One Step in the Clouds

I have bene out with Charlie & Dan again today and having scoured the weather reports the obvious choice was Tremdaog - its didn't disappoint and we enjoyed wall to wall sunshine all day! The boys were climbing well and we used Oberon (S) to look at climbing in parallel and abseil retreats and  One Step in the Clouds (VS 4c) to look at multi-pitch climbing in series. A great day out, thanks boys.

Climbing & Surfing

We have had some nice sunshine on the coast the last couple of days and so I have been enjoying some climbing and surfing. Today I have been out with Charlie & Dan who are on my mentor scheme. We were looking at teaching lead climbing and at the same time developing the boys coaching and climbing. Each of them had lead a VS route in the past but managed to climb two each today so a great effort. The surf has been messy because of the wind for those that are interested in such things :-)

Swiss 3000m Week

I have been in Switzerland all week this week running our Swiss 3000m week. I met up with Alan, Tricia, Liz, Simon, Alan and Ronnie on Monday morning in Zermatt and we enjoyed some beautiful alpine sunshine as we trekked up towards Fluhalp. After a lunch at the hut we climbed Pfulroe (3314m) which gave some stunning views towards the Monta Rosa, Dofourspitz and Rimpfischhorn. There had been some overnight snow and so we enjoyed some alpine looking photo posing on the summit, although in reality it was soft and didn't hinder our progress.

After a night in the Fluhalp we headed down to Zermatt and then trekked unto the Hotel Thrift which is run by Hugo, a character of a guardian who manages the difficult task of being friendly, fun, efficient and a little scary all at the same time. We had some dreich weather and so didn't get to listen to him playing his alpine horn this year but we still enjoyed his apple tart.

The following morning saw a lot of fresh snow and it was still precipitating heavily and so summit plans were abandoned and we headed down to Zermatt. I had booked us into the newly refurbished Hornli Hutte on the Matterhorn but the fresh snow and a few headaches in the group meant a change of plan and so we headed round to St Luc and walked upto the Cabane Bella Tolla. The hot showers were a definite hit.

An early start saw us climb Bella Tolla (3025m) and again we had some snow underfoot but once again not enough to hinder progress without winter kit. These last two days gave us stunning weather and the views were amazing, especially having been in some pretty poor conditions the day before. A long descent back to the valley and then a 4 hour walk back up the other side saw us arrive at the Cabane Becs de Bosson for our last night together. This is more of a high mountain hut in style and situation and another early start saw us bag the summit of Becs de Bosson (3148m) on the Friday morning. This summit is gained via a nice grade 1 ridge scramble and provides an airy climax to the week.

It was great to get back into the mountains after an enforced layoff for 4 weeks due to injury - thanks folks!

Highlands & Islands

I have been away for the last couple of weeks with the family, enjoying a bit of a road trip of the Scottish Highlands & Islands. Its been lovely to chill out and enjoy the beautiful scenery together, whatever the weather threw at us! I'm off to Switzerland tonight for our Swiss 3000 week so will post pictures next week.

Wet & Windy on Y Garn

Huw has had a fine welcome back to Wales with strong wind and rain. It's all good training weather though for Tom, Sara, Andrew, Adam and Clare who are here for a 2 day Mountain Navigation and Skills Course. Working alongside Rachel he took the team on a circuit from Ogwen Cottage through Cwm Idwal and up and around Y Garn. There wasn't a lot to see up there but it made for some realistic map reading.