Filip Babicz makes second ascent of Bring da Ruckus (XII,13)
- Friday 3rd March 2023
Polish climber, Filip Babicz has made the second ascent of Bring da Ruckus (XII, 13) just weeks after Greg Boswell made the first ascent.
Remarkably it was Filip Babicz’s very first climbing experience in Scotland! Writing about his ascent Babicz first tried the route ground-up, as Boswell had done on the first ascent, but when that attempt failed he inspected the route from the top. On his successful lead, however, Babicz placed all the gear on lead. Babicz’s partner for the ascent was Sheffield-based boulderer, Dawid Skoczylas.
“I'm very proud of the achievement.” Babicz wrote. Babicz added, ”Despite the difficulties of finding at least decent conditions on the route (welcome to Scotland!) I managed to complete the climb in adventurous circumstances. After sending the crux pitch, the snow storm began and it got dark, but @dawid_skoczylas and I managed to climb the next 4 pitches to the top of the wall. With some GPS aid in the middle of the storm we reached the summit of Lochnagar! What an epic adventure!”
Babicz was very impressed with Greg Boswell’s first ascent saying, “Huge respect to @greg_boswell for a bold ground-up ascent! Your confidence to face the headwall I find truly incredible and your winter CV is impressive!”
Since Babicz reported his ascent however, concern has been raised whether the conditions on the cliff at the time of Babicz’s ascent ‘qualified’ as winter conditions. Responding to the comments Babicz gave more details on the conditions he encountered on his ascent.
“As can be seen on the panoramic photo of Lochnagar all the walls were covered by snow, only the headwall of the Shadow Buttress was black due to its steepness. The photos taken in the upper part of the route show how wintery the conditions were with abundant snow, frozen grass and rime/frost on the rock.
As for the crux (overhanging) pitch, there were both icicles and ice in the cracks - and this had significant consequences for the seriousness of my ascent. In fact, in the crack under the roof I managed to place only one of two friends that Greg used to protect the crux. During my ascent, I struggled under the roof for a significant amount of time on one ice-axe, with the second one trying to clear the crack from ice but there was nothing to do. I went ahead with only one friend in that crack which later came out as soon as Dawid left the ledge. This meant that by climbing the crux I was poorly protected with a risk of a huge fall that would have ended on the wall below. Also, in the upper part of the pitch I couldn't place a friend due to the ice and I made a big runout up to the anchor.
Finally, let's add a very strong wind and a snowstorm. I am attaching the meteorological report from the day of my ascent. All in all, It felt pretty wintery to me. 🤷♂️”
For further background on Filip Babicz, he made an off-the-radar ascent of Appointment with Death (E9 6c) on Wimberry in the Peak District in May 2022. Babicz's ascent was made roped-solo, the first time that tactic had been used on that route!
Click here to go to Filip Babicz's Instagram page.
Click here to read an interview with Greg Boswell about the first ascent of Bring da Ruckus.