Snow & Ice Learn to lead

I was working alongside Tim Blakemore (www.northernmountainsport.com) today in Coire Choille-Rais which is a little known destination near to Creag Meagaidh. Tim had 4 clients who were al climbers who had done some winter skills and wanted to progress to snow and ice climbing. We started off with a refresher of basic skills and then got the boys leading a two pitch snow & ice route that is not in the guide book but goes about grade 2/3. They did really well and we all had a great day out. It was a lot colder than yesterday with a well consolidated snow pack and clear skies for most of the day.

Stob Coire nan Lochan - Play

Yesterday I drove up to Scotland for the start of my winter season proper. I am up here now until the end of March with one or two forays home to see Kate and the boys.
A lot of snow has fallen since I was up here over Christmas and it is all looking a lot whiter than this time last year - or the year before! That said the temperature was a little higher today than would have been ideal but a bit of melt freeze will help the conditions build nicely.

Today my friend Bryn and I headed up into Stob Coire nan Lochan with a friend of Bryns, Alan to see what was in condition. We fancied doing SC Gully or Twisting Gully but both were looking rather thin so we plumped for Forked Gully. This is a grade 2/3 gully route that was complete and was great fun for a first day out. The photos show Alan at the foot of the route and the crag as a whole.
Rob

Scottish Winter Climbing

I have had a great couple of days up in Scotland with Alec, a good friend of mine. We drove up on Thursday of last week and camped in heavy rain just outside Aviemore in the Cairngorms.

Fridays forecast was not good so we did not rush getting up and strolled into Sneachda for about 9:00am. Only the easier gullies were in condition and all had plenty of folk in them so we chose Aladdins Mirror, a grade 1 route that is about 180m long and was a lot of fun. The weather did us proud and stayed dry although the ice was melting all around us in warm temperatures. The route was good fun and we posed for photos on Aladdins seat.

Saturday was forecast to be an improving day and so we headed into Lochain and climbed Y Gully Right Hand Route. This was a great grade II with some ice and hard neve and even a good cornice that I got to knock down on Alec below! As we headed down the clouds came in a it started snowing so perfect timing saw us back in the cafe as the weather crapped out.

Sunday was the best weather day of the forecast and they were right. We had beautiful blue skies and it was well below freezing all day. The route we wanted to do did not have enough snow in it so we climbed the Runnel, another friendly grade II with an enjoyable chimney top pitch and some nice ice. We descended the Fiacaill Ridge (grade I/II) and then headed home for New Years eve.

Scrambling in Snowdonia

Wednesday and Thursday were spent with Monica and Jane in Snowdonia. They are both in training for an expedition to St Lucia in January to climb The Pitons. We had a great couple of days in blues skies and that subtle light you only get in the middle of winter.

On Wednesday we headed up Seniors Ridge, over Glyder Fawr and across and up onto Y Garn.

On Thursday we enjoyed the North Ridge of Tryfan, posing for photos on the cannon and having the route pretty much to ourselves. Good luck to both of them in St Lucia.

Learn to lead

I spent Tuesday night this week with Matthew at Vertical Limit climbing wall in Worcester. Matthew has been climbing on the wall for a while and wanted to learn to lead. We spent a 2 hour session coaching his movement skills and teaching him the various skills involved. We are meeting up again on Monday to put it all into practice.

Navigation & Hill Skills Course

This weekend was spent in North Wales with Lynette, Yas, Chris and Terry on a Navigation and Hill Skills course. The weather was atrocious and Lynette and Yas were being trained and assessed for the NNAS Silver Awards. We had to stay low on Saturday with 80mph winds and lashing rain. The wind dropped on Sunday and we went up Y Garn.

Climbing Wall Award Providers Workshop

I spent Friday at the Beacon Climbing Wall outside Llanberis on a CWA Providers workshop run by MLTE. I am hoping to be a provider of training and assessment courses for the new Climbing Wall Award in January and we spent the day looking at how courses will be run and did a coaching movement skills workshop in the afternoon.

SPA Assessment

I spent the weekend in North Wales working with Andy Newton on an SPA Assessment. We had 4 candidates and all of them passed so well done to them.

Costa Blanca Rock Climbing Course

I have just got back from a long weekend in the Costa Blanca with Victoria, Jo and Jess.
Friday:
We flew from Bristol to Alicante and drove to Calpe where we had an apartment booked for the weekend. After a quick lunch we headed to Toix and enjoyed some single pitch sport climbing in the afternoon sunshine.

Saturday:
We went back to Toix and spent the morning coaching movement skills on the single pitch crags. I used the video camera to give the ladies some feedback on their climbing styles and to allow them to see how they looked compared to how they thought they looked.
We put it all into practice in the afternoon by climbing their first multi pitch rock climb, Lara grade 4.

Sunday:
We headed to Sella. Unfortunately Victoria was unwell but still managed to get a couple of routes in during the morning. In the afternoon Jo and Jess decided they were ready to get on the sharp end and I taught them to lead. They both lead a couple of routes and finished the weekend with big smiles on their faces. Well done all!

Monday:
Flew home from Alicante to Bristol.

You can view the photos from the trip here: http://www.expeditionguide.com/gallery.htm

Snow in Wales

I have spent the weekend working in the Brecon Beacons with fellow AMI colleague Pete Stacey. We were providing a training course for 6 women that are working towards becoming Walking Group Leaders (WGL). The WGL award is administered by MLTUK and is for leading people in non mountainous terrain within the UK.

We spent the two days looking at navigation, mountain weather, leadership skills, water hazards and steep ground within the context of the WGL.

Sunday saw the temperature drop and we spent a couple of hours in heavy sleet. It was very nice to get to a warm pub at the end of the day! All 6 women were good company and an enjoyable and informative weekend was had by all.

I spent the weekend at the AMI AGM. It was a great event and I attended a 2 day coaching processes workshop. This was 2 days of CPD aimed at increasing coaching skills for Mountaineering Instructors. It was a good practical course with plenty of climbing and even some skiing thrown in for good measure!
Monday and Tuesday were spent running and advanced scrambling course in Snowdonia with 2 clients. We had beautiful weather on Monday and did the Clogwyn-Y-Person Arete which is shown in the photo. The ground was frozen above 900m and there were large icicles about - the first signs of winter!

Yesterday we went up the Idwal Staircase with occasional showers and heavy winds on the tops. All in all a good 4 days.

Ding Dong the bells can now chime!

Yesterday was a bit different from the norm. I was asked to rescue a weight from a clock that had fallen down a local church tower.

The weight is part of a counterbalance and had fallen half the height of the church tower into a pit about 6 feet deep and 1 foot wide. I rigged up a basic pulley system using a length of static rope and managed to attach the rope with a clove hitch to the weight. It was very heavy but the pulley worked and the weight was restored to its hook. And now the church clock is working again - hoorah!

Half term with the family

I spent last week in Northumberland with my wife Kate and our 3 boys. We had some gorgeous weather and enjoyed quiet beaches, castles and even a bit of bouldering! The photo shows Archie (5) on a boulder problem that must merit a V3 in wellies!

Home at the moment

I spent the weekend in Wales with Chris, Dave & Adam on a learn to lead course. The three of them are friends who have been top roping for a while and wanted to become self sufficient as leaders. They all did really well and we had a cracking couple of days. On Saturday we did the full length of the Idwal slabs and on Sunday went to Holyhead Mountain where they managed several leads including New Boots and Panties - Severe 4a.

I am supposed to be working in Wales again today but seem to have pulled a muscle in my back and/or chest so am taking it easy for a couple of days. Lots of tea and sympathy!

Winter Training Commences

I started my winter training programme on Saturday by spending the afternoon on my bike. I did manage a Cream Tea in Snowshill and a bit of shopping in Broadway en-route but its all good! I ran up Bredon Hill yesterday morning and then walked up it with the kids in the afternoon.

A few crisp mornings have got me longing for winter, it promises to be a good one this year for me as I will be in Scotland for 8 weeks and 4 of those are planned to just be out climbing with friends.

This week I am at home. I diarised a quiet month to spend some time with Kate and the boys and to get my admin straight at home. I am in Wales for a learn to lead course this weekend and will be spending this week trying to get the house straight. We have it up For Sale at the moment as we are planning on moving to North Wales next summer. Fingers crossed for a buyer!

Rob

Picos Climber 2007

This is a slideshow presentation of last weeks trip to the Picos. It will open in a new window. Click on the little box and select fullscreen for best results and then close the window when finished. More details on the course are available at http://www.expeditionguide.com/picos

Click to play Make your own Smilebox

Where am I now?

I have just spent another couple of days in Wales with Mark and Gareth on an advanced scrambling course followed by an AMI meeting in Manchester last night. Today has been spent on the computer and tomorrow I am off to the Picos for a week with Simon and Paul. I am back on 1st October.
Rob

Rock Climbing in Snowdonia

I have just got back from 4 days work in Snowdonia. On Thursday and Friday I was with Steve and Roz who had joined me for a two day rock climbing refresher course. Steve had previously done a little leading with me but wanted a refresher before taking Roz out. We went to Holyhead Mountain on Thursday and then Milestone Buttress on Friday and Steve led a variety of pitches along the way.

On Saturday I joined Mark & Ben for a 2 day multipitch climbing course. Both had been out with me on other courses before but it was Bens first time rock climbing. We did 2nd Pinnacle Rib on Tryfan, a 6 pitch V Diff with a Severe final pitch. We then met up in the pub with Steve and Roz who had been to Tryfan Bach and had a good day. We also met a couple of my friends doing their summer ML and Andy and Sid who had been out having fun on Dinas Mot!

Sunday saw a wet day but we headed to Tremadog and the rain held off until mid afternoon. We did some more multi pitch climbing and looked at equalising belays, abseil retreats, an intro to leading and how to set up top ropes.

I am home today and back in Wales tomorrow and Wednesday.

King Kong, Wintours Leap & Cemetry Gates, Dinas Cromlech

These two routes have been on my ticklist for some time now but for whatever reason I have not got round to doing them - until this weekend.

This is the first weekend that I have had free for a long time with a good weather forecast so some frantic ringing around to get a climbing partner sorted saw Simon arranging cover at work and squaring it with the wife to join me for a raid to the Wye Valley on Saturday afternoon and then the Llanberis Pass on Sunday afternoon.

King Kong - HVS 5b? - 3 pitches
A couple of years ago this route had a fairly major rockfall and the guidebook grade has not been re-assessed since. Their is therefore some debate as to what grade it is now with internet speculation ranging from HVS 5b to E2 5c! It was pretty warm when we geared up at the foot of the route on Saturday but within about 8 metres of climbing I had sweated buckets - and I am not a sweaty person! The start is very physical and does not ease you into the route in any way whatsoever. You climb up under a roof, traverse below it and then pull up through/past it into a groove. That bit is fine. The groove is then reasonably sustained and I found it the most difficult bit of the climb before stepping out into a cave for a breather. The rest of the 1st pitch is pleasant but not in any way hard.
The second pitch has another roof on it and it took me a couple of minutes to figure out the sequence through it. I will not tell you what that is but needless to say feet are the key. Once solved the sequence was not hard but it is intimidating when you are looking up at it. The rest of the route was then pretty smooth.

Cemetry Gates - E1 5b, two pitches, Dinas Cromlech, Llanberis Pass

I had climbed Cenotaph Corner in April and so was looking forward to how this compared but in actual fact spent more time comparing it to King Kong to try and ascertain the grade of the Wye Valley classic. The approach to Cemetry Gates is fun involving an exposed scramble from the foot of Cenotaph corner and and squeeze down a chimney to the belay ledge. There were two folks ahead of us on the route so we had to sit and wait with fingers getting increasingly cold in the overcast weather. A fim crew had turned up that morning to film someone on Right Wall but it had been deemed too wet. Nevertheless we were surrounded by rockstars with folk climbing the Corner, Left Wall and Resurrection.

On belay at the top of the first pitch of Cemetry Gates.

As I started climbing it started drizzling but the route remained pretty much dry and it did not come to much. The first pitch is the 5b pitch and it is sustained but all of the holds are their. There was no single part of the climb that had me stumped, holds appeared where you wanted them and gear was plentiful. I took my time and rested as much as I could and enjoyed it. The last few moves to the belay ledge are pumpy and the world slowed down a bit as I made them but it went without drama!

The second pitch is 4c and is very pleasant taking you to the beautiful grass garden that is the belay ledge at the top of the Gates, Right Wall and Cenotaph Corner. It feels like a hallowed place to be and the abseil off is spectacular.

At the top of Cemetry Gates - buzzing!

So back to King Kong. What grade is it? The crux moves felt physically harder than anything on Cemetry Gates but it was less sustained. The majority of the first pitch after the crux is straightforward Severe. That said if you were an HVS climber I think King Kong would feel on the limit and hence the 5b grade. I would say its now a tough HVS 5b or lower end E1 5b. But then what do I know!

Rob

Arolla to Zermatt Walkers Haute Route

I have spent the last 2 weeks working in the Swiss Alps. I drove out to Arolla on Saturday 18th August and arrived about lunchtime. I had a day and a half to spare before the course started and decided to go and play on the local Via Ferrata at Evolene. I remember thinking that I must have been spending too much time bouldering indoors - at one point I used the rock instead of a metal rung for my left boot and acused myself of cheating!
I met up with the Evans family who were my clients for the first week and we headed off on the Monday from Arolla to La Sage in beautiful sunshine. We arrived as the heavens opened and woke up Tuesday morning to a fresh covering of snow. This made for some stunning views as we headed over the Col du Tsate and the clouds would part every now and again to show us snow capped peaks and tantalising patches of blue sky.

That night was spent at the Cabane de Moiry, an Alpine hut that is perched at 2800 metres and looks out on the Glacier de Moiry. We had stunning views the following morning with blue skies and sunshine. The whole family did very well and we arrived in Zermatt on Friday afternoon to well deserved views of the Matterhorn.

On Saturday morning I headed up the Klein Matterhorn on my own and took some lovely photos of the Matterhorn itself from 3800 metres before meeting up with a friend for lunch and heading back to Arolla.

The second week was spent with Sean and Annette and Simon & Claire. The week ran smoothly although a big lightening storm meant that we could not head over the Col du Sorbois and had to use the bus!