Doolin sea cliffs

Background

Will be in Ireland for a week helping teach a college Photography course as part of a Course Abroad Program…should be able to take an afternoon or two off and sneak to a local crag for some rock climbing. Before leaving went to www.climbing.ie and found three areas mentioned near where we will be staying. So, we decided to pack up the gear (which amounted to easily half of out total luggage weight) and hope for the best once in Ireland. There is a guidebook called the “BURREN” but didn’t have enough time before leaving to find a copy. And after all, we’ve climbed at many crags in New England without referencing a guidebook.

The Trip

Arrived at Doolin, Ireland after not sleeping for some 30 hours. Was greeted with sunshine and what seemed to be dry rock! Our first class trip was to the Cliffs of Moher (one of the climbing areas mentioned) and a hike back to the Hostel where we were staying. Great, we’ll get to check out a local crag. Upon arriving at the Cliffs of Moher, was greeted by a gorgeous free admission national park and sea cliffs like we’ve never seen before. Hundreds of people atop the cliffs, with many ignoring warnings of getting too close to the edge but not a climber or signs of any climbers in sight. Quote from the BURREN guidebook: “These cliffs are unlikely to become popular, at least in the foreseeable future, given their serious nature and the difficulties of access. Access would be either by a super ab. or by boat. The following adventures outings are included for the record…” Well, we brought only one rope and have no access to a boat. With only an afternoon or two free we couldn’t ev en realistically hope to try out this area.

Cliffs of Moher

Next area mentioned was a sea cliff situated in the townland of Ballycahan, just west of Roadford, Doolin. Perfect, the next day we planned on hiking to some ancient ruins near these cliffs and hiking back via the sea cliffs was the plan. Another sunny and dry day! After taking the lane opposite McDermott’s Pub, visiting the ruins, being stabbed by numerous neddles, and dodging a bull or two we arrived at the sea cliffs. Interesting… with the tide coming in, the cliffs began undercut at sea level then rose straight up. Top the sea cliffs were a few inches of soil covering featureless rock and a stone wall, neither of which presented a good anchor for toproping. A hundred or so feet back from the edge were beautiful two foot deep Gunks like cracks vertically set down in the rock. Of course we hadn’t counted on needing a second rope or a few hundred feet of webbing to set up an anchor. With the tide coming in, there seemed to be a way down way to the north or a very scary moss an d grass covered 5.0-5.4 descent with huge loose blocks to the south. Anyways, the tide was coming in and our equipment was back at the Hostel.

Possibly on another day with the tide out we could come back. Also the cliffs looked a bit higher than our 50 meter rope. On the hike back we were able to boulder a bit on a 3 move bouldering wall that stretched for probably 150 feet in either direction. Trouble was that because the rock was pretty much the same for the total length of the wall, wherever you started to climb it took the same three moves to reach the top. It was as if there was a 300 foot long horizontal bomber crack along the entire length of the wall. The rock was Quote from the BURREN guidebook: “This is quite an extensive cliff which has seen little development and no routes have been repeated to date.” Didn’t matter, rained the next day and the rock never came back into condition while we were in Ireland. On a very rough (force 8+ seas) boat trip out to an outer isla nd, we saw these same cliffs being plummeted by waves crashing over the tops of the cliffs. Another day on another hike in the rain, we came across some flowers placed near the cliffs edge where someone had recently slipped off and died. Walking off a Connecticut climb on loose leaves wearing La Sportiva’s seemed a lot more stable than our Vibram soles on the wet grassy trails that were 12 inches from the edge of the overhanging sea cliff.

Three move bouldering wall

The last area we had counted on was Loop Head. Didn’t matter… From our third day on, rain was a daily occurrence. Anyways, Loop Head, wherever it was, turned out to be “a fine stack separated from land by a long, deep, narrow, and atmospheric channel” that you abseil down to and swim across.

On a class trip to the city of Gallaway, we stopped at sporting store and were helped by a local who had been climbed in western Ireland for years. We found out that where we were staying was a bit far from any practical climbing area without a rental car, but we were able to pick up a copy of the BURREN guidebook and she mapped out areas to visit on future trips. On a ride back from the Burren College of Art, we did notice several rows of cliffs on the Burren mountain sides. The cliffs can best described as imagine the Ragged Small Cliffs going on for about a half mile with a maximum 30 minute easy access. Two more rows of cliffs were a bit shorter in height and length but were an easy 5 to 10 minute walks from the road. Of course it rained that day. And none of these areas were even mentioned in the BURREN guidebook! Time to plan another Course Abroad to Ireland for nest summer but this time to another area

Looking Back

If we had somehow gotten a hold of the BURREN guidebook before we left the states, hopefully we would have picked up on phrases like “no repeated routes”, “difficult access” and “cliff rarely is in climbing condition”. Low tide times seem to dictate access to base of the sea cliffs… so even if the rock is “in condition”, if the tide’s in or coming in, the cliff’s base is underwater. If the seas are rough, you have waves crashing against over the tops the cliffs. Top roping the sea cliff climbs also presents a problem of when you repel off the top, many times you will be repelling from overhanging rock and find yourself hanging on a rope ten feet away from the cliff’s face. In retrospect, should have taken only shoes and chalk to where were staying. Most of the hundreds of bouldering problems we saw most certainly have never been climbed. Access problems in Ireland seem to be nonexistent, it seems as though pretty much any cliff is open and crossing a farmer’s fields or pasture is greeted by a wave and a smile… walk over to the owner and you get advice, local info, friendly talk, and a new friend… Connecticut landowners take heed…