Got to love the Etive Slabs

Today I took Ross to the Etive Slabs to see what he made of friction climbing. Spartan Slab was to be his first VS,4c rock route, which he specifically picked as his great uncle made the first ascent back in 1954. After a bit of a meander missing the initial path (too much chatting) we stood in awe at how it must have felt to walk toward these slabs knowing nobody had climbed routes here before. I know I spend a fair amount of time looking for new crags with friends but to imagine how it felt to stumble upon 200m long granite slabs must have been awesome. It was a trip down memory lane for me as I cut my ‘slab’ teeth on this route many years ago.

Tackling the crux overlap

The superb hand traverse

Thumbs up at the belay!

The route itself was in great condition, very dry with lots of sunshine and a cooling breeze made for perfect conditions today. Ross did well battling his way up the overlap and almost got to grips with redefining what a foot hold is, a great effort to make it up the route being a ‘non slab climber’. That concludes two days of amazing work for Abacus Mountain Guides.

The excellent fourth pitch

Relieved to be at the top

Ross’ Great Uncle Mallinson FA 1954