Macgillycuddy's Reeks - Carrauntoohil

Update: Trip cancelled, climbing buddy got in a days work with a group on Dalkey Quarry instructing. 


Shoulder still aches badly, physio is gonna rip my nuts off as she asked me to lay up for 2 weeks. Toe is on the mend and only about a week away from healing totally, but duty calls....... Leaving at early o'clock, 5ish on Thursday morning to try and drive to Kerry bag Howling and drive home all in the one day. Have been itching (pestering Pat) to come back and lead this climb for me. Its noted as the most beautiful and accessible mountaineering route on the island.....

Howling Ridge is today generally regarded as Ireland’s finest mountaineering route and is climbed hundreds of times annually by both Irish and overseas climbers. Originally it was done as an ice climb but today is best known as a summer route. It isn’t the most difficult ascent on Carrauntoohill (1039m) but is by far the most enjoyable. Indeed, Howling has become a rite-of-passage ascent for many eager to make the transition to the knee-knocking intensity of scrambling and dangling on rock faces. On sunny days, when the mountain is in friendly mood and sandstone offers excellent friction, Howling provides the heart-lifting feeling that comes with rising rapidly heavenward on a superb mountain face. In venomous mood, however, it lays many traps to snare the unwary and the consequences of simple mistakes have varied from extremely serious to fatal.

Graded a straightforward V Diff (in summer conditions), the Howling Ridge climb begins at the Heavenly Gates, which is a narrow notch in the cliffs on this north-east face. It’s about 400m of scrambling and climbing on old red sandstone, and approximately eight pitches if you rope the entire route. The real challenges are loose rock, exposure and the level of commitment needed. There is no easy way out once you are some way into this climb. In proper winter conditions it’s a Grade 2 to Grade 3 winter climb.