Stone Bastion (E4 6a) 265 m, Shelter Stone Crag.
Climbers: Ed February & Ben Heason
Neither South African climber Ed February nor Sheffield-based hot-shot Ben Heason has climbed in Scotland before – so the magnificent line of ‘Stone Bastion’ is likely to provide an especially memorable introduction. The route, a modern classic first climbed in the early 1990s by Rab Anderson, follows a line aiming for a striking leaning corner which lies high on the upper reaches of the cliff. Despite its compelling line and quality, it sees very few repeats, due to its remote location, combined with its exceptionally challenging climbing.
The first pitch climbs over an overlap of rock to gain a groove line heading left. A traverse back right beneath a wall leads to a left-slanting corner which allows a small ledge to be reached.
Above, the corner continues before becoming very technical and tricky to climb. A series of fingery moves are required to reach a ledge on the right beneath an imposing leaning wall. The leader needs to outflank this on the right to gain a ramp line which leads to a belay ledge.
A fault on the right now takes the climbers to a traverse line which heads left beneath another leaning wall before depositing them on top of an enormous block. From here, a step right allows a stiff pull up onto the wall itself which leads to ledges.
To the left is a groove which leads to a niche below an overcapping roof. Escape from here lies up and left to reach easier ground. This is only a brief respite however, for it leads rightwards to the famous ‘Crack for Thin Fingers’ which ‘Stone Bastion’ shares with another well-known climb, ‘The Needle’. The crack narrows in a blank corner and a contorted layback move must be made with the left hand while the right hopefully gropes for a good hold.
Following the thin crack grassy shelves are reached to the right which lead over blocky grooves to a short wall. A pull over this leads to more hard climbing in the form of a thin, steep crack. The climber must somehow get up this before swinging right onto a sloping ledge with some loose blocks (and possibly some loose holds to contend with too).
As if all this excitement wasn’t enough, the crux pitch now lies in wait, right at the end of the climb. An awkward, tapering corner with tiny holds and even less protection must somehow be coolly ascended before a wall and a niche in the rock are reached.
With the nasty sting in the tail behind them, all the climbers thankfully have to do now is scramble 10 m to the top.
