Trowbarrow

Sunday afternoon, after some getting some work done in the morning I couldn't resist the urge to head back out for some more climbing in the afternoon so after lunch myself, Gaz, Claire and Ben headed up to Trowbarrow for a few hours. My goal for the day was do Harijan VS 4c as its the only route of the grade I've not done at Trowbarrow. We jumped straight on it and I lead off, the move round the corner from under the overhang is pretty scary but well protected with cams in the break. After this theres 25-30m of fantastic vertical climbing up the crack system. It is steep and is is sustained but the holds are all there and you can get reasonable rests from time to time. Its also well protected throughout. Only one slightly worrying moment where my sunglasses steamed up and I couldn't see for a few moments... I was pretty pumped when I got to the top, built the belay and then Gaz followed in good time.

We went down and eyed up Hollow Earth, which is just to the right of Harijan but HVS and looks really good but is supposed to be quite hard for the grade so decided to leave it for a little later in the season when we're a bit stronger. We then rested for a while, filming and photographing Claire on her first VS lead, Coral Sea which she did an excellent job on. Gaz put the above video together, watch it in higher quality on facebook. A few laps of soloing Barrier Reef S 4a next to it and we were done for the day, back to to Lancaster for fajitas and beer.

Lake District Cragging: Raven & Wallowbarrow

Friday the forecast was promising for the afternoon, so myself and Stu took a leisurely morning leaving late and then doing some shopping in Ambleside. It looked to have dried out so we headed over to Raven Crag above the ODG in Langdale. The rock was damp when we first arrived so we started off with The Original Route S 4a ***, its given 4 pitches in the guidebook but in usual fashion we managed to halve this running one + two and three + four together without any real issues. The final two pitches have some really nice face climbing on them on big holds, its certainly a route worth doing if its at your grade or on a wet day.

Myself leading Revelation.

Next up we did Revelation HS * which I led in one long pitch of 43m, excellent steep juggy climbing all the way. We topped out and were briefly tempted by Muscle Crack E1 5c/6a even thought it was a bit wet. I got halfway up it but coulden't get my jams to stick in the greasy crack so reversed it and came down, I'd be keen to go back for a crack on a dry day though. For our last route we did Bilberry Buttress VS+ 4c which was excellent, especially the two crux pitches at the start. That evening we drove over to the Duddon Valley to hook up with Ash, and unexpectedly Stubbs and Rachael.

The Plough at Wallowbarrow.

Wallowbarrow was Sunday destination, and in our slightly hungover states we started easy with Nameless S 3c doing it in two pitches. Next we did Malediction Direct VS 4c ** with Stu doing the approach pitch and me leading the 4c one, which was excellent steep climbing. Highly recommended. We then swapped roles and did the same approach pitch but this time Ash lead off up The Plumb VS 4c which again was great. I ambitiously (being lazy) seconded it in my trainers and due to complacency popped off the greasy polished holds below the chimney! We then moved over to the far buttress where Ash lead off up The Plough HVS 5b which is a excellent route, technical face climbing before a jamming crack finish - and much better protected then it initially looked. I then did Paradise VS 4c next to it which gives a long pitch of climbing with interesting sections but is certainly a soft touch at 4c.

Jade Jauquet Photography

My friend Jade Jauquet from the States came out climbing with us at Trowbarrow a few weeks ago, he's a really talented photography and took some really good photos some of which I thought I'd share below:

Bec placing gear before the crux of Jomo.

Belaying at the top of Assagai.

Climber at the top of Jomo.

Bec leading Coral Sea.

Jade following on Coral Sea.

Black Diamond catalog?

Myself at the top of Assagai, as the sun set.
(Hard to believe this was Lancashire in March, two days before I went ice-climbing on the Ben!)

The above aren't in anywhere near enough high enough resolution for you appreciate them so I urge you to take a look at them, and the many others on his Flikr Photostream.

Islay

For the last week I've been on Islay in the Hebrides, on geological field course as part of my degree. We were studying metamorphic rock in particular and using the exposures across the island to tell the story of opening and closing of the Iapetus Ocean which existed between 600 and 400 Ma, bounded by the separation of the paleocontinents Laurentia and Baltica and the Caledonian orogeny and the creation of Laurussia. In addition to the outcrops pertaining to the above event we also viewed rocks on the western side of Islay which are some of the oldest in the world dating back to 1.8 billion years ago.

Lossit Bay, on the west coast of Islay, one of the sites of our field work.

The topography of Islay is relatively flat, and there is little to now climbing so apart from a little bouldering on the beach in between geological mapping I didn't clock any vertical mileage. The place however is beautiful, and like the rest of the Hebrides feels a very long way urban centers of mainland Britain. We also visited the Laphroaig distillery that was very interesting, as well as us being supplied with a lot of free samples.

Ben Nevis: CIC Hut

Last weekend I spent an excellent 3 days up at the CIC at the base of Tower Ridge, below the north face of Ben Nevis, the only true alpine style hut in the UK.

The walk-in.

Day 1 - Friday

After a laborious walk in with big packs we reached the hut mid-morning and made ourselves at home before setting out to do a few routes. Tom, Mark, Chris, Julie and Martin headed up to do Tower Scoop while myself and Stubbs headed up to scope out conditions in Corrie na Ciste. We were a little skeptical of conditions with the warm temperatures (I'd been rock climbing with my shirt of all day a few days before) but once we were a few hundred meters above the hut the snow turned to neve and quite a few of the ice lines looked to be in good nick.

We decided on Green Gully IV 4 ****, a Cold Climbs classic. It was in excellent nick with the three steep ice pitches being fat and plastic and with styrofoam like neve in between. Conditions were so good infact that we never got the rope out and simul-soloed the whole route in just over 30 minutes! It felt excellent just to be moving really fast and un-encumbered up some reasonably technical terrain, Stubbs needed some encouraging words to do the crux but did an excellent job despite claiming to be slightly out of his comfort zone in retrospect.

Hut life - Jagermeister and curry.

After topping out we descended No 3 Gully I, with a small abseil over the slumping cornice. On the way down as it was still early we did the East-West Traverse I of the Douglas Boulder, and just about resited the urge to get on Tower Ridge!

Day 2 - Saturday

Up into the Ciste with Chris today, we went straight for Comb Gully IV 4 ***, another classic ice route. We soloed up the approach slopes and did the route in two main pitches, a shorter first one. Ice was nice and plastic again.

I was quite keen to get on something a bit harder so once we'd done the No3 Gully descent we headed back round and underneath our previous route and up towards the Cascade V 5. It looked a little thin, and very steep but there was what looked like a ramp of neve at just over half height which would give a rest before the top section. The route is about 40m in total. I started up the first section, which was initially a little hollow sounding but then got onto some great plastic steep ice, vertical in places. Four screws and about 25m later this changed as I hit the neve band, which unfortunately wasn't neve - it was unconsolidated ice, almost as if somebody had just poured crushed ice onto it. With poor pick and foot placements and no immediate screws, and even though it wasn't steep I was un-confident of my ability to climb it safely so decided retreat was perhaps a better option and started digging. I got through the layers of crud and found some better ice below and got a screw in to protect we while I built the abalkov. I built one, but wasn't confident in it strength so dug a little deeper and built another. I threaded this one, and put a mallion on it so I could lower off unclipping and unscrewing my runners I went, just to increase my safety margin if it did go. Before I took the screw out I tested and waited the thread and it didn't fail so cautiously committed to it. Chris lowered me and I got the first two screw out, as I was reaching the third though the thread blew and I fell 15m hitting the snow below, bouncing and sliding stopping as the load came onto the next runner. Thankfully I was ok, I checked myself and nothing felt broken. A small cut on my nose, stiff neck and 3 small punctures in the left thigh from my crampons (but no holes in my trousers!?) were the only injuries.

After having a moment I re-climbed the lower section of the route to get my screws back. Its been annoying me ever since as to why the thread failed. My first thought was that maybe the cord broke, or I just tied it incorrectly in haste but on inspection afterwards it was correct. I knew the ice was poor but I did test it and it didn't fail, and why didn't it fail when I first weighted it on the abseil and not halfway down? AT the point the thread failed the angle of pull on the tread changed slightely from being straight down to towards one side, perhaps this was the reason.

Anyhow the fact that it blew justifies in my mind the decision to back off rather than push on up the crap ice. It also makes we think I certainly did the right thing in leaving the runners clipped as apose to abseiling straight off the thread, in which case I very well may of slid off down the mountain when it had gone. Thanks to Chris for holding me, and staying calm. I did ask him if he wanted a go but he gracefully declined.

Day 3 - Sunday

Ice pitch at the start of Glovers Chimney.

Final day up in the Ciste, myself and Martin headed to do Glovers Chimney III 4 on the side of Tower Ridge. The first pitch gave an awesome 20m of steep ice, certainly at the top end of III. We then moved together for around 150m up the snow slope and small ice steps to the base of the crux mixed chimney. I led this and it was excellent technical mixed climbing, feeling tricky as it was quite thin but well protected. Theres three pegs, each by the hard moves, in addition to this I think I only placed a sling and nut. You top out right in the middle of Tower Gap which is awesome.

Final mixed pitch of Glovers.

We finished up the upper section of Tower Ridge to the summit plateau before descending and walking out. A session in th Clachiage followed.

Trowbarrow

With the advent of what seemed to be a early summer last week, Wednesday afternoon myself, Rebecca, Jonny and Jade headed up to Trowbarrow for what was for me, the first proper day in rock boots of the year.

Climbing on Frontage.

We geared up below Assagai wall and to warm up I did a quick solo of Frontage HS 4b, rock climbing head back on. Rebecca has just started leading so she lead Frontage up to the halfway ledge and then up the second, and more interesting part of Jomo VD *** to the top of the crag. While we did this Jonny and Jade climbed the true line of Jomo in it's entirety. Next up we did Coral Sea VS 4c** which Rebecca also led, which is very impressive for a 3rd lead!

Rebecca leading Jomo VD**.

For the last route of the day it was my turn on the sharp end so we did Assagai HVS 5a** which was excellent as ever. We all topped out just as the sun was setting, before packing gear and heading off. Imran's in Lancaster naturally followed.

Sunset from the top of Assagai.

For those that haven't been Trowbarrow is a excellent venue just south of the Lake District Natinal park on the Silverdale Arnside peninsula. Its easily accessible by public transport being a 10 minute walk from the Silverdale rail station, and is a good option for when the weather is bad in the lakes or just for an evening cragging.

Photos courtesy of Rebecca.

Cairngorms: Ski Mountaineering & Winter Climbing

Saturday morning, after a relaxed drive up on the Friday afternoon I skinned into Coire an t'Sneachda along with Hannah, Joe, Jonny and Tom who were on foot. We split into two team with Hannah, Jonny and Tom heading to Fiaciall Couloir. Joe wanted to climb so steep ice so we went up to look at Mirror Direct IV 4 and I gave him some tips on tool and screw placements as well as foot work and then he did a superb job of leading the route which was his first proper ice route. At the moment its fairly banked out but still giving a good 6-8m just off vertical section. I followed and then we abseiled from the in-situ belay at the top.

Back at the rescue box we had a bite to eat and I stuck the skis back on and we headed over to Fiaciall Buttress, I managed to skin almost to the bottom only having to put my skis on my back for the final section, much to the pleasure of Joe who was wading through the snow behind me. We looked at Invernookie but decided the wind was a bit high but went for Fiaciall Couloir II/III. We roped together with about 30m of rope between us with myself leading and Joe following and climbed the route in about 20 minutes which was awesome. After topping out we headed round to 1141m where I left the other to walk down to the daylodge while I skied the Cas headwall and then blagged a few laps of the Corrie Cas T-bar.

Sunday we headed into the Corrie again and with the high winds and avalanche hazard decided to go for the sheltered option of Patey's Route IV 5. The first challenge of the day was constructing a harness for Hannah as she had failed to pack her's in the chaos of the morning. Joe led the pitch up to below the first bulge where I took over climbing this and then the crux pitch. The route was fairly thin in places, but still good, if a little tricky. Once at the top of the difficulties we soloed up Alladin's Mirror to the top.

Joe and Hannah filmed quite a bit of footage over the weekend and they've put it together in the video below:

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:

Snow & Ice 2011

Over the last few days I've been up in the Cairngorms on the West Lancashire Scouts annual winter skills and mountaineering scheme, Snow & Ice, based out of Nethy Bridge. I fist went to the event as a participant 7 years ago, and its where I first learnt most of my winter mountain-craft, so its really nice to be able to go back now as an instructor and impart some of knowledge to people younger than me. The event also has a reasonably good social side to it as well.

Day 1

Ice axe arrest training in Corrie na Ciste.

The first day of the scheme is a compulsory winter skills training or refresher day for all participants. After a minor setback with the ski road being closed due to high winds we set off walking up towards the ski car park. I took my group into Corrie na Ciste above the over-flow ski carpark. First we looked at traveling with the axe, safe travel technique, the axe self belay before getting to arresting a fall with an axe. After some lunch we headed a little higher and found some hard neve to practice kicking and cutting steps, something I think is perhaps a neglected skill these days. We then had a look at avalanche awareness, digging a rustschblock which failed quite impressively and then looking at a tap/compression test. We ran through some basic winter belays quickly, digging a few snow bollards, bucket seats and burying a few axes and looking at how to use body belays with them. Finally we put crampons on and had a quick walk around so everybody could get a feel for them before we headed down.

The group we're really good and we got through most things quickly, and I think they all learnt a few things which is always good.

Day 2

The forecast for Sunday was worse than the previous day, but decided to head into Sneachda to see if we could get up anything. The walk in was tedious and took a long time in the high winds, almost feeling like one step forward two steps back. The team split in the corrie with most bailing back to the car park. Myself and Stu perceived though, and climbed up the mixed ground to the Fiacaill Ridge col before soloing along the ridge. If taken direct, Fiacaill Ridge is actually a really good day out with some easy but exposed mixed climbing in places, and the chimney crux section is certainly a good section of II. We topped out into a whiteout on the plateau where the compasses came out to get round to 1141 and down into Cas. The cornices lining the rim of Sneachda were particularity huge.

Day 3

On Monday Jayne, Stubbs, Stu and myself headed back into Sneachda with a group of 6 punters to look at winter climbing skills, with the potential of doing a route at the end of the day. Again the walk in was tedious and slow. The gullies weren't really in conidion due to large amounts of wind slab and the big cornices at the top. We decided that our intinery from the previous day would be idea, so headed up the mixed ground, looking at belays and ropework, before roping up to climb the ridge itself. Once on the plateau the weather was even worse than the previous day which gave the opportunity to look at some navigation in really bad weather, when you really don't want to get it wrong! The cloud lifted slightly as we hit 1141 and walked down to the day lodge. Again I think people had a good day out, it was hard to explain a lot off things in the high wind but I think people understood most things we did, and everybody enjoyed the ridge - and we didn't get blown off!

After topping out of the Fiaciall Ridge.

Day 4

The final day of the scheme there weren't many takers for climbing as most were either skiing or on overnight expeditions, so the small group of myself, Stu, Martin and Jon headed into Sneachda again, in much better weather, to see if we could get up something. We initially went for Fingers Ridge, which I've got a little bit of a vendetta with. I lead off up the first ptich and immediately found it quite hard going, with the entire ridge being covered in about a foot of loose unconsolidated powder snow making both climbing and finding gear and tool placements very difficult. I decided it was for the best to bail so lowered off from the first belay, deja vu.

Fluted Buttress tempting us with seemingly good conditions...

The four of us then ran across to Goat Track Gully, which was fairly banked out but still gave bit of sport coming over the two bulges. We climbed a varition at the top, going straight up the rock prow on the left, at about tech 3/4-. Again the standard walk off was over and down via 1141, as the Goat Track was still looking pretty dodgy with no tracks going up or down it.

Jon following our mixed variation at the top of Goat Track Gully.

In summary an excellent event, as always. The weather was difficult, but workable, and while everybody may not be able to pull of the most perfect axe arrest in every position or other finite skills I think everybody gains some good mountain life skills/experiences - not letting your gloves blow away, what you need handy in your rucksack, layering etc.

End of the day in the daylodge car park.