New early season winter climbs at Lochnagar in Scotland by Greg Boswell, Dave Cowan, Hamish Frost

Greg Boswell has started the Scottish winter season with a bang by establishing two new mixed routes on Lochnagar's formidable Shadow Buttress. This is the same cliff where, in January 2023, he teamed up with Jamie Skelton to make the first ascent of Bring da ruckus, one of the hardest mixed climbs in Scotland.

Boswell kicked off this year's winter season with Hamish Frost, forging a direct start into The Hooded Groove follows this for two pitches before finishin up the nose of the upper buttress, past "some amazing moves through steep ground" via a line parallel to Shadow Buttress Direct. As they neared the top a storm rolled in "adding to the adventure, making topping out and getting back down again feel a tad arduous!" The new outing has been described as a "super direct line" and called Shadow Buttress A Superdirect.

A few days later Boswell made the most of these pristine early season conditions to establish Shadowboxin nearby. Climbed with Dave Cowan, this tackles a line up the left side of the obvious steep wall which hosts Bring da ruckus, before finishing up the immaculate headwall that hangs above the steepness. Commenting after the ascent, the 34-year-old stated "It’s a line that’s been on my mind for a few seasons now, and it didn’t disappoint at all!"

The routes are currently ungraded and, when asked by planetmountain, Boswell explained "I don’t feel the grades are needed to report, people get too excited about grades. Both routes were amazing quality and it’s obvious from looking at the terrain what skillset you need to get on them. Let’s keep the adventure spirit alive in winter climbing!"

Boswell thanks: SCARPA, RAB, Petzl, Garmin, Leki

Links: FB Greg Boswell, IG Greg Boswell, gregboswell.co.uk

 

 

 

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