On 13 September 2004, I met Jeffrey in the evening to go and put some resin lower-offs on my new project "Flight of the Kondor". In the photo on the left I am drilling 10mm holes. In the middle and right photos I am cleaning them thoroughly!
Flight of the Kondor
On 13th September 2004, a day after leading, thus finishing my project "Step in the Void", I met Jeffrey at around 8:30pm to put some lower-offs on what I think might be my next project. On another face of the cliff, a few metres away from "Step in the Void" (see diagram below). I put three resin lower-offs. The pictures below speak for themselves!
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| The route layout at Fomm ir-Rih where "Flight..." and "Step..." are. | On 13 September 2004, I met Jeffrey in the evening to go and put some resin lower-offs on my new project "Flight of the Kondor". In the photo on the left I am drilling 10mm holes. In the middle and right photos I am cleaning them thoroughly! |
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| A mock-up photo after we finished the drilling. | Jeffrey putting resin in the holes so that the staple bolts become rock solid! | A sequence of photos taken on the actual climb, Flight of the Kondor the first time I tried it on 19 September 2004. It had rained a lot the day before and the rock was still very wet! | |
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| Still part of the sequence from the previous couple of photos | A large part of the climb (omitting the top savage part). It's long, it's overhanging. It's brutal. But nice! | Putting threads in situ to allow me to stay close to the rock and not swing out in the void | |
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| Climbing Flight of the Kondor. The very first few moves | A good resting place | tackling the next part on big round holds | A delicate sequence that requires technique and footwork |
So what can I say about this route? It's brutal, it's overhanging and it's unforgiving. However it's nice and has some brilliant moves to tackle each part. Holds are not straighforward and you must search for the good holds, which most of the times are hidden away. Foot technique is essential in the first 15 metres. Until the ledge shown in the sequence of photos above taken on 19 September 2004, it is overhanging but with lots of good holds although some demand some flexibility. Then the next 3m from the ledge is the crux. The holds become small, the rock seemingly fragile and "un"-trusting. The angle remains the same... and so requires some very good technique to tackle this part up to the huge strange "feature" jutting out of the cliff face. The last part, the next 15 metres, is composed of strange protruding "features", cave-like parts, which again overhang to a brutal angle. A climb which must not be underestimated.
