Photo - Smiles after bum sliding number 4 gully from the topout on Anubis, and happy to have warm gloves on again...
"Readers of my own blog might already have read I just completed a long term project of climbing Anubis (summer E8) on Ben Nevis in winter conditions. Normally on hard routes, I don’t have to give much conscious thought to choosing kit for the ascent - climbing is such a routine for me that it’s automatic; I already know exactly what to wear/use without thinking and I know my kit and how it works in different situations inside out.
This climb was rather an exception, hence this post about the gear for Anubis, which kept me up at night in my gear store in the loft, humming and hawing about every last piece.
On such a steep and physical piece of climbing, weight is everything. On my previous attempts, the weight of a full mixed rack like a kilt on your harness was so obviously a huge disadvantage, and every 100 grams shaved off the total kit weight might save me enough energy to make the belay.
Axes (new fusions), footwear (‘fruit boots’) and hardwear were easy choices, with knowledge of the available runners from my summer ascent. I made sure all my krabs were the lightest I had and ditched every superflous runner I could get away with.
Clothing wise, the goal was to keep super warm right up until the moment of stepping onto the pitch, from which time a very high physical work rate would keep me warm to the belay. For the upper pitches of grade IV/V, I should still be moving fast anyway (having dropped the ropes and continuing solo), so cold hands and feet from floundering about in deep snow would just have to be suffered for a bit.
Kit list was:
Powerstretch salopettes
ME Prototype Fall 2011 baselayer top
G2 Ultimate Mountain pants
Pulsar Jacket
Branded Beanie
For gloves I wore a pair of goalies gloves I bought in Decathlon in Spain for 7 euros. I’m a bit of a glove obsessive on a permanent hunt for the perfect glove for hard mixed climbing, with the perfect balance of energy saving grip on tools but enough protection from winteryness to keep going. The goalie’s gloves had the perfect sticky palm and fit around the wrist but a shiny smooth plastic back which snow can’t stick to and melt through the glove. They only work in Scotland on perfect windless days, which this was, and also in my bag in case it had been windier was my good old Mountain Equipment Windchill Grip Fleece gloves which are my normal glove for pitches of IX or above. They were perfect for the crux pitch, but as predicted I suffered badly with frozen hands on the upper solo pitches. Stopping on a small ledge for 30 minutes terrified I was going to pass out with hot aches and fall off.
What I’m hoping you’ll notice about the clothing list is that it isn’t very much - which was great! The big deal for me is the new pulsar jacket which I’m loving. It seems to have everything finally I’d look for in a soft shell - not too many pockets or features, warm, an excellent fit for free movement when climbing and slides well over the layer below. In my bag in case the conditions weren’t so good was an Mountain Equipment Firefox GORE-TEX Pro Shell Jacket, which would have added an extra 200 odd grams I’d hopefully have lived with, But I really did feel after 5 hours and 30 minutes to lead a 40 metre pitch that I was on my last drops of energy at the belay!"
Dave's currently out filming footage with fellow climber Tim Emmett for "BBC Live Climb" which hits our screens in August'10 more info see here
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