Two weeks spent trying to climb a long, unclimbed ridgeline in a cool little valley in central Tajikistan. Challenging climbing at above 5000m that resulted in several new routes but the complete traverse remains to be claimed!
More information can be found at www.muzkol2015.co.uk
This week, I had the honour of speaking at TEDxBrum in Birmingham. The talk, entitled “Soviet Cartography and the Modern Mountaineer” looked at how climbers these days can use Google Earth and Soviet military maps to find unclimbed peaks to explore. A map of all of the locations featured in the talk can be explored here.
My major expedition of the summer was a 3 week adventure exploring the South Chuyski Range of the Altai Mountains in Southern Siberia. Rather than duplicate pictures and details, I'll point you to the dedicated trip website at www.thealtai.co.uk.
What a day of climbing. The Arch Deacon is an incredible, guano filled line that traverses the lip of an enormous roof. Definitely the most amazing belay either of us have ever sat in. The whole day out was very sociable, with Casper and Sally close by, so we finished with Razorbill Roofs just to the side. Another great line through a couple of steep roofs.
This is a really great crag. Soaring out of the trees with excellent rock and what looks like a selection of great multipitch routes. We climbed Climber's Club Ordinary (Classic Rock, naturally), but I'll definitely be back.
My tour of Warwickshire and Coventry's finest local crags continued with a trip to the dirty sandstone crag of Corley Rocks. The plus point is that being 6m high, it is almost 6x higher than any other crag in the region. However, sunglasses are highly recommended, especially on the arete. As you haul up past the termites, lichen and dust you may wonder what brought you here in the first place.
Rigging the toprope is easy, if you enjoy crawling around inside a holly bush.
