First fell-run of the year...

a glorious day yesterday so eschewed the chance to go to the Keswick wall and decided to run the High Pike circuit...

The initial ascent up High Pike felt slow, however it was only a little over 25mins which is about my par time. The rest of the run was not so good though; with a lot of ice and bone-hard ground to jar the knees. My right knee definetly was not happy and the final descent was mostly hobbled which is not good....however the knee does feel better this morning which is good...looks like a lot more work on the knee is needed though.

The weather was glorious - no photo's for obvious reasons however will post some of the circuit under different condidions later on.

Sharp Edge gully I/II - change of plans

Bit of a change of plan due to various circs and so Luke and I ambled up to Scales Tarn to see if we could use Luke's VERY shiny new kit! The gully to the left of Sharp Edge (which the guidebook advises is Sharp Edge Gully) looked in good nick and, as the edge was bare, I thought we could walk around to see what condition it was in with maybe a view to an ascent tomorrow....

One person was already most of the way up the gully and another man was putting his crampons on and about to leave..although he had two axes whilst we only had one each. Luke decided that we should have a look and so we started the ascent, as seen in the picture below.

The conditions varied quite a lot on the climb. The top section, which felt pretty steep (especially bearing in mind that we were soloing!) had pretty decent neve whilst some of the mid section around a small ice bulge was pretty manky. This entailed us taking a detour rightwards and a grassy scramble that was the crux of the route - especially for Luke as it was his first ever winter day out of any sort!!!

Anyway, all was good - another excellent day on Blencathra although the weather was a little different...

Preparing for a big walk

Tis Luke's first time out in winter conditions tomorrow....not sure what he will make of Striding Edge as it will depend on how much snow is present...however it should be FUN!

Running and intervals...

Had to be done at the gym as there is still a lot of melting ice on the pavements.....didn't feel as hard as I expected although with less than 2 months to having to do a half marathon that is probably a good thing..

Weather has got a fair bit better today as the day has gone on...hope to get up Plaice Fell tomorrow...

No more of this for the moment....

As an almighty thaw has started...driving into Penrith just now the river Eden at Temple Sowerby was pretty full.....great shame really.

Need to keep an eye on conditions in Scotland as was hoping to head up north next weekend for some winter mountaineering...

On a slight plus point - got back on the bike yesterday for the first time since I came back from Morocco - even if it was a spinning class!!

The thaw...

it has been worryingly warm here for the last two days - above zero!! Given the temperatures of the last week that is almost beach weather for Cumbria.

More of a concern is that I am hoping to head to Scotland next weekend (the 23rd/24th) for a weekend of walking/skiing/mountaineering dependent on conditions...not sure how the thaw will affect plans..

Back on the ski's...

for the first time in a couple of years. The only skiing I have actually done is indoors (on real snow) in Castleford, so, after having got the ski's adjusted in Keswick I decided to head along to Acorn Banks for a couple of hours. Despite the bindings being a little 'iffy' (given I am using plastic mountaineering boots NOT ski mountaineering boots) it was actually a LOT of fun, not to mention hard work.

I was able to ski along the road the snow was in such good condition - although we have had a thaw all day today :-( and then play around at Acorn Banks, which has a slight hill. Now I can't really claim that it is like skiing at Kitzbuhl however it was a lot of fun and it was good to try and get the technique back...

I REALLY could do with some more very bad weather and school being closed so I can go out and practice - not to mention heading to the shop in Carlisle which seems to have ski mountaineering boots in its sale!!

Today was a couple of hours in the same area with Gill; this time on snow shoes - another decent workout!!

The big freeze continues..

This was actually taken on boxing day..its from the slopes of Bowscale Fell looking towards High Pike; our first walk of the winter and a reminder of how hard winter walking can be.

No school today due to a 1" snow fall overnight on top of sheet ice - not surprising really. Regrettably my gear is in the wash at Gill's after sunday's walk so will go to the gym today and then off to Gill's to do some washing and start work on the Maths revision I am helping the year 11's with this term..

Sharp Edge - what a beautiful day...

This was the view from the summit of Blencathra yesterday; in what was one of the best days I have had on the hill for a long time. The original plan was to attempt a winter ascent of Cross Fell which would have been a good point for winter training. However, this was not possible due to the road situation; negotiating the turn from Culgaith towards Skirwith saw me sliding sideways at 10mph.

Given this, I decided to attempt Blencathra due to its proximity to the road (the A66). It was clearly the only option for the majority of people as the car-parks where pretty near full. I elected to attempt Sharp Edge and set off up through Mousethwaite Comb. As can be seen from the photo, the day was looking decent...

Conditions were nearly perfect, the freezing cold meant the snow was well consolidated which meant easy walking for me. Some people ahead were intent on ski-touring whilst quite a few where headed to Sharp Edge. Upon breasting the top of the Comb I headed off on the traverse path towards Scales Tarn and Sharp Edge. I was quite lucky not to have to break trail as the broken trail made my life easier and I was able to set a decent pace. Having slightly over-indulged over the xmas period I am looking to get fit quickly with the Tibet trip and the 50mile run to do in July..

The Edge was easier than I have ever seen it (this was my fourth winter ascent; three of which were solo's), mild grade 1 at most. Conditions were so good that I was able to climb the slab headwall which is the summer finish - as opposed to the exit gully on the right that is customary in winter - and the view from the summit was amazing....check out http://www.vimeo.com/8534905 for a video of the summit.

Descent down Hawes Fell Ridge contained a couple of sections that were almost as tough as the Edge itself, whilst the rocky 20ft that is on the traverse was as icy as I have ever seen it....

More photo's can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair/BlencathraViaSharpEdge#