Northumberland cycling

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Last weekend we went cycling in Northumberland with Dave’s parents. It was wonderful. Every time I reluctantly drag myself south after a weekend away I realise how much I’m inspired and energised by landscapes where you can see something other than sky above the houses from ground level; where fields give way – maybe not immediately, but eventually – to wild country; and where rocks don’t just exist in hidden-away quarries, but protrude through the pedosphere to form ground in their own right. On top of this, the seasonal decorations of blooming gorse and verdant bracken added to the sense of gulping in some much-needed fresh air.

We were based, with our two campervans, at Boe Rigg campsite and “coffee shed” near Bellingham, the self-proclaimed Capital of the North Tyne. Our first ride of about 50 miles headed east towards Rothbury, via a brief and amusing entanglement with the Virgin Money Cyclone Challenge as we passed through Elsdon. Our route later took us past the Simonside Hills, Codger Fort, through the middle of Green Rigg Wind Farm, and on a glorious descent from there to Redesmouth.

On Sunday we headed in the opposite direction, to Kielder Water. We took the Lakeside Path (not too rough on the bikes) as far as Leaplish, then zoomed back along the road to the dam before a pleasant return – except for the gravelled road to Falstone – via Donkleywood. We only really scratched the surface of what looks like a marvellous place to explore: just for starters, there is the rest of the lake, a trail of sculptures and England’s largest population of red squirrels. Beyond that stretch endless moors and Dark Skies (well, ~600 square miles). We’ll certainly be back.

New bike was excellent – once I’d adjusted the saddle properly – and I must admit to really enjoying catching a glimpse of my new bright yellow Ortlieb panniers every time I looked behind.

No photos from this trip – we were all too busy enjoying it first-hand!

Sunny weekends nearer home

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Yellow vans have not featured a great deal in our activities over the last few weeks. Neither has mountaineering. Instead, we’ve been messing about in boats – and on bikes.

Dave recently passed his Yachtmaster Coastal exam (quite a feat, given that the day over which he chose to take it was cursed with a conspicuous lack of wind). This not only allows him to charter yachts from various reputable companies – watch this space – but also qualifies him to skipper CUYC’s yachts Kestrel and Puffin. For his first trip in charge, we took Kestrel from Ipswich south to Brightlingsea on an almost perfect weekend: bright sunshine and almost enough wind to make it exciting. The club requires new skippers to undertake a probationary trip under the “supervision” of an existing skipper (who in reality gets to relax and enjoy not having any responsibility while dispensing sage advice). Somehow Dave managed not only to persuade Greg to fill this role, but also to convince him that he really wanted to make homemade mayonnaise and potato wedges for everyone as we came into our anchorage. Unsurprisingly, served with a glass of wine and a sunset, they were a roaring success. In fact, the whole weekend went excellently.

The following weekend came with a bank holiday, but the temptation to run to the hills for three days was trumped by the temptation to take Jo’s new bike for an inaugural spin. As it’s a Super Galaxy tourer, our intention was to do a two-day tour, but in the event we only managed a day ride from Oakham. In retrospect this was probably a good thing, since we had left our tools in Cambridge – the curse of living in two places – and were also lacking a couple of panniers and (it turned out) some cycling fitness. We headed around the north side of Rutland Water, and thence to Ketton, King’s Cliffe, Oundle and Market Harborough. Our previous experience of the area being limited to driving through it on the A14 as quickly as possible (which is often quite slowly), we were pleasantly surprised to find delightful roads, pretty villages and some distinct undulations in the landscape. These became increasingly unrelenting as we returned north to Oakham through the wonderfully named hamlets of Glooston, Cranoe and Tugby, and since we were also having some bike issues and were by now quite tired, the last few miles were something of a struggle. Jo was incredibly grateful to have something other than road racing gears to get home on! 75 miles definitely used to feel easier…Hopefully some proper touring to come in the next few months – then at least we can blame the weight of our luggage!

Last weekend we were again on the East Coast, helping to prepare Kestrel for her summer trip to the Baltic. (Unfortunately we’re not joining her, owing to our calendars being too busy and Dave having a little work project to finish, but since Dave has organised the entire programme we do have a vested interest in making sure she’s seaworthy!) With great company and great weather, tasks such as taking the stove apart and cleaning it, scrubbing algae off the hull and fixing some wiring with the help of washing up liquid (don’t ask) weren’t too arduous. Testing the loading capacity and top speed of Kestrel’s new dinghy was particularly amusing. We also enjoyed a lovely meal at the Butt and Oyster on the River Orwell, and had a good stab at clearing out the excess beer and gin that had accumulated in Kestrel’s saloon…

A climb, a walk and some good company

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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.

Moody Tryfan and Ogwen
Reservoir reflections
Craig yr Ysfa – descending from the col
First pitch – slabby
Lower section of the crux – nice and airy with a big drop to the right
Top of the crux
Moving together higher up
Gendarme
Near the top of Carnedd Llewelyn
Paul, Dave, Becky and Tom descending from Foel Benddin towards Y Gribin at the start of our round of Aran Fawddwy
Rose
Descending from Maesglase (Bwlch Siglen)

 

Sun? in Scotland?!

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So for Easter, we got a bit excited, and after 8 hours of driving and looking at weather forecasts, we stopped at the Kings House Hotel (round the back on the old road, not actually in the hotel) for a few hours and then started up the hill at 3 am.  Amusingly, this qualifies as one of Jo’s earliest alpine starts.

The idea was that if the forecast snow had come, we wanted it frozen not slushy for the Aonach Eagach. In the end, there was no snow, only dribbles of verglas and an incredible dawn, with sunrise coinciding with us drinking hot chocolate on the first Munro half way along the ridge. Shame.

So after the rather fabulous start to the trip, we ambled along the rest of the ridge, picked up an ankle injury and got back to the van 12 hours after starting.

Dave soon found that although walking anywhere with boots on was painful, trainers were fine – so we were constrained to easy trainer walks. Although not ideal, this was better than nothing. We made the most of the sun, walking around the coast near Kentallan (south of Ballachulish) before heading across the Corran ferry. A quick wash in a river and we were presentable to walk into a posh pub/restaurant (the Salen Hotel) to meet Jo’s parents for dinner to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.

A great couple of days were then spent based at Druimnich on the south coast of Ardnamurchan, a small estate owned by Jo’s family friends Dave and Jenny Kime. After a short expedition around Druimnich (from the new jetty to the water butts, admiring the seals, viewpoints, vegetable garden, wind turbine and pine martens). We then explored Ben Hiant, Sanna Beach, Ardnamurchan light house (for ice cream) and Ariundle ancient oak woodland. We didn’t quite get on to the volcano – next time.  Weather was excellent, although the haze spoilt the views somewhat. There has to be some reason to return though!

It was a shame to come home in good weather, but we’d had a relaxing time (rather than the usual knackering) and the drive home was slightly more pleasant than the usual driving rain. Luckily there are some more bank holidays in the not too distant future.

Dave’s photos

Jo’s photos

Ski Touring!

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By the end of March I was desperate for a holiday – and a week of wonderful sun, scenery snow and even some summits (not to mention Swiss chocolate) was the perfect antidote to months of office life.

A group of six of us – mainly organised by Peter – had been keen for a while to venture off the piste and explore the Alps on skis in true mountaineering style.  Having no experience of ski touring, we entrusted ourselves to the capable hands of guide James Thacker and headed for Andermatt intending to complete the Tour Soleil.  We started with a day from the Gemsstock lift, warming up with a few runs then getting to grips with all manner of unfamiliar items of gear (skins, harscheisen (ski crampons), suncream) and techniques (skinning, kick turns, correct use of above items).  The cable car queues were a good reminder of why we were escaping!

On day 2 we started early from Hospental, taking the Matterhorn-Gornergrat Bahn to Fiesch and a couple of buses to the unspoilt village of Binn.  By the time we set off up the valley the sun was already warm, and as the day progressed it only got hotter.  An initial couple of kilometres on tarmac and a pair of almost unbearably uncomfortable ski boots did not get me off to the best start, but once on snow I started to enjoy myself a bit more – especially after we had successfully negotiated a narrow valley with rather too much avalanche debris strewn across the path for comfort.  We reached the small and quirky Mittlenberghütte mid-afternoon and promptly drank around 5 litres of water between us, followed later by some polenta soup and curry topped with squirty cream.  Here there was a change of plan, as an aggravated pre-existing injury within the group meant we could not risk continuing with the planned tour, which would take us into a remote area where we would be several demanding days from safety.  While this turn of events was unfortunate, no one resented what was the only sensible decision in the circumstances, and we reflected that weather, snow conditions or equipment issues could equally have affected our itinerary.  As mountaineers, and armed with James’ knowledge and logistical wizardry, we were well prepared to change plans and make the most of our new hand.

The following day the uninjured party continued up the valley to the Hochsandjoch pass, enjoying the cool clear of the morning and unmistakeable Alpine-ness.  Crossing the col into Italy, we made our way on skins up to the summit of the Ofenhorn (Punta d’Arbola).  Several other groups were also ascending the peak and there were good tracks to follow.  The summit proved an excellent viewpoint to the Bernese Oberland, Valais, Italian and Eastern Alps and there was much pointing and discussion.  After some “lunch” (it must have been about 10am) we skiied back down to the glacier – some of us more elegantly than others!  Returning to the Mittlenberghütte, the powder gave way to some fairly consolidated crust – pretty unski-able, I concluded, after falling over three times in five minutes – though others in the group proved me wrong… We decided to push on down to Binn and back to our Hospental base in order to put ourselves in a good position for the rest of the week.  This meant another tough, hot afternoon, but we reached Binn safely and had ample time for ice cream and paprika crisps while waiting for the bus.

We then completed* a day tour of the Winterhorn just behind our hostel – a pleasant ridge ascent and surprisingly good snow on the way down.  Just above Hospental we discussed and practised crevasse rescue techniques, with an emphasis on how this might differ in ski touring contexts from summer mountaineering ones (e.g. being unroped, and having skis).  *In a ski touring sense – apparently turning around some way below the summit in order to make the most of snow conditions counts as success!

We finished the week with a two-day tour to the fabulous Rotondohütte.  An overcast, speedy ascent left us with an entire afternoon to sit in the cosy lounge, read alpine magazines, play cards, rouse ourselves to go outside and practise transceiver techniques, drink tea and generally enjoy life.  Despite our fears, the sky was clear again the next day and we ascended the Leckihorn (finally digging our crampons out of the bottom of our rucksacks) – a worthily pointy and satisfying summit – and all ours.  A long glacier descent, short sharp skin and wonderful high level traverse later, we were descending into Realp and taking off our skis for the last time – at least for this year…

Some photos are below, and there are more on our Picasa pages: – Jo’s & Dave’s

Kick turn
Departing from Binn
Higher up in Binntal
Mittlenberghutte
Beautiful morning
Towards the Hochsandjoch
Ofenhorn
Winterhorn
Above the Rotondohutte
Summit of the Leckihorn
View from the Leckihorn
On the way back to Realp

Compacted Winter Skills

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A couple of Saturdays ago, I headed up to Aviemore to run a winter skills course for some friends from CUHWC. Very soon (0830), the van broke down. Turned out to be nothing dramatic – just the brake pads rubbing, but as the breakdown service had lost my policy details we took all day to get back to Cambridge.

On Sunday we took a second attempt. This time in the Polo, with minimal gear, and all of us booked into a hostel. Success! We got to Penrith for the best bacon butties I’ve ever had, and got to the Cairngorm ski car park by 5pm. We jumped at the opportunity to spend an hour on a small snow patch going over the basics and stretching our legs.

As we had lost a day with the van breakdown, I was worried about trying to squeeze a 3 day course into 2 days.. Luckily the wind and snow conditions meant that going high and getting some Munros done (the original plan) was unlikely to be sensible or beneficial. The group were also excellent, having loads of previous walking experience in all weather and picked up things quickly, allowing for some fast progression.

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So on the first day we headed into Coire an t-Sneachda, had a quick session on moving on snow, resulting in some sliding fun (ice axe arrests). We then moved into the Coire proper to have a look at some old avalanche debris, and use crampons. Despite the consolidated and melting pack, we found some (non vertical) ice to show what crampons do really well. As the group we picking this up well and conditions were good, we headed up an easy angled gully next to the goat track, looking at avalanche avoidance and testing on the way.

After that excitement, we went for lunch in Coire Domhain. Unfortunately there were no remnants of snow holes to look at. The plateau was pretty devoid of snow, but we headed to Cairngorm summit anyway. After bagging the Munro, we headed back into Corrie Cas for some more detailed avalanche tests and a walk down through the ski area.

The next day we concentrated on rope techniques, going into Coire an Lochain and getting a good look at the great slab. After some digging and testing of various snow anchors, we practised our bucket seats and buried axes while ‘pitching’ up an easy slope. After some navigation to the top of Cairn Lochan, we used a snow bollard to descend onto Fiacaill Corrie an t-Sneachda. The further descent gave some more practice of classic Scottish mix of snow/ice/slush/rock. The wind was picking up and it was getting late, so we rushed off back to the hostel catching a rain shower in the last 30 mins.

Despite the less than ideal conditions, the course was enjoyed by everyone, and there was much discussion about running it again next year.

Foray into the Cairngorms

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Last weekend we headed up to see some expedition friends in the Cairngorms. Looking at a forecast of high winds, low cloud, snow, and high avalanche risk, we decided not to take any time off work and just go for the weekend.

The drive up on Friday started well, but we soon slowed to 25 mph from Stirling to Perth with reasonable snow drifts on the road. We didn’t know that road went particularly high, so we thought we might be in for a very long night north of Perth. Surprisingly the roads cleared after Perth – maybe the gritters were caught off guard in the wrong place. We arrived at 0030, found some beds and collapsed into them.

We woke surprisingly early and easily the next day – and then sat around at breakfast while everyone was uninspired. Eventually, people split  with some going to Aviemore, some having a look in the Northern Corries, and a group that we joined going up Meall a Bhuachaille. We managed to stay out the cloud for most of it and the views over Glen Mor and Loch Morlich were spectacular. The snow soon started though and the wind really picked up as we reached the summit and turned to descend directly into it. A great wee ridge for the weather, and it’s been a while since we were on it. Great to have a leg stretch and see what the conditions were like.

Sunday had a better weather forecast, but with loads of snow on the ground and a drive home to do, we wanted something new, short and climbable. A look around the guidebooks found nothing. A few people had seen climbers in previous years on the crag at Sron na cho above the Ciste car park, on the east side of the 1028 spot height, so we thought that might be an option, being slightly lower than the main corries. In addition, I’d spotted a crag  (GR NJ002069), visible from the Ciste car park,  from Meall a Bhuachaille the previous day. I believe this crag is called Cranberry Rocks, I haven’t found much more about it.

We went exploring.

From the car park the crag looked plausible, so we decided to stop by before heading over the top to the higher crags at Sron na cho. Once at the bottom of the crag, we spotted a couple of likely routes. The ice and snow was just firm enough to allow winter climbing so we got started. I thought the first ice gully looked a bit interesting and so started on something a bit easier. The slab round the corner was still some of the harder mixed climbing I’ve done. I bailed below the second bluff with powdery snow above it, where the line and my confidence ran out. I belayed there, and then traversed out to find the start of a second line. An initial difficulty gave way to straightforward climbing leading me straight into a chimney crux. Despite having not climbed for 9 months I was feeling good and tackled the harder line rather than the gully exit round the side. I must admit Jo made the crux look more elegant than I could, despite having the hot aches.

We went back down for some lunch and then tackled the ‘harder’ ice gully. Turned out to be straightforward, bold and well trodden but nevertheless enjoyable. We sat enjoying the sun and lack of wind for a while and then headed home. An excellent crag for the day – allowed us to push our climbing unwittingly, and have a little exploring fun just out of the car park. Also allowed me to play with my new axes, and for Jo to tangle my new rope.

Descending from Meall a Bhuachaille
Raised Ptarmigan prints, with the crag behind
First pitch
First bluff on the slab
2nd pitch fun (I knocked out some gear, and had a moment until I replaced it)
straight forward until the last chimney
Ice gully
The view from the gully.
Alpine feeling at the top

North York Moors

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We’d originally earmarked this weekend for winter climbing, or if not, joining the CUHWC trip to Capel Curig, but the forecast for our usual mountain haunts was even more grim than usual.  Deciding we’d had enough of battling wind and precipitation against the backdrop of the inside of a cloud, we headed north east instead, in search of pastures new, low and hopefully sunny.

The three-hour drive from Oakham to Kirkbymoorside was pleasantly short, allowing us to leave after dinner and arrive in good time to find a parking spot and enjoy a beer before bed.  We are now discovering some of the true joys of the van – no need to worry about booking somewhere to stay, being able to change plans at the last minute, yet far more civilised and less effort than camping.

We couldn’t quite believe our luck on waking to glorious sunshine, and set off from our parking spot on Harland Moor to do an anticlockwise round of Farndale, via Blakey Ridge, the Coast to Coast to Bloworth Crossing, and Rudland Rigg.  It did get rather windy later, and we found the track walking somewhat monotonous.  However, these were minor gripes, and not enough to stop us detouring to bag Round Hill on Urra Moor – the high point of the North York Moors at 454m!  We then spent the evening at the fantastic Lion Inn on High Blakey Moor, which we’d scouted out earlier, enjoying the welcoming atmosphere and hearty portions.

Parking on a ridge in strong winds was perhaps not our best idea, but it was close to the pub, and anyway the van stayed upright overnight.  On Sunday we headed to the coast to explore Whitby and walk from Robin Hood’s Bay to Ravenscar and back.  Disappointingly, the cafe at Boggle Hole wasn’t open for cream teas, but we finally tracked one down at the Yorkshire Hotel to round off the weekend perfectly.

Photos from Scotland and Seathwaite

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Here are some photos from our recent trip to Scotland (most of which is described in the post below).

After escaping from the Onich traffic jam, we made our way to Glenfinnan to position ourselves for a round of the two Munros there, Sgurr nan Coireachan and Sgurr Thuilm, the next day.  After a nice walk up the long track to Glenfinnan Lodge, the weather got us again, and we spent the rest of the day battling rain, wind and snow in the clouds.  We were glad to follow a couple of sets of footprints, which we later found to have been left by Michael and Alex P two days previously!  We made it round slightly quicker then expected due to favourable snow conditions, and as we descended out of the blizzard, the sun shone incredibly over the glen.

After four “quality winter days” we were very glad to spend the evening and welcome the new year in the company of friends at Borrodale House near Arisaig, where we were warmly welcomed with tea, sherry, enthusiasm, and a singing lobster.

The next day we got up in the light for the first time of the trip, and enjoyed a stroll along the beach before heading south.

Two days later we were back in the hills, this time joining CUHWC at Seathwaite in Borrowdale for the weekend.  The weather was no better than it had been in Scotland, but there was considerably less snow on the ground.  Our walks took us from Buttermere to Seathwaite via Robinson, Hindscarth and Dale Head, and over Eagle Crag and Sergeant’s Crag.

Glen Lyon Munros
Meall nan Aighean
Bridge on the way to Bheinn Fhionnlaidh
Glen Etive from Bheinn Fhionnlaidh
North ridge of Ben Starav
Descending into Glen Finnan
The viaduct
The beach at Borrodale House
Buttermere
Heading for Dale Head
The snow ghost of Dale Head
The road to Seathwaite
Summit of Eagle Crag

Last few days of 2013

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As we’re currently stuck in a traffic jam near Fort William I thought we should blog. We’ve been here for three days and dispute the weather have had some good days out.

Firstly we spent a day in Glen Lyon, doing a high level traverse of 4 Munro’s. Having blown away the cobwebs and had a long day we opted for an easier next day. Beinn Fhionnliadh from Glen Etive was not as short as expected. We had an initial false start having camped in the wrong place and had to relocate down the Glen. Then we found the bridge has been washed away so started the long walk towards the col. At 12 we eventually got across and started climbing. As we were higher up than expected we took an alternative route into the corrie and onto the north east ridge. A great ridge followed by the expected summit ridge with some interesting winter steps.

Today we had a longer day around Ben Starav and Glas Bheinn Mhor, with the unexpectedly fun ridge descent from Starav. Great mountaineering day.

Snow is a bit wet but firm in places, nice and calm but cloud making us navigate occasionally.

Our  van is excellent, having not been to a campsite, we haven’t been cold once although we are getting slowly wetter as the trip goes on.

Pictures will follow once we are at a computer. All spelling mistakes curtasy of the tablet keyboard

The accident has now cleared, so I’ll post this.

Slight delay as the car in front breaks down and blocks traffic in both directions…