Guy Robertson on the first ascent of Bow Direct (VII,8), Sgurr an Fhidhleir. (Photo Pete MacPherson)
On Friday January 8 Martin Moran, Pete Macpherson and Guy Robertson made a big addition to the Fhidhleir. Bow Direct (VII,8) takes the full length of the huge arching right-facing corner that dominates the 300m-high south-east face. The wall was first climbed in winter in December 2000 by Chris Cartwright and I with our ascent of Magic Bow Wall (VIII,8), which traverses rightwards out of the corner at half-height to climb a steep series of corners near Fidelio.
Martin, Pete and Guy started up the lower pitches of Magic Bow Wall and continued directly up the groove above.and completed their new route in a remarkably fast time. I’d like to think that Bow Direct is a less demanding expedition than Magic Bow Wall, which has its hardest climbing after the traverse, but I suspect that Martin, Pete and Guy are just far better climbers than Chris and I were ten years ago!
Without question, Bow Direct is a very significant new route and takes the outstanding line on this huge wall.
