Sterling Adventures

A very cold dip in Windermere

Laetitia — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:48:57 +0000

As last summer was so wet, I thought this summer, which is bound to be just as wet, I would take advantage of the many lakes on my doorstep and do some open water swimming. Not wanting to be on my own, I googled for local groups and found ActiveBlu, run by Emma Brunning. She [...]

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Circular of Whitbarrow Scar via Lord’s Seat

Laetitia — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:01:02 +0000

Tuesday night is Walk Night at BAE Systems. Col Sear at work organises a walk every week which is usually very well attended not only by the locals, but also the many visiting consultants who get a chance to visit the glorious Lake District. As the walks start at 6pm and I’m usually still busy [...]

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Fairfield Horseshoe and Latrigg

Ian — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:38:06 +0000

Someone from Staveley once told me that there was no point going abroad in May, as it was the best time to climb in the Lakes. Well, that was a few years ago, and climate change has since been introduced by the government.

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Barbados!

Richard — Thu, 09 May 2013 22:58:58 +0000

A conference in Barbados. What better way to start spring?

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Slape Crags, Carrock Fell

Pete — Tue, 07 May 2013 07:47:54 +0000

As Ian’s post shows, Monday’s weather dawned very disappointingly! The wall-to-wall sunshine promised by the weather forecasters just wasn’t to be seen. We procrastinated for a couple of hours knowing that early starts are unwise for rock climbing at this time of year, thus allowing the rock to warm up. Then as it started to [...]

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Fairfield Horseshoe Recce

Ian — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:01:45 +0000

With the Fairfield Horseshoe Race next Saturday, Anna and I decided that it would be a good day to recce the route.

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St Sunday Crag, Pinnacle Ridge

Pete — Sun, 05 May 2013 10:11:39 +0000

The bank-holiday weekend started off wet, and it had rained a fair bit on Friday, so we knew most crags would still be wet. Consequently after a short debate (unusually short for us, it normally takes ages to decide) as to what we should do and where we should go, we decided upon the classic [...]

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Coniston Fell Race

Ian — Sat, 04 May 2013 19:26:34 +0000

Being a glutton for punishment, Anna decided that today she would enter the Coniston Fell race

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Oops, nearly forgot this one!

Pete — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:41:31 +0000

Oops, I nearly forgot the fact that thanks to Richard making his regular visits to all the shops he looks after for Cordee in the Lakes, he and I grabbed a couple of routes after work on Monday evening at Raven Crag Walthwaite in Langdale… It’s always good to go climbing after work, and even [...]

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Cake is my Friend

Laetitia — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:51:23 +0000

My Mum and Dad know me very well. Who’d of thought…? They sent me the most perfect birthday card. So I made some cakes. Actually, I made 48 cakes. Mostly for work, but I kept some behind for me and Pete. Carrot cake Lemon Sponge Chocolate Kirche Ginger orange Oh yes, CAKE is my FRIEND.

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Castle Rock and Stone Circle

Laetitia — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:45:30 +0000

The sun was shining but it was still a bit cool, so we had a short day on the beautiful rock at Castle Rock of Triermain. We stayed on the South Crag, because that’s where the sun was, and started out on Kleine Rinne. A lovely route with a tricky little move left early on [...]

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Girls go Glacial – New Zealand Ice Adventure

Wright — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:12:01 +0000

Franz Josef Glacier, on the west coast of New Zealand’s south island is widely regarded as one of the most spectacular glaciers available to the public anywhere in the world. My trip up it certainly didn’t disappoint and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the south island. If you can fit it in, you [...]

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Mont Blanc failure…

Pete — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:17:36 +0000

We’d come to Chamonix with the objective of climbing Mont Blanc on ski. But, the weather hasn’t really been on our side – we’ve had big dumps of fresh snow, thick cloud on the mountains, hot temperatures, and consequent massive slushy avalanches. However, on Monday morning we got all excited when, from Chamonix, we spied [...]

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Crevasse Rescue Practice

Pete — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:53:08 +0000

Today there was no fresh snow, no clouds, no wind, and – can you believe it – blue skies! Having achieved little in the way of the ski touring we’d planned due to the weather, it was decided that a day in the Valleé Blanche would be fun – isn’t it always! Plus we thought [...]

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Skiing Rice Pudding at Les Houches

Pete — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 18:04:00 +0000

Today Laetitia joined us, she’d been forced to join the team late due to work commitments (have I ever mentioned that work sucks?). This meant we didn’t get out until 12 noon. We waited for the free ski bus and grabbed the first one, regardless of destination, to maximise our time skiing. The first bus [...]

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April Powder!

Pete — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:28:19 +0000

A fresh dump of deep powder at this time of year is welcome for resort skiing, but not so welcome for ski touring! Even on the days when the clouds have lifted all of the off-piste areas are looking heavily loaded with wind slab. So it’s just too scary (and foolhardy) to contemplate skit touring [...]

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