Cairngorms

Wintry in the Cairngorms at the moment - with low temps. and a lot of snow - good skiing conditions attracting a lot of mountain visitors over the festive season, and very pretty to look at.

Climbing conditions were not so good with recent powder snow burying everything and making getting to the climbs hard work, however, we managed to get out on Monday and Tuesday but were caught up in the huge traffic jam leading up to the Coire Cas on Wed. and decided to call it a day, especially with another windy day forecast suggesting an increased avalanche risk - fingers crossed for next week though as I'm back up to the West Coast for some more of the white stuff.

Thanks to Anish and Raksha for their company and enthusiasm in the poor conditions.

Brecon Ice Climbing

The cold snap has brought some limited roadside icefall cragging to S.Wales, with a number of short routes just about in condition, the truck was reluctant to brave the icy roads up to Torpantau Falls, so Craig -y-Fro was visited, with some ice bouldering right out of the layby, and the main falls within 200mtrs of the road, we weren't surprised to find at least three teams chipping away at the brittle ice - all good fun at this time of the year; however, the trip home became a bit of an epic with roads blocked and very slow traffic after a couple of hours heavy snowfall took everyone by surprise - hopefully the climbers from Somerset made it home O.K

Northern Corries Climbing

A visit to the Cairngorms this week for the start of the winter season - and as last year, it has been pretty good - snow pack and ice have built up to give some good climbing conditions as the week progressed, and although blue skies were limited, and the buttresses were black at the start of the week, by Thursday things were pretty good, with ascents of The Runnel, Spiral Gully, Red Gully, Goat Track Gully , Crotched Gully and Alladin's Mirror providing a good warm up for the season ahead . Thanks to Mark, Don, Stuart and Ian for their enthusiasm and company.

Autumn mountains

After the fantastic weather in October, November's rains have been a bit of a shock, a trip to Skye had to be postponed with 80 mph winds and horizontal rain and rock climbing days, few and far between, however, it has been good practice for poor weather navigation, with courses in N.Wales and the Brecon Beacons - and I certainly need the practice with my MIC assessment due Feb. next year, off for more practice in Scotland this week, with hopefully some winter snow and ice climbing in the Cairngorms.

SY Climbing Courses

Just about making the most of the excellent late summer conditions on a few learn to lead and outdoor rock climbing courses lately - it's going to be a bit of a shock when the winter season starts - but with an MIC assessment coming up for me in Feb. '10 I'm having to start planning for it, in the meantine the beautiful autumn colours are coming out and with even just a little sun make the Wye Valley a lovely place to climb.

Alps Trip

Last week saw me and a friend of mine - Rob Johnson - in the Alps, forecasts for the week and reports of thin conditions ( with lots of serac and rockfall reported ) had us a bit concerned, however, despite our arrival day being showery and overcast, the rest of the week was superb with blue skies and brilliant sunshine - allowing us to tick off a few routes - Cosmiques Arete on Aig. de Midi , the Chere Coulloir and Contamine / Grisolle route on Mte Blanc de Tacul. With a two day adventure to the Tete Blanche , with the crevasses on the Glce. De Tour giving us a lot of stress - due to a combination of the thin conditions and my complacency in the early hours !!

Headaches, handshakes, aching calf-muscles and lots of fantastic photos !!

Outdoor Courses

"Outdoor" and "Learn to Lead" courses have been busy this month - making the most of the late summer weather - my camera has been playing up , so apologies to everyone I promised snaps to, I hope your photos's came out better !
Thanks to Andy, Jane, Chris, Rachel, Tim, Alex, Craig, Paul, SJ, Mike, Steve, Bryn, Lucy and Hayley for some entertaining climbing days - a few 1st leads, some challenging climbing and hopefully some good memories of the Wye Valley - probably better than my photo's anyway !

South of France

Trip to the sunny South of France last week , with a visit to the Ariege region - near the Andorra border - Scenery was impressive and varied from rolling countryside, limestone gorges, high mountain lakes, roadside bolted crags / high mountain routes ( Dent de Orlu looks good ) , Via Ferrata's, canoeing, mountain biking, walks, cafes, caves, castles, e.t.c - a week was far too short !
We had an excellent base to explore the area from Anne and John Arran's converted farmhouse http://www.chezarran.com . Thanks to both for their warm welcome and for arranging the weather!

Climbing Courses

A busy few days at Symonds Yat with courses providing an oppurtunity for David, Phillip, Tracie, Sean, Caroline, Ross and Tim to get to grips with some steep limestone - some of it even stayed dry !! with first leads , a big tick ( a long awaited ascent of the Longstone for Caroline ) some challenging climbing in the wet, some complicated ropework, sunshine and rain - we had the lot !!
Thanks to all for an enjoyable few days.

Wye Valley Climbing

A busy week this week with courses running through the sunshine of the weekend and dodging the showers of the week - Tintern Quarry was the venue for Philipp and Rebecca's first sport climbing leads on some reasonable grade F3's and F4's, with the tree canopy of Symonds Yat providing cover from the odd shower for introducing Will and Georgina to steep limestone climbing, shade was also needed as the week warmed up with Charlotte, Emma, Ella and Kate enjoying some long abseils and challenging climbing - we even ended up in a cave at one point to cool down as the rocks seemed to start sweating ! Thanks to all above for having the energy to make the week an enjoyable one.

North Wales

A trip to North Wales this week was rewarded with some fine weather despite the gloomy forecast and allowed us to cover some mountaineering techniques - multipitch climbing, shortening the rope, scrambling and multi - abseils e.t.c , with the blue skies , strong sunshine and warm rock it felt like the alps, especially on the beautiful ridges of the Ogwen valley.

After some long days a short cut down from Castle Y Gwynt via the col down to Llyn Bochlwyd seemed a good idea, but got us onto some very fresh loose rock confined in the steep upper gully - a place for extreme caution !

Thanks to Guy, Geraldine and Andrew for an enjoyable trip - a valuable experience all round.

Wye Valley Climbing

James Lane, a local climber, leading the ever popular " Questor" at Windcliffe last week) (n.b a very large flake has fallen off near " Cadillac" - doesn't effect the climb but does put into question some of the other large flakes in this area !! )

Last week saw us climbing in blazing June sunshine - where climbs in the shade were at a premium - all chalk, suncream and sunglasses, a long summer of climbing ahead - but no, it seems that the Wye Valley has a rainforest and the monsoon arrived this week ! - the variability of the British weather - Saturday was a washout ,but Sunday improved early and with a bit of searching some dry rock was climbed ( one advantage of overhanging limestone ) and as the day improved more and more climbs came into condition.
Thanks to Sean and Tracie for persevering through the early morning mud !

Peak District

A trip to the Peak District last weekend was rewarded with some sunny and dry weather - far better than the forecast - there seems to be so much info. about the weather available now that it gets confusing ! Stanage was cold in the wind, but Froggatt was much more sheltered , with the rock dry and crisp to the touch. A return to the Wye valley on Tuesday and some stamina training on the overhanging limestone - judging by the performance we need to go on a diet !

Indoor to Outdoor climbing course

Despite forecasts of rain the weekend produced more spring sunshine - a good incentive to get climbing outdoors on warm limestone in a beautiful location and although the course involved a lot of technical instruction - knots, anchors, systems e.t.c some well known Symonds Yat routes were enjoyed aswell : Pistol , Zymurgy, Vertigo, Golden Fleece, The Druid e.t.c.
Thanks to Paul, George, Debbie and Mark for an enjoyable weekend's climbing !

Introduction to climbing course

After rain mid-week, the warm sunshine on the weekend dried out the rock and made for some very pleasant climbing conditions. Symonds Yat wasn't too busy with only half a dozen teams out all weekend enjoying the warm limestone; one team had a rude introduction to the climbing here with an aborted lead attempt on 'Offspring' - a well known 'sand-bagger', it looks fairly straight forward with plenty of gear and obvious holds, but it is much more strenuous than first appears and the crux has a little trick to it - they wouldn't be the first team to be repulsed !

Next weekend may be a little busier as The Climbers Club has a meet in the Wye Valley area and, with a new guide book for Symonds Yat being prepared, may increase interest.

Winter walking Scotland

After such a good winter in Scotland the winter conditions are proving resilient to the recent high temperatures - with heavy snowfall on tuesday night and with some cooler temps. the climbing has improved again( Ben Nevis is positively arctic on top ) . Easter traditionally has been a good time to visit - with longer days, more settled weather, and old snow . The long trip home, however, kind of signals a change, with ice axes put away and rock boots brought out - roll on the spring !

North Wales scrambling

Scrambling course in North Wales over the weekend - with winter on the tops and summer in the valleys, we were lucky enough to enjoy some magical mountaineering on crisp, sun warmed rock amongst grand mountain architecture - all 10 mins. from the road in the LLanberis pass and Ogwen valley

Longstone Pinnacle

Another glorious weekend at Symonds Yat - the season is off to a good start with warm / dry rock encouraging a lot of climbing - with teams out on many varied routes - recent work clearing vegetation from some of the crag has led to a bit more exploration of the climbing areas ( pre-empting the new guide book ) and some old rarely climbed routes are coming back life - unpolished and fresh !

Spring at Symonds Yat

A lovely Spring day at Symonds Yat - with sunshine, blue skies and warm rock encouraging plenty of climbers out onto the popular routes - Golden Fleece , Snoozin Susie, Introductory Rocks and the Longstone all had ascents today, judging by the chalk marks some of the harder routes have also had some early season ascents - The Wasteland, OK Fingers have been climbed recently.

Northern Corries

Just back after a weeks training in the Cairngorms - despite a lot of early snow blocking the A9 last Sunday the week has had some good conditions with the unsettled weather giving a freeze / thaw cycle, with winds less than forecast - there were quite a few teams out in the Northern Corries as expected so graded ground in between named routes was used - a tactic which worked very well with good ground covered without being rushed or crowded by other teams .

Scottish Winter

Back up to Scotland this week for some winter climbing, - excellent snow and ice conditions but with 'normal' Scottish weather - windy and unsettled ! The thaw and rain last week helped the snow to consolidate and, with this weeks cold conditions, resulted in some good conditions.

Saturday Ledge Route and No. 4 Gully on Ben Nevis with 50+ m.p.h wind then off to the Cairngorms and Glenmore Lodge for the 'Association of Mountaineering Instructors' A.G.M. Sunday was an excellent day in the Northern Corries with climbs on 'Ewan Buttress' and 'Astroturfer' - both graded III, but quite different - Ewan buttress was a delightful little route with some lovely positions but very little technical difficulty, Astroturfer giving much more of a test of balance cutting diagonally across a buttress. Monday back at Ben Nevis and with an early start allowed Hadrian's Wall Direct, Green Gully and West Gully Douglas Boulder to be climbed. Hadrian's Wall gave the biggest challenge with very brittle ice allowing no respite for aching calf muscles. Tuesday was a return to Ben Nevis in poorer conditions - strong wind on top and snow beginning to fall - South West Ridge on the Douglas Boulder was an excellent little route, full of interest but without too much stress - the steep snow slope approach giving more concern ! Finished off the trip with some ice bouldering at the base of Coire na Ciste - with snow falling heavily on Wednesday and more forecast it was time to head home before the roads became impassable - it wouldn't be the first time I got stuck the wrong side of the snow gates !

Abseiling weekend

The weather has been kind to us this weekend in the Wye Valley; with heavy rain overnight but dry and sunny during the days - so despite slippery underfoot conditions we were able to do some abseil practice - with some novice abseilers finding that its not so bad afterall !

Snoozin Suzie & The Russian

Another stunningly beautiful day at Symonds Yat with crystal clear skies and dazzling winter sun .

'Snoozin Suzie' and 'The Russian' had our attention today - the rock was cold on the fingers but dry with good friction - the climbing was well worth the effort with excellent views down the Wye and time enough at the end of the day for hot chocolate at the cafe.