I went to do this route last weekend but the weather was against me. Here is some beta on the route sent to me by some people who have done the route.
Howling Ridge (Snow&Ice Mixed climb/Grade 3.?m.Con " Muircheartaigh & John Croinin) Howling Ridge was climbed first as a winter climb nearly 20 years ago. Our first ascent was made in deep deep snow that covered the entire range and the climb was at the time for me and a teenager from the mouth of Com Cailí (the Hag's Glen) a very spectacular not unlike Tower Ridge where I had been just a few weeks prior. Since then,this route has become a well trodden route.It is very,very, very! loose. It is easy and the whole line is more like a scramble with several short steep sections. It is possible to turn nearly all of these and so weave a journey scrambling up the hill. It is a very spectacular outing in a magnificent setting. If you follow the route we made taking all of the obstacles head-on it can be generally described as climb with V Diff / M Severe moves (where falling is really very much out of the question.)

This spectacular route was first ascended as a winter climb and it is when heavily snowed that this dramatic line is best. However it is now a popular rock scramble/easy rock climb with some very exposed moves (V.Diff/Mild Severe) on incredibly loose rock. The climb rises from the Heavenly Gates out rightwards over a short step to gain the outer (right) edge of the ridge. Continue upwards, taking the line of least resistance but sticking to the rock at all times. Below a short but overhanging wall, the route is turned out to the right briefly before coming back onto the now narrow ridge. From a small col the first of the two final and finest pitches are climbed directly. The obvious ìFingerî(like a closed left hand with index finger protruding) is the final pitch, reached by easy moves around to the left of the pinnacle. From the top of the Finger a narrow horizontal ridge leads beneath the upper reaches of Collins Gully to the northeast ridge (Primroses) which is followed over a couple of towers into the notch at the top of Collinsí and onto the upper slopes to the top.

This climb has been completed in twenty minutes (Mike O Shea/Heavenly Gates to Northeast Ridge) and parties have spent an incredible eight hours on it. It is very, very loose and climbs through very dramatic and serious terrain. In winter it is superb, classic mountaineering in a wild setting and care and confidence are critical for safe passage. (J.C.)

The grid refernce for the start of Howling Ridge is Q807 844. Its hard to be exact on a 1:50,000 map. A description of the route is to be found in "The Iveragh Peninsula - 50 Walks and Scrambles around Killarney" by Barry Keane, 1997, The Collins Press, Carey's Lane, The Huguenot Quarter, Cork.
- Con Moriarty

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