A digest of recent weeks…

I seem to have fallen in to the same trap as my FB friends. That is, not that I’ve actually starting using FB and giving away more and more personal details and preferences so that they can bombard me with marketing and sell my information to cold-callers trying to sell me stuff. I’ve simply forgotten to update the blog. And that just won’t do! Without it how on earth will I be able to remember what I’ve done over the years when my ageing brain starts to forget? Seriously though, I love being able to look back at this site to see what my friends and I were up to “this week” last year, the year before, and so on. So, here’s a quick catch-up of some of for the driest September ever…

Alpine Weather

The weather in the Alps wasn’t what we’ve come to expect this season. Although there was some amazing ice conditions on some of the north faces, we didn’t know about them while we were in Chamonix, so we ended up amusing ourselves and actually enjoying quite a relaxing and pleasant – albeit more traditional – holiday…

Troyes

On the way home we stopped in Troyes, about half-way across France from the Alps towards England. Here we found the beautiful Foret d’Orient where we stopped the night and enjoyed a wonderful BBQ at sunset…

MIA Preparation

Back in the UK Boris and I had a couple of great days climbing easy classic Welsh rock climbs. Re-familirising myself with these routes is all part of my preparation for MIA assessment next year. It can only help right? Well I hope so!

Then back home proper in the Lakes I’ve spent several days out helping people learn to climb, including leading their first routes, and on harder scrambles. Here are a couple of images on Middlefell Buttress and Pinnacle Ridge…

Shelter Crag

In between the climbing tuition I have of course managed a fair few days climbing for myself. One day was on Shelter Crag in Langdale with Steve Scott. A crag I’ve only been to in winter before. However, it’s actually a fine summer rock climbing venue with a fist full of three-star E1s to go at. Panjandrum, pictured here, is billed as “well protected” in the guidebook, it isn’t! Sure, there’s good gear after the crux, but shouldn’t an E1 have good protection for the crux? Especially if failure is dangerous and serious…

Climbers’ Club Committee

And finally last the weekend, the last of September and maybe the last of the summer too looking at the forecast for October, we enjoyed a weekend in the Peak District.

Saturday saw us on the reliable Stanage Edge with a gang of fellow CC committee members and friends – a fine team of: Steve, Richard, Justin, Chris, Laetitia and I. We were at an area, Paradise Wall, I think I’ve only been to once before, when I remember climbing Millsom’s Minion. This time, thanks to my still nursing a ruptured tendon in one of my fingers, action was limited to the HVS grade including an ascent of the scary and runout Billard Buttress.

On Sunday Steve and I went to Ravensdale for some limestone action. I thought Ravensdale’s routes were tough! Sorry no pictures, but the pick of the bunch was Conclusor (HVS), done as one long (44m) single pitch (not two as described) it was a fine way to work on stamina and enjoy my favoured style of climbing, i.e. long pitches.