Luggala is a bit of an enigma, a massive crag, one of the most extensive in Ireland, yet it’s rarely climbed on, especially compared it to its sister crag in Glendo. It has a reputation for dirty, overgrown, run out routes. There is some truth in this but most of the more popular routes are clean and reasonably well protected.

While the guide lists over 188 routes the reality is that most of the them have probably only been climbed a few times, a handful of classics get the vast majority of the traffic and thus stay clean consolidating their popularity while the other routes accumulate crud and moss.

But in spite of this viscous circle the neglect is still hard to understand, less than an hour’s drive from the city centre, with a easy, if a little convoluted 40 minute walk in. And if you look at the topos in the guide it’s very apparent that there are vast expanses of rock that are unclimbed, especially on the lower Main Face. Where are all the eager young climbers with a little time on their hands? I know cleaning established routes isn’t as sexy as rolling your own but look what happened in Fair Head in the last decade or so, people went out cleaning old routes, climbing new ones, sharing information and ab ropes, it would be great to something similar happen in Luggala.

Here are the preliminary route choices for Luggala.

Steppenwolf E1
Muskrate Ramble HVS
Pine Tree Buttress S
All Along The Watchtower VS
Curved Air (maybe?) VS
Clingon – Claidheamh Solais VS
Spearhead HVS
The Great Roof E6
The Gannets E3
Dreamtime E4
Dance of the Tumblers E1

by grade

Pine Tree Buttress S
All Along The Watchtower VS
Curved Air (maybe?) VS
Clingon – Claidheamh Solais VS
Muskrate Ramble HVS
Spearhead HVS
Dance of the Tumblers E1
Steppenwolf E1
The Gannets E3
Dreamtime E4
The Great Roof E6

Any suggestions or comments?

Has anyone done Thriller E3 5c just right of the start of Muskrat, looks brilliant, steep with plenty of gear?