SOMETHING TO DIE FOR

Scottish International Meet

2012-02-03T03:31:00.000-08:00

Well, the week started with a bang for me...on the head! But I'll get to that later.
The International meet was something I was really looking forward to. The idea of being immersed for a week amongst 80 other climbers doing nothing but climbing and talking about climbing is my idea of heaven.
The check in at the lodge was 5pm on the Sunday, which meant we had the whole weekend to get some climbing done first. (you've got to take every opportunity you can with Scottish winter). So Saturday we walked into Lochan and back out again. Sunday we did the same, this time with slightly more success. The plan was to try and repeat Snow Pimp just to the right of Hookers Corner. Unfortunately after climbing the steep groove to get to the base of the crack, Dave dropped a crucial hex and with the crack well iced it was game over.
Rather than descend we decided to move right into the next corner and climb this up to a narrow chimney slot in a pillar. This turned out to be steeper than it looked (aren't they always) to gain the chimney recess above. Moves up this — making sure you didn't get too jammed in — then a reach out left, allowed a chockstone to be hooked in a groove, that led to the belay. The next pitch led quite straightforwardly to the top and seemed to match the description of the route Conundrum, VI 7.
After checking in at the lodge Dave Garry and myself headed to the bar where we met the guests we would be taking out for the next couple of days. I was pleasantly surprised to find we had been paired up with the Slovenians Urban and Matej, so game on.
Monday morning was an 8.30 start, so most people including ourselves, headed to the northern corries. Not knowing too much about Matej's abilities on mixed ground I headed for Hookers Corner, a VI 6 on number four buttress. After despatching the first pitch and setting up the belay Dave arrived on the ledge next to me. He'd done the first pitch of the Hoarmaster which shared the top pitch with our route. This wasn't a problem as you could climb it on the left or right at about grade five. So with plenty of lighthearted banter flowing and everyone enjoying themselves, Urban and Matej headed up pitch two.
After about twenty metres Urban shouted down to warn us that the block — about the size of a microwave — in the groove he'd climbed was loose. No problem, we'd keep an eye on it, although it slightly worried me that the ropes were running against it's right hand side. While this was going on Nick Bullock was just starting up pitch two on Pic n Mix. I turned side on to watch briefly. Looking back now its like my mind has reconstructed a memory of what happened next. I know there was a shout, Dave told me. I know I raised my shoulders up to my ears , cowered into the rock and tensed up. I could work that out after, by the angle of the impact on my helmet and the damage to my right arm, just above the elbow. I do remember the blow, like someone creeping silently up behind you and hitting you over the head with a baseball bat. I went down. I don't know how long for - Dave reckoned about twenty seconds — then I staggered to my feet in an intense state of shock.
When people say their life flashed before their eyes, I now understand.
It must have been when I was down. I remember seeing my kids and girlfriend and feeling sad, but I wasn't going down that route, not today anyway.
The next thing I remember is Dave asking me where I lived. I think I got the answer right after some serious digging, but it wasn't easy. I started asking myself questions. My longterm memory seemed ok but I was struggling to remember the Slovenians names, although I was mostly struggling to work out how the fuck I was still alive after being struck by such a big rock.
I was dazed but otherwise seemed ok, just scared. Scared I was suddenly going to drop dead from a brain haemorrhage and that would be that. Matej had reached the top and taken in the ropes, so in a massive state of shock I got on with seconding the pitch. I asked Dave to climb next to me. I don't know why but it gave me a sense of security and in the state I was in, having people around was what I needed. As I climbed I noticed the impact marks where the rock had ricocheted on its journey to my head. Thats why I was alive...if it had been a direct hit this would have been an obituary.
I took the walk out nice and slow and Dave drove back to the lodge where George McEwan gave me the once over. He didn't think I was concussed but to be on the safe side recommended I not drink alcohol for at least 12 hours until the risk of concussion had passed. Damn, I really felt like a drink that night!
Later, I spoke to Clare on the Phone. "You sound really happy" she said. "Is that because You're getting loads of climbing done?" "No" I thought. "Its because I'm alive".
Tuesday was an enforced rest day for me. My neck had stiffened up and if I wanted to get anything out of the rest of the week I needed to sort it quick, so I booked a massage and headed into Aviemore and the nearest chemist, to buy every kind of treatment I could find!
It worked! By Wednesday morning I was feeling good, but unfortunately the weather wasn't and with freezing levels way above the summits we headed to Newtyle cave en masse, where Greg the beast gave us a consummate display of dry tooling. That boy is good!
For the last three days I was to be climbing with Takaaki Nagato, one of the infamous Giri Giri Boys from Japan. I was looking forward to this as I'd heard from Will, he was solid. So next stop Lochnagar and the VII 8 Where Eagles Dare. Since seeing the inspiring guide book photo I'd wanted to get on this and it lived up to my expectations. Its all about the final crux pitch really but the setting right at the top of the crag and the approach up the buttress below, really adds to the atmosphere of the route.

Taka on the (vertical!) headwall (Where Eagles Dare)

You can't come all the way from Japan and not climb on the Ben, so that was the destination for Friday. It seemed like everyone thought the same, as it was four full mini buses that headed west that morning, although having the key to the gate — making an easy walk in — might have added to the attraction!
I'd been thinking about a new route possibility. A direct line straight up to the belay — under the final chimney pitch of Babylon - with the option of moving right, for a final pitch up the big corner. So we headed up Number Three Gully to check it out.
It was busy, with teams on Sioux Wall, Babylon, Darth Vader and Gargoyle Wall plus the photographers snapping at us from all angles!
Time to start climbing. I pointed Taka at the first pitch. A blocky groove just left of Winter Chimney that led to a big ledge. Like a ninja, he floated up it. Precise, accurate and efficient. Watching him climb was like an education for me and I'm sure my own climbing improved.

Sake P1

Now we were standing 25 m below the final chimney of Babylon, at the base of a steep slab and it was my turn on the sharp end. I racked the gear and looked up. Small features appeared on the wall. If I could just link them together everything would be fine.
This style of climbing requires a methodical approach. Clean the wall to find the first hook, clean for feet, step up and repeat, then look for gear. A rock 3 appears. Step up and repeat the process. Another good wire. The moves blur. A small side pull gains some more height, then a small flat edge gains some more, before my mind clicks back into protection mode. There is none. I don't want to come off here. I do a quick assessment. Ledge about 10 m below and gear about 4 m below. More gear needed. Above me is a small triangular recess. Maybe some there? No, but a hook to my left will take a bulldog. Now I can relax again. One more move up and the holds disappear. 1 m to my left is a crack that leads to the delicate traverse rightwards on Babylon, I take it and the climbing eases to the belay. Not quite as direct up the wall as I was hoping but still great climbing. Now its Taka's lead. He opts to try the steep corner to our right and is soon well established. Delicate bridging on tiny smears see's him slowly inching his way upwards. Again I'm impressed by his steadiness on lead. As he nears the top James Dunn raps into position for the glory shots and I just know there's no way Taka's failing now! Sure enough he pulls over onto easy ground and all I've got to do is second it, then its drinks in the bar tonight!

Sake P3

I try to copy his footwork as best I can and it's working, until I get to a good foot ledge at the half way point and place my axe on a sloping shelf, only to watch it slip off, hit my foot and disappear. Damn, I was really enjoying it as well. Luckily Dave Almond is watching and gets Taka to lower his axe down for me to continue. The rest goes smoothly and I'm soon looking at the face of a very happy Giri Giri Boy and discussing what he'd like to drink that night!
Sake VIII 9

Me seconding Sake P3. (Dave Almond)

With the end of week party on the Saturday night, it was unlikely we'd be climbing on the Sunday but Dave Almond was keen for a rematch in SCNL. So we hatch a plan for Saturday. The Giri Giri Boys can climb Unicorn as a team while Dave and me get back on the route to it's right, Scansor. This way we weren't neglecting our guests and they would get to climb a mega classic with us close by.
As with last year, Dave got stuck into the first pitch and although the weather was miles better the pressure to succeed was much greater. In the Bar yesterday I'd told anyone that asked, our plans for today, in the hope that mentally it might give us the extra drive to get up the thing.
Yet again, after the first pitch we both commented on what a fantastic piece of climbing it was in its own right. If the route just stopped at the belay it would be worth doing! But it doesn't and that would be avoiding the issue. We weren't about to do that!

Approaching the crux on Scansors first pitch. (Dave Almond)

The next pitch is intimidating. You look up at a seemingly featureless wall and every part of you is saying, "It doesn't go, give up". It didn't help that I'd heard the night before, that someone had attempted it last winter, gone back and climbed it in summer, then said they were no longer interested in trying it again. What did they know that I couldn't see from here? Only one way to find out.
I hammered in a pecker then found a good nut before hooking my way up the initial groove to gain the ledge on the left. The only problem with this was I didn't want to leave it! The next twenty minutes were spent scraping around until I'd arranged some gear that I felt happy with.
Then there were no more excuses.
I had to get in the water and swim with the sharks.
Place the axe, match and pull on to the wall. Reach up with the right axe to a good flat edge, match and survey the new terrain. No more gear to be found so reverse the moves back to the ledge and recover. I repeated this about four times, each time getting slightly further...like a highball boulder problem with a bad landing, until I could get my axes on the ledge, up and to my right. Then I looked down. The ledge below me was looking closer and the gear was looking a long way away. "Good effort" said Dave, but something in his voice didn't sound right. Worry. "That's not like him" I thought, and started to reverse downwards. My foot couldn't find the hold. I felt the panic rise and the energy drain with it, then my foot was on and the door closed, but my attempt was over for now.

A foreshortened view just below my high point. (Dave Almond)

One metre of climbing to unlock and I can't get it out of my head. Every waking minute I'm reliving the moves and adding a different ending. I've got to go back.
As for the international meet, role on the next, as I for one, can't wait!

Giri Giri Boys after Unicorn (Dave Almond)

Scottish Starters

2011-12-13T04:09:00.000-08:00

After waiting and waiting for conditions to arrive, then not being free to take advantage when they did I was champing at the bit by the time it got to Friday and couldn't wait to get stuck into the action. 5pm saw Dave Garry, Pete Harrison and myself enroute. Dave Almond - keen as ever - had headed up the day before and already bagged a new route with Duncan, whose floor we'd be sleeping on that night.

I awoke at four in the morning to a very unhappy Pete. It seemed my snoring had kept him awake all night and all thoughts of climbing had left his mind, so after driving to Lochnagar we left him in the van to get some sleep while we headed to the crag.

After breaking trail through collapsing crust we started the day with some exploration. Probably not the best idea for the first route of the season...anyway more on that later.

By the time we'd finished messing about it was 11.30 and Dave Garry's enthusiasm was waning, but as always, Dave 'the machine' Almond was still wanting action, so Dave G headed to the car while 'the machine' headed up Tough Guy.

This route provided a good reintroduction to the Scottish way with a mix of everything: Steep pulls through roofs, interesting run outs and some technical moves...I even got to reattach my crampon while leading the crux!

Sunday we drove over to the Northern Corrie's and I climbed Open Heart with Dave while Pete and Dave Garry went up Ventriloquist.

After, I got to thinking about some of the ingredients that make up a successful trip.
They're not all required for every recipe but if you mix at least three you should get a tasty dish!

Climbing partners: Useful for holding your ropes, motivating you, taking turns at the sharp end, general banter and discussions about quantum physics.

Inspiring climbing destinations: Plenty of these in Scotland. Here's one from Saturday. The Tough Brown Face, Lochnagar.

Exploration: This time not very successful but good fun, although a new pick was required after falling from a couple of metres above here and shock loading the axe lanyard.

Success: Not essential but very rewarding when you get it, as seen here on the main pitch of Open Heart.

My heart was in my mouth watching Dave lead the crack pitch of Ventriloquist with a massive runout, but he got away with it and as usual, we climbed the last pitch in the dark!

Right, now its time to head back to White Goods with a clearer picture of whats needed.

Must get stronger!

How thick is the skin of my teeth?

2011-10-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

True adventure has to include some form of suffering. Of course it’s impressive to climb something hard but unless it pushed you close to the edge, the memory will never be as strong as the trip that did. You have to accept that escaping by the skin of your teeth (or maybe not as the case may be) is always going to stand head and shoulders above all the other climbing stories. Just look at the history. Mallory, Tony Kurtz, Doug Scot on the Ogre, Touching the Void and Everest in 1996. Although for some they were one way tickets, the level of suffering elevates these experiences beyond the sphere of climbing and into a wider human consciousness. Of course, I don’t want to die, but I do want more from my climbing than an enjoyable, technical day out. The problem is when your talk like this, people think you’re slightly crazy, or you have some kind of death wish. The idea, that it’s a thirst for an intense life experience that drives you into the realm of suffering and fear is completely incomprehensible to most.

This October’s alpine adventure started in Chamonix as usual, but with unseasonably high temperatures it was feeling more like August, so we headed over to Point Lachenal to acclimatise and soak up the sun, while enjoying the superb crack climbing on the Contamine route. The big plan this year was to warm up on something in Chamonix then head over to the Eiger for the 38 route, so next we needed a challenging objective. Something that took advantage of the good rock climbing conditions and was inspiring enough to be our main prize if the weather took a change for the worse later in the trip. We set our sights on the Tournier Spur Direct. 500m of rock to a bivi, then a further 600m of mixed rock and ice to the summit of the Droites. Tasty.

We started the walk in from Argentiere and were going well until we made the mistake of trying to climb the glacier icefall direct, losing well over an hour, so it was 2pm by the time we reached the spur. Loose rock led up rightwards to ledges where rock shoes replaced mountain boots and the climbing started. The route headed back left along a vague ramp line and through an overhang to join the ridge proper. It was this section that made us realise conditions weren’t exactly perfect for a fast ascent, as the shady north side of the ridge had a fair covering of old snow and verglass. At 6pm with about 300m climbed we made a bivi. The weather forecast was good so one extra day on the route didn’t matter too much.

The next morning we started climbing at 7.30 but hit a problem when the route description said 'move rightwards along ledges for 20m to the obvious chimney'. We’d already moved 30m rightwards and could see no sign of an obvious chimney but after some indecisive forays back and forth, I continued rightwards for a further 20m round a corner, to find the line, where a quick change into rock boots saw us making good progress again. The climbing was fantastic and we both commented on what a great route it would be to drytool in winter, definitely one to come back for.

It was 4pm by the time we had climbed the last mixed pitches to reach the breche and the weather had completely changed. It was snowing lightly and spindrift was already pouring down the face above.

It was time to make a decision. Up or down? Dave was leaving the choice up to me. This is ok, but I’m the one with egg on face if the weather was great tomorrow and we’d bailed. Still, this weather definitely wasn’t forecast and there was no saying it wasn’t going to carry on all day tomorrow. Equipment wise I was on the light side as well, with no belay parka, a very lightweight Yeti down sleeping bag that was already wet, just softshell with no thermals on the legs and a lightweight salomon running jacket to protect me from the wind. This would have been on the light side for a night out in Wales, midsummer, never mind an autumn storm in the Alps!

With Chamonix calling, we set up the first rap and started down.

The first few went well. Yeah we were getting pummelled by the constant spindrift avalanches and were soon soaked to the skin as the snow melted on us, but we were finding the anchors and making progress. It wasn’t to last. Somewhere along the way the anchors disappeared and darkness descended. These two small changes compounded by the lack of any obvious rap points in the compact rock started to slow us down. One point was particularly memorable. After digging out a parallel sided crack, I managed to hammer in a rock 2. I gingerly lowered off keeping as much weight as possible on my axes, trying to down climb rather than weight the rope, but when the ground turned vertical there was no option and I just accepted my fate. There comes a point in a situation like this where you can see the look in your partner’s eyes that says “yeah, this is getting a bit close to the edge”. We were both starting to become hypothermic as the wind bit through our wet clothes, but it had to end eventually and after about ten abs we were off the face.

So, just a crevassed slope then a 5 hour walk and we’d be sleeping in Chamonix. Little did we know, a monster crevasse was spread across the whole slope below, and in the dark there was no way we were getting across it. After traversing back and forth for about an hour we admitted defeat and settled in for the night under the base of a small serac. It was 11.30. Initially getting out of the wind and in to my bivi bag felt great, but it wasn’t to last and I knew it.

Seven hours of suffering, before daylight would allow us to get the hell outa there.

At what point does the body succumb to the cold?

Is survival just a case of willpower?

The stories of past pioneers go through your mind. The ones that broke free of their frozen night to continue and others that slowly froze to the bone to become a part of the mountain.

The idea that I may not wake was enough to kill any thought of sleep and any movement caused me to hyperventilate until I put my mouth to the air hole in my bag. The other problem was the spindrift. We were slowly getting buried. I was sitting, and when the snow reached half way up my upper arm, I would stand up, to allow the soft snow to fill the hole my body had left, and then sit down again before repeating the whole process over again.

Finally after much watching, the clock hit seven and it was time to move. This was the moment we’d been dreading. The thought of getting out of the bag, into the maelstrom and putting on boots was only slightly more attractive than doing nothing, which didn’t seem like a viable solution long term! So we moved, raked through four feet of new snow to find our buried kit and headed down to the serac.

As usual daylight changes your view of things and after moving leftwards towards the rock, I found a point where one 60m rap could get us past all the difficulties and on to easy ground below. At this point we were cold, the rope was a frozen mess and we didn’t want to hang around making V threads so I placed a screw and we rapped. Five minutes later Dave joined me on the easy ground, just as the distinctive roaring sound of falling ice filled the air. We turned and watched as the line of our descent was obliterated. Close one. The value of the ice screw seemed insignificant after that, compared to the extra time a V thread would have taken.

Back in Chamonix our future climbing plans were looking uncertain. With 40cm of new snow in the mountains it would be days before conditions improved and just hanging around hadn’t been part of our plans. The forecast for Grindelwald was looking better and the walk in to the Eiger would be easy, even with fresh snow, so we headed over, arriving that evening as the cloud cleared the face, to reveal the mountains history before our eyes.

The sound of heavy rain woke us in the night and it wasn’t letting up. If anything by the morning it was even heavier. Waterfalls were pouring from the clouds and the river running down the valley was black and swollen, even the locals seemed to be watching it with interest!

With four days left, the temptation to just get in the van, call it a day and head home was at the front of my mind, but more on autopilot than anything else we drove back to Chamonix for one last attempt to get up something. With the depressing advice from the guides office that we were basically wasting our time, we agreed on a plan. We would head across to the La Fourche hut with everything we needed to climb the Cecchinel Nomine on the Grand Pillar D’Angle, but if conditions were too slow getting to the hut, we’d dump the kit, climb something on the Triangle Du Tacul then go home.

Heading down onto the Valley Blanche I was pessimistic, but it was misplaced. In my wildest dreams I didn’t imagine conditions would be this good; it was like walking on solid concrete! Getting to the hut was going to be a doddle. My pessimism was replaced with optimism; nothing was going to stop us now!

The La Fourche hut is a fantastic spot, giving a grandstand view of the Brenva seracs that hang above the ‘bowling alley’ approach we’d be taking in the morning. Dave was keen to take Jon Griffiths advice and head over to Col Moore to check out the raps onto the glacier but I was feeling rather lethargic and not in the mood for exercise so he headed off while I concentrated on relaxing in the sun!

2 am saw us waking, well I say waking but for me it was more like just standing up rather than lying down as I hadn’t actually slept! Just after 3 we started the raps down to the glacier and quickly reached Col Moore. Four more raps that went quite slowly in the dark, led to the final part of the approach, under one of the reasons I’d not slept. The hanging serac’s of the Pear and Route Major. Here we took Jon’s advice and moved across low down to reach the buttress and out of the fall line. Next a pitch of Scottish 5 saw us over the giant shrund and up to the face proper. Some uncertainty over where the route started caused us to lose time and it was 7.15 by the time we were climbing.

Dave led the first block up to the aid pitch which I led on the insitu pegs. Then more icy gulleys through spectacular rock scenery, led to a rightward ramp and a further ice field to below the final big exit pitch to the summit slopes. For us the exit pitch proved to be the crux with vertical icy grooves that had to be crossed diagonally before a further 10m of 80 degree ice led to an easy ramp and belay on the summit slopes.


Cecchinel Nomine Route

We reached the top of the buttress at 4pm and cut out a couple of ledges for the night. With us both feeling the altitude and high winds blowing across the top of Mont Blanc De Courmayeur, food, a nights sleep and the warmth from the morning sun seemed like a good idea before tackling the last 600m to the top.

The next morning with the winds slightly lighter and a belly full of porridge we made the long plod up to Mont Blanc. This was the first time for Dave, who was pleased to have achieved his aim of climbing it from the Italian side. We’d decided to descend via the Gouter hut down to Les Houches which turned out to be a tough old slog, but it did guarantee we’d be in Chamonix for beer and food that night which made it worth it! Particularly pleasing was the old gent in Les Houches that gave us a lift back to the van. Thanks mate!

So the perseverance paid off in the end, turning what would have been a true adventure into a truly successful adventure!

2011-03-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

Moving house and being off line for a while has meant no updates, but that doesn't mean I've been up to nothing, in fact climbing wise I've been quite busy, although converting busy to successful is a different matter! In fact looking at the numbers, for twenty one days out I've climbed eleven routes, failed on six (one twice) and had three turnarounds due to conditions, so for this year I'm achieving just over a 50% success rate. I don't know how that compares to others but I suppose it would depend on how high you're aiming and a bit of luck.

So time for a recap of the last month.

12th Feb saw Pete and me attempting Don't Die Of Ignorance on the Ben. An enlightening experience as neither of us had much idea what technical 11 would feel like. Initially there's a lot of apprehension stepping onto a route like this, that takes Dave Macleod six attempts or something and develops a mythical status, I mean how could I ever consider it possible to climb a route of this difficulty? Pete set off along the traverse, finding the good gear, until he reached the nose, where he rested before making the big move for the stienpull, matching and swinging for the ice. Unfortunately it would seem the ice is key for this move and this time it wasn't there, so although he tried again it wasn't happening, but the moves round to the stienpull were wired and the gear got well tested!
The next day we walked in to a buried Corrie an Lochain but with the slope under Ewen Buttress slumping and cracking with us on it we cautiously retraced our steps and headed home.

Pete on the nose

27th Feb. Back for a rematch this time with Dave Garry in tow. Pete went back out to his high point but with no ice the result was the same, so after Dave had his bit of fun, we rapped off, rapidly loosing motivation for the route. Its a long way to drive for the chance that a small piece of ice might be there when Scotland's full of far more reliable options.

The next day we headed in to Corrie an Lochain to have a look at Happy Tyrolleans, but with it looking rather black we changed plans and moved across to PicknMix which looked in great condition. Guy Robertson and Pete MacPhearson were going for a new line on the right hand side of the buttress and with a bit of a crowd it made for a good craic and plenty of photos. I led the first pitch up the icy groove with a wild swing round the arete and up to the belay, shared with Guy, who'd just completed the very steep first pitch of what would become "The Gathering" for obvious reasons! While Pete and Guy climbed leftwards for their second pitch, Dave headed up and rightwards for pitch two, and despatched it in about thirty minutes. He's good is Dave!

Starting the traverse right on PicknMix and Guy on The Gathering

Me seconding P2 PicknMix

Guy and Pete trying to take the corner direct. The Gathering took the icy wall on the left.

Thinking the conditions were going to last the week I decided to stay in Scotland and arranged to meet Dave Almond on the Thursday, but after walking in to Creag Meagaidh on Tuesday and climbing a thawing Glass Slipper I wasn't so sure, Then on Wednesday I walked up Aonach Mor and with the temperature at plus two I called it a day and drove home. At least my hill fitness was ok.

Next up, 11th March. Dave Almond and myself headed up on the Thursday evening and climbed Darth Vader on the Friday. In cold windy conditions its a good route choice as someone gets to have the sheltered cave belay, that'll be me then! The climbing was good fun, with interesting climbing on all the pitches and made more exciting by a collapsing cornice pouring over the buttress to our left. From the plateau I belayed Dave to the edge of number three gully where he bashed a hole through the lip and we descended quickly.
The next day, thinking the wind was going to be lighter and there may be clear spells we went for our main target. An ascent of Scansor in Stob Corrie nan Lochan. An E2 5b that hasn't had a winter ascent yet. Dave headed up the first pitch while the snow fell and the wind blew. After about three hours he made the belay and it was my turn. The climbing was fantastic, a steep groove, climbed on small edges led to a resting ledge before the main event, a cracked wall led to an overhang, where a couple of moves up and a delicate traverse right led to the arete. The strenuous and technical moves up this proved to be the crux and with pumped forearms and numb hands I thankfully hooked the finishing jug. Once the hotaches had lessened and the pump had gone I moved leftwards to look at the second pitch. From the top of the belay block, a blank groove led up to a ledge on the left, then the wall steepened and looked thin from my position. After scraping the groove and finding no gear I made the decision, that in the current conditions I wasn't getting up it. The uncontrolled shivering was setting in and even with my belay jacket on I wasn't keeping warm. Dave wasn't sure, so after swapping leads he moved up to satisfy himself. It took him less than a minute before he was convinced.
We baled.

Dave on Scansor

Moving up the wall before the delicate traverse.

Shaking out before the crux moves up the arete.

Although we weren't successful this time, we both felt it was the best pitch of mixed climbing we'd ever been on with fantastic, varied climbing in a spectacular position overlooking SC Gully and if/when it goes it will be one of the best routes in Scotland.
The fun wasn't over yet. descending the slope under the buttress, there was about a metre of fresh powder and each step produced a small slide in front of me. Next I heard a shout from Dave and turned to see a wave of snow rushing towards me. I tried to jump sideways but when you're up to your thighs in soft powder its not easy to jump and the wave took me. I started swimming, conscious that I didn't want to drop my axes as they'ed be a bugger to find after! Fortunately after about 30m the slide stopped and I stood up, a little shaken and stirred but otherwise fine!
With winds forecast at 80mph on the Sunday we took a rest day in Aviemore, thinking we'd get out in the Northern Corries on Monday, but with about a foot of fresh snow in the town and the ski road closed we headed back West Monday morning, to Bridge of Orchy and the route Messiah. This turned out to be a good choice with the snow well scoured off the ground making for an easy walk in. I ran the first two pitches together, up the ramp with interesting moves leftwards on the hand traverse, then on up a groove to the final ice pitch. A nice varied route for a short day.

The traverse on P1

Dave on P2 of Messiah

2011-02-01T05:03:00.000-08:00

Great things have been happening in Scotland over the last few days (well the whole winter to be precise) and it was inspiring to be up there to witness some of it. The weekends goings on have been well reported elsewhere, so I'll just relate my latest adventure.
I drove up to Scotland on Friday night with Dave Garry and Dave Almond and after a couple of hours sleep in the Northern Coiries car park we met up with Helen and walked in to Lochain.
Although it felt quite mild, by the time we reached the crag the temp was just below freezing and things were looking good. Dave Garry and myself headed up to Daddy Longlegs, a route thats been on both our tick lists for a while now, while Helen and Dave went for War and Peace.
I started up the technical first pitch as this suited my style of climbing, and Dave is the man for anything overhanging, like the second pitch.
Conditions were perfect with not too much ice and just enough gear to keep me moving, and after some thin moves at the top of the first groove, I reached a good rest before moving rightwards into the continuation, where more delicate climbing using a crack on the left led to a piece of fixed gear. Unfortunately at this point I made a stupid mistake. As I pulled the rope up to clip, my hand knocked my axe out of the crack and I watched it fall away, fortunately landing by Dave in the snow. After retrieving it I completed the rest of the corner and the moves round the roof, then moved up, to belay below the final pitch. A bit annoying really, as it was going so smoothly, but hopefully I've learnt my lesson and I'll be more careful in future.

Daddy Longlegs P2

One more pull

The second pitch was a complete contrast and deceptively steep. After pulling on, to place some gear, then moving back down for a quick rest, Dave cruised up it to complete the deception, and it was only when I got on it myself, that I realised how steep it actually was. It was steep! A bag with a belay parka, water and a guide book, never felt so heavy! and after pulling over onto easy ground, it was a good five minutes before the pump had gone from my arms.
Walking back in on Sunday, the wind was about 50mph straight on the nose and it was sapping my motivation for getting on anything challenging, but as we approached the cliff I could see Ines and Charly on Happy Tyroleans and my motivation returned.

War and Peace P1

We decided to climb War and Peace, another route on my list for a long time, with three good pitches up the steep face to the right of Fallout Corner. I led the first pitch and after moving across to the usual belay I continued up to some fixed gear higher up that allowed my to get a good view of pitch two.

Overhanging ground on P2

This was another steep one for Dave - that can be seen in the photo above - then a squeeze chimney, before the last pitch up a slab, with a final sting in the tail.

P 3

Meanwhile Dave and Helen were climbing Bulgy, and if there was a category for the most protection-less ascent of a route, I think he might have a first. From the last piece of gear he traversed out leftwards through the crux at the stepped roof, then up the groove, before placing a dodgy cam. So about 10m of tech 7 with no pro!
We drove up to the car park again on Monday but with the temperature reading plus 7 we chose the cafe, a mistake it would seem, when I read that Ines and Charly were at it again with a new route by War and Peace. Obviously we're just not committed enough!
Still I'm happy for the moment!

2011-01-19T04:36:00.000-08:00

After visiting White Goods recently and having the usual apres climb grade debate, I started to wonder what the Scottish grades would be for the White Goods dry tooling routes. As sports routes used to get E grades before the adoption of the French system and grit routes have been given sport grades, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to reverse the process and convert the dry tooling routes backwards, hopefully giving people a feel for the type of climbing difficulty that could be expected on a Scottish style mixed route. Obviously this will only reflect the technical difficulty aspect and the sustained nature of the climb as they all follow a line of bolts, so in relating the two styles, you would have to assume good, easy to place protection. The other thing to remember, is the dry tooling routes are graded for the red point, whereas the Scottish grade should reflect the onsite. As all my White Goods climbing has been worked, its quite tricky to get the conversion right. I've tried to imagine clearing snow off the rock and spending time searching for the holds but some of the moves are so blind, unless you had the strength to hang in there for an hour or two I don't know how you'd onsite them in a Scottish scenario. To put that in perspective a red point ascent would take about three minutes!

I imagine something like Anubis is graded to reflect the onsite and Dave Mac must have learned a lot from his attempts, making the ascent feel (relatively) easier.

So these are my thoughts. (the numbers in brackets represent the Scottish tech grade ie; the hardest move or sequence of moves)

Left Over Goods D9

Slightly overhanging crack line (8) to a good rest under the big roof, then powerful moves into a fig four and a hard pull to reach easy ground and the LO (11)

X 11

Doorstep Challenge D8+

As above to the rest,(8) then move right and climb through the roof with powerful moves to get round the lip (11)

IX 11

White Goods D8+

Overhanging ground with some hard moves through the small roofs (9) leads to a semi rest under the main roof, then the obligatory horizontal section with more inverted manoeuvres (10) leads to the finishing crack.

X 10

Jazz D8

Steep climbing, sustained, but with no particularly hard crux, leads to the LO (9)

X 9

Tumble in the Jungle D9

Climbs through four overlaps, while traversing rightwards, on thin, difficult to place torques with some big pulls and no rests (9)

XI 9

Ready Steady Hook D10

Easy climbing leads to a good rest under the big roof, before launching out with multiple fig fours to the lip, where a dyno gets a good ledge, then footless dangling and heel hooks allow small hooks to be reached and the hardest climbing is over (12) Climb the wall above (8) to a LO

XI 12

Ready Steady Hook

Powerpact D9

A big reach out to the lip of the first roof and powerful/reachy moves up on small edges gain the wall above (10) which is climbed to a good rest under the main overhang. Now a sustained sequence of pumpy moves lead horizontally leftwards to a massive reach off a stienpull (10) then a hard move past a block (9) and more strenuous moves to the LO

XI 10

The first roof on Powerpact

Great Expectations

2011-01-11T06:48:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday evening saw Dave Almond and myself driving up to Scotland with big plans.
In my dream world it went something like this: Thursday; Trail of Tears, Friday; Blood Sweat and frozen Tears, Saturday; The Secret, then an easy day on Sunday climbing Neanderthal.
Now when I have plans like that, its easy to come away disappointed, but so what, aim high and you'll always achieve more in the end. Thats my philosophy and I'm sticking to it!

Ok, now for the reality. After arriving at Duncan's house at 1am it was straight to bed and an alarm at 5 for the drive to Lochnagar. We reached the rescue box at 8.30 and stopped to gear up. It was at this point we realised how cold it was. The wind was blowing like a freight train and with the temp around -7 it was bitterly cold. With every layer on it was all we could do just to keep warm, so we decided to go for Parallel Buttress. The easier climbing would mean we could keep moving, but on reaching the start of the route the wind seemed to have completely stopped. Dave made the right call, "lets stick with the original plan" so we moved rightwards to Trail of Tears.
The 1st pitch was pretty straight forward, a turfy groove led to a belay on the left after 30m. The next pitch looked exciting, continuing up the corner to a small overhang and climbing a thin ice seam up the corner above. The ice in the corner was enough to stop any protection going in, but not enough to make the climbing any easier, and it proved to be a committing, pumpy section for Dave on the sharp end.
At the end of the ramp, which was easy with snow, I decided to carry on and make a belay at a turf ledge I could see diagonally above me. This section was the crux. Hanging off my left axe I moved down and rightwards onto a smooth slab and at full reach gained a small hook in a seam that allowed me to pull across, with my right foot pressing into a small ramp at the bottom of the slab, then a hand swap on the right axe and a placement in a crack at the bottom of the groove to my right, meant I could make bridging moves upwards on thin mossy hooks until the good turf was reached. This was a sustained section, and as I had traversed right then up, with no gear I would have been looking at a nasty fall if I'd come off! Although when Dave seconded it he spotted a peg in the base of the groove. I wonder if this was the peg Andy Nisbet placed by abseil?

At the belay on the 1st pitch, with the thin ice corner above to my right. ⓒ D Almond

Above the climbing wasn't over, and seconding in the dark I was glad of the rope above me as any style went out the window, but a final steep pull over a short wall and all that remained was easy ground to the top. I say easy, but in the dark, finding the Tough Brown Traverse and climbing the 3 pitches to the plateau with about two runners would not be the place to make a mistake!
We started the route at 10am and topped out at 8'20 so just over 10hours, but it was 10'30 by the time we reached the car and we still had to get to Aviemore, so a long day overall meant we wouldn't be driving to Beinn Eighe without a rest day. The first example of my reality not quite meeting my expectations!
So after a good nights sleep, where my coughing kept Dave awake and his snoring did the same for me, we got up at 4 on Saturday morning and drove north for Blood Sweat and Frozen Tears. The walk in, up the side of the hill was hard work and the head torches ahead of us had me slightly worried, theres a lot of routes you might go this way for but only one that I really wanted right now. Sod's law say's they'll want it too! I was proved right when we got to the ab point and a rope was in place, Neil and his mates had beaten us to it :-(
We decided to try Maelstrom. I led the first pitch up an ice fall and a steep groove, with some really good climbing on thin hooks, before traversing right to belay below a steep chimney. Dave led this, and the continuation groove above, until he reached a ledge that seemed the logical place to belay. From here the corner continued up to a big roof and we were meant to traverse left across a slab, to small ledges and gain the groove to our left, but after falling on the traverse and eventually getting across with tension, I found myself looking at an unprotectable, verglassed nightmare and with the light fading, we called it a day. You can't win them all. Looking at the picture below, I now think we tried to traverse left too low down.

Neil Adams at the second belay of BSFT, abbing in. ⓒ D Almond

After descending West Central Gully and climbing back up Fuselage Gully to get our bags we headed down and to the pub for a much needed beer and some food before driving back to Aviemore.
We decided on an easy day in the northern corries for Sunday, and with the weather seemingly to deteriorate, we climbed Original Summer Route but by lunch time the weather had improved massively, and I was slightly regretting we hadn't tried something more challenging. Anyway it meant we were back at the car by one o'clock, ready for the long drive back south, until next time...

Wales hardest?

2010-12-26T15:46:00.000-08:00

Had a day out with Pete today, he was keen to get on a line he'd been keeping an eye on in the Pass, before the thaw set in.
This wasn't your average Scottish style mixed line. Not that there's anything wrong with them.
This was something different.
A steep wall for about 15m followed by a hanging ice dagger to the top. The wall itself is the line of a summer E4 past three insitu pegs, but with the wet streak that ran down it and the dirty nature of the rock, I don't think it would ever make classic status. Whereas as a winter line, it produced an excellent, pumpy test piece unlike anything else currently existing in Wales.
Pete worked the route ground up with a few rests, before pulling the ropes and going for the clean ascent with some style. Clearly the training had paid off!
I tried it on top rope with a few rests, then after he'd led it, I nearly seconded it clean, only falling after reaching the ice when my axe ripped. I was pumped stupid after though.
In terms of the grade, I'm unsure. Overall it felt harder than Cracking up, but as for the individual moves maybe about the same. After all, unless you're doing fig fours, axe dyno's or footless swings through a massive roof, how can you get harder than tech nine? So for me, lockoffs and long reaches between small edges for 15m means the overall grade will get bigger, but as for the tech grade I don't know. I wonder what the crux move is on the Hurting at XI 11?

All in all with the insitu pegs, its a pretty safe test piece that I'd recommend to anyone keen on pushing their grade, and I look forward to hearing about the onsite!

endurance training required ( for me that is!)

Spot the winter line :-)

NEARLY!

2010-12-20T15:03:00.000-08:00

If we had completed it, this would have been one of the best routes I've ever done, and in my view, on the best winter crag in North Wales, when it's in condition. But three pitches up with 15m of climbing before easy grade 6 ground, and a gear ripping fall, straight on to the belay meant no tick...this time.

So fingers crossed that we get the conditions again and Rob's broken ankle recovers in time and we don't get the car stuck and we remember our head torches and we don't fall and...!

There's loads more I could add, like the epic walk in through thigh deep snow and the free hanging rappels in the dark, but I'll save it for the successful post!

Somewhere on the best winter cliff in Wales!

Prospecting

2010-12-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

Walked into the Black Ladders on Thursday with Rob, to try a new line I've been thinking about. Unfortunately it didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped, after 7hrs of climbing we 'd gained about 40m and it was time to call it a day.

This is going to require something extra.

The problem is with this line, its not about getting stronger, working out a sequence or finding a crucial piece of protection , it's just finding the courage to move out above two peckers for about 8m into the unknown.

Still, they don't all give up their secrets straight away, and that'll make the success taste even better!

Rob looking for a way through the first line of overhangs.

And higher on the same pitch.

Chris parkin's shot, as Rob nears the second belay.

Account Opened

2010-11-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

Early season winter conditions, meant a trip to Scotland with Dave Almond was not to be missed, and after leaving Liverpool at 10pm we were on the way to the Ben for an attempt at Sioux Wall.

Unfortunately it was 4am by the time we arrived in the car park and after sorting the pile of kit dumped hurriedly into the car, there was no time for any sleep and we were on the way.

With the temp at -9 and a steady breeze the wind chill was probably about -20, and standing at the base of the wall, we were in two minds as to wether to try something easier, as belaying was going to be less than pleasurable.

We both wanted this one badly though, so without further ado, I knocked off the entry pitch and belayed at the start of the proper climbing. The next two pitches were fantastic, covering some steep ground on positive placements with good protection. (Mux you gotta get on it!)

Dave led onto the summit plateau and we were back at the car by 6pm, tired but happy to get this modern classic so smoothly. Good to see the White Goods training paying off!

After a few to many beers in the Clachiag, we went into the Lost Valley on Sunday to try Neanderthal, but it was about 11.30 by the time we got on it, and the weather was deteriorating. After climbing the 2nd pitch and bringing Dave up it was 3pm and bitterly cold, so we decided to call it a day as the next pitch was going to be at least two hours to lead and I didn't fancy seconding it in the dark. As somebody once said "I'll be back".

The drive home was quite exciting as the road south was blocked, so we tried the A9.

This was closed at Perth but with a sneaky detour we got around the police road block and cruised down the empty road putting fresh tracks through the new snow!

Croz Spur

2010-10-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

Got a text of Dave Almond the other day, saying could I meet him in Chamonix?
That was on the Saturday and by midday Sunday I was on the way.
The plan was the Croz Spur via the Slovenian start and with a great weather forecast we were confident we'd pull it off, but you never know with alpinism until its in the bag, so we weren't gonna get too excited.
My summer this year has mainly consisted of sport climbing in a bid to improve my rock grades, so by the start of September it was time to get some endurance fitness in, as the focus swings towards winter and big days in the mountains. For me this means loads of days out in Wales, and this year I finally knocked of the Welsh 3000's and with 12000ft of ascent and 25miles in under ten hours, I felt ready for the Alps...well OK.
The Montenvers train was closed so we took off on a leisurely stroll up to the base of the Grande Jorrasses, and after 7 hours came across a small serac near the start of the route that would make an ideal bivy.

We settled in and then the snow started.

You can't control the weather, so Dave set the alarm for 3.30 and we agreed if it was still snowing then , we could go back to sleep and come up with a new plan, as we wouldn't be getting on the Croz.
I was using a very light sleeping bag along with a belay parka that wasn't keeping me that warm so tied to the fact I don't sleep great on first bivies, I was waking regularly, and witnessed the perfect weather arrive way before 3.30, so no excuses, game on.
I awoke to the sound of voices, another team coming our way, they were early. I dosed back to sleep.
Later more voices, I stuck my head out and said hello. Something wasn't right. I checked my watch, 5.45. Shit, Dave's alarm hadn't gone off, time to get the skates on.
A quick brew, some chocolate and we were on the way. By 7am we had crossed the shrund and after years of thinking about it I was finally on the face that had occupied so much of my thoughts.
Following the rope snaking out in front of me, the doubt's crossed my mind. Was I capable of stepping off a plane and climbing a 4000m peak? At that moment I wasn't sure and when I got to Dave at the first steepening, I was happy to let him continue in front.
I'm sure if I'd felt better I would of enjoyed the climbing. The Slovenian section linked together the lower snowfield's via steeper gully climbing with the odd delicate move on thin ice until we arrived at the top of the second ice field.
A rock wall split by a vertical fault leading to a large roof was the line of the Slovenian and about 20m up this, an icy ramp led out leftwards to some snow ledges, above these a steep ice fall led directly to the upper snow slopes, this was the way of the Croz and the line for us.

Looking up I was in my place, mixed climbing, a jigsaw puzzle to be solved inch by inch. I changed gloves and racked the gear as all thoughts of tiredness miraculously disappeared. Straight away it was technical. Two thin seems led upwards to a peg, something to aim for. Pick's just catching I torqued my mono's in to the seem and moved higher, left foot on a small edge right bridging out I hit a patch of ice in the crack only for it to fall away, but this cloud had a silver lining and with a bit of chipping another peg was revealed giving me the confidence to move higher. This proccess was repeated again to a third peg but this time I could only clip the old tat that hung from it.

With calves burning I looked up at a ten foot section that would require full on commitment. I knew it was the right way but wasn't ready to commit, so looking left I attempted a tension traverse to reach some ice in the next groove. It wasn't happening and in the back of my mind I knew were I had to go, straight up into the unknown with full commitment but no falling.

This is what climbing's about for me, intense moments of pure focus where every move is controlled and precise. Even when I reached the ice and it shattered away, I found enough to get the pick to hold and pulled up, to the reassuring thwack of solid ice above and I could breath again.

I placed a screw and moved leftwards onto the icy ramp where the brilliant mixed climbing continued to the belay.

Dave led through across the snow ledges and up the ice above, continuing to the top of the third snow field. From here a gully led in two pitches to a notch on the ridge which we followed to the final rock tower. It was slow going and difficult to protect, with powder snow over loose rock, so it was getting dark when we reached the final section. Here we decided to take the righthand variation. This started with a pitch of delicate climbing at about Scottish 6, moving rightwards across slabs, to reach the exit gully, all quite tricky in the dark.
Dave took over the lead again. Moving across into the gully he clipped a peg on the left and got a wire in the right wall. The ice in the gully was to thin for screws and he couldn't see any more rock pro above, I watched, heart in mouth as he started up the 10m of unprotected thin ice, wondering how I would deal with the situation if he fell. I relaxed as he pulled over, into the easier gully above, then later as the rope came tight I followed the pitch, scrabbling my way up as blunt tools and monos struggled to penetrate the hard ice.
One final pitch led to a breche on the ridge. It had taken us four hours to climb the last three pitches and 16 hours in total for the route. I was hoping there would be a bivy spot on the ridge but out of the option of climbing along it to see if we could find something or abbing down, we chose down, by four slow abseils and finally some much needed sleep in the burgshrund at 2.45.
I was pleased to find that although I was moving slower than I would of liked, I could leave home and climb a 4000m peak via a technical route and get back in a round trip of four days. Hopefully this will open up some more oportunities in the future.
Bring it on.

Chamonix

2010-04-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

I always feel slightly melancholy when leaving Chamonix, especially when it's been a good trip.
The contrast between everyday life and the mountain experience when things go to plan, is so vast I have a hard time readjusting. Theres just a buzz about the place that I can't get enough of.
Anyway as you can probably gather, things went well.
The original plan had been to go to Cham to get some acclimatisation, before meeting up with Mark and attempting the Bonatti direct on the Matterhorn, but due to a lack of enthusiasm I ended up staying in Cham for the whole trip and meeting some much needed new alpine partners.
On arriving I decided to stay at the ski chalet gite which I'd recommend as it's reasonably priced and well positioned with a nice little walk up the hill to keep the legs working.
On walking through the entrance, I heard the rattle of climbing gear and English voices coming from the first room, so I poked my head round the door to enquire about conditions and see if anyone needed a climbing partner.
A blonde, curly haired, nineteen year old lad called Tom seemed keen. Well as keen as you would be, when someone you don't know asks if you want to climb, as you never really know what you're getting into, until the climbing starts.
We decided to climb the Frendo Ravenel as a test run before the Ginat on the Droite north face, but things didn't get off to a good start when we got stuck in the queue at the Grand Montets for about two hours, and it wasn't until eleven that we got to the start of the route. The next problem was route finding. I'd been to the start of the route before with someone that had climbed it previously, so I was confident that I knew where I was going, but after about 200m we realised that we were on the next route to the right and with Tom wanting to get the last lift down, we decided to bail.
But the day had served it's purpose, as we'd seen each other climb and felt confident, that as a team, we were ready for the Ginat.
The next day, early afternoon we headed up to the Argentere hut, putting a track across to the start of the route at the same time, including digging through the bergshrund, which turned out to be the right thing to do as it was overhanging and took a good 40minutes.
After a great meal and a few hours sleep we left the hut and made our way across to the face.
It had been snowing in the night and the tracks from the previous day had gone but the hole we had made in the bergshrund was still there, and at 4am we started the route.
In my mind I had broken the day down into sections, as a way of gauging our pace and also keeping the focus narrowed down to the section you're on at the time, rather than the end goal, that always seems a demoralizingly long way away. The sections went as follows: The approach, the section to the gully, the lower gully, the median snow slope, the 5 technical pitches, the gully to the breche, the descent, and the walk to the hut. So 8 sections, 1 down, 7 more to go, and up to the top of the snow slope our time seemed about right, 4 1/2hours off my target of ten for the route.
After so many years thinking about it and the odd previous attempt, it was great to be on the face, and when dawn broke, I was finally able to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the exposure of looking down, and seeing the face sweep away to the glacier below.
The technical climbing started up a steep corner to our left before gaining a right trending mixed ramp for pitch two. I headed up the corner on a narrow, vertical ribbon of ice, when suddenly the ice under both feet broke away. Five metres above the last screw this was not the place to be coming off.
The rest of the pitch eased a bit, to about 75 degrees, but with only one screw left for the belay I had to run it out for the last 15m.
Tom led through on the mixed pitch up some tricky corners and we moved on. The axe placements had to be sought carefully as the cold temperatures were making the ice brittle and it took 4 or 5 swings to get a stick. This slowed things down and after each pitch I would re-estimate the time to finish. Although we were using a single 70m rope and this worked well on the lower face, the ground we were on now was dictating the places to belay and it seemed to be around 50 or 60m per pitch.
So I started up pitch 5 (a beautiful ice ramp at 85 degrees) with one more above to go, before reaching the upper gully. Next Tom led the final pitch, keeping to the left, on the mixed to give some relief to the calves. With about 15m still to go he took a small fall and decided to belay where he was, the time was about 5.30, our target was well out the window.
By the time I had climbed up to Tom, finished the pitch, and we'd moved together up to the breche it had just turned seven, but the route was in the bag, with only two sections remaining to the hut.
After five ab's down the south gully it was getting dark, making it difficult to find the fixed gear, but the ground eased off, so I started down climbing and told Tom to tie the rope to his harness and drag it down. When he arrived by me, the rope was nowhere to be seen, somehow it had detached itself and fallen. We didn't come across it lower down so I'd just have to put it down as bad luck, anyway the route was worth it.

The next plan was to head up to the British route on the Sans Nom, another route I'd wanted to do for ages. But Tom wasn't available for a few days, so I teamed up with Phillip, a 24 year old Austrian lad that was keen as mustard.
I needed something short before the next big route so we headed for Pointe Lachenal and a route called Star Academixte. The climbing started off quite straight forward, for the first 3 pitches, then it kicked in. The fault we were climbing petered out, and I had to traverse left across a steep slab, on exfoliating flakes to reach the next fault, where steep moves gained easier ground below the final chimney.
The route was climbed in about 3 1/2 hours, before the slog back up to the Midi and the lift down.
It's funny how a 250m route seems small, and is dealt with so differently compared to the equivalent in Scotland, although I suppose the approach is a bit shorter from the Midi.

By 2pm the next day Tom and myself were making our way across to the Sans Nom. It was clagged in and snowing lightly, but after wading through deep snow, we got to the top of the coulior that leads to the glacier, and the face.
Conditions didn't look good, with a load of fresh snow plastering the route and bare rock where ice should have been, we decided to head back to the top station and a change of plan.
The station was busy, with about 8 Spanish, 2 Dutch and 4 British climbers all spending the night.
We got talking to Andy Houseman and Dave Evans who were heading up to climb Late To Say I'm Sorry on the Grande Rocheuse. I'd heard the route to it's left, (Bourges-Mizrahi) was in condition so the next morning we headed up at about 3.30 and after a final 40m of neck deep digging we crossed the bergshrund at about 5am.
This time around I was better acclimatised, we were moving well and it wasn't long before we reached the steeper climbing, where we roped up.
Tom decided he needed a crap at this point, so perched on a convenient rock he let loose down the face, fortunately it was off the climbing line, as apposed to the last time, on the Droite, when it had landed all over the place.
Two pitches of ice up to 90 degrees and a snow gully, led to the ridge, and one final tricky pitch, before the spectacular knife edge summit, reached after 9 hours of climbing.
A quick descent down the Whymper coulior and an hours wading through soft snow had us back at the Couvercle hut in time for tea!
If only it went like this every time I went to Cham!

2010-04-04T07:22:00.000-07:00

Drove up to Scotland on the 29th March with Adam, to do some late season ice on the Ben. Unfortunately it coincided with an extreme weather spell of snow, low temps and wind gusting to 80mph. Still, as we were spending a night at the CIC hut I was confident we'd get something done.
We met up with Duncan at the north face car park and after a quick pint, bedded down in the car, for a leisurely 6am start in the morning.
It was snowing when we got up, and after persuading Duncan it was worth the walk in we set off on what turned out to be an alright approach, as the ground was well frozen..
It was meant to be busy in the hut but due to the weather everyone was heading down, so we settled in with a coffee to wait and see what the weather was going to do.
After a while the wind seemed to die down a touch. It was all the encouragement we needed and within ten minutes we were ready to go, which was just as the lull ended, but we'd made up our minds and headed out.

The route choice was Vanishing Gully as it didn't go to the summit and was a short walk from the hut.

It was a good choice and gave two really good pitches on good neve, split by a cave belay that kept us out of the wind and spindrift.
back at the hut a guide turned up with two clients. They'd just climbed Italian Left Hand Route and apart from us, must have been the only other people on the mountain.
After dinner we finished of the leftover wine and drank Adams whisky, before hitting the sack for a good nights sleep and another leisurely start in the morning.
The wind had dropped slightly the next day but we still wanted to avoid going on the plateau, so we picked a route on Observatory Buttress, as you can traverse off rightwards from the top of the difficulties towards Good Friday Climb.
Rubicon Wall was in good nick. I ran the first two pitches together and Duncan led through, with a great lead on thin ice, getting two runners in 40m. The top pitch was a lot thicker and I was able to place good screws all the way.
So although my plans of climbing multiple grade sixes and sevens on this trip didnt happen due to the weather, it still felt good to get something done considering the conditions and it at least meant we had one of the UK's best venues virtually to ourselves for two days.
Right, now all I need is a good alpine trip, then I can concentrate on a summer of sport climbing to get me fit for next winter!

2010-03-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

It feels like winters nearly over in North Wales, so with the thought that it might be the last chance this season, I took the day off work and headed in to the Black Ladders.
Dropping the kids off at school meant it was 10.30 by the time I started the walk in, but the path was clear of snow and the weather was perfect, so although I had a heavy pack, I was able to make good time and reached the crag at 11.45.
The plan for the day was to back rope solo something, maybe the second ascent of Tora Bora, a new VIII 8 but was I up to it? Standing under the crag I had my doubts, the face loomed over me, everything looking vertical or overhanging.
I emptied the pack.
One 70m single rope.
One rack of gear.
No extenders.
No pegs or turf protection.
In the bottom of the pack a half rope left in from the weekend! No wonder it felt heavy!
So what to do?
Tora Bora was out of the question, with no pegs or turf pro. Anyway I might as well admit, I would probably of bottled it on my own. The excuses were already piling up, too late to start, didn't look in nick, and anything else I could think of.
I decided to go for Gallipoli, a two star V5 that went in the same area and wouldn't be too difficult.
Traversing in from the right I moved up to the base of an ice fall and got the rope out.
I would attach myself to it and trail it behind, just belaying the tricky bits as I needed to.
The ice fall was actually quite steep and seemed to be delaminating at the top, where every axe swing hit rock or useless reed grass. Cautiously I moved up to reach a peg belay and a traverse left. The route starts to feel quite exposed here but I didn't want to use the rope until I reached the gully proper, as its not easy rapping a traverse.
At a large pinnacle I set up a belay and back roped one long pitch that took me into the gully, with some good moves up a steeper section, to the next belay. Then I set up the ab and rapped back down, taking out the gear and dismantling the lower belay before reascending.
This was repeated for one more pitch before reaching easy ground and the top, on a stunning day.
The route length is given as 250m, adding on the pitches I climbed twice, makes 370m. It took me two and a half hours to climb at a steady pace, then back to the car by 2.45 giving a round trip of just under five hours, not bad for a trip to the Ladders.
So if this was my last route of the season, although it wasnt hard, the feeling of independence and complete self reliance you get with back roping something like this, on a big cliff, made it a memorable day.
Now all I need is a week in the alps as the icing on the cake!

2010-03-07T09:39:00.000-08:00

A few pictures of Dave on and off Harvest Crunch, taken by Clive Heblethwaite who was climbing Moss Ghyll.

At the semi rest after the first roof.

Making the hard move left under the second roof.

Off!

Landing!

2010-03-01T01:15:00.000-08:00

Went up to the Lakes yesterday, with Dave, Adam and Neil, to attempt Harvest Crunch on Scafell.
After the success of last week we were flying high, but after about an hours work on the route Dave managed some literal flying - backwards off the slab and over the roof - and although he got back up to his high point, the thought of more baffling blankness, whilst moving further away from the gear, saw us retreat.
The climbing up to the high point had looked spectacular. A steep slab/corner, buried in snow, led to the first roof and a good cam. Then a good torque on the lip, allowed a big span right to reach a crack, and with feet on small edges, more good hooks could be reached over the roof.
The next section was the crux. With good gear placed to his right, Dave hooked his left axe in the roof above his head and with feet smearing on the blank slab, reached across and cammed his right axe in an invisible hold in the roof. Next with feet scrabbling for purchase he made the big span left, to a thin crack and brought his right axe across to match. This all looked desperately powerful and the closest thing I can think of to compare it to, would be trying to climb Pincushion at Tremadog, with axes!
Anyway it wasn't to last much longer.
The torquing crack he was using would only hold, while pulling out and pressing with the feet, so while letting go with one axe and trying to place a cam the inevitable happened, feet skidded down the slab, axe ripped and Dave was upside down twenty feet lower!
Reading the description, it mentions pulling over the roof using ice, and although it doesn't say this is crucial ( it wasn't for the move over the roof) it would probably mean there would be ice on the slab and that would have made a massive difference.
With our tails firmly between our legs we thought we'd just romp up Moss Ghyll and call it a day, but that proved to be an under estimation.
The first pitch of the gully we'd climbed to reach Harvest Crunch, had proved to be quite tricky when climbed direct, involving overhanging chock stones - not what you expect on a grade four.
I climbed out of the cave, through the "window" and across the infamous Collie step and up a short snow slope to a choice of exits. the obvious challenge was the direct, Collier's chimney, this gets V5 so it can't be hard, can it?
The chimney slants up at about eighty degrees and the left wall was coated in a thin veneer of verglas, two chock stones are jammed, one at thirty feet - that I could see a nut behind - and one about twenty feet above that. There was no protection until the jammed nut so I squeezed myself in and tapped my way slowly upwards with difficulty. There was little room to swing the axe or kick the feet so the verglas had to be lightly chipped until you had an edge that you could pull on and it was with much relief that I clipped the wire. Above, more straight forward climbing, around the chock stones led to the upper gully and the top.
So Harvest Crunch. VII 9. I'd say hard for the grade compared to other sevens, but with very small cams the gear would be alright, and if the slab had just 5mm of ice it would have made the difference, so maybe just about right.

2010-02-23T02:19:00.000-08:00

Reflecting back on Erazerhead I find it interesting that the urge to get back out is less than it would be on an easier route. Its only been a couple of days but normally by now I'd be scanning the guide books looking for the next objective, obviously this fix was a bigger hit and like any other drug the effects are lasting longer.
The climb itself was interesting, in that most winter lines I've done have followed distinctive features, a corner or obvious crack. This line was more intricate revealing itself as you climbed.
A couple of thin hooks, gain a bit more height, then scrape away the snow, (before the arms give up) to reveal the next hold, then checking the wide angle view, looking for the bigger features to link together.
It made for exciting climbing with a high level of uncertainty and once I'd committed to the wall it was going to end, either with success or major air time due to the run outs.
This time it was success.

Erazerhead

2010-02-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

Yes Yes Yes, I finally did it!
After a lot of training and a few trips to the crag, things came good for Dave and me, and the line I've been dreaming about for most of the winter has fallen, but it didn't give up without a fight.
I walked in to Clogwyn Du on the 11th with Tom but the crag was completely black other than the ice streaks of pillar and Left hand so it would have to wait until I got back from a weeks skiing with the boys, hopefully the cold spell would last.
I arrived back on the saturday to fresh snow and made plans with Dave for the following day.
9.30 saw us at the base of the crag in perfect conditions, no excuses now I had to go for it.
I thinned the rack down to the bare minimum that I could get away with, no point carrying more weight than you can help.
Now that I'd committed in my mind I just wanted to get on with it, so waded up pillar in deep snow, set up the belay for Dave and started to look at the route.
A steep groove cuts up and slightly leftwards for about 6m, at the top of this you can stand in balance to place some good gear and survey the ground above. Then the real climbing starts, you move up, the wall pushing you out and suddenly you're off balance and the weight's on your arms, there's no gear so you move up a bit more, now the gears by your feet and the arms are starting to feel it. A flat topped spike with a small lip on is just good enough to take a weighted sling and I managed to place a dodgy BD pecker, then thin hooks on nothing edges allow you to get your foot on top of the spike with the sling on, above and slightly to the left is the crack you're aiming for, there's no more gear so just go for it. More thin moves and you can reach the crack, thankfully there's bomber hooks to start but its still pumpy, now reach up and hook the top of the crack and the good turf where the angle changes on to the slab.
At this point with both arms locked off and about 8m to my last gear I was starting to worry.
After having climbed the hard ground below was I going to fail at an unclimbable slab and take a massive lob? Scraping the slab and clearing snow, as far as I could reach, time was running out. I would have to lower my expectations of what I was looking for. Rescraping the slab the pick caught on a small edge, I brought my left axe up to match, and moved my feet up. Keeping dead still, hardly daring to breathe I lifted an axe and hooked a good turfy edge, somehow I was still on the wall, I let out a whoop, partly satisfaction but mainly relief. One more move up and a insitu peg is reached and with feet on the turfy edge you can at last stand in balance again.
I stood here for a while placing another peg and a wire while trying to work out the moves above.
A slabby ramp leads diagonally leftwards to a flared crack and the turfy ledges of the belay. Using small hooks for the axes you work your feet up until they are in the gear break then a long reach left gains a good hook at the base of the crack and a small wire placement.
The flared crack didnt provide any hooks so I lent to the left and with feet smearing on the right wall laybacked up to the turf above, and finally reached the belay.
Now I could relax, it was Dave's lead.
Above a groove leads via steep bridging, to a big flake, and with gear behind this, you move left to reach another groove, place a 0.5 cam and swing leftwards to get a foothold,the ground is now overhanging and you need to move quickly to reach the turf above, before the pump kicks in. Now the ground eases and a few short steps lead to a belay in the groove of Travesty.
All that remains is a quick romp up this pitch to the top and trip to the pub where the pints tasted fantastic!
Erazerhead VIII 8

2010-02-09T03:40:00.000-08:00

Walked in to Clogwyn Du on Sunday not expecting too much, maybe take some photos of the crag to see if the summer line of Hebinwi would go in winter.
As we approached the predictably black cliff I was pleasantly surprised to see a line of ice running the full height of Clogwyn Du left hand, including what looked like a direct finish.
Another team were not far behind, so we got our skates on, (or should that be crampons) and leaving one rope in the bag, quickly got ourselves established in the gully. I moved up onto the first pitch which soon becomes interesting, a rock rib splits the gully providing good hooks for the right axe, while the left uses the ice on the wall. Above, the gully turns into a narrow chimney and after placing some gear thin moves left lead to the ice. It was running with water but it seamed to be solid enough and six metres at about eighty degrees gets you to the belay.
Dave led the next pitch up to the chimney of the direct finish, another team were established at the stance so he took a hanging belay in the bottom of the chimney as he didn't seem to keen on the ice above.
This next section was really good fun, made more exciting by not having any ice screws.
I moved up placed a rock 3 in a icy crack as psychological protection and moved up using the thin ice on the left, another rock 6 on the right, then delicately commit to the blobs of ice and move up and left around an ice chandelier and on to easy ground.
Dave topped out and told me both pieces of gear came out!
Glad I didn't know when it mattered!
After leaving the gear at the top we descended back to the base of the crag to get photos of Hebinwi (will it go in winter? we'll have to wait and see...) then climbed back up via Clogwyn Du right hand.
An unexpected good day out.