A valiant effort by Dave on Trace Element [of life] V13, saw him fight towards the cruxy section a good few times, but in truth, it's a shame he didn't make the second ascent, but not through lack of trying though! Eventually, as with problems of this level, you burn-out, your grip on the unforgiving edges fades before your resolve ever does, but to say it was a failure is to harsh. Daves attempt at repeating the problem is easily the best effort of anyone to-date, so in that sense, the word has no place. After a breather he decided to hook up a new V8 instead, as a kind of tea-break, now named Lip Service.

Dave MacLeod with his food blender screaming on Trace Element - but no banana

Having made the second ascent of Distant Early Warning on the Sea Peanut some minutes before [complete with the harder sit-start link], celebrations ensued with Scott initiating the proceedings with a ritualistic round of dead seagull throwing. Not willing to leave empty handed, Dave turned his attention to the roof lip circuit [Lip Service], now a new V8 with a perplexing, blind & complex series of hand movements on the crux at it's end; but before it went, we had all lined up, umming & arring at hold sequences, Cubby pointing out physical equations of balance, myself poking at the offending sloper above. Three mad scientists all staring at the chalked ripple that had beaten Daves first two attempts. He figured it out himself, of course, but you have to lend an opinion, it's the rules if you're a spotter.

Attentive spotters are able to will a climber along his new line, it's a meeting of minds.

All this amongst Yoyo & Scott doing a comedy chase routine over the Port stones while Malcolm plied us with a bottomless flask of coffee. Dave will be back again soon to scope out the huge, possibly E10 trad line in the An t-Súil cathedral & hopefully make the first repeat my own Six Blade Knife [F8b+] high above the pounding Atlantic swell. His tenacity & passion for climbing, like my own, seems often unstoppable & unswerving...like Cubbys & Scotts, like Johnos, it's genuine & infectious. I just hope he looks up sharp when I come screaming off the cathedral roof, when we share belaying on eachothers respective projects.

Left to Right: Hoodlum Identity Parade - Scott Muir, Yoyo, Cubby & Malcolm