Erosion visible on the Devil’s Ladder on Carrauntoohil in Kerry (picture taken in December 2006).
The Irish Times carried a story last weekend about the deterioration of the Devil’s Ladder – one of the paths to Carrauntoohil.
The decision to erect the signs was taken by the Beaufort Community Council on Thursday on the advice of the mountaineer and guide Con Moriarty. Earlier that morning Nathan Kingerlee, a guide, noticed that there had been a large landslide in the Devil’s Ladder. It was the second such incident in recent months.
The warning signs have been erected on the main approaches to the mountain and at the foot of the Devil’s Ladder. The sign advises walkers to use a nearby “switch-back” walking route.
I’ve only used the Devil’s Ladder to descend from the summit [and Nathan was my guide on at least one of those occasions], and it can be very tricky when it is wet (it’s basically a waterfall).
The decision will revisit the debate about the need for remediation work on the Devil’s Ladder. The community council produced a plan to erect a rough stone footpath (as used on Snowdon in Wales and Ben Nevis in Scotland) using materials sourced on the mountain. The estimated cost is in the region of €250,000.
While the use of a “sacrificial track” is controversial with some mountaineers, Mr Moriarty said mitigation was now unarguable.
The winding path on Diamond Hill
My own view is that the only way to facilitate large numbers of walkers on any trail is to make it as walker-proof as possible. The work done on Diamond Hill in Connemara is a great success – the erosion which closed the hill for a while has been stopped, and the walk to the summit is far more accessible – you need almost no walking skills [and very little fitness] to make it to the top of Diamond hill now.
I’m thinking of the scree path behind Ben Baun in the Twelve Bens (as well as the one in the Maumturks) which would be severly eroded now if it wasn’t for the fact that only a handful of walkers use it per week.
And anything that helps walkers get down safely from Carrauntoohil has to be a good thing.
The full article in the Irish Times (which will probably be stuck behind the Irish Times Archive paywall shortly, is here.