Braemar Meet

Christine, Nick, Jago and me arrived at Braemar to find snow down to the roadside and temperatures of minus 14 Centigrade.
On Saturday Jago and me had an early start aiming for West Gulley (IV) on Lochnagar. while descending into the corrie the accumulation of powder snow on top of ice and evidence of windslab avalanches convinced us that gullies weren't a good choice and after some prevarication we finally decided to attempt Central Buttress (II) the sunlit ridge in the picture.

 We soloed up an easy introductory gully then roped up on the east flank of the ridge which gave a couple of pitches of mixed climbing on powder covered rock and heather with the occasional bit of ice. Protection was sparse and although the climbing was technically easy the conditions gave some cause for concern.

By now the sun had disappeared and we were feeling the cold. While shivering on the stances we were aware of being watched by Nick and Christine who had enjoyed a pleasant ascent of Lochnagar in the sunshine.

Once the crest of the ridge was gained the difficulties were over and steady snow slopes led to a small cornice to gain the plateau.

From the summit plateau we had extensive views over the cairngorms and began our return journey in the setting sun.

On Sunday Nick and Christine completed a round of four Munros east of Glenshee in the same excellent conditions while Jago and me returned home. 

Keswick Meet

By the time the Keswick meet came round the big freeze had ended. Snowfields had turned into ponds and ice cascades had turned into raging torrents. Low cloud and wetness dominated as we gathered to discuss the days agenda. A fell walk over Crag Hill and Sail returning by Outerside and Barrow was finally agreed by the majority a team of 6, Clive, Colin, Bev, Jago Nick and Christine set out along the ice covered track to Force Crag.

Meanwhile David and Steven were helping the driver to dig their 4 wheel drive taxi out of a ditch somewhere in the region of Dockray. After about a hours labour they left the hapless taxi driver and started their walk along the old coach road over to St Johns in the Vale.

On Crag Hill much of the snow and ice had disappeared but enough remained in places to make progress slow and difficult. Paths had disappeared and visibility was limited so some navigational skills were required to reach the summit cairn

The  remainder of the walk over Sail and Outerside was unventful and views were very limited. We decided to leave the ascent of Barrow for another day as light was failing and reached Braithwaite at dusk.

Sun Rock?

Colin, Bev and me decided to leave the cold and snow behind and headed for sunny spain. On day one we decided on Toix TV where I led Gufelwufel (5) and Seduction (6a) before we were driven off by rain. The next day took us to the pleasantly situated Font d'Axia where we had a good days climbing (partly in the sun) with John Robinson and Win from the FRCC. Bev and I led several 4s and 5s but didnt quite manage a full Ganley between us.

Then it rained. It rained solidly for a day and a night and when it cleared fresh snow covered the hills behind Calpe. Not as much snow as experienced in the UK but more than enough for Spain. Although the rain had stopped a cold wind blew over the Costa Blanca and after aborting a visit to Altea we finished up on Toix Placa where I led Johanna (5+). Fixing the lower off with numb fingers was not a pleasant experience and after Bev had seconded the route we retreated to Calpe for coffee.

We had arranged to meet Dave Warrington at Aventador where we decided that a quick romp up the short via ferrata was the best way to combat the cold. Again this proved a finger numbing experience despite our gloves and several layers of clothing and so after topping out we retreated to Daves for coffee and cake.

Lakeland Scramble & Tops

Colin, Bev, Nick, Christine and me attended an FRCC meet based at Beetham Cottage in Patterdale. We took advantage of the fine cold weather to gain the ridge of Hartsop above How by a grade 3 scramble on Gill Crag  which we completed with some intentional and unintentional variations. We carried on to Hart Crag and Dove Crag then down by Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop Dodd. The weather stayed fine and we had extensive views in all directions.

On Sunday we were blessed with similar weather and decided on a short day with a round of Birks and Arnison Crag. Once again we enjoyed extensive views, all in all a good week-end with seven summits and a good scrambled ticked off.

More Wet Walking

 Clive and Jago set off for Ynys Ettws the CC hut which was the venue for the November meet. A wild windy drive brought us to Nant Peris where an accident had closed the road so we made a long detour round to the Pen y Pass approach. At Pen y Gwryd the police were blocking the road due to a landslide down the pass so we decided to retreat to Helyg where we found 2 family parties who were unable to get to Cwm Glas.

  On Saturday wind and rain were the dominant features in our choice of a walk round the hills behind Llanberis. These were relatively low so would miss the worst of the wind and we had not done them before.

A pleasant path took us to to the col below Foel Goch from where a steep slope led to the summit. Up to the col we had enjoyed dry conditions but now we were exposed to the wind and rain. The ridge then continued over Foel Gron and Moel Eilio from where we descended down the ridge to Llanberis.

 Meanwhile Dennis had arrived at Ynys Ettws early on Friday afternoon and fled from the rain as soon as the pass was open on Saturday morning.
 On Sunday the same weather conditions prevailed so we decided to traverse Creigiau Gleision above Capel Curig and return by the llyn Cowlyd Reservoir which we completed without incident and even got the occasional view.

Get Fit Week-end

I accompanied Colin and Bev up to Langdale on a quickly arranged get fit week end. Arriving Saturday afternoon we made a quick ascent of Loughrig Fell in rain showers. 

On Sunday we headed up the Band and across the climbers traverse towards Bowfell Buttress which was shrouded in mist and where a party of 4 brave souls were preparing to tackle the climb. In the mist we missed the gully by the Great Slab which we intended to take and scrambled up the gully next to the Buttress which brought us out almost on the summit.  The summit still held an accumulation of snow which had fallen the previous day. From Bowfell we headed over to Esk Pike and back to Ore Gap to descend to Angle Tarn and then took in Rosset Pike before dropping down Rosset gill to the valley floor.

Last weekend (24th/25 Oct) I accompanied Clive on a couple of wet walks in the Lake District. We  were on the Langdale meet stopping at the Raw Head FRCC hut. Saturday morning served up an obviously wet day so Clive and I opted to do the Green burn horse shoe starting from the Travellers Rest Pub on the A591 near Grasmere.

We reached the summit cairn of Steel Fell (553m) at 12.30pm during strong winds and heavy rain. So in the best club tradition we agreed to stop for lunch. Once we were comfortably ensconced in Clive's new bothy shelter he nonchalantly commented that he thought the map and bothy storage bag had just blown away. Surprisingly this turned out to be erroneous, as on this occasion he was merely sat on them, nevertheless flashbacks of past experiences triggered by similar comments from Clive momentarily intruded on my consciousness as I chewed my gluten free sandwiches (Mme lovely).
The route then took us SE to Calf Crag (picture of me above) and then down the SW ridge until we reached Helm Crag (405m). Clive claims this is the only Lake District summit that can’t be reached without the use of hands, and although it isn't in the same league as the Inaccessible Pinnacle, it did require a few moments of rock climbing concentration to safely negotiate due to wind and rain suddenly strengthening. Indeed the last section of ridge proved unexpectedly challenging as the wind became quite vicious, but the final descent through woods rich with autumn colours was a seasonal delight. We reached our car at 16.23hrs and returned to the hut just before Nick and Christine arrived after enjoying some shopping in Ambleside. Their day’s ambitions having been limited by an impressive array of injuries acquired whilst playing football and squash.
On Sunday morning Nick and Christine determined to make a tactical withdrawal home in order to recuperate. Clive and I headed to the Rigg Wood car park on Coniston Water’s SW shore, before heading directly up hill through the woods towards the Top o’Selside summit (335m). After a second bothy bag protected lunch stop we attempted to negotiate the mere 3Km to the nearby top marked by the presence of Grizedale Visitor Station. However our efforts were thwarted by the alteration of the woodland landscape since our map was printed – at least that’s our excuse. Despite scrutinizing the map endlessly, referring to compass bearings and consulting Clive’s GPS (a retirement present), and lots of cunning navigational plans, we managed to walk in a complete circle and exited the woods where we‘d previously entered! However we easily salvaged the situation by employing another trusty club tradition on wet days. We retreated for tea and cakes in a Coniston

Back in the Saddle

It was 12 weeks to the day since I fell of my bike and bust my ribs and I had been putting off starting riding again. The weather man predicted that today would be the last fine, warm day of the autumn so I resolved to face up to the challenge and it was with some trepidation that I clipped into my spuds and pedalled along the waggon way at Cawthorn Basin. I had decided to ride from there to the top of Cotes Hill and back.
Getting to the top of the hill was quite straight forward apart from rusty leg muscles and confidence was returning. I started the return journey and soon  picked up speed down the rough farm track, suddenly the rear wheel caught a rut and skidded and the bike turned sideways...oh oh here we go again...I pulled the bike over, pedalled hard and we were back on line and bouncing down the track with a big grin. The demons had been faced and vanquished and I finished off with some exciting single track back to the car.  

Mountain Biking

Nick has got enthusiastic about mountain biking again and has being doing some rides with his work colleague. We went for a ride from Darley Bridge at a slower pace but it was far from easy. Much of the ride was on minor roads and tracks around Elton and Youlgreave but it was raining and the limestone was very slippy making it very difficult to grip on the uphill sections and very unnerving on the downhill sections.

It was around 18 miles but it did take us around 3 and half hours due to a section of bridleway, Gratton Dale, which had become very muddy. It was impossible to peddle as the mud and foliage wrapped around the brakes and forks and we needed to constantly stop to try and disentangle it all. At one point it was impossible to even push the bike.


Enjoyed it though, (much more than trying to add this blog).
11th October 2009

Curbar Edge

Paul and me decided to re-visit 'The Brain' area on Curbar edge not having been there for some years. We had lovely autumn conditions, warmish sun and cool rock in the morning and started off with The Brain (VS 4c) which I led to warm up. This climb was an old favourite but seemed a bit more of a struggle than it used to be however it went without incident with an enjoyable exposed finish up the arete.
Then we tried the nearby Birthday Crack (VS 4c) this had an intimidating overhanging start but we thought at VS there should be holds. Paul led off but was stopped short at the overhang complaining that the crack was too wide to jam adequately. I tried but fared worse than Paul. We set up a top rope and both failed again then slunk away disheartened to the Barons Wall area.
Here Paul bouldered out the start to Barons Wall (5b) then I led Wall Climb (VS 5a) and Paul led Calver Wall (VS 5a) both of which gave good value for VS. By now the sky was grey and a cold wind had sprang up and the call of the cafe was too strong so we called it a day.