As I inspected some gleaming cams on a recent course I was telling the participants about the climbers of yesteryear drilling out machine nuts and threading them with hemp rope to act as climbing protection. We really are spoilt for choice nowadays……….but this in turn has led to a whole new pastime that is often referred to as ‘gear faffing’.
Since I got back from Wasdale on Friday I’ve put in a lot of time sorting new shiny bits of climbing equipment that you may well see out and about on upcoming Peak Mountaineering courses. I’ve also been putting some expedition kit through its paces in the lead up to my Ladakh trip and sorting out some new IT appliances guaranteed to make the Peak Mountaineering office more efficient (we’ll have to see about that one!).
So, even for a dedicated gear faffer its been a very faffy week and I was glad to be out biking for a while. Charlie, Alex and Dawn love a good challenge - and a circuit of Kinder in blistering weather was a pretty good challenge for anyone. We ended the ride in Hope and after celebratory tea and cakes the team couldn’t resist a trip to the local bike shop and guess what happened next……..more gear faffing!
I’m in the Lakes for this week running a regular multi-activity residential for a local school. We are based near Wasdale and the last few days have been spent exploring the local fells and ice cream shops of this quiet corner of Lakeland. Its been scorching weather and looks set to remain fine for a bit longer and, with the children all camping, that really helps!
The only problem with this area is the lack of a broadband internet signal and mobile signal. I’m sad to admit how much I rely on them to keep the wheels of business turning and most evenings see me perched on top of a local wall where I have discovered that I can get a single bar signal on my Blackberry! Tonight I’ve taken a far more civilized option and popped to the local pub to take advantage of their wi-fi…….and to think it was only a few years ago that we didn’t have anything but a phone box!
The quote at the top came from Pippa when she opened her Penguin biscuit this lunchtime to find it turned to liquid by the heat! I hope you are enjoying the fine weather wherever you are.
When I first visited the Roaches in my early climbing days I remember an air of foreboding as I headed up the path past the small cottage that sits below the crag. My friends and I had all heard stories about the strange and menacing man that inhabited the property and patrolled the crag. Then one day I caught my first sight of the ‘King of the Roaches’ as he ambled towards us dressed in black, with one eye covered by a patch and carrying a felling axe over his shoulder.
I thought our time had come but I needn’t have worried - he just wanted to offer us some advice on the line our route took! Over the years we met up with him on many many occasions and he always proved to be an extremely kind hearted man who simply wanted to live a simple life in the bosom of the countryside he loved so much. I was very sad when he and his wife moved from the Roaches in 1990.
The man was Doug Moller, his home was Rockhall Cottage and there’s a fascinating account of the history of Rockhall on the BMC website at http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Feature.aspx?id=2243. Its well worth a read and Rockhall, which provides an atmospheric and superbly located venue for climbing meets, is well worth a visit.
I’ve spent today at the Roaches with Paul. Paul has been climbing inside for some time and is keen to make the move to climbing more outside. The forecast for the day was showers and sunny spells. We saw plenty of the showers but the first sunny spell only showed its face as we were walking back to the cars at the end of the day!
We started the day by planning some objectives and decided that the main one was for Paul to feel confident enough to head out himself in the future and set up safe top and bottom rope systems on single pitch crags. Alongside that he also wanted to ensure he’d sampled a good dose of quality gritstone climbing over the day. From this we could tailor a day that included lots of work on gear placements and belay building along with some input on route selection and tips for setting up bottom rope systems. It was a busy old day but we were able to fit in 6 routes and 2 abseils alongside the skills…and even managed to fit a multipitch route in by splitting Pedestal Route into two with a belay on the pedestal ledge below the Sloth roof.
We ended the day by discussing an outdoor climbing action plan for Paul and I am confident he’ll be putting his new found skills to good use in the near future. Thanks for a great day Paul and I hope you get out climbing again soon.
People climb for all sorts of reasons - exercise, adventure, travel, shared experiences with friends and controlled risk. For most climbers its a combination of many of these factors and I’m no exception. Top of my list has always been enjoying a great route with great friends in a fantastic place while having fun doing it. Throw in a bit of heart beat raising risk and a temporarily uncertain outcome and you’ve got the making of a great adventure.
I was speaking to some people recently about a great example of applying this mindset to big challenges. In 1977 Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker took on the West Face of Changabang in an unsupported epic that would later be described as one of the greatest Himalayan ascents ever. As a novice climber I devoured Pete’s written account of the ascent with awe (….in ‘The Shining Mountain’ - in my view one of the best mountaineering books ever) and realised that the alpine style the team used had to be the purest means of ascent. Nowadays its great to see that ’alpine style’ is the predominant way for ground breaking firsts and in recent years many big lines have been ticked this way.
Sometimes, however, and despite managing the risks as carefully as possible, accidents are going to happen no matter which style you choose. News came through this week of the tragic loss of American Alpinists Jonny Copp, Micah Dash and their climbing cameraman Wade Johnson while they were climbing in China. Amazingly talented alpinists who did it the right way - simple, adventurous and for the sheer fun of it. Here’s a clip of the guys in action that should explain what I mean…………
On a beautiful sunny day there can be few finer places to climb top quality multi pitch climbs than the Llanberis Pass in Snowdonia. The climbing is brilliant, the situation stunning and there is so much amazing history to the place…………yesterday was a beautiful sunny day so Adrian, Andy and I went climbing in the Llanberis Pass!
We started the day on Flying Buttress. Situated high on the famous mountain crag of Dinas Cromlech, Flying Buttress is argued by some to be the finest VDiff multipitch route in the UK (I’m not sure I’d quite go that far myself but its certainly fantastic!). Initial pitches up the prominent rocky buttress leads to a fine traverse across a face to a belay on a super exposed ledge. Then a vertical slab section, a diagonal rightwards ramp line and a stunning chimney crackline pitch to the top. Perfect from start to finish.
Our second route for the day was a fine combination of the first pitch of Spiral Stairs (VDiff) followed by the top pitch of Dives/Better Things (Hard Severe). Spiral Stairs starts from the edge of the stunning Left Wall and follows a leftwards traverse line into a bay below the right angled corner of Sabre Cut. From there we headed up the brilliant finishing corner of Dives/Better Things which gives 30 metres of well protected top notch hard severe climbing in a great position. What a day!
The other great thing about Dinas Cromlech is what is all around you. Climbers on Dinas Mot across the valley, boulderers on the Cromlech Boulders, a paraglider scooting overhead, the Snowdon train chugging up the slopes or just other climbers inching their way up Cemetry Gates (E1) or Resurrection (E4) near to you. Add to that the stunning mountain scenery across the Glyders and Snowdon and long belay duties don’t seem a chore at all! Of course when you’re out with Adrian and Andy theres always a stack of banter to fill the gaps and we had a great laugh along the way too.
It really was one of those days where you just didn’t want it to end and a big thanks to the guys for a great few days. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if YOU fancy a days Cromlech action - I never need any persuading to make a return visit!
A strange forecast meant some serious thought to where Andy, Adrian and I should head today for a days lead climbing instruction. In the end I plumped for Windgather Rocks as the forecast suggested the west side of the Peak would have the best chance of stable weather. Of course it also happens to be a superb venue for all the skills we wanted to cover too.
Well, I sit here smugly satisfied with my decision as we enjoyed masses of sunshine while other areas were hit by heavy rain. Adrian’s wife sent us a MMS mid afternoon that showed their garden in Liverpool covered in hailstone and I heard other stories of heavy rain and thunderstorms. I think I have every right to be smug on this occasion (although I get it wrong plenty of times too!).
Andy was just seconding the last climb at about 5pm and we felt the first spots of rain. Ten minutes later we were at the cars having had a belter of a day and not caring whether it rained all evening (which it hasn’t). The dynamic duo had climbed 9 routes up to HVS and practised a whole range of leading and belay building skills too. Quality weather, quality climbing, quality company, quality!
Apart from liking that Lenka song (The Show), this lyric from it rather sums up the runaway train that currently is Peak Mountaineering. I finished off my sessions with the champion school groups at 3.40pm in Marple on Friday, performed a Superman style change into some hill clothes in the car park, raced across to Buxton for 4.10pm (please don’t work out the average speed for that journey!) to take over from Stef who’d been kindly holding the fort for me with an expedition leader assessment team. A quick coffee caffeine fix and we immediately headed out for a weekend of selection tasks and discussion with the 9 potential expedition guides. Things finally wound down for the day at 11pm and I headed to my tent and lay for a while enjoying a beautiful sky and feeling, despite the hectic schedule, that I am very privileged to be dipping into the lives of such a variety of great people.
On Saturday we awoke to glorious weather and spent the day taking in a long loop around the Goyt Valley with frequent stops to discuss expedition skills, share travel stories and complete some skills based tasks that are essential on expedition such as river crossings, emergency first aid and security on steep ground skills. It was another long day and we only bedded down on another amazing evening at around 11.30pm. I closed the tent door and immediately opened it again thinking how crazy it was to shut out such a great night sky. Needless to say I soon drifted off and awoke this morning with the tent door still open and the morning sun on my face. Perfect.
A fill your boots breakfast, a final gear sort and debrief to each member of the team and I headed home to collect my bike and meet up with Stu and Si for a mountain bike over Kinder . Needless to say it was pretty warm for biking - but with the great views we enjoyed I’m certainly not going to complain and it was great to be on the bike. I had a post ride bbq with the family and spent the last hour of daylight attacking a stubborn tree stump which being moved as part of our Charlie Dimmock style garden makeover. Maybe the only difference between us and Charlie is the fact that its taken us 3 months to do what she would have probably done in 3 days but things are definitely progressing! As I write this a torrent of rain is splashing against the window……now thats what I call timing!
I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend wherever you are and whatever you’ve been doing. Oh yes, and incase you haven’t heard it, here’s The Show………….
I’ve been back with my champion school groups today for more fun intro sessions at a local wall. Every time you run these type of days the children really stand out for loads of reasons and today was no exception. Gary was determined to top out on every route he tried, Fay was the organiser who kept the belay teams sorted, Ryan was a boulderer extraordinaire and Matthew loved working out tricky moves. Every group leaves its mark and every sessions a gem - what a job!
After the sessions finished I headed to Stanage for a bouldering session with Si and Rob. A bit midgy but nothing a splash of skin-so-soft couldn’t handle (have you tried this miracle midge repellent yet?) and the same classics I’ve climbed many times but never get tried of repeating (plus a few new projects to keep up the interest!). The edges looked awesome tonight and we stayed out late to watch the sunset before rushing home to answer emails and pack for the weekend………but I’ll let you know about that in due course!
