Vanishing Gully

Epic?

It's funny how the meaning of words gets changed by the way we use them. For example 'we had a absolute epic' ('we had a long day and now I'm tired'). An online dictionary defines an epic as 'an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero'. As I cannot compare my blog to the work of Milton in Paradise Lost and would not describe myself as a 'legendary hero', I can only conclude that I have never had an epic... But I have had some long days! Tower Ridge being one of them. Andy, Ben and I travelled up to Scotland in January to stay with friends and do some climbing. The weather was looking excellent and we knew the ridge would have good neve and not a lot of fresh snow, so gear would be easier to find and we could move quickly... I suggest leaving very early as I know the ridge can make for a really long day. But I'm told this is unneccessary and assured by Luke that it will take us 5 hours - a conservative estimate. Note to self: when aspirant guides suggest timings for routes, add a bit. This was possibly a bit of a big route to jump on considering that neither of us had climbed in winter for two years, but we knew it was within our ability. Luke had said the Douglas gap was the hardest bit...so when this proved to be a straightforward lead, I was thinking 'this is going to be easy'. However the most time consuming part of the day turned out to be route finding - despite being on a ridge! - and faf. About a third of the way up, we hit a bit of a wall, and I knew we were both having un-vocalised Mountain Rescue thoughts. We re-fuelled and assessed our options deciding to continue. We were relying on each other to lead and route find. We got benighted on the Eastern Traverse, which Andy led. As I followed him across, I reflected that it probably felt a lot less exposed than normal, as the only thing I could see was the snow and rock in front of me, illuminated by the small pool of light from my head torch. Not wishing to tackle Tower Gap in the dark, we knew we could continue traversing and avoid it - a decision which needed little discussion! So we quested on and eventually I popped out on the crest of the ridge. Andy continued up the final snow slope to the plateau and I cracked a smile for the first time in a few hours. Made it! All in all it took us nine hours on the ridge itself and we didn't get back to the house until 11pm. I concluded 'that was a long day and now I'm tired'...

Aonach Mor

Sunday was an easier day on Aonach Mor with Francis. The day started off overcast and dull but was quite warm. Having led and seconded some harder routes I was keen to scale things back slightly so I could get my leading head back on. We decided to look at Right Twin to start with. Francis was keen to get to know the abseil approaches to routes so we descended Morwind.When our exploratory abseil didn't quite go to plan we ended up climbing back up the route, which was actually quite good! it Unfortunately whilst we were at one of our belays I saw someone fall quite a long way from near the top of Tunnel Vision. The cornices were becoming very soft in the sun and the climber failed to get enough purchase. Initially he seemed ok but was helicoptered out with injured femur and pelvis etc. We had time left so headed for some easy routes in the shade to the left of Easy Gully, climbing Nausea (II) - Francis coming up the first pitch in the photo. The route was easy but pleasant and allowed me to get my head back in. Quick cup of tea then back down on the gondola.

Back on the Ben

My alarm goes off at 5am... ugh...what?... oh I'm going climbing.... snooze....nine minutes later..after the count of three, I will leap out of the warm cocoon of my bed into my ice box room and dress as quickly as humanly possible, drink my tea whilst mentally running through a gear check. 6am, my house mate Sam and I are out the door heading for Ben Nevis. During out hour drive across to the west, the rain gets heavier and the cloud gets lower. Not very inspiring. In fact getting out of the car once we arrive in the North Face car park is only marginally easier than getting out of bed. Waterproofs straight on and a slog up in the mankyness to try Zero Gully. Unfortunately, after an eternity, we arrived near foot of Zero which is basically a waterfall; and not the nicely frozen kind. We headed further round and up to have a look at Good Friday climb, optimistically thinking that 100m or so height gain might be all that was needed for there to be some ice. Wrong again, everything is melting! In the end we went for Tower Scoop which was still in good condition. Two pitches of fun ice. Just as we finished the route and beat a hasty retreat the sun came out giving stunning views of the crags and Lochaber. So all in all not a bad day, no pain no gain!

Gogarth

This weekend I had three days off so decided to hook up with my friend Kin in Llanberis. Kin and I had never climbed together so we decided to head to Gogarth Main Cliff (what? ...it made sense at the time). This was the first time I had climbed on the main cliff, pretty impressive! and a bit scary. Actually the most scary/dangerous part of the day was the traverse across the cliffs to get to the base of the routes... I tried to concentrate on not slipping and not think of my body tumbling down the cliff and being dashed on the rocks below, morbid :) ha ha. It was a perfect day weather wise and I enjoyed some great belays bathed in afternoon sun, the sea washing over the rocks below. We climbed Imitator - VS4c and Bezel - VS5a. Both felt hard and unrelenting - I think that's the character of the main cliff. I led the first pitch of Bezel but was happy to hand the reigns back to Kin for the last pitch. We started quite late in the day and only climbed two routes, but by the time we topped out at around 10pm, I felt totally wiped out. A good hard day, must get stronger!

Volcan Baru

The team just arrivd back in San Jose, dry, clean (warm shower!). We just spent a few days in Panama doing some trekking. The most arduous trek was up Volcan Baru, the highest volcano in Central America at 3475m. It took us a day up and a day down. The first morning was a 5am start ugh... then lots of climbing and lots more climbing. The views were amazing, lots of cloud forest and volcanic rock. Sadly there was a lot of litter both along the route and at the summit. We finished the day in torrential rain and arrivd to find not grass, but an enclosed area of gravel next to a load of huge pylons and aerials and dishes. Fortunately one of our guides was friends with one of the rangers who let us sleep in one of the control rooms next to all the elctrical machines. It was prettty grim, and cold, but better than camping! We met the other World Challenge team at the top. Unfortunately the only water supply up here was from the ranger´s hut so all 29 of us had to get our water for cooking and drinking from here. There was no toilet either... I hate to think what impact all the visitors are having on the environment up there. If all the graffitti and litter is anything to go by then I think they´ll have to put something in place soon to cope with the volume of people climbing this hill. On alighter note, in the morning we were treated to spectacular views of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, the Caribean, Costa Rica and the city of David. Really cool. We also saw a Koati searching for our leftover food.

Baldi Hot Springs

One thing I forgot to mention, hot springs. Thue huge bonus of being near an active volcano! We payed to go to the hot springs but aparently there are lots of free pools locally. The place we went to was way more plush than I had expected - it doesn't feel much like we are in the developing world, a fa cry from my experiences of travelling in Tanzania and Russia. Hatred of tourism aside (!) it was amazing. Super hot pools of water, so relaxing. And the scariest water slide ever, not so relaxing. Because it was night the inside was almost completely dark. It was very fast, in places near vertical - I was definitely free falling for a few seconds. I involuntarily screamed for most of the way down :-0

Monteverde

We took a bus then a boat then another bus to get to the Quaker town of Monteverde. Touristville again but a place with a fascnating history. We did some short 'treks' around the Monteverde reserve. We saw some white faced howler mokeys, coati with babies (very cute a bit like a badger/ardvark/skunk), and up near the cafe loads of humming birds. They were feeding at bird tables right where we were, some of them were tiny - really colourful, amazing, flying all around us. On the main trek of the day we were treated to spectacular views of the Monteverde cloud forest and if you stood still and listened, the trees were literally humming with the sound of insects, reptiles and other animals.

So far the treks described as 'strenuous' and 'for very fit people' have been pretty easy - I guess they are marketing to the adventure traveller who is not ncessarily that fit.

Costa Rica is well known for sustainable development. Costa Ricans are trying to strike a balance between developing the tourist industry which has saved thier economy, and protecting the precious natural wonders that draw the tourists in. I'm not sure where zip wiring fits in with this so called 'eco tourism', as it no doubt involves destroying areas of forest or at the least damaging trees.

La Fortuna

The team also visited La Catarata de la Fortuna. This was a very short walk down to a beautiful waterfall and pools. It was supposed to be an acclimatisation trek for Volcan Baru around 3500m! Despite this the group enjoyed swimming in the pool near the waterfall and the lower pool which had lots of fish in it. La Fortuna is super touristy. The town has grown massively in the last decade as a result of tourism. Travellers started visiting the town after Volcan Arenal - the local volcano - which had lain dormant for 300 years, erupted in 1968 destroying two villages in the valley it overlooks. Volcan Arenal is still active. As the lonely planet says you could literally close your eyes and walk in any direction and you would hit a tour operators office. This has been bugging me a bit but, the area still has an undeniable beauty. It would be sad if the area becomes even more touristy but that seems to be the way it's going. On the walk up to La Caterata we saw many plots of land for sale and potential develoment.

Pura Vida!

I am in Costa Rica!

I am working for World Challenge in Costa Rica. I am here for a month with a group of eight boys and thir teacher from North London. We have been here for a week, flying into San Jose last Friday. I think I had about a 26 hour day. The jet lag was immense. We spent a day in San Jose where the group planned for the following days. From San Jose we took a public bus to La Fortuna where the group undertook a couple of acclimatisation treks - one up the extinct volcano Cherro Cato and another to the Catarata La Fortuna. The track up Cherro Cato was a bit of a mud slide in places and much of the man made bits had been heavily eroded by the rains. It was a hot day and I don't think I have evr sweated so much I drank more than 3 letres and didn't pee any more than ususal. As the group set off a bit late we were caught out by the afternoon rains, whiuch are very heavy at this time of year. Unmfortunately the heavens opened when we were near to the top and I had to make the decision for the group to turn back. I was reassured about making the right decision as sections of the path on the way down had become river like, literally a mud slide. A thunderstorm also broke out. I like the weatyher here, when it rains, it really rains and there are immense thunder storms in the afternoons.

Summer climbing 2010

Hmmm it's been a while, I have been a lazy blogger! Well I finished at Glenmore Lodge in April and am down in Sheffield at the moment chilling out, seeing family and friends and climbing. Since being back I've been to Horseshoe Quarry with Robin and Andy- great, never been there before, Stanage Crow Chin with Pete and Windgather with Kiri and Kelly. At the moment I'm just trying to get out lots and get my leading head back on. I'm finding that I much prefer to be in the mountains to single pitch cragging. I guessed that the mountain routes in Wales would be drier than Scotland, based on my experience of last spring and summer in the Highlands, which was quite a wet one. I was right, it's still snowing up there. At least I don't have to go and dig out the lodge car park anymore, hurrah! I have also been open boating on the Matlock slalom course on the Derwent with some guys from Edale, which was fun. May bank holiday saw me enjoying three days of climbing in North Wales :) The weekend was organised by the Christian Rock and Mountain Club which I am a member of. The club is really active, and has for a while been putting on training days for club members wishing to aquire new skills etc. On Sunday there was a space on a multi pitch improvers type day with Llanberis based mountaineering instructor and general legend, Andy Newton. As I didn't manage to get out loads last year (due to shoulder injury) and had a few questions, I thought I would join in. We went ot Little Tryfan for this. I had a great day and picked up a few things I'll definitely be applying to my climbing this year. I had a day with Alice climbing ordinary route on Idwall Slabs and Cneifion arete on Saturday - a pleasant yomp in the mountains! the Arete was climbable in mountaineering boots. On Monday Rachel and myself climbed The Slant on Clogwyn y Tarw. We were both belaying in gloves, having not really payed attention to the guidebook which said the crag receives evening sun - we climbed in the chilly shade looking on at the rest of Ogwen which was bathed in sunlight! This route definitely requires a confident second as it's hard to protect the traverse with gear above knee height. The pictures are on Cneifion Arete and Little Tryfan (Andy teaching Marisa and Martin how to escape the system).

Whilst at Little Tryfan I also bumped into Sam Leary who I know from the Lodge. We arranged to climb next week and she suggested Gogarth, well excited... a bit scared! I read the route description for The Dream of White Horses... the reminder to not forget your prussiks sticks in my mind...

No 6 gully Aonach Dubh, Glencoe

the pictures don't entirely do it justice but we had an ace time, the ice was in excellent condition. You can just about make out elliot's downfall in the last pic, I got a better one but it was too cold for my flash to work.

Is nice, we like!

solo in the wetness

I had planned to go for a hill day today. Packed my bag the night before and got up early. Despite the fact that I had to work late last night until about 11:30, I still managed to drag myself out of bed into a badly heated room. Also despite the fact the weather was fairly minging. Once I was up I felt obliged to go for my walk. I don't think I would ever choose to go walking in weather like this if I wasn't working towards my winter ML... I did however have a stragely satisfying day. I headed for the top car park and wandered up to the Ptarmigan then headed south east towards the saddle, down to Loch Avon and then along the loch and up Coire Raibert, up to spot height 1141 and down.

I had planned to head up Beinn Mheadhoin but did not get enough of an early start due to a meeting at work. I was out on my own today and had lots of opportunity for some confidence boosting nav practice. The vis up near the Ptarmigan was about 75m. This was the first time I had navved in poor weather in winter on my own. I am a capable navigator and I know my compass works (!!) but it still felt quite isolating (and exciting) walking off into a sea of vast whiteness on my own. I walked so accurately on my bearing I almost walked over the edge of the steep slope/cornice above the stream at Marquis Well... it's quite hard to see the change in angle of the slope when everything is white.

The snow lower down was quite patchy - as you can see from the pictures of the Loch Avon basin and Coire Raibert - and although there was a lot of ice, it was starting to melt. The temperature was about 3 degrees apparently - it was raining all day even on the plateau.

On the way back up Coire Raibert I could feel the wind picking up and took a bearing for the col below spot height 1141 before I reached the top. As predicted there was a strong northely wind and I had to put my goggles on. I walked on my bearing for what seemed like an eternityand eventally reached a point near the col (which after 1.2km is not too bad). Finished in the dark. Very wet.

I stopped for a quick bite to eat and attempted to take some photos of myself eating, probably a moment of temporary insanity due to walking around in the cloud for too long... ha ha ha

Sron na Lairig

Today I went up Sron na Lairig in the Caingorms. I was aiming for Braeriach but set off at a bit of a leasurely pace for that and realised that due to lack of daylight I would end up walking in the dark for 5 hours if I went for it... didn't fancy negotiating an icy Chalamian Gap in the dark. Still an excellent day with panoramic views of the Gorms, the Monadliath, Dubhs ridge and lots of hills further north on the far horizon.

Last week Hannah and I passed our BCU UKCC L2 certificate in coaching paddlesport. Pete Gwatkin has been observing some of my sessions and giving lots of feedback. Here's some pics of me coaching James in Open Boat on the pond at Glenmore Lodge! On another day we also practiced throwing lines for each other on the pond and had to break the ice which had formed on the surface, which was entertaining.

some hills

I've been trying to get fit for winter recently and get some hill days in. Some pics of Glen Markie on a beautiful windless autumn day a couple of weeks ago, and Rachel and myself about to get blown about on Meall Cuich near Dalwhinnie at the weekend - it continues to be very windy and wet up here...

Middle Findhorn

Paddled the middle Findhorn yesterday with Malcolm Ian Chris O and Laura. Lots of water really good fun. No pic of the Middle Findhorn but some of the grade 3 rapid on the Dulnain at the Old Packhorse Bridge, Carbridge. Definitely in spate! Malcolm and Chris were tempted but we had run out of daylight...

Winter

so what's next? Snow :) there is a sprinkling on the hills but nothing significant yet. I'll be posting pictures. Anyone up for winter hill days or climbing give me a shout. You can sleep on my floor!

adventures recently

more pictures soon I promise!

Since I last blogged I've been biking quite a lot. Recently biked up Burma road and then down (falling off a lot) the black descent back to Aviemore. Chris and I did the Laggan route a while back - good route, really picturesque and a good descent. We had to battle against the wind quite a bit and had to ford a river - not sure if the brisge was ever there in the first place! I joined an intermediate biking course George Mac was running which was really helpful - lots to practice! unsuprisingly I find shin guards really help. The Lodge has some good man made mtb trails and skills sections on site and Wolf Trax also has some good bits in the play park. At home in the Peak I did the Cut Gate route with Pete. I would say this is the best route I've done in the Peak - great technical uphill as well as down hill.

In September I took part in the Scottish Open Canoe Symposium. I did an awesome tandem tandem wokshop with Tom Sibbald and Anna (Graham?) which despite being on a section of the Spey I have paddled a lot, was really helpful

I have been doing quite a lot of coaching in Kayak and Open Boat whilst working towards my L2. Giles TRussel has been helping me with lesson plans and I've also had a lot of help from Pete Gwatkin who kindly came in on his day off to observe my sessions, what a legend!

WEMSI First Responder

I have been a bit lax with the old blog of late. but I thought this was worth mentioning. Last week I took (and passed) the WEMSI First Repsonder course which takes place at Glenmore Lodge every year. The First Responder course is currently run in the states and Ireland as well as at the Lodge. It's an advanced 'first aid' certificate for leaders working in remote environments around the world. The course is designed to prepare you for protracted care of casulaties where help is far away or totally unavailable. We covered a really broad range of topics from puncture wounds and anaphylaxia to tropical diseases and altitude sickness. In all I think we had about 26 casualty scenarios outside and then a mass casualty scenario for all 20 of us to deal with set in a 'gorge' on the hill to the east of the Ciste car park. It was great to have actually done all this stuff - for example one scenario involved us carrying a drowned paddler out of a river and resuscitating him on the bank. Our mass scenario also involved a stretcher carry which was great to practice. I feel so much more repared for any mis haps that might occur on expedition. I can't recommend the course highly enough.