Long term product development and short lived ice

Just thought I would post a few pictures from last weekend. We are busy working on our Winter 2013 product line just now, and with the cold spell of weather forecast to end, it was a great opportunity to head out in search of some all-too rare Lakeland ice and also put a new GORE-TEX technology through its paces. You wont be hearing much about this for a while yet, suffice to say we are getting very excited about Winter 2013...its only 18 months away!

You can read more about this trip on the climberandrunner blog. Thanks to Dan and Alec for a good day out, and special thanks to Alec for being the only one with a working camera!

Whats so special about the Black & Blue Jacket? You'll have to wait.....

Climbing on Percys Passage III 4, The Old Man of Coniston, Lake District

For those of you who are interested, heres a breakdown of my winter clothing gear.

G2 Pants: essential winter legwear and easier to move around in than salopettes. I wear thermal leggings under these in cold conditions. Have climbed in very little else for the past 3 winter seasons.

LS Groundup Tee: A nice lightweight baselayer / tee.

Shroud Jacket: my favourite fleece. Light, versatile, close fitting and has a hood.

Compressor Vest: Sadly not currently in our range, but i never leave home in winter without it.

Fitzroy Jacket: Another winter essential. Belays, coffee stops, just feeling cold. Stays in the pack and goes on over everthing when needed.

Gloves: Super Alpine Gloves for the sharp-end and Randonnee gloves. A nice warm beanie and powerstretch balaclava as a spare completes the accessories.



Return of the Mild

Drizzley, Grey and mild.... it feels nore like September than December here at ME HQ today and with emails coming in from our pro partner team that conditions have dropped off a bit it looks like winter maybe back on hold (for now at least!) 

We did however see some great winter climbing conditions across the UK over the past few days, so what better than to take a look at some images of the team in action to keep the dreams of the white stuff alive for those of you like us sat in the office waiting for the winter break to arrive.

I've also thrown in a bit of comedy courtesy of Ruth and Lukasz - in the form of Andy T doing his best "Anger" during his studio shoot last week.   

For full reports on all the latest action check out our Team Blog opposite -

   2 photos above... Andy on a New routing mission in a Secret North Wales location with fellow team member
Baggy pictured in action below  

Nick on 1st ascent of Ride the Wild Bullhorn on the Ben p: Dougal Tavener

Photos - Dove Crag, December 2010

I've just been sorting out some digital photos and came across these that i had forgotten I'd taken from a foray to Dove Crag in the Lake District last December.

Looking up to Dove Crag

Other than rekindling some great memories of a superb early start to the winter, the other piece of good news is that you too can now get your hands on the delectable Yellow & Red jacket that Andy is wearing in some of these photos. The Orbital Jacket is in the shops now and was recently reviewed on OutdoorsMagic.

Andy Green in South Gully, Dove Crag.

Andy Green on the exit slopes

Looking back across Brotherswater towards High Street

Enjoying the last rays of sunshine

M.E Winter Skills Training Course - Day 2/3

Days 2 and 3:

Two more days good weather have allowed the climbers, mountaineers and hillwalkers from Cotswold to have great days out at a variety of classic Scottish venues. A team of us made a very efficient ascent of number 4 gully on Ben Nevis yesterday before continuing to the summit to take advantage of the occasional gaps in the cloud. On the way up we passed Jason and Adam who were climbing good ice on Wendigo with Tim Neill of PYB. The hillwalkers learned more essential skills and dug some excellent snow shelters while they were out. Today has seen climbing on Aonach Mor, a traverse of the Lochain and Phil's team made good use of the ski lifts to save some weary legs!

This evening we've finished the course with a brilliant lecture from ME Pro Partner Dave McLeod.Everyone has headed off to bed raving about an inspiring and informative few days. Thanks to all the Cotswold staff who've got fully involved and the PYB staff who made it so successful. The next bunch arrive tomorrow so there's a lot of kit to wash in a very short time! We look forward to another good few days on the hill.

M.E Winter Skills Training Course

Day One:

Our winter skills training courses are run by Plas Y Brenin, at their winter base in Glen Coe. The course is run for Cotswold retail.

So the weather forecast didn't live up to the promise of sunglasses in Scotland but didn't detract from a superb day on the hill.

We had three courses out today one dedicated to climbers, another which was more mountaineering orientated, the third was winter hill walking.


Chris and I were out with the winter hill walkers while Andy Turner and Rich Bailey went up Buachaille Etive Beag, Practicing essential winter skills.

Everyone has just finished for the evening looking pretty tried while relaxing in the bar.

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