Welsh Mountain Training: End of Day Four

Well our first week at the Bryn Engan Farmhouse, Plas Y Brenin has drawn to a close, the second of this weeks Mountain Training in North Wales over and all of those who attended Course Two now rushing back home to start work in shops up and down country the country again!

Our base: the recently opened Bryn Engan Farmhouse - Plas Y Brenin

Once again the weather has just about played ball. Just a little bit of dampness and hill-fog, insanely mild (has someone forgotten its nearly November?) and generally light-ish winds. In fact we were lucky, each time missing the worst the weather had to throw at us by about 12 hours (i.e. when we were safely tucked up in bed!).

On Thursday we were treated to a great day of weather (after an initially slightly murky start) and the clouds lifted to give us a great day out on the North Ridge of Tryfan and, for some of the speedier folks with us, Bristly Ridge and the Glyders also, a great combination which no matter how many times I've done it, still never fails to inspire.

Searching out some of the more adventurous lines on Tryfan's North Ridge

Clear skies on Glyder Fawr, Snowdon the obvious peak behind

On Friday, Rich Bailey and myself headed over to Tremadog with 2 members of staff from The Outdoor Shop, near Milton Keynes for a Rock Improvers Day - Sally and Dan getting to grips with leading on multi pitch rock climbs along with a few emergency techniques. Meanwhile Drew, Mike and Tom (all from Nevisport) along with Nick from Taunton Leisure were treated to a day in the expert company of Mike Raine from Plas Y Brenin and spent all day learning self-rescue and emergency rope-work. And not wanting to desert terra firma entirely another group went and got purposefully lost in the foothills above Capel Curig to brush up on some micro navigation.

Heading down. On Y Gribin ridge looking north.

So all in all a pretty varied couple of days and a fantastic week. 18 retail staff from across the country have learnt a little bit more about what makes ME and its products tick as well as hopefully going home not only safer and more complete mountaineers, mountain walkers and scramblers but also that little bit more skilled at giving you the best possible advice.

And so now as I sit at home, looking quizically at the raft of Atlantic depressions lining up to attack the British Isles, i can look forward to next weeks intake. We'll keep you posted.

A dream of dry rock

So the forecast looked dry and with lingering dampness in the mountains of Snowdonia, there was really only one place to go, Gogarth.

Traversing across the cliff tops at Gogarth

Soaring sea cliffs, superb climbing and the option to climb when the mountains are shrouded in rain and drizzle, Gogarth is an absolute must visit destination. Once you've been once, you'll be hooked. Its big, its great, and occasionally just a little scary.

And with Martin having never climbed at Gogarth before, and a burning desire to climb the uber classic line, A Dream of White Horses, we were off to Wen Zawn.

Abseiling into Wen Zawn - nerve wracking for the first time!

During our hurried planning and morning burst of enthusiasm we had obviously forgot that it had A) been raining heavily all night and B) was the end of October. How on earth did we honestly expect bone dry rock? But we had so were a little disappointed as we arrived on our perched ledge, some 40 metres down our abseil line, to find large swathes of the slab seeping with water. It then dawned on us that conditions were not going to be ideal but only when Rich Bailey started climbing did we realise just how un-ideal the conditions were, the rock was extremely damp in places and exceptionally greasy, transforming what should have been a straightforward HVS into something that felt all a little bit harder.

Rich Bailey negotiates his way over greasy and wet rock

After building the belay to secure all, Rich fired off up the first pitch, opting to head partially up the line of Wen, in order to re-join 'Dream' higher up. The steep crack line was seriously greasy, Rich was taking his time. After setting up the hanging belay Martin followed, the belay was sobering with 3 of us hanging in space some 50 metres above the waves which were crashing beneath us sending a soapy froth of bubbles into the air and onto us. For Martin this was a serious introduction to Gogarth's sea cliffs!

Pitch Two was little better, the line of flakes which normally is a pleasant handrail 'saunter' in dry conditions felt much trickier, as hands and fingers gradually unwound from the greasy rounded flakes, and with little option to smear feet on the face in front, some rather energetic toe hooks were employed to full effect.

But before we knew it were ready for the last pitch, a final 'gripping' traverse line which swings under the roofs and across the chasm of Wen Zawn, a truly inspiring pitch and one which would require Martin to climb as steadily as the leader, any fall resulting in a small swing into free space!

Martin on the final traverse pitch as Rich watches from the belay

Again a little dampness and soapy air as you pulled around the rib, made the moves that little bit more exciting, but as I pulled through into the mild Autumn sunshine, I knew the route was complete. All that was left was to bring Rich Bailey and one very delighted Martin up. His first Gogarth climb completed, a very classic one at that, and in far from ideal conditions!

Coming to a city near you - The GORE-TEX® Experiential Rig Roadshow

The GORE-TEX® products Experiential Rig is touring the country for the next four weeks allowing you guys to experience the benefits of its technologies and learn about the incredible range of activities and brands that rely on GORE-TEX® products.

For over 50 years W.L. Gore & Associates has been delivering solutions that make people’s lives easier, safer and more comfortable. The company’s best-known brand – GORE-TEX® - established the market for functional fabrics and has remained a market leader throughout that time.

The GORE-TEX® products Experiential Rig enables you to gain a better understaning of Gore product range and their applications. From running to motorcycling to hill walking, mountaineering and snowsports there are garments, footwear and accessories to suit every level of participation.

As well as showcasing some of the very best Mountain Equipment/GORE-TEX product such as the Changabang Jacket and Pinnacle Glove, the Experiential Rig also offers an interactive exhibition made up of various sensory experiences that demonstrate the physical benefits offered by GORE-TEX® membranes these include - the "Climate Cube" where you can choose from a range of activities, each of which take you – and your feet – through a variety of the most extreme weather conditions you are likely to experience also Get ‘hands on’ with the "Glove tester" on the Rig that brings the benefits of Gore’s glove technology to life.

Additional information is available about the products, technologies and the Experiential Rig Roadshow itself through a dedicated microsite.

Visit www.gore-tex.co.uk and click on the link.

Locations for the GORE-TEX® Products Experiential Rig Roadshow are:

27/10 – 01/11 The Trafford Centre, Manchester
05/11 – 08/11 Silverburn, Glasgow
10/11 – 15/11 Meadow Hall, Sheffield
17/11 – 22/11 Westfield, London

Welsh Mountain Training: End of Day Two

Well we've just finished the first of our two-day mountain skills training events here in Snowdonia. Its been a real mixed bag of training and luckily the weather so far has been interesting enough without being horrendous - the perfect environment to learn about some of our products and spend time talking to the people who help develop and test it.

Yesterdays biggest logistical challenge was how to get a group of 12 to Pen Y Pass, more specifically how to park 3 cars, but a few shuttle runs later and some inspirational lift thumbing from Rich B and we were back as one group heading upwards towards Crib Goch.

A damp start to Day One at Pen Y Pass

With a real mix of abilities and retail staff from all around the country, including Cave & Crag in Settle and Go Outdoors in Newport and Oxford and Kudos in Cardiff, the classic Welsh ridge was going to be a fantastic introduction to Wales. For some it would turn out to be a baptism of Fire, especially for one girl who until now had never been even been on a mountain in her life, let alone to Snowdonia. For her it was a stirling effort and a real show of courage and commitment to get across the knife edge ridge of Crib Goch particularly given the greasy and slippy nature of the rock.

L-R Kelly, Dave, Adam, Rich B and Lewis

And thats whats the essence of these courses, giving everyone, no matter what their previous experience a real mountain day. Some speedier members of the group managed to continue over Crib Y Ddyssgyl and experience the new cafe on the summit of Snowdon. I am told on a busy half term day, it looks little better than the previous shelter!

Descending from the Pinnacles of Crib Goch - Glaslyn behind

Today we've been in much smaller groups, one group heading off to experience an introduction to roped scrambling, having a great day out on Pulpit route and the Continuation Crack before heading over Tryfan, another group has had an introduction to climbing and abseiling on Tryfan Bach and another group has spent the day learning rope skills and having an introduction to climbing both indoors and outdoors.

Learning to climb in Snowdonia

American Alpine Club International Meet- Indian Creek

Ruth Taylor and myself have just returned from an amazing 3 week trip to the States. We started off on a 10 day trip to Indian creek and Cottonwood Canyon organised by the AAC and Brittany Griffith then tagged our own trip on the end.

We landed in Salt Lake City late one evening, met up with 22 other international climbers from all over the world, from Japan to Latvia. The next morning we were shoehorned into a pair of minivans and whisked away straight to Indian Creek. That evening was spent setting up the camp, checking out the amazing desert scenery and getting psyched for some crack climbing pain!

5 days later after much skin, tape, chalk and dignity had been lost we had dragged ourselves to the top of a rack of amazing splitter crack lines. New jamming skills acquired we headed back to Salt Lake for showers and the AAC organised Craggin' Classic being held in Cottonwood Canyon. This was like one of our climbing festivals similar to the one held in the Gower in August. Basically some climbing, some partying (as much as is possible with Utah regulated 3.2% Beer - thankfully free!) slideshows by speakers including Steve House and Andy Burr. The weekend and the International Meet finished off with some films in a small independent cinema in Salt Lake and much swopping of details between the host climbers and internationals.

We spent the next 10 days driving a huge truck on a whistlestop tour of Red Rocks, Las Vegas, Moab and Maple Canyon before we headed back home with tired arms and another dose of jetlag to welcome us back to work.

Assistant Apparel Designer wanted

The time has come.
Mountain Equipment has been growing steadily for the last few years with an increasing product range and an unfaltering commitment to excellence, but even we have to admit that it's become too much work.
We need somebody to help out, learn the ropes and become a key part of the team.
If you love the outdoors (if you're reading the blog, you must be a bit of an outdoor nerd, right?) and are excited about designing technical apparel, this could be your opportunity.

You should have degree-level design qualifications, or equivalent experience.
Send your C.V. and examples of your work to:
sam.stephenson@mountain-equipment.co.uk

What to pack?

Well I'm going to be spending the next couple of weeks out in the mountains of North Wales. So i've spent the afternoon sifting through my hoards of kit trying to decide what to pack. I think there is definitely a point at which you can have far too much kit, but thats one of the hard parts of working on product development.

Normally my pack is lying in my cupboard waiting to go, but every year, around this time, everything falls apart as I attempt to deal with the whole Summer-Winter transition. But having checked the MWIS forecast I think the most I will have to contend with is Autumn Gales and Heavy rain, winter seems to have disappeared for the time being.

So at the risk of being mobbed by die-hard fans of Mountain Equipment (do you exist? Are you on our new facebook page?)I will not disclose too much, other than to say we'll be working with upto 40 members of retail staff from all around the country over the coming week or two in the mountains of Snowdonia. We'll hopefully be updating our blog every day with reports.

See you in the Snowdonia perhaps.

'Single-Handed scoops 2 awards!

Last weekend saw the premiere of ‘Single-Handed’ at the 7th Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival.

"Single-Handed" is a short film based around Mountain Equipment Pro Partner Kev Shields who has a partial left-hand and suffers with epilepsy. The film follows Kev and his progression through the climbing grades culminating in his solo of an E6 at Glen Nevis, Scotland. (Kev has since gone on to solo E7)

'Single-Handed' was awarded ‘Best Climbing Film’ and the ‘People’s Choice’ award at the Festival and recieve a tremendous response 300 strong audience.

The film is also a finalist at the prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival (Canada) and it will also play at the Kendal Mountain Festival (UK) late November.

Single-Handed is taken from the DVD 'Monkey See Monkey Do' released on Monday, for more information and how to get a copy go to www.hotaches.com

view the trailer here

A perfect day?

An early-ish start and i was whizzing down the M6 to pick up Sam en route to North Wales, destination Plas Y Brenin.

A rainbow shines across the Llanberis Pass.

Our close ties with Plas Y Brenin, means that North Wales sometimes feels like a second home and our aim for later that day was a variety of meetings and formal feedback sessions with the instructors and staff.

But the early start was to give us enough time for a quick blast up some hopefully dry rock and as we veered off the A55 and headed down towards Betws Y Coed, things were looking promising, sure there was a bit of hill-fog but nothing too threatening.

As we parked up at the Cromlech boulders it was feeling a little gloomy but the rock looked dry and so with a couple of hours to spare we opted to head across to Dinas Mot and climb Western Slabs.

Looking up towards Dinas Mot

It had been a while since Sam had been on a multi pitch route, especially in the gloom of a Welsh Autumn and so this was the perfect route to get back into the groove of leading again. For anyone who has climbed this will know its a great little route with decent belays and plenty of gear that weaves its way up the right hand side of Dinas Mot.

Looking down Pitch 2 of Western Slabs. VS4c.

By the time we got to the last pitch, the clouds had lowered and a fine drizzly mist was settling in, adding a little spice to the afternoon and ensuring a thoroughly damp abseil retreat from the top. If proof were needed that hooded softshells are a good idea on mixed weather days this was it.

Rain approaches Llanberis.

Rich rigging the abseil for a hasty retreat

An hour later we were sat in the bar at Plas Y Brenin, chatting about our impending Winter 2010 sales launch over a warm cup of tea before heading off to bag more tea and cake in the staff room. The following few hours were spent chatting with the instructors, gleaning feedback on existing products, discussing new products, new hoods and generally listening to their opinions. That is afterall the whole point of why we work with them.

Sam retreating from Dinas Mot

Two hours later and it was all over and we were heading back across to Llanberis for some much needed food and a pint. The perfect day? Well it certainly wasnt bad.

Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival starts this weekend

The 7th Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival kicks off this Friday - 16th October'09

Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival is an independent film festival which aims to inspire, enlighten and entertain outdoor enthusiasts, whether they are climbers, skiers or snowboarders, kayakers, BASE jumpers or explorers.

Mountain Equipment will proudly be supporting the festival again this year and our Pro Partners Dave Macleod, Kev Shields, Tarka L'Herpiniere and Katie Jane Cooper will all be presenting at this years event.

For more info on tickets and the festival programme go too

http://www.edinburghmountainff.com/

Check out the Festival trailer here

A cure for morning lethargy

Saturday morning dawned distinctly damp. Thank-god for that I thought, the perfect excuse for a lie-in.

Rich Bailey sent me a text, he was running late. The lingering hill-fog and autumn dampness was having the same effect on him.

Somewhere quick to get to and that would be dry limited our choice to only a few crags and Castle Rock won the vote. This bastion of rock has two very contrasting sides. Its north side consisting of brooding serrated rock and overhangs and its south side with its compact steep slabs.

Autumn colours from Castle Rock, St Johns in the Vale, Lake District

At this time of year, when the sunlight is shorter lived and the dampness lingering, the south side is the only really viable option.

Wandering up the hill, I was having an extended lie-in, mentally speaking, staying cozy in my microtherm jacket. Rich B was doing his best not to look like my twin and was hunkered down in his Astron Hoody.

Rich B using an Altus LS Zip T - a great next-to-skin baselayer

Once we got to the crag, I was in no hurry to de-layer. The Microtherm was off, only to be replaced by my Compressor Vest. The short walk might have warmed me up but it was certainly not warm as sunlight occasionally filtered through the grey cloud. Rich was feeling braver or is just less stick-like than I, and was straight down to his Altus base-layer. A quick blast up Kleine Rinne (VS 4c) helped to persuade some of the morning lethargy out of the body. After some truly amateurish communication issues, the day was settling down. The rock was a little greasy but was drying slowly and it was not too busy.

Rich Bailey nearing the top of Kleine Rinne

It was then onto the classic Gazebo - a brilliant HVS that follows a logical and direct line straight up the steep slab with holds where you need them and good gear.

The afternoon ended with a blast up the not so popular line of Failed Romantic. This E1 doesnt even make it into the selective FRCC guide but its actually really good. Only in its middle third does it ever feel slightly contrived and easy to escape, the rest is solid climbing with an athletic start to pull through an initial overhang and get established on the face proper and the the final sting in the tail. A delightful right to left traverse, with reasonable gear once you have fiddled about a bit, and generally good holds, but mess your feet up and that finger crack begins to open up enough to make you double check those wires.

Rich beginning the traverse on Failed Romantic - E1 5a

Training: Macleod & Shields style

Well Autumn is well and truly here - as anyone living in the North of England and Scotland will have vouched for on Saturday. If you dont - 60 to 70mph winds and driving rain was the order of the day. So if you need some inspiration on how to occupy those blustery days or long evenings, sit back and watch two of our Pro Partners train for the cold months ahead.

Making recommended retailers

As thoughts turn to the Autumn and Winter ahead, planning for our forthcoming retailer mountain skills courses are well advanced. We dont just design and manufacture clothing, we also put a considerable amount of time and resource into training the retail staff who will hopefully serve you in stores across the country.

Cloud inversion on Aonach Mor, Scotland

Essentially these courses are about giving the people who work in our recommended stockists up and down the country the chance to learn more about our products, speak with the people who develop and design them and gain new skills and experiences, seeing at first hand some of the environments and conditions our products are designed to work in. There is no substitute for personal hands-on experience and this Autumn alone some 40 retail staff will be lucky enough to join us on one of our training courses.

Murky conditions on Crib Goch, Snowdonia

And with our close links to Plas Y Brenin, the British Mountain Guides and the Association of Mountaineering Instructors we are well placed to provide some of the most comprehensive training available. Its also a great opportunity to hear feedback from the frontline of retail and of course from the professional instructors.

Nearing the top of No.4 gully, Ben Nevis

This coming Autumn and winter we'll be running courses in conjunction with Plas Y Brenin and GORE-TEX in North Wales and the Scottish Highlands. In the past we have even gone as far as the French Alps.

Ellis Brigham staff at the end of the Cosmiques Arete, French Alps

Keep an eye on the blog over the coming months for reports from some of the training programmes we are running over the Autumn and Winter.

Highland driving skills are optional

Walks in the park they are not. Tough conditions on Buachaille Etive Beag