Langdale Mountaineering

The forecast for the weekend was good, with the UK finally getting a little high pressure and temperatures dropping and skies clearing. Unfortunately due to a prior engagement on the Saturday I was unable to make it to Scotland for the weekend which was a shame as it seemed like the place to be. Instead, Sunday morning Ash, Bec and myself headed up to Langdale.

Raven Crag and a frosty Langdale in the morning.

We left the Old Dungeon Ghyll car park and headed straight up to the base of Raven Crag where roped up and set up off up Middlefell Buttress D. It was bright and sunny however the rock was cold (but not too cold) and there was a chill breeze. We moved together with Ash leading, Bec following and myself at the back. Once we reached the final steep wall we swapped round and I took over the lead. We then moved across to follow a continuation on the buttress just to the right the top of Middlefell for another 100m or so until we reached easy ground.

Getting lured in by Gimmer Crag.

Our original plan for the day had been to do the scramble on Thorn Crag before heading over to do another scramble on the face of Pike of Stickle. As we approached Thorn Crag though we couldn't take our eyes off Gimmer which looked awesome in the morning sunshine so decided, despite only having one rope and a very minimal scrambling rack to go and have a go at Gimmer Chimney.

Myself leading up Gimmer Chimney.

We managed to do Gimmer Chimney VD+ in two long pitches and little bit of alpine trickery. I led the first long pitch to the base of the chimney which I thought felt a little stiff however this probably had something to do with the fact it was extremely cold, I was in boots and that the rock was verglassed in places. I'm quite glad to have ticked it off as I'd never climbed it before, and I do always enjoy climbing on Gimmer, its a fantastic crag.

Walking off Gimmer Crag, Langdale valley below and Windemere in the distance.

We descended back down to the car and then proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon drinking, eating and gear perusing in Ambleside.

Pinnacle Ridge & Helvellyn

This weekend I was in the Lakes helping to run a training course for some members of WLSMG who are heading to the Canadian Rockies in the summer. Saturday I took a mixed ability group up the ever classic Pinnacle Ridge on St. Sunday crag and then continued on a circuit round, dropping down to Grisedale Tarn and then up over Dollywagon, Nethermost Pike and finally Helvellyn. We had intended to descend Striding edge but decided to the winds and icing on the ridge that it would safer to head north and instead drop off the main ridgeline into Glenridding. I've put together a small video of the day below:

It was pretty cold out during the day and we consistently experienced hail and snow showers so winter is certainly on its way. The turf on the summit of Helvellyn was looking frozen although nothing on the Red Tarn face was anywhere near in condition yet but it looks like hat might have changed over the last 24 hours as Paddy Cave has been out on Bowfell Buttress today.

La Sportiva Trango S Evo - Review

The La Sportiva Trango has been my staple go-to summer boot for over half a decade. I first purchased a pair of the original Trangos in 2005 and loved them immediately, unfortunately I soon grew out of them and sold them and soon after in 2006 purchased a new pair of the Trango S Evos. Here’s Sportiva’s blurb on the boot: 

'Evolution of the famous model Trango S, it features the Gore-Tex® membrane, that guarantees waterproofness and breathability. A modern multi-purpose lightweight boot: vie ferrate, mountaineering, alpine hiking. Lightweight is its main characteristic, reached thanks to the usage of innovative and performing materials. Absolute comfort, waterproofness and appealing look make it a multi-purpose product. Lacing system derived from climbing shoe technology, with the addition of a lace lock that allows double tension. Innovative multidirectional ankle hinge “3D Flex System”. Double rubber reinforcement on the toe box. Rubber rand with differentiated height on the areas of higher abrasion.'

What you first notice about these boots is just how light they are, at 1250g they are some of the lightest B1 boots on the market. They have a back ledge for crampons but no toe welt, and they’re lined with a Gore-Tex sock to make them waterproof.

I use these boots as my go to summer boots in the UK, from walking in Cumbria to scrambling on Skye. I’ve also used the boots in the European Alps, Canadian Rockies and Sierra Nevada for alpine climbing on predominantly rock routes and in winter 2007 I used them in Scotland for a few weeks winter climbing while waiting for my new winter boots to arrive. They seem to have excelled at pretty much everything I’ve thrown at them and I’ve probably used them (my first pair of Evos) for somewhere in the region of 150 days of use.

Scrambling on Millstone Buttress, Tryfan in the Trangos.

Some may think that a fully rigid boot is overkill for general summer walking in the UK, and they may be right, there are much cheaper unrated boots out there that will do the job but the Trangos rigid sole has a good rocker and walks well, I’ve never got blisters in them (or for that matter in any Sportiva boots). The gore-tex sock inside the boot does limit breathability to a degree; I noticed the difference when switching to the Evos from the originals but the advantage is that they are waterproof, which is pretty key for the damp UK climate, out ways this. In the height of summer they are warm, but not unbearably so and no more than most other summer boots as they have no insulation as such.

When it comes to scrambling and climbing, this is perhaps the arena that the boots shine most in. The old Trangos climbed fantastically, and I wondered at first with the slightly wider fore foot profile of the new Evos if they would perform to the same standard. After a lot of testing I can say that the Evos climb just as well as the old ones, I quite happily climb up to Severe/5.6 in mine depending on rocktype, route and conditions. Like all mountain boots, they are never going to smear well but due to the sticky soles they do better than some. The rigidity of them makes them edge well, and the high rand helps them stick in cracks.

East Ridge of Mt Temple, Canadian Rockies.

With regard to winter use I find the boots a little cold for Scottish winter use, especially climbing where your boots are laced tight and your often stationary for long periods. If your just after a boot for winter hillwalking you may be able to get by with these. The same is true of alpine routes with long snow plods, cold north faces or anything particularly high but as I said above for rock routes they are fantastic. I have used these boots for climbing in winter and they do work however they lack the support for serious ice or mixed routes as well as the warmth, but if you only intend on a few weekends a year and can’t justify a pair exclusively for winter they will do the job.

So I’ve sang the praises of these boots, what are the downsides? The biggest and perhaps my only grievance with these boots is the durability of the uppers. A lot of the current reviews out their criticise the durability of the sole of the boot, and rightly so, a lot of climbing in them does wear it out quicker than other boots but the offset of this is that they wear out quickly because the rubber is sticky and climbs so well. If the rubber was harder and the tread had more volume they wouldn’t climb as well. You can get boots re-soled for less than a quarter of the price of a new pair, but if you wear out the uppers you’re going to need to shell out the cash for a new pair. In their design of the boot Sportiva have used a white woven synthetic material on the inside of the boot along the instep of the boot, I imagine this was done to keep the weight of the boot down. After a year and a half of use I started to develop a hole in this section of the boot which exposes the body of the boot underneath, this has happened on both boots.

Lewis Abbott and Chris Philips using the Trangos Via Ferrating in the Italien Dolomites.

Sportiva could easily fix this by having this area covered by more of their harder wearing synthetic leather, which is what I think they attempted to do when they released their Trango Alp GTX. I used these boots for a year (2009-10) after I wore out my first pair (the local resoling company informed me it wouldn’t be worth putting a new sole on my boots due to the wear on the uppers) and was disappointed. I found the fit to be quite different to the Evos, they felt heavier and less agile and I couldn’t climb as well in them. The lacing system is different and I found I couldn’t get it tight enough to get the fit I wanted despite sizing them half a size smaller than my Evos. This lacing set up does look more durable than the Evos as I have snapped a lace loop on each boot on my Evos. I didn’t use them for long enough to see if the instep re-enforcement held up longer then the Evos but my guess would be that it would have. Due to my disappointment with the Alps I bought a new pair of Evos, identical to my old ones – they’ve perfect, just like the old ones. I know that in the next few years they may suffer the same fate but if I get a similar sort of lifetime out of them I think I’ll have got my money’s worth out them, again.

So in conclusion, in my opinion the Trango S Evo is one of the best all round summer boots out there, especially for those venturing out for mountaineering rock routes in the mountains. The uppers do have a durability issue which I think Sportiva could easily change with a slight design change, but even this wasn’t enough to stop me buying another pair.

Pinnacle Ridge, St. Sunday Crag

Saturday's forecast was relatively poor, and certainly not weather for rock climbing so myself, Rebecca, Joe, Lewis and Stubbs headed up to Patterdale to do the classic Pinnacle Ridge on St. Sunday crag.

Following the Elmhow Zig Zags uphill on the approach.

The approach follows the road, and then track from Patterdale up the Grisedale valley on the south side of Grisedale Beck until you reach the western edge of the Elmhow Plantation. Here you head uphill (South) following a vague set of zig zigs until you reach ~500m. You then contour round to the SW, across Blind Cove and under the NW west face of St Sunday crag for about 1km until you reach the foot of Pinnacle Ridge which marked by a old tree on the far side of a scree slope, with the 'gun' on the ridge being visible above.

Joe and Stubbs, on the 'gun' at about half height on the ridge.

The ridge can be gained most easily from the left hand side, but the right gives more interest and a more sustained scramble. The first section is relatively easy, and most difficulties can be passed on the left. At about half height you reach what I've been referring to as the 'gun' feature - a peculiar fallen block which from below resembles a sidearm. From here easier ground leads to the base of the crux corner crack.

Joe climbing the crux corner crack.

The corner is harder than the rest of the ridge, with some book speculating that its Mod-Diff which I suppose is fair. Its pretty straight forward though, with all the holds and footholds being there. If this is busy, and theres a queue of people at the bottom it can bypassed by the crack about 5m to the left which is a little harder. From the top of this the pinnacles themselves are gained which give some airy exposed scrambling before the final down-climb.

Lewis, Stubbs, Myself and Joe walking off the summit of St Sunday Crag.

From the summit we made a quick retreat back down the valley, which was followed by Bilbo's Cafe and gear shopping in Ambleside, and naturally, Imran's in Lancaster.

All photos courtesy of Rebecca.

Church Beck

This weekend was Ormskirk Scout Network's annual activity weekend in the Lake District. Two years ago when I was last around for the event I took a large group of people for a scramble up Link Cove Ghyll in Deepdale followed by the Greenhow End Slabs before topping out on Fairfield. It was a superb day, and despite everybody getting pretty wet they all enjoyed it. Keeping to the theme of gyhlls, this year I decided to brave the cold March water and go a for a look at Church Beck above Coniston with Josh, Tom and Rob.

With the recent high pressure and dry weather the water level was fairly low, but still deep enough for us to be able to safely complete all the jumps. It meant we stayed fairly dry, at least on our upper halves throughout the approach section. As is commonplace for most groups using the ghyll (although we had it to ourselves today) we hopped out midway, just below the 'slide stone' and walked up the bridge before getting back in and descending the upper section doing the jumps. We ended up doing this twice before the signs of hypothermia started to set in, at which point we walked back down to Coniston, passing several inquisitive wooly hat and glove wearing walkers, got changed and had a few rounds of hot chocolate in the Sun pub. I've put together a small video of the day below:

Giants Crawl - Dow Crag

Saturday was another LUMC trip, destined for Wallowbarrow in the Duddon Valley, one of my favourite parts of the Lake District. I've climbed at Wallowbarrow in the past and its a really nice crag, but with it being February and the forecast being cold and the potential for the rock being damp I decided a mountaineering day keeping moving was more in order.

We headed up at about 11am from Seathwaite following the Walna Scar road to col below Brown Pike, before heading up along the ridge to Brown Pike and Buck Pike. We stopped just below the summit of Dow Crag itself and descended the climbers descent gully to the left of A buttress looking at how to protect scrambles in descent with the rope. Once at the bottom we traversed across to the base of B buttress and geared up.

Bec and Josh before the descent to Dow.

Gaint's Crawl is an awesome route, I think I've done it 4/5 times now mainly for the reasons that its a fantastic route for beginners or people new to multi-pitches, and its good in the wet. It's diff and ~150m and given 7 pitches in the guidebook but lends itself more in my eyes, and is quite doable in 4, which is how I'll describe it. The first two lead up the impressive slanting gangway that cuts B buttress. These are often wet as they were on the day but the gear is good and all the holds are there, its fine in big boots as well. The exposure on these pitches is also good, increasing as you get higher. Next the route kicks back left, which a tricky move over a large block which leads to a good stance and the final pitch tot he easier ground above.

At the belay halfway along the gangway, looking across to A buttress.

About 18 months ago there was some rockfall on the final pitch, and while most of the loose debris has gone there are still a few large loose block hanging around. These could really do with being removed as they pose significant danger to people below on B buttress and around the rescue box if one was to become dislodged.

Myself on the final pitch.

We scrambled up to the summit of Dow, before dropping down to the Dow-Old Man col and then dropping down to Seathwaite tarn and following the access track back down to the valley to be in the pub shortly after 5pm. I was climbing with Bec and Josh who I think (hope) had a good day and were excellent company.

Tremadog & Ogwen

I was in North Wales this weekend for a friend's birthday, and had orginally intended to try and get some more winter routes done but due to thaw at the end of last week, and the temperatures on Friday evening being positively tropical (8C in Nant Peris at night) we decided to give it a miss. I heard stuff still got done on the Black Ladders, and there was still ice around in Idwal on the Sunday but whether or not any of the lines were complete I am skeptical about. A lot of the snow cover has also diminished as well.

Myself leading pitch 3 of Poor Man's Peutery.

Saturday, with it being overcast and damp in the Pass we headed south to Tremadog for some rock-climbing. We did Poor Man's Peutery S 75m which is one of the classic easier routes on Craig Pant Ifan. In the guidebook its given 4 pitches but I manged to run both 1+2 and 3+4 together without any issues. The route as a whole is generally good but the 3rd pitch is fantastic for the grade, with an excellent, exposed traverse out onto the nose, before following a steep crack line up the wall above for about 20m. Due to our intentions of winter routes both Stu and Stubbs were climbing in there big boots and I was rocking my trainers which made the whole thing a little more interesting!

Scrambling on Carnedd Dayfdd.

Sunday brought a delayed start, but eventually we got round to Ogwen by mid afternoon (2:30pm), we'd intended to go and do Ceniefion Arete which is one of my favourite routes in Wales but decided against it as we all wanted to be home a reasonable hour, and we still had a 2 hour drive ahead if us. Instead we struck straight out of Ogwen Cottage up towards Carnedd Dafydd, picking a line up the different rock buttress to give some quality scrambling in places. We also got some stunning views of Cwm Idwal as the sun set behind. I could just about make out the remnants of the Devil's Appendix, and I'm quite excited to go for a look at it when it's fully formed again.

Snowdonia

Friday, myself and Julie headed down to the Ogwen valley, Snowdonia to get in a day in for ourselves before the event we were helping on over the weekend. As the forecast was fairly grim we decided up a itinerary I've done a few times before, a link up of the Ordinary Route D on the slabs and then Cneifion Arete D/3s. Cneifion Arete is a superb route in its own right, and can be approached in several ways; Sub-Cneifion Arete, the direct approach approach to Senior's Ridge or, and what I think is the most aesthetic is to do a route on the Idwal slabs.

Base of the Idwal Slabs, in the rain.

We managed to do the Ordinary Route in two full 60m pitches and then a bit, the guidebook reckons it should take 4 - but its a straight line so if you've got long ropes just run them together. In the past I've moved up the route route together, climbing alpine style however with the wet weather today wasn't a day for that. From the top we stayed roped together and moved up the lower ledges of seniors ridge before dropping out into the Nameless Cwm.

Cneifion Arete is for my money, perhaps the best scramble in Wales, and its pretty full on as a scramble with the first pitch certainly warranting Diff. After this it eases off considerably as you follow the exposed razor edge to the top, which always come too early. We short pitched the first section and then moved together for the rest, the wind did pick up as we reached the crest though and we took quite a buffeting. The top of the Arete puts you somewhere along the Gribbin Ridge, as we were quite wet and it was late in the day, we bailed from here heading down the Gribbin and back into Cwm Idwal. In the past though I've continued up the Gribbin to the summit of Glyder Fach, or more interestingly dropped down to the main face of Glyder Fach and done the Dolmen Ridge which is another awesome scramble, right at that boundary between climbing and scrambling. I think these sorts of days are great training for alpine climbing, staying roped up all day and trying move nice and efficiently.

Dave J & Tracey on the Arete, a few years ago.

Saturday we had a group from Ormskirk Explorers and Network with us, as the weather was again bad we went walking. The Explorers and Network all walked independently which was great as they all had to pitch in and do their share of navigation in some fairly bad conditions. the started up the PYG track from Pen Y Pass, summited Snowdon before heading off down the Ranger path to the col before heading up Moel Cynghorion and dropping down to our hut where we were staying. One group missed the Ranger path, but realized their mistake and corrected themselves but not before I'd blitzed it down the Llanberis path looking for them, then having to climb back up to Bwlch Cwm Brwynog from the half way station. Anyhow, they all did really well and despite the conditions seemed to have fun.

Explorers & Network coming off Snowdon.

Sunday's forecast was much better, so we packed up and headed round to Ogwen for a mass trespass on Tryfan. We split into three groups, with Julie and Andy taking one each and myself the third. My team headed up Millstone Gully Aproach which is given grade 2 before doing Millstone Continuation Grade 3 which we short pitched. We then followed an interesting line up the North Ridge with the group taking the lead through some challenging sections. We all ended up on the summit at the same time which was great, before heading down to the Tryfan-Glyder Fach col and back to the car.

The ONMAS group on the summit of Tryfan.

I think the weekend was a great success, even if we did make a financial loss, we certainly be running it again, and we've gotten good feedback from all the participants so far. Particular thanks to Ken for doing the catering and sorting the buses out and Julie an Andy for coming along as tickets.