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