Driving home for New Year....

to misquote Chris Rea.....this is being written on the M74 (not whilst driving I should stress), as Claire and I are on the way back from Scotland. We called in at Aviemore on the way back and the amount of snow not around was remarkable...I was hoping to do an hour or so of cross-country skiing but that was not possible.

The thaw continues apace and has wiped all the snow of the lower slopes of Fionn Bheinn as we drove past this morning; only 5 days after we struggled up it in ankle deep snow...but its forecast to get a lot colder on Sunday when Claire and I are heading out to the hills in Cumbria again....now all we need is lots of snow in Scotland before now and the end of month when we are hoping to head back to the north.

Meall A' Ghiubhais...

http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair/MeallAGhiubhais#

the photo's from this walk are up. The mountain is a lovely 878m Corbett at the back of Beinn Eighe....Claire and I did a lovely 6 1/2 hr circuit from the road near to Kinlochewe. We used a pony track to the top of the pass between our peak and Ruadh Stac Bheag before ascending the steep slopes to the summit. Views were ok, a little bit of cloud but Ben Wyvis was visible during the clear patches as was Fionn Bheinn that we had we climbed on boxing day....

Moved locations...

Claire and I are now at Cromasaig B and B, a lovely place not far from Kinlochewe at the head of Glen Torridon...

it's still thawing quite heavily in Scotland....not sure what that will do for walking conditions.

Glen Torridon photo's

http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair/CoireDubhGlenTorridon#

first time back in Glen Torridon in years....it did not disappoint..

Pix from today..

http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair/FionnBheinWithClaire

Fionn Bheinn...

so, quite a cold night for us...one of the party had cold toes and the other one has a very good sleeping bag but a naff Karrimat and so got a bit cold late in the night when condensation started to form in the tent......the thaw stopped around the early hours.

After a 7.00 alarm and breakfast in the bunkhouse, where we are staying tonight and back to camping tomorrow, we set off at around 8.30. Big plus for today was no driving - which is a good thing on several levels. I did for one second think about bringing my skis up with me - about 15 mins in I wished that I had! The snow was ankle to shin deep and the trail breaking was hard work. Those who know the Irvine Butterfield 'High Mountains of Britain and Ireland' book will know that some of his times for rounds are a little creative!! suffice to say that 3-5 hours was never going to happen today and it took 4 hours to get up!! There were a couple of parts where the snow had been blown off to make walking easier, however it was hard graft for the most part. Cresting the summit ridge was a delight as the Fannich and Fisherfield Peaks opened up in front of us - the first time I have ever seen these hills and mighty impressive they look too. Liathach and Beinn Eighe had been visible for most of the day as well....

The final ascent required us to stay back a bit from the edge as Toll Mhor was corniced in places; however thoughts of a summit cup of tea were rudely shattered by the arrival of driving spindrift.....all that remained was a 1 3/4hr descent; once again on wearisomely soft snow...Claire showing highly impressive stamina as she ran down the last hill....unlike other members of the party who plodded slowly!!

Now sat in front of the fire with a pot of tea - piggybacking the hotel's broadband...hope they don't read this!

And so it begins...

This is written sat at the table at the bunkhouse of the Ledgowan Hotel in Achnasheen in the NW Highlands of Scotland....just to prove it is actually a camping trip.

Today has been a pretty good day actually - we left at 7.30am and sailed up to Achnasheen in a leisurely 6 1/2 hrs including quite a few stops - the advantage of no traffic!! It has begun to thaw here which is less good and the forecast is for a thaw for the next few days before turning colder again on thurs, which is our last full day....nevertheless we have lots of options and we shall see.

Due to the weather and conditions reports all those who were due to be in the bunkhouse have cancelled and thus we can use the facilities (which campers are allowed to do anyway) and spread out a bit...avoiding leaving gear in the car etc. I have managed to get my new short skis in and had a very brief play with them - a bit different from skiing on normal skis and they will take some getting used to.

Early to bed for us - forecast is for an okay morning and less good in the afternoon, not that forecasts mean a huge amount up here; so we are going to start early and try Fionn Bheinn, the local munro.

Harter Fell via Gatesgarth Pass

These pictures are some of the many that are on my picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair/HarterFell

Today was the last day before Claire and I head to Achnasheen and then Kinlochewe in NW Scotland; with a bit of an uncertain forecast as to what we were going to get. We also wanted to drop some of Claire's stuff off at the flat - a very gentle start to the moving in process. So, we dropped down to Haweswater for a nice day out on Harter Fell and the promise of a glorious day.

The drive down was a little interesting - but not as interesting as the drive out promised to be!! We picked up a walker who had abandoned his car some way shy of the Haweswater Hotel (which actually provided us with a nice soup and bread!) and slid gently down to Mardale Head. Apart from a couple of cars the car-park was deserted and we had the Gatesgarth Pass to ourselves as our hitcher departed up the Nan Bield. The pass held a lot more snow than Blencathra, despite the latter being considerably higher, and on the ascent to Harter Fell itself someone had quite clearly being skiing there...The views from the top were glorious with views to Ingleborough and Pendle Hill which is near Burnley in Lancashire. The descent, by the same way, was even more glorious with prolonged views over the Pennines and the Howgills to help us and then a glorious afternoon sun over the High Street range. We saw 3 people all day before the hotel - another very good point.

Off to Achnasheen tomorrow and then an early start on Sunday to hopefully beat the weather....we shall see

another photo added to Picassa...

I'll be taking the camera on the Scotland trip starting xmas day as well as the macbook - so check back regularly.

By then I may have calmed down enough to talk about Gatwick Airport; Servisair and Royal Air Maroc.....

Have a great christmas one and all...

Simon

Photo's from today....

http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair/BlencathraWithClaire#

Will post details of why I am here and not in Morocco later.....

All packed up...

school is done and the bags are now packed as we start early tomorrow.....driving to Gatwick and then facing the crux of the whole trip (getting off the ground on Sunday). It seems that one snowflake and the whole country grinds to a halt - someone remind me that we live in the 21st century in the 4th largest economy in the world right....or do we live in 1930's Albania?

With luck we will fly to Marrakech via Casablanca on Sunday and then start the 4 day Mt. Toubkal trek early Monday morning...given the weather and the pre-xmas shoppers we have decided to leave early tomorrow to allow plenty of time for travelling down...

The irony is that its currently ok in Cumbria - cold but not as much snow as I'd like on the hills...hopefully we'll have some HUGE dumps when we're away; just in time for play when we get back..

Will blog from Marrakech as to how the trek went....hope the weather is going to be ok.

Rusty on ski's...

to say the very least....went out for a little potter along by the river today......trying to remember basic details such as to how to stay upright!!!

Think I need to do a lot more skiing yet - hopefully Claire and I will hit the Rothiemurchus Forest sometime in the New Year....oh yeah and the burning in my legs reminds me how hard a sport this can be...

Another big dumps of snow...

This was taken yesterday, just by Claire's as we strolled down by the river together - Claire was on study leave.

We've just been out for a walk and its snowing and snowing well - not sure what to do tomorrow but need to be in Keswick to get my skis which are being edged and waxed sometime tomorrow so might do a mixed route or maybe Sharp Edge - not sure what condition it will be in tomorrow....

Snow stopped play at 2pm..

at school. Having had a torturous drive up to Carlisle I find it extremely doubtful that we'll be in tomorrow as more heavy snow has fallen.....the only question will then be what to do tomorrow and can we get out over the weekend....

School today...?

waiting to hear if the school is closed or not......winter (as you may have gathered) has arrived in Cumbria!

Souther Fell photo's...

http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair/SoutherFellWithClaire#

Change of plans...

Claire and I were hoping to go to Newcastle this weekend with Mum and Peter away to keep their nice open fire company.....however the recent snow and a glorious forecast for tomorrow have kept us in the Lakes.....lets hope the weather is going to play ball!!!

Attempt on Newlands...

we ummed and aahed a lot on Friday night - at one point even thinking of going away for the weekend. However we elected in the end to get up early Saturday and try Newlands Horseshoe on the grounds the weather stated it would be better to the west....

....a good early (ish!!!) start then occurred and we had a good drive to Keswick; followed by a lovely sandwich for breakfast and buying some good trousers for Claire. We then got to the parking spot to find far too many cars for my liking in residence...however it was a glorious day as I hope the pictures show http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair/MaidenMoorAndHighSpy# and we set off up. Unfortunately the weather deteriorated and by the time we reached High Spy we were deep in cloud. There were also lots of people around; including what looked like a university group one member of whom was on about going onto Great Gable that day......so the decision was made to drop to Dalehead Tarn and follow the road back down the valley and the car. This was not the greatest decision on earth as the path was quite slippy in places. However, the cloud was still low and the rain started when we hit the car so we would not have seen much anyhow...and there was still time for a gear fix and a cake!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair/MaidenMoorAndHighSpy#

A quieter weekend....

after a truly fantastic walk in the Cheviots last weekend - pics on Picassa of what was a truly awesome autumnal day; one of the best I've ever had in the Cheviot range - Claire and I are taking it a bit easier this weekend.

We went to the Levellers concert in Kendal on Fri night - a very small venue for such a big band; but the tour was to celebrate 20 years from their first album ' A weapon called the word'....probably a bit too small and a bit too loud for Claire.

A long (ish) lie-in at mine followed and then we came back to Carlisle. However we got an afternoon walk in yesterday and a run before breakfast this morning and we are going for another run later. The holiday has been paid for and insurances booked so its really just do some training and make sure that all is ready on the exam (Claire) and interview (me) front - I have the PGCE interview in Newcastle on the 22nd....its very competitive but here is hoping...

A wild night.....

Claire finished early in Manchester and so got an earlier train - which meant collecting her at Oxenhome (nr Kendal) rather than Penrith....the drive back over the M6 at Shap was as bad as I have ever seen it....

hope the weather picks up for the weekend..

New pictures from a glorious day in the Cheviots...

full description soon..meanwhile

http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair

So...what have I been up to...

Sorry for the long delays in posting - I know I have not really caught up with the Italy stuff yet but things have been hectic here. Claire and I have booked a holiday to Morocco at xmas to do a winter ascent of Mt. Toubkal and we have been training as much as possible for that. This is in between Claire trying to study for her exams; my applying for various courses; going back to work at the school and trying to sort out the flat.

Training is going ok - Toubkal is over 4000m so its difficult to train for in this country. We'll be carrying light packs and Imlil, the village we start in, is over 1700m so hopefully this will help. It would be lovely to have some good weather on this trip, especially after the summer trip to Italy, and for Claire to experience the beauty of the Atlas that I saw last year. Christmas in Marrakech should also be neat - and probably a lot warmer than Britain will be :-)

More photo's...

see previous link for some of the Howgill photo's from August...

These posts are like buses...waiting ages and two at once!!!

New pictures...

http://picasaweb.google.com/simon.bigair

some shots of a lovely day that Claire and I had today on Grizedale Pike...

...sorry been away for some long; been a little busy but normal service will be resumed I hope

Autumn has arrived...

howling gales and driving rain on the drive down to Penrith from Carlisle this morning......and the leaves are coming off the trees. Its actually quite nice to be out in weather like that sometime; although I went for a walk along the River Eden tonight and there was a decided chill to the air....

Bouldering...

a style of climbing small problems usually very close to the ground.....reliant on a bizarre mix of brute arm power, finger power, balance, technique and friction...

Had a very pleasant hour at Carrock Fell tonight - nice to be back on rock for the first time since the trip to Italy/Belgium. Although I like bouldering I am pretty rubbish it - footwork is not a massive issue and my cycling/walking gives me large leg muscles that are no use...however it is good fun and I did 3 problems tonight that I had not done before. None were remotely hard but it was nice to get out into the fresh air and see that autumn is starting to come to Cumbria...

3:40:33..

no its not an obscure maths problem I have encountered at school; but the time it took me (and Arjuna) to do the 57 mile short course of the Cumberland Challenge on Sunday gone.

The return from Garrigill to Brampton (largely on the A589) was about as good as I have ever ridden. With good tarmac for the wheels to run (the roads in North Cumbria can be pretty awful) and short; steep climbs into which you could carry speed and power over the terrain definetly suited me and the bike. With the gearing on Arjuna I either prefer long gentle climbs such as the ascent to Tan Hill on the Etape du Dales and the climb up Hartside or very short climbs I can attack at speed.

The actual route itself was really good and I would hope to go under 3:30 next year. The descent of Hartside towards Alston was a nightmare in a strong cross-wind (which was behind us for the section on the way back) and I would reckon to gain 3-4 mins on this alone. It was interesting though that, despite being a poor descender, no-one went past on that descent - only a total idiot would have rushed down that.

So, tight legs on Sunday night and no Claire to massage them as she is on holiday in Ireland for a week......am taking it easy this week with it being the first week back before starting to crank the autumn training into gear.....

Now on Skye....

which allows free Skype to skype calls...even video calls...

search for simon_ash71...

yes I know there is lots to blog on....am trying to find the time in between the lots of other things I have to do....

Sorry for lack of updates....

had an interesting (very wet) time in Italy in which we did not get as much done as we would have liked.....am now back and trying to do lots of things at once in respect of spending time with Claire; working on the flat and trying to get courses etc sorted for 2011 - not to mention actually getting some rest....will be around in due course.

Added to this I decided to enter the 'short course' of the Cumberland Challenge on the 5th of Sept; which is only 57 miles on the road bike. Looks like training for this will be impossible so am just going to have to rely on the base fitness which failed so spectacularly 30 miles into the 50 last month!!!

Hers in !

About to leave for Italy....

and two weeks in the Dolomites.....will post whenever possible as Luke will no doubt be armed with a huge amount of Apple gadgetry (as will I but he knows how to use it!!!) and we should be able to get a GPRS signal out there....

The Lakeland 50...

twas about a week ago but things have been very hectic indeed with an interview at York I proceeded to make a mess of and trying to get stuff sorted for the Dols trip - not to mention trying to get the roof sorted; spend time with Claire etc....

Anyway; massive thanks to Mum and Peter who came over to support and assist and that started on the fri night when they picked me up from the flat and drove down to Coniston to register. The much vaunted kit check which was supposed to resemble an MI5 investigation was nothing of the sort really - something to remember for next year...also something to remember for next year was a 6am start; drive to Coniston for the briefing and an awful coach ride back to Dalemain for the start....given that the briefing did not add to my sum of knowledge and Dalemain is about 5miles from my front door a new strategy for next year is emerging - don't go....!!!!

More to follow...

So, where we we? oh yes hot and bothered at Dalemain having endured about 90mins in a very hot coach to get us there; not much time for a warm-up and no idea about the first section of this walk at all...about to go a LONG way further than I ever have done and with a mind full of interview stuff for two days time....apart from that I was raring to go.....and then we had the first 100 yards!

The mass start for the 4 mile circuit of Dalemain is a neat idea....having a single stile that nigh on 200 people have to cross after 100 yards ain't a great idea at all - in fact it is SERIOUSLY stupid....

..to be fair its not a bad circuit of Dalemin but surely having it the other way round would be better so one starts with a gently uphill mile jog which gives the field time to settle down and thin out.....

So; having taken 15mins to go 200 yards (literally), which had already thrown my estimates of the first 10miles out (to Howtown) I plodded on. Pacing wise I seemed to go ok - gently jogging the descent to Howtown; refuelling at CP1 and keeping a good pace on the long climb up to the High Street ridge. I made a minor error at the checkpoint in putting an orange energy lozenge into the water bottle - too fizzy and it gave me hiccups :-(

Anyway; the cloud kept just high enough so one could see where you were going and I climbed well....I remain convinced that you can recce out this route to the nth degree; you can lay down 50miles on the Surrey downs for a warm up - you cannot get used to the big climbs of Lakeland (at least by English standards) without living here. It was, I must confess, gratifying to pass a lot of people who had whizzed by me on the way round Dalemain and on the endless descent to Howtown....

speaking of endless - the path along Haweswater...low on water (actually refilled at a strea)..into the wind and rain....grrr.....and that took me to CP2 at Mardale..

A very important recce...

did a pretty damp 10 miles with Mum yesterday..using 2 cars so I could check out the section of the walk from Elterwater to Tilberthwaite and a little of the last section over to Coniston.

Most of the walk was done in steady rain; not a monsoon but enough to make the paths sodden and the rocks slippery..this latter is quite alarming as its an area where I will be faster than most and I could really do with it drying out before the weekend. It is still pretty warm and humid so that will not take long if it stops raining....whether that is likely I don't know...

As it turns out, Mum's suggestion to do the climb past Tilberthwaite Quarry to look at the last section was a good idea - as the route description of this last section is HORRENDOUSLY vague....especially since most people will be tackling it at night; in cloud; whilst knackered; all the above...certainly a good thing to get it in my head as to where to go....

Now its just a question of resting; stretching and hoping the weather improves....

The benefits of reconisance....

as discovered today in the pouring rain as I walked (and overtook some riding mountain bikers!!!) up a very steep path on the far side of Brathay park in Ambleside which my pretty sodden route description assured me would take me to Elterwater......lo and behold a slate signpost loomed out of the mist a al Barry Pilton on Kinder Scout to assure that I was not in fact lost - although I would have sworn blind that the path was not going in the right direction....

today's 8 1/2 mile run will be the last before the 50 - I am going to do some more checking out of the route but that will involve walking not climbing...I want to check the (what looks very steep) ascent out of Howtown onto the High Street ridge tomorrow (am not going to go down to Mardale due to time constraints and if the forecast is right I won't be able to see anything anyway)...it has actually stopped raining and is a lovely evening in Penrith...forecast is dire for the next 3 days so we shall see what we get...its softening up the ground as well which is not so good.....

On holiday....

for about 7 weeks as school broke up yesterday....thats the good news...

........the bad news is that the 50 mile challenge event is not far off and I have no idea whether or not I am ready for it - did an 8 mile recce on Tues which felt fine (although 4 miles of it was a road jog back from Howtown to Pooley Bridge) and am going to do a little more tomorrow before I head off to Luke's in the hope of getting some climbing done.....still far from sure however what it is going to be like...

Tiptoeing on Fat Charlie.....

no don't worry; I am not about to join the coalition government and am having to pass an induction.....

Fat Charlie's Buttress is a little outcrop at the bottom of Langstrath, a lovely valley which is an offshoot of Borrowdale. I had walked under it on numerous occasions and we decided to give it a go; partly because Luke was still hungover after a night out and didn't fancy the walk up to Corvus. There was a very interesting Severe that I elected to start on; it said delicate and it was very delicate indeed. Everything was there; apart from gear which was missing for a lot of the route although a good friend does protect the crux sequence. The problem was the crux involved a very small overlap which meant that one could not see your feet - and the climbing was all in the feet.....

I wobbled a bit at first but then gave myself a bit of a talking to and got up the climb....Luke then did an extremely good job of leading up a Mild Severe (Islay Waits) in the middle of the buttress....to be honest it is more like VDiff than Mild Severe, nonetheless a very good lead....

This was followed up with a pint of tea at the cafe in Grange and a lovely evening with Claire before coming home....a great day.

marvin lives...

with new brakes; went out for a 17mile ride along the Solway coast - twas good to have him back and I actually enjoyed riding him very much...the first time since October and the Trans-Atlas; which I really must get round to blogging about sometime.

Dumfries and Galloway...

Claire and I went there on sat...an hour's drive from Carlisle to lovely village called New Abbey which is actually SOUTH of the Mabie Forest 7stanes mountain bike area.......very impressed and finished off with an ice-cream...

Fishers Folly...

Luke on top of the tricky and technical first pitch of Fishers Folly...

It was a glorious day in the Lakes yesterday; and was still pretty hot when Luke and I got the bottom of the climb at about 6pm. This was Luke's first VS lead attempt of the year and was a great performance coming back from his knee injury and not much climbing in the past month. He did climb down to work out how to get past the crux; before dispatching it in fine style.

My pitch (although also graded 4c) was probably easier although with decidedly less protection on it. It also proved to be quite tricky for me with my height as the move over the overlap is quite out of balance and arkward for the tall....although placing the gear was easier for the tall...as Luke will tell you when he tried to get it out!!!!! All in all a good evening...

Saturday - The first ring of Shap...

was a walk I did last weekend - an organised LDWA suggested by Mum. It is part of a 100km round that they do; which involves doing all 3 of the rings. The 'ring' that I was attempting began at Shap and headed up Branstree via Wet Sleddale and Mosedale cottage before dropping to Swindale; Truss Gap and a slightly circuitous route back to Shap....

I did the walk primarily to try and get some mileage under the belt as I gear up for the 50 mile challenge at the end of July....

I got round in 4hr 35 min with a slight navigational mishap (due to carelessness on my part) with a mix of jogging and walking....I did start to flag a bit at the end but I felt ok in general....was quite stiff at the end so adjourned to Claire's for some tlc - and a gentle spin on the bike yesterday.

Weather is set fair - hoping to get out climbing tomorrow with Luke whose knee seems to be getting slightly better day by day....

Of 10km's and training...

did a second 10km on Saturday...if the course on Wed was flat and conducive to quick times (shame I ran so conservatively...) the one at Bendrigg was NOT...the last 1km was pretty much nearly all uphill with a truly sick finishing hill; known as Hamburger Hill....

Here the multi-sport athlete comes into his/her own...whilst the runners with the upper body power of a jelly are walking up the hill the multi-sport athlete repeats the mantra of 'arms drive the legs' and runs up..passing about 3 people on the final hill who could no more throw down a pitch of climbing than fly to the moon unaided.......oh yeah!

I ran a much better race running consistent 5min km's for the first 5-6 km and speeding up for the last section of the race. I do not know my exact time as of now; however it was around the 49 minute time (certainly under 50min) which is pretty good on one of the sicker 10km courses around......

Went running tonight...managed a couple of semi-intervals up the long climb from the Langwathby road to the top of Beacon Edge...not sure how fast I am running really; just don't seem to have the 'oomph' to push it whilst training on foot compared to the bike...I feel the same when I climb on a wall as opposed to outside...speaking of which that is tomorrow if the weather holds, which it should. Not sure what the problem is running as I am going to have do some specific speed training to get under 45min on hilly courses....or maybe I just need some more races and to practice a little Vegard......

48:13

This was the time for the 10km road race I did last night. This was very much a spur of the moment thing - I didn't even know it was on until a couple of people at the school who were doing mentioned it. It was with some trepidation that I even took to the start line as I was not at all sure that my knee would survive 10km on the road - despite wearing the knee brace.....very pleased that it did and IMMENSELY encouraged by the time which was done on the back of almost zero running training at all and NIL speed work of any kind. Looks like I shall have train a bit; find a flat(ish) race and try and get under the elusive sub 45min...

Hitting the wall...

luckily in a metaphorical sense....

was hoping to go out and ride before breakfast today; with the ascent of the Hartside Pass being my top target. Not a great nights sleep due to the heat and an early start from the people doing roadworks in the council car-park across the road.....so elected to do one of the easier spins around Greystoke and Ullswater....

Another lovely morning but also a wind - as per usual when one is road cycling it turned into a headwind...and my word was I feeling it after the last few days in the heat.....

Turning down a minor road into Dacre I was confronted with a lovely 12% hill for about 300m - it felt like climbing the Ventoux...not good....

Still did manage about 16 miles at a reasonable rate and have got some fresh air into the lungs and some spinning into the legs.....

Another stolen climb...

got back from climbing last night with Luke; who's knee is giving his some grief; and found an advert on the UK Climbing Forum from someone looking for a partner for some routes today..

..a rendevouz was fixed and a couple of routes on Raven Crag, Langdale were done.....this is a good thing and means I have got out into the hills in some form or another every day this week....

..off to get a shower and do some jobs/shopping etc now....will be out on the road bike tomorrow morning and then climbing again on Saturday....

pictures...

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.bigair

It might be worth bookmarking this link....

The night walk that wasn't....

This is the view up the Gatesgarth pass and is one of the sections on the 50 mile challenge that I am attempting in July. Given the holiday for me I decided to recce some of the route; and also decided to incorporate a late start. This was partly due to the weather but also taking advice from Mum and Peter, both very experienced at ultra-distance walking who advised me to get some practice at night walking - given that the walk starts at noon I am likely to go into darkness....so at 5.30 I locked the car and started up into a gloomy late afternoon.

Arriving on top of the pass after a rapid and breathless climb I was

confronted

by this......NOWHERE on the 50 mile challenge (or probably anywhere else for that matter) will I yearn for my bike as much as this....the 3mile descent into Long Sleddale and the farm at Sadgill. Mind you, I can't complain as it was not blowing a howling gale; throwing it down with rain that would not disgrace a monsoon and visibility was more than 2 inches - conditions that confronted us the last time we did this walk (the other way round.)

Rather gingerly (and I was using the knee brace) I loped off downhill - not especially fast and half jogged and half walked down the pass....

One good thing abo

ut arriving at Sadgill was this....the sun. To say this was an improvement on the rest of the day's offering would be an understatement....away went the coat into the pack where it stayed for the rest of the walk.

The bit I really wanted to check was over the Sadgill pass in Kentmere itself and that is a lot more obvious than the route description suggests...and will be runnable on the day itself as well. It took 1hr 40 to get to the church (the turn round point) and I'll aim for 1 1/2 on the event...so back up the endless Nan Bield it was to be.....this fellow had the right idea so I took my cue from him and munched a cheese sarnie...

When I eventually got to the top of the pass I found a couple of tents there....a nice spot but a little odd as there is no water. Another tent was pitched lower down on the outflow of Smallwater which would also be a nice spot...I managed to jog almost all the descent - especially the less rocky lower sections and got back to the car 3 1/2 hrs after setting out...a round that is probably 11 miles or so with a reasonable amount of ascent...quite chuffed; shame about the lack of night walking though...:-)

16 miles at 18.2 mph...

it was supposed to be a warm down leg spin ride....oops...

Simonside walk.....a good day

The Sunday of the bank holiday I headed to Northumberland with Mum and Peter....the day before not being great when I discovered that someone had vandalised my car...nicking the rear wiper; kicking the towbar and damaging the drivers side wing mirror. A bit of repair with duct tape later and the car was at least driveable...

After breakfast at the Blacksmiths' - cafe in Belsay - we headed up to Simonside, a hill I knew when I lived over on the East coast but one that I had not been to in several years. The walk that was planned for me was a new one as well; skirting round the plateau to Coquet Cairn (not sure of its relevance as it does not seem to indicate much) and then up to a hill called Tosson for lunch (expertly timed to miss a heavy squall as we sheltered under some rocks..) and then up and over the Simonside plateau and back to the car.

This last section of the walk was made considerably easier by the paving stones that had been laid on the path...much as I theoretically dislike this kind of thing there was probably little choice given that one could have taken school parties up to the top of Simonside to give a realistic view of conditions on the Somme in winter the last time I was up there....

More to the point - the 9 mile walk had no after effects on either knee which is very good....

August 3rd - 19th...

the Dolomites trip......should be good.

Ferry booked today; with the Smorgasboard ordered as well....seems to be an 'all you can eat' lark so will probably smuggle in some doggy bags and have hill food for the first week.......

Is going to be good....lots of big; long and classic routes done methinks...

Another pain free run..

only about 3 miles or so; however it did involve a reasonable uphill and the descent of the very steep Fell Lane - which is more important as its the area where Karen (the physio) thinks my knee is going to be the weakest....so this is quite encouraging really.

Evening walk...

the weather changed yesterday again and we had some rain....had finally relented by early evening so I was able to get out for a quick stroll on the hills around Mungrisdale before a pint in the Mill Inn and then heading home.

Given its not getting dark til around 10pm at the moment this is time to really get out and enjoy one's self...lucky its half-term next week then! Just hope the weather holds.

nb: A glorious morning at the moment....hoping to go out climbing tonight.

Training update....

went to the Laundrette after lunch followed by a 40min dose on the sofa with the wind gently blowing outside and the sun being very hot...now just doing some sorting out of the flat and using the fingerboard when I go past it..

...have just done a pull-up using two holds that I have never been able to do a pull-up on before...feeling strong and looking forward to doing some routes this week.

Tour of Blencathra...redux

Was an agony of indecision this morning....Luke was hors d'combat after an epic trip to London (they arrived back with one less car than they went with..and they only had one to start with!!!!) and his knees were swollen; so he elected to rest it. On the plus side - he has got his holiday confirmed for August...

So, what to do on another glorious day in the Lakes....I borrowed Phil's bike today as Marvin is still waiting to get fixed and drove to the head of Mosedale to do the Tour of Blencathra.....

Not much to say - the picture above shows the descent from Skiddaw House to the main path round Blencathra....it was bone dry and I rode better than I have ever ridden before so was pretty chuffed....

Round in 1hr 40 mins was good so it was time for the cool down...the reason I had parked at Mosedale was the plunge pool I could leap in...despite it being a hot day it was FREEZING...mind you - did me a lot of good. I left my legs in for about 10 mins which should be ok...came up and did some work on the finger board and feel quite strong; but very tired - two days out in the heat have been good..

Right - lunch

photo's from today..

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.bigair/NewlandsHorseshoe#

Newlands Horseshoe...extended..

will try and post the pictures later; for some reason there is an issue with finding the photo's on i-photo...

Anyway; had a little quandry last night as to what to do; given a perfect weather forecast and settled conditions...going out on one of the bikes was possible but with the 50mile event coming up in a couple of months I elected to do the Newlands Horseshoe; but adding in Catbells and Hindscarth before descending over Robinson.

It was a bit of a faff finding the carpark at Littletown; but once parked I was walking fast and felt strong. The detour to Catbells was done in blazing heat and I was walking in shorts only on the climb up to Maiden Moor and then onto High Spy...

Climbing up to Dalehead was like being in an oven, an enclosed area and no wind meant a very sweaty climb up to the trig point; which I was starting to feel when I got the top. A bit of an early lunch on top and a 20min sit down helped and I felt ok with the ascent of Hindscarth (not much in reality) and then I dropped down to the col between it and Robinson. This last ascent was a bit of a grind but I got there in the end before the descent down the Newlands Church; via a little known farm that does tea and cakes - a huge pot and big slice of cake for £1.50 - yummy...

Running tonight...

borrowed a knee strap from Caroline (one of the history team at school who is a very good runner i.e sub 40min for 10km) and did my easy circuit with it.....no probs with the knee at all which is good. The knee strap is quite thick and quite big and might cause a little issue with the lower thigh however I suspect this is more trainable. I have been working my knee as prescribed by Karen as well which may well also contribute to the success.....a small but significant milestone I think....

A new crag...

we went to Armathwaite after work last night....a crag I had not been to and did not especially high expectations of to be honest; I was in for a pleasant surprise.

The crag is a lovely sandstone outcrop right on the River Eden; as in if the river was high you would get wet belaying on a couple of routes!! It would be not out of place in Northumberland at all; and the climbing style is very similar as well. This proved a problem for a couple of the party who were doing their first outdoor route at all/for a long time and found it tricky to adjust to the style of climbing that is very different to that of a climbing wall. One sequence on the severe caused some amusement for people whilst I called on my outdoor experience to get up easily.

The bouldering there also looks pretty special and the start to the E1 was one thing that I bouldered out. Given the landing is a nice sandy area I was able to get quite high...it is definetly possible with a crash mat and spotter...the only issue would be could you protect the second half of the climb (I would solo the first section with the rope on)....it looks a little blank. I would also want to check the top out of the route...might be worth abseiling down one day...

How today I found leading easier than seconding...

its probably some indicator of the mental state (or lack thereof) at the moment. Luke had hurt his elbow so I was about to go out on a bike ride when I had a quick look on the UKclimbing forum and there was a post looking for a partner to do a classic severe in the Lakes today. I made the call and to cut a long story short, Ben and I did Troutdale Pinnacle today. As classic severe's goes this is about as good as it gets; this route would get into my top 10 list of climbs I have done anywhere in the world it is that good. I led the first, third and top pitch - and can honestly say that I climbed really well. The very top move (which is the crux and has given me some trouble in the past) I flowed over...this is the second time in 4 days I have waltzed over a move that has given me some trouble in the past. However, just like on Thurs, my performance seconding was less good - the move off the slab onto the pinnacle felt weird and I climbed it using far to much arm power and not enough footwork....likewise my performance on pitch 1 of Little Cham on thurs with look was about as smooth and flowing as a drunken hippo on roller skates...

Leading does obviously heighten the mind as falling off is a decidedly less pleasant idea..but my weakness when I was climbing well was always in my mind...maybe, just maybe, that is starting to change....

Road biking....

Today was the first day that I have been out on my road bike Arjuna for quite some time....he is seen here from the last time I did the Etape du Dales (with a hire car I was using at the time).

He is a lovely steed; a carbon fibre Trek although I am not totally attuned to him yet -especially on the descents. This is the one area that I struggle to make the transition from mountain biking with thick tyres and disc brakes - not to mention a much sturdier bike.

Just did 22 miles and was .1mph below the speed I like to go - not too bad really when I think about it; need to get out and do some after work rides now...

Luke's first attempt at a video...

http://lividpenguin.com/random/climbing/carrock-fell-bouldering-may-2010.mov

pretty good really - am going to play with some of my Morocco stuff on Final Cut tonight and start to assemble some stuff....

Evening climbing....Little Chamonix..

god it was nippy on Thurs; with the wind whistling down Borrowdale making belaying on the first pitch of Little Chamonix quite an experience. Little Cham (as its known) is a classic VDiff on Shepherds Crag - a route I have done several times before but very suitable for an evening climb after work. The fact it dries fast after the showers on Wed was also to its benefit...

Luke took the slabby first pitch which is quite polished and tricky to protect; whilst I took the main, very steep, on top pitch which for a roadside VDiff is pretty out-there. Got to say that I was quite pleased with how I climbed it - finding an easier sequence on the one move I find arkward, and one of the few moves I have done where being tall is a hindrance; followed by a series of committing moves up the headwall - all felt in control.

No climbing tomorrow (Sat) due to Luke going to a birthday party - thinking of going out of the bike tomorrow as the rain starts to fall again in Penrith - forecast for tomorrow is good though....

Recovering slowly....

jogged, very gently, round my short and reasonably flat 4 mile circuit today.....knee just about held out although I tweaked the run to ensure no steep downhills were encountered. Its difficult to know what to do really; the knee seems to be improving slowly but may yet need more physio. It is still cold over here; however hope to get out climbing after work in the next couple of days and the forecast for saturday is good as well....

Video's of today's bouldering...

a couple up on my Vimeo page

http://vimeo.com/user2067635/videos

Bouldering in a quite scenic location...

View from Carrock Fell towards the Lakes....if I was limit myself to a couple of areas where crash pads are not needed then I could cycle to this place.....

As I try to unravel what I want to do in the next few months I post this to remind me (and others) that being in Cumbria has some advantages......

Faith in friction...

Vital ingredient in bouldering at Carrock Fell which is where I have just come back from......this is the descent from the Sugar Loaf boulder in the North part of the bouldering area....

The first sector we visited was new to me and confirmed what I already knew..that much as though I enjoy bouldering I do in fact suck at it...only one V1 managed and a grand failure on other things.

So, Luke and I adjourned to an area that we knew better and things started to get better - I repeated a V3 that I had done last year and actually climbed pretty well. The smearing needed was good and I felt pretty well in control. I failed totally on a V1 that I think benefits shorter people - at least that is my excuse and I'm sticking to it (it is MY blog after all!!!!) - but pulled a V2 out of the bag; just. Note to self; need more stamina; power; finger strength.......

Video's will be posted shortly; including one of a very impressive slip down the rock by Luke....the downside of good friction....VERY rough rock...ouch!

The conumdrum of climbing....

This shot was taken by Luke today and shows me on the top pitch of an MVS - Ardus at Shepherds Crag in Borrowdale. At first sight, Shepherds would seem to be an odd choice for a weekend in May - and it would except for a freezing north wind that is currently visiting Cumbria; giving us good weather but oh so cold....Luke complained of cold fingers climbing on Ardus and I got cold belaying him on the top pitch of Donkey's Ears.

Today also highlighted an odd conumdrum with climbing in general and my climbing in particular. For a long time my biggest weakness has been in my head - yet today I sauntered up the first part of Ardus which is an unprotected slab with no problem; whilst finding the steep wall above much trickier - despite it being adorned with protection. The final pitch was the same - the polished nature of the small footholds as one left the traverse making me pause - despite having good gear; a huge void to fall into and being almost level with the bombproof belay.

Luke also found this - he labelled himself a "wuss" for bottling out of leading the top pitch of Ardus and struggled whilst seconding it - and yet led the top pitch of Donkey's Ears pretty steadily despite the risk of taking a 2 metre leader fall - his first - at one point. The elegant sequence I used to get over this section was in part due to my reach and also due to having a rope over my head!! Could I repeat the smooth flowing climbing and elegant balance shifts in the lead....herein lies the fun of climbing and the difference between leading and seconding. I have seconded E3/E4 (about my physical limit at the time) and whilst I was thoroughly knackered there was no emotion ever to compare with the main pitch of Sirplum which took me closer to my limit than I have ever been.....probably until we hit the South Face of the Marmolada and/or the Gran Pilastro in August...:-).

Right off to do some vital recuperation - at the pub.

St. Bees vid..

Got this about 4th try...hope it works!

Bouldering at St. Bees..

bit of a change of plan simply as I arrived at Luke's to find Keswick busy and we therefore thought it might be a bit of a pain to drive through the Lakes to Wallabarrow on bank holiday Monday..so we elected to go to Castle Rock South - home to some nice looking amenably graded routes...oops..

Having shelled out lots of money on guidebooks for the Italy trip! we arrived at the crag and found it was not busy - it was heaving...even worse was the person climbing a 25m route in two pitches - thus holding up most of the other parties on the crag. This not being to our liking - and having the advantage of living here! we elected to dive back to Keswick and head off to St. Bees to go bouldering. I'd been there once before and been really impressed, as I was this trip - not simply as there was a nice sun out! Luke got his crash pad and I "borrowed" Chris's (his flatmate) pad and we had a good few hours bouldering. On sighting a good V1 problem was good- but the highlight was doing two probs with the technical grade of 6a - a grade I only did twice in my previous climbing life. Granted; I have done 8 problems of this grade in the last couple of years and only 1 was as difficult was Y-Front at Bowden Doors; but it is still a good boost to the confidence given that I am not a great boulderer - lacking the brute power and being quite heavy. I felt at the wall on Fri I was climbing well...and it was good to see it translate to outdoors....need to do it on routes now though.

There is a video of me on one of the 6a's ,which I will post later.

Building up slowly....

nursed the knee through most of 4 or so mile run today....although it has started to hurt a bit this evening.....not sure about the need for more physio or just give it time and build up slowly. May yet wait until Whitsun; although this would be getting closer and closer to the 50 event in July...

its pretty freezing over here today and was snowing on Helvellyn yesterday....off valley climbing I think tomorrow with the long drive to Wallabarrow Crag....need to get to different crags and different areas though methinks...

After school climbing....

with the good weather and the days getting much much longer I was able to get out to Shepherds Crag on Wed and do a little bit of climbing outdoors.....I only led a pitch of MVS on the second pitch of Brown Crag Wall; however it was good to get outdoors and I would much rather do that and have a gently evening than go to the wall. Having said that,I AM off to the wall tonight with one of the people from school I have climbed with in the evenings....the aim this weekend is to take advantage of the improvements in the weather forecast for the long weekend and climb on Sunday and Monday...Luke has promised to stay sober and is keen to lead so that is all good.....

Did about 20 mins on the treadmill last night- which was good and no reaction from the knee either....will try an outdoor run soon before deciding if I need to head back over to see Karen the physio...

Its friday - this be a good thing- off to work now!!

Link to photo's...

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.bigair/PaveyArk

Sorry about the delay...

in posting; things have not been great recently...however yesterday...

Luke (with a hangover) and I went up to Pavey Ark in Langdale. The walk up to Stickle Tarn was a bit of an eye opener for Luke being his first experience of a mountain(ish) crag and with full gear to boot.....

Anyway, he survived and after some vacillation on my part it was decided to attempt Crescent Slabs (Severe) a climb that I have done twice before in my previous climbing life....Not though that actually mattered as the lower section of the first pitch was wet - a bit mad since it hasn't rained for a week but Pavey does take seepage; and the ensuing moves were probably a bit harder than Severe. At least I hope that is the case as my performance on the first couple of pitches was not great...mind you it did get better on the last two which I also led - Luke still feeling a bit under the weather! After waltzing past the alleged crux I then came up against a move over an overlap which I had vague recollection of doing when doing this route before, and yet is not mentioned in the guide....

Anyway; to cut a longish story short it was the correct way; and the long run-out to the top with no gear (although very easy climbing) was enjoyable and a sign that I seem to be climbing ok....now to look at something a bit trickier as we build up to the Dols trip in August.....

will post pictures on Picassa and link it later

Tour of Blencathra...

This was taken a couple of years ago when I did the circuit with Mum..I thought it would be an excellent one to give another test to the demo bike..poor Gill being sidelined with a migraine this morning..hopefully back on her feet to do Newlands tomorrow.

The weather was gorgeous and the bike actually worked pretty well for the most part. It is certainly heavier than the hardtail and made the climbing hard work - although it was a lot better than expected on the road climb up to the Blencathra centre. The fact that I am nowhere near as cycling fit as I was last year also has to be taken into account as well when I assess the bike. Descending wise it is clearly better and gives a much more confy ride...although again this could in part be down to be more a better ride on the back of the Morrocco trip. A snakebite puncture slowed me down a bit; however to finish in a total time of 2 1/2 hrs is pretty good and I am more than pleased. Did start to feel it on the final road section from the bottom of Mosedale back to the car at Mungrisedale - regrettably the Quaker Meeting House cafe was not open today so no cup of tea to speed me on my way for the last bit.....

VS on my first day of outdoor climbing...

not bad and quite a confidence builder...although a stark reminder that climbing outdoors is VERY different from climbing indoors - especially in Cumbria.

The VS in question (Brown Slabs Crack) did see some hesitation before committing myself to the crux - polished footholds being my excuse! However, I strolled up a VDiff the climb before and it was a good day...

Forecast is good for the w/end...looking forward to doing Newlands.

Riding like a novice again...

went up to Whinlatter Trail centre this morning with the full-suspension demo bike to do a bit of mountain biking.....the first time round the blue route felt very strange and a bit like being a new boy again....

...by the end though I came down 2/3 of the South Red Trail and loved every minute of it...great bike,.

A windy day on Grizedale Pike..

Looking down to Braithwaite from the slopes of Grizedale Pike...the battering by the wind was yet to come...

Gill and I climbed up the ridge from the car-park into a progressively strong wind. So much so that the original plan to descend via Coledale Hause was ditched as that would have meant walking into the wind. The descent to the top of the Whinlatter Pass was bad enough with steep grass that was damp and the howling wind all around us...I then jogged back to get the car, which was surprisingly good on the knee actually.

Place Fell...a very nice walk

Looking to Brotherswater

These two were taken on Sunday when Gill and I went for a walk to celebrate her birthday by going up Place Fell..It was actually a very nice walk and the cloud stayed off the top to allow us to savour a decent day.

winter lingers on High Street

Grumpy weather continues...

as I write this it is pouring down with rain at Gill's at the moment....not sure what happened to the lovely day that we were promised...

Marvin update; he is still having back brake issues and is at the bike shop - Phil is allowing to use one of the Mount Vision demo bikes....not SO sure this is a good idea as I might end up buying one...a bit like the huge sofa suite I brought yesterday...

Off to get some treatment...

on my knee. Karen is the physio who helped me walk, run and climb again after smashing my left heel into oblivion in Pembroke all those years ago....hopefully she can finally diagnose what is wrong with my knee this time to enable me to get running again.

Left Cumbria and Gill for a few days on the road yesterday - most of the snow has gone now and it was pouring down in Newcastle yesterday evening. Am heading off to Edinburgh tomorrow; hoping to get a run in on the Pentland Hills one day before heading back down to do lots of walking and cycling in the next few days.

Easter Hols are here...

and to mark that fact it has rained most of the day in Cumbria!!!

Marvin is also back in the shop having his rear brake fixed before I head out on the road up to Newcastle and Edinburgh, I fancy having a go at some of the 7stanes areas, possibly Ae and will take the helmet cam with me so might get some good images too....

Looks like spring is here...

driving back from Gill's this morning and the snow on Blencathra is receding fast....looks like its going to be rock at the weekend (weather permitting of course and so far it looks good)...will probably start on something pretty easy though - although I do feel quite strong after my sessions on the climbing wall on Wednesday afternoons.

A day without pictures...High Street

Another glorious day on the hills as we finally managed to ascend High Street; 14 months or so after our first attempt.

Even yesterdays climb was less than straightforward with the traversing section from the top of Kidsty Pike to the main ridge being snow-covered; slippery and with a howling cross wind. Descent was down the Nan Bield past a very frozen Smallwater and a time of 5 hours was more than respectable given deep snow on the descent over Mardale Ill Bell and down to the pass.

Eagle-eyed readers will note the lack of pics - muggins forgot to take his camera as well as sunglasses; both omissions being somewhat idiotic. What was encouraging was the amount of neve still in the north facing gullies....will make climbing this saturday a decision as to whether to go to rock or snow...might well depend on the temperature I guess...

A day without picture..

A day without picture..

Haweswater Half marathon.

not a great day...

on a day of gorgeous weather it was a disappointing run..I felt very strong for the first few miles and managed to keep a sensible pace as well; aiming to be slightly slower than last year to take into account the lack of running that I had done.

My right knee, which had felt fine during the last two training runs then decided to really seize up, especially on the long (mile or so) downhill to Mardale Head where we turned round...reducing me to a near walk on the uphill section.

This put even more strain on the left knee which then seized up as well....leaving me to hitch a lift back for the last 3 1/2 miles from a helpful van.....and being nearly unable to walk down the stairs at Gill's last night...mildly amusing to Linda and Richard who popped in on the way down to their house on the way back from Aberdeen.

Knee felt pretty grotty this morning but has improved a bit as the day has gone on....also have an appointment with Karen the physio during the first week of the Easter holidays...should still give me time to get up to Scotland for a couple of days skiing....

The Mac is back...

after a full restore from Luke and lots of fun from me installing the right programs at my end - I actually have iwork 09 NOT 08...oops...

Haweswater Half this weekend...can't say I am looking forward to it much; felt like wading through treacle today at work with all the issues around the school at the moment...ho hum need a good run to clear the head methinks.

Mac ill...

my Mac took a bit of a turn on Thursday and has gone to Dr. Luke to try and get a diagnosis for him.....

this is written on the work pc so will not post too much..

The infernal conditions....

Or not as the case may be. This photo was taken last week on the way up to our attempt on Sharp Edge which I blogged about last week - showing the new snow that had fallen and that made the Edge so treacherous.

So hy this....well its snowing in Penrith and the forecast for the next 3 days is for it to snow on and off. One thing about snow is that it is not usually so cold when it does...so will it freeze into nice hard packed neve or not. A report on the UKClimbing website says that Skiddaw was in fantastic condition yesterday with iron hard neve - whilst the avalanche at the foot of Pinnacle ridge has occupied a lot of our thoughts recently..see www.ukclimbing.com for details; especially those of us who like playing around on the Gully climbs..

One possible target for Saturday is Central Gully on Great End...quite an avalanche trap usually although reports suggest that the snow is pretty stable at the moment. It is also quite high so has more chance of freezing....then again there is always Blea Tarn however that may well involved pure ice.....

Nice to have these dilemma's though - although my flat is freezing cold it is one hell of a good winter!!

Place Fell and refelections on a bad weekend.....

Looking up Place Fell from the lunch stop at the ruined sheepfold...

As can be seen from the pictures winter has returned with a vengenance to all of the Lakes peaks with a day long snowfall...and I have permission to go out and do a mad day with Luke on Saturday before walking with Gill on sunday.

The new snow made conditions very difficult indeed, with new snow over semi-frozen rocks..a combination probably worse than Luke and I experienced on Sharp Edge earlier in the week. However a day of sunshine today followed by what looks like it will be a cold evening is boding well for this weekend. The actual walk was quite trying and not as much fun as it could have been..

The only good news of the weekend was a run on Saturday which although only being 4 miles or so saw no reaction from my knee which is good...given the Haweswater Half is nearly upon us...will try and get another run in this week.

And so to late Friday evening when I discovered that the University of Cumbria had rejected my application to do the PGCE course with them next year. This has left me totally gutted as well as looking at a wide range of 'plan B' options none of which really appeal at the moment. The reasons they gave on the feedback form are so vague that neither Gill, myself or the Head of History at UCC actually know what they mean...if I get a chance tomorrow I will e-mail them and try and get some more feedback - have been too busy today.

Camera retrieved...

Luke by a frozen Grizedale Tarn - yes that is writing you can see on it and no its not ours although Luke was tempted....I can be bribed to reveal more!!!!

Tarn Gully 2 - a mild Grade 1 that I led and Luke followed with only one axe!!

Not sure what this semaphore means - apart from mad axeman on the loose...by the end of the winter we may have a Rosetta stone!!!

Tarn Gully 3 - this is ostensibly grade 1 - unfortunately no-one told it!!

Climbing yesterday...

on Tarn Crag on the slopes of Dollywagon Pike.

Sorry for lack of photo's ; however I think I may have left my camera at Luke's house in Keswick last night! will put some up later.

Anyway, an early start did not start that well when I realised that I had left my walking axe at home which meant that we had 3 ice-axes between us; not great for winter climbing...however we decided to persevere and eventually elected to go up to Grizedale Tarn and inspect conditions there. The slog up the Ghyll from Dunmail Raise was tricky in parts with quite a lot of ice on the track and upon arriving at a VERY frozen tarn, with writing on it no less from people who had carved things on the ice, we couldn't see Dollywagon Pike in the mist. As this meant that locating Dollywagon North crag (our original objective) would be tricky at best we then elected to go round to Tarn Crag and see what was in nick.

The slog round was long however upon arrival a couple of nice gully lines seemed to present themselves and after a sandwich stop the first one was inspected. A nice simple grade 1 was led by me with two axes; Luke following with one axe. Apart from a slight steepening near the top there was no problem, which given that I found 1 small nut placement in 100m of climbing was probably a good thing and we were soon descending back to the bags for more food and a conflab over what to do next.

Luke fancied having a go at leading the next gully along (Tarn Crag Gully III) which had its top section hidden from us by a bend but seemed very straightforward. He duly set off with the two axes and wandered easily up the first pitch.

After pleading to have a go at the next pitch as well he set up round the corner and things began to slow down. When it was my turn I discovered why...Luke had climbed quite a tricky section (especially for someone leading his first winter route) and was ensconsed under what appeared to an very un-Grade 1 thin ribbon of snow with a nice large boulder at the top; before opening onto a steep snow field to finish.

It was decided that I was going to have a go at this and I set off..Luke's suggestion of going right and avoiding the first difficult section probably saved the climb as it enabled a huge sling to come into play as a runner for me and to protect the belay...which at least made it justifiable. The main problem was that the snow was far from perfect and not all the turf frozen...making things quite "entertaining" in parts. Some gear went in occasionally, however the section around the boulder proved highly entertaining..wedging my back and rucksack ensured I was not going to fall but also made moving difficult.....a poor nut above the boulder protected a tricky couple of moves before the open snow field where the snow was pretty good. However the 1hr or so this had taken had eaten into our time allowance..luckily a good rock spike on top provided a decent belay for Luke to attempt with one axe!

Having done the first section I was able to send a second axe down on the rope for Luke to use and he promptly ran up the rest of the climb in next to no time....re-inforcing my belief that it might not have been as hard as I made it look - although having my placements as a guide would have helped him as the climbing was not difficult per se but did require some working out..

A rapid descent followed...today is a bit of a rest for me at least before Gill and I head off out tomorrow...

High Pike in the distance...

This is High Pike taken today from the foot of Sharp Edge....this peak is the first part of the fell-running circuit described a couple of weeks ago

Some pix from the last two days...

Approaching the snow line on Helvellyn..

Sharp Edge gleams on the walk-in.....

Sharp Edge does not gleam on the walk out!

Sharp Edge with Luke....

With a lot of new snow on Blencathra and the previously bare Sharp Edge looking very pretty again it seemed the obvious choice.....oh well hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The video below is one of Luke's first attempts at an ice-axe brake and was taken on the slopes above Scales Tarn after we had retreated from the edge. This was my 6th winter attempt at the Edge and it was in easily the worst condition I have ever seen it....loose powder snow on top of verglassed rock....YUK.

After a struggle up the first two (very easy) towers it we took the avoiding path round the right hand side - what we could see of it. This was tricky enough in itself and nearing the end we were looking at having to go up the slab that is the summer finish to the route (and what I had done in perfect neve last month) as the exit gully that is usually used was too bare....so we retreated...

I still think it was the right decision...better to let the Edge have this one I think..

Monday...the Helvellyn Horseshoe

For Luke's second day out in winter we elected to have a go at the 'classic' Helvellyn Horseshoe of up Striding Edge and down Swirral...

As can be seen from the picture Luke found the whole experience so uplifting he was moved to prayer...or was it the fact that I had just told him that I had made a cake and was going to feed it to him tomorrow!!

The weather was interesting with quite a reasonable crosswind and a bit of snow/hail - which turned much worse at the top whilst he was trying to adjust his socks and I was attempting to eat lunch!! However he coped very well with the edge; which was actually in pretty decent condition with the descent chimney to the main ridge (which is the only tricky bit) proving reasonably straightforward...

Having practiced his semaphore - not entirely sure what this means I must confess! - we located the top of Swirral Edge in the now poor visibility and dropped easily down it. This really is a very simple descent - like Striding Edge these days it is arguably easier in winter when all the loose rubbish that proliferates it is frozen up. On the way down we passed a couple of walkers with no ice-axes, crampons or brains...maybe they did not know that there might be snow....luckily these two turned round not long afterwards....

Driving back to Penrith and into a violent rainstorm..this fell as snow on the high hills and would make today MUCH more "interesting"....

Half-term in the Lakes...

Given the appalling weather forecast for the north and the decent conditions in the Lakes, Luke and I decided to stay local and see what we could do....It turned out to be the correct decision given the severe weather warnings and avalanche risk...

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!!