Home > International

The Forge is New Bold Scottish Winter Route

Greg Boswell and Guy Robertson have made the first ascent of The Forge X/10 on An Teallach in Scotland.

The Scottish winter season started earlier than normal with cold weather arriving ahead of schedule. The Forge climbs a line that had been attempted up a steep crack.

The new bold route climbs up the Hayfork Wall, where two other winter routes exist: Silver Fox VII/8 and Wailing Wall IX/9. Scroll through Boswell’s images and watch the video clip at the end.

Boswell wrote the following about the new test-piece: “Well you might as well jump in at the deep end and start the season with a bang. Yesterday Guy and I had an amazing day on the Hayfork Wall on An Teallach. All the forecasts pointed towards this area being in condition, so we decided to roll the dice and we made the five-hour journey north on Monday night, somewhat skeptical but willing to try.

“Thankfully we struck gold. There was lots of stuff in condition in the area, but one line in particular stood out above the rest. The direct crack line straight up the middle of the Hayfork Wall. The route had two big pitches of 45m/40m and it took me the best part of four hours to climb the crux first pitch up the centre of the steep face.

“The climbing was very technical, super physical and had multiple boulder problem style cruxy sections along the way. I was over the moon to climb the route onsight, as it really did pack a massive punch and there was more than one occasion where I thought I was about to take a monster whipper, as axes ripped whilst I moved up on minuscule hooks and zero foot placements. The second pitch forged its way through the huge looming roof above, that Guy dispatched with ease and continued up the last technical face as darkness consumed our surroundings.”

Other new routes this year include The Edge of Profanity V,7 on Creagan Cha-no on Cairn Gorm by Martin Hind, Roger Webb and Simon Richardson.

And Canadian Stephan Wrede has a first ascent with Mike Lates up Tour de Force VI,6 on Sgurr Thearlaich on Skye. It’s still early season so there’ll surely be a lot more big sends going down.

Watch the second ascent of The Gathering by Boswell and Will Sim.

Check out the latest buyer's guide:

The Best Climbing Gear According to Our Editors – March

Every month we're bringing you our favourite gear so you can complete your climbing kit with the latest and best stuff out there