Rivelin Evening Meet

The midweek meets season started at Rivelin Edge where Paul, Jago, Mick and Nidal gathered. Nidal hadn't quite got into the swing of outdoor climbing as he turned up with only his climbing wall gear.
Jago began by leading Face Climb No. 2 (HS 4c) and took the first fall of the season before completing the climb.

Mick following Face Route 2.

 Mick led Davids Chimney (VD) and Paul led Spiral Route (VS 4c) on the pinnacle to finish the evening.

Langdale

Up to Langdale with Paul, Colin and Bev, Paul was recovering from his hip operation and I was still waiting for my knee op so short walks were the order of the day. On Saturday with mist shrouding the higher fells we decided on Lingmoor via Side Pike the summit of which could be reached by a scramble. We set out from the cattle grid at the top of the Blea Tarn road and ascended by a series of scrambles which took us right to the top of the Pike

We carried on the easy ridge to Lingmoor and descended directly to the road to finish with a walk round Blea Tarn.

On Sunday we drove over to Little Langdale and climbed Holm Fell in warm sunshine the only disappointment being that our intended scramble was closed due to bird restrictions.   

 

Haweswater scramble & Fairfield round 23&24th March

A short trip to the Lakes with High pressure in charge! A last minute decision saw us stopping at Beetham cottage in Patterdale for a couple of nights.
Friday was fine and sunny with the occasional haze throughout the day. Our objective was to drive to the car park at the end of Haweswater and head up to Blea tarn where a scramble leads from the lake onto the summit ridge of High St.

A pleasant walk up the valley leads into Blea Water Combe where we saw our first Wheatears of the year.

The scramble is Blea Water crag gill grade 2** we omitted the 2nd pitch which would have been very wet and greasy but everything else was passable.

Overall it is a worthwhile outing lots of scrambling in the gill and its subsidiary overflows.

At the top of the Gill there is a short rocky ridge section to finish off the route. A further 20mins or so took us to the summit of High St and lunch.
Our next objective was a descent of Long stile ridge which overlooks Riggindale, which is famous for holding the only English Golden Eagle!
After plenty of stopping and scanning of the valley we were fortunate to disturb the Eagle from a rocky outcrop which gave us fantastic views down to less than 50m as it flew out into the valley.

Once back in the valley we had afternoon coffee in the Haweswater Hotel.

Day 2 took us round to Grasmere, we had decided on a route onto Fairfield via Stone Arthur and Great Rigg

Fantastic weather and views to match.
From Fairfield we dropped down to Grisedale Tarn and decided to include Seat Sandal as our final summit.

A steady ridge decent took us back to the A591 to finish another cracking weekend.

Kinlochleven 2

I decided to test my knee out by doing a Corbett while the others bagged more Munros. Garbh Bheinn was situated right behind the hut and appeared suitable for a one and a half legged ascent. I decided to climb the hill by the eastern side so that I could approach by the west highland way and use that route as an alternative walk if the knee gave out. I left the path at its highest point on the eastern flank and made my way slowly via steep grass slopes and some wet rock scrambling up until the ridge became more defined and the NE summit came into view.

Towards the Mamores

Towards the Glencoe peaks



The East end of the Aonach Eagach Ridge

 I had run off a few pictures but at this point my camera decided that it was too cold and stopped working which was unfortunate as the views opened up at this point. Anyway the way was clear to the summit which I reached four and a half hours after leaving the hut. This was down to general unfitness as much as my dodgy knee.
I descended by the west ridge which is the usual way of ascent and gives a decent ridge walk over rocky outcrops with short scrambles if desired.
On reaching the road I was pleased to be offered a lift by the Munroists in the party.

Kinlochleven 3/4 & 5th March

Friday afternoon of 2nd March heralded the now familiar drive to the Highlands, arriving at a more sensible time of 9.00pm and not 1.00 am!

Team members included Jago,Clive,Chris and Nick.

Saturdays forecast was for a mix of cloud, rain, occasional bright spells and Windy! - The usual Scottish outlook!?

Clive wanted to test his knee out and decided on an ascent of Garbh Bheinn which overlooks the hut to the South. Being 867m high its not an insignificant challenge and no doubt Clive would need all of his 45 years mountaineering experience to get him through!

The munro baggers objective was Sgorr Dhearg and Sgorr Dhonuill from South Ballachulish.

Conveniently there is a car park in the forest, from here we headed South and Up!

Good tracks lead through the forest but beware stick to the main waymarked routes the forest is dense!

We adopted the directissima approach, straight up the steep slopes to the first summit of Sgorr Dhearg .

Once on the ridge it was apparent that the wind was howling from the South and the ridge descent from the summit was buffeting.

After a brief sheltered lunch stop we ascended the fine ridge of Sgorr Dhonuill with the wind still attempting to disrupt our progress, but to no avail as we bagged our second summit of the day.

We descended without difficulty until we entered the 'Dense forest' where we fought our way through until finally reaching the main track and back to the car.
A fine day out.

Heading back to the hut along the road we encountered a lone hobbling walker, Clive had successfully negotiated his objective and gave his knee a good work out with some positive feedback.

On Sunday Clive and Jago headed home and Chris and Nick travelled round to Fersit to do the pair of Munros West of Loch Treig, Stob a' Choire Mheadhoin and Stob Choire Easain.

The ascent was straight forward in fine weather.

It had snowed overnight and there was a thin coating to add further interest to our day.

The weather closed in at one point with a fall of snow/hail but soon cleared to give spectacular views from both summits.

We descended from our second summit into the Coire Laire where we had noticed a dismantled railway track from the abandoned aluminium works.
We eventually reached the track and followed it back to our start point.

Another 2 Munro's off the list, well off Nick's list and onto Christine's 2nd round list!

We decided to stop another night in the hut and do another Munro on our way home on Monday.

Our objective was Ben Challum near Tyndrum.

The weather was fine with clear skies.

It was a straight forward ascent, generally following the fence line until the ridge headed North.

Spectacular views all round with snow covered peaks.

Another great day out to finish off a great weekend.
Cracking!

Thurgoland Boundary Walk in Black and white

5th Feb another late entry-
After abandoning the meet to Aviemore due to a poor weather forecast (justifiably so!)
Chris and Nick embarked on the Thurgoland boundary walk on a snowy Sunday morning.
Leaving the car close to the Monkey pub we set off across snow covered fields, through woods and along lanes and bridleways with spectacular views.


Romticle Viaduct

Following the Don passed Cheese Bottom and through the Romticle Viaduct then along Old Mill Lane and then a welcome food and drink stop at the Bridge Inn.




Homeward bound

 Continuing on passed Clappers into Crane Moor then the final pull across fields back up towards the Monkey



The End



Rock Climbing on Salem

On Saturday 10th March an international party of 5 of us spent the day climbing on the crag at Salem. (3 Brits - Me, Nick Snelling and Bill Hannah, 1 Spaniard - Carolina and 1 Argentinian - Luis).

Just recovered from a pulled muscle in my back I opted for a steady day, leading 3 grade 4s. All were very steady and most enjoyable, especially in the warming Spring sunshine.

Having felt no ill effects from my back I then decided to challenge myself by seconding the 6b+ "Honeymoon". This is a superb route that begins up an overhanging thuggy crack and finishes on a delicate slab. Two very distinct climbing styles in the same route.

We retired to the bar around 6pm. A great day out and a welcome change from the usual battles on Gandia!

Keswick meet Jan 2012- @ Buttermere!

Sorry for the late posting!

Januarys traditional Keswick meet was held in Buttermere this year
Attendees were Colin, Bev, Clive, Jago, Chris and Nick

Our accommodation

 Saturday was a beautiful sunny cold crisp day giving the prospect of a fine days outing. Clive opted for a short walk around the lake due to his ongoing knee problems. The rest of the party headed up the valley with sights set on an ascent of Grasmoor via Whiteside and Hopegill Head.



View across Crummock Water to Mellbreak

  Heading up the path towards Whiteside gave us fantastic views back across the valley

The weather and views had the desired effect of taking our minds from the jet-lag effect of Christmas and New year excesses - well for some of us!





Still ascending!

 



Whiteside with view towards Hopegill Head



View back towards Whiteside

 From Hopegill Head we descended into Coledale Hause and where the path split we headed up towards Grasmoor which gave great views across to where we had come.

 

Grasmoor summit

Grasmoor was to be our final top, from here we started our descent down Lad Hows ridge.

Final descent

  The ridge brought us down to Crummock Water where a 2k walk along the roadside took us to our start point.

A great start to the year.

A New Crag!

We´ve recently spent a few afternoons on a newly developed crag close to Xativa. For those who know the area, it´s on the opposite side of the valley to Aventador. It was found by pure chance by a friend who considered the area worthy of exploration and potential for new routes...when he arrived there he found to his astonishment that the local climbing club had just finished putting up the final routes!

There are a total of 65 new routes, ranging from 4+ to 7a. Despite being a "new crag" the rock is in good condition with only a few loose holds. With time it will improve further as the holds clean up.

Last Sunday, 5 of us spent the day there - Carolina, Luis, Nick, Bill and myself. The weather was beautiful with clear blue skies and absolutely no wind. By mid afternoon we were climbing in T-shirts although as soon as the sun began to dip behind the mountains we were quick to search out the duvet jackets...living this far south makes you soft!

The development of this new crag makes the town of Xativa an ideal climbing base adding to the already developed Bellus, Aventador, Xativa South Face and Montessa.

Best wishes to all for a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous and Safe 2012.

Buttermere 19/11/11

On the weekend of 19/20 November, Clive, Colin, Bev, Chris and Nick were staying at Birkness the FRCC hut in Buttermere carrying out general maintenance duties.
The weather was fine with the occassional sunny spells.

With limited recreational time on the Saturday, Clive, Chris and me decided to have a short walk down Honister Pass to see where the previous weekend we had gone wrong on our mountain biking circuit. Yes we did find the track off to the left, yes it did have a sign! Nothing more to be said on that matter other than we were told that a lot of people miss the turn off!

On the Sunday Clive, Colin and Bev had a pleasent walk around Buttermere Lake.
While Chris and myself made a trip to Shepherds to climb Little Chamonix.

The weather was perfect, a party was already on the route but well in front.

Chris lead off with the lower section a little damp and greasy but not causing any problems, after this the rock was perfectly dry.

I had the plumb top pitch bathed in sunshine-What a great gem this is.

To finish a great weekend we all had a trip to the Flock-in Tearoom complete with lamb stew and pasties Yum!