Agag's Groove

Above: Me leading up the first pitch
Below: John soaking up the full scottish conditions

With the stormy weather it was perfect conditions to go and have a look at Agag's Groove on Rannoch Wall. With the grade of VII,6 it is billed as a serious outing. I think the general concensus from the 4 ascents this year is a pleasent VI,7. This is a hard route to get in condition as it needs this type of weather. John and I had a leisurely start, only leaving the car after 9am, but it was snowing heavily. The walk in was ok until we hit the start of Curved Ridge which was buried. This slowed us a little and so did the amount of snow in easy gully gave us something to think about. The route had a lot of snow on it and the cracks were very icey and verglassed today, a very different story to how Matt and Dave had it yesterday. This made some of the climbing pretty bold in places, but not really at the hard point. I led the first pitch which offers some excellent steepish climbing that has a great thin section for your feet at half height. John dispatched the second easy pitch swiftly. This meant I was ready to take on the third pitch which is probably the crux, although all but the second pitch has some tech 7 climbing. John the did a sterling job leading us to the top, where we had to dig for a bit to find the ab tat. Getting down and out was the hardest, and most thought provking part of the day. As it had snowed all day, the gully needed a lot of care to get out safely. Even Curved Ridge was buried and had snow sliding off at times. We were pretty happy when we got to the path and could relax. An awesome day.

Below: John heading up the second pitch

Below: Me picking my way up the third pitch

Above & Below: John getting involved wit the tricky climbing on the third pitch