Guy and Simon battle the elements

In what turned out to be a ‘David and Goliath’ affair The Buffalo Boys went North
to Stanage for a weekend that was intended to kick-start their outside year on
real rock after a winter of inaction and plastic.

However what was billed as a pre-season friendly became a slightly stiffer test
as the home team brought out their big hitter – The Wind.

Saturday dawned hopeful and with a pre-prepared slimmed down ‘Stanage rack’ and
single rope we set out with lighter packs than usual.

“Be bold, start cold” the maxim goes, and it was yes to both as I left North Lees
in a t-shirt then as we hit the path atop Stanage the wind really showed its
teeth, Brrrracing.

At the Left-Hand End we dropped down and opened up the ‘definitive’ – what a
fantastic book. If you haven’t got it, put it on your birthday list – and sorted
out a route.

You can call me “Rusty Cobweb” I thought as I struggled seconding a route I
should have found a lot easier, but joining Simon at the top I was just bloomin’
happy be on real rock again.

The conditions precluded extremity and as we meandered back toward North Lees we
looked for jolly entertainment: we found routes that we’d not done before and
came across a whole area that was new to us both.

High points grade-wise, if you’re looking for such, were Simon’s flashing of a
cracking 5c problem that I could only just start (thus showing the benefits of
bouldering – hey ho, perhaps I will have to give it a go sometime), and his
on-sight of a tricky HVS despite an attack of cramp at the crux.

At close to six, with the sun going and the cloud coming, the whistle blew for
half time with The Wind slightly ahead on points.

Sunday; and the second half saw ‘Howling’, The Wind’s bigger and meaner brother,
brought off the sub’s bench.

Things get skewed in such conditions however I think, on the day, we gave a fine
account of ourselves and the smile that came onto my face atop Christmas Crack
stayed with me all the way home on the team bus; a pint of coffee and a
slab of flapjack at Outside having set us up for the journey.

The Wind may have got the better of us in some ways but it was a Pyrrhic victory:
it will always be remembered as bitter and cold whilst the weekend had fun and
warmth writ large on it.

The Official Report of the Official Splitters Easter Trip

Mike Bayley – April 2009

Thursday evening saw myself, Mervyn & Dave (a friend of Martin’s) gathering at
Jesse James’ bunkhouse in North Wales for the Easter weekend. With an
indifferent weather forecast for Good Friday, Martin & Adrian were driving up
the following morning.

True to the forecast, Friday started wet so after a slow start we headed off to
the Llanberis slate quarries for a look round. After an unplanned tour of a
Welsh hillside we arrived at the parking where we met Martin & Adrian. After
some damp wandering and taking in the industrial heritage, itchy feet saw the
party splitting. Dave & I elected to continue our wandering whilst everyone else
opted for a more energetic walk elsewhere. And so we continued our wandering
through the somewhat other worldly quarries, taking in Serengeti, California &
Australia in a carbon free style.

As the day progressed, the weather improved and the quick drying slate made
climbing an option. A dash back to the bunkhouse saw a rope and quickdraws
hastily packed and we got 6 or 7 routes between F4A & F5A in before the face
went into the shade and a trip to Pete’s Eats became more appealing.

Meanwhile, the walkers had changed their plans and gone for an ascent of
Milestone Direct with much squirming on the chimney pitch.

Over dinner plans were laid for the following day, all involving an early start.
Adrian & Dave went for Grooved Arête on Tryfan and were out of the door at 0730
to beat the queues. Martin, Mervyn & I opted for Pinnacle Wall on Craig yr Ysfa.
Despite starting a little later, we were the second party on the crag after some
extended walking along its foot and up into the amphitheatre in fruitless
pursuit of the start of the route, mountaineering judgement ruled and we opted
for the most popular route – Amphitheatre Buttress. A combination of soloing,
moving together and pitching saw us cover 960’ of climbing in 3½ hours and what
fine climbing it was too. Partway up the route, we were able to see Pinnacle
Wall, someway up the opposite side of the amphitheatre wall. Well there was no
flipping mention of that in the guidebook!

Talking to the pair who followed up on the route, it turned out that one of them
was a member of the Ogwen Valley MR team. Although not present on that infamous
day in 2006, we had a bit a chat about rescues and his experience of a rescue on
Great Gully. The day finished by walking off a broad grassy rib and a trip to
Ogwen cottage for tea and checking the weather forecast.

Sunday’s forecast was for a dry but cold start with an increasing chance of rain
in the afternoon. So, we opted for Bochlwyd Buttress, some 20 minutes from the
car. The downside was its north easterly aspect which gave us a chilly start.
Once again, the guidebook was less than perfect and we struggled to match the
topo to the crag. I took the initiative and launched up a route that I thought
was a Diff but which proved to be a Severe with an awkward exit from a niche.
The guidebook wasn’t wrong in that respect. I was up and down trying options,
placing extra gear and trying to keep my hands warm. When I finally went for the
move, I have never been closer to falling without actually doing so and a knee
had to be employed for, erm, stability. Later in the day, Mervyn made a proper
job of falling in the same place so I no longer feel quite so bad about the
tactics that I employed.

Martin then jumped in with a lead of Wall Climb, complete with an interesting
traverse. Still not sure if we did the second pitch correctly but a fine climb
nevertheless. Then it was Dave’s turn on Arête & Slab, another fine route with
some testing moves for a Diff.

My turn again – this time on Marble Slab. The guide suggests severe, UKClimbing
HS; I’ll take the latter as that’s what it felt like to me and very thin in the
middle. Focus was required!

And that was the end of our day, apart from another visit to Ogwen Cottage for
tea & check of the weather forecast.

As forecast, Monday started dry & sunny but with three of the party leaving
during the afternoon big walk-ins were out. Dave & I opted for a return visit to
the slate where, in a confidence building style, we repeated most of the routes
from Friday and pushed out to F5C. That took us to early afternoon and a good
place to stop. From my perspective a very good first weekend of the year, pity
about the cold I took home.

Despite much IMC winter action in Wales and the Lake District, I may have been
our only representative on the Scottish winter scene this winter. So this is the
tale my trip in early March.

Being both inexperienced and rusty from missing the previous season, I booked a
guide for four days, with the Glen Nevis youth hostel as a base. I can
thoroughly recommend both the hostel and the guide. The latter, Ian, a Mancunian
based in Snowdonia, is known to at least three other IMC members to my
knowledge.

The main issue with these trips is the weather and correspondingly, the snow
conditions. There had been plenty of snow. Reports of neck deep powder on the
Aonach Eagach ridge added to the inaccessibility of most of the high routes on
the Ben due to category 4/5 avalanche risks didn’t bode all that well.

We warmed up with a wade through the snow to a grade II ridge somewhere near Lock
Laggan, which passed without incident, significant snowfall or even a late
finish.

The next day was dedicated to another wade up the side of Tower Ridge to
do Fawlty Towers III, to the right of the Douglas gap. This was our second
choice route, due to traffic on the Douglas Boulder route that we first headed
towards. Meanwhile, a party had set out to tackle the ridge itself from the CIC
hut, at the same time that we’d passed the hut. Apparently this was the first
attempt for several days, thanks to the excessive snow accumulations. The only
problem that we had was that at that height, water was running under the ice and
a lot of it had no real substance to it. With the benefit of a top rope, I was
able to trust the ice on route, whereas Ian had to take a few diversions when
leading. If I’d been leading, I’d have backed off in terror after the first few
metres. The top pitch proved particularly difficult, with Ian needing three goes
to find a route that had any semblance of security. As we descended to the
Douglas gap, we wondered whether the ridge party had any chance of finishing in
daylight. The fact that they were only just above us on the ridge well into the
afternoon suggested not. The third day was pretty easy to assign as a rest day;
the forecast of high temperatures and heavy rain proving to be annoyingly
accurate. As we later saw, this caused most of the main gullies on the Ben to
avalanche and actually improved the remaining snow to something like a
reasonable state.

Climbers on the Douglas Boulder Abseiling into the Douglas GapSouth West Ridge III

The classic Twisting Gully III,4 on Stob Coire nan Lochan was the next day’s
target. This time we were the first party to get to the crag, on what turned out
to be a busy morning, with many teams out. I can imagine that in good
conditions, the technical grade might be a bit generous, but in the rather warm
air, the ice wasn’t the best that I’ve encountered. The crux is a steep traverse
out from under a chock stone, which Ian reached with his usual efficiency.
Belaying and watching from below, it didn’t look easy, and to confirm that, a
“Watch me!” put my concentration onto its full setting, as though it might ever
not be. Ian edged out onto the face. I fed a little of the higher blue rope
through the belay device. Searching for a placement with the left hand axe,
obviously nothing good to be found… Then the unmistakable sounds of falling, of
crampons not staying put. In the age that ensued, I locked off the rope and
braced for the inevitable tug. It never came though. Somehow, Ian held on, his
crampons having latched onto rock a foot or so down. “Tension on blue”, then he
continued climbing, with obvious care and got out onto the rib. Being able to
use the revealed footholds made following straightforward. Nevertheless, I was
reminded of my rustiness on the next pitch, where I made a complete, four
course, meal of a simple corner, almost devoid of ice. Ian had easily bridged up
on nothing very obvious, but when it came to my turn, I ended up hanging from my
axes, cranking up with my feet scraping ineffectually at the rock. Ho hum.

The fourth day’s climbing saw us out bright and early and after an hour and a
half’s trudging at the base of Green Gully IV on the Ben. Its technical grade
seems to be a movable feast, but conditions weren’t bad. There was plenty of
ice, which was mostly pretty secure to climb on, although gear was mostly old
pegs, this being another classic. Three steep full length pitches and an exit
over the cornice went by without difficulty, but was entertaining and what
Scottish gully climbing is all about.

All in all, my best winter trip to date.

Steve’s account of the Official IMC Easter trip

Steve Culverhouse – April 2009

For Easter 2009 a team of 9 keen folk turned up in the middle of the night just a
few miles from Lands End and pitched up next to the hordes of Surrey University
climbing Club with a forecast of mixed sunshine and showers in prospect.

Friday saw most of team IMC visit the cliffs of Bosigran to tick such a list of
classic HSs & VSs as Doorpost, Little Brown Jug, Anvil Chorus and, from the team
who may not have read the guidebook as well as they should, something now call
‘Anvilberg’. Although the day started chilly, the scene was set for the rest of
the next few days as the sun came out and folk were soon moulting Buffaloes and
fleeces as if they’d gone out of fashion (oh hang on, maybe they already
have…). The sun was to continue until the end of Sunday, and very welcome it
was too.

For Saturday most of us went to Chair Ladder to tick some more classics such as
Terrier’s tooth, South Face direct, Bishop’s Arête & Diocese (a good lead from
Joe on the tricky 1st pitch).

Sunday was spent back close to Chair Ladder at a small crag called Fox Promontory
which is well worth a visit at the HS & VS grade. Between us we pretty much
climbed out the whole crag. Good leads from Joe – on a hideous HS going on VS
off-width and Guy on a VS-going-on-E1 horror next door. The day finished off on
a high note though with team keen (Martin & Guy) leaving it just a little too
late for their chosen last route of the day. Steve had topped out on the route a
few minutes earlier and Joe was 3m off the ground when the combination of a
rising tide and a lively sea had it’s inevitable effect… Undaunted however Guy
& Martin retreated to safer ground and finished the day off in style with a new
route – is there a name yet chaps?

Ian and Christina had made an even earlier retreat from Fox and wisely packed up
and left on the Sunday leaving the rest of us to wake up to blustery showers and
grey skies on Monday. We all made an early exit and by the time we reached
Exeter the skies were cloudless and blue again so Martin & Guy made it to
Cheddar for a couple of routes (6b I hear!) and Joe & Steve did a tour of Avon
Gorge in Bristol. After an uninspiring and rather scary start (in hindsight, the
route name – Nightmare – should have been a clue) they finished up on Giant’s
Cave Buttress. This route is ideal for show-offs or publicity seekers as the
last, crux, pitch goes up within 6m of the tourists on viewing platform at the
eponymous cave and the top belay (off a venerable Victorian iron fence) is
perfectly placed for more gawping (“Mummy, I think that man’s stuck”).

A top trip!

Ian’s account of the Official IMC Easter trip

A brief resume of the IMC trip to Cornwall Easter 2009

….and not a cream tea in sight!!

Christina myself and Monty took the decision to drive down over night to avoid
the bank holiday traffic blues having travelled this way on our foray north of
the border in early March. We left home at 01:30hrs after a few hours of sleep
in our nice comfortable bed and arrived Trevaylor camp site at 08:30hrs just as
the rest of the crew were having breakfast. The others (except Elena of course)
had decided to go to Bosigran, but we had thought we would warm up gently at
Sennen Cove. So, after pitching the tent and partaking of a leisurely breakfast
of toasted hot cross buns (well, it was Good Friday) with copious quantities of
tea, that’s where we went.

A lovely starter with Corner Climb (V Diff) followed by the excellent classic
Demo Route (HS) – which the Royal Marines Commando instructors used to
demonstrate to their new charges in standard issue boots and big packs on! At
this point, the lure of ice cream and a wander along the beautiful Sennen Beach
was all too much so we packed up climbing and did just that. Unfortunately Bilbo
the 14 stone Newfoundland lifedog (no, honestly, google him!) was not on duty.

After dinner it was getting a tad chilly sitting at the camp site so there was
nothing else for it but to repair to the local hostelry to swap tales and make
plans for the next day’s adventures. As the others had all been to Bosigran and
C and me decided we couldn’t tick the much talked of Commando Ridge (no prizes
for guessing who used to use this route as part of their training!) outing as it
wouldn’t be fair on Monty, a mass IMC assault on Chair Ladder was agreed.

Whilst other parties were bagging routes left right and centre, I was having a
bit of an unenthused day. We eventually half scrambled and half abseiled down
main gully and wandered around for ages trying to decide on a route we both
liked the look of! We eventually settled on Mermaid’s Route (3 pitch V Diff)
which turned out to be a fantastic climb with some rather interesting bits for
the grade. Much lazing in the sun followed whilst, once again, the others
bustled about and climbed loads. After some time Christina persuaded me that we
should ‘get on with it’ so we headed for pinnacle gully descent (where I knew
Steve C had installed an abseil rope and reckoned he wouldn’t mind if we used
it) with a mind to tick Terrier’s Tooth – another classic. Of course, having
faffed about for so long, the tide was now on it’s way in with a few of the
larger breakers splashing over the belay ledge. Being a bit of a route purist I
opted for the original line up the initial wall of pitch 1 which follows a
quartz seam that is unprotectable 4b for the first 3m or so and even then you
wouldn’t want to fall on the gear! It’s a fantastic line though. The wall after
the half way ledge on pitch 1 is damn near unprotectable as well, but it’s
amazing what concern for the belayer’s welfare on an incoming tide can do to
ones climbing speed – although Christina did in fact get a little wet at one
point! The next 2 pitches went according to plan and I was able to chat with a
guy on the route next to us and get some beta for getting off the pinnacle.
Well, what a scary descent that proved to be!! First of all you have to make a
down-slide off the belay block into a niche above a wall in the right of the
gully.

Bottom of Terrier’s Tooth	Coastal View from Fox Promontory

Once in the niche it’s safest for one person to belay the other who down-climbs
the wall placing gear on the way down to protect the second. All well and good,
but then the second has to down-climb the wall removing all that lovely
protection on the way so, should they slip, the bit of pro that would arrest the
fall is below them!! Once the wall is negotiated it’s a walk off to the side to
a suitable spot in the gully to have a breather and sort the ropes etc. Like
many things in life, this descent is lovely when it’s over!!A quick dinner on
the camp site, wash up and it was back to the pub – hard and thirsty work this
climbing lark! More tale swapping ensued whilst a plan was hatched to descend
upon Fox Promontory – a small cliff of mostly single pitch routes just along the
coast from the main Chair Ladder fleshpots – on Sunday.

Sunday dawned with more blue skies and warm sun (a bit of a theme for the weekend
so far ) and the added bonus of chocolate Easter eggs! So, off we all sped to
Fox Promontory – apart from Steve and Carol who headed for Chair Ladder and
Clare who unfortunately had to return home. C and me watched the others
negotiate the especially horrid looking scramble descent down the sunny south
face, so decided we would set up an alternative abseil rope down the colder
north face – this proved to be a great time saver for the rest of the day’s
activities – but even to get to the abseil point involved scrambling down to and
over the ridge of the promontory. Steve & Joe and Martin & Guy were ticking
routes off like men possessed, but, again, Christina and I adopted a more
leisurely approach! We managed The Whisker – a lovely little VS4c albeit a tad
steep at the top – followed by the fine left slanting black quartz seam of
Reveille (HS4b) before scrambling back out for sustenance in the sun.

Perfect end to a perfect day

Christina had already mooted the idea of driving home over night Sunday as
Metcheck had forecast rain for Monday. From my point of view, it seemed anathema
to pack up after 3 such fantastic days on the basis of, at best, a computer
probability! But, pack up and drive we did and by the content of the texts the
following morning, this turned out to be a cunning plan (a plan so cunning you
could pin a tail on it and call it a fox) by chief strategist Christina!

All in all another excellent Cornish Easter weekend with beautiful scenery,
magnificent climbing on exquisite sea-cliff granite and perfect company. It’s
memories such as these that keep us going through the grim daily grind in our
dingy old offices!

Here’s looking forward to dry summer weekends, more good climbing and even more
good company.

Another Impromptu IMC Posse descends on the Peak District

Guy Reid – April 2009

Take a free weekend and some free people, add a couple of days of reasonable
(although good is better if you can get it) weather and spice with conversation
to your palate, ice with a thick layer of routes to tickle your fancy and there
you have it – the recipe for a great climbing trip.

I began with “a trip out of a hat”, Mike B followed with “ you beat me to it”;
Martin said he could fire up ‘The Beast’ but a seat in a car would be preferable
and Clare S confirmed she’d be outside Outside in Hathersage at 9am on Saturday
morning. Lastly Eddie from Bury chipped in that he’d join us just for the day
and agreed to find us at the crag.

I picked up Martin at 1pm on Friday and knowing that Paul McC had already written
the tune we started off on our long and winding road.

Bar Hill wasn’t too bad but we were warned about long delays from J25 to J29 on
M1 and at 25, noticing the traffic slowing dramatically, we drifted off into the
hinterlands; our original intention of a couple of routes at Birchen before bed
turned into a dash of limestone and we purred toward Wildcat. Along the way we
overheated but with Martin “The Mechanic” Stevens on hand we discovered the
fault, reconnected the fan and despite losing a looong half hour still reached
Matlock Bath in time to enjoy Lynx (HS4b, 4b **) before heading on to Hardhurst
and a well-earned cup of tea.

Saturday morning 9am and outside Outside there was Clare – and by half past we
were standing under Heather Crack VS 4c ** with me thinking, “oh, that’s steeper
than I remember”.

And so the day began.

In no particular order (because I can’t remember names so think yourselves lucky
you’ve got them at all)

• Lancashire Wall VS5a *
• Green Wall VS4b *
• Manchester Buttress HS4b ***
• Gargoyle Buttress VS4b **
• Black Hawk HS4c **
• Black Hawk Hell Crack S4a ***
• Capstone chimney Diff *

I backed off Z Crack VS4c * feeling bruised and exhausted but knowing that I
would be back there one day; fitter, stronger and ready for another tussle. And
I racked up for, and then scuttled away from, Grotto Wall HVS4c and In Earnest
HVS5a each time thinking that a route with some . . . any . . .gear in sight
would be preferable.

Mid-morning Eddie found us and enjoyed a few routes before he headed off at about
4pm just as we came across Des (a locum surgeon who had been at Ipswich Hospital
and climbed with us at Copleston for a few months earlier this year).

The day ended atop Green Wall at about 7.30 with an agreement that I would text
Des Sunday’s destination – when I knew it.

Returning to the hullabaloo at Hardhurst was quite depressing after such an
excellent day, but the din did eventually die down.

Sunday dawned bright, clear and crisp, the sun sparkling off the morning frost.
By 9 the sun was high, the frost had melted, my tent was down and Clare and I
were in the car heading to Baslow. Where? You say. Yes, Baslow.

Martin had waxed lyrical about it the previous evening so a decision had been
made.

As we pulled into the parking bays below Curbar Des pulled up and together the
three of us went exploring.

Baslow could best be described as a string of small buttresses that have to be
accessed individually by walking along the top of the crag and dropping down;
there is no real path along the bottom. The routes are generally short. We had
decided to head for the far end and then work back toward the car during the
day.

The crag is west facing and gets the afternoon sun, at the far end we dropped
down out of glorious sunshine into cold shade. Not an inspiring start I’m
afraid.

We saw a nice line, Larceny HVS5a, but decided to warm up on something easier and
come back after. Rough Wall Climb VS4c* at 6m is more like a boulder problem and
as such has very little gear though Des’s WC Zero 5 gave me the confidence to
move on up. Interesting, but over all too quickly. Back at the bottom, in the
shade and cold, we went back to Larceny, which at 12m was more like a climb. I
personally enjoyed it though Clare was not so sure – her fingers too cold to
feel the holds.

A change of venue was needed so we found Martin and Mike, made arrangements for
later and by noon, having managed to park in a packed Surprise View car park we
were in a warm, sun-dappled, sylvan glade – a virtually empty Lawrencefield.

Tyrone (anything between VS4c and HVS5a) warmed us up and then Excalibur VS4c***
rounded the day, and the weekend, off with a pump in our forearms and a smile on
our faces.

Clare, Des and I smiled, shook hands and drifted off following our own paths
homeward. Mine took me to a pint of coffee and a slab of flapjack at Outside in
Calver, and tales from Martin and Mike about their day at Baslow (great by all
accounts). And from there Martin and I hit the road for Suffolk leaving Mike to
browse in Outside for a while before he too headed South.

or route finding on a popular V Diff

My very first proper rock climb was Grooved Arête on Tryfan. My first lead had
been a supervised pitch two on that same climb. This Easter, I returned with
Martin’s mate, Dave. Dave’s only ever been to North Wales
once before, and that was the scene of an off-route and wet epic with me on the
nearby Sub Cneifion Rib. So now was a chance to do a classic route, with no
worries about route finding. We converged on the start of the route exactly as
two other teams arrived. Thankfully, we got away second in the queue, me leading
the first pitch. At the top of the first section, I looked at a crack continuing
straight up, but decided it was harder than the grade of the climb, and craftily
placed a friend in it before stepping left to find the polish on the rib. Dave,
with that one lonely placement as a guide, and no useful advice from his belayer
climbed said crack direct, in, it has to be said, good style.

The first pair up had gone straight up on the next pitch, only stepping to the
left near the top. The guide book and my memory told me that this wasn’t the
route, that in fact one should step directly into the groove in the rib to the
left. I only worked this out after Dave had made some progress off route, so he
made an awkward traverse left, gaining the rib with a very bold step from the
top of a pinnacle. Back on route, I led the remaining pitch before the path
across to the second half of the climb. At about this point, the party behind
lost touch with us, apparently a lack of confidence overcame the girl leading
the second pitch, as we later heard.

At this point, Dave was feeling rather cold, the sun having stayed hidden so
far, so I led the next pitch up the rib towards the ‘haven’. Now, this is where
the experience climber does a little arithmetic, since pitches on these classic
routes are often run together, as with first two pitches of the climb, for
example. So, the rib leads up one 90 foot pitch, to a block belay, followed by
another 120 foot pitch crossing a groove near the top to another grooved rib
before finally arriving at the haven. My rope being a mere 160 foot, I couldn’t
run these pitches together. After at most 50 feet of climbing, I came to a
plausible belay, but clearly this wasn’t it, so I carried on up the rib. As it
became clear that a) I’d climbed a lot more than 90 feet, and b) the rib was
getting harder, with no obvious holds above, I was forced to cross into the
groove on the left. A bit more progress, without anything resembling a decent
stance and things were starting to look pretty serious. Steep blank rock barred
all upwards progress. A delicate traverse back right to the arête showed nothing
but vertical featureless rock.

Looking back across the groove to the left, I spotted polish below me on the left
hand rib. Carefully, I eased my way back and rejoined the route with palpable
relief. Another few feet and I was able to belay comfortably.

My curious inability to keep to the polish on these classic routes has had me
wandering on previous occasions. I made a mental note to concentrate better in
future as I belayed Dave up to the stance, noticing the quite considerable rope
drag on the way. As it turned out, I’d used nearly a full rope length on that
pitch, so we deduced that Dave had about another 60 feet of climbing to reach
the haven. Dave set off, with strict instructions to ‘follow the polish’. He
quickly disappeared from view, somewhere over the buttress above my head. Soon,
another chap arrived, grunting as he hauled his rope up against what sounded
like a lot of drag. Still no news from above, as that pair got themselves
settled on an adjacent stance. We waited a bit. The very competent woman who’d
followed her husband up the previous pitch mentioned that this was, in fact, the
haven, and that the Ogwen guidebook was definitively wrong. “Ah”, I said. before
trying to communicate this important information to Dave, unsuccessfully.

Above the haven is a steep wall, surmounted by an exposed slab, which is normally
climbed diagonally up to the top right corner – the Knight’s Move. When,
eventually, Dave brought me up to his stance, I found him in a hanging belay at
the top left corner of the slab. I carefully traversed across to the hidden
niche where he would have been if only he’d realised what pitch he was on, and
brought him back to the route. In the meantime, the couple following us had come
through and combining with the next pitch, overtaken us. We were the second pair
that they’d overtaken, the pair immediately behind us at the start being the
first! Dave feeling the cold quite badly at this stage, I led the last pitch
out, only to be followed, somewhat rudely I felt, by another climber who’d
decided to climb on past Dave for reasons that weren’t clear to me at all. I
then brought Dave up whom had some difficulty, getting past the above mentioned
rope.

It was just another enjoyable day on a Welsh multi-pitch V Diff.

The usual trudge up the A14 and M6 after work on Friday evening, saw us arrive at
The Brotherswater Inn just as last orders had sounded. Luckily, Steve & Martin
had set off about an hour beforehand so they purchased a small libation whilst
I, Christina and Joe threw a few bags into the bunkhouse. Pete & Lou arrived
about 45 minutes later and the posse was complete. Some discussion ensued as to
possible venues for the next day’s action. Well, I say discussion but in truth
we were more than a little reliant on Steve & Martin for suitable, in
“condition” routes. After all, I had a shiny new pair of Scarpa Charmoz boots to
put through their paces!

The view down the valley on Saturday morning, showed signs of promise for a gully
or two in winter conditions, so 5 of us set off for Patterdale and the walk in
to Tarn and Falcon crags. After a couple of hours walking, we arrived at the
foot of the slope below Dollywagon Gully (on Dollywagon Pike funnily enough!).
The new boots were doing marvellously – comfortable, easy to walk in and
crucially, no blister hot-spots.

Dollywagon Gully

Time for a quick bite to eat before gearing up ready for my first potential
winter lead! Steve and Joe set off apace whilst Martin hung back with me and
Christina for the first pitch, imbuing me with confidence for this new game. The
unfortunate traffic jam at the boulder choke soon cleared and Martin let us off
the leash and reverted to Plan A by teaming up with Steve and Joe. So this was
it – second time in crampons ever and about to embark on, what I later found out
to be, a grade II/III winter gully!! A couple of pitches of easy angled snow
(one of which Christina soloed with a rope!) and now it all starts to get a bit
more serious. One problem is that C n me are running with a 35m rope so we end
up belaying in some rather uncomfortable, calf-burning spots – e.g. part way up
to the first pitch that had any real ice – I get to place ice screws! Another
fantastic pitch with some proper ice led to a belay stance where Steve had
kindly left a couple of warthog anchors for me to clip (more gear I had not used
before!). By this time the calves are really stinging, but instead of swapping
the belay with Christina and leading the final frozen turf pitch, I ask
Christina to lead on through (well, solo really as she didn’t have sufficient
gear to protect it!). Judging by the glowering looks and the sotto voce
grumbling, she also was feeling somewhat fatigued! All’s well that ends well
however, she made it successfully to the top and utilised another of Steve’s
belay stances consisting of 1 deadman, a snow seat and a sling connected to an
ice axe buried in snow, to belay me to the finish. Fantastic!

Crikey! Quarter to four. How did it get that late!?! As the other chaps had been
standing around in the wind and the cloud for a while, we only had time to throw
a sandwich and some warm soup down our throats before packing up and walking
off. Time didn’t allow for a summit of Dollywagon Pike either – but the view
would have been non-existent thanks to low cloud! The walk off was a 2 hour
trudge, but now I know I can do a full day in the new boots, so …..”Bring It
On!”

Christina and I had a romantic bowl of pasta Bolognese followed by white
chocolate covered raspberries in the bunkhouse (it was Valentine’s day
remember!). Steve, Martin & Joe went to the pub to eat.

Pete & Lou had a good walk up on the snowy/icy tops with most of the day spent
wearing crampons by all accounts. They ate in the tent, then joined us in The
Brotherswater Inn. Plenty of talking done in the pub that evening, but not much
planning for Sunday!

Sunday dawned much milder than Saturday and the snowline was visibly higher. The
previous day’s activities had taken their toll on us all (with the exception of
Joe I think!). This, coupled with the fact that C & I needed to be back in Eye
to collect Mont by 8pm, meant a short walk in 3 season boots. We opted for a
wander up to Place Fell (above Patterdale) which turned out just right as the
cloud lifted as we neared the summit and we were back at the car by 1.30pm.

P & L had a pleasant walk up to Hayswater and beyond before departing for home.

All in all a great weekend with obvious highlights for yours truly.

One of two accounts of the IMC New Year trip

We drove to N Wales on Wednesday at 6 am and arrived about 12 pm, pitched the tent at a pub called the Snowdon Inn (about 1 mile from Jesse James bunkhouse).  We were the only campers in the field but I think there were some other people in vans on the road – sort of alternative types who probably live in the vans all year round and were visiting the pub for New Year.  We headed up to Pen-y-Pas at 3pm and decided to start up the Miners Track to see if we could bump into Sheila, Martin Stevens and Mike Bayley who were doing the Snowdon Horseshoe.  Steve C had texted us saying what they were upto.  We met up with them at about 5 pm back at Pen-y-Pas .  Quick chat and then back to the campsite to eat and organise Mont before heading to the bunkhouse for New Year socialising.  I was des driver so half a glass of mulled wine was my lot.  Poor Mont had to stay in the car as “No dogs” policy at JJ.  Stayed up until 1 am then headed back to a very frozen, very ‘iced up on the inside’ Vaude!!  Brrrhhh.

Difficult to get out of down sleeping bag on Thursday morning – more bbbrrrhhhh…..  Took off multiple layers of clothing and changed into scrambling gear.  No facilities at campsite as all frozen solid so texted Steve that we were on our way to the bunkhouse.  Passed Martin and Mike’s cars enroute so screeched to a halt and had hurried conflabs by the side of the road – we took too long to get going and they were coming to the campsite to find us.  Anyway eventually headed off to Snowdon Ranger in 3 cars.  We had decided to do Sentries Ridge on Mynydd Mawr to the West of Snowdon – it’s a *** Grade 3 scramble but we’re still not sure whether we did it or not as a) the route description didn’t match and b) it was about VDiff!

Poor Ian had the Mont and took the easy way up – we joined him about 2 ½ hrs later!  We were in 2 groups of 3: Sheila, Martin Stevens andMike B; Martin H, me and Steve C.  Pretty hard scrambling, especially in mountaineering boots and with a big rucksack.  However, the weather was superb so lots of brilliant photos.  Lovely views at the top over lunch.  Then we headed back down in daylight and off to Pete’s Eats for tea and apple pie for Martin H, which took about 45 mins to come – they cocked up the numbering system and we had to ask them 4 times before he finally got it – think maybe Pete was on holiday and had the hired help in!!  Ian and I picked up a new wall climbing rope – 30 m – for £40 at V12.  Bargain!

Due to our frozen facilities, evenings in JJ were de-rigueur with alternating des’s.  Water containers were filled and kept in the car overnight with gas bottles to insulate them from the elements!

On Friday Steve C and Martin did the Idwal stream (II/IIIish water ice) and walked off via Glyder Fawr (or is it Fach) and Gribin – and Steve fell out with his plastics again.  Ian and I drove to the Watkins path parking area and walked up Yr Aran – about 747 m.

Quite an easy day as I was sporting a blister on my heel.  Back wearing walking boots, I was fine.  Monty enjoyed the walk and it was fairly gentle after the previous days’ exertions.  The weather was still clear and bright but very cold as the wind had got up a bit. We have a great photo of horizontal Labrador ears, totally wind powered :o)  As it was an early finish for us, we decided to go for tea at the Pen-y-Gwryd pub (you know the one at the bottom of the hill as you turn right up to Pen-y-Pas from Capel?  Its all been done up inside but pretty cosy and they still have the old Everest photos and gear on display.

Mike B, Martin S and Sheila did Crib Lem (aka Llech Ddu Spur) a *** Grade 1 scramble starting from the Bethesda area and finishing at the summit of Carnedd Dafydd, ticking Carnedd Llewellyn (and possibly other peaks) whilst up on the top.

Then on Sat am Mike B left (slight sore throat in evidence courtesy of Mr Hore) and the rest of us went to Y Garn – the Jesse’s team did the East ridge (Grade 2 – excellent) whilst we walked up with Mont. We then all walked along the ridge to Mynydd Perfedd. Sheila, Martin S and Steve C then split off to walk back to Jesse’s whilst Ian, Martin and myself went back to the cars, finding a great little traversing path not marked on the map.

Looking West from Y Garn

On Sunday everyone was up early for a quick departure via the fleshpots of Betws – back by 4ish.  Second bargain of the trip, we got some cheap runners at Rock Bottom Cotswold to go with the rope!