Pete Smith reports on Dunmore Head. 9th October 2002

This was the ultimate snatched moment at the crag. Michael McGinty rang me on Tuesday to tell me that he wanted to lead Wallrock Alterations E1 5b, and that he'd heard a rumour that fine weather was to follow the rain on Wednesday afternoon. I agreed to meet him at Dunmore Head, Culdaff, at 5pm.

Wednesday's dismal start came, as predicted. The rain did stay away, though, and the chilly wind was enough to keep things dry. There were even brief episodes of sunshine during the afternoon, so I set off with an optimistic air and made the rendezvous as agreed.

Michael was still keen to do his route so we went and sized it up from the foot of the cliff, guidebook in hand. We agreed that the crux had to be where the step left is made to gain the slab, and then the two or three moves that follow as a traverse is negotiated to reach the top of Fluid Inclusions. To summarise, Michael whizzed up to the bulge before the step left; then he placed the good gear described in the guidebook; he took 3 or 4 looks at the bare slab before stepping onto it; and then, by this time committed, he made the frighteningly run-out traverse into the corner. He executed the whole thing with such aplomb that I was lulled into thinking 5b might be stretching things a bit. Following in his chalkprints, I got to the bulge with little effort and started to feel quite cocky. It was only a matter of minutes before I decided Michael's cool ascent was a very impressive achievement indeed - his first on-sight E1 lead. The only reason I didn't take a rest on the rope was his derision when I suggested it - not much cause for pride.

We raced around to wrap up the evening with Grecian Gift VS 4c, and Tina's Crack HS, and we were in the pub by 7.45pm.

Michael's next target? Texas Badman E2 5b. No better man for the job.