from Guy Steven - Mountain Leader
Today Kenny and I changed plans last minute and had a leisurly start up to Coire an Lochain on Aonach Mor. As Kenny is my mentor for the MIC scheme, he wanted to show me around the crag looking at different ways of getting into the crag, moving around the bottom and looking after folk on the routes. We climbed both Left Twin (III,4) and Molar Canal (III) which were both very nice routes. The ice was quite variable, most of the moist snowpack from the last few days had firmed up with the dropping ...
published: 4 months ago
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from The Alpinist - newswire
Mild weather and thick ice welcomed more than 3,000 climbers from around the world to the 17th Annual Ouray Ice Festival this weekend at the Ouray Ice Park in southwest Colorado. An early season of cold nights and warm afternoons created ideal ice conditions in the park's flooded box canyon, which set the stage for the festival's Elite Mixed Climbing Competition. Nathan Kutcher, in his first appearance at the festival, took home the championship title, beating the only other competitor to top out, Andres
published: 4 months ago
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from The Adventure Blog
While the rest of us have enjoyed a relaxing holiday season, the Antarctic skiers continue their long march to the South Pole. The season has already been a long one for many of the explorers, but it isn't over yet, and there are still many miles to go, with time starting to run short. South African solo-skier Howard Fairbank reached the Pole on Tuesday of this week, reaching the bottom of the world on his 35th day out on the ice. That is a very quick and respectable time for ski journey to the Bottom of
published: 4 months ago
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from SAIS Lochaber
Over the past few days there has been a fair bit more snow on the hills of Lochaber. Yesterday (Monday) was quite a mild day with rain at lower levels and lots of heavy wet snow higher up. Today was colder with snow showers through the day. The picture shows conditions at the snowpit site (a South-Easterly aspect at an altitude of 1130m). By probing from the bottom of the snowpit, I discovered that there is more than 4 metre of snow on this slope.
published: 5 months ago
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from Guy Steven - Mountain Leader
Today Katy and I headed into Glencoe armed with sunglasses an axe and crampons and hit Curved Ridge (III). I had thought (or hoped) that it had an ascent yesterday and put a nice tracks in, unfortunately there wasn't, so today required alot of digging. Fortunately I remembered where most of the spikes were and some of the cracks. Katy was keen for leading too, so she got on the sharp end a couple of times which was great. Saved me doing all the digging! We didn't see anyone else on the route but saw some
published: 5 months ago
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from The Adventure Blog
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Roald Amundsen, and his team, at the South Pole. To commemorate the event, I have posted a lengthy article about the race between Amundsen and his chief rival, Robert Falcon Scott, on Gadling this morning. You can read it here . Most of you already know the story of course. Amundsen, who employed techniques and skills that he learned from the Inuit tribes in the Arctic, was able to use sled dogs and a shorter approach to beat Scott to the Pole. The tragic
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from Matthew Dieumegard-Thornton
Arriving at Baruntse Baruntse Base Camp The arrival at Baruntse was impressive one, as BC, the moraine, and the towering Southwest face of Baruntse opened out in front of us. This was our home for the next 10 days. During the rest of this day and the next, the first rest days we had had for 17 days, we got straight down to business. We only had a scheduled 10 days on the mountain so every day counted. The two days were spent organising piles and many barrels of food, equipment for high on the mountain, and
published: 5 months ago
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from Matthew Dieumegard-Thornton
Introduction This blog is to mark the expedition to climb Mera Peak and Baruntse and all the events that subsequently unfolded. Since making a crazy return from the Himalayas on the 17 th November, the last few weeks have been nothing short of hectic. I have struggled to completely piece this blog together, since how do explain the euphoria of reaching a summit such as Baruntse, or even Mera Peak and the Amphu Labtsa, when I can’t totally understand the feelings myself. Ironically, I found writing the
published: 5 months ago
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from Guy Steven - Mountain Leader
Today didn't go quite as expected! Last night Tony and I decided to head over to the Cairngorms for a look over at the Shelterstone. On arrival it was clear that our both possibilities were in. It was either Sticial face or Citadel. We opted for The Citadel (VII,8). Everything was going well, we were moving quickly, the climbing was tricky and felt very bold as neither of us were able to find much gear. The route is very sustained but with two significant crux's. A lower crux and the top crux. Tony had got
published: 5 months ago
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from The Adventure Blog
It has been another eventful and busy week in the Antarctic, where teams continue to struggle with weather and difficult surface conditions. We're now far enough along into the season that the South Pole skiers are recognizing that time is at a premium, and while some will have to face harsh realities about achieving their goals, others are now racing the clock, and history, as they struggle to reach the finish line on schedule. One of the teams that is painfully aware of their position and how the clock
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