Wednesday 5 December 2012
Winter conditions 5/12
Just a couple of pictures of this mornings snow dump. Guessing it will be powdery and unconsolidated at the moment, but with mild days and nights in the minuses looks like good conditions for the weekend!
Monday 3 December 2012
Trinity
Went up Central Trinity for the first time today. Conditons weren't looking perfect at Pen-y-Pass, in fact there was hardly any snow to be seen at all! Met up with a climber off UKC, and we set up on te PYG track in hope of some climbing.
We were in luck as there was plenty of snow on the Trinity Face. The snow was softer than I'd hoped for and the ice was non-existant, but we'd started so we thought we'd finish! Was a straightforward slog up unconsolidated snow and a mini-river flowing instead of the ice. Once it starts getting colder later in the week, it's going to be perfect!
Got quite thin and precarious the higher we got, and probably deserves a grade of III as is...
Wasn't perfect but I had an awesome time. Can't wait for thursday and friday!
We were in luck as there was plenty of snow on the Trinity Face. The snow was softer than I'd hoped for and the ice was non-existant, but we'd started so we thought we'd finish! Was a straightforward slog up unconsolidated snow and a mini-river flowing instead of the ice. Once it starts getting colder later in the week, it's going to be perfect!
Got quite thin and precarious the higher we got, and probably deserves a grade of III as is...
Wasn't perfect but I had an awesome time. Can't wait for thursday and friday!
Friday 30 November 2012
Winter is here!
Don't want to get too excited about a bit of snow and ice above 700m, but I can't bloody help it! Did my first route of the season: Banana Gully.
I'd just finished a night shift at the hospital and usually I'd be falling asleep on my feet by 8am, but today I was as psyched as a psyched thing and wide awake as I got a lift with three friends who were winter virgins to the Ogwen Valley. We weren't entirely sure what conditions to expect and it wasn't looking good as we saw that Carnedd y Filiast was completely void of its winter attire. As Y Garn and Cwm Cneifion came in to view, we were treated to white with not much black or green showing.
We pushed on up the slush that was the Idwal path to the cwm of whose name I forget (it begins with C, probably). From there we walked up to the edge of the snow band, and found that conditions on the gully were excellent! Instead of slush and powder was a nice hard crust of ice and snow. Crampons on, a quick bite of food and a hasty gulp of water, we were away!
I blasted on ahead, finally the money I'd splurged on proper kit felt worth it. My friends on the other hand were wearing 50's walking crampons with blunt spikes, and the duct tape around them wasn't for decoration! I had to cut steps for them in the hard ice, fearing they'd slip out of their 'pons and also down the gully! As the ice was hard, I was utterly knackered halfway up. Stopped to take photos of the awesome view around me then went onto the top.
After we reunited at the top, I was glad to see that the inferior kit and endless slipping due to crampons falling off hadn't made for a bad experience. All happy we went down via Devil's Kitchen. On the descent to Llyn Y Cwn the whole mountainside was frozen solid and flat, so obviously we had to slide down! I ripped my trousers and bruised my arse going over a protruding rock and a friend twisted his ankle trying to stop. We all hobbled back to the car and home for cake and posh tea. I finally fell asleep after being awake for a good 35 hours. Actually come to think about it, did I really do any winter climbing or was I just hallucinating from lack of sleep on the drive home from work?
I'd just finished a night shift at the hospital and usually I'd be falling asleep on my feet by 8am, but today I was as psyched as a psyched thing and wide awake as I got a lift with three friends who were winter virgins to the Ogwen Valley. We weren't entirely sure what conditions to expect and it wasn't looking good as we saw that Carnedd y Filiast was completely void of its winter attire. As Y Garn and Cwm Cneifion came in to view, we were treated to white with not much black or green showing.
We pushed on up the slush that was the Idwal path to the cwm of whose name I forget (it begins with C, probably). From there we walked up to the edge of the snow band, and found that conditions on the gully were excellent! Instead of slush and powder was a nice hard crust of ice and snow. Crampons on, a quick bite of food and a hasty gulp of water, we were away!
I blasted on ahead, finally the money I'd splurged on proper kit felt worth it. My friends on the other hand were wearing 50's walking crampons with blunt spikes, and the duct tape around them wasn't for decoration! I had to cut steps for them in the hard ice, fearing they'd slip out of their 'pons and also down the gully! As the ice was hard, I was utterly knackered halfway up. Stopped to take photos of the awesome view around me then went onto the top.
After we reunited at the top, I was glad to see that the inferior kit and endless slipping due to crampons falling off hadn't made for a bad experience. All happy we went down via Devil's Kitchen. On the descent to Llyn Y Cwn the whole mountainside was frozen solid and flat, so obviously we had to slide down! I ripped my trousers and bruised my arse going over a protruding rock and a friend twisted his ankle trying to stop. We all hobbled back to the car and home for cake and posh tea. I finally fell asleep after being awake for a good 35 hours. Actually come to think about it, did I really do any winter climbing or was I just hallucinating from lack of sleep on the drive home from work?
Monday 12 March 2012
Dyserth and an upcoming trip
Made the long drive to Dyserth today to check out the main crag. I was quite impressed with it. Only tried a few 6's due to not climbing much recently, that's hard enough for me right now! Can't remember the names but they were enjoyable routes with a cool oberhanging top wall and lots of blind climbing. I'd recomend it and the rock is pretty good in a nice gladed setting with loads of wild garlic around. It was all going well until Mills was on a 6c (that was poorly bolted) and pulled off a hold, fell back and hit his back hard on a ledge, his head narrowly missing another ledge below! He was a bit shaken, with a few cuts and will have some homdingar bruises tomorrow but I think he'll be fine. I'll still be coming back to try some of the harder routes though! In other news, I'll be going to Font for a week at the start of April. Never been but really looking forward. No idea what type of climbing or grading to expect! If anyone reading this needs a lift downat this time, I still have space for one more and plenty of kit.
Monday 27 February 2012
Shock Horror! I like Gritstone!
Joined the LUUMC on a trip to the Roaches this last weekend and had an awesome time ! I actually enjoyed climbing on grit. Shock! Didn't do many routes (as is my general lazy approach to climbing) but the ones I did were excellent. Did Valkyrie on the first day; almost got blown off by the wind and pulled off by the rope drag only added to the experience. Then Wings of Unreason on the Sunday went down on my second attempt at the jump. I'd fallen off a few times right at the start but I'm not counting them because it was just like bouldering and bouldering doesn't count as climbing...
So it looks like my mind has been changed over Satan's rock. I actually can't wait to go back and try some more of the routes there!
Some pictures of me on Wings, thanks to Dafydd Llywelyn for taking them and letting me put them on this blog without his knowing:
So it looks like my mind has been changed over Satan's rock. I actually can't wait to go back and try some more of the routes there!
Some pictures of me on Wings, thanks to Dafydd Llywelyn for taking them and letting me put them on this blog without his knowing:
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| Gurning away happily |
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| Will I make it? Yes, I did! |
Tuesday 7 February 2012
Ogwen oddities and another new toy
Went to Ogwen with Ian today despite the wet and cold conditions. Wasn't too keen when I stepped out of the house, but cheered up somewhat when I was greeted by the beautiful views that greeted me in the valley. Yes the snow has almost disappeared as quickly as it dropped but there's always a majesty to the peaks when they are dusted with the white stuff.
Anyway, had a quick blast on the Gallt-yr-ogof boulder and managed to retro flash a V4 and do the tricky slab to the left. Had a go on my old nemesis The Ramp which was a bit too greasy and wet to bother with. We then moved on to caseg fraith upper to have a look at a slabby outcrop near the top of the hill. It was a bit green and minging and hadn't been visited for quite some time. Nevertheless we soldiered on and i managed an OS of a V3 which I was quite happy with as it was covered in moss, soaking wet and had icicles dropping over the edge. Ian was trying hard on the adjecant V5 but was let down by the grime and his sub-par shoes. I pulled on but wasn't overly excited. It was nice to reccy the less visited parts of the valley and would like to go back there to do a few trad lines that I spotted.
I also invested a cool grand in a new road bike the other day to get me around while the van lies in state in a garage in Caernarfon. Anyone who knows me knows I hate public transport so this was the only other option bar walking. I've only gone a couple of miles on it and already I'm in agony in the bum bone region so looks like I'll have to invest in a pair of skimpy lycra short with those padded period pads in them or whatever they are. Oooh.
Anyway, had a quick blast on the Gallt-yr-ogof boulder and managed to retro flash a V4 and do the tricky slab to the left. Had a go on my old nemesis The Ramp which was a bit too greasy and wet to bother with. We then moved on to caseg fraith upper to have a look at a slabby outcrop near the top of the hill. It was a bit green and minging and hadn't been visited for quite some time. Nevertheless we soldiered on and i managed an OS of a V3 which I was quite happy with as it was covered in moss, soaking wet and had icicles dropping over the edge. Ian was trying hard on the adjecant V5 but was let down by the grime and his sub-par shoes. I pulled on but wasn't overly excited. It was nice to reccy the less visited parts of the valley and would like to go back there to do a few trad lines that I spotted.
I also invested a cool grand in a new road bike the other day to get me around while the van lies in state in a garage in Caernarfon. Anyone who knows me knows I hate public transport so this was the only other option bar walking. I've only gone a couple of miles on it and already I'm in agony in the bum bone region so looks like I'll have to invest in a pair of skimpy lycra short with those padded period pads in them or whatever they are. Oooh.
Wednesday 25 January 2012
The all-familiar burn
Excited at the prospect of competing in either a 100 or a 205 mile ultra- the grand raid pyrenees and the tour des geants respectively- I decided to do what I didn't do last year or the year before and train.
A friend of mine had just rented out a house in Tregarth, and being only 6 or so miles away, i thought it would be a good idea to run up there and check the place out. Problem is where I live, I need to run up very steep hills less than 10m from where I start so any chances of a warm up run before the steep bits are lost. Regardless, I started well, for the first five minutes. I underestimated how unfit I was! My lungs were burning as if I'd inhaled strong acid and my thundering heart was reducing my sternum to dust. These same nuisances I've experienced every time I've run in the UK and the same pain that puts me off running, leaving me in a catch-22 situation. My legs were already tiring. I'd only gone 1 and a bit miles! Gurning through the discomfort, I plodded my way to Tregarth just as the weather began to worsen. What as worse than the weather though, was a sharp pain emanating from the outside of my left knee. Perfect. I'd taken an active step to try and make the ultras a bit easier for myself and I bloody get caught in the rain and injure my knee ligaments! It's slightly better now but I'm still wincing as I walk around. Damn, if I knew training for an Ultra would be this much hassle, I wouldn't have bothered!
A friend of mine had just rented out a house in Tregarth, and being only 6 or so miles away, i thought it would be a good idea to run up there and check the place out. Problem is where I live, I need to run up very steep hills less than 10m from where I start so any chances of a warm up run before the steep bits are lost. Regardless, I started well, for the first five minutes. I underestimated how unfit I was! My lungs were burning as if I'd inhaled strong acid and my thundering heart was reducing my sternum to dust. These same nuisances I've experienced every time I've run in the UK and the same pain that puts me off running, leaving me in a catch-22 situation. My legs were already tiring. I'd only gone 1 and a bit miles! Gurning through the discomfort, I plodded my way to Tregarth just as the weather began to worsen. What as worse than the weather though, was a sharp pain emanating from the outside of my left knee. Perfect. I'd taken an active step to try and make the ultras a bit easier for myself and I bloody get caught in the rain and injure my knee ligaments! It's slightly better now but I'm still wincing as I walk around. Damn, if I knew training for an Ultra would be this much hassle, I wouldn't have bothered!
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