Jon Walsh and Michelle Kadatz Send Scottish Knuckleduster

For the past month, a number of Canadians have been sending hard routes in Scotland.

Two of those Canadians are Michelle Kadatz and Jon Walsh. Having climbed a number of test-piece winter lines in the area before, the Calgary crushers knew the lay of the land before heading over in January 2016.

One of the big routes they recenlty sent is called Knuckleduster. The route was first climbed in winter in 2007 by Steve Ashworth and Blair Fyffe in four pitches and at a Scottish grade of VIII 9. The first ascent of the route was in the summer of 1966 by the strong Marshall brothers.

On a winter attempt a few seasons before, Bruce Poll fell above on the second pitch and was knocked unconscious and broke many bones.

Walsh led the difficult cruxes on the steep route and after his send, he said, “It was totally plastered with rime and 100 per cent verglassed when we did it.”

Greg Boswell, the Scottish climber who was attacked by a bear in the Canadian Rockies has climbed the route. After his 2012 ascent, he wrote, “I managed to tap in a crappy turf hook and a small cam in an icy placement, but the only option in my head was to continue up and gain the awkward ledge…” Read the rest of the story here.

There will be a full report on the Canadians trip to Scotland in the April issue of Gripped magazine.

– Be sure to follow Jon Walsh’s adventures on his blog here.