St Johns Head
Dave and Andy aim to climb The Long Hope Route on St John's Head, Hoy in a single day, freeing the final pitch up the headwall which Dave considers will come in around a hefty F8b+. Quite a challenge after 850 feet of sandy sea cliff and several pitches of E5 and above. This will certainly make it among the biggest undertakings in British climbing.
The Long Hope Route Topo
The Long Hope Route was first climbed in 1970 by Ed Drummond and Oliver Hill. They spent 7 days on the wall, sleeping on ledges and in hammocks, and several of the 23 pitches involved some aiding. A first free ascent was made by John Arran and Dave Turnbull in 1997, but this avoided the final pitch up the steep headwall, taking instead a slightly less direct line. Both ascents were landmark achievements for their time, both being onsight and showing real audacity in an unusually inhospitable environment. St John's Head is a 1000 feet of sandstone, making it the highest vertical sea cliff in the British Isles.
Alongside Dave and Andy will be friends of the brand - film maker Paul Diffley of Hotaches productions and photographer Lukasz Warzecha, so there should be footage and photos a plenty over the coming weeks.
The guys will be sending regular updates from the ME cottage and we'll keep you up to date with all the latest. You can also checkout updates and some pre trip thoughts over at their social media sites here
Hot Aches: https://www.facebook.com/hotaches
Lukasz Warzecha: https://www.facebook.com/LWimages
Dave MacLeod: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=761184046
Hot Aches: http://twitter.com/#!/HotAches
Dave MacLeod: http://twitter.com/#!/davemacleod09
Lukasz Warzecha: http://twitter.com/#!/LukaszWarzecha
Blogs
Lukasz Warzecha's blog: http://blog.lwimages.co.uk/
Dave MacLeod's blog: http://www.davemacleod.blogspot.com/
Andy Turner's blog: http://andyturnerclimbing.blogspot.com/
Photos: Dave MacLeod Collection
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