A good shot of Rebel Wall for scale, it goes further down past the mat too
The Rebel Wall is high up the valley side in the tranquil Glenmalure, it lay hidden from climbers hands for years, it once was a refuge protecting a band of noble heros who in the face of a great tyranny escaped harm behind it's hulking bulk, it is a giant powerful shard of pristine granite, leaning, looming forward before you, stunning in its appearance, it compels the boulderer to come and accept the obvious challenge, its vicious and beautiful, a glorious training board problem cast in stone which incites greed and lust in those boulderers who first lay their eyes upon it.
Fitzer beastin'
And so it went for me, when I saw John Howard's video of the Rebel Wall first ascent I was driven to get out to Glenamlure as soon as I could and check it out. It looked like the perfect project at the perfect grade and perfect time for me. Fitzer was keen to check it out and had another prodge lined up in the scenic valley too, so a plan was hatched and up the hill we trudged through bog and head height ferns, I made the mistake of bringing 2 bouldering mats with me, safety first and all that, it was a horrible nightmare and it took me an age to crawl up the steep hill, I arrived at the base of the problem a sweaty, broken mess, panting desperately for oxygen, but a huge smile spread across my face when I realised the scale of this thing and the quality of the holds, I did a 360 panorama turn and thought to meself ''what a great place for a picnic and a prodge''.
We set about beasting this thing with optimism and determination, there is hardly anything to warm up on for Rebel Wall, I found a juggy rail which was decent for traversing along and getting a little pumped, I also did feet on pull ups and feet on finger pull ups to raise the temps and get the sending juice flowing. Fitzer made absolute shite of the problem, doing it easily on his third attempt, it was class lookin', it was easy lookin', it was anything but haha !! :) On my first session I couldn't do the crux power move to the sloper, I was trying John Howard's left heel on, left hand up beta and I kept slapping the sloper and losing some skin, heel continually popping all day long, I couldn't even do the 6C stand start !! But I went home that day psyched after doing all but two of the moves on one of the best lines I had ever tried.
First day on the prob trying the left heel, left hand beta
Jamies tips shredded after a hard session on Rebel Wall
In total I had 8 sessions on Rebel Wall, and I loved everyone of them, its a great day out, I had the pleasure of seigeing it with lots of great climbing folk, including, Ro, Theo, J-Mo, Philly, Mary, Adam, Fitzer and Mr. Awesome Dave Ayton, I slowly pieced my sequence together through the processes of trial, error and beta burgling, slowly the temps began to get cooler and cooler until finally there was reasonable conditions to be found under the cover of darkness on the night sesh. I came up with sweet dyno beta for the crux to the sloper, I match the long crimp rail, paste my foot high on a smear and lunge skyward and backward blindly slapping the sloper, searching for the perfect placement, honing in on the sweet spot, after about 5 sessions I developed the power and accuracy to hit it plumb right on the button almost everytime.
Mary, Squirrely, Philly
Philly going big on a break from his Font adventures
Rebal Wall is a tough problem, I think its a 7B+ and lots who climbed it while I was up there think the same, but the jury is still out as we wait for a consensus so lets call it 7B /+, None of the moves on Rebel Wall are absolute stopper moves, the power move to the sloper is a defined crux, but like a sports route the finger endurance required means that many who take the problem on will constantly fall at the same redpoint crux until they develop the power endurance to break on through to the other side. You need to settle your beta and work on doing it all as efficiently as possible. Once I had my beta and could pass the crux on most attempts the magic started to happen, savage battle goes, all action affairs, physical fun days outside giving yourself to the rock every go, diggin' deep and inching higher an higher. It's not just about getting to the top of these things its about enjoying the process and all the hardships that it provides.
Peter Linney using the intermediate crux beta
Contemplating sequences and life
The final go that I sent it on was without doubt the most memorable surmounting of a boulder problem that I have ever experienced ... the stage was set, it was an epic night sesh, I took a three day rest and got all the housework done, the two Daves, Fitzgerald and Ayton were there that day to give me energy and encouragement, I sneaked through the first two moves stealthily rising through the shadows into position for the crux, I tapped the accelerator and exploded up fastening perfectly on the sloper, then back into stealth mode as I crept silently through the next few moves like a tiny baby ninja ... deep breath ... I deadpointed for the rail and hit it right above the tick mark and pulled my hand into a crimp, whilst cutting loose my feet and using the swing to bring my foot high and flag the pump began to strengthen and gain momentum, beast mode engaged !! I threw for the far right of the rail and adjusted to get my fingers right into the incut, I matched and utillised and inside toe hook to bring my left foot into position ... deeper breathes ... I looked up, two power moves left to reach the lip, I felt sure I had a bit of power left, I launched my right arm hopefully at the gaston hold, I hit it !! ... frantic, heavy breathing ... I dropped my left knee and concentrating on maintaining tension and keeping my foot on the wall I put everything I had into throwing for the lip, I went for it, I power screamed, I knocked my fucking hat and headtorch clean off my head !! I couldnt see jack shit, I slapped the lip and held on for dear life, the foot I was concentrating on keeping on the wall immeadiately popped right off the wall and I found myself swinging wildly in the dark, black night. I can remember thinking ''this is an odd sensation, I am never gonna hold this swing'' Dave had to spot me and pointed his lights away from the wall, I was totally discombobulated, ridiculously pumped, I was blind, but I was still hanging on, What The Fuck !! there was shadows and glimmers of light, there was Fitzer screaming ''Come on, keep going !!'' I thought I saw a shadowy thing, I remembered where I was, its a foothold, I threw my left foot on and instinctively flagged and slapped right hand onto the lip, ''I can't see anything up here'', I went with the left hand grasping the last good hold, I have ya now, up went the left foot, pull, push, I rolled myself onto the top of the block and pure beams of joy burst out of me in the form of wild whoops and hollers !! I felt a great sense of pride and reward, we couldn't stop laughing, glorious, prodge crushing, headtorchless, bellyaching send laughter :)
Me beastin' on the night sesh
In short Rebel Wall, is a great day out, mad craic and the best line I have ever climbed, a Wicklow and Ireland classic, a national treasure, go get it !!! Thanks to all who sessioned it with me and spotted me, the cold weather is comin' folks, get psyched !! Over and out ...
