Plas y Brenin Kit AW11

Winter is finally in the air here in the UK which means its time for Plas y Brenin Op's manager Rob Spencer to begin the task of distributing this seasons Mountain Equipment kit delivery to centre staff.

Rob taking a look at the New Concordia Jacket

Mountain Equipment have been working with Plas y Brenin - The National Mountain Centre now for the past 8 years and their team of guides and instructors play a vital role in our continous product testing programme putting many Mountain Equipment styles too the test - in all conditions - 365 days a year.

This Winters Pyb kit list includes:

Shell -
Kamkatcha/ Valdez Jacket
Changabang / Ama Dablam Pant

Insulation - 
Citadel Jacket

Softshell - 
Astron Hooded/Astral Hooded Jacket
G2 Ultimate Mountain Pant

Thermal -
Concordia/Hispar Jacket
Micro/Orca Jacket
LS Crux/ LS Divinty T
  

ME Pro partner and Pyb Guide Stu McAleese gets to grips with his kit for the winter season

For more information about Plas y Brenin and the courses they run head to their website here

Nick Bullock: Breaking Out Interview

The January 2012 copy of Climber Magazine has just arrived at ME HQ. Make sure you go out and grab a copy, as it features a great interview with ME Pro partner Nick Bullock (words and photos by Ray Wood).

Photo: Ray Wood

Andy Turner at Manchester Climbing Centre

Andy Turner spent half the day early this week slapping up a vast number of holds onto the bouldering wall at Manchester Climbing Centre.

Andy.....

"The first thing they are going to be used for is some dry-tooling sessions with the boys from Manchester Grammar School. But then I'm hoping to get some hours in on my own tools climbing around in circles and remembering what exactly I'm supposed to do with them. So far I've been lucky enough that winter has not arrived but I think I ought to start putting some tool time in, instead of just training and climbing."

You can check out more details/photos at Andy's blog here

and check out all the latest from the Manchester Climbing Centre here

The Long Hope: Trailer

St John's head on the Island of Hoy is a wild and remote 1150 foot sea cliff. It was first climbed in 1970 by climber and poet Ed Drummond together with Oliver Hill. They took 7 days to climb the cliff, sleeping on ledges and in hammocks along the way. Now, 40 years later, Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner set out to climb the cliff in a single day, finishing with a new desperately hard final pitch up the headwall.

This historic new climb, The Longhope Route Direct (E11), is captured close-up with the latest HD cameras and contrasted with the challenges of Drummond and Hills first ascent through interviews and archive material. The film also follows Drummond, now in his late sixties and suffering from Parkinson's disease, as he makes a pilgrimage back to St John's Head to look upon the route one last time.

The Long Hope is available on DVD or via HD download at the Hot aches website here

Ben Saunders: Interview

Check out the latest issue of Magnificent Man Magazine featuring an interview with Ben on his plans for his next South Pole expedition here

Kaspersky ONE Trans-Antarctic Expedition

Mountain Equipment are pleased to announce our support of Felicity Aston and her record breaking Antarctic Solo attempt. 

     

The Expedition

The Kaspersky ONE Trans-Antarctic Expedition is a landmark solo expedition and a world first. British explorer, Felicity Aston (33), will embark on a 1700km, 65-day ski journey in order to become the first woman in the world to cross the Antarctic alone. By completing the journey Felicity will also be the first British woman to traverse Antarctica. However, this journey is about more than records. The expedition aims to instil a spirit of adventure, aspiration and innovation as well as understand more about what motivates individuals to achieve.

Felicity will fly into Antarctica from Punta Arenas, Chile and spend a few days at the base camp operated by Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE). ALE will provide all safety and communication cover during the expedition. She will then be flown to the Ross Ice Shelf at the foot of the Leverett Glacier from where she will start her journey. Skiing up the Leverett Glacier, through the Transantarctic mountains she will climb onto the Polar Plateau and head for the South Pole. After collecting a resupply of food and fuel at the Pole, Felicity will continue across the Polar Plateau to the coast of Antarctica at the edge of the Ronne Ice Shelf. Arriving at Hercules Inlet, Felicity will have traversed the entire Antarctic continent.

Heres a short video with more details about Felicity and her expedition.



Felicity arrived at Union Glacier base camp after a 10 day delay due to bad weather last weekend, you can track her latest location at the expedition website here 

Early season trip to Cervinia

Our friends at Whitedot Skis - Jess Whiskin and Mark Perkins emailed this short report over from their early season "warm up" trip to Cervina, Itailan Alps.

"It’s still pretty early in the season to expect to access any decent snow for skiing in Europe but after a damp summer and a balmy autumn in the Chamonix valley, we were all too ready to shake out the legs and take our new skis for a spin. A weekend jaunt to Cervinia in the Italian Alps was an unexpected revelation and all the more of a bonus to get on skis this early in November.

We drove from Chamonix on the French side of the Month Blanc tunnel, where the mountains are still looking distinctly autumnal and snow free for this time of year. Bowling down the motorway through the Aosta valley on empty roads in bright sunshine, it felt like Spring but winding up the hairpins on the approach to Cervinia, it was immediately clear we were in for a spectacular day.

Following heavy storms in the Gulf of Turin which lasted pretty much all of last week, the high slopes in Cerviniaopened this weekendto a bucket load of fresh snow and bright blue skies. There were even a few powder turns to be had off the sides of the pistes on Saturday. Temperatures were balmy with hardly any windchill and not a cloud in the sky allowing great views over the Gran Paradiso mountain range, emerging out of the cloud forest.

Cervinia opens earlier than most other resorts simply because of its altitude at 2030m, with the highest area of the resort on glacial terrain and backing on to Zermatt (also now partially open.)  There were lots of race teams in town, gearing up for winter by carving impossibly sharp lines on the piste in top to toe lycra.

The great thing about skiing in Italy too is that the Italians tend to settle down to a long lunch in the afternoon, basking in the sunshine for the rest of the afternoon on deck chairs, leaving us to zoom around on practically empty pistes. So that’s the legs warmed up for the season 2011/12 and now thoroughly in the mood for a long, cold winter. "

Jess and Mark

More info available here at  whitedotskis.com