A midnight bimble up Skiddaw!

The birthday party heading up!

Light pollution over Keswick

Lake District Round Up

Climbing on Green Gable in Dec 2010

Another stunning day to be out in the hills with plenty of new snow being blown about on strong westerlies. The National Park Fell Top assessor reported thigh deep drifts just getting to Swirral Edge and yet again failed to make the summit! Over on High Street there was significantly less snow but getting anywhere still involved plenty of post holing.

There's been a number of teams out today with the high central venues providing the best entertainment. Climbs have included almost every route on Brown Cove Crags, Rape & Pillage V and Blade Runner IV on Helvellyn, Pendulum Ridge III on Scrubby Crag, Left Hand Route IV 5 on North Buttress / Cambridge Crag and Gully of the Plods II on Green Gable.

The general consensus is that much of the turf which is buried is still unfrozen but where it is exposed to the elements then it's in good condition and with careful route choice it's possible to minimise any damage to the fragile alpine ecosystem. There's limited ice for climbing with Blea Water Gill still flowing but there's plenty on the paths above 700m.

For the weekend it looks like we have bright but cold conditions with a few snow showers. The strong northerly wind will keep the temperature down even more but all the unconsolidated snow will increase the avalanche risk on southerly through to easterly aspects and in sheltered bowels and gully exits. There's been a number of big avalanches already in the past 10 days and climbers have been reporting plenty of spooky snow around. The gullies are going to need a good freeze thaw cycle to come into condition but many west and north facing buttress should be in excellent nick. Careful route choice will be needed and don't forget the approach, exit and descent.

Lake District thaw...

Roxy exploring a large soggy snow drift

The freezing level was well above the summits last night and we awoke to a major thaw. With no realistic options for ski touring or winter climbing the best idea was a wee fell run followed by coffee and Christmas shopping! We headed up onto the Grisedale Pike - Eel Crag - Barrow horseshoe to stretch our legs. There were some deep drifts of wet snow in the lee of the ridge but everything else had defrosted. Looking across to the west face of Raise there was very little snow cover where we had skied yesterday although the Raise web cam shows plenty of snow drifted in by the lift.

The descent from Eel Crag

A very bare looking Blencathra from the A66

Lakes Ski Touring

After a good freeze last night, we opted to check out the touring conditions on the Helvellyn range. We were able to ski from the sheep fold at 480m on the Sticks Pass path from St John's In The Vale despite most west facing slopes having been scoured by the wind. Some careful route choice and we were soon up and over the col to the ski tow on the side of Raise where a band of volunteers were hard at work digging out the tow and generator shed from some deep drifts in the lee of the ridge. We traversed Raise before very lean conditions on Whiteside forced us to retrace our steps and skin up onto Stybarrow Dodd. By now the lift was running and around 20-30 skiers were enjoying some good snow. Our descent back towards Thirlmere had just enough snow to allow us to descend all the way back to the sheep fold. There were plenty of folk out today including a couple of other groups touring on skis plus plenty of fell runners recce-ing the route for next weekends Tour de Helvellyn, a 38 mile ultra.

Further north the high winds of the last few days have caused plenty of problems and now reports are coming in that the CIC Hut on Ben Nevis has lost its roof.

A blast along Sharp Edge

Blencathra's Sharp Edge from Mountain Zac on Vimeo.

After the wind...

A wet snow avalanche at 300m on Blencathra

After a wild and woolly couple of days the winds eased today as I headed up for a quick ascent of Sharp Edge on Blencathra. Within 5 minutes of leaving the car I came across the remains of a reasonably large wet snow avalanche (300m, easterly aspect) which had come down during the thaw yesterday. At the foot of the ridge any turf that was exposed was frozen but everything else vegetated has been insulated by the snow leaving it very prone to damage. The National Park are requesting that climbers don't climb the traditional gully lines until they are properly frozen meaning that it doesn't look like Helvellyn and Great End will be in condition for the weekend. However the rocky Sharp Edge offered good sport today. There was some ice and plenty of verglass meaning that crampons were essential. After topping out I descended by Halls Fell Ridge.

Another view of the avalanche debris which crossed the path

Plenty of grapnel being blow around in the strong westerly.

A partially frozen Scales Tarn

Busy on Halls Fell Ridge!

Lake District & Scotland Round up...

Ski touring in the Cairngorms in similar snow conditions

There's been a few folk out and about in the Lakes having a look at the conditions. The National Park Fell Top Assessors are reporting plenty of soft snow above 300m on lee slopes. They also highlight the fact that very little of the underlying vegetation is frozen which means that there are very few options for winter climbing. Paddy Cave climbed Bowfell Butress V 5 yesterday, a predominately rock route which just needs a covering of snow to come in to condition while Woody was out looking for frozen turf on Wetherlam's Hen Crag Buttress. A better option today was ski touring with Paddy reporting good conditions on Raise. However there was also evidence of a couple of full depth avalanches.

Meanwhile up in a snowy Scotland there was plenty of action in the Cairngorms - Nom de Plume VI 7, Guillotine V 6 and Scorpion V 5 on Carn Etchachan all saw ascents and a team were seen tunneling their way up Deep Cut Chimney' IV,5 on Hells Lum. In 'Sneachda a team from Glenmore Lodge enjoyed Pot of Gold V 6.

Yesterdays successful Northern Corries action included Droidless VI 6, Pot of Gold V 6, The Message IV 6, Hidden Chimney Direct IV 5 and Stirling Bomber V 7 and over the back Sticil Face V 6 on the Shelterstone was also climbed.

Over on the west coast the big news was the second ascent of Defenders of the Faith IX 9, onsighted by Greg Boswell and Will Sim on the overhanging Creag an Socach.

A sunny Bowfell Buttress

Today I've been working for Adventure Peaks.

Lakeland Classic Rock Routes

Traversing below the pinnacle on a very wet Troutdale Pinnacle (S)

Fancying a challenge acrobats Jane and Lisa headed north to enjoy an 'Indian summer' in the Lakes attempting to climb the 15 Classic Rock routes from Ken Wilson's stunning coffee table book. An ambitious itinerary involved some 45 miles of hill walking and plenty of four star climbing over 3 long days. Sunday morning saw us at Shepherds Crag in Borrowdale climbing the classic Little Chamonix (VD) as the sun burnt the mist off Derwent Water. Our next route Troutdale Pinnacle (S) at Black Crag was rather wet with a waterfall running down the crux pitch which slowed us significantly but perfect timing saw us back at the bags as the rain arrived. The forecast for the beginning of the week was pretty bad but spirits were still high as we set up for the trek up to Gillercombe Buttress (S). The rain soon cleared and we enjoyed plenty of sunshine as far as the base of the route. Greasy rock again slowed us and darkness and torrential arrived together two pitches from the top. We made a quick decision to bail and one long and wet 60m abseil took us down into the gully and an easy scramble down to the bags. A sheltered campsite was quickly found on the valley floor and we settled in for the night.

The next morning gave blue skies and light winds. We opted to miss out the routes on Pillar and traversed over Green Gable aiming for Napes Needle (HS), Needle Ridge (VD) and Tophet Wall (S). However by the time we reached Sty Head Tarn an unrelenting wind was driving heavy rain down the valley and we ended up retreating to Langdale for hot chocolates in front of the fire in the Old Dungeon Ghyll.

The forecast for the Tuesday was far better so we headed back round to the quick drying Shepherds Crag to get some climbing done. We made quick work of Donkey's Ears (), Eve (VS), Kransic Crack Direct (HVS), ?? () and The Grasp (E1) before retreating to the cafe. Bacon sarnies and hot chocolate arrived just before the only shower of the day signifying the end of a very adventurous 3 days.

Enjoying the exposure from Troutdale Pinnacle (S)

The unique Donkey's Ears on Shepherds Crag

Entertaining the locals at Shepherds Cafe!

Terrex C2C Adventure Race

This bank holiday weekend is the Terrex C2C Adventure Race . My preparation hasn't been ideal with a full week at Outward Bound Ullswater but it's shaping up to be a great race if a wee bit wet and windy!

Each team carries a tracker and their progress can be followed here http://www.adidas-ar.com/2011/tracking/tracks.php. I'm racing as Solo 19.

Day 1 (Friday, 10am start)

• Sea kayak from Whitehaven to St Bees
• Cycle to Loweswater
• Kayak Crummock Water & Buttermere
• Fell run along Robinson & Cat Bells
  
• Swim across Derwent Water

Day 2 (Saturday)

• Cycle to Thirlmere
• Kayak the length of Thirlmere
• Fell run over Helvellyn via Swirral Edge to Patterdale
  
• Kayak the length of Ullswater
• Cycle to Kirkby Stephen
  

Day 3 (Sunday)

• Fell run over Nine Standards Rigg
• Mountain bike through Swaledale
• Cycle through the Vale of York to Northallerton
  

Day 4 (Monday)

• Continue to cycle through the Vale of York
• Fell run over Carlton Bank
• Mountain bike over the North York Moors
• Cycle through the Esk Valley to Robin Hood's Bay
  

A few other links which will have updates and photos are below;

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/openadventure.
Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/openadventure.
James Cracknell Blog http://www.jamescracknell.com/home

Big thanks to everyone who's got me to the start line - Sarah, Ian, Anna, Carrie, Tim, Craig, Carl & Jo

Bob Graham jaunt!

Bob Graham reccee in the ming!

Selside Pike

Ruined cottages on the Corpse Road above Haweswater

Survey cairn on Selside Pike

A pool of frozen Sphagnam Moss

L is for ???. Answers on a postcard please...

The Highstreet ridge at sunset

Langdale Recce

Scafell Pike & Scafell from Bowfell's Three Tarns

On an absolutely stunning day of blue skies and light winds we drove up to the ODG to recce some of the route for the Langdale fell race which takes place this Saturday. Temperatures were perfect for running and we made good time up to Stickle Tarn and on to Thunacar Knott. The descent to Stake Pass is extremely boggy after the recent rain with one pool nearly waist deep! We cut the corner at Esk Hause and were soon on the summit of Bowfell which offered some stunning views. We opted to descend back to the valley floor via the Band to save the legs and to enable some rehydration in the Stickle Barn.

More Advanced Navigation

Using slope aspect to relocate in poor visibility.

Today was the second of a two day Advanced Navigation course for Mountainsplus. With plenty of low cloud around we opted to drive up to the Three Shire Stone and use the area around Cold Pike to challenge and develop various navigational strategies. The morning was spent looking at using time to measure distance and compare the merits of Naismith and Cliff! We also developed a default strategy to guarantee the navigation was accurate as possible for a worst case scenario.
After a quick bite to eat we played with searching for your target in poor visibility and worked through how to relocate when you are temporarily misplaced (lost!). The rest of the day was spent looking at the various navigational strategies that we could use on some pretty tricky legs.
We had a few brief showers but the winds were very light and there was even a few bursts of sunshine towards the end of the day. Overall a very successful course and everyone has gone away with plenty of tools to practice and experiment with.

Low lying cloud around the Langdale Pikes

Napes Needle

Stood on the top of Napes Needle!

Sue on the final tricky moves on to the top block.

Jude enjoying being lowered off the Needle.

The Wasdale Valley from the top of Napes Needle

Sue topping out on Great Gable

Morning light on Buttermere

Scafell Pike Scramble

Pinnacle Ridge

Jude on the crux corner of Pinnacle Ridge.

Today Jude and I headed over to Patterdale for an ascent of the classic Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag. This route has become very popular since appearing on the front of a guidebook and has settled down as a hard grade 2. We took the entertaining direct line up the ridge which was dry apart from the crux corner. The only problem with this route is that all too soon it's over so after lunch at the top we headed up on to Fairfield and Hart Crag. From here we descended to have a look at one of the the top bivi spots in the Lakes, the Priest Hole on Dove Crag. The wall has been built up making it more weatherproof in an easterly wind but unfortunately there was plenty of rubbish. We traversed over to the Hartsop ridge for the final leg back to Patterdale.

Thanks to Liam & Tony who were ahead of us on the ridge and took
this great photo of us crossing one of the pinnacles.

Herdy watching the world go by!

The Priest Hole on Dove Crag

The view from inside the Priest Hole