Climbing is my passion in life and when not working (I work part-time as a pharmacist), my husband Steve and I spend most of our time immersed in the sport.
I love both trad and sport climbing and try and do a mixture of the two. I’ve on-sighted/ flashed over 100 E5’s on a variety of rock types and situations, from the sea-cliffs of Lundy, Pembroke, Gogarth, the Outer Hebrides and Reiff, to the mountain crags of Wales, Lakes and GlenCoe, and not forgetting the beautiful sandstone crags of Northumberland and my favourite, the Yorkshire limestone. Moving on to harder trad and I’ve on-sighted/flashed knocking on for 20 E6’s (Yorkshire, Scotland, Lakes, Pembroke and N.Wales), as well as Death Wish E7 6b at Blue Scar and was pleased to get the 4th ascent of Vlad the Impailer E7 6b at Dove Crag (climbed ground-up on-sight).
I was very pleased to manage a quick headpoint ascent of Bleed in Hell E8 6c on Hells Wall shortly after Mary’s impressive first female ascent. I’ve head pointed numerous routes including Stairway to Heaven E7 6c at Blue Scar, Inferno E7 6c on Hells Wall and both On the Rocks E7 6c and Charlotte’s Dream Direct E7 6b at Back Bowden Doors. I have yet to discover the delights of gritstone (although I do quite enjoy bouldering on the Yorkshire grit); as a consequence my grit CV is not very impressive, with my hardest routes being Big Greenie and Wall of Horrors at Almscliff.
On the bolts I’ve flashed/on-sighted numerous F7c’s and F7c+’s, plus several F8a’s(all abroad) as well as red-pointing some of Yorkshire’s greatest routes including Huecool F8b and Supercool F8a+ in Gordale, and The Groove F8a+ at Malham. I made the first ascent of Stolen F8b at Kilnsey in 2006 and more recently succeeded on Showtime F8b also at Kilnsey. I’ve climbed numerous F8b’s in Spain and in 2017 red-pointed Mundo Feliz F8b+ at Villanueva del Rosario.
I do enjoy bouldering but rarely boulder outside these days, so the hardest I’ve flashed is Font 7A/7A+ and the hardest problems I’ve climbed are Cubby’s Lip and The Nadser both of which weigh in at Font 7B+ and can be found at Kyloe In.
I also dabbled in the competition scene for many years, starting way back in 1992, with several good results; including 2nd place overall in many a BICC series (most recently 2006). My best year was probably 2002/3 when I finished 4th overall in the BBC’s and won the Sunderland BICC (the only round I entered that year). I still enjoy entering all the local bouldering comps in the winter months and enjoy the summer bouldering league through at ClimbNewcastle.
Some of my favourite climbing areas include the Outer Hebrides, Yorkshire limestone and Catalunya, Spain.
Read an interview by Keith Sharples here: https://www.climber.co.uk/news/news/showtime-with-karin-magog/
Click the link below to listen to Karin talking about climbing at Muckross (and much more) with Niall Grimes:
http://www.niallgrimes.com/jam-crack-climbing-podcast
The Great Sea Cliffs of Scotland by Guy Robertson
“It was a gorgeous blue-sky day, but chilly on the belay. Above me, Steve was making slow but steady progress prospecting a new line, aiming to follow the righthand pink vein of tram-line pegmatite streaks running parallel up the smooth face of the wall. Below me. the stiff-winged fulmars swooped and tumbled, the steep hillside crowded with birds nesting precariously on the edge of the roaring Atlantic. I knocked out a few shoulder rolls in a vain bid to warm myself up. A sudden call from Steve sharpened my focus “I’m coming down for a rest” A small knot began to form in my stomach – that mixture of fear and excitement many climbers will recognise. Sure enough Steve reached the belay, tied himself off, then uttered the immortal words, “Fancy a look?” …”
You can read Karin’s account of climbing KnS Special E6 on the impressively steep Creag Dearg on Mingulay in The Great Sea Cliffs of Scotland by Guy Robertson.
Adventures and Achievements by Karin Magog
A brief summary of some highlights down the years.
1990-1995
Start climbing and leading regularly. Progress through the grades until leading E4’s, with ascents of routes such as Resurrection, N.Wales E4 6a; The Tube, Northumberland E4 5c and Edge of Eriador, Scafell E4 5c. Red-point Obsession, Malham F7b+ (1st red-point); New Dawn, Malham F7c and Man with a Gun, Kilnsey F7c+. On-sight my first few F7b’s.
1996-2000
Progress to regularly leading E5, including Right Wall, N.Wales E5 6a; The Cumbrian, Esk Buttress E5 6a; Deja Vu, Kilnsey E5 6b; Endless Flight, Northumberland E5 6a and The Risk Business, Tunnel Wall E5 6a. Lead my first E6 – Bite It and Believe It, Gordale E6 6b. A few years later lead my first E7- Death Wish, Blue Scar E7 6b. On-sight several F7b+’s both in Britain and abroad. Make quick red-point ascents of several of Yorkshire’s classic F7c’s and F7c+’s Red-point Supercool, Gordale F8a+.
2001-2005
Start to get a few more E6’s under my belt including The Cad, Gogarth E6 6a and The Long Run E6 6b both on the same day; The Great White, Blue Scar E6 6b; Bucket City E6 6b and Pail Face E6 6b, both at Dove Crag. Narrowly miss flashing the 2nd ascent of Vlad the Impailer, Dove Crag E7 6b due to dirty holds. Return the following weekend to grab the 4th ascent without incident. Headpoint several E7’s including Stairway to Heaven, Blue Scar E7 6c and On The Rocks, Northumberland E7 6c. Red-point several routes of F8a and above in Yorkshire, including The Groove, Malham F8a+; Huecool, Gordale F8b and the long awaited 2nd female ascent of Raindogs, Malham F8a. Flash F7c.
2006-2010
Regularly on-sighting F7b+, numerous F7c‘s (including several in Kalymnos; Northern Spain and Lost Safari in Oudtshoorn, South Africa) and a handful of 7c+’s (mainly in Spain). Fast red-point ascents of F8a’s and 8a+’s abroad plus ascents of some more classic Yorkshire sports routes including The Thumb (8a), Zoolook (8a), Bullet (8a+) and Climb of the Century (8b). Red-point the Cold Steal extension to get the first ascent of StolenF8b, Kilnsey. Continue to regularly on-sight E5’s (passing the 100 mark) throughout the UK (North Wales, Pembroke, Lundy, the South-West, Lakes, Northumberland, Yorkshire limestone, Ireland, mainland Scotland and the Scottish Islands). Also consolidate more at the E6 grade with on-sight ascents of numerous routes particularly on the Yorkshire limestone and the Outer Hebrides (including the awesome Bonxie E6 6b on Pabbay and Perfectly Normal Paranoia E6 6b on Mingulay. Numerous trips to the Outer Hebrides (mainly Pabbay and Mingulay) with several new routes climbed on-sight – the highlight being the first ascent with Steve of K ‘n’ S Special E6 6a on Mingulay. Head-point E8 with a fast ascent of Bleed in Hell E8 6c on Hell’s Wall, Borrowdale. Bouldering moves up a notch with quick ascents and the odd flash of some V6’s and V7’s, and manage to tick Cubby’s Lip and the Nadser (both F7B+) at Kyloe In.
2011-15
Sports climbing starts to become the main focus as we managed to get some longer trips abroad. Regularly on-sighting 7c and 7c+ (both home and abroad) as well as numerous 8a’s in Spain including Alt Urgell at Tres Ponts; Pinche Lupita at Mas Riudoms; El Bufa, Tequilla Sunrise, El Capataz Ircapaz and Diedri Mata all at Chulilla. Red-pointing more hard routes quickly with 8a’s frequently climbed 1st red-point and 8a+ in a couple of days. Also fast ascents of various 8b’s abroad and El Infierro 8b/+ at Chulilla. Back in the UK I continued to tick off some of the Yorkshire limestone classics such as GBH at Malham as well as quite a few nemesis routes at Kilnsey including The Bulge and La Lapine. I also was very pleased to red-point the classic 8b Showtime. Knocked off a few classic hard routes elsewhere in the UK including The Prow and Crucifixion both 8a’s at Ravenstor; Statement of Youth 8a at LPT and Airshow 8a+ at Shipwreck Cove. Trad climbing generally limited to week long trips to Wales or Scotland. Still managing to regularly on-sight E5’s though with ascents of classics such as Killerkranky E5 6a/6, Kicker Conspiracy E5 6a and King Wad E5/6 6b on Scimitar Ridge; Energy Crisis E5 6a at Gogarth and several E5’s up in the NW of Scotland around Gairloch, Shiegra and Super Crag. Also managed the occasional E6 on-sight including Twilo Thunder E6 6a at Goat Crag, Gairloch and the mega classic Lord of the Flies E6 6a on the Cromlech.
2016-20
Sports climbing focus continues with several trips to Spain and a good collection of 7c on-sights and quick red-points of 8a and 8a+. I also was extremely pleased to red-point Mundo Feliz 8b+ at Rosario. Enjoyed a long trip to Flatanger in Norway where I came away with 7b+ on-sights, an ascent of the rarely dry Paltergeist 7c+ and fast red-points of numerous 8a’s including Frigg and Eventyrblanding and the classic Massih Attack 8a+. Down in Yorkshire I continued to tick off some 8a and 8a+ routes mainly at Kilnsey including Puppeteer 8a, Drenka 8a+ and A Darker Stranger 8a+. I was also extremely pleased to make the most of a dry spell to make short work of Pierrepoint Original Start 7c+, a true classic which is rarely in condition. I also red-pointed China Crisis, which may be a mere 7c+ but has a viciously bouldering start especially for the short and was something that I’d never been able to touch before. Trad climbing trips became very infrequent but still managed to on-sight a good selection of E5’s – in Yorkshire, Lewis, North Wales and Pembroke. The highlight though was an on-sight of the ultimate classic Ghost Train E6 6b in Pembroke.
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