OSC Charity Calendar - 2011

This Autumn, female staff from OSC Ltd who work across the brands - Mountain Equipment, Sprayway, Ronhill & Hilly - are raising money for 2 charities, Cancer Research UK and British Heart Foundation, in memory of some fantastic friends Mark Clifford, Mike Screeton & Angela Deegan.

Taking inspiration from the original Calendar Girls, our girls have had the courage & enthusiasm to produce a calendar for 2011, they now need your help to raise as much money as possible.

Calendars are available from www.ronhill.com/calendar or by calling 0161 367 1311.

100% of the profits of the sale of each calendar will be split equally between the 2 charities. The only costs incured are the printing costs which were supplied at cost price. Photography, equipment and locations were supplied free of charge.

The Perfect Line - Dolomitten Cross 2010 - In pictures

We've just had a selection of photos in from Mountain Equipment Pro Partner and professional photographer Bernd Ritschel; from the recent "Dolomitten Cross expedition".

During the expedition across the Dolomites, Bernd and the team covered - 5 mountains higher than 3000 meters, three difficult alpine Rock climbs, 5 "Via Ferratas", more than 200 km of alpine Hiking in just 12 days.

Bernd and the team were also putting some of our new Summer 2011 styles to the test as part of our continuous product testing programme. (sneek peek of some products in the below slideshow)

Below is just a small slide show from the 80GB!!! of photos that Bernd snapped



You can read the whole trip report at Bernd's site lightwalk.de

Fault Line Living - update

We've just had a email in from Tamsin and the Fault Line Living team. They are nearly half through their research expedition and are currently in Greece having already driven from the UK to Denmark then Iceland back through main land Europe to Italy.

Tamsin in Norway

Tamsin, Serena and Adam also sent us a full report with some great photos which you can view/download via our main site

here

Also keep up with all the latest at http://www.faultlineliving.com/

Film Festival Season

Winter is just around the corner and what better way to get inspired than to check out one of few the Mountain Film festivals going on in the UK over the next few months.

Mountain Equipment will be a headline sponsor at Edinburgh Mountain Film festival for its 8th year, there you can catch ME Pro Partners Dave Macleod and Twid Turner.
Dave will be co hosting "The Ethics of Adventure" debate on the Sunday afternoon and Twid will be lecturing on his recent successful "Baffin Big Walls" expedition on Thursday evening at Ratho.

EMFF kicks off on Thursday 21st Oct'10

Further info here



Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner climb Great Chimney on Ben Nevis to celebrate the achievements of Robin Smith and Jimmy Marshall.

If your heading to Kendal Film Festival then make sure you check out Dave Macleod and Andy Turner and the world premiere of "The Pinnacle" The Smith/Marshall week on the Ben - on Friday night (see the above clip)

Saturday night sees "The Great Climb" night where Dave will be co hosting a night based around his and Tim Emmetts recent success on Sron Ulladale, Harris - which was broadcast live on the BBC.

Twid Turner and Stu McAleese then round things of with their "Baffin Big Walls" lecture on the Sunday Morning.

Kendal kicks off on the week of the 15th November'10

further info here

GORE-TEX® Experience Tour - Knoydart - last call for entries

Today is the last day you can apply to be one of two people on a week long trek through Knoydart, Scotland under the tutelage of Cameron McNeish. The whole expedition, which is the second to be launched as part of the GORE-TEX® Experience Tour, will also be filmed by Richard Else.

After 5 days under the expert guidance of Cameron, the two winners will set off on their own kitted out in Mountain Equipment and record their experiences on video. This is a great opportunity for people who already have an interest in the outdoors to increase their knowledge and understanding of the countryside. The event will take place from 26th October – 2nd November'10.

For application form and more details of the trek click

here

Applications are also still open for other projects and expeditions details of which are available on the same page.

Ben Saunders - Land Rover Clip

Check out Mountain Equipment Pro Partner Ben Saunders in the clip below filmed recently in the Lake District for Land Rover as part of their "Go Beyond"campaign.



In 2011 Ben will attempt to be the first person to make the return journey to the South Pole on foot.

You can find out more about Ben and his work as a Land Rover ambassador here and at www.bensaunders.com

Upernavik 2010 - A Sea Kayak supported climbing expedition

Friends of Mountain Equipment and Plas y Brenin guides Olly Sanders, Sid Sinfield and Nige Robinson give us their report on their recent Kayak and Climbing expedition to Greenland

The Team - Nigel, Olly and Sid

"The requirements for our trip, were a wilderness experience, a self contained 3 week trip and to attempt first ascents of new climbing routes. The obvious choice would be Greenland one of the last great wilderness and a pilgrimage back to the roots of sea kayaking. As Olly had visited the East coast of Greenland before he was tempted by the West Coast. The exact location was to be the Upernavik region which also gave the opportunity to attempt to circumnavigate 2 islands, Qaersorssuaq and Nutarmiut, depending on ice conditions a total distance of 260km. The rock in this area was also determined to be suitable for climbing. Not to mention almost 24 hours of daylight, darkness would not restrict our plans.

The first major hurdle would be how to fund the trip the logistics involved in transporting 3 sea kayaks food for 3 weeks and 3 people with all their kit are considerable. Fortunately through using all our contacts, presentations and e mail writing we received flights courtesy of Air Greenland through Greenland Tourism. Grant aid from The Sports Council for Wales, and The Gino Watkins Fund. Equipment from Palm, Mountain Equipment and P&H Sea kayaks.
So it began, our kayaks and food barrels left at the end of May care of Royal Arctic Line and we followed 6 weeks later with knowledge that the sea ice had cleared by the end of June.
Flights are via Copenhagen with an overnight stop in Illulissat. Indeed “an area, so beautiful and unique, that UNESCO has accepted it on The World Heritage List”. The Illulissat Glacier moves about 40 mts. per day and about 40 million tons of ice breaks off into the ice fiord every 24 hrs. Because of the shallow entrance to the Fiord larger icebergs ground and cause the ice to back up! Then on to Upernavik here we were met by Nikolaj a local who was helping us with logistics and accommodation and giving us the welcome news that our kit had arrived intact!

Any group visiting Greenland has to accept that there is a risk of becoming a dish on a polar bear menu after all they are further up the food chain than us. It is advisable to carry a gun to warn off and hopefully not kill the bear, not really fair on the bear, so we had chosen an area with minimal chance of bear encounters!Sledge dogs outnumber people by about 2:1 and are largely redundant for the summer so they are either chained up in the settlements or left to roam on small islands . As their owners are unable to afford dog food more than twice a week they get a bit hungry unless they nab a passing Gore-Tex clad morsel. The style of the expedition was important to us. We had debated the issue of emergency communication; thankfully mobile phones do not work beyond the settlement. Sat phones are an option but expensive and may encourage sneaky conversations with the outside world. The 3 of us wanted to maintain the wilderness experience and the essence of self sufficiency but equally felt that in a dire emergency it would be prudent that help could be reached. Therefore we decided on a VHF radio and Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon (EPIRB).The kayaking was excellent except for the days spent climbing; we kayaked for 16 days app. 5/6 hours per day. The conditions were mostly calm and sunny we were only forced off the water on one occasion after encountering force 6/7 winds on an exposed headland.


The highlights must be; two days paddling through pack ice near the glacier in Upernavik Isfjord the peace and quiet were deafening. The outer coast of Qaersorssuaq was exceptional paddling under 900 meter cliffs broken with waterfalls and westward nothing until Baffin Island.We knew that climbing would be interesting as trying to find new routes, without too many loose boulders, the necessity not to have to weed the crag to find hand holds and benefitting from some features to receive valued protective hard wear, can often be tricky. However we never envisaged that the hardest aspect would be to find a crag small enough.Some of the cliffs were 1000mts high (height of Snowdon)straight from the sea we met one climbing group that had spent 11 days scaling one cliff sleeping on porta ledges.


With our small amount of kit we were looking for crags up to 300mts high, but we succeeded with names like; Fiord Fiesta, Smear or Disappear, More tea vicar and Get the shooters George ranging from VS-E2 on excellent granite they will be queuing up for second ascents?Unfortunately or fortunately we encountered no polar bears, but for flora and fauna in Greenland you have to look a little closer; arctic foxes, who are very good at coming in gangs at night and stealing Olly’s socks they must be desperate! large cod , Shags, Cormorants, Kittiwake, Fulmar, my favourite skilled flyer, Tern, Eider Duck, Snow Bunting, Grey and Black Guillemot and numerous. According to the Saga of Erik the Red, when he landed in Greenland in 982 “he called Greenland , as he said people would be attracted there if it had a favourable name .”Whilst definitely not green the land does host many small flowers and shrubs. Did I mention the ubiquitous ice bergs never really taken for granted the range of shapes is equal to snowflakes. Enchanting until large pieces fall off or they decide to roll over showing there is really 2 thirds more of them. The weather was kind to us unlike the reports from the East coast we only had to move the tent once and get off the water for a few hours due to the wind the rain spared us for most but a few days. Temperatures ranged from hot to cold but nothing a dry suit or a thick down sleeping bag can’t sort out.


So was it a success, 2 circumnavigations, 6 new mountain climbing routes, my furthest north campsite 72° 50’ N overlooking the spectacular Greenland Ice Cap. Exceptional kayaking scenery, we stayed mates and I think we are alive although it might take a while to engage our brains back into life back home, many thanks to all who made it possible."

Report by Nigel Robinson www.seakayakguides.co.uk

BBC 4 - Eiger: Wall of Death

If you didn't catch it on BBC 4 last week "Eiger: Wall of Death" is now showing over on BBC iplayer.


Along with a whole host of climbing legends and amazing footage the programme also features an interview with Mountain Equipment Pro partner Stephen Venables and was filmed and worked on by ME pro partner Brian Hall and friend of the brand cameraman Keith Partridge

Head over to view here

Dolomite Cross 2010, 12th day

12th day, 05.09.2010

From Passo Cereda we went on Dolomitenweg number 2 via Forcola di Comedon to Rifugio Boz (1718 m). Further on we walked on a scenic trail, from which we descended to Riifugio Piaz (1993 m) and the village Croce del Aune (1015 m): A monster passage with 35 kilometers and 1300 vertical meters. As the weather forecasts are getting worse and we walked under overcast sky the whole day we decided to go all the way down to our destination Aune at Feltre.

In a few days we will write a conclusion and put in more pictures to every day’s passage. And a review of the route plus list of equipment, too.

We are more than lucky now and had a dream of a tour: 12 perfect days in the mountains.


Tag 12, 05.09.2010

Wir sind vom Passo Cereda auf dem Dolomitenweg Nummer 2 über die Forcola di Comedon zum Rifugio Boz (1718 m). Dann weiter auf einem Aussichtskamm, von dem wir zum Riifugio Piaz (1993 m) und dem Ort Croce del Aune (1015 m) hinabgestiegen sind. Eine Monsteretappe mit 35 Kilometern und 1300 Höhenmetern. Nachdem die Wetterberichte immer schlechter werden und wir den ganzen bei bedecktem Himmel gelaufen sind, haben wir beschlossen, gleich abzusteigen zu unserem Zielort Aune bei Feltre.

In wenigen Tagen werden wir an dieser Stelle einen Abschlussbericht schreiben und mehr Bilder zu den einzelnen Tagesetappen einstellen. Außerdem eine Tourenübersicht und eine Ausrüstungsliste.

Wir sind überglücklich und hatten eine Traumtour: 12 perfekte Tage am Berg.

Dolomite Cross 2010, 11th day

11th day, 4.9.2010

Today we went from Rifugio Velo della Madonna to Cima della Madonna and climbed the Schleierkante. It worked out perfectly, as we had half a day’s window of good weather. And that we used: The rock offered an immensely beautiful climbing in solid limestone, 12 rope lengths up to the fifth degree. But protection was sparse, with only here and there a rusty piton, and it was icy cold. At the summit the sun was shining. Then we were abseiling some rope lengths, climbed down and took lunch in the hut.
From the hut we descended southwest of the Cimerlo (2503 m) to Valle dei Canali, crossed it and went up to Passo Cereda (1361 m). Here we stayed in the Albergo (boarding-house) Cereda. It was a long day: We have walked 1000 vertical meters and 16 kilometers only, plus 1800 meters down. But with climbing the ridge it was a fully filled day. Tomorrow we want to march the whole passage of 32 kilometers to Feltre.


Tag 11, 04.09.2010

Wir sind vom Rifugio Velo della Madonna zur Cima della Madonna und über die Schleierkante geklettert. Es hat super geklappt, wir hatten ein halbtägiges Schönwetterfenster. Und das haben wir genutzt. Der Fels bietet eine gigantisch schöne Kletterei im festen Kalk, 12 Seillängen bis zum fünften Schwierigkeitsgrad. Aber alpin abgesichert, nur ab und an eine Rostgurke von Haken, und es war eiskalt. Am Gipfel schien sogar die Sonne. Wir sind dann einige Seillängen abgeseilt und abgeklettert und haben in der Hütte eine große Brotzeit gemacht.
Von der Hütte sind wir südwestlich des Cimerlo (2503 m) abgestiegen ins Valle dei Canali, haben es gequert und sind aufgestiegen zum Passo Cereda (1361 m). Wir sind dort im Rifugio Cereda. Es war ein langer Tag. Wir sind heute nur 1000 Höhenmeter und 16 Kilometer plus 1800 Höhenmeter Abstieg gelaufen, aber mit der Kante war es ein ausgefüllter Tag. Morgen wollen wir die ganzen 32 Kilometer-Etappe bis Feltre laufen.

Dolomite Cross 2010, 10th day

10th day, 03.09.2010

Today we marched from Rifugio Mulaz in good weather conditions on the Dolomitenweg 2 (Dolomites Trail 2), here being called Sentiero delle Farangole, via Passo delle Farangole (2932 m) with its ferrata to Rifugio Rosetta alter G. Pedrotti (2581 m). Here we took a break, walked somewhat further on this panoramic trail and then using three ferratas crossed over to Rifugio Velo della Madonna (2358 m) to climb the Schleierkante (Bridal Veil Ridge) at the Cima della Madonna (2752 m) tomorrow. The last two or three hours scrambling it was raining, so the rock was quite slippy. But still we managed the ferratas quite well.
Today we have walked 14 kilometers and 1300 vertical meters in six hours, a passage of medium length. The hut is really wonderful. We are optimistic about the weather tomorrow, so we could climb the Schleierkante.


Tag 10, 3.9.2010

Heute sind wir von der Mulazhütte bei gutem Wetter auf dem Dolomitenweg 2, der hier Sentiero delle Farangole heißt, über den Passo delle Farangole (2932 m) mit Klettersteigeinlage zum Rifugio Rosetta alias G. Pedrotti (2581 m) gewandert. Wir haben dort Brotzeit gemacht, sind kurz auf dem Höhenweg weiter und dann über drei Klettersteige zum Rifugio Velo della Madonna (2358 m) gequert, um morgen die Schleierkante an der Cima della Madonna (2752 m) zu machen. Die letzten 2,3 Stunden hat es geregnet, es war ein wenig unangenehm. Aber trotzdem sind wir recht gut über die Klettersteige gekommen. Wir sind heute 14 Kilometer und 1300 Höhenmeter in sechs Stunden gelaufen, also eine mittlere Etappe. Die Hütte ist wunderschön. Wir sind guter Dinge, dass das Wetter morgen gut wird, so dass wir die Schleierkante klettern können.

Dolomite Cross 2010, 9th day

9th day, 02.09.2010

Today was our longest day. We have walked 30 kilometers and about 2300 vertical meters. Always up and down in fine, but windy weather. I could take many pictures. From Sentiero (trekking trail) Italia we made a trip to Sasso Vernale (3054 m). From here the south face of Marmolada looked like expected: The upper ravines and funnels full of snow. It was the right decision to do without a climbing tour. In Rifugio Fuchiade we took a second breakfast with fried eggs and speck (ham) and then marched over Passo San Pellegrino (1919 m) via Monte Pradazzo (2279 m) to Passo di Valles (2031 m). There we refreshed at hot chocolate and cake and went past Cima Venegiota up to the Rifugio Mulaz (Rif. Volpi al Mulaz, 2560 m). All the time Cimon della Pala (3184 m) stood in front of our eyes, its upper north ridge being snow covered and its cracks iced up. Around our hut there is nothing different, and a cold wind blows.


Tag 9, 02.09.2010

Heute war unser längster Tag. Wir sind 30 Kilometer und etwa 2300 Höhenmeter gelaufen. Immer auf und ab bei schönem, aber windigem Wetter. Ich konnte dabei viele Fotos machen. Vom Sentiero Italia haben wir einen Abstecher zum Sasso Vernale (3054 m) gemacht. Die Südwand der Marmolada sah von hier aus wie erwartet: Die Rinnen und Kamine voll Schnee. Gut,dass wir gleich auf eine Klettertour verzichtet haben. Im Rifugio Fuchiade sind wir auf ein zweites Frühstück mit Spiegelei und Speck eingekehrt und dann über den Passo San Pellegrino (1919 m) und den Monte Pradazzo (2279 m) zum Passo di Valles (2031 m) marschiert. Dort haben wir uns bei heißer Schokolade und Kuchen erfrischt und sind an der Cima Venegiota vorbei aufgestiegen zum Rifugio Mulaz (Rif. Volpi al Mulaz, 2560 m). Dabei hatten wir die Cimon della Pala (3184 m) vor Augen, deren Nordkante oben verschneit und deren Risse vereist waren. Rund um unsere Hütte ist es auch nicht anders, und es weht ein kalter Wind.

Dolomite Cross 2010, 8th day

8th day, 01.09.2010

The perfect day! At dawn we went from Pordoijoch on the Bindelweg, a panoramic trail, and had a superb sunrise. In great weather we walked over to Lago di Fedaia (2053 m; at the foot of Marmolada). After going up to Rifugio (hut) Pian dei Fiacconi (2625 m) we crossed westward below the Marmolada glacier (Ghiacciaio della Marmolada). The following ascent on the glacier to Forcola (mountain pass) Marmolada (2910 m) was in deep snow (20-30 cm of new snow), so we went up without crampons problemless. Before yesterday’s snowfall it would have been critical, what with hard corn snow and our relatively light shoes.
The Marmolada Ferrata on the West Ridge was formidable, with cloudless sky, but completely wrapped in snow and ice. Also the ledges and funnels of the upper south face were full of snow. We can forget our planned climbing route in this wall! Finally we reached Punta Penia (3342 m), the main summit of Marmolada. In the small hut here the keeper tells us that this is the finest day of the whole summer. But conditions are more like winter, with the main mountain chain of the Alps from Ortler to Großglockner deep in snow. The air is so crystal clear that in the south you see as far as the plain of the Po river and the Adriatic sea.
We then went down again on the West Ridge carefully because of the ice and descended from Forcola Marmolada southward to Rifugio Contrin (2016 m). Today we walked more than 1800 vertical meters and nearly 20 kilometers. We are excited and happy. Tomorrow we will go over Passo di Pellegrino and Passo Valles to the Pala mountains. We hope that there is less snow over there.


Tag 8, 01.09.2010

Der perfekte Tag! Wir sind vom Pordoijoch in der Morgendämmerung auf dem Bindelweg, einem Panoramaweg, aufgestiegen und hatten einen wunderbaren Sonnenaufgang. Bei bestem Wetter sind wir dann rübergewandert zum Lago di Fedaia (am Fuß der Marmolada; 2053 m). Nach Aufstieg zum Rifugio Pian dei Fiacconi (2625 m) haben wir eine Querung unter dem Mamoladagletscher (Ghiacciaio della Marmolada) nach Westen gemacht. Der anschließende Aufstieg über den Gletscher zur Forcola Marmolada (2910 m) war tief verschneit (20-30 cm Neuschnee), so dass wir ohne Steigeisen problemlos hochgekommen sind. Vor dem gestrigen Schneefall wäre der Aufstieg bei hartem Firn mit unseren relativ leichten Schuhen kritisch gewesen.
Der Marmolada-Klettersteig über den Westgrat war gigantisch schön, wolkenloser Himmel, aber leider total vereist und verschneit. Auch die Bänder und Kamine der oberen Südwand waren voller Schnee. Unsere geplante Kletterroute durch diese Wand können wir vergessen! Schließlich erreichten wir mit der Punta Penia (3342 m) den Hauptgipfel der Marmolada. Im Gipelhaus teilt uns der Wirt mit, dass heute der schönste Tag des ganzen Sommers ist. Dabei sind die Bedingungen winterlich, im Norden ist der gesamte Alpenhauptkamm vom Ortler bis zum Großglockner tief verschneit wie im Winter. Die Luft ist kristallklar, mit Blick nach Süden bis zur Poebene und der Adria.
Wir sind dann über den Westgrat zurückgegangen, sehr vorsichtig wegen der Vereisung, und über die Marmoladascharte nach Süden abgestiegen zum Rifugio Contrin (2016 m). Heute sind wir über 1800 Höhenmeter und knapp 20 Kilometer gelaufen. Wir sind begeistert und glücklich. Morgen gehen wir über den Pellegrinopass und den Passo Valles weiter zur Pala. Wir hoffen, dass es dort weniger geschneit hat.