6°C, some light rain,
Second climbing wall session with Carl. Consolidated last week’s techniques. We need to climb above 4+ for the In Pinn. We did climbs with overhang, with ledges and corners.
The best we did was 6b, the 6a defeated us both.
If my hands were stronger, I could sustain the holds while different options are tried. Or, if I had more skill, I wouldn’t need stronger hands.
Either way, we didn’t beat the 6a
6°C, light N, grey with light rain.
It’s been 20 years since I did any rock climbing. Back then, I lived in Bristol and climbed in the Gorge. I swapped to cycling when it became apparent that it wouldn’t work in the winter. Also, solo climbing is not really a prospect either.
Carl, a few others and I will attempt the Inaccessible Pinnacle in June. We went to the climbing centre to get some skills.
The In Pin is a easily low grade climb, it’s just the exposure that intimidates some. Oh, and the weather.
First climbing wall session. Carl and I drove over to Wolverhampton for this booked induction session. Wolf Mountain is built in a converted old swimming pool. There are several rooms including a children’s space where we were taught how to belay. Once we’d ‘fallen’ off the wall the guy was happy to give us a pass.
Then we were free to climb and practise.
I wanted to be more fluent tieing the figure eight not, and Carl wanted his flat with no twist.
We’re soon to book a guide for the In Pinn. The following day, we do the Three-Peaks with Chris. Carl and I have done it before, but we’re happy to go along with Chris for a bit of mutual.
0 to –8°C. April northerly. Mostly clear sky.
Full mountain day, after packing up camp, I heard the car rumble by, my colleagues had arrived. We convened a meeting around an outside table to decide which route.
Choices ranged from 7 to 12 miles. The big one got the go-ahead. Initially, there is a climb out of the valley along well maintained paths. Meltwater ran down and exposed ice on top of slate. Slate can be slippery at the best of times, but with ice!?
Before the first kilometer, it was apparent that we’d headed up the wrong valley. We wanted north and faced West. Oops.
I proposed that we take a quad bike track over the spur and intercept the path. Good.
Route mended, white summits poked above the grassy ridge.
From this point, the walk became fantastic. Fantastic in the sense that we strode out into a wonderland of snow and ice sculptures. Crunchy snow like this offers good grip and filled over those hollows between tussocks.
The higher we got, the more fantastic the scene became. Wind was the sculptor here, and it had been very creative. Grid wire fences had long crystal growths of water ice, razor sharp and pointing downwind. Either the ice grew quickly, or the north wind had remained this way for days.
Worrying about time, we decided to skip Cadair Bronwyn and descent from the Bwlch before.
Ice waffles.
The walk out was a considerable distance along sheep filled valleys.
Getting dark, we made camp at about 6pm. I was tired, partially my own fault. I didn’t eat enough. My boots repeatedly unlaced, the laces had iced up and slid loose.
-3°C to -6°C (at summits). Brisk NE, mostly sunny.
February mountain day! There’s a first.
The morning after.
Arrived yesterday about 6pm as it got dark. The camp owner fixed of us with some firewood and directions. I drove down the pastel track to the field but got the car stuck in the bottom corner. The mud was fees and gummy. The priority was to sit.I the tent and make food. The car can stay where it is for the night.
But there was an odd noise in the field.
For the first time I used firestarters with no kindling. Surprised, it worked quite easily. Sitting to fact your supper under a cold clear sky is, under these circumstances, a pure pleasure. It was so clear that even under a bright first quarter, the stars and clusters were in sharp contrast. Not far from the moon were the Pleiades.
There’s also little white lights of a another kind- horses. They hung their heads over the gate to greet. Some horses are agreeably good looking like the one in Poldark. Here were not those horses. The Shetland pony was especially ugly, a real bag of spanners.
After fixing the fire, next was time to cook. This is also the time snow started to fall. There’s another first- prepare a meal in snowfall. The tricky bit, apart from handling the pans with cold hands was visibility. Each flake was bright in the headtorch beam. In the contrast, more distant objects were harder to make out.
Eventually, fed and watered, I sat by the fire reading and occasionally looking up at the stars that appeared from time to time.
By bedtime, the whole sky had cleared and temperatures fell hard and fast.
Maybe next week: Cadair Berwyn just beyond the Welsh border.
It’s approximately 800m high on a ridge with soft heathery slopes on the west and cliffs, opposite,
With luck, the weather will be terrible. Mist would be great, or blazing sunshine, either really. The sun brings colour, the mist brings interesting navigation.
I want to camp there for at least one night. I have never camped in February before.
Continue reading
1°C, sunny, quite nice really.
Sent home. So unwell despite driving in to work. My tutor group is upstairs and the two flights emptied my energy. Nearly at the right room, I saw their previous Form Tutor and had to ask her to register them.
One of the managers could see the state I was in and ordered me home.
Home. Sleep.
Soup for lunch and noticed birds interested in the feeders I put out on Saturday. Four Coal Tits, 2 Blue Tits and a pair of blackbirds.
Spring is coming. Feeling grotty again after the avian excitement, Plas-y-Brenin rang. About the query yesterday, this guy was more upbeat about my question: “How do I know whether I am ready for assessment?”.
Optimism shot up after his opinion. I’m going for the easter date. It only gives a week before the Silver and Gold training.
There, I have a plan:
Practise more micro-navigation,
Read up on legislation,
Practise timing against our route cards.
There are two more stages:
1 camp skills Module,
2 Mountain Leader Qualification.
3 feel a warm satisfied glow.
14°C, strong SW but dry with clear summits.
Two mile walk around this familiar lake. We found a dry and surprisingly green landscape.
The lip of this corrie whipped up the wind that funneled up the Nant Ffrancen. Though grey, clouds were easily clear of the summits. I could only imagine what conditions were like on the tops. You could probably double the windspeed up there. Apart from that, it’s a good day for walkers. Rocks are dry and low level temperatures above 12°C; no ice on the ridge.
8°C, clear sky with building light cloud. The usual SW breeze,
I hiked with MapMyRide+! Distance: 4.64mi, time: 01:14:11, pace: 15:59min/mi, speed: 3.75mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1284668245
Thick, slippery mud was impossible to escape.
Both Ford crossings were impassible too, the water was just too deep. Since I’m ultra smart, I prepared an alternative route that crossed footbridges instead.
Night walk selfie
I rode Fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 42.2mi, time: 02:35:11, pace: 3:41min/mi, speed: 16.3mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1137096633
Back down, and looking back to one of the most adventurous summers I can recall.
Before cleaning, they are showing signs of wear.
Mountains, in Wales, Corsica and Scotland. Slept in a bivvy bag, a bothy. Burnt 71,000 calories and lost 7lbs (which needed to go).
Today, my body weight is 14St. 5lbs, a drop of 7lbs.
Incidentally, how many calories is each pound of body fat worth?
New mountains are added to my must-climb list:
Beinn Bhan, 896m,
An Rhuadh Stac, 892m,
Benn Arthur, ‘The Cobbler’. 884m.
All Corbetts, often the most interesting mountains.
I am nearly ready for the Hill and Moorland Leader assessment. Currently logged 50 QMDs.
14°C, falling breeze, run but rain pm hill fog too.
A very boggy approach, especially near the start, by the dam. Gairich has quite a long, gentle lead-in with steep schist rocks near the top. It took me about 5.5 hours round trip, including distractions. Scotch mist disorientated me for a short while, just at the track became indistinct.
Worse was later, without checking, I headed off on the wrong direction. A simple compass check would have prevented a 150m diversion. Embarrassing.
I was not alone on this climb, a German couple, who were not well equipped and turned back before the first steep section. They were probably dispirited by the bog anyway.
Another couple of retired teachers who probably have done all the munros but never kept a list. Some they have climbed 20 times or more. They recommended the Severn Sisters Of Kintail. Severn munros in one day!
I was delayed by that mist and the false turn, but a red car was finally visible next to mine in the dam car park. I thought a flash of headlights was visible, so I waved okay. That was kind of them to wait and check.
Micycle 