Alps Route 1

Kenny Grant and I have set aside two weeks for a spot of alpine climbing. We drove out to Chamonix in foul weather to be greeted with a 10 day forecast of settled weather. To make the most of the conditions we headed straight up into the Argentiere Basin up to the North Face of Les Droites. After a night in the hut we headed up The Ginat which we got in amazing conditions. We didn't acclimatise but made great progress topping out in 11 hours. The ice was in excellent condition which resulted in a great climb.

3 peaks vets

Over the weekend I led 7 vets over the national 3 peaks. They were from Devon and have been doing some training over Dartmoor. 5 of the team completed the challenge in 25 hours, 2 didn't complete the challenge. Don't worry I haven't left them on the hill! The weather was perfect on each mountain and was a very sociable time as i saw many other providers doing the same as us. We started on Ben Nevis and finished on Snowdon at 8am on Sunday morning, then I slept for 2 days... There was a bit of a dusting on snow, well it was more like light rime ice formation with the crystals been blown around. Cold either way!

Wasted morning

Toady didn't quite go to plan, I had some routes in mind for the morning before the rain came in but unfortunately Barry 'needed' a sleep in and when I went to pick him up he was still in bed! So after a wait for him to get ready we headed down to Borrowdale and headed up to Eagle Crag. On arrival it started to drizzle and on the 2nd pitch it started to rain hard. We ended up climbing Falconer's Crack (VS 4C). We got soaked to the bone and ended running back to the car to dry off.

Local sport

Today Barry and I headed out for a little bit of local sport climbing. I had heard about this crag a while back so was pleased to go and check it out. Its called Coudy Rock and it a sandstone face in Appleby. There are about 20 route's here, some are better quality due to the soft nature of the sandstone. We climbed many of the routes there ranging from 6a - 7a. Topo's can be found on the Cumbria Bolt Fund website.

Back on the rock

Today Barry and I headed over to Shepherd's Crag for a couple of routes. We began with Magnetic North (E1 5b) on North Buttress. Barry doesn't lead so I led all the pitches. We then went onto Finale (HVS 5a), after watching someone take a massive whipper on it. We finished on MGC (E2 5c). Quite a few teams out enjoying the sunny but windy weather. Hopefully it will last for a while.

Rain in Wales, wet in England, same in Scotland

This weekend was another 3 peaks challenge with 21 employees from Travis Perkins. Out of the whole group, only 6 completed the challenge which was a good result with all the rough weather the group got battered with. We started on Snowdon and finished on Ben Nevis and each hill threw rain and winds at us. We got no views from any of the peaks but everyone's spirits were high.

Quiet but windy day

Today Emma and I headed up the Zig Zags on Gearr Aonach in Glencoe. Its a great little route for some hands on walking away from the crowds. We carried onto the summit of Stob Coire nan Lochan where we saw a couple of walkers on Bidean and also a team climbing Central Grooves (VS). There were very strong winds today which made the ridge leading to SCNL quite exciting.

Ben Classic

Last winter I climbed Minus 1 and 2 Gully in a day and I was really keen to climb the rock in the middle in the summer. So I headed up with Graham and climb the mighty Minus 1 Direct (E1 5b). Unfortunately we were beat to the base of the route but it was a very sociable day. The rock was dry and the situations were great. After topping out we went down North East Buttress and abseiled down Slingsby's Chimney.

Fry an egg on here

Today Kenny, Rich Bentley and I headed down to Etive Slabs and it was a total scorcher! On arrival we saw teams on Spartan Slab (VS). We Climbed The Pinch Direct (E3 5c). It cant have been climbed for some time so did need a bit of a clean but we did manage to find a way through. rich couldn't find a way through the upper pitch and time was running out so we traversed off to the top of Hammer for a speedy escape. A great route, it did take some getting used to though!

Quick climb at Shepards

Today after getting back from Canoeing and camping we decided to go for a climb. We were heading up to Scotland later so Emma and I opted for some quick routes at Shepard's Crag. We started off on Brown Slabs Arete (VD) and then put a top rope on a route to the right. We then went over to Jackdaw Ridge (D) and Emma did a few reps up the first pitch.

Scrambling in the Lakes on a Bank Holiday

Today Emma and I decided to avoid the Bank Holiday crowds and headed up the East Ridges of Nethermost Pike above Patterdale. It was never difficult and I feel it would be great under full winter conditions but it was worth it keeping away from the 'ant highway' on Striding Edge. From the summit we headed down to Grisedale Tarn and back to Patterdale. Later on we had a BBQ on the beach of Ullswater and then canoed down the lake and camped for the night.

Sky diving

Today I jumped out of a plane at 10,000 feet. I had wanted to do this for a long time and I wasn't disappointed. After a quick breifing it was into the plane and strapped to my skydive instructor. At 10,000 the door flew open and we launched ourselfs into the sky. We freefell for quite a while before the parachute opened a 5,000ft and we glided back to the ground. Can't wait to do it again.

Short Walk

Today Emma and I had a Walk up Aonach Mor. We only had a couple of hours so we didn't go too far. Its such a great place for views over Fort William.

Back on the Ben

I'm currently up in Scotland so I had to spend at least one day on Ben Nevis. I met up with Graham and as it was a bit damp in the morning we decided to go Scrambling. Graham hadn't climbed Observatory Ridge so we headed up this. We had the whole ridge to ourselves and soloed the whole route. On the summit we had already decided we wouldn't go down the tourist route so we down climbed Tower Ridge, passing only one team. A great combination on the North Face.

Malham and Kilnsey

The last two day's Dave and I have been playing on some steep Yorkshire limestone. Yesterday we climbed at Malham Cove which most people know from their geography field trip! We were there for the climbing instead of the educational factor. Dave knows the crag very well which is handy as he forgot his guidebook, but we went on and climbed a 7a, 7a+, 7b and then another 7a+. By the end of this we were both pretty tired so we retired to the bar.

Day two we went to Kilnsey. A crag I have never been to but one Dave knows very well. We were still tired from the day before so we started on a 6c+, then 3 7a+'s led on to aching forearms! Lots of other climbers out today, they all seemed to be locals and all climbing around 8a-8c!