Dave MacLeod - On UKC TV

Check out the below interview with Dave MacLeod currently showing on UKClimbing.com TV

Piolets d'Or 2010

Over the last few years the Piolets D’Or event has come under quite a bit of fire. So when Nick and myself found out a couple of months ago that our ascent of Chang Himal had been nominated I think my initial feelings were firstly very surprised, pretty chuffed but also maybe a small bit sceptical. Looking back at the week now I can safely say there was no need for any scepticism, it genuinely was a really good week, interesting, fun and very enjoyable.

It was also quite a surreal week as the whole event gets quite a bit of media interest over here so from drinking champagne on top of the Helbronner lift to cragging in the Aosta valley there were cameras everywhere. Something I’m glad I won’t have to get used to, but I’d be more than happy to get used to the amount of good food and wine that was consumed over the week! The best part of the whole event for me was meeting a lot of people who share the same passion and interest for the mountains as you do and sharing stories and future plans over a few drinks.

This year they gave out two awards, the first went to the American/Scottish team for their awesome ascent of the North Face of Xuelian West (6422m) in China. This was definitely my pick of the five nominees and I was really psyched that these guys got it, their whole trip was very inspiring, as well as Xuelian West they also made a number of other first ascent in the area during the month they spent there. The second award went to the Kazakh team and their very committing high altitude route on the South Face of Cho Oyu (8201m) in Nepal.

It’s far from the reason Nick and I both go climbing but at the same time having our ascent of Chang Himal chosen for nomination by such an experienced and respected jury, as was this years, was for me a big achievement and something I was quite proud about. I’ve read elsewhere that the Piolets d’Or is ‘struggling for identity’, OK it maybe needs a few tweaks here and there but from how I saw it as a get together and celebration of alpinism it seems just fine.

I didn’t get any pictures from the week but there’s a load of photos here http://www.pioletsdor.org/index.php?lang=en and you can see all 5 narrated films of the nominees here http://www.tvmountain.com/index.php/piolets-or

Venables at the RGS

If you live or still just happen to be trapped by the cloud of Volcanic ash in London, then make sure you get down to the Royal Geographical Society on Tuesday evening (20th April) where you can catch Mountain Equipment Pro Partner Stephen Venables latest lecture tour "In the Foot steps of Shackleton".


Stephen has been out touring now for the past 6 weeks to rave reviews and sell out crowds across the UK.

If your not in London then don't worry there are still further dates to come in Derby, Somerset, Keswick, Andover, Loughborough, Malvern, Eastbourne and Stanley.

For information on tickets and the lecture head to

www.speakersfromtheedge.com

Also checkout exclusive interview with Stephen in this Months Trek and Mountain Magazine

Spring / Summer 2010 Collection is now online

Head over to the gear section of our site now where you’ll find all the new and updated kit for Spring/ Summer 2010.

Approach
Approach collection sees an array of new products including

Our New lightweight Men’s Gabbro pant and Women’s El Chorro pant ideal for rock climbing and active mountain sports.

New technical midlayer pieces in the Men’s Arrow Zip T and Women’s Cabrera hoody(below) both constructed from Toray Field Sensor fabric that is light in weight, breathable and exceptionally wickable.

The introduction of Cocona to our range in the Men’s Crux T and Women’s Divinity Tank. Cocona is a highly wicking fabric that is created from Coconut shells!

There are also 3 new T shirt designs – Mountain Range, Pulk and Yorik base camp.

Hardshell

Spring/ Summer 2010 sees us launch our lightest GORE-TEX Pro shell jacket yet – The Firefox (below) weighs in at 299g but still has all the features you expect from a Mountain Equipment jacket such as our multi award winning Mountain Hood.

Softshell

We have 2 new lightweight soft shells in our collection for summer the Men’s Orion Jacket and Women’s Brenva Jacket both offering excellent performance and superb value.
The massively popular Men’s Astron Hooded Jacket and Women’s Astral Hooded jacket get a colour tweek for spring with the introduction of a Russet Orange Zips.

Sleeping bags

A huge amount of work has gone into our sleeping bag collection for 2010 not only do we have New Products in the new Titan Range - a range of down bags offering both exceptional technical performance and exceptional value for money, the new Xero MM which takes sleeping bag design to a the next level with the incorporation of a Ballonbed system, but we also have great new range colours best seen in our revised collection of Dreamcatcher sleeping bags. (below)

However the big story on sleeping bags for summer is the vast amount of work we have done on the fills and temperature ratings of our down sleeping bags so we can continue to offer the greatest choice out there to meet all end user requirements from expeditions to the 8000m peaks of the Himalaya to summer camping in the Fells of the Lake district.

Key to this, is our Down sourcing and testing for 2010 which has resulted in us now offering 3 high standards of ethically sourced down across our range -

Our Extreme and Xero bags now have a 93/7 Hungarian Goose Down with a minimum fill power of 750+

Glaciers, Helium, Classics now carry 90/10 Pure Down with a minimum fill power of 675+

Dreamcatchers and Titans are now filled with 85/15 Pure Down with a minimum fill power of 625+

Checkout our entire new product range here

http://www.mountain-equipment.co.uk

Dave MacLeod - Climb Magazine May'10

The new issue of Climb has just landed, make sure you grab a copy and check out Simon Richardsons feature on Mountain Equipment Pro Partner Dave MacLeod and his recent first winter ascent of Anubis, Ben Nevis, Scotland.

Anubis is a E8 6c route that Dave first put up back in July 2005 and he has wanted to re climb it in winter conditions ever since.

For more details on Anubis head over to Dave's website

http://davemacleod.blogspot.com/2010/02/anubis-fwa.html

Late season snow

Spring made a brief appearance over here in mid March but for the last couple of weeks winter definitely had a good go at returning. Waking up a couple of mornings to an unexpected 5 inches of snow in the town and skiing over half a meter of fresh powder up high. I’m still to swing a tool in the mountains this season but to make up for it there have been a few pretty sweet days on the skis making the most of the late season powder.

Here's a few shots from the last few weeks...

Paul skinning up below the Dent de Géant to access the West Couloir of the AiguillesMarbrées

Enjoying perfect spring snow on the Marbrées

Escaping the Easter crowds of Chamonix down in the Vanoise, skinning up to the Col du Genepie

Over a 1000m's of fresh tracks skiing down from the Col du Genepi with not another person in sight.

Pete and Nick skiing off the Midi after the latest storm

Enjoying 60cm of fresh off the Midi

Baffin Big Walls 2010

Mountain Equipment are proud to announce our support of Baffin Big Walls 2010.

The expedition aims to make the first ascent of an unclimbed peak in Stewart Valley situated on the North East of Baffin Island. The highly experienced team of 3 includes (left to right) Mike 'Twid' Turner, Mark Thomas and Mountain Equipment Pro partner Stu McAleese.


Twid tells us more...

"Main Objective is the slender pillar on the left hand side of the below image.
The second back up objective is the Middle peak in the picture. Approaches are about 800m height elevation. Walls 1200m vertical plus ridge to summit 400m


Objective and aims of Expedition
To make a first ascent of an unclimbed peak and Big Wall in the Stewart Valley, off the North East Coast of Baffin Island. Canadian Territories. The Big Wall will be a mile vertical of granite rock. The walls drop straight into the Fjord and are accessed by skidoo from Clyde River. The climbs will be of extreme difficulty some free climbing and some aid climbing. The climb will follow a major line up the huge face.

The team expect to spend at least 21 days on the route. Most of the time, the team, will living on the wall on Portaledges. Portaledges are hanging camp beds 6x4 feet (double) surrounded by a hanging tent.

The climb combines extreme conditions (average temp minus 15-20) and climbing. The landscape is frozen ice with Polar bears wondering past. The ice this far North of the Arctic circle only melts for a few weeks each summer. The back drop to the massive walls is the endless flat frozen sea ice stretching to the North Pole. The Fjords all have massive walls dropping from mountain ranges bordering their edges. These walls are some of the highest sweeps of rock in the world. ‘Polar Sun Spire’ is the largest Big Wall in The Americas 2000m drop. One and a half miles of vertical wall. 30 times the height of ‘Castle Elin’ (50m) at Gogarth!

The Sail Peaks are where we aim to climb. ‘The Sail Peaks’ are based around the Stewart Valley. The valley is an extension of the North arm of the Sam Fjord. The Stewart Valley is lines with massive unclimbed Big Walls. Twid climbed in the valley in 1996. The second team (one yr later) to climb in this amazing spot. Super remote the ‘Stewart’ sports some of the greatest challenges left to the Big Wall climber. A least half a dozen major walls totally unclimbed. Routes on a world stage of a major importance. Any new route will be a Big deal in the mountaineering world."

The Big Walls team set out on the 2nd May'10

For more information and all the latest news checkout http://www.baffinbigwalls.com