Alps 2018

Posted on March 5, 2019 by yellowvanmountaineering

Finally getting around to updating the blog….

Over the summer, we headed to the Alps. Dave headed up some peaks, while Jo did some lower level walking, cable car riding and intensive resting in the campsite. It was the first time we’d taken the van to the Alps in summer since the rather soggy Saas trip of 2014, and we were relieved that this one didn’t follow suit (although our expectations have probably evolved somewhat in the intervening years).

We were based initially in Bormio, Italy, where summits reached included Monte Cevedale and Punta San Matteo. We also drove up and down the Stelvio Pass a silly number of times, explored the WW2 front line, and can highly recommend the pizza and gelato at the campsite.

We then transferred over the border to Morteratsch near Pontresina in the Engadine, Switzerland. The highlight from here was Piz Palu (just sub-4000m), and we also made friends with the marmots around Piz Languard, were introduced to Megacremeschnitte (Dave promised to recreate these at home, but for some reason hasn’t got round to it yet) and did some valley climbing.

A mainly (upward) traversing warm-up walk from Bormio 2000 lift station

Valle di Sobretta

Back in the high alps

Refugio

Monte Cevedale

Alpine start views

From Cevedale, looking back towards Gran Zebru

Approaching the summit

From Monte Cevedale, first look at the ridge to come

It was a straightforward (but rarely done) ridge across over Monte Rosole to Palon de la Mare

Looking back over Monte Rosole to Monte Cevedale

Palon de la mare summit

Views across the Ghiacciaio dei Forni

Descending the interesting glacier to finish our one way alpine day with minimal guidebook instruction – success!

Meanwhile, Jo went for a wander up the valley and round some alpine forests

Only got a bit lost with Italian maps and their lack of resemblance to reality

A mainly (downward) traversing walk taking in Monte Scorluzzo. Leaving the ski areas behind

Views from Monte Scorluzzo 1

Views from Monte Scorluzzo 2 (and the ridge ahead)

Views from Monte Scorluzzo 3

Down scrambling (don’t think this is in any list of approved pregnancy activities, oh well)

Filone del Mot, a most enjoyable ridge

Military village

The van got a flat tyre. There was a garage at the bottom of the campsite hill. The other residents were bemused

A one day attempt on a peak (Punta San Matteo)

First issue – river crossing. It’s not meant to rain later is it?

Summit reached, just as the snow starts

Descending the narrow ridge with care, before a snow/hail storm with lightening too close for comfort engulfs us. Some inspired navigation meant that only a few feet went into crevasses and we appeared at the bottom of the glacier wet but safe.

Starting to dry out, having had an ‘interesting’ river crossing

Sunshine meant I had dried out by the end of the walk, despite not having waterproofs….

A misty Piz Languard

Clearing up on the descent

Marmots!

Wandering around Alp Languard

Megacremeschnitte!

Evening view of Piz Palu and friends from the Diavolezza hut/hotel (the others having gone to bed while it was all still cloud-covered)

Piz Palu has one of the more crevasses and serac-y glaciers I’ve travelled across

Tricky finding the right path through the seracs, but great views

Exciting, but the glacier thoughtfully had easier points around every hour to allow for short breaks.

Zig zagging through the many massive crevasses that protect the col

Simon emerging from a successful Bergschund crossing

We had managed to stay near the front of all the groups on the mountain, giving us relative quiet.

The summit! Only stayed here for seconds as we needed to get down the narrow summit ridge before other parties came up – passing places didn’t exist

Just starting the narrowest section.

An attempt to give a sense of the narrowness and exposure – the right hand snow field dropped away steeply for many hundreds of metres

Picture of the summit of Piz Palu. Some Swiss mountaineers assumed we hadn’t done this as we didn’t have a guide…

Surveying the slighly less narrow, but still interesting section

Waiting at a passing place

Off down the glacier again

Soon after this photo, we took a ‘short cut’ and ended up lowering/downclimbing into/across crevasses. Fun was not had by all during this.

A look at Piz Palu, with the three summits. One of the best glacier/snow alpine days.

Piz Palu at breakfast time (there might be some specks on the summit…)

View from Sass Queder (waiting for the mountaineers to return)

On the way to some crags below the Morteratsch glacier

Valley climbing

Friendly dog wants porridge

Mainly (downward) traversing walk from the Julierpass to St Moritz

St Moritzersee

Finding the snow in Snowdonia

Posted on January 20, 2016 by yellowvanmountaineering

Along with most of the other climbers based in the south of the UK, the forecast of heavy snow followed by sunny days was too much, so we headed on a last minute trip to Wales.

We joined a number of other vans in a quiet car park for Friday night, before joining the rush out the car park and onto the hills. The snow was plastering most of the hillside and although deep drifts were likely in the gullies, the icy paths and blue sky got us excited for some ridge based winter climbing. However, as we approached our intended ridge (Cneifion Arete), the snow was refusing to crisp up and the rock was looking decidedly black. A close inspection showed unfrozen turf on the crux and no ice or snow, so we passed. Another team decided to give a ‘summer’ ascent a go, and we watched from afar as they made possibly the slowest ascent ever seen.

We headed for objective two, an ascent of Seniors Ridge. However, the 2 inch crust of snow delighted in cracking under any weight, often resulting in sinking to knee depth. Any attempted respite from breaking trail was in vain, as the snow had a wonderful secondary compaction quality. Whenever the second (or indeed the lead, if they stopped and restarted) put weight on compacted snow, it gave way to greater depth. An adventurous spirit, dogged determination and misplaced optimism about better (colder) conditions higher up meant that the tempting looking gullies were sought out, only to be floundered up finding ever more frequent waist deep holes. Packs full of unused winter climbing gear and warm layers (it was quite warm) simply added to the excitement by increasing the chances of toppling over and requiring extra effort to extract limbs from the depths of the snow.

The fun ended too soon, and we were on the top by lunchtime, so after a quick relocation on the summit of Glyder Fawr, we headed over to Glyder Fach. The wind scoured plateau and a path that was well compacted by the huge crowds meant it was easy going. Until I got bored and attempted the direct route out of the col onto Castell y Gwynt. Once again into the holes and crusty deep snow covering a boulder field. After about 30 minutes of slogging, we came over the top and back onto the path, 200m from where we had left it. A quick jaunt up to see the cantilever, and we were once again tempted off the path towards the top. It soon became apparent that no-one had attempted to reach the summit of Glyder Fach. The summit being a massive boulder field with human sized holes covered in snow, this is hardly surprising and once we remembered this, we also aborted. Some of the most tiring and trickiest conditions we have ever been out in.

Our final excitement for the day was a descent of Y Gribin, which had been heavily compacted over the day, giving compact slippery snow; an excellent complement to the morning’s powder which might have been slightly less interesting had we bothered to put crampons on.

A pub meal followed by another night in a friendly car park meant we were raring to go on Sunday morning, and an ascent of Snowdon from Rhyd Ddu was chosen as a new route up an old mountain. The final ridge was airy (but cloudy) and good fun. We didn’t stay long up high due to excess people, but descended over slippy grass, slippy rock and slippy snow before making a quick ascent of Y Garn and heading home via the usual chippy.

Gearing up in the car park – along with all the other optimistic climbers

Llyn Idwal – Snow!

Hard going on the approach – Cneifion Arete behind

Demonstrating floundering technique

From Seniors Ridge down to Llyn Idwal (left) and Cneifion Arete (black stripe on right)

First dig feet into snowdrift, then attempt to get out, any direction is good, up is slightly advantageous but harder to achieve

Well earned rest on a rock

Surveying the route down (Y Gribin)

Australia lake (upside down, obviously)

More ridgy than expected on Snowdon

Slipping down to Y Garn

Oxford & Cambridge Direct

Posted on September 14, 2015 by yellowvanmountaineering

At the start of August we found ourselves in Buttermere with a few hours to spare. The weather was good, and although it had rained torrentially the night before, our trusty guidebook told us that the rocks of Grey Crag above Birkness Comb were quick-drying, and offered a series of high-quality climbs leading directly to the summit of High Stile.

So off we set. Arriving in the comb at lunchtime, there was just one party ahead of us doing something hard; we otherwise had the place to ourselves. The climbing began with Harrow Buttress, a Diff and (we thought) a highly unpleasant one at that. The kind of climb where you wedge yourself in a slimy chimney, wiggle, and hope you go up rather than down. Any ideas of moving together went out the window as the terrain just did not lend itself to such elegant methods.

Next was a little route called Slabs Ordinary, which, slightly disconcertingly, was apparently abandoned last century after a serious rockfall and only resurrected in 2000, when “some remaining loose rock was removed and the belay relocated”. Unsurprisingly slabby, and quite delicate, the pitches were a little too short to get into any kind of rhythm. So far, our first rock climbing for over twelve months was suggesting we hadn’t been missing out on too much.

However, the final route, Oxford and Cambridge Direct, was definitely worth dragging the gear up for. I don’t know the origin of the name, but we thought it was one we should probably tick off. It heads up a steep slab and series of steps to one side of an arete, with a vertical drop on the other. We found it exposed and satisfying,with good rock and technical moves sustained for about 40 metres. No doubt the late afternoon sunshine also helped…

We were at the top a little later than expected, probably thanks to some fairly rusty ropework, and were almost certainly going to be late for our dinner rendezvous, but we still thought it worth running over High Stile and High Crag on our way home.

Unfortunately my camera screen decided it had had enough of climbing, and it would appear that we aren’t very good at taking pictures without it, so here are just a few (slightly oddly framed) accompanying snaps.

The belay on Slabs Ordinary – about 10 m from the bottom

Oxford and Cambridge Direct

At the top

Climbing or writing?

Posted on March 7, 2015 by yellowvanmountaineering

So, as I’m in the throes of frantically finishing writing a thesis, we took a long weekend in Cairngorm.

Accommodation was in the very nice Badaguish lodges, where the best part is the lively company of ex and current British Exploring Leaders. Some three vans turned up; although we didn’t have ours this time, it was clear where the inspiration for our van came from.

Saturday had a good forecast, so we headed into Coire an t-Sneachda with Richard. Richard has a 12 week old girl and was on a rare day off so we had volunteered to take him on his first real winter climb. We haven’t climbed much recently, so thought that Spiral Gully would provide a long and easy acclimatisation for everyone. After some confusion about what other people were doing, we ended up with 4 other teams in the gully. Luckily, where other climbers saw the easy right hand variation, I saw the more interesting left hand variation. Unfortunately, part way through this interesting section the ropes decided to become unbelievably tangled. This put a stop to our overtaking manoeuvres, but did remind us of the tight rope work needed in winter to keep everything moving smoothly. By the time we escaped the knot, we threaded our way back through other teams on the route to find the direct finish was already occupied, so we were forced to take the easy way home. A couple of windy tacks east across the plateau and we escaped down the goat track for a late lunch.

Sunday started with quite a bit of lethargy. Luckily Tom was keen to do something harder, and I foolishly said I would help. Leaving everyone else to a lazy breakfast we headed into the corrie again. This time looking for either Broken Gully or Aladdin’s Mirror Direct. Deciding that short and steep would be preferred over the longer Broken Gully, we headed to the base of Aladdin’s Mirror Direct. A fun time ensued as I learnt to lead ice. Luckily Rob had provided some vital info about number of ice screws needed. He had also told us the crux was in the first section, but I found the second section more imposing, which didn’t help morale. Unfortunately, once we’d all learnt to climb ice, the pitch was over and only steep snow / spindrift was left. Amazingly, despite the forecast, we topped out into the sun – my favourite moment of any mountaineering day.

Having re-learnt how to climb and bettered our grade in the first two days, we tried to squeeze another climb in on the Monday before driving home. Unfortunately, Red Gully was already taken by another pair, and despite our attempts to overtake, we couldn’t find a belay point quick enough. A quick discussion followed where we decided that it would be better to leave it rather than follow behind a slow party, and there wasn’t too much else in the corrie that was tempting. We played in the broken ground near the goat track then headed back over the top and drove home, getting back at a sensible time for once. It was nice not to mess with ropes yet still play around with two axes, having fun in the mountains, knowing the next day we would be back chained to a desk in the middle of nowhere. The sun was also out, but not quite enough to give Jo her first few of the plateau (still waiting after six years of visits).

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Ogwen Weekend

Posted on July 10, 2014 by yellowvanmountaineering

A couple of weekends ago, a group of old friends came together from London and Cambridge and ended up in Snowdonia, camped below Tryfan. A misty murky morning on Saturday meant a slow start. We opted for some scrambling, doing a route on the East face of Tryfan. We actually started up the face one gully too early, so ended up on a different, but no less good route. Good to get one of the route-finding failures out the way early in the season.

Ending up on the north ridge a bit early, we zoomed up the easier rock, until finding more interesting challenges. We continued straight over the top to avoid crowds and headed on to the north face of Glyder Fach. Despite the mist, the rock was in good condition, so up another scramble, then down to the campsite.

As we’re rarely in Snowdonia in summer, we made the most of the daylight with a quick route on Tryfan Bach before a late dinner. We then managed to get everyone hiding from the midges inside the van quite comfortably.

Sunday dawned with slightly better weather, so we headed for Idwal for easy approach and exit when the weather inevitably turned.

Once at the bottom of the crag, the weather turned for the better, so after splitting up a bit, we made a mountain day of it. Jo went off to sketch, I moved together with Joe up an easy route on Idwal, scrambled out the top, and ended up on the great Central Arete. I wonder if I’ll ever pitch a route again, as it was so much less faff to move together. We met up at the top and descended over Y Garn to an ice cream.

Starting off route on the wrong route is always a good way to start the day

Bit misty

Mist continued all day

Great easy climbing in the evening

Approach into Idwal on Sunday

Idwal

Views above Idwal

A climb, a walk and some good company

Posted on May 6, 2014 by yellowvanmountaineering

It recently dawned on us that we hadn’t been to Wales for over a year – which meant we had never taken the van there. Over the first May bank holiday weekend we rectified this with a splendid few days in north and south Snowdonia.

Amphitheatre Buttress on Craig yr Ysfa in the Carneddau has been on our wish list for several years. Described as a “long mountain adventure”, we thought it would be both a gentle reintroduction to rock climbing (another thing we hadn’t done for over a year – incidentally since the last Wales trip), and a good warm-up for the Alps. So this was our main target for the weekend – and it looked like the weather was going to play ball…

Unfortunately MWIS was uncharacteristically optimistic, and when we woke up on Saturday morning to distinctly cold and cloudy skies, we were amused to notice that yesterday’s prediction of “extensive sunshine” had been altered to “almost no sunshine” ten minutes previously. Only slightly daunted, we headed up the mountain anyway. It was a good decision: although we found the rock cold on the first pitch, there were no real weather-related difficulties and being able to hear each other over the refreshing lack of wind made a nice change.

Despite not starting particularly early, we were first on the route. The bottom slabs didn’t look quite gentle enough not to pitch, and in fact we thought these presented some of the toughest moves – but maybe that was just our rustyness. The crux was steeper and nicely exposed but with good holds, and after that we moved together. A few gendarmes and a genuinely knife-edged ridge made for an entertaining penultimate section! Overall, a fantastic route with great views and isolated mountain setting (especially when compared to the crowds on topping out) – easily deserving of its classic status. To finish the day we ran up Carnedd Llewelyn and Pen yr Helgi Du before descending the ridge (and bog, and hopping a wall) to Gwern Gof Isaf.

Over tea and crisps, we decided to head south to join friends on the CUHWC trip to Bryn Golau in Dinas Mawddwy for the remainder of the weekend, and enjoyed a sociable couple of evenings in the bunkhouse (returning to the much more comfortable van to sleep!). On Sunday we walked on the always-pleasant Arans, and managed to fit in a quick ascent of almost-deserted Maesglase (a hill previously admired, but never before climbed) on Monday morning.