Burn The Desk

Brecons with WMC

2011-03-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

Jo and I headed down to meet the club at the Llangorse meet a couple of weekends ago with a bunch of beer and a bottle of wine ready for the obligatory drinking. We didn't arrive until around 8pm ish and proceeded to crack open some ales. I've not really played dominoes with the club but sat and had a few games and enjoyed it - despite not being able to hold my dommies like a "mon"! Jo, Geordie and I stayed up drinking until about 1pm ish. Nice prep for a day out on the hill!

We got up and out around 9am, feeling a bit rough but with a belly full of porridge for a day out on the hill. We'd got a route planned which I'd made a GPX for. We drove through Brecon and on for about 30 mins to Glyntawe and set out, it was a beautiful day.

After a short steep pull we were up to the ridge of Fan Hir, this was the majority of the height gain for the day and the views were cracking.

Me on the ridge to Fan Hir

We carried on along the ridge, enjoying the views. With a small down and up we were on the summit of Fan Brycheiniog with a trig point (if memory serves me right).

Jo at the trig of Fan Brycheiniog

We stopped for a spot of lunch and then started up to the final summit of the ridge; Bannau Sir Gaer, for the most spectular view of the day above Llyn-y-Fan which has a bothy on its shore.

Jo above Llyn-y-fan

At this point we deviated from the beaten track to head for the final summit of the day; Garreg Las. This is the great thing with bagging hills, it often takes you to places you wouldn't normally go. The three hills we did previously would seem like an obvious route and Garreg Las is out of the way and over rougher ground with a poorly defined path. We didn't really try and get onto the col between Garreg Las and Carreg yr Ogof, instead opting for a direct line to the stone shelters at the summit.

Jo and I in the shelter on the summit of Garreg Las

We dropped back down onto the col and then over Esgair Ddu and down the other side and crossed the stream, from here on there were loads of swallow holes and a pot hole - if it hadn't been getting late I would like to have looked for it. After a short pull over the small hill of Banwen Gwyn we skirted around Disgwylfa to drop down to the Campsite and a short walk back car, we just got back as the light was fading.

I was pretty zonked after not having a full day in the hills for ages. We walked down from the farm we were staying at to Llangorse for some grub, where Jason a new guy to the WMC was on a blind date - much to the mocking of some of the guys in the club. He had a smile on his face so I guess it was going well.... We stayed for a quick drink and had a Pendryn before walking back. We drank the rest of the booze and got some kip.

The next day we rolled out of bed at 9am and thought about going for a walk, or maybe climbing at the wall in the accommodation but apparently you needed to join and therefore it was quick steep in cost! We had a look and it looked quite sweet. We hatched a plan to head back via Church Stretton as I kept promising to show Jo the Shropshire Hills every time we were over. We had a spot of food at the top of the burway as a nice way to end the weekend.

Since then I've been running more and climbing every tuesday. I also went along to meet some of the guys at the bowline climbing club at their AGM. I got a couple of numbers for some of the guys and hope to do some running and climbing with them this year now meeting the WMC guys is so difficult in the week.

WMC Scotland 2011

2011-03-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

With crap (by which I mean no) preparation and a little trepidation I set off for the 2011 WMC Scotland meet. The blog post is a little late as I've had a lot going on and no internet connection at home but I'm all up and running now so here is what I can recall!

Day 1 - Ring of Steall

I decided to go out on my todd for this one. I hadn't been out for a while so I wanted to go at my own pace and over the past 6 months I've had a lot on so time on my own to relax seemed the order of the day. I got up and drove down Glen Nevis and parked up. After a short walk the beautiful Steall falls came into view.

Steall Falls

I had fun crossing the wire bridge and made my way past Steall falls and up the track before it dissapeared under snow and avalanche debris. I found it tough going to be honest and as I got up to a gully I thought I'd climb up that. A bit stupid really as a) the snow wasn't in good condition, b) I was on my own and c) the Ring of Steall is hard enough as it is without mucking around. All that said I was there for the snow and it was good fun, even if a little sketchy at points because it got quite steep on powdery snow :S

Wire Bridge

View up to An Gearanach

I slowed down after getting up and finally plodded up to the top of An Gearanach, by this point it got bloody cold and windy. I really started buzzing as I got out on the ridge, it was real Scottish weather. It is what I love about mountaineering and being alone really added to it. Rather stupidly I'd got my phone in my map case which was around my neck and under my arm, because of the strong winds it kept smacking me in the face so I decided to stop and take it off. I think by this point I'd made it An Garbhanach. As I took the map case off the wind whipped my case off and over the edge of the ridge. I looked over the edge and could see it perched on the edge of a steep drop.

Me on the ridge

I was really annoyed but I'd only just paid £150 excess for a lost phone and I didn't want to lose it and decided if I took my time I'd be ok. I climbed down making sure everything was bomber planted and then scampered back up to get my pole. I fully extended it and climbed back down. It wouldn't reach and I tried to get lower but my cramps where on a rocky slab and I was really worried. I planted my axe really good and got my feet as good as I could and leaned down. Fully stretched I managed to get the the map case strap around the pole and scampered back up. I was pretty sketched out after that and running late with visibility of just a few feet I decided to turn back. All in all a good first day though.

View on the way back down

Day 2 - Anonach Mor

After chatting with a few guys in the Chalet I agreed to try Right Twin with two guys from the club. We got the ski lift up and then started walking around the Aonach an Nid. It was snowing and we were breaking trail (at least the other Dan was). I found it really hard going, it didn't help that I managed to fall into a rabbit hole and twist my knee although this didn't become noticeable until coming down. As we got near the first chairlift we stopped to put our crampons on.

Me getting geared up

We carried on the next cable car and a combination of the snow conditions, my fitness and the other guys lack of experience was playing on my mind. As we got up a guide was doing skills with a couple of ladies and stated he thought there was a good chance of avalanche. We ate some food and chatted before climbing up onto the ridge overlooking the crag where Right Twin (II) is. It was a complete white out but the cloud broke slightly for a few seconds while I had the camera in my hands.

East face of Aonach Mor

The top of the col was quite corniced but I could see a gap and decided that we'd try and get through that and on to the summit. I decided to put my googles on which was a good idea. We decided to eat a little food before setting off.

Me on the ridge

We walked up and it slowly steepened until we were using one axe daggering and using our hand for support. I was having a job kicking steps because the snow was soft and as we went into the most recessed part the spindrift had gathered which made it difficult to get purchase.

Dan Box topping out

Me on the summit of Aonach Mor with Carn Mor Dearg in the distance

We walked back down following the ski routes. By this point my knee was pretty sore from the rabbit hole earlier and I was feeling the strain of two days in the hills. I was glad to get back to the ski centre and get down. A nice day out though, even without the route. Apparently the place to be was the west face, but still a good day out!

Day 3 to 5 - Tatting around

The next day I was pretty achey and decided to head to Fort William to the leisure club for a soak and relax. It was my turn to cook so I did venison in red wine with a gorgonzola scone and roast spuds which worked out well!

The next day the weather was aweful so I headed to the Ice Factor. Nobody was up for climbing on the indoor ice so I did some bouldering. I don't know why, maybe confidence but I didn't fancy doing the routes. After a couple of hours I was pumped!

The day after I stayed in and feeling crappy from lack of fitness decided to go for a run behind the chalets. I did 5 miles with just under 1100ft of ascent. Not too bad!

Day 6 - Stob Coire Raineach (Buachaille Etive Beag)

On the final day I wanted to bag another Munro and decided to get an easy one under my belt. Although I had the option to do Stob Dubh too if I felt like it. Me and Dan Box set off and again my legs felt like lead, even though I had a tiny sack on (with no crampons in it). As we made it up the weather turned grim and we got blasted with hailstones. I was wishing I'd made some room for them in my sack! By the time we got back to the col between Raineach and Stob Dubh I was soaked and cold and given the strength of the wind wussed out going over the ridge to Stob Dubh.

Me on the summit of Stob Coire Raineach getting blasted by hailstones

We ended up back at Ice Factor for a coffee before going home to get changed. I've left out most of the social stuff and there was plenty all week but we ended up in the Clachaig Inn for tea. I had a venison burger and loads of beer which was then swilled down with Whisky at the pub near the chalets. I didn't get to bed until at least 2:30am and I was pretty rough for the drive home!

All in all a good week but more for relaxing and refocusing as I was dissapointed with my fitness. I really need to get on this!

Rick The Hitman "Fatton"

2010-12-16T02:09:00.000-08:00

I won't make this a long one, but since the alps I've gotten fat. Why? A couple of reasons but the main one being work. I'm addressing this now and I'm thirsty for getting back to good nick. The last "bout" of training saw me pushing my speed and thus my confidence in my ability to run 7-7:30 minute miles is there. It's just a case of grinding through it.

I tinkered with a few runs over the past few weeks but I think I'm getting back into a habit which is good. Sadly I've not been able to get back into the climbing yet, I've been once since the alps and my weight and decreased grip were depressing. I've moved home so I need to suss out the new wall. I also need to get some routes sorted around where I live.

I'm off to do an LDWA event on the weekend, I know its Christmas and a bad time to start, but the truth is there is no bad time :)

I'll do a post next week with info on how the LDWA event goes, I'll only be walking this time but I'll be back to running them soon.

Hopefully I will be in good nick before the next bout of Winter comes and/or for February when I'm off to Scotland with the WMC. Speaking of which I'm thinking about joining another club local to my new place so I can get some climbing partners. Maybe a bit of running and bouldering first so I don't embarrass myself :s

Alps 2010 - Best of the Rest

2010-08-08T05:34:00.000-07:00

I didn't manage to get up to the Col du Midi the following day as the weather came in. I was pretty concerned with the amount of precipitation that I wouldn't be able to find the gear. I went up alone and the ridge had some powder on it which made it easier for me (I also used one of my poles which helped too). As a result of the new snow the crevasses had been covered on the bank down to the col. I refused the offer of roping up with two lads also on a retrieval mission and steamed down in the style you run down scree. I stopped a couple of feet short of a covered crevasse, that would of made me look like a bit of a plonker after refusing the offer to tie in! All the tents under the Cosmiques Hut were gone and I was worried I'd never find the gear. The deep holes were just a couple of inches raised lump! I started digging in one site but gave up and moved to another. After digging down a couple of feet I found Chris's bag and proceeded to dig until I had all the gear. Going back up the ridge was more unnerving in contemplation that actually doing it. I had to step across to let 2 teams of 3 roped up people passed. It's always nicer going up! I got down and Chris had the gear packed up so I booked the ferry and we got on our way. After dropping Chris off at St Albans I drove back to Telford and made it back just after 4am!

I've been very busy at work this week so I've not gotten around to putting up the best of the photos from my compact camera (I forgot to take the cable to Chamonix and couldn't get hold of one there). Without further ado....

Cosmiques Arete

View from the ice cave exit to the Vallee Blanche

Wider initial part of the ridge to the Vallee Blanche

Steeper, narrower corner on the ridge - gives a good sense for the exposure!

Me posing on Cosmiques Arete

The largest of the Gendarmes

Chris and I under the crux

Me waiting to bring up Chris on the short crux pitch

The narrow section after the crux (I squeezed down it!)

Chris on the steeper chimney final section

Albert Premier Hut

Chris freezing on the chairlift, looks like Wales!

Me in a crevasse :)

Looking down the crevasse

Video of me in the crevasse on the Glacier du Tour

Chris starting out on the Glacier du Tour for Tete Blanche (~5am)

Chris seconding the Col du Tour

Chris in the Col du Tour

Since I've been back I've been busy with work and I've made a conscious decision to have a week off an physical activities as I've been at it hard for around 9 months! This week I've been over indulging in food quantity and quality as well as alcohol. I've been itching to get back into it but resisted as I think a break is a good thing. I've got some more big goals in my mind and I'll put these up and my training ideas for the foreseeable future soon.

Alps 2010 - Mont Blanc (Day 12 & 13)

2010-07-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

We had kind of settled on doing the Three Monts route to the summit of Mont Blanc. This involves climbing to the shoulder (a few metres short of the summit around 4100m) of Mont Blanc du Tacul (4248m) before dropping into the Col Maudit (4035m) and then climbing the north face of Mont Maudit (4465m) to the Col du Mont Maudit (4345m), on the other side of this is the Col de Brenva (4303m) which then leads via the Mer de la Cote and Plateau du Petits Rochers Rouge (around 4550m) to the summit of Mont Blanc (4808m). We had decided this on the basis that the Grand Colouir on the Aiguille du Gouter (normal/ordinary route) was suffering from bad rock fall, although we had left it in mind that we could descend this way depending on how things panned out. We had originally decided that we would get up at 5am and get the first cable car to the Aiguille du Midi and start the route in the morning, which apparently is a valid option although upon hearing that the weather wouldn't be good in the afternoon we decided to make a last minute dash and bivi on the Vallee Blanche. We only just made it!

You can just make out the Aiguille du Midi hiding in the clouds, from the Plan de Aiguille Station (half way)

We reached the Midi station just before closing and went in the cafe for some last minute grub. While I ran to get the tickets for the cable car Chris had got some bread and ham to take onto the Vallee Blanche for breakfast/tea. We left it a little while and I became a bit overwhelmed with nerves as the route is quite grand, most of it above 4000m and I was still worried about the acclimbatisation issue of my last trip. We headed down from the Midi station down the dreaded snow slope, I really hate this slope, one false move and your a goner! When I get my photos off the other camera you'll see what I mean! We headed to the Cosmiques Hut as it has a reputation for being one of the nicest in the Mont Blanc Massif, but after enquiring they were full so we headed down with all the other dossers on the Vallee Blanche and got digging a snow pit with a wall around it to keep the wind at bay.

Bivouac on the Vallee Blanche

We settled into the bivi gear and got the bread and ham on the go. After a bit of music to calm my nerves I got my head down for the sum total of 2 hours! I woke up and couldn't get to sleep, my chest felt strange and I kept wanting to sit up. I think paranoia! I looked behind me and there was already a party nearing the summit of the Tacul so I asked Chris if he was asleep and suggested we cracked on.

Head torches stream out of the Cosmiques Hut under the Milky Way

4 parties (head torches) visible on the North Face of the Tacul

So we got too it. Whilst I took along the camera there wasn't a lot of opportunity to stop and get it out as we were more concerned with cracking on and getting the route done. The reason I was worried the previous day is I'd noticed a number of large crevasses on the face and thought (and had read) that the Col du Mont Maudit was steep and possibly ice. I would normally jump at this but at nearly 4500m, not a place for things to go wrong! I have an immense amount of respect for this mountain range. We trundled across the Col du Midi to the foot of the Tacul and started up it. We seemed to be making good progress, we got overtook by a couple of groups but were generally holding our own for pace. As the slope started to level out I knew the massive crevasse I'd spied would be looming. And how to cross this 2-3m beast? With an aluminum ladder that had frozen in place of course! I cracked on and got over it ok and Chris followed. We were roped up and had a very minimal rack (ice screw, prussiks, belay plate and a medium sling) and were short roped. Nothing went wrong and we proceeded to another crevasse higher up which involved bringing your boot up to hip height, swinging your axe and getting up it! There were a couple of smaller crevasses on the face but we just stepped over or around these. The snow was quite powdery and with the small army moving up was getting mushed up. I was pleased when we reached Col Maudit and we stopped to take on a little food.

Climbers preparing under Maudit, you can see the head torches on the North Face, the highest are at the Col du Mont Maudit

We got stuck into Maudit which felt a bit steeper but passed well enough until we hit the bottleneck of the Col du Mont Maudit. I was quite surprised by this because although the 3 Monts Traverse is harder than the Gouter Route its still done by Joe Public after a mountain experience. I wasn't expecting 30m of ice at 50 degrees! There were fixed ropes from about 5-10m but the stream of people dinner plating ice meant I was hit on the helmet by about 3 lumps of ice the size of a big fist! Not what you want when your climbing with no protection other than crampons, one axe and another hand clinging to a rope! I'd started the climb with just my thinish Marmot gloves and as I neared the Col I was frozen to the bone! I was also greeted by a man frantically trying to reattach a crampon to the foot of a woman who was looking very nervous at the top of the ice pitch! I wasn't in a good position and spied some ice and rock to the right of her and decided to rock up this. A bit silly perhaps in retrospect with no protection but great fun, just make sure you axe and feet are placed well! I bought up a nervous looking Chris on a spike belay to see the Mer de la Cote. At this point I was so cold it was untrue, the wind picked up and I was colder than I've ever been! I got the Dachsteins out and put those over my Marmot gloves. We walked over dithering and I could see the summit of Mont Blanc briefly and knew we still had a way to go. We started up the final face of Mont Blanc and made it to the Plateau Petits Rochers Rouge after what seemed like an eternity! There was still more to go, it never seemed to end and breathing is hard at nearly 5000m no matter how well acclimbatised you are! Incidently my plan this time worked a treat and I didn't feel ill in the slightest :) After some more slogging, and some more freezing all the way (and I mean freezing, it was a white out with winds strong enough to blow you over and my eyelashes had big lumps of ice on them) we finally made it. It was really mentally draining, I just wanted to get in a sauna! We stayed for a while on the summit under the face to shelter us from the wind but it was still soooooo cold!

Chris and I on the summit of Mont Blanc

Me at the summit of Mont Blanc (I think this pic gives a better feeling for what it was like - you can see some climbers coming on to the summit ridge)

Well as you can see it was cold, and the view wasn't up to much and after climbing ladders over crevasses and 50 degree ice with no protection we didn't fancy reversing the route and since we knew the Gouter route we thought we'd chance the stone fall! We headed back over Bosses Ridge which was less fierce than I thought it might be, although you still wouldn't want to fall off it! This lead us to the Vallot hut which whilst still in white out conditions was out of the wind. Chris took a photo of my verglassed face!

Me cold and icy!

After this we followed tracks down to find the Dome du Gouter and back to familar territory and visibility! It's funny how weather in the mountains works, and how the forecasts often don't! We stopped off at the Gouter hut which is still a dump but it appears they have started building the new one which will be interesting, although I'm not sure what routes I'd want to do that end up there? Bionassay Ridge maybe? We stayed and Chris ate an omelet and I wolfed down some cake bar things I'd took along. We got on the Aiguille du Gouter which is a horrible route full of loose stone. 4 people died last week in a single incident I believe. The problem is as the snow melts it defrosts the rocks and they come flying down something called the Grand Colouir. I saw a load at the start and had to wait for 10 minutes before making a frentic dash! Chris was waiting for me at the bottom as I bumped into a brit guide I'd met earlier in the week and got chatting. As we prepared to move off we heard a load of frentic shouting in Spanish, as we looked up there was a boulder the size of a breeze block hurtling down. I went to leg it and nearly ran in front of it! As if the climbing weren't frantic enough! We made it down to the Nig d'Aigle and got suckered into a train trip, cable car and bus journey that seemed to last for ever when all you want to do is put down your sack, take off your boots and rest your achy bones! The bivi gear is still in the snow ditch, the weather crap now so I'll be heading up tomorrow to collect!

Alps 2010 - North Face of Tete Blanche (Day 9)

2010-07-26T04:38:00.000-07:00

After quite a comfortable nights sleep I was raring to go at 4am. We had been told by everyone (the mountain office, guides and hut) that Tete Blanche (3429m) north face was not in condition because of the massive bergshrund and thin conditions. I wanted to see for myself! Dan and Tariq were up in the hut too, they were making an early start for the Aiguille du Tour, although I'm not sure which summit.

Pre dawn start, overlooking the hut and Tour Glacier

We dropped from the hut straight onto the glacier and roped up although we should of carried on along the ridge to gain the glacier so as to not have to regain the height. The walk wasn't too bad we drudged up one hill to the Signal Reily and turned back towards the Aiguille du Tour. A bit more walking saw us at the foot of the Col Superior du Tour.

Foot of Col Superior du Tour

We carried on as if to follow the ordinary route up Tete Blanche but then peeled off up the glacier to hit the Col du Tour. Because of the weather it was a little mixed route which was good fun. We moved together on it mostly although about half way up I put a sling on a spike to secure Chris.

Col du Tour just left of centre, see people on top right for perspective!

As we gained the top of the col we were greeted with the amazing view of the Plateau du Trient and Switzerland. To the right we could see the bad conditions on the Tete Blanche North Face.

Chris in front of the North Face of Tete Blanche, overlooking the Plateau du Trient

We dropped down onto the Plateau du Trient which is roughly level with the Col du Tour and walked along towards the north face. If you look carefully at the photo above you can see a colouir on the right hand side of the face. We moved along to this and I decided we should give it a go to gain the west ridge. At first the snow was quite good neve but this meant moving around in the colouir a little to find the best snow/ice.

Chris in the colouir to the right of the north face of Tete Blanche

At the top of the colouir I could of continued up, over rock but given we had no gear and the snow was dodgy I didn't fancy it, or traverse right over a boulder with soft snow which I didn't fancy either! I tried to climb the rock but because of the heat it was all soft and scree was coming away in my hand. I decided to hook my axes on the rock and move quickly over the soft snow. I was glad to reach the shoulder where I bought up Chris. At this point I saw some climbers crossing the bergshrund and thought I would join the North Face. Chris wasn't so keen on the idea so we untied from the rope and Chris took it up the ridge to the summit and I soloed the face. For the most part it was fairly good condition but there was a couple of occasions when I was scratching around in powder and just had to kick my feet hard and hope! As I got further to the top the snow turned to ice and the axe placements became more solid but the angle became more vertical, I'm guessing 60 degrees! Again it was slightly sketchy because the top was loose scree and boulders. I used my hands at the top, placing my axes behind a rock first and then moving. I was pretty chuffed to make the summit.

Looking down the North Face of Tete Blanche from the summit. You can see the other party, the bergshrund below them and my tracks heading out from the shoulder

There were a few more rocks to scramble over to get to the summit where I met Chris and we spent a long time relaxing on the summit in the sun. After about an hour we decided that we couldn't be bothered with the plod up Petite Fourche which was just over the ridge, over the Col du Blanc.

Chris on the summit of Tete Blanche

After relaxing on the summit we decided to head across the Col du Blanc which can be used to abseil down in to the Swiss side and took some photos, it really is a massive wall of ice - not something you'd want to fall down but just a 30m abseil then you can descend safely with crampons.

Me above the Col du Blanc with Petite Fourche behind

We followed the normal route of Tete Blanche back and got back in plenty of time. We had some food and went for a snooze before being woken up for the main meal. Fish soup! Not just any fish either! Tinned fish! Blimey I don't know how I managed a bowlful! It was duck and beans for the main course though so not all bad. We were all tucked up in bed ready for kip by 8pm.

Alps 2010 - Albert Premier Hut (Day 8)

2010-07-26T03:25:00.000-07:00

After Cosmiques we'd been romping around for a few days and were knackered so we slept until late and mostly ate all day. The weather forecast for the next day had been bad and the heavens opened Thursday night and thunderstorms continued for most of the night, friday morning with it reducing to just heavy rain in the afternoon. It gave us chance to have a mooch around Chamonix.

We got up fairly late on Saturday morning and packed the bags with a full trad (6 cams & full set of nuts) and ice rack (7 screws) but had places and food booked in the Albert Premier hut. The bags were still heavy as we had two technical axes this time and again we both lugged a 60m rope each. We headed down from the campsite to the train station at Les Praz, we headed on the train to Le Tour were we first lugged up a hill and then jumped on the cable car to Charamillion and then further up on the ski lift to Balme. Its bloody cold on the ski lift in just a t-shirt :) I couldn't find any cables to connect up my compact camera and didn't want to waste 30 euros on a card reader so my compact camera pictures will have to wait unfortunately!

The path after the ski lift looked more like Wales than the Alps, I guess because of the hot summer!

Me on the path to the Albert Premier Hut

After some more drudging along a fairly easy path, much easier than the Envers hut we turned a corner to gain a view of the Tour Glacier. We had previously been able to see just the tip from down in Le Tour. We chatted to a french couple and exchanged photos.

Chris and I on the path to Albert Premier Hut with the Tour Glacier behind

A little more walking with a couple of sections of iron (which aren't really needed) and we could see the moraine which led up to the Albert Premier Hut with the Aiguille du Chardonnet behind. We had planned to do the Migot Spur on the Chardonnet but had been told it wasn't in condition, we still took the gear just in case the cold snap had bought it back into condition.

Albert Premier Hut on the left, Tour Glacier and the Aiguille du Chardonnet behind

The Albert Premier Hut is not the nicest place in the world. French alpine huts aren't reknown for their cleanliness and given that most of the toilet are a hole in the ground (or those damn porcelain squat jobbies) this was no different. We arrived around 5:30pm and as dinner wasn't until 7:10pm we decided to sort the gear out and get out on the glacier with the screws and axes. We put in 4 or 5 screws and Chris lowered me on to a ledge in a crevasse which I guess was around 15-20m deep, although the crevasse fell away deeper to the left and right of me (I've got some pics and a little video on the compact, I'll put them up when I get home) I climbed out quickly and we scampered back for tea. We were in bed early for a 4am start on Tete Blanche and Petite Fourche.

Alps 2010 - Cosmiques Arete (Day 5)

2010-07-22T12:19:00.001-07:00

We woke up at 5am ready to jump in the car and get to the Aiguille du Midi cable car station, we ate breakfast and jumped in the car but it wouldn't start. This was worrying for a couple of big reasons, firstly because we would miss the first cable car to the Aiguille du Midi and secondly and more importantly for getting home! Chris was sure it was because his keyfob had ran out of battery it was the immobiliser so we headed off on foot for the 20 mins or so walk to the station. We got on the lift at about 7am, an hour later than we had planned but still in good time. The cable car is a funny ride, it kind of judders as it reaches the supports and then swings back and forth and it passes although it all feels really smooth. I took a load of photos with mainly my compact camera but also had my DSLR although I forgot the cable for my compact so I can only put up photos from the big camera at the moment.

The steep snow slope as seen when exiting the cable car

The view from the bridge across to the main section of the station is amazing and the drops are sheer! You follow the signs down to the exit to the Vallee Blanche which leads you into an ice tunnel where you put your crampons on and prepare for the mega exposed descent down onto the Vallee Blanche. You can see in the photo above some climbers descending. The snow was well trod but even at about 8am it was still a bit slushy on top, I guess from the traffic, it made for a nervous descent. I'm heading into Chamonix tomorrow so I'll try and get a cable and upload some more pics showing the ice tunnel and taken from the steep slope.

Me with the steep, exposed snow slope and Midi station behind

Chris looking onto the Valle Blanche

We traversed slowly under the face of the Aiguille du Midi to the Abri Simmond Hut with the Cosmiques hut a little further away. We took off our crampons as the route looked quite dry. Here we met a trainee doctor (Dan) and an emergency doctor who had a special interest in high altitude medicine (Tariq) from the UK, nice company in the circumstance! We chatted a while at the bottom of the route while we geared up.

Me with the start of the route behind

The first section was about Diff level climbing and fairly easy. We moved together hooking the rope around spikes where possible. It wasn't long before we had to go under a the Gerdarme on the right and head slightly up for the first abseil. By this point we had to queue and opted to abseil off a rock spike rather than the anchor point. In fairness you could probably down climb the this bit if you were careful.

Chris on the first abseil

After this abseil we had to queue for quite a while to get onto the next abseil which was much longer and definitely couldn't be down climbed. There are two double bolted anchors which you need to work your way along to and then you drop into free space. By the time you reached good solid ground you were nearly at the end of our rope so 30m in total. I had a nervous moment as I swang out into space to realise I hadn't unclipped my sling which I had for security whilst getting on the abseil! I had to pull up a couple times and get some rope through my belay plate for the guy above to unclip! I think I'd of been sweating a bit and reaching for my other prussik if there hadn't been someone behind!

The queue for the second abseil

After this we worked up a bit more and around another big column and down to where we saw the crux, a 4b slab. I'm not sure if the 4b takes into account the fact it looks as though someone has chipped away some space for your feet. There is a bolt about half way up the crack which I clipped. As I pulled up and got my feet sorted I put in a cam before moving my boot into the crack and placing a cam above. It was still fairly interesting in big boots! I think I'll practice this kind of stuff more in wales before next time! I bought up Chris and then moved down a thin crack before wedging up and out, this seemed like the right thing at the time but Chris jumped straight onto it which might of been better but less protected for me leading. We then ended up on a ledge where Chris lowered me down and then down climbed. We moved over too far to the left and I did an exposed bridge over the sheer drop of the face! I was feeling good by this point and moving well but as I bought Chris up I decided to then traverse up and backwards through a gap. As I got in the gap the flake I was standing/pulling on started rocking back and forth which made for a nervous moment! I ended up doing another move clipping and in-situ cam before bringing Chris up and finding the normally gully. After this I stepped out to see the terrace and some people applauding which was great. I climbed across and ended up doing an exposed bridge and swing across the face again to end up at the foot of the ladder which the spectators seemed to appreciate! I bought Chris over and started up the ladder. It looked pretty rickerty so I used two slings with wiregates just in case.

Chris and I on the terrace

As we jumped onto the platform for a heroes welcome we saw Dan and Tariq coming over, I took some photos of them and we waited for them to make the terrace. After shaking hands we went to the cafe which was rammed and hot! I had a butty and crepe and a bottle of coke and we exchanged email addresses before leaving for the cable car. On the staircase I saw Edward from Alien rock (a friend of Grahams) who had just done the Three Monts Traverse for Mont Blanc. He looked knackered, like we will next week!

Dan belaying Tariq over the last part of the ridge to the ladder, I went further right around the flake.

If I can get a lead tomorrow for my compact camera I'll get some of the 'action' shots out where I couldn't pull out the DSLR for time/space/balance reasons :)

Alps 2010 - Envers Hut Crag (Day 4)

2010-07-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

After a relatively long lie in of 7:30am we got up for breakfast, we had granola and nutty bread with jam swilled down with some tea and orange juice. We sat around outside for a while before going down to the rocks at the front of the crag. We went onto the second tier and I spied a line of bolts, I couldn't make out the name of the routes from the topo in the book. It looked fairly good, not too easy or hard so I geared up and got started. The easiest line in the book was 4b on this tier and this felt much easier but a different style of climbing on slabs with delicate finger work and some big step ups where leg flags helped. I made short work of the first pitch.

Me leading the first pitch

I bought up Chris in the middle of the rope and we tied the big boots and sack onto the end of each of the ropes. Chris came up to the bottom of the first tier and I hauled the boots and sack up. I got ready to get on the second pitch which had a tricky undercutting start but then got much easier, I'd say about the standard of a Diff. I got up it pretty quite and clipped the bolt by the hut and bought up Chris.

Me bringing up Chris on the second pitch

Me at the second belay

After this we climbed the short ladder back onto the terrace of the hut and chilled out and drank some more water. One thing I've not mentioned already is that at this altitude and in this heat its easy to get dehydrated. I sweat a lot so its really important for me to drink plenty and I use Nuun tablets to replace lost salts. I ate the cake I'd save from breakfast and we slowly packed up to descend back to the campsite.

Chris on the path to the ladders to rejoin the Mer de Glace, Aiguille Rouge in the distance

Me at the start of the steeper ladders to regain the Mer de Glace

After getting down the steeper lower 100m or so of ladders down to the Mer de Glace we roped up again, this time with Chris on the sharp end of the rope. We headed back over the crevasses, this time more to the left than on the way up.

Chris in between crevasses on the Mer de Glace

The drudge up the ladders was hard work and I was blowing heavy. I think again it might of been because of dehydration as my bladder pack ran out some time earlier. We were rushing up them though, it was nice to get to the top and finally see the station. The queue was massive but we were soon(ish) on the train and back to Chamonix. I bought a melon to eat in the train station while waiting to go back to Les Praz where the campsite is situated. It was nice to get some proper fruit and its so much tastier than back home. I messed around on my laptop until about 10pm trying to get some stuff on the blog but the wifi kept cutting out but eventually gave up and got my sack ready for an early start (5am) on Cosmiques Arete. I'll post that up soon :)

Alps 2010 - Aiguille du Roc (Day 3)

2010-07-22T06:14:00.000-07:00

I awoke around 7am and got some rice down my neck. We had been looking in the Envers de Aiguille guide book for an easy route and had planned to do the Grepon Mer de Glace (D) but at 850m it was a long route and given our lack of acclimatisation and the difficult of route finding and committing nature of the route we decided to rethink our plans and headed out of the hut to the left down a steep snow slope and up towards the lower half of the Aiguille du Roc to do the easiest route in the book - Sonam (D Fr 5b). We walked up the steep snow slope pictured below, although you can't see the route we did (it's slightly more to the left) you can see two climbers in the top left which give a good sense of scale.

Snow slope leading to the foot of the Aiguille du Roc (top left)

After stepping over a couple of crevasses on the soft snow we got to the foot of the climb which required a step over a bergshrund of about 2ft wide to get onto the route. The bergshrung seemed bottomless. I think we were both worried that the route seemed a lot harder than a 4b but I psyched myself up and told Chris to stop worrying (or at least keep it to himself) and I got my rock boots on. Rock boots aren't the best thing to be walking around in on ice and snow and I took my axe and tentatively walked up the snow slope leading to the bergshrund and planted my axe. I hopped over and started the route. I was desperate to try and get as much gear in as possible as decking into a crevasse wouldn't be fun. Climbing up something of this scale is simply immense. The route Sonam is 6 pitches long, the first I'd say was about 30-35m. I made fairly good progress up the side and into a crack placing a few nuts and finding one in-situ nut. I then had to traverse out past a piton about half way up into the central crack. At this point it all got a lot more difficult. There was very little for your hands and feet! I managed to get up a little higher before placing a cam and laying back (and pulling a little on it) to place another one. This was so much harder than a 4c, and the book said there was no need for gear as it was fully bolted, another sign we were off route. I put in another cam and pulled a bit because there was very little for feet and the layback crack started to bulge. I got a couple of nuts in to protect my precarious stance and 'manned up' before pulling over the bulge and scrabbled up to the belay bolt. I was pretty relieved!

Me leading the first pitch of what we thought was Sonam

I bought up Chris wedged in a small cave, it was nice to be out of the sun but a pretty uncomfortable hanging belay. I do enjoy belaying on multipitch routes as you can turn out away from the face and enjoy the view, and what a view! It's probably one of the things I enjoy about climbing the most. Chris came up and met me and then lead the next pitch which was easier technically but still reachy and with some committing step ups. There were alot more bolts on this pitch, perhaps the glacier had retreated leaving an extra pitch at the bottom? Chris made good progress but as I belayed him I noticed that my axe at the bottom had started to lean in towards the bergshrund as the heat of the midday sun melted the snow, I wasn't happy about having to travel the snow slope and crevasses on the way back without an axe and this put me on edge somewhat. Chris bought me up and we decided that with my axe where it was and the difficulty of the route we should abseil down. The next pitch looked fairly easy (VDiff/Severe) but we geared up and lowered off in one abseil. I was a bit nervous about this but Chris got down and I followed.

Me abseiling down the first pitch

We had a bit of a nervous moment as the rope snagged but we got it back and descended to the hut. We hung around outside absorbing the view until tea time, we ate at the hut this time. They serve good simple food which really fills the hole. For an extra 11 euros we had the option to sleep in the hut so we did. I think I slept better but earplugs are always a must!

The last of the light from the hut

I tried to stay up to wait for the stars to come out as I was keen to get a long exposure shot but I was too tried. I thought I might get some in the night if I needed the loo but I didn't really wake up properly and was in the middle top bunk so it wasn't so easy! I'll try and take one at altitude before I leave though! We planned to do some cragging on the rocks in front of the hut in the morning before descending down to Chamonix at around lunch time. This would help firm up our ideas about the grading!

Alps 2010 - Up to the Envers Hut (Day 1-2)

2010-07-22T04:29:00.000-07:00

I've just got back from a couple of nights in the mountains for a rest day so here is a catch up so far. Chris and I set off from Telford straight after work, heading to his aunty and uncle's house near St Albans. First thing Saturday morning we were up and heading towards Dover. The trip was ok, I think we arrived at Chamonix about 7:30pm having left at 5am. The drive is a long one with not much to do but read and play with the camera, a 10-20mm lens I hired especially for the trip. Its taken some awesome photos so far, despite being a pain to lug about and get out to take photos with.

Too much time in the car!

When we arrived at Chamonix we were ready to get the tent up and hit the hay so we could get out the next morning but as we arrived the campsite was fully booked. The Mer de Glace campsite is probably the best in Chamonix with easy access everywhere (you get a free rail ticket), good free showers, laundry facilities and free wi-fi :) After talking to the owners they told us to come back early the next day, so we scouted around looking for somewhere to doss. Chris found a chalet that was still being built but nearing the end of construction so we go the sleeping gear out and spent the night under the verandah. We were up early the next morning to try and get a space and found a the Dru peering at us through the clouds.

Le Dru through the clouds at 6am

I had to wait in a queue at the office until they opened at 7:30am, the lady at the campsite sorted us out with a pitch and we got the tent up sharpish. As soon as we had it up we packed our bags and headed back to Chamonix station to catch the Montenvers station up to the Montenvers Hotel at on the side of the Mer de Glace glacier. We met a Scottish lad called Graham who we got chatting to, he asked if he could rope up with us across the glacier.

Montenvers Train Station

This drops you off at around 1900m (around 900m gain from the town of Chamonix). We then headed down the via ferrata style ladders around 100m down on to the glacier. If your not good with heights, you wouldn't like this! There were also some ropes to descend hand over hand if you preferred. We took the 3 sections of rope at the bottom in preference to the ladders.

Chris on the via ferrata ladders from the Mer de Glace

As we got to the glacier we saw a marmot which was so tame you could of stroked it! Chris got up a personal with the little fellow :) Once on the glacier we walked for a little while before deciding to rope up. We didn't bother with crampons as the surface was quite soft because of the baking sun. I led across with Chris in the middle and Graham at the back. We marched across the glacier, jumping some crevasses and walking across a narrowish ice bridge (about 2ft). It was pretty good fun walking into the mountains along the glacier, and the fact that it was dry (no snow) meant it was fairly safe going.

Chris and Graham getting ready to rope up on the Mer de Glace

After following the glacier around a bend the crevasses worsened before it straighten out and the glacier got steeper. There is a large red arrow on the cliff face to the left hand side which marks the ladders, similar to those from the Montenvers. There is lots of loss boulders, scree and sand on the edge of the glacier which require good balance before getting to the foot of the ladders. Graham had a bit of a stumble which knocked down a lot of rubble, missing Chris lower down. There was then a very short slightly overhanging section of ladder.

Chris above the Mer de Glace on more via ferrata

After following the ladder to the top there was a winding path which we followed before another few shorter sections of iron steps and handles before finding the path again. By this point I'm not sure if it was altitude or heat or what but I was blowing a bit and the last winding section up to the hut was tough! There were plenty of marmots to keep me amused while taking a breather. My fitness hasn't counted for much and lugging up a heavy sack full of metal climbing, sleeping and cooking gear as well as food didn't make it any easier. The Envers hut at 2523m is worth it though, nice and clean with proper working toilets and some of the best food in the Alps I've had :) Talk about a room with a view....

Envers Hut (2523m) perched above the Mer de Glace

Chris on the terrace of the Envers Hut

We set up our bivi gear outside the hut against the stone wall, I was shattered and got off to sleep around 9pm I think. I only woke at about 2am to see some climbers leaving, one of which is in a Petzl Scottish winter climbing video (the one called Marshal?) see below.

The stars are so vivid at this height with no light pollution. I was too tired to take any pictures and went back to sleep. The half sleeping bag and belay jacket worked really well, so I was pleased with that.

ISCF Bouldering World Cup @ Sheffield

2010-07-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

Waiting for a build....

2010-07-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm conscious of the fact I haven't blogged for what seems a while, I'm at work waiting for my software to compile so I've got chance to put a few thoughts down. I've been feeling like my running has been lacking a little recently and I've been doing trad climbing more and hence not pushing myself as physically hard, this coupled with the fact that I feel like I've been eating too much (portions and red meat in BBQ's) and I've been feeling a little blue. I went to the AlpKit Big Shake Out as I mentioned in my previous blog and I intend to put some pics up from the the final of round 6 of the ISCF World Bouldering Comp later when I get chance. I drank quite a bit of booze (not getting hammered or anything but too much none the less) over the weekend and felt aweful early week with a bad stomach. I tried climbing at Ippikins with the club and did crap which got me down even more. I decided that I needed to kick it in to touch and did a duathlon in the gym. I was aiming for 10k run, 20k bike and 5km run but didn't have time so settled for 4.1 mile run, 10km bike and 5km run which I did in under 1:30 and blew the cobwebs away. I got cramp on the treadmill on the second running session but ran through it and since my calf has been a little tender but its nothing serious. I exercised the following lunchtime by doing a mile run, a mile cross train and a mile on the bike. Nothing serious but a good stretch. I then met Daz and his mate at Newport for some Bouldering which wasn't bad but I haven't progressed at all - I need to get on it a little more really.

I'm hoping to get some cardio of some form tonight, perhaps a run or swim but I've got some other things I need to do too. It's only a week until the Alps and after 2 hard days of training I don't feel quite so frumpy as after the weekend. Maybe it's in my head? I've been looking at the Ultra Running Man book which a friend lent me. It's getting me inspired again. I think I will start a weights program when I return from the Alps and get a finger board too. I also had a go on the AlpKit FigFours at the Cliffhanger festival and I'm definitately going to buy a pair when I return.

Alpkit FigFours

I've got plans to up my mileage (with a plan to run an ultra event hopefully - well trott). For now I can't look at any more Alps stuff, it's getting kind of boring - I just want to do it! Bored of pictures, stories, routes, books etc.

The compiles finished...... photos of the ISCF Bouldering Comp soon :)

Mind the birds!

2010-07-01T04:39:00.000-07:00

Neither Chris or I could climb on Tuesday as we both had less exciting but more pressing things to do but I managed to get a cracking run in at lunchtime. I was aiming to do a sub 50 minute 10k and jumped on the treadmill at lunchtime with a gradient of 3% and ramped the speed up to 7.8mph. I sustained this really well but really started to cook towards the end and had 3 short walks (literally a couple of steps), but by the time I was at 5 miles I was absolutely busting for the loo! I managed to get to 6 miles but couldn't risk the extra 0.2 miles and jumped off and ran to the loo. I managed 46:31 for 6 miles so I'm really chuffed. I think given a cooler day I could do 10k in less than 46 mins which would be excellent. I'll have to try that on a flatish road or grass circuit when it is cooler.

Anyway I picked up Chris from his house yesterday and we headed to Pontesford. There are some Peregrine Falcons nesting so the crag is heavily restricted. First off Chris lead Oak Tree Wall Direct (VDiff), between us we have a lot of gear now as my DMM Dragon cams arrived (I'm very pleased with them! £115 for a size 2,3 and 4 from http://www.theoutdoorshop.com which is quite a bargain :) Chris set off up the route with enough gear to free climb El Cap!

Chris leading Oak Tree Wall Direct (VDiff*)

I scampered up and got the gear out and was thinking about my next climb. I thought I'd like to try the HS 4a Eliminate G route but to be honest I wasn't really feeling it, it wasn't inspiring me. I got the iPhone out and looked at the topo from http://www.westmidlandsrock.co.uk/. Because of the restrictions on the wall due to the birds nesting I thought it would be best to go and have a go on the Pontesbury Needle which is at the bottom of the crag. There are two severe routes on it as well as a couple of moderates and a couple of E grades. I picked Hawthorn Crack (S 4a*). The climbing wasn't too bad once committed but it did take a little time to make sure I was confident about linking up the moves which in the end were fairly static. Because the crack runs up to the right you can push yourself back against the wall to find stability and in doing so and blindly pulling up the rope I ended up clipping the rope from below another piece of protection. I didn't realise this until after I'd finished the route, I think it would of still been effective but less than ideal as it would of put strain on two bits of gear in a kind of pulling fashion. I used mostly cams on the route (mainly because of ease of placement but you could get away with much less gear than what I took, in actual fact having a lot of gear in small places is a hinderance). I was pretty pleased to top out, it's a nice route but the first part is very broken and just a scramble - the crux is one move but well protected so nice for a step up in grade for VDiff leaders.

Me leading Hawthorn Crack (S 4a*), approaching the crack

Me leading Hawthorn Crack at the crux

Chris seconding, just reaching the crack

Chris seconding, pulling around the bulge

I'm off to the AlpKit Big Shake Out which runs along side the Cliffhanger festival in the Peak District over the weekend with my family (Kate, Grace and her mate) so I should get some photos to post of various outdoor activities including the World Bouldering Championship. I'm really looking forward to it and am hoping the weather is kind to us.

On a seperate note; all in all the cardio and climbing are in a good state so I'm hoping the Alps should go very smoothly in a couple of weeks time :) Here is a description of the route I'm most looking forward to attempting in the Alps on Tour Ronde (conditions/bottle permitting!). I think I have got everything I need now apart from a bit of tat for abseiling.

Bloody Roaches

2010-06-22T17:23:00.000-07:00

I had half a day off work today for my first visit to Roaches for my first taste of Gritstone. I got there about 4ish I think and found Daz, Allister and Emma on the route next to Valkyrie which looks even more impressive in reality than in any photos I've seen.

I after they finished I paired up with Daz and I led Yong (HVD 4a **) which felt ok for the grade once I was used to trusting the friction. I took Daz's and Chris's cams up so and placed about 5 I think.

Not sure what the guy is on but Yong (HVD 4a **) runs up the twin cracks from the bottom left corner of the picture

After this Daz and Allister went over to climb on Hen Cloud and whilst there are a few routes there I want to try (namely The Arete) I thought I'd stay with Emma and try something a bit more taxing and see what all this Gritstone business is all about. We headed over to do Ackit (HVS 5b **), struth what a route! It's a layback crack that goes around a buldge and then another tough crack to layback and get over. Emma got up to the bulge but didn't have enough smaller cams and after a few good goes and a fall she had enough. We set up a top rope and I tried it. I finished it but what an absolute strain, I didn't make it look elegant in the slightest but what a cracking route and a great introduction to Grit, drawing some blood!

Me belaying Emma just below the first crux on Ackit (HVS 5 **)

After this ordeal (haha) I was sweaty and out of breath, this is different climbing and I really like it. I kept thinking about Dom Whillans photo on his DVD with his sunglasses, beanie and fag while I was doing it and imagining him saying man up lol!

Don Whillans! Reputation for being a hard nut and famous for routes at Roaches

After we got off I wanted to lead something and suggested going to Hen Cloud but instead Emma suggested Sifta's Quid (HS 4b *). I started off and thought the route was going to be easy! I originally intended to climb inside the hole but couldn't quite get through with all my gear and helmet on!

Me disappearing into Sifta's Quid (HS 4b *)

I quickly decided that I would have to go over the top and which point I realised it wasn't going to be that easy! I faff about stepping up and jamming and coming back down about 4 or 5 times before I got it right as I couldn't get friction for my slab on the outer wall whilst doing the crux. The trick is to push down with your palm and sort of shimmy up it. I ended up using the front of my left shoe too but as soon as you get your right foot up you're golden :)

Graham at the crux of Sifta's Quid

After this route I was feeling a bit beat up and knackered. Emma suggested setting up a top rope on Chalkstorm (E4 5c **) and I thought I'd be able to do it on a slab as I've been feeling confident on them recently but I found even on a top rope with how knackered I was feeling a bit chicken so I came down. Emma then did it as did Graham. All in all a cracking crag and I can't wait to get back to bash myself up some more! Given I'd done the Welsh 3's on Sunday I was pleased to finish the harder routes, oh and I saw one of the lads we'd walked with on the last leg on my first route! Small world eh?

Welsh 3000s

2010-06-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

I'm going to (try and) keep this short and let the pictures do the talking! We didn't get to Pen y Pass until late but blasted up to the summit in 1:30, arriving at 1:30am. Chris had bought a full on airbed because he hasn't got a Thermarest yet and I haven't laughed so much in a long time as when we walked past about 20 people sleeping at the summit and pulled out his airbed and start blowing it up noisily, huffing and puffing for 10 minutes much to the dismay and grumbling of those trying to get some shut eye! We got a few hours kip, it was a very windy night and awoke at 5am. We took photos and got the jetboil on the go and by just after 7am I'd had a cup of tea, a cuppa soup and a packet of pasta and was packed and ready to go. I was a bit gutted that I'd knocked on my mates Forerunner 310XT during the night and wasted a quarter of the battery! We bounced down Snowdon, over Crib y Dsygl and over Crib Goch in no time at all. It was good fun coming down the scree slope and before long we'd descended to the road and was at Nant Peris were my dad was waiting. I changed into shorts and dropped the bivi gear off and carried on with just a hyrdation sack. By this put the sun was getting higher in the sky and it was getting warm! The pull to Elidir Fawr was a long one and Chris was feeling the pull but motored on to make the summit. He doesn't know this but I made a bit of a mistake (he does now) and we didn't need to go up the next summit (Foel Goch) and could of instead took the less steep path to Y Garn! Sorry mate! We dropped down by Llyn y Cwn and stopped were I had run out of water. Chris got half a bagette down his neck which gave him a second wind and we steadily climbed to the top of the Glyders. We over took a bunch of bimblers coming down to the col to Tryfan were we met a couple of guys from the Wrekin Mountaineering Club who kindly offered to refuel us! We made the summit of Tryfan which was much easier than I thought it would be but I guess its not all the way from the road at Ogwen! We dropped down to Ogwen where my dad was waiting again. I got a bit of pasta on the go and he did Chris some dirty spanking gorgeous Pot Noodles :) I tended my feet as I had a blister on my toe. I popped it and got a Compeed on it. I thought this was a bad idea when we set off but it soon settled down. We headed up the path to the cottage and started up Pen yr Ole Wen. My dad said at least it will be getting cooler as we left and those words were ringing in my ears on the trudge up where it seemed the hottest part of the day. We stopped a couple of times in the shade to have a drink and as we reached the shoulder a couple of lads who were also doing it caught us. We had over taken each other a few times since the Glyderau so we decided to walk together for the rest of the route. Once we'd gained the height we made good progress over the last 7 miles. The pull up to Carnedd Llewelyn and the trip out to Yr Elen being the hardest bits. The last three are very simple and I was on the summit of Foel Gras just before 9pm. It took us just under 14 hours, I wanted to do it in under 10 hours which I think I could manage but given the heat of the day and the fact this was Chris's first endurance type event I was happy. It was certainly something of a baptism of fire to the whole endurance thing for Chris and he did awesome to romp through the pain. We dropped down into the col between Foel Fras and Drum to Llyn Anafon and down the track for a couple of miles where I was finally pleased to see the car. When I got to the bottom my old man was nowhere to be seen and after calling for a while he hadn't appeared and I was worried. I then heard him shout back from over a ridge where he'd gone to get a signal for the phone and take some pics of the sunset. Chris was off to sleep not long after we set off, I remembered my dad had a bottle of ale in the car so at Bethesda I got him to stop and I cracked it open. 15 min after finishing the bottle and I was out like a light and didn't wake until Llangollen. We got home at 2am and my dad was had to be up at 4am for work. What a legend, a massive thanks to him as without all the water we'd of been up the creek! Big well done to Chris for his first, very successful long distance event! I've been thinking about a double crossing as well as another attempt for sub 10 hours. Maybe not this weekend though :)

Keep it short eh? ;)

Looking down Llanberis Pass on the ascent of Snowdon on Saturday

Me, comfortable on at the bivi with the Jetboil on the go

Chris tucked up in his bivi bag on his massive airbed haha!

Chris at Crib y Dsygl with Snowdon in the background

Me overlooking Crib Goch

Looking back at the Snowdon Massif on the way up Elidir Fawr

Elidir Fawr from Foel Goch

Chris taking 5 on Y Garn, Tryfan in the background on the left and Glyders to the left

Looking out to sea from the summit of Pen yr Ole Wen

Chris feeling it on top of Yr Elen

Me on the trig point of Foel Fras after a long day!

Welsh 3000's

2010-06-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

I've not been running since Wednesday and I've been feeling a little rough today so I'm going to hit the steam room on the way home from work, I think because of dehydration from the weekend so I've backed off the running for today. Part of my plan for Alps preparation is to try and trot the Welsh 3000ft peaks (all 14, 15 or 16 of them depending on what you believe). I've sketched this GPX route up using Where's the path? and hosted it at GPSies, two free excellent resources which I use a lot. It follows the route as laid out by http://www.welsh3000s.co.uk/ which is probably the best resource on the internet that I've found. I know the route fairly well but the Forerunner will help keep me on track if the clag comes in.

I'll be climbing tomorrow, but given the club are at Llanymynech I'll probably have to go indoors unless I can talk someone into going outdoors locally as the drive from Coventry isn't worth if for a single climb! I'll be back to running tomorrow and then a short one perhaps on Thursday. I'm looking at starting on Saturday night with a Bivi on the summit of Snowdon and should have my dad in tow for support in Llanberis, Ogwen and then at the end. I should be doing the route with Chris whom I'll be tearing it up with in the alps in 31 days :) My boss at work said he'll get me a pint and a packet of dry roasted nuts if I do it in under 10 hours, I think they will be mine!

WMC Bala Weekend

2010-06-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

Three sessions of climbing this week and I ran Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to 11.84 miles on the Wednesday. I was supposed to be doing the Telford Athletics Club's Shropshire 4 but because I'd ran each day my legs were feeling tired so I only did 10 min/miles and ended up walking after 10 miles. I also climbed on Tuesday with Graham and Chris at Newport and had a good session lasting about 3 hours. I ended up going to meet Graham again at Wolf Mountain on Thursday who was with Lawson and another friend whose name I can't remember. I teamed up with Lawson and did 1 or 2 6a routes before jumping on a 6c! I did the first hard move and got onto a balancing move above ready to start the next move but was pumped out after having to try the first move so many times. When I came down my elbow was killing as I hadn't warmed up properly even after thinking over and over that I need to warm up more but enthusiasm got the better of me! It took about another 45 minutes and Snickers before I could effectively climb again failing a 5+. After this I got on a 6b on the slab and climbed it clean, I think that was definitely a step up in grade. The others left and I went to do some bouldering to finish off.

I had the car packed reasonably well on Friday morning and set off to work with a plan to drive straight through from Coventry to Bala after work. I didn't plan any routes, in fact I wasn't even sure if there would be anyone to climb with but knew that Lawson was making an appearance so I was hopeful! I'd also asked Richie Ball to bring the Meirionnydd guide. When I arrived there where a quite a few people there and I had a chat with Paul and Rebecca about there plans for Saturday and agreed we'd tag along to Clogwyn yr Oen in the Moelwyns. That night as the Bala weekends are famous for we headed to the shore of the lake and sat around a fire drinking and chatting.

Classic WMC Bala weekend fire on the shore

I hadn't really had chance to get any food on the way, but I called in and picked up 4 bottles of ale. By the end of the night I was feeling a bit p***ed to be honest and felt a bit gruff in the morning. After refusing Lawson's muesli for breakfast I decide to wait until I hit the cafe I'd been told about in Blaenau Festiniog (or just up the road). I had a large breakfast which after I wasn't sure was a good idea but it didn't come back to haunt me!

After a short walk up a road we were at the bottom of the Clogwyn yr Oen. Paul and Rebecca had picked Kirkus's Climb Direct (S 4a) so me and Lawson faffed around looking in the book before deciding to take on the next climb called Block (S 4a). The first pitch is in the book at 37m although I think it was longer as I belayed from the end of the first pitch of Kirkus's Climb rather than at the bottom of the next pitch. The hardest bit of the first pitch was stepping off a flake onto the upper slab. I struggled with protection on this pitch and didn't really have a great deal of confidence in about 70% of it! I met Paul and Rebecca at the belay and then bought up Lawson.

Lawson on the upper slab of pitch 1 of Block (S 4a)

Lawson then went on to lead the second pitch and found much better gear, which losing the skin off my knuckles bashing away with a nutkey can testify to! This pitch was fairly simple but Lawson tried to make it as interesting as possible. I followed up trying to stay as close to the arete as possible which I think made it harder.

Lawson placing some gear on pitch 2 under a perfect blue sky

This was only a short pitch and the next one was short too according to the book so Lawson lead the next pitch too which was much harder, starting with a short layback and then going onto to a steep wall working a crack. It was a great start and we returned to the start to find that Paul and Rebecca had gone down to the next crag down by the old quarry train. First thing I wanted to do was get as much water down me as possible! It was so hot and after the beer last night I was absolutely hanging after half way up the first pitch! After taking on some water we decided to try Bent (S 4a), Lawson linked the first two pitches together which were basically a slab to set up a nice exposed belay on a ledge with a tree. Before I set off I slapped a bit of suncream on my neck.

Lawson on the first pitch of Bent (S 4a), you can see the belay at the tree at the top.

Me at the belay, hanging off the tree

There was a Landrover 110 full of people from Plas y Brenin on the crag and one of the guides was teaching a couple of people, he'd asked if he could abseil off the tree, it seemed they were in a rush to be back for 5pm. I climbed around the tree and over the flake so the guide could ab off, I got some really good gear into pockets above and moved up a short slab to move over on the main slab. The next photo is taken from the belay point and shows Lawson on the traverse of the slab. which was quite exposed by fairly easy and quite easy to protect.

Taken from the belay, looking back at the slab traverse of pitch 3 (we did 1 & 2 together)

After the traverse of this slab you work up the edge of the wall which isn't quite straight forward but doable until you reach a crack which runs straight up and is quite deep but fairly narrow (you could fit two arms in it). The problem was it was tricky to get started on it as there was a little lip you had to get on by bridging from the slab. I got a hex in and then moved up but I was scared! I got cam in above it and committed to the move which seemed very awkward and definitely not 4a ground. I was pumping out but farting around trying to put in another cam because of the massive exposure. I realised I was going to fall off if I hung around anymore and I couldn't just step off as I was fully committed so I rocked on. I think I'm slowly getting more confidence in gear placements and knew the hex was bomber but it was very high and exposed! I've drawn a line parallel with the crack on the photo below. I was very, very relieved to make the belay and pumped and hyped up! The photo also shows the pinnacle, and Lawson worked up the chimney behind it.

PyB guide in the foreground, the red line shows the crack of pitch 3 and the dark crack above it being pitch 4 which Lawson led.

Lawson went on to lead the final pitch which was mostly just the chimney, which was poorly protected but fairly easy but exposed. By this point I'd noticed my arms had caught the sun and I was feeling pretty thirsty again having drunk all the water before starting out. We got down again using the same scree decent route and made a sharp exit as we were under siege from the midges! It had to happen at some point in Wales on a hot day! It was a cracking day and I felt pushed but not too much (nearly though! ;)

We picked up some beers and got back to the campsite to sit and listen to the poor show from England against USA in the world cup with a chilli sausage bap and Pot Noodle swilled down with some Magners Pear Cider. Someone in the other field had a TV set up so I managed to catch the second half for what it was worth. I then headed back for round 2 at the shoreline of the lake with a huge fire and more booze!

Bigger fire, but not the best photography unfortunately - it's hard with a long exposure!

The fire got ran and jumped a couple of times but I wasn't having any of that! The trunk you can see sticking out the end was fully burnt through by morning. After 5 large bottles I decided I'd try and stay in bed as long as possible but by 9:30 it was time to get up. The fire was still going so I cooked some more sausages and then jumped in one of the kayaks. I love having a go as I used to do it a lot when I was a kid. My stroke technique has gone quite a lot but I managed to do a load of rolls with no drama. This wasn't the case when I tried a hand roll, I nearly ended up swallowing half the lake!

Dehydration & Ropey Top Ropes

2010-06-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

Well it's been another week of no real running to be honest. I've been feeling tired and crappy and thought that a rest would do me good. I generally don't put up all my running on here as it would be rather boring to read about, more just when I go somewhere interesting or if I do a race but I generally have been running 3-4 times a week. I figured that enough was enough and that I should just man up and get out on Friday night. I didn't end up going until about 10pm and ran around Ironbridge, I did 6.5 miles ish averaging a shocking 10 minute/mile pace. It was still very, very hot and after about 3 miles my kidneys were aching, I figure that this is because of the tiredness I've been mostly drinking coffee - not good! I noticed that my pee wasn't a good colour and I've been drinking lots more since. I've not been feeling that good mentally about running recently and as a result my diet hasn't been good either so I'm keen to kick all this back into touch running and lunchtime tomorrow. I've got a 4 mile race planned for Wednesday so hopefully that will see me in good stead for that.

I had planned to go out climbing with the club today, but at 6am when the alarm went off I couldn't be bothered frankly so I thought I'd go somewhere local instead. I've been eyeing up a crag on the UKC database called Harmer Hill just above Shrewsbury but closer than Grinshill so I gave my brother in law a call and we headed down before Sunday dinner. After a bit of walking around we found the crag and decided to have a go at Pugwash Handwash (5a), an attractive line of a crack running up the left hand side of a buttress.

Pugwash Handwash (5a)

You can't tell from this photo but there is nowhere above this route to set up a tope rope. I didn't fancy leading something like this on sandstone so I somewhat stupidly set up a rope about 3 or 4 metres to the left. Me and Lee both thought that as long as we got past half way we'd be ok if we had an off. I couldn't get around the buldge, or more appropriately didn't feel comfortable doing it with the top rope situation but Lee had more balls and got over it to just before the top. At this point he said he was pumping out/losing grip and that he was going to come off. He swung down and with stretch nearly hit the deck :( He spun around and hit his head (sans helmet of course because the top rope was so safe :( ), which although there was a bit of blood, didn't really cut. I felt like a bit of a numpty as I should of known better. A lesson learned!

Lee's head after smacking it!

It started thundering and then chucking it down shortly after so we returned for some roast beef :) Harmer Hill was quite a dirty crag and missing some crucial places for anchors but it could be an awesome crag with a bit of care.

East Face of Tryfan

2010-05-31T16:25:00.000-07:00

I'd originally planned to do First Pinnacle Rib (VDiff) and have a stab at the Yellow Slab (4b I think or maybe 4a) but it wasn't to be. We set off at 7am to get to Capel Curig by 9am to pick up a jacket I had reserved. The Arc Teryx Epsilion Hoody SV (which turned out to be awesome :)

This is part of my kit for the alps. I'll be sleeping in it with a Mammut Stratus Flash belay jacket over and maybe my hardshell too (although it will probably be sweaty!) and on the bottom half will be an AlpKit Pipedream 200 half sleeping bag. I hope I don't get too cold but should be ok :)

Anyway we didn't get to the foot of Tryfan until a bit later and then we got a bit lost and ended up arsing about climbing up sketchy chossy boulders to regain the path eventually (albeit a little hot and sweaty). We marched up passed Grooved Arete (HVD) and past the North Buttress but First Pinnacle Rib was busy so we quickly got back to Grooved Arete and geared up. I lead the first pitch which I though was a little tougher than I thought it would be. After I'd got up the groove I tried to step on a flake and go straight up which i thought was possible but I bottled out as I didn't fancy peeling off the hand jams. It certainly felt much harder than a HVD! I scooted up a bit more over fairly easy climbing and bought Chris up.

Chris seconding the first pitch of Grooved Arete (HVD)

Chris then went on to lead the second pitch continuing up the grooved arete. After this pitch I led the first which was pretty easy and led out to a walk over to beneath the grooved arete again (I think this was considered P4 but it was just a walk).

Chris leading pitch 2

Chris then started up the fifth pitch which was the most sustained climbing so far and got steeper as it went on, culminating in a final twitchy move pulling onto a kind of left bridging. This was pretty committing and I was glad to top out to the belay ledge referred to as the 'Haven' (not as much as I bet Chris was).

Me making arriving at the 'Haven'

After this pitch I made my way up the crack (protecting it quite a lot) before stepping out onto the infamous Knight's Slab. I worked my way up to the top wall of the slab and then worked across. It is a very exposed move onto a tiny very exposed ledge. I got three nuts in for a belay and was hanging off them bringing Chris up.

Chris on Knight's Move

Chris stepped over and continued up the next pitch, a corner crack onto a big ledge. This climbing was continued and the route was really gathering momentum at this point from the broken pitches at the bottom (P1, P2, P3 and the walk of P4).

Me hanging off the mega exposed belay after Knight's Move

Me topping out on pitch 7.

The guidebook (North Wales Ground Up) said something to the effect of royalty should continue up over steeper ground or you can walk off. I led this pitch and it started off slightly overhanging before moving around the corner and and climbing a slab with a crack. This felt quite bold. I then went on and tried to climb a chossy wall. I stuck a bit of gear in above me and then tried before backing off. I got back on and this time my hand slipped off all the crap and i fell onto the ledge below. Good fun but I decided to go around a bit further and it still worked out quite tough but not so chossy. I thought this pitch was perhaps a bit off piste and harder. Generally I think that the route was harder than a HVD, but it is a mountain route!

Chris topping out on the final pitch.

Finally... Tryfan from the car.

Crazy midnight runs in the Malverns!

2010-05-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

I've been busting to get out and do a run along the Malvern ridge which I make to be between 8-9 miles long so a 16-18 mile round trip. I decided that on Wednesday given the lack of midweek races I'd head over after work. I got stuck behind at work until late and when I checked my forerunner I hadn't loaded the route as I thought so I got my laptop out. Unfortunately technical difficulties (along with the working late) I didn't leave the office until around 9pm and so arrived at Malvern around 10pm! I donned my Myo RXP head torch and headed off. I quickly found that not using a route you've made yourself and not having a map can cause you a right headache! I did a lot of faffing around climbing up bits of rock and through brambles trying to get to the path on the route. Lots of wasted time but eventually I got going. The running was quite good although I had to keep stopping, but there was 2136ft of climbing! All in all I felt good but a bit dissapointed about the navigation. The fact it was very foggy after the rain didn't help! The view from the top is beautiful at night albeit cold and very windy!

My best friend the Forerunner 305 with the town of Malvern illuminated below in the background.

Whilst running back I got lost some more and was getting a bit sleepy and tired (it was around midnight!) and stumbled and tripped and took a roll! I gave myself a rollocking and tried to pay more attention. I peeled off and headed where I thought best which got me lost a bit more! I eventually made it back to the car at 12:45! I was happy to be in bed by 2am (and on a school night!) The running times were mucked up by the nav and terrain but I felt strong running up the hills :) I can't wait to get back and have a go in the light next time!

Photography and bouldering!

2010-05-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

I've been looking into photography recently as I'm keen to do a good job of photographing and filming my time in the alps. As such I've been looking at hiring a lens from http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk/. I'm looking to get a 10-20mm ultra wide angle lens as I think this will work best for landscapes and help take shots of me or Chris climbing whilst getting some background in too. I've been looking into getting a holster style holder for my camera which I will put on the hip strap of my rucksack. This I'm yet to decide on, and I've got a couple more articles to read on http://www.ukclimbing.com/.

With all this in mind when I headed down to Shropshire Climbing Centre for a spot of bouldering. This felt really good and my climbing is still improving. I'm sure the weight loss from running is still improving me no end :) Anyway I wanted to try out some climbing photography so I climbed up and took some of Chris doing a problem along the edge of the roof.

I also set up the exposure and tried to get some dynamic shots but they didn't quite work out how I wanted, although not too bad!

Leading a HS and a PB 5km

2010-05-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

After the excitment of the Stanage Stumble I got back out for a recovery run at work at dinner time. I started quickly which was a mistake but I did 4.something miles in a reasonable time and picked up again toward the end. It did me a lot of good to stretch my pins out. I've been waiting to post on here for a while but I've been waiting on pics from Brian Smith who photographs more of the athletics stuff. I also think Chris has some photos of me climbing at Llanymynech. If they turn up I'll post em as I know it more interesting to look at photos than read my gumpf!

On to Llanymynech: I managed to wangle leaving work early after working through my lunch. It's a complete pain in the arse to drive from Coventry to anywhere further than Shrewsbury and given half the Tuesday meets are at Llanymynech, Trevor or World's end it rare I get to go. Enough ranting. I got to the crag early and warmed up on 'Foreign Muck' Fr6a+ which didn't seem technically so hard but more psychologically. I think getting some indoor falls leading in might help. I don't have any photos of this but essentially it scoots up to an overhang which you work underneath and then round the side. It took me a while to "man up" and get under the overhang but it felt good and at least in terms of technique and strength I'm well within my grade. After this I belayed Phil (from the WMC) up on a top rope and then me and Chris made our way over to cul-de-sac to do some trad leading. Chris did a VDiff called Ca Va! and I followed up. I abseiled back down and then lead Merde (HS 4a). What can I say, well..... Merde! This route is very easy but so hard to protect! I got gear in half way up but then it ran out! I then had to top out onto a horrible slope which was covered in loose scree and dry mud! Pretty nerve racking stuff as I'd of taken a big fall! It got dark by the time I got chris up and I abbed back down and we left. All in all I was very pleased with the routes I lead (both sport and trad) and I'm progressing nicely!

On Wednesday it was time for my weekly fell/short race and so I headed to Dawley for the Phoenix Flyer a "5km fast flat grass route". It wasn't complete flat but near as damn it! I started modestly almost right at the back but soon overtook a large number of people and settled into a good pace.

I tired a bit and needed to slow down but picked it back up to finish. I finished in 23:05 which is a personal best for 5km beating a previous treadmill time so I was well chuffed! I think given the slowing down at about 2.5 mile I must of been moving really well as the average pace was 7:24/miles :)

Stanage Stumble

2010-05-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

It's all about the running at the moment! I got up early and dragged myself to the Peak District (unusually for me I didn't arrive late). The event started at 9am with around 60 entrants, 50 of which were doing the 20 mile course with the other 10 doing a 10 mile course. Of the 50 doing the 20 mile course, 9 had declared as runners. We all set off at 9am and I found myself running behind someone who I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up with. The first 5 miles are a steady pull to the maximum height and I found my achilles tendon and calf very tight which was concerning. During this time I was over taken by around 4 or 5 people but I was into 3rd place by the first checkpoint. I managed to stay pretty much in sight of the 2nd place guy all the way to about 20 miles but then he got away from me. The winner finished around 1hr - 1hr 30 mins ahead so no chance of catching him! It was the first time that I'd been to Stanage and I was gutted not to be climbing, the grit looks awesome.

All in all I was pleased with finishing 3rd (albeit with just 9 runners) and think I could of done a sub 6 hours, as I finished in just over 6:01. I am also getting fairly happy with my race nutrition and hydration. I've also managed not to pig out too much since then. I was pretty well recovered by Sunday and managed to mow the lawn without moaning too much :) Today I went running at lunch and did 4.5 mile, averaging 9 min/mile although there was one over 10, one at 8.5 and one even quicker towards the end. I'm pleased with the progress and looking forward to the short, flat grass race I'm doing called the Phoenix Flyer. I'm hoping for sub 25 mins. I'm climbing and Llanymynech tomorrow for the first time so hopefully I'll get some pics of that up tomorrow. So far so good! Should be in good nick for the alps at this rate and should manage 100 miles before the end of the month :)

Caradoc Classic

2010-05-13T03:27:00.000-07:00

After the Bala Challenge I had planned to go climbing with Chris Ellis on Sunday however I ended up at the Ludlow Spring festival to enjoy some real ale and goat burgers (well deserved I thought).

Monday I got back to the gym and did a recovery run on the treadmill on a modest 3% gradient and did 3.5 miles in 27 mins. I felt good and could of opened the taps a lot more but I decided that I shouldn't and try my best to use it just to loosen up. I'm conscious of the fact that I don't want to overtrain too much as I've decided on an elaborate plan of training until I get to the Alps in mid July. Basically I'm planning to do a very easy recovery run (up to 5 miles but more likely 5km) on Mondays, climbing every Tuesday, a fell race or cross country race (up to 5 miles) on Wednesday then an LDWA event every weekend (at least 25 miles) with maybe some additional climbing on Sunday if it falls in and I'm not too tired. As a result of this plan I'm somewhat concerned about nutrition. I want to continue to lose weight and I feel I am doing so at a healthy rate but I'm concerned that because I have to travel from work to do an event that a) I'm eating late but more importantly b) I'm eating junk because of availability and worrying about a). I'm also trying to keep my eye on not pigging out too much after the longer events, because although you burn so many calories and get "the hunger" for a day or two its important it doesn't carry on for days. On the Tuesday I couldn't be bothered to go to the crag (Ippikins) as the weather was crap, its a massive rush and I haven't bouldered for a while and I'm big believer in the strength/technique gains from bouldering. I headed to the Shropshire Climbing Centre. I was bouldering on my own but managed to hook up with a couple of the locals. There has been a reset and I really enjoyed the new routes. After 2.5-3 hours there I was knackered and went home. I really need to make an effort to boulder more often now the weather is nice and the tendency is to hit the rock.

Yesterday my hips were feeling a bit tight and I was generally feeling a bit tired. I also have decided to stop drinking caffinated coffee as its a quick win at the desk but I've been starting to feel a bit skatty in the afternoon so I've stopped. By the time I got to Church Stretton for the Caradoc Classic I was ready for a kip rather than a fell race! I decided to get my head down and go with the motto of "it's all miles on your feet". I consciously started right at the back and overtook a few on the way to the foot of the hill. The initial climb is a killer and I made it to the gate without being overtaken albeit walking as fast as I could (even this is hard graft). I then struggled to gain a rhythm to the top and walked quite a bit more. My lungs and legs felt ok, I just felt zonked out. I had my sights on a guy in front of me although as we started down the steep bank I couldn't keep up because I was reluctant to push on steep ground feeling tired. By the time we gained the path I settled into around 7:30 min pace and pushed hard to the end overtaking the guy in front and nearly catching the guy in front of him. All in all not a brilliant race as it took 37 mins and I finished 104/118 (albeit with a tight pack) but I'll keep pushing, I think properly rested I could of done much better. I think the next two days are are going to be for a good rest with some stretching and exercises on my gluts to get them ready for the Stanage Stumble (25 miles) on Saturday.

Heading down from the summit - pic from http://www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk/

Bala Challenge

2010-05-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

I spent a little time Friday evening after work sorting out the route using Where's the path? and had it put on my Garmin Forerunner 305 (gps watch) ready although once I had it sorted out and my bag packed I didn't get to sleep until about 1am. I keeping saying that I wanted to do a blog post on how I use the site with the watch but I'm too tired to do a good job of it now. The Bala Challenge started at 8am for walkers and 9am for runners, I arrived at 9:30 as per normal; late!

On the event: Pleasant course which was well marked out with yellow tape where there was any doubt over direction which combined with the Forerunner meant I didn't have to refer to a map or instructions once although I did have to stop and think a couple of times. The stewards were really friendly although as with all LDWA events they aren't the greatest when you ask for times or positions! There was a great selection of grub on at the first checkpoint (the end of the 8 mile course) although I didn't fancy it and stuck to my gels and energy bars. I think I have discovered that I can't run on gel's alone. I haven't counted the gels yet but I found they did me well and I had about a quarter of an energy bar which helped settle my stomach a bit. I drank about 2 litres of water with nuun which a friend recommended to me whilst doing the Bullock Smithy and I have to say although its a little expensive I'm pretty sold. The course was scenic and undulated, after the final checkpoint it became much easier (even the "murder hill" as it's referred to in the guide wasn't too bad). Over all a nice course and a very well organised event (the short 8 mile would be good for families).

Anyway over all I'm quite pleased. When I got off the ridge and to the second checkpoint (same as the third) I was pleased to hear 10 people had done it already. As I got to the third and final checkpoint I was told that only 25 people had passed through (including the 14 mile course). I passed at least 20 people and of that I'd say at least 5 who had done the ridge too so that should put me in the top 5 although because of the staggered start I may of finished ranked higher on time and I was told I was 1 hour off the course record. The fact there wasn't many runners this year or that gaining an hour isn't an easy thing is neither here nor there - I'm chuffed. It also meant that I felt really confident and happy to keep passing people and have nobody pass me for my first go at running an LDWA event. Below is an embedded view from Garmin Connect of my watch recording.

Sheinton Steeplechase

2010-05-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

I ended up leading another route at Ippikins Rock after work for WMC meet and getting to bed late. I also ran a quick 2 miles at lunch and did 3 sets of pull ups and the plank 3 times. Not surprising that I felt a bit knackered after 4 days of climbing and all that! Anyway I'd planned to do the Sheinton Steeplechase so I thought I'd give it a go! I got there early (for a change!) and ran about half a mile to warm up. I really was feeling tired and set off and was trying not to go too mad in the first mile but did a 7:46, not sustainable! Anyway I slowed down a bit and lost about a minute crossing all the styles or waiting to and finished in a 28:51 which I was fairly pleased with and finished 49th of 66. Considering how knackered I felt I was pleased with this. Here is one a photo of me finishing strong and another in which you can see me chasing the guy in front from http://www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk./

Bala Challenge next on Saturday, I'll be interested to see how I get on over a distance of 20 miles with 4500ft of ascent but I'm not setting any goals other than to try my best and finish well! Then I'm climbing in North Wales on Sunday with the club - until then rest!

Cornwall part 3!

2010-05-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well things were going so well, I was keen to strike up another lead wherever we ended up and today that was Bosigran. We ended up on the bit with Alison Rib overlooking Commando Ridge. The sea colour under Commando ridge was an amazing turquoise and seemed to change as the tide did. It's easy to be mesmerized by the beauty of the place! Anyway, Sally wanted to lead Alison Rib (Diff *) which was a nice route.

Sally leading Alison Rib (Diff *)

The climbing around Bosigran in this area didn't seemed so sustained so the pitches were broken up. After completing the second pitch is was my turn to lead and I picked In-Between (VDiff. This route seemed quite direct and came up under an overhang which took me a while to pluck up the courage to move over as it was quite exposed and I only had a number one nut under the overhang in sideways for protection. The hands felt awkward and there didn't seem a lot to grab above or anything bomber for your feet either! After this I took the route as direct as possible to the top of the first pitch of Alison Rib. I was so relieved to get passed the overhang that I took the following photo which doesn't do the exposure any justice! I'm guessing Dave (in the green helmet to the left of where the red rope disappears is a few meters back from the base of the wall).

Looking back whilst leading In-Between (VDiff)

After topping out I went up the next pitch but trending to the groove on the right which looked harder. This wasn't too bad but involved a step around and over. I'd say the route was worth a star (at least the way I did it!)

Me leading a variation on the second pitch of In-Between (VDiff)

After this Sally went back to the car for a Cream Tea down the road so me and Dave decided to do a route with our rucksacks rather than walking out. I think this was Fasolt (VDiff). It was a different experience climbing with a rucksack, I've done it on ice but without as much weight. This route seemed a bit polished in places!

Dave leading Fasolt (VDiff)

We followed up the path back to the car, as you can see it was cracking weather and I loved cornwall and would go back in a second even with the colossal drive! When we got back to the car park Sally had been for her cream tea and highly recommended it so I thought it an apt way to finish the trip!

Cornwall part II - Big tick!

2010-05-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

I had one route that I really wanted to get done after reviewing all the crags on the UKC site and that was Terrier's Tooth (HS 4b ***). After having a few jars I was a bit muggy headed and like most times in life my organisation left a little to be desired and I had no breakfast. After we made it to Chair Ladder I decided to head back to Sennen and get a proper Cornish Pasty. I don't normally like them but this was pretty damn good! By the time I got back I struggled to find Stewie and Chink or Sally and Dave. After a while Chink popped up from a route he pointed me in the direction of Sally and Dave. I went over and found their rucksacks and after a while they came back up. After refuelling Sally, Dave and I headed over to Terrier's Tooth, the big classic of the crag.

The back of Terrier's Tooth (HS 4b ***), you abseil off it from the spike on the right

There are a couple of abseils before you reach the bottom of the cove by which the needle looks much higher than it did from above and behind! The first pitch is the crux and Dave led this, taking some time to size it up because of the lack of protection. He got a cam in behind the flake and then a sling but its another bold step up after that (it's two or three moves to get to the cam placement) before you are on easier ground.

Dave sizing up the first pitch of Terrier's Tooth (HS 4b ***)

Dave placing the first bit of gear - a cam behind a flake - the gully under him would make for a nasty fall!

As you can see Chair Ladder is on a much bigger and more intimidating scale than Sennen and has some lovely multi-pitch climbing. I preferred this crag over Sennen and later Bosigran. Anyway I followed on the and found it ok because of a bit more reach, I think I could of lead it although I laid off to the left before it eased off and I think this would of caused me problems on a lead as I had to adjust and lay off right - this would of been very twitchy leading! Dave took it all in his stride! After making it to the belay I thought that the next pitch was easy enough so I led it. A nice vertical crack to work within, slightly bulging at the time but ok, what a view for a belay though!

Me at the belay of pitch two of Terrier's Tooth (HS 4b ***)

I wasn't sure about the next pitch because you have to maneuver around to get to the slab. I'd seen pictures of this and it was shorter than I thought but the guide stated it was only 9m. That said the slab has two vertical left trending grooves and the slab starts at just below waist height so you need to layoff or jam to step up. When you do and look between your legs the sea is a long way down! Absolutely awesome! After this you skirt across the back and abseil off.

Dave abseiling off the back

The final word has to be absolutely brilliant, what a climb, three unique pitches with an amazing situation and very climbable. I enjoyed this more than any other rock I've done, I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it! Once again we retired for some more Doombar!

Climbing on the sea cliffs of Cornwall

2010-05-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

I ended up going down to Cornwall on my own as Kate couldn't make it, so I left straight from work in Coventry for the drive down to Land's End. By midnight I'd got 50 miles left on the A30 and knew I wouldn't be setting the tent up so I pulled into a layby and got some shut eye. Saturday morning I woke up at 8:30 after having a surprisingly good nights kip in my bucket seat! I had a text from Dave Bowler telling me to head down to Sennen and arrived about an hour later to find Dave and Sally on Demo Route (HS 4b ***) and Paul and Rebecca on Intermediate Route (VDiff).

Dave on what I think is the crux of Demo Route (HS 4b ***)

Rebecca toping out on Intermediate Route (VDiff)

After this I was keen to get down and get stuck in! Look at the place, it's gorgeous and the granite rock is so inviting - its got sooo much friction, even when wet. We abseiled down into the crag and I teamed up with Paul and Rebecca to try Banana Flake (VDiff *) by the time we got down there Dave and Sally had already done the first pitch of Double Overhang (VS 4c *). Paul took the lead and then took up Rebecca up before I followed. I finished the route more direct rather than going left at the top.

Me belaying Paul on Banana Flake (VDiff *)

After this route I was busting to take a lead and decided on Black Slab (VDiff *) so we abseiled back into the crag and I set off. I found the chimney a bit daunting at the time but not technically difficult. I travelled a bit too far up the chimney and finished the route very direct as apposed to the route description of moving left. This was a fun route and I was really stoked.

Me placing gear after leaving the slab section of Black Slab (VDiff *)

After this Paul and Rebecca went to the cafe and I was going to follow Sally and Dave up Staircase (Diff *) but Stewie and Matt aka Chink (of Life at the end of a rope fame). Chink flew up Africa Route (VS 5a *) and I followed. This has a very stiff start and after ignoring Stewie's "just stand up advice" and following the advice of a local (look for the "black knob") I was on my way. I found the chimney a bit tough to get on to and very committing! After I'd "made it" I squeezed through another chimney and added another battle scar to my Mammut Basejumper trousers (I get enough comments on my shiny rack, so at least something is well worn!). Stewie followed and we retired to the campsite for a Steak and a few jars of local Doombar ale :)

Chink flying up Africa Route (VS 5a *)

Retroblogging!

2010-05-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

Ok so I've been a little slack on the blogging and now I've got a little catching up to do! I've been running and I feel that's coming along. Managed 8 miles in 1:15 around the harder part of the Ironbridge half marathon course so that was good and also got a good route in around the Wrekin and Arcall, also about 8 miles. I've broken through 8 min/miles but not consistently - I'm managing 9:30 over rough ground on average so thats coming along nicely. Before I headed to Cornwall I went to Grinshill for a WMC meet. I won't bore you with the details but here is a pic taken on my iPhone top roping Main Wall 5a and Chris on something else, his pic was pinched from Paul Ruck's site

Me on Main wall (5a)

Chris Ellis on unknown route?

Preparing for Cornwall

2010-04-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

The WMC have a meet at Cornwall next week, right down by Land's End for the bank holiday and me and Kate are heading down after work Friday :) Kate hasn't done much climbing and less outdoors so I thought rather than have a first go with the sea bashing away at a cliff below you; a nice bit of top roping in rural Shropshire would be a good idea so we headed to Pontesford Rocks.

I decided on a moderate and difficult grade routes to start so I soloed up West Crack (Moderate) in my fell running trainers and set up a top rope on the oak tree. Kate went up but we didn't bother with the scrambling after the first pitch. Kate came down and had another go on the slightly harder Moonlight Variation (Diff) which she found easier.

Kate on Moonlight Variation (Diff)

After this I started looking where we could move the top rope to, Kate went down the descent route and I scampered across the top to the other two tree's. The higher of the two trees looked quite dead and had a huge boulder resting on it so I decided to downclimb to the next tree which felt mega exposed! I set up the top rope and decided to abseil off, I was a bit nervous about this as I set up an autoblock for protection but it seemed more trouble than it was worth so I took it off. I got going fine though and soon Kate had a couple of goes on Stoat's Chimney (Mod).

Kate on Stoat's Chimney (Mod)

When we were driving over it was all black and grey clouds in the sky, with a few breaks of strong sunlight. We had our doubts, it was even spitting as we pulled up so it worked out great all in all and Kate had a good time too :) I even got chance to try out my JetBoil in the car park making a brew and pot noodles for lunch (inspired from Nescliffe? I haven't eaten one in years!).

First visit to Nesscliffe

2010-04-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

I didn't manage to get out until Sunday afternoon and was joined by my mate Chris Ellis. He wanted to go to Nesscliffe so we made our way over and decided to set up a couple of top ropes above Open Air (E3 5b) and Pot Noodle (E3 6a). Setting up the top ropes was (excuse the pun) a bit ropey as its steep ground at the top of the cliff which is sandy (well it is sandstone!) and covered in fallen pine needles. Suffice to say that I wasn't wearing brilliant footwear so I was a bit twitchy up the top! We used a couple of trees for anchors and went back down to crack on.

The first route; Open Air was really good, and I felt all the moves where very doable. There was only one particularly bold move near the top to pull up to a mantle but with that done it eased out. Me and Chris both completed this.

Chris just below the crux of Open Air (E3 5b)

Me on the first shelf of Open Air

After we both completed this route without too much complication we moved over to the other top rope we had set up on Pot Noodle (E3 6a). This route was heavily focused on laying off and seemed to get harder as it went on. Chris got up it (looking a bit undignified on the top shelf with his bum and legs hanging over lol) and then I had a crack. I ran up the first half but got stuck and my feet started to hurt by the time I'd worked it out so I'll have to go back and finish this. It was standing up on a thin edge to reach for a small crack to lay off. By the time I'd got the footwork worked out it was too late :( Lovely views from the top and a good afternoon.

Chris working the first layoff on Pot Noodle (E3 6a)

Chris just below where I got stuck on Pot Noodle

Long Mynd

2010-04-17T01:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I planned to go for a run after work and was originally thinking about doing the Malvern Hills ridge but after talking to Katie she wanted to come out along side me on her bike so we tried out her new bike rack and went up to the Shropshire Hills. We parked up in Church Stretton by the social club and made our way up the Carding Mill Valley. As it steepened we walked up the Valley then ran/rode across the top just as the sun had gone down. I've never noticed it before but there were really intense pockets of cold and hot air! We came back down the Burway having done 6.5 miles in 1hr 25mins - not too bad considering we walked up to the top, my legs felt great and I could of done loads more - I feel like I can run for miles when in the hills and its great to chat to Katie while she rides along side and it's inspiring that I can go faster on my feet (hehe - uphill anyway!).

Katie on her bike with my Petzl Myo XP for illumination!

It's lovely running in such open ground, I want to get up there again soon and do a longer route (not crammed in after working in Coventry all day and rushing back). I also want to have a stab at the Malvern ridge after work one night. I'm loving the longer days! Also this was the first time I've worn my Inov8 Mudroc 380 (which I got for a bargain £48 from High Sports in Shrewsbury), they are bloody brilliant off road, bags and bags of grip and feedback but I would'nt want to pound much tarmac in them! I'll hopefully have some pictures of some more climbing over the weekend.

First trad lead! Climbing at Pontesford Rocks

2010-04-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Building on the the successes of Sunday I was keen to get out again so I packed my rack last night but wasn't sure if I could make it from Coventry to Pontesbury with time to get to the crag and get up something. I checked on the net and had just under 76 miles to cover, leaving work at 5:30pm with sunset at 8:03pm. I was guessing I had an hour to play with so I gave it the beans and got to the crag by 7pm. I told Mick from the club that I wanted to have a go at leading and he recommended Oak Tree Wall Direct (VDiff). Shortly after a new buy turned up (sorry if you read this, I'm crap with names!) and he offered to belay me. The route was really nice, a bit more tricky than I'd expected for a VDiff but nothing hard at all. It was nice to be placing gear and getting a belay set up at the top, my second came up and we made it down the ropey decent route before it started to get dark so we called it a night and went to the pub. I didn't get any photos, wish I'd taken my phone up as it was a nice view at dusk :( so I've pinched one off the free guide from http://www.westmidlandsrock.co.uk.

Oak Tree Wall Direct (VDiff)

I can't wait to get out again! I need to get something planned for the weekend, although I need to get some long runs in too, I really want to build up to running the Welsh 3000ers. My mate Chris Ellis had a top rope set up with another couple of guys from the club on the Pontesbury Needle which looked like fun, I'll have to get back and have a go on that!

First lead! Climbing at Trevor

2010-04-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend (first bank holiday of 2010) was a bit rubbish :( I had planned to run the South Wales Three Peaks Trial but lack of organisation meant it wasn't too be. I went bouldering Saturday and as the night went on I got pain in my hips and back again which wrote the Sunday and Monday off. Since then I've been doing a lot of stretching, coupled with a massage or two from Katie and I was back out running again by midweek, one of which had Katie chasing me on her mountain bike :) While I was hurting I got myself some Inov8 Mudroc 280 fell trainers so I am busting to get out in them! There are are a few sites coming up on the Mercia Fell Runners site including the Wrekin Streak albeit short and detracting from my goals of mountain marathons and beyond.

This weekend I was busting to get out and do some climbing or failing that fell running but my normal climbing partner Chris is building an extension and therefore a bit tied up so I wasn't hopeful. I put a post on the WMC bulletin board and Sunday morning I got a message from Perry and it was game on! I had wanted to do some multi pitch stuff in Ogwen but given how late it was we head for Trevor for my first attempt at bolted climbing. When we got to the crag Stewie was there with a friend. I didn't manage to get any photos of me, but there are some of Stewie and his partner and Perry. We started on Suspect Wall with Prime Suspect (F4) first before moving onto Innocence (F5) the adjacent climb to the right. We then walked down the crag to Impact Wall. I had a go at No Evasion (F5) which I started skirting up using the flake on the right. I couldn't reach the bolt (which is very high for a first bolt!) and under the roof was wet and shitty so I bottled it and down climbed around the flake. I then had a go at Sudden Impact (F4 in the Rockfax but F5 on UKC) which was nice, no positive holds but they kept coming! Anyhow I then moved back to Suspect wall and tried Cluedo (F5+) but could only get the first low bolt because it was ridiculously polished. I think F5+ might not be valid anymore. I finished up on Forensic Science (F5) a cracking last route.

Stewie's mate on Innocence (F5)

Perry on Sudden Impact (F5)

Perry did a couple of climbs I didn't even attempt, one was Impact Imminent (F6b) and before that a F6b whose name I can't remember - both much harder than anything I can do! The first climb (unnamed one) seemed harder pulls and Impact Imminent was more more fingery. As you can see from the sky on the photo of Perry above it was a beautiful day and what a view from the crag! An excellent day :)

It's also suddenly dawned on me that the Alps are beckoning so its getting about time to start making plans!

Ironbridge Half Marathon

2010-03-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a long time since I did a blog post and since then I've been running mostly with the usual Tuesday nights bouldering. I've tried to sort out trips to get the last of the winter in at Wales/Lakes and Scotland but have had no success for various reasons :(

Anyway, I did the Ironbridge Half in 2:14, a shite time :( I was aiming for 1:50 and I thought 1:55 was very doable. I lost a lot of sleep over Friday and Saturday night because one of our cats got run over which was distressing so I started tired and the photo of me crossing the Ironbridge shows it! I ran a PB 10k on Monday of 52 minutes (I'm sure I can get a 50 min time). My watch ran out of battery on the half (a catalog of problems on the morning!) so I only recorded the first 6 miles which came in around 55 mins ( I was surprised because I felt awful!). Anyway here is a photo of me looking crap!

Check out the bags under my eyes! Me crossing the Ironbridge, half way through.

My feet might look static but I was running :)

Anyway I am very keen to get out again and prove I'm not making excuses although I do feel I need to consolidate at the half marathon distance as the last 3 miles were tough. Watch this space, I'm planning on doing an LDWA event soon so longer and slower!

First rock of 2010 (and update/excuses!)

2010-03-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last post. I was expecting to be able to put some photos of me on the Burway Burn up as someone was taking photos but I haven't been able to track them :( 2 miles, 1000ft of ascent, mostly in the first mile. I managed a 23:53 which wasn't great but it fell on the day after my long run so all in all I wasn't too disappointed. Since then I've had some grief from my back, which moved to my hips. Plenty of stretching sorted this out but I had a week or so off running and climbing but I'm back into gear now just in time for the Ironbridge Half Marathon next sunday. I've also missed about 3 opportunities for winter climbing and I fear that unless I can get to Scotland I won't see any more snow or ice until the Alps in the summer.

Anyhow, today Chris, my brother-in-law (with sister and daugher in tow) and I went to Much Wenlock to climb Ippikins Rock. You can get the information from West Midlands Rock. We set up a top rope and got to it, starting on The Whole Truth (4b) (I think these routes are right from the description but there is no topo).

Lee on The Whole Truth (4b)

After we moved over to the arete and tried The Black Hole (5a). Unfortunately I got a bit stuck and bottled out, traversing left to escape but Chris and Lee both cracked it. It seems there was little to get your hands into but plenty for the feet.

Chris on Black Hole (5a)

At this point Lee and co left so me and Chris made plans on Live Evil (5c) (without the crazy 6a start, you'd need a bouldering mat for that I think). We started on the left hand side before working over the cave and straight up under a couple of overhangs. This route had pretty good hand holds but not brilliant for feet. Me and Chris were both stoked (and pumped) to finish it.

Me on Live Evil (5c) at the crux.

Central Trinity (I/II), Clogwyn y Garnedd (Trinity Face)

2010-02-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

I was in bed at 8pm last night and got up at 4am! Now that's commitment! The drive this time was much less eventful and I arrived at Pen y Pass around 6:30am. After some faffing around for change for the car park (which I hear is going from £6 a day to £10 a day in April) I was off up the Pyg track as dawn broke.

You couldn't see much snow about so from Pen y Pass so when I got my first view of the Trinity face I was pretty pleased:

I carried along the Pyg track and skirted around the mines following some tracks to the base of the face. There were already a few teams on it but it wasn't that busy, especially compared to the hoards in Ogwen a few weeks back.

I'd decided to take my harness, rope and a small rack even though I was soloing to reduce the risk of getting crag fast for whatever reason. I put my cramps and harness on and got my two axes out at the bottom. As I did two guys were tying together with a short rope, I'm sure I recognised them from Shropshire Climbing Centre but waited until we had all toped out to say hello, it was Wills and Wilson.

It seems to get a little steeper before it narrows and gets steeper again. It was clear there had been an avalanche fairly recently, so it was necessary to kick through the powder into the neve at points. Below is a photo of Wills and Wilson just before the gully starts to narrow:

The route is 200m long and when you get into this narrower section you really get a big mountain feel when you look behind you. Below is another photo of Wills and Wilson in the narrower section of the gully:

About half way up this there was a bit of a scratchy section of ice/snow on rock (well compared to the rest of the route which was pretty bomber!). By the time the gully widened out again we were only 20-30m from the summit and my calves had a burn! The top out was about 30m or so from the summit, and wasn't corniced.

We had a couple of pics on the summit before coming down again via the Pyg track again. Lots of tourist ill equipped and making use of there bums as velco trainers don't have much grip! Wills and Wilson on the summit at what looks like a Petzl Quarks convention :)

Me on the summit with Crib Goch in the background:

On the way back down I took this of Central Trinity on the way down the Pyg Track:

I was back down for lunch. I stopped off at Joe Browns and bought Dave McLeods '9 of 10 climbers make the same mistakes' so maybe I'll try a grade XI next ;)

Drytooling at Newport!

2010-02-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

Stuart from High Sports has put some photos from Friday nights dry tooling on his blog so I can now do a blog for the dry tooling at Shropshire Climbing Centre organised by Drytooling UK which is run by Pete Hill. Friday night was a workshop were Pete took us through some techniques such as stein pulls an figure of four's which I found very tough! Hard on your hands and you need a strong core!

Anyway we did some bouldering problems and some top roping. The course included crimp grips, jugs, hanging logs, tyres and hanging chains. Karl put on a great evening and Pete was a great teacher and made it all look effortless (not surprising when you see his CV!)

Anyway here are some pics from Friday night:

Chris Ellis moving onto a desperate blue, keep the weight down the shaft or you're off!

Me traversing using Stein Pulls (or 'Can Openers')

Chris Ellis getting stuck into a hanging log

Me in the blue starting a figure of four on tyres, with the lad from High Sports (name?) locked off in a figure of four on a hanging log.

It was so much fun I went back Saturday dinner time to do some more, although not as well! I bouldered for the rest of the afternoon which is probably why I was so knackered on the Valleys Race! If it doesn't break you......

Long Mynd Valleys Race

2010-02-08T04:26:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a busy weekend, dry tooling Friday night and Saturday and then the Long Mynd Valleys Race on Sunday. I don't have the photos for the dry tooling event yet so I will post those when I get them.

As for the Valleys Race: I planned the route using Where's The Path which is a demo of the Ordance Survey's Open Space API. Where's the path is a great little site which is free and allows you to see an OS 1:50k map on the left and Google maps on the right. This way you can see satellite images of the path's as you plot them. You can then save your route direct to watch or file and get useful information such as distance to a point of your route or elevation profiles. It's the death of Memory Map! Once I have a GPX file from Where's the path I upload it to the conversion tool at http://www.gpsies.com/convert.do. This allows me to get a TCX for my Garmin Forerunner 305. I might do another blog on this when I have enough time but it's an excellent tool for route finding (it makes it virtually impossible to get lost).

With watch in hand we registered for the earlier set off of 10:30am, I wasn't sure this was necessary at the time as the cut off was 3pm. We set off on what I knew would be a tough course, straight up the right of the Carding Mill Valley but it wasn't long before I could see the first checkpoint and all was going well! After this I was on top of the Mynd and it was very claggy but I managed to find my rythm and had a steady pace through to checkpoint 5.

This was at around 9 miles and the elites who set off an hour later overtook me. We turned up into a valley and up a steep hill which I really struggled on. I had been taking gels but I don't think I'd had enough and I felt absolutely drained! At this point I was really struggling to keep moving, not out of breath or aching just TIRED! I managed to make it over this but then dropped down into another valley before climbing again for checkpoint 6 also a real killer. I took a gel at the top but it was too little too late, I then dropped again before crossing a stream where Alastair Tye of http://www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk/ caught me again (I tried my best to strike a pose!)

After this there was the mother of all hills (well it felt it!) I was relieved to get to the summit and started moving again. You may have noticed that I was running in road shoes (don't ask!), I can't count the number of times I went over! The finish was very torn up but I made it back in one piece :)

Up to checkpoint 5 (just under 9 miles in 2 hours) I was doing really well, after that though I fell to bits :(

Split	Time	*Distance (miles)*	Hight Gain (ft)	Hight Loss (ft)
1	00:16:40	1.00	566	63
2	00:17:53	1.00	438	388
3	00:14:20	1.00	278	0
4	00:10:31	1.00	60	66
5	00:10:47	1.00	11	486
6	00:18:53	1.00	320	459
7	00:22:08	1.00	541	93
8	00:10:40	1.00	109	621
9	00:35:32	1.00	539	555
10	00:32:47	1.00	669	167
11	00:40:55	1.00	563	470
12	00:19:16	1.00	112	740
13	00:02:24	0.20	0	132
Summary	04:12:51	12.20	4,206	4,240

Every cloud....

2010-02-03T09:07:00.000-08:00

Well after the events of Saturday I did indeed go out for a beer or 5. At which point we went to another local pub which was serving:

After 4 of these at 6.5% I was struggled to get out of bed at dinner time, let alone at the crack of dawn. A wasted opportunity :( Be aware of the reserve, it's lethal!

Come Monday I was still feeling a bit rough but had decided that since I'd missed Trinity and my long run that I'd better pull my thumb out and get on my toes for a long run. I linked up two routes I've been doing after work/during lunch. The first route being off road through fields from near Warwick Uni (I work in Coventry in case you're wondering why I'm there) towards Kenilworth and back via the uni. Most of this is quite rural and you could be in the middle of nowhere, it's brilliant running with my Myo RXP headtorch :) Since this was a bit of a tester for the Long Mynd Valleys Race I thought I'd run with a bladder and take some gels to see how my stomach coped while running (I've previously only used them on long distance walks). The good news is that my stomach was fine (I was using High5 gels) and I did 10.3 miles in 1:50 with a few stops for gels, putting the torch away (so I don't look like a plonker in my Skins tights with a headtorch) and a closer than comfortable encounter with a cow so a fairly pleasing time and comfirms my belief for a 1:50 half in March.

In the morning my hip was suffering. This is an injury I picked up a year ago when I ran up the Wrekin (a local 400m hill) without warming up properly. The injury got worse even with no exercise, some stretching sorted it out but it took a long time. When I felt a similar (but not as bad) pain I thought it was time to get a proper diagnosis so I got in touch with the Sports Injury Clinic at the National Sports Centre in Lilleshall. The lady was great! She immediately diagnosed Piriformis Sydrome. Tired gluts mean the Piriformis takes over and the gluts go to sleep. As the Piriformis gets tighter it pushes on the Sciatic nerve causing pain.

After a painful massage I feel much better, I've got some stretches to do and should be running again tomorrow and fine for the weekend. I can't speak highly enough for the treatment, it was immediately noticeable :)

I'm dry tooling indoors on Friday and Sunday at the Shropshire Climbing Centre, hopefully some photos to follow.

Disaster!

2010-01-30T10:05:00.000-08:00

Everything was going well this morning, I'd packed my bag the previous and we were on the road on time (very unusual for me). We were making good progress down the A5 and even with the diversion around Bala because of the road slip we were making good time. As we rejoined the A5 we could see the major mountains of northern Snowdonia, and they looked great!

You can make out Snowdon on the left, Moel Siabod centre left, Glyders in the middle, then the top of Tryfan and the Carneddau on the right. This was to be as close as we got, as the back of my mates Land Rover Discovery slipped as we went around a corner and no amount of opposite lock was going to save it. We hit a dry stone wall twice:

After we spun again (maybe twice) before coming to a stop with the horn stuck on and the Disco was looking very worse for wear. My friend thinks its a write off:

Well nobody was hurt but my mates gutted and we missed out on what looked like a cracking day for climbing the Trinity Face. I'm going out for a few pints tomorrow then (as long as I don't drink too much) I'll be driving myself tomorrow for a solo on Central Trinity. Hopefully without event...

Where to next?

2010-01-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

Well I've been patiently waiting for a colder period and hopefully it looks like one could be on the way for this weekend, there are already reports coming from other bloggers that Clogwyn y Garnedd, Cwm Cneifon and Cwm Glas Mawr are all in nick and hopefully by the weekend (if we believe the weather reports) they will be perfect.

My first choice is Central Trinity, its a classic and I've been meaning to do it for a while now. I also had a designs on Gully I in Red Tarn Cove (Helvellyn) but it seems a waste to drive an extra two hours round trip when there is a classic waiting to be done closer.

While its been quiet I've started running again and getting some events in my diary. I want to try and do around 1:50 on the Ironbridge Half Marathon. I've entered this twice now and been ill both times :( As a little pre-race aid to train (haha) I'm also going to do the Long Mynd Valleys Race which is in the beautiful Shropshire hills, the most significant local hills. It's 11.5 miles with 4500ft of ascent so that should make the half feel like a breeze (here's to hoping!). I've been getting into a training scheme and I'll be just over 50 miles worth of running in the last two weeks by Sunday if all goes to plan.

I also need to get my thumb out and sort a trip to Scotland in the next few weeks (unless the snow comes back to Wales with a vengeance, here is to hoping!)

Hopefully I'll have some more pics of snow plastered mountains Saturday evening or Sunday :) And next week some of me in my Skins trousers looking like I'm going to pass out!

I almost forgot; I've just ordered the Cicerone Welsh Winter Climbs guidebook from the Cicerone website - after a little digging on Google I found if you enter CICERONE in the vouchers section you get 20% off. I think it's valid until sometime in March, happy shopping!

East Wall Gully (I/II), Cwm Idwal & Hidden Gully (I/II), Cwm Cneifon

2010-01-14T14:06:00.000-08:00

Back to Ogwen! This time with a colleague also called Chris, however this time for more of a day of mountaineering than climbing, two gullys which would lead us out to the summit of Glyder Fawr. Having parked at the Ogwen Cottage and with a late start of 10:30ish we made our way around Llyn Idwal to the base of the first Gully.

East Wall Gully can be seen in the photo above by following the base of the main rock feature up to the small V. We started up and it became apparent from how soft the snow was (due to powder and temperature) that it was going to be a hard old slog!

You can see Chris in the photo above nearing the top of the gully, up to his knees in soft powder snow! This slog was made worth it by the an amazing view of Cwm Cneifon, Clogwyn Du was masked in clag but would be revealed quickly by the wind only to be taken back just as quickly.

The walk upto the start of Easy Route was tough. The snow was deep in the cwm and it was a right old slog upto the start of Easy Route. At this point we decided to take a break and get some grub at the foot of Clogwyn Du pictured below

Hidden gully tops out in the prominent V to the left of the main rock face. We made (slogged) our way up Easy route to the base of the gully, however we started climbing up and across the face to get out of the sapping snow. This led us out at the bottom of the gully (see photo bellow) nicely, it hadn't been touched and was in perfect condition! I was a bit concerned with the earlier sludge!

We left the rope in the bag and Chris went up the first half first, below you can see me almost halfway up the gully:

From here, I went first and made my way over the first step, below you can see Chris making his way over the step:

After another step we'd both topped out safely in time to admire the views, below was the view to Anglesey with Pen Yr Ole Wen on the right:

The Snowdon Massif from the summit of Glyder Fawr with beautiful temperature inversion:

We descended down the the saddle between Y Garn and Glyder Fawr and then down the decent route for the Devil's Kitchen climb. The routes were definitely melting however The Ramp appeared to be a lot fatter than when we did it where as the Devil's Pasture seemed a lot thinner with the difficult first step to the left now gone. We traversed across the snow to see the South Gully which looked in great nick and on to the Idwal Stream (II/III), we had a little time before the light failed so we had a quick solo of the first pitch. Me in the first pic and Chris topping out in the second.

Devil's Pasture (III), Devil's Kitchen

2010-01-03T21:53:00.000-08:00

After 'getting the bug' on The Ramp, we were back to Snowdonia to bag some more routes while the conditions are so superb. On the way Chris remarked how the weather forecast was cold but clear and sunny. I was dubious but I was wrong! It was like an alpine summer! Below is a photo of Tryfan bathing in the morning sun.

This time we started our journey at 6am, rather than chancing another rough nights kip in the car, by the time we made it to the car park at Ogwen Cottage there were plenty of cars. Not a good sign but we started out to this time taking the easier route around the right of Llyn Idwal. The snow was definitely a lot deeper but still not consolidated.

I had designs on doing Idwal Stream, another II/III (I felt comfortable at leading this) but Chris wanted to get Devil's Pasture (III) bagged. I wasn't too sure because I'd read on UKC forums that The Ramp was a fairly easy ascent for a III, this was confirmed by the users who had logged it. We decided to "give it the beans" and have a go on Devil's Pasture which looked spectacular but doable.

Since we weren't sure about the South Gully(III-V) and Idwal Stream seemed perhaps too easy we decided to queue. What a mistake! The first team seemed to take a long time, and then we had to wait for another two teams of two. I think we waited for 3-4 hours but we'd settled on the route and felt it was within our reach so didn't mind too much but it was pretty cold! I must invest in a belay jacket! Chris lead again and when he did start worked his way up to the first belay point of this two pitch route. The topo had the route marked as 2 pitches of 30m and 45m. Chris had about 5m of a 60m rope left by the time he had set up the first belay (using slings).

The photo above is me gratefully making it off the steep section of the first pitch taken from the first belay. You can see climbers walking the decent route below me to the right. The first pitch was much harder than anything on The Ramp! First difficult bit was a move around an ice bulge onto the main icefall. The climb then became very steep before needing to climb over another bulge. There were plenty of places people had bashed their feet and axes but I'm not sure if this was a help or hinderance all in all.

The second pitch apparently also a III was much easier and no harder than anything on The Ramp. The photo above of me on the belay point was taken by Chris at the first ice screw placement before the first of a couple of mixed steps. The next photo is of Pen Yr Ole Wen in the failing light and certainly the best view I've had from a belay yet, the snow covered Carneddau looked pink. I really enjoyed being here, especially after the twitchy first pitch!

The next photo is the first mixed step of the second pitch, which was not particularly difficult.

We topped out just as the light started to fail. Me in front of Pen Yr Ole Wen:

Chris:

This left us with a nice walk back with a beautifully clear sky with the brightest of stars. We could see as we got down that it looked like another team had topped out in what appeared to be the South Gully in the dark (rather them than me!)

The Ramp (II/III), Devil's Kitchen

2010-01-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

After a reasonable kip in the Ogwen Cottage car park on Friday night after trudging up Snowdon to the zig zags of the Pyg Track, we woke up knackered and didn't get going until 8am. By which time many other teams had arrived and started the march around Llyn Idwal to the Devil's Kitchen, the very thing we wanted to avoid by the uncomfortable night in the car. Through ignorance we took the more difficult route to the right of the lake up to the left of Devil's Kitchen were we saw The Ramp (II/III).

The Ramp was my first water ice climb so I was slightly anxious but also confident by recent gains in strength and technique through lots of bouldering and indoor climbing. I was also happy that Chris (my climbing partner) would be leading today.

The photo above was taken after the climb, although the weather wasn't great (with a few snow flurries throughout the day) it wasn't as claggy as the photo suggests, the lens had gotten condensation from being inside my pocket. The Ramp comprises of 3 pitches which are supposed to be grades II, III and I respectively and totals 100m. By the time we got to the start of the route the team on it had both reached the first belay, so we didn't have to wait long for the queuing team to get out of the way. Chris led the first pitch fairly easily and got a belay set up using two ice screws. There is supposed to be a piton at the first pitch but we couldn't see it. The 2nd pitch is the crux and required climbing on to a bulge of ice for the first move. The photo below shows Chris after the first move on the 2nd pitch.

The next belay point is reached on the left quickly where there is a piton and somewhere that hadn't iced up that chris had a cam in. We quickly got swapped over at the next belay and Chris motored up to top out.

The final photo is me edging out back onto the main icefall to start the final easy pitch which has a short low gradient bit of ice then into an easy snow gully before topping out. The decent is to the left past Devil's Pasture (III).

The topo is available here