climbing and has recently commanded
much attention from the world climbing
media. The reason behind this is that
the climbing at Dumbarton is unique,
technical, hard, unforgiving and requires
intense dedication to master. Combine
this with the locality and convenience
of the rock to Glasgow in comparison
with more remote climbing venues in
Scotland and it is unsurprising that
Dumbarton Rock has been the canvas
on which the best Scottish climbers have
left their mark. One climber in particular
represents the importance of Dumbarton
rock in pushing Scottish climbing
standards to a world class level, his name
is Dave Macleod; he is 30 years old and
spent 13 of them climbing at Dumbarton.
Dave is a former student of Glasgow
University and has become one of the
most accomplished all-round climbers in
the world with significant first ascents
in traditional climbing, bouldering and
winter climbing. Now living in Lochaber,
N
on July 30th 2008 he climbed ‘Echo Wall’
O
S
on Ben Nevis, a desperately hard 100
I
N
metres climb with dubious protection
H
1100 metres up the North Face.
T
C
U
This route was to become another
H
N
instance of Dave pushing the standards
H of difficulty to a higher level, so much
J
O
so that Echo Wall is probably the hardest
:
traditional climb in the world. This
S
D
feat is representative of the climbing
R projects he takes on as a whole - high
O
technical difficulty requiring long periods
W
of intense effort and specific training.
This has elevated him into a world-
class climber and although his latest
accomplishment was not on the smooth
Dumbarton Rock rises abruptly from the addictive climbing spots around. It is this dolerite of Dumbarton Rock, it was his
surrounding landscape, deftly marking contrast that helps to make Dumbarton 13 years of climbing there that sculpted
the meeting place of the River Clyde and Rock so interesting and so important. him into the climber he is today.
the River Leven. From miles afar, the
rounded lump of Dumbarton is clearly Interesting because it is used by different Indeed, the scope and vision of Dave’s
visible, but only upon closer inspection is people in many different ways, a place climbing at Dumbarton Rock was granted
its true character revealed. where you sometimes see people fishing, much attention from the climbing media
a place where you quite often see local when a couple of weeks before Dave
Over the years the rock has changed, a ‘youths’ get pissed, stone ducks, break completed Echo Wall, another world class
subtle mixture of erosion and graffitti bottles or sometimes spray graffiti. But climber called Sonnie Trotter travelled
with bright spray-painted images and it’s also a place where you will always see from Canada and spent a month of
tages adorning the surface. Yet this urban rock climbers. Despite this being a far effort in achieving the second ascent
art is accompinied by a different type of cry from idyllic climbing spots such as of ‘Rhapsody’, a route that Dave had
graffiti, one which consists of dabs of Yosemite, Fontainbleau or Glen Nevis completed in 2006 after two years of
chalk marks snaking up prominent lines this combination of people and place effort and the first route in the world to
of the boulders, highlighting the features results in a spot with a unique character be graded E11. The film ‘E11’ documents
of the rock at random intervals. These and feeling. Dave’s efforts in completing Rhapsody
differing graffiti’s tell a story of a strange including the numerous 60 foot falls
mix of ingredients that make Dumbarton Since the 1970’s Dumbarton Rock has he had to endure when falling from the
Rock one of the most interesting and been at the forefront of Scottish rock crux moves, it was this film that inspired
34•GUM
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