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

Dawn Patrol

Inspired by tales of back country ski fanatics in places like SLC, Utah, getting up in the dark for a dawn decent before work, I set my alarm early on Sunday morning. Too much to do to go climbing, but with a fantastic forecast, it seemed the perfect opportunity for my own Dawn Patrol.

I got up at 5.45 had coffee and toast and set off in the dark to the Roaches. By the time I was there it was light, and dry. Getting out of the car at 7 am to total tranquility was wonderful.

I spent a couple of very happy hours bouldering at the Lower Tier Boulders with only a sheep for company. Then I had coffee and fruit bar second breakfast overlooking the quiet mist wreathed landscape, before heading down to the Spring Boulders for a quick slab session.

Then I was on my way home having seen just one pair of early birds heading up to the crag, just before I left.
FANTASTIC!

Climbed some great problems with the crag all to myself, and was back home by 10.15. I will definitely do this again...

Sunrise over New Mills, on route.

Self timer shot. Problem solved after working out the undercling hand swap sequence.

A polished performance in Bavaria

Just back from four days in Germany.

Some 40 minutes south of Munich and nestling in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps lies Eurasburg, where our German distributors are based. Yes it sounds idyllic...and yes it is!

After months of seemingly endless rain in North-West England, it was utter indulgence to arrive in Bavaria to warm Autumnal sunshine. It could not be more different than our offices on the edge of Manchester. A small village of some 4000 people, surrounded by meadows and the backdrop of Bavarian Alps with the Austrian Alps in the far distance. Cool fresh alpine air, no noise (other than the odd Cow mooing) and not a traffic jam in sight.

The A-Team ready their packs

In addition to trade launches we usually head out to Germany a number of times during the year, as our biggest export market we take what goes on their very seriously and so we have spent the past few days visiting retailers in Munich and Garmisch as well as going through detailed plans for our Spring / Summer 2011 collection. Yes its that time of year again, starting work on another collection which seems so far away!

The tongue is out....must be pulling hard

But you can't work all of the time so as soon as we had lost the will to talk about new products any longer it was off, in the A-Team inspired Mountain Equipment van (it just needs a spoiler and some rotating leather seats) to a nearby crag for a spot of climbing. A quick hour or so of bolt clipping and teetering up blank slabs in the fading light capped off a great first day.

Watch out for car-sized chunks landing on your head

The following evening and we decided to head to a nearby bouldering venue as time was short. Lying some 30 minutes south of Munich, this venue despite initial appearance is worth a visit and even without a car easily reached via the S-bahn with the station only a short walk from the bouldering. Yes, the glaciated conglomerate looks like a loose shale bank about to collapse and yes, it does bring a new meaning to the word polished but there are plenty of nice traverse lines and a quiet forest to soak up.

Bringing a new meaning to the word 'Polished'

And just as were settling into the Alpine mood, it was time to come home. Another great Salami sandwich courtesy of Lufthansa and an unexpected meeting with James Pearson and it was back home. Perhaps that Autumn sun is infectious, it seems to have followed us home.

A change of focus

I’ve spent most of the summer focussing on my running, a decision I’m pretty pleased with as it has yielded some good results – sub 4 hours in my first Ennerdale, 13th in a British champs' race, 8th at Wasdale in an English Champs' field, getting the Snowdon Horseshoe record and a monster run I’ve wanted to do in France for ten years or so. But in a month’s time I’ll be Patagonia bound for a four-week trip with Mick Fowler, so it’s about time to change focus.

Patagonia has never really been somewhere I’ve been that interested in going to – besides the atrocious weather it seemed to be too much about rock climbing and aiding than the more alpine-style mixed objectives I’ve preferred for trips in the past (last year’s trip to Greenland being the exception). However, as might be expected from Fowler, when he suggested Patagonia, he wasn’t thinking of the famous Fitzroy or Paine groups, but a remote mountain that nobody seemed to have heard of and that he hadn’t even seen a photo of. I said yes.

A few months of research later it would appear that, true to form, he has picked a whopper – Patagonia expert Rolando Garibotti described the unclimbed south-east face of Cerro San Lorenzo to me as a “phenomenal wall with endless potential (almost 2000 meters high, 10 kilometers long), very remote considering the short approach” while Patagonian pioneer Yvon Chouinard told me he could think of no face bigger than this one outside of the Himalaya. Psyche levels are certainly rising.

I’ve got one more thing I want to do with my running this summer, a fast traverse of the Welsh 3000s, a run I’ve done twice before but never when properly fit (best time 6 hours and a few seconds). I’ll hopefully get that done in the next two weeks, then no more running (maybe just the odd local race) just climb climb climb for three weeks. Oh, and there’s the small matter of an Msc thesis to be getting on with...

After the trip with Mick, my girlfriend is coming out to meet me in El Calafate for another three weeks. We hope to do a week-long tour round the Fitzroy massif on skis along with some more leisurely and luxury touristy stuff, which by then I’ll no doubt be craving!

The winter that was

A typical wet summer coupled with a now nearly sorted knee injury means climbing seems a distant memory at the moment. So I figured a look back at the winter and start thinking about the one to come was the best way to keep the psyche going.

It wasn’t the most productive winter, but for the quality of the climbing and skiing certainly made up for a lack of quantity. The alps saw one of its best snow years for the last decade and with endless storms through late January and early February making pretty hazards conditions up high around Chamonix the trees of Courmayeur offered the safest bet. An almost daily commute through the Mont Blanc tunnel along with most of the Chamonix locals brought you to the land of good coffee and an endless supply of powder to be hovered up in the trees.

(photo – Pete Benson)

As well as an amazing snow year many of the classic valley ice lines formed this season, the highlight for me was along with Nick Bullock and Pete Benson climbing a friendly formed Tequila Stuntman. The final pitch is the meat of the route with Nick quickly dispatching the 10m of dry tooling before a hard couple of moves over to the hanging ice and a quick blast to the top.

Fast forward 2 ½ months (yes skiing is as hazard’s as ice climbing....) and the draw of the mountains returned. Wanting to do something a bit different Nick and I decided to have a look at the Grand West Couloir, a Gabarrou route (who else!) from the mid 70’s. With only a handful of ascents and all requiring a bit of aid not much info is to be found on it. After a very comfy bivi at the Plan de Aiguille and packing a Compressor Vest each, by-passing the initial pitches and following what looked like the obvious start, Nick torque his way up a short, hard crack to reach a snow slope that lead up into the couloir proper. Three steep sections separated by steep snow slopes brought us to the headwall where 4 long pitches of quality mixed and ice climbing on sound Chamonix granite saw us on the easy final snow slopes 9 hours after starting.

(photo – Nick Bullock)

With the route over the crux of the day was the 5 ½ hours of wading through waist deep snow reversing the classic Midi-Plan traverse leading back to the Aiguille du Midi station and a previously stashed bottle of wine... (alpine climbings all about been prepared!)

A week or so later saw Nick and myself wandering down from the top station Grand Montets to the base of the north face of the Aiguille Sans Nom, this time joined by Ian Parnell. The plan was to do the Russian Roulette start and finish on the Gabarrou-Silvy through the head wall. A few years ago having found the top of There Goes The Neighbourhood bone dry Nick and I had traversed over to finish up the Gabarrou but somehow managing to miss it and finding ourselves at the other end of the face finished up the British route instead.

No mistake this time and after some poor climbing on the Russian start, a 5 star bivi on the median slope and 7 pitches of quality ice and mixed with a crux 95^o section leading us to the final 200m of calf burning ice slopes and the top. With no bottles of wine awaiting us this time, instead a cold bivi just over the other side and around 15 abseils the next morning saw us in Chamonix for a refuelling session on Midnight Express burgers.

(photo – Nick Bullock)