Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

We’re all in wind down mode at ME HQ readying ourselves for the Christmas and New Year break after another busy fun packed year.

St Nic making the most of the recent conditions on the Ben

Big thanks to all our Pro partners, friends, retail partners and of course customers for your support over the past 12 months

Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and a great winter!

Roll on 2011

From the

Mountain Equipment Team

Please note the office will be closed from 1pm on Friday 24th December 2010 through to Tuesday 4th January 2011

Stephen Venables: In the Steps of Shackleton 2011 Tour

Mountain Equipment Pro partner Stephen Venables will be on the road again in January/February 2011 touring 17 venues around the UK with his lecture "In the Steps of Shackleton".



In the last ten years, internationally acclaimed mountaineer Stephen Venables has twice repeated Sir Ernest Shackleton’s famous crossing of South Georgia. Using his highly acclaimed photos and natural gifts as a storyteller, Stephen brings Shackleton’s treacherous expedition across Antarctica to life, retelling this fascinating tale of escape and survival - one of the last great epics of exploration.
“Fast-paced, gripping, witty and full of fascinating historical background.” Sir Chris Bonington
DATES & VENUES
JANUARY

Fri 28th WAKEFIELD Theatre Royal Wakefield 01924 211 311Sat 29th PITLOCHRY Festival Theatre 01796 484626
FEBRUARY

Tue 1st INVERNESS Eden Court 01463 234234Thu 3rd KIRKCALDY Adam Smith Theatre 01592 58 33 02Sun 6th SOUTHEND Palace Theatre 01702 351135Mon 7th BIRMINGHAM Town Hall Birmingham 0121 7803333Wed 9th CHESTERFIELD The Winding Wheel 01246 345 334Thu 10th SALFORD The Lowry 0843 2080 6010Sat 12th LLANDUDNO Venue Cymru 01492 872000Wed 16th MIDDLESBROUGH Middlesbrough Theatre 01642 729729Fri 18th FELIXSTOWE Spa Pavilion 01394 282126Sat 19th ST ALBANS The Maltings Arts Theatre 01727 844 222Mon 21st OXFORD Town Hall 0114 2508048Tue 22nd CREWE Crewe Lyceum 01270 537333Wed 23rd RADLETT The Radlett Centre 01923 859291Thu 24th BRECON Theatre Brycheiniog 01874 611622Sat 26th ILFRACOMBE Landmark Theatre 01271 32 42 42
additional information is available at www.speakersfromtheedge.com
you also check out Stephen's latest expedition report and photos from South Georgia at his blog here

Before the thaw

Before last week’s thaw set in I was starting to quite enjoy my day hits to the Lakes (well the whole two I managed to get in) for some winter climbing, wake up at six, jump in the car, a full day on the hill, good pub grub and back home by nine. None of those long caffeine fuelled drives north on a Friday evening and arriving back home in the wee hours of Monday morning a few hours before work.

A couple of weekends ago Leanne and I decided to head for the classic mixed route of the Lakes, Bowfell Buttress. Once again the weather was amazing and we walked up Bowfell looking across an alpine Lake District. Looking across at a very white looking Gimmer Crag we had a slight niggling feeling that maybe we should be over there. Given Kevin Avery’s report from that day and had we know how rare it is for the crag to be in winter condition maybe we should have... But we couldn’t complain, four pitches of classic mixed climbing with a bit of everything thrown in showed us why this is one the classic buttress routes of the Lakes.

Looking back at Gimmer Crag and down Langdale

2nd pitch

3rd pitch (going a bit wrong and coming up this grove instead of stepping on to the slab to the right... i think?)

4th pitch

The last couple of weekends in the Lakes, as i said above, have been amazing crisp alpine days, meaning the Gore Tex hasn't been out once. So clothing vise I've been using the following:

Atlus LS Zip T
Couloir Hooded Jacket
Shield Jacket
Fitzroy Jacket

G2 Ultimate Mountain Pants (with thin thermal bottoms underneath)

Randonee Gloves (I've used these in Alaska, Nepal, the Alps and Scotland, they just seem to work every where!)
Couloir Gloves
Powerstretch beanie

I've be taking my new Scarpa Phantom Guides out for the first time the last couple of weeks and so far I've been very impressed with them. Not as rigid as the previous model this makes the walk in/out a lot more comfy, which lets face it is a big part of winter climbing in the UK, but put a decent crampon on and they give ample support for technical climbing as well as being very light for their warmth.

Climb Magazine - Jan'11

Make sure you check out the January'11 issue of Climb magazine featuring articles by pro partners Andy Turner and Martin Moran.

Doug Scott Lecture tomorrow evening

If you happen to be in the Greater Manchester area tomorrow night then make sure you head down to the Heaton Moor Sports Club, Stockport at 7.30pm where you'll be able to catch Doug Scotts latest lecture.

Click the image for more information

The event has organised by the Rucksack Club and sponsored by Mountain Equipment - Tickets £3 to members or £8 on the door.

ME - Paul Smith Colab

Mountain Equipment and Paul Smith have hooked up once again this winter.

Paul Smith Japanese sub brand R.Newbold and Mountain Equipment Japan have just launched a limited edition collection exclusively for the Japanese market.

The range of 15 pieces centres around 4 down products which fuse Mountain Equipment down making expertise with a twist of Paul Smith design flare as you can see below






The pieces are available in Japan only but you can check out the whole collection at

www.rnewbold.com

If you happen to be in Japan we also have a pop up shop in the R Newbold/Paul Smith store Tokyo until the 26th December’10 - which will also be screening the recently released "The Architect" film featuring Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner.

Winter Climbing in the Lakes

Rich on the walk-in. Dove Crag on the left-hand skyline.

On Sunday I got up early and drove up to the lakes to meet with fellow ME collegue Rich. The plan was to climb some classic lines on Dove Crag but when we got there one of the routes wasn't formed and the other looked a little thin to go. So more "in" looking objectives were selected, and a good day was had by all with some of that fantastic weather we've been having thrown in for good measure. Have a look at the photos below.

Atop Hart Crag nr Fairfield at Dusk

Looking across to the Coniston Fells at sunset

Andy and Lukasz - Video Clip

Short clip from professional photographer and friend of the brand Lukasz Warzecha and his day out with Andy Turner in the Highlands, Scotland on Tuesday this week

"4hrs of snow wading to the base of the route... only to find out that it wasn't in condition... some fun on the way down and horrendous drive back to Manchester"

LWimages RAW - Day with Andy Turner... from Lukasz Warzecha - LWimages.co.uk on Vimeo.

Baggy Reports: 18 New Routes in 4 Days

Baggy reports on whats been a truely amazing 4 days for new routes over in North Wales

Baggy....

"The greatest spell for new routes in the History of North Wales... Wow! 18 New routes in 4 days
This has to be a record for North Wales surely? So many new routes in such a short period of time. The buzz is fantastic here in North Wales and conditions keep building its never ending. Between Friday 3rd and Monday 6th December all these routes have been climbed.

Baggy on George IV-4

Gaz Davies and myself climbed 3 new routes. These routes were all turfy based and relatively short at 2 pitches each. The one route in particular, The Capstone Heel Hook V-7 * 90m V-7 gave a very interesting crux with little gear, as the cams and hex’s we required were in the van! The other two routes were George IV-4 * 105m and Turf Stomp IV-4 60M

Jon Ratcliffe opened his winter account on alongside Tim Badcock. They climbed a new mixed 2-pitch line V, 5 on good turf, hooks and torques. According to Jon this is at another crag X.

Gaz Davies, Dave Simpson and Paul James climbed The Whiskey Made Me Late V-6. Also Tom Morris and Will McCormack climbed Don't Forget Your Sole III. Another team Dave Almond, Neil Griffiths and Adam Crook went up Third Trinity Groove at VII-7. All these routes were done in Cwm Lloer.

Rich Cross and Dave Hollinger came over form Sheffield They managed to squeeze another new route in on the ladders The Great Escape VI-7

Geoff Bennett takes up his part of the action

Yes he's at it again Chris Parkin, Mike Pycroft & myself headed for the Ladders for some new route action towards Ice Fall Gully area. Between Sarajevo & Ice Fall Gully (Left Hand) are a number of enticing grooves. 2nd groove (a deep one) right of Sarajevo (where Chris' in situ belay sling from 1990s was still hanging!) is now Forlorn Hope 55m VI 5 a somewhat lonely & scary lead for my first this year! Next groove to the right is now Mostar V 5 50m, Chris's lead. A more amenable & perhaps enjoyable route worthy of a star!

Rich stone shows no sign of letting up; maybe he is in competition with Chris Parkin? He bagged another five new lines, a V-7, a V-5, Philistine V 7, The Sling V 5, and the Stone
V- 6,

In Cwm Idwal a new second pitch for Chicane was added V 5 by Misha and Tom Jumar

Chris Guest and partner added a route to Cyrn Las and Gaz Davies claimed yet another new route on Y Garn.

Where will this all end. Just think if the winter lasts till the end of MARCH as last season. How many new routes? We need a new guide surely."

Keep up to date with all the latest over at Baggys blog here

Baggy Reports - How can I sleep at night

Latest report from Baggy to get you psyched for this weekend

"How can I sleep at night? its a Frenzy out there....
I did say there would be more to come and its now on a daily basis. There are certainly plenty of psyched climbers out there.

VariErrant VI-7

Lee Roberts reports in

“ Stu and I blasted to Glyder Fach (aka Baggy's Crag) and did that route you had in mind, you snooze you loose! We thought it was brill, 3 stars in my book. 3 contrasting pitches all with pretty decent gear but quite tricky climbing. All pitches pumpy.

VariErrant VI 7

It starts left of Arch Gully and is based on the summer Errant Route. The last pitch (variation to the summer route) follows the obvious right-hand turfy corner as far a possible and then a delicate traverse left on tiny edges to a right facing groove. Mega. Called it VariErrant as in Variant. I thought about VI 7 but I'm probably miles out cos its my first route this season.

Baggy you’re getting everyone well psyched! Wow! What conditions and our new route is fantastic! I was dispatched off the middle crack pitch, which Lee promptly put to rights! Keep cranking Stu Stanley

Guns of Navarone VII 7

Not ones for missing out ? as if ? Tim Neil and Chris Parkin have been busy yet again. Tim reports

Guns of Navarone VII 7

“Guns of Navarone VII 7, This exciting much eyed line linking with Polar Bear has been on our list for some years. Thursday, we decided to give it a go. It gave 2 hard pitches with us both taking a pitch each. It proved tricky but thankfully not as hard as we first thought, should have got on it years ago.

Arch Gully Variant V-6

“ Wednesday a trip to Glyder Fach proved a good choice. With the crag well rimed we took the obvious slot left of Arch Chimney and just right of Out to Lunch (spiral variant). This joined Arch Gully at some bongo flakes before a thrutchy slot. Makes the route a similar standard to the top pitch but all the way up. Chris and I thought this was a 3 star winter outing.” Simon Panton view “Arch Gully saw its first winter ascent in 2008 by Mark ‘Baggy’ Richards, Owen Samuels and Rocio Seimens. It is an excellent route with a stunning top pitch” (V12 editor’s top tip: send your tall mate up this pitch as the last move is a big stretch.) More details visit V12 News.


Oblique Gully V-6

Kath Bromfield, Paul James and Gaz Davies made the most of the current rime found on many of the crags to claim the first winter ascent of on Oblique Gully on Glyder Fach. This goes at V -6 and 2 stars and has been eyed up by Baggy over recent years but has never rimed up.

I said in my last post there would be more come, I never thought this much and it is not even the weekend. With the forecast looking great then stay tuned baggy"

Keep up date with all the latest at Baggy's Blog here

Winter sun in the Lakes

Cat and I got out last Sunday for our first experience of Lakes winter climbing and were treated to a beautiful crisp alpine day on Helvellyn (is it like this all the time??). After a slightly later than planned start we drove over from Yorkshire and eventually wandered into Red Tarn a bit after midday. With teams everywhere we decided just to head up the central gully to the very busy summit and take in the amazing snow covered panorama of the Lake District.

Quite content just savouring the views out of the wind in the sun we eventually decided after a few cups of tea that we should probably head back down and do something else. After a few false starts trying to find a route with no one on it we eventually end up on Blade Runner which gave a great pitch up a turf filled grove before finishing the day off coming down Striding edge in just stunning evening sun.

The snow started again just as we got to the top of Kirkstone pass and after an ‘interesting’ drive down to Windermere and a failed attempt to get back across the A65 I made it into work only a little late on Monday morning. Needless to say the snow tyres are now on the car rather than sat useless at the back of workshop! Big thanks to Ewen and Clare for putting us up at the last minute in Kendal.

The Pinnacle - Trailer

more info at www.hotaches.com

Baggy Reports - New Route Fever Grabs North Wales

"Wales is Ace" is how Baggy summed up current conditions in his email to us last night, check out his latest report below...

"With current good conditions and the ever-growing psyche and enthusiasm of climbers in Wales, new routes are beginning to fall like confetti. Over the last few days the following new lines have been climbed.

Baggy and Gaz Davies climbed George 180m V-5 on Cwm Glas Bach. This being a very turfy route with a variety of styles required. It was fairly serious in places as the first pitch (30m) at III-IV had no runners and the 2nd pitch IV-V (60m) a few runners.

Chris Parkin enjoying the conditions on the Black Ladders

Chris Parkin and Tim Neil were back at the Black ladders on Tuesday, this time climbing a new line right of Arctic Fox. A very good, but bold first pitch, easier ground on 2nd pitch, an airy line on the 3rd pitch followed by 100m of easier climbing. VI-6 Another fine addition to the cliff , their second new route on the crag within the last 3 days.

Rich Stone added yet another climb to his ever growing list of new routes. He soloed a route on the far left hand side of the Ladders. Le Petite Verdun. IV 4/5 210m.A pleasant little number and high up so a good early season climb. Well protected mixed climbing of a reasonable standard on the upper arete.

Mike Frodsham and Ryan Wilson climbed a new line in the area between Ghost Arete & Pinnacle Edge on the edge of the Nameless Cwm. This line follows an exciting arête giving an airy feel. IV-4

With good conditions forecasted for at least another week, then it is only time before new routes will fall."

You can keep up to date with all the latest over at Baggy's blog here