Last climb of 2008 - Haystacks, 29th December

Monday saw a band of intrepid Verdes Adventurers heading into the Lakes for a post Christmas relaxing walk.

After some thought we decided on Haystacks again and the team comprised of Davie, Rich S, Rich M, Paul B, Sharon and Davie's daughter Rachael, a Verdes newcomer.

The weather was superb, but cold, and the low sun meant that views over to the Gables and Scafell Range were a little prohibited.

As always, Rich S felt it necessary to move vertically and naturally Davie had to give it a try too, if at least to remove bragging rights from Slaney.

All that remained was a leisurely descent to the cars and a retail therapy session (as usual) in Keswick. Obviously, tea, cake and paninis were addressed too!

A great day out and thanks to the team for an excellent end to 2008.

Davie

Winter is here! Skiddaw, 6th December 2008

Well, it's time to get the crampons out. After a week of good snow the Lakes are again covered in acres of fun.

Paul B, John D and Davie headed up to Skiddaw to try and take advantage and to bag another first for Dicko.

The drive across was ok, the A66 having been closed earlier in the week, but the fun really started as we drove up the track to the Latrigg car park. As we ascended in Davie's apparently un -eco, Chelsea tractor (see earlier post for rant) we started to pass more and more cars parked in various states of abandon by the road side.

Sure, the road is very steep and sure, it was covered in ice but why were they abandoned so low down?

After a period of passing no cars and wondering if perhaps we had bitten off more than we could chew, we spotted 4 or 5 cars at the car park, windscreens reflecting in the sun.

Phew... 'the remainder of the road can't be that bad' we thought as we crossed another frozen stream across the road.

When we did finally arrive at the car park, to the amazement and wonder of the struggling pedestrians, we realised why they were so perplexed; the cars had been frozen in from the night before (or days before!) and had been abandoned by their drivers. The car park was pure ice and empty (see pic below.. zoom in and see the ice and the walkers avoiding it.)

Moral of the story is: ignore the assholes who put dumbass stickers on your windscreen - Discovery wins every time.

To prove a point, we turned the car on the ice rink and parked up in pride of place.

The rest was easy:

Yomp to the top of Skiddaw, through good quantities of snow, piccys on top, slippy and treacherous descent, with Paul using Davie's poles and Davie falling on his arse in the mud because he didn't have poles.

Round trip: 2 hours to the top and 1 hr 20 back. Forgot how fast Bolt-on moves with his hi capacity bumbag and travelling light.

Back to Keswick for some Verdes retail therapy, coffee and a cake and then home in time for tea.

Mission accomplished!

Davie

2008 Motorcycle show at the NEC Birmingham

Our latest outing to the Motorcycle show definitely came under the heading of ‘Therapy’, although it started off quite adventurous when I foolishly decided to take advantage of the free parking and go there on my bike. I should have realised it wasn’t a great idea when I went outside to move the car from in front of the garage and had to scrape the ice off the windscreen. The digital display inside the car happily informed me there was ‘risk of ice’ and the outside temperature was -3 degrees… hmmm, better get back inside and put another couple of layers on. The first couple of miles were OK out of the village and towards the M1 but as soon as I got to the first stretch of fast road the trip became a little cold and challenging. Trying to put some 150+ horse power through a cold tyre onto very cold and wet roads using a completely numb (from the cold) throttle hand was bordering on impossible. First gear, wheel spin, second gear, wheel spin, third gear, wheel spin plus slight forward motion and 120mph on the speedo. I knew, however, that I wasn’t actually breaking the speed limit as a cyclist managed to overtake me. This continued unit I got to the motorway and was able to stay at a constant speed.

Once at the show, I met up with Paul (Bolt-on) another Verdes biker plus Alex, Steve and Pete. Our plan was to do our own thing in the morning, meet up for lunch and then have a look around together in the afternoon.

I had two objectives in the morning 1. find some warm gloves for the trip back and 2. select a new bike to replace the R1 (Shhh, don’t tell the wife). The gloves were easy but the new bike was proving difficult. There are several new bikes for 2009 and the one I most wanted to see wasn’t at the show…doh!

After lunch (courtesy of Paul) we got together to revisit some of the show highlights. Paul took us to the Ducati stand to meet his latest acquisition. A Ducati Street Fighter, the latest lunatic bike from the Bologna factory. Basically a 1098 superbike without a fairing, it looks amazing and will probably induce involuntary bowel movements from anyone who dares to ride the thing. By coincidence the model I most wanted to ride was also on the Ducati stand and I managed to get a photo of Paul’s and mine together (below)

After a little retail therapy, I prepared myself for the freezing conditions and the madness that is M42 rush hour traffic on the way home. Fortunately the weather had improved and the temperature was a healthy 4 degrees.

Bring on the summer!

Rich S

The spirit of adventure... not.

I meant to put this post up some weeks ago, following a trip to Leeds Wall.

Whilst putting in some very difficult routes, some treehugger with no courage or backbone, sneaked into the car park and defaced my lovely gas guzzler with this hilarious note.

Just in case the offending 'pocket pool player' reads blogs, here are few images that show the LR3 in a less than suburban environment.

Normal school run will resume shortly.

Davie

The Gables, 24th October 2008

The UK weather is a fickle thing. The forecast for today was that we would have 60mph gusts at 900m and that we would have a bit of sun in the morning, with showers in the afternoon.

This weather forecast precluded any attempt on the Napes Needle as a) it was really windy for the ascenders and b) it was too cold for the 'hangers-on' to be waiting for the process to unfold. So we opted for an ascent of Great Gable with a secondary peak of Green Gable thrown in. For the scramblers, there was the option of heading over to Westmoreland Crags as an approach to the summit.




This was a first Verdes Adventure for Steve H.



Steve is a newcomer to the rigours of Verdes but proved to be a complete 'no holds barred' member as the day progressed. Rich M had never summited Great Gable so another personal goal was up for grabs..

Denied an attempt at the Needle, John D and Rich S made good use of the day to take the off piste routes, taking the scrambling line wherever possible and ending on a scramble through Westmoreland Crags as a means to the summit.



A good day was had by all and there was something for everyone during the trip.

Still got to to thread this needle though for the virgins....

Davie

Anything you can do....

In the '80s, Ron Fawcett, from Yorkshire, was one of Britain's foremost climbers.

He was raw muscle, built like a bionic flea and could perch himself on the very slightest of holds as he powered his way up a series of challenging first ascents.

A true Verdes Adventurer and worthy of mention in our blog.

Here's Ron having a rest on a steep (and high) piece of grit stone.

Needless to say, all Verdes adventurers rest in a similar way when they are waiting for their belayer to set up the camera.

Here's a spookily similar image of Davie resting on a 6a route at Leeds Wall.

History repeating itself?

Perhaps not....

Davie

Leeds Wall, 17th October 2008

Rich S, Ian S and Davie combined work with a bit of pleasure at Leeds Wall today.

We decided to forego the usual bouldering and bottom roping approach and instead concentrated on lead climbing.

As usual, Richard scampered up stuff, but we managed to get a few good climbs in. Ian was very impressive with his 'I'll climb two routes simultaneously' approach, using two holds for each foot at some points. (or should I say for each flipper.)

Leeds is a cracking wall and a must for Verdes afficionados. We'll try and schedule a weekly session there and aim for Fridays as these aren't too busy.

Next session is probably on Monday morning - email me if you want to come for a couple of hours... its great fun!

Davie

Total Rethread. Napes Needle and Great Gable, 12th October 2008

Davie and Phil H headed off to the Lakes yesterday to introduce Phil to Napes Needle.

The trip commenced on a note best forgotten. On arrival at Stockley Bridge we came upon a young lass taking a picture of her boyfriend on the bridge. I offered to take a snap of them both together and when she climbed back up to give me her camera, I set off for a good vantage point.

I turned to take the snap and promptly fell spectacularly on to my chest and shoulder, completely wrecking the camera in the process.

In a true Verdes moment, I clambered back over to the stunned couple, gave her back the wreckage and got her name and address before disappearing into the distance.


We took time out to examine flora and fauna on the way and were soon at Sty Head Tarn. We pushed on across the Climbers Traverse and as we arrived at the Needle, there were a couple climbing up the joining wall, using the crux of the Needle as a holding point.

Oh no! Congestion....


I climbed up to the girl who was anchored and prepared the belay for Phil. The rock was very greasy and the rope was definitely needed. The scramble up unroped had been a bit hairy and I was glad that I would be abseiling down. The lead climber abseiled down to join me and his partner and we established that we were all from Ripon!

They were squaddies; her from Signals and him in the Engineers.

Bloody craphats!

Phil managed to get past the initial moves and was soon joining us at the crux. Getting down the other side was tricky as the rocks and holds were really grimy but he was soon safe and sound.


One classic abseil later and we were having lunch on our lofty perch, over looking Scafell Pike, Lingmell and Great End.





We continued around the Traverse until we reached the Kirk Fell path on the West side and used this to gain the summit of Great Gable.


Job done.





Although clear for most of the day, the cloud was quite heavy at around 700m and visibility was around 40m.



We headed back down to the stretcher box and developed a top tip for in the mountains; if you're going to injure yourself, do it by the box! MRT will know exactly where you are, distance to get to you is minimised and you can use the box as shelter until they arrive...





Got back to the car after 8 1/2 hrs - a cracker of a day out.

Next threading session is on the 24th October - so if you haven't done it and want to lose your cherry - come along.

Davie

The Roaches, 10th October 2008

Not wanting to be known as someone with all gear but no idea, I decided to get out on some rock and have a go at leading a climb. The venue selected was The Roaches in Staffordshire, with beautiful views, a good selection of climbs of all grades and some multi-pitch classics thrown in for good measure. It also happens to be close to the home of Kev; a fireman, Paddy dive instructor, biker and of course a highly skilled climber.

My first lead was to be Prow Corner, a 12 metre VDiff. It was chosen as a first because it is not too challenging but has loads of cracks to practice placing protection. With just about every piece of gear from my rack placed in every gap, crack or hole (to gain experience rather than protect the route) I made it to the top and set up my belay. Kev would now second the route and inspect each piece of protection and give me feedback on its effectiveness. Fortunately, all was well and sufficient for Kev to declare it was time for a more challenging route!

We moved to the upper tier to access the longer climbs and found the ‘Right Route’. Another VDiff but this time a 24 metre split into two pitches. I led the first pitch of around 15 metres to a lofty belay stance with fabulous view over Tittesworth Reservoir. When I was anchored in, Kev started to climb, evaluating my gear placement on route. Once along side me, another inspection of my belay then he led the second pitch of 9 metres to the top. Second route done and still enough daylight to attempt another route.

The next route was just a little further up and was called Maud’s Garden. A 21 metre, VDiff, multi pitch. I led the first pitch again which was quite easy to climb but, due to the lack of any kind of crack or gap, I found I had to climb around 5 metres un-protected. Once I had my first lump of hardware in the wall I relaxed and found the rest of the climb a pleasure. The large ledge at 12 metres provides the belay stance and allowed me to bring Kev up who continued through to lead the second pitch.

By the time we got back to the start of the climb the light was rapidly fading but Kev was already planning his diary so we could come back and move up a grade or two. There is a classic route at the Roaches called Valkyrie (38 metre, VS 4a, 4c) that he has wanted to lead for sometime. Just need a little more practice…

Rich S

ML Assessment

Well, it's assessment week.

Found out earlier in the week that Ginger is going to be involved in my assessment - this is good and bad news.

Good, because: a) it's always a pleasure to be in his company b) it kind of completes the circle for me as it was him who trained me and c) I'll undoubtedly learn loads even though it is an assessment.

Bad though, because: a) he takes no prisoners b) he moves across mountains the way mere mortals move across bowling greens c) he is completely anal about all the fungi, flora and fauna stuff and d) he night navs like a bat.

More important is the fact that I don't want to let him down - so the drive back to the Cairngorms is a bit stressful to say the least.




The first morning saw us getting settled in and doing a bit of a mountain walk with Pete Hill. This covered all aspects of group management; entertaining your group, floral, fauna, wildlife, geology and as always, the weather. I was joined by 3 other hopefuls; Mark, Ian and Ally, who had been on the same training as me in April.

We spent some time in Coire an Lochan before descending down the Goat Track to the Coire Cas car park. All the while, Pete would ask us to confirm our positions and where we were.

When we got back, we started on Emergency Procedures and improvised carries. I had been well schooled in this and opted for the simple, fast and effective methods.

Ian however, spent 15 minutes tying an elaborate rope stretcher, before lying on it and asking us to move him.

Pete, with a few deft tugs of the rope, reduced this ensemble to a crumpled heap, before giving him a second try. When this feat of engineering was completed for the second time, the three of us had already demonstrated our favourite 3 lifts and were waiting patiently - moral of the story is KISS (keep it simple, stupid).

A review of the written papers and day one was complete.

Day 2 had us up in the Corries again for severe ground day (plus group management, weather etc.. it doesn't stop just because you're playing with ropes!). We belayed, abseiled, belayed, lowered over and over until Pete had seen enough examples. Then we were beasted back to cars to look for a river to cross; sadly, the levels were either too low or high, so we postponed until Friday.



The next 3 days saw us beasted over the Cairngorm Plateau by the one and only Ginger. Searching endlessly for misty, crappy conditions, our meanderings took us over the top of Cairngorm and down towards Cairn Lochan. This was good however; as visibility was so bad, it was starting to look as though a night nav may be unnecessary.




We picked a good campsite and settled in for the night. However after dinner, Ginger announced that we were going on a night nav so he could have another look at us.

Great fun!

The next morning I was tasked to get the group to the top of Ben Macdui, the second highest mountain in the UK (1309m). Visibility was poor at first, but a temperature inversion meant that we soon climbed above it, with various mountains peeking above the clouds - fantastic!




More micro navigation followed with the attendant lectures on flora, weather and Cairngorms history before making back to the camp.




The last day saw us heading back to the cars and looking for a river to cross and this time we were in luck.

Again, simplicity was the order of the day and we all managed to get across safely, but coldly under the close scrutiny of Ginger.

Heading back to Grantown on Spey was the most nerve racking 30 minutes of the week. Chat in the car was subdued as we all wondered if we'd passed. Ginger, like Pete, had given nothing away and you don't get daily feedback - you get it all at the end.

When we arrived at the hotel we ordered tea and awaited the decision of the judges. I opted to go first and sat down with the two assessors with my heart pounding. Thankfully, there was no delay and Pete told me I had passed.

Yes! the reward for about 5 months of effort. I was chuffed to bits on a range of fronts - that the time away from home each week had paid off, that I had succeeded in rubber stamping my hobby and that I hadn't let Ginger down by having to fail or defer me.

Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way - Rich S for the big push and encouragement from the moment we thought it up in Finland. Rich M, John D, Paul B, and Ian S for being willing 'punters' along the way and for the the words of encouragement on all my Quality Mountain Days. Champo for his help and support during the training and coming with me up some of the Munros in less than clement weather.

And a huge thanks to Ginger. For the training, the support, the encouragement and the example.
Now we need to register for the Winter Award.

Davie

ps - The B+B was excellent - http://www.kinrosshouse.co.uk/ and a huge thanks to Jane and Gary for all the support - THE place to stay in the Cairngorms.