Glen Ogle

From SCWiki

Mike Lauder on Tosser Velocity, Concave Wall - dark side

Glen Ogle is Scotland's sport climbing heart land. Here lies the greatest concentration of sport routes in the country and over 200 routes mean that there is something for nearly everyone. Generally the routes are short, but some are very short. The rock is Mica-schist and the quality varies.

The Glen itself stretches for 11 km Northwest from Lochearnhead to Lix Toll, and is a major thoroughfare bisected by the busy A85 road, to Oban and Fort William, as well as an old railway and the River Ogle. On the East of the road lies The Sunny Side and on the West The Dark Side; it will come as no surpise that one of these catches the sun, and the other does not.

1 Directions
- 1.1 Parking
2 Access
3 History
4 The Climbing
5 Ticklists
6 Guidebooks

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Directions

The A85 passes through the Glen

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Parking

Some of the lay-bys have now been blocked.

There is a carpark at the northern end of the glen, just over the crest of the hill, which has the added bonus of a tea van.

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Access

The latest advice from MCofS is

There may be an occupied nest on White Wall on 'The Dark Side'. If so, this should be avoided. All other buttresses and climbs are unaffected.

In the past Buzzards have nested on Buzzard Wall, so pay attention here, and if they are present go else where.

General advice on bird nesting can be found here: www.mcofs.org.uk/climbing-and-nesting-birds

If you are unsure, or have new information please contact MCofS ( www.mcofs.org.uk/access-reporting)

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History

Glenogle (Gael. gleann-eagal, ' valley of dread ')

Back in 1872 the OS described Glen Ogle as "a close, gloomy defile" and a weren't too optomistic about the rock quality"Hundreds of runnels streak its cliffs, which look to have been shattered by shock of earthquake" [1]. Unsurprising then that it didn't really catch the attention of climbers until the early 1990's.

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The Climbing

Because of the volume of routes in Glen Ogle the climbing section has been divided as follows;

(Click the links)

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Sunnyside Crags

The North East flanks of Glen Ogle are scattered with several small crags containing sport climbs in the lower to mid grade range.

The Warm-up: does what it says on the tin, if you warm up at 6a+
The Asteriod:
The Gap:
The Gallery:
Roadside Wall:
Bournville:
Overlord Buttress
Creag Nan Cuilleann : Trad routes
Mirror Wall - small number of mid range sport routes which climb excellent pocketed rock.
High Noon

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The Dark Side Crags

The West side of Glen Ogle only catches the sun in the morning, and can be prone to midges. The climbing is generally short, steep and hard.

Project Crag: 3-4 bolted but unclimbed lines, rummored to be F7c-F8a. Sadly the rock quality isn't great and there aren't many holds.
Bond Buttress:
Rainmaker Buttress:
The Diamond: The main dark side crag
Buzzard Wall:
The Rave: Don't forget your glowsticks!
The Galleon
The Underworld: Micro-routes
The Cascade
Down Under
Far Beyond: Often wet
Concave Wall: lies above the north end of the viaduct crags

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Glen Ogle Bouldering

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Ticklists

Starred routes to tickle your fancy

5/5+	6a	F6a+	6b
		Short Sharp Shocked Mona Sleeza	The Greenhouse Defect Hot Chocolate
6b+	6c	F6c+	7a
Burnt Offerings Chimera Far Beyond Driven Driven to Distraction	Metal Guru Arc of a Diver The Pack Horse The Guilt Trip	Cony the Calvanist	Bold Finger Rush Blithe Spirit Face the Heat Restless Souls
7a+	7b	7b+	7c
Scaramanga Slave to the Rhythm Overkill	Children of the Revolution	The End Justifies the Means Chain Lightning	Fight Fire with Fire Tosser Velocity
7c+	8a	8a+	8b
	Spiral Tribe Off The Beaten Track	Solitare Ceasefire	Digital Quartz Snipe Shadow