Boswell and Robertson scoop FA of Vortex (X 10)
- Thursday 22nd December 2022
Greg Boswell and Guy Robertson have been back in action at Cul Mor; fighting both the weather and difficulties they came away with the first ascent of Vortex (X 10).
Posting about their FA of on Vortex on-line Greg said, “Yesterday was a whirlwind of emotions, spindrift and impeccable climbing. Guy and I headed up to Cul Mor in search of some refuge from the strong forecasted wind and to hopefully climb a new line on this great cliff!”
Boswell has previous history with Cul Mor, back in January 2015 Boswell – climbing with Robertson – made the first ever on-sight of a X 10-graded route when he climbed The Greatest Show on Earth. Click here for our report into that ascent.
“The climbing is always harder than it looks in this coire and it was one of those days where you have to think twice about whether it’s worth committing to the severity of what you are about to get involved in.” Greg said before adding “Thankfully we made it through and it turned out to be yet another unforgettable day in the NW of Scotland.”
Vortex, a four-pitch route, climbs the main roof system which slices the Cul Mor wall at about 1/3rd height. The pair had to deal with some pretty poor weather conditions – high winds and spindrift – as well as the obvious difficulties of the route.
Greg described the crucial second pitch of Vortex starting with Robertson’s attempt. “When Guy started up the second pitch of our new route Vortex, I knew it was going to be a battle. There was signs that people had bailed off the pitch in the past and the climbing up to the roof looked hard! Above the roof…who knew!
After an impressive fight and an all out charge, Guy’s attempt ended with a sizeable fall where his mediocre protection partially ripped and very nearly fully dislodged from the crag… Gulp!
He proceeded to ask if I wanted a go. “Not really” was my reply! But we both knew I was going to have a look.
Guy removed the now useless gear, so I could try and find a safer placement and we swapped ends.
The butterflies in my stomach were making me feel sick! Not only that, but every time I looked up I got bombarded by a wave of icy spindrift. It was hard to get in the right headspace for the inevitable fight I knew I was about to engage in.
After what seemed like an age of sketchy feet, horrifically bad pick placements and the overwhelming feeling that I could be ejected from the crag any second, I eventually found myself 10m above my last shitty runner and on terrain where I could once again relax. I let out a woop and continued to finish the pitch.”
However, Boswell and Robertson still had another two pitches to climb before the FA was in the bag. Boswell describes how that went, “The route wasn’t over here though and we still had two big and very involved pitches of hard climbing to go to take us into the night and eventually onto the easy ground and on to finish the route.
What a ride! There was more than one occasion where we both wanted to run away. Either the hard climbing taking it’s tole on our minds, or the icy winter storm slamming us whenever we thought we could relax!
But these are the ingredients that make the days that we remember the most!”
Vortex is the second hard new route from Boswell and Robertson in the opening salvo of the 2022/23 season. Impressively, their earlier route - The Nihilist (IX 9), was their opening route of the season. Writing about that ascent Boswell had said that he’d settled down into the climbing very quickly. Climber have been in touch with Boswell and drilled down a little into this as well as how he control his climbing and commits to routes like Vortex and what their plans are for the rest of the season. Read a short Q&A with Boswell below.
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It’s been a late start to the season but you and Guy have hit the ground running in what must be a very satisfying week or so of action with The Nihilist and Vortex?
Yeah it seems to be the way of things now, winter arrives early December and the days of starting to do multiple mixed routes in October might be a thing of the past. Which is a massive shame! But it does add a bit of eagerness to the equation and I’m usually fully raring to go as soon as the temps plummet and the first snows arrive. That eagerness means I’m usually primed and ready to get on routes like the two mentioned above whenever they’re in condition. With the fickle conditions in Scotland these days, you have to seize the opportunity when you have them, warm up days might be wasted days!
Cul Mor has delivered again it seems! Previously it gave you the first ever on-sight of a X 10 graded route; now you and Guy have established Vortex, another X 10. Cul Mor is obviously the gift that keeps giving?
Cul Mor is such an awesome place to winter climb. It takes exceptional weather to bring the cliff into good winter condition as its altitude is so low. But when it does come in, it offers some interesting and adventurous route choices. The main feature of the cliff is a big roof system that cuts its way horizontally across the wall at about 1/3 height. This roof system has barred the passage of many previous teams attempts, but if you do find a way through, (there is multiple options) the 2/3rds of headwall above offers some truly outstanding climbing potential! There is so many unbelievably strong lines on this cliff, you just need to get through that interesting roof system first! I can’t wait to get back asap!
Reading your FA description it’s obvious that Vortex required full commitment. How have you been able to ‘tune-in’ to such hard climbing so early in the season?
For sure, the crux pitch was full commitment both from Guy and myself, as we both had to tap into the right head space to actually get stuck into the hard climbing! In regards to the fact that it’s early season, this is a bit of a formality as we’ve got so many hard routes under our belt from decades of mixed routes. We just go into autopilot and operate in the way we know best.
What calculations do you make before committing to such bold climbing? Is there a formula or do you go on gut instinct?
I definitely think things through extensively as I’m climbing. I’ll access situations and take my time to try and find a safe and advantageous approach. But even this process can time-out and it becomes quickly apparent that you need to get your ass in gear and just go for it sometimes, if you don’t want to burn out and fail due to fatigue rather than an axe ripping or foot blowing etc. It’s sometimes a gamble, but not charging carelessly from the beginning has massive advantages, you just need to have the fitness in reserve to do both. Which is why I do a fair bit of mixed climbing specific training in autumn.
Hopefully the slightly warmer weather this week won’t last and you’ll have plenty of more opportunities to get stuck into your project list in the coming weeks. Can you share what your plans are or is it entirely dependent on where the best conditions occur?
Exactly! I have so many interesting things I want to get on this season, but it just depends on where and what comes into condition. For example the last two weeks have been amazing on the East, but not so great on the West. So there’s no point in getting all psyched for a project on the Ben when there’s cool stuff to climb in the Cairngorms. I have ideas all over Scotland, but I do want to climb something pretty tricky this season, as I feel like I want to push myself a bit this winter and see what I can achieve. So hopefully there’s some cool things in store for me in the not too distant future. Fingers crossed anyway.