Escaped to the East.

Today I was working with Pete and Al who wanted to have a look at improving their ropework, multi pitch belays and using half ropes. With all of the rain we've had recently most of the multi pitch crags are still quite damp and the forecast was for the rain to move in slowly from the West. So we headed East to Kingussie and made best use of the crags there breaking some of the longer single pitch routes into two pitches. We only had a couple of little showers through the day but nothing that stopped play. It started rain though at about 4.30 just as we were topping out on our last climb. A good day out.

I haven't seen that before.

So I've had a week off and had some family up to visit but back to work today on the Ben. I met the Maximum Adventure group at 8am this morning and they were fired up for their 3 Peaks Challenge. We made good progress and were at the summit in 3 hours and started to make our way down. On the way down we passed the usual crowds and people dressed in all sorts of strange ways. Just when you think you've probably seen everything you possibly can on this path something strange appears in front of you. Firstly there was a group carrying a gas boiler up the mountain, I didn't have time to ask. Then just as we were getting over that sight we turned a corner to see this man.

I know it's been a wet summer but i don't think he'll need that. In fact he was carrying the boat to the top to raise awareness for cancer research. I hope he manages it. In fact he's probably still doing it as I write this.

Anyway it was a dry day today with only one little shower that hit us on the mountain. Got a climbing course to run tomorrow so hopefully it stays that way. 

Getting psyched for winter.

It doesn't matter I many times I watch this video, it's brilliant every time and it just gets me excited for the first winter route. If you've seen it before you'll know what I mean. If you haven't, enjoy!

It's a Saturday, must mean a trip up the Ben then.

So after another week at Outward Bound I was out on the Ben again today. It's been a regular thing this year with some long and short days. Today I was working with a group of 8 from Maximum Adventure. We started off from the Youth hostel at 8.45am and were back down by 5pm. Everyone did well and the weather was thankfully better than forecast.

Wet and wild.

After an interesting week working at Outward Bound with an expedition on Tuesday in the pouring rain and howling wind, I was working on the Ben yesterday in similar conditions. I was working for Charity Trek with 42 participants all looking to complete the challenge and raise money for their different charities. Everyone did well in some challenging weather.

The long term forecast for the next couple of weeks doesn't show there to be much of an improvement. On the plus side, long term forecasts are looking good for the winter so why not get ready now and get in touch to discuss your needs for this winter.

Day on the Ben.

Yesterday I was working on the Ben for West Coast Mountain Guides with a group from Wild Green Travel. It was a busy day with the usual 3 peaks challengers and the Ben Race with nearly 500 competitors running up and down. The weather was very Autumnal with persistent rain and feeling very cold on the summit but the team did well.

Alps trip.

The veiw from the top of the Coolidge couloir, just below the summit.

Descending down the Violettes Glacier.

So summer in Scotland this year hasn't been horrific but not the best either so Ken and I have been looking foreword to this trip for a while. We both finished work on the Monday evening and finished packing and jumped into the van for the long drive to Ailefroide. We arrived late on the Tuesday night and got a fresh start on the Wednesday. I could talk you through the whole trip but I would be here forever and I'm not sure most of you would bother reading on.

The approach to the Glacier Blanc hut.

Mont Pelvoux from the Glacier Blanc hut.

So we spent about a week and a half based in Ailefroide and did a number of great rock routes in the valley and also managed a trav. of Mont Pelvoux which for PD takes you through some impressive scenery although the descent is knee breaking back to the valley. We also did a rock route on Pic de Glacier Blanc called Le Communard which was fantastic if a little bit tedious through the easy ground in the middle of the route, spending most of your time looking for the next bolt rather than climbing.

Ken on top of the Pic du Glacier Blanc with the Barre des Ecrin in the background.

After Ailefroide we had planned to go round to La Berarde but with the power of technology we found out that people had been doing some routes on the North face of La Meije. So we headed round to La Grave and caught the Telepherique up and approached via the a very interesting Facile. The bivi was in a fantastic place with awesome views of the face. During the evening and night the sound of Serac and rock fall was all around us but we kept our fingers crossed for colder temps over night. At 4am we left the bivi and all was quiet but it soon became obvious that things hadn't cooled down enough. Unfortunately after Ken fell through a thankfully very small snow bridge we called it a day as we still had far more complex ground to cross so we headed back to the bivi for a cup of tea and watch the sun rise.

The veiw from the bivi at the foot of La Meije.

We carried on round to La Berarde and bagged a route in in the valley and then headed up to the Soreiller hut to tackle the Voie Madier on the Aiguille Dibona. This is a fantastic route and my favourite of the trip, 400m of clean Granite and it turned out to be bolted for most of the way. After that we headed down to Bourg d'oisans and bagged another route the next day. Unfortunately the weather was set to change so we decided to head home early and break the drive home up.

Our first veiw of the Aiguille Dibona.

Abseil no2 I think, on the Cascade de Villard.

All in all a good trip with some fantastic climbing in a beautful part of the Alps but it is good to be back.