On 10/12/2021 Simon Richardson and Mark Robson made the first ascent of the Princess Cut (VI, 6) at Glass Leathed Beag in Ben Wyvis, Scotland.

Conditions in Scotland are as volatile as ever, although Simon Richardson and Mark Robson managed to make a good first ascent of the glass-leaved beag in Ben Vyvis. The tiny diamond-shaped rock was discovered by Robson in the spring of 2020, during the first lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, when people were only allowed to leave the house on foot or by bicycle.

Last January Robson opened three routes with Neil Wilson, winter skills (V, 6), circle of doom (IV, 5) e six finger alley (II), but with the center line left unclimbed, so Craig was completely frozen, he returned with Richardson on 10 December.

The idea was to attempt an apparent off-width crack, but the team soon realized that this would probably prove too difficult and difficult. Richardson actually noted that “The summit seemed to protrude from the base for almost the entire length of the summit – I do not think I have ever seen such a hanging winter face in the whole of Scotland”,

After exploring alternatives, the climbers chose to follow a hidden oblique crevice at the bottom of the cliff. The first pitch proved to be a great warm-up for the second, the crux, carefully opened by Robson over two long hours.

princess cut This exceptionally steep route, made of “frozen turf” from snowy grass, has its name, on a crag that will probably produce other new routes in the future.