Birkett Climbs Skye Wall

We just received the following email from Alastair Lee of Posing Productions who accompanied Dave Birkett to Skye for a bold new route last week. Date of ascent  – Weds 9th May Three attempts on lead. E6 6b 25m, E7/8 6b 30m, VS 60m Sky Wall, Skye Wall One hour from boat to base camp then a slightly longer and much harder hike up to the crag, no paths.British rock explorer Tom Walkinton told Dave about this amazing cliff a few years ago and Dave and Tom are amazed that no ´local´ climbers have found it and done the line. With the forecast being bomb-proof we went up last Thursday (3rd May) night to arrive in Elgol for 3:30am. We dossed down in the carpark then got the 10am boat. It was big day after virtually no sleep. When we got up to the wall Dave and Alan rapped in and inspected the line. This was just a reccy trip but Dave was so excited about the route he decided to get on the lead the next morning even though his tips we very bruised from practicing the line the day before as the rock is super sharp gabbro.Anyway he fell off above the crux on some poor gear, my heart was in my mouth but the no.1 held, only just though as its now a no.2 placement! The temperature was unbelievable of Skye and the heat had really taken it out of us so we called it a day and bombed back down the valley to catch the 2pm boat.Two days later and we´re back this time leaving Burnley at 5am for the 2pm boat. The next morning we all got up at 6am and headed up to the buttress where Dave got on the lead straight away. The temperature was already rising and Dave´s fingers hadn´t healed properly, he fell off at the same place but grabbed the gear as not to risk falling on it, He cursed a lot and complained about how warm it was, which is fair enough as preparing for the heat in Scotland isn´t something you´d expect. Anyway he was pissed off now and lowered back to the ledge then without resting got straight back on the lead and fired off the line in fine style. The route is vertical to just off vertical, not Dave´s normal style which is probably why it took him a bit longer than normal as the moves were generally thin balancy and pretty scary as a fall on that sharp rock wouldn´t be nice. Congratulations to Dave for another magnificent route to his name.´ Cheers Al Check out more pics of the trips at Posing Productions. Gallery 1, 2 & 3

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