After I unblushingly asked for a few takes and experienced an unexpected fall, I had not the will to tussle with it anymore. Thanks Janette for finishing it, and I seconded it smoothly. I think Genesis should be my final assignment before I leave Ireland this summer, and I sincerely hope I can turn it in on time.

Janette and I decide to do a easy route to close the day so we went to Ballyryan and I chose Ballyalpine as the finale for the climbing show. The route itself is not very difficult, and I discover the rock is different from the one we have at Alliadie. Janette explained it is because the cliff at Alliadie is worn by sea water and waves, so it's smoother, while the rock at Ballyryan is majorly eroded by rainwater so there are hole over the rock surface. When I finished the route, I saw the Aran Island islets, Inishmore, Inishmann, and Inisheer faraway, covered by the golden gossamer haze over the sea. The sunset over Atlantic Ocean at the edge of Europe moved me so much that I thought I was really lucky to see a view like this in Ireland.

The Roof (E4 6b), Aran Island
Picture source

Thanks Janette for giving me a lift and climbing with me. She is a great climbing partner. What's more, thanks the OPC for lending the gears. Last but not the least, thanks the one whoever created everything there.