Two days of scrambling and training in the Lakes in preparation for the Altai expedition. Spent a day recapping rescue techniques at the foot of Gillercombe Buttress. Sunday was a bit wet for climbing on Pavy Ark, so we wandering up Jack's Rake then headed home.
We pitched for £1000 of support from Berghaus at the Keswick Mountain Festival this weekend for the Altai 2012 Expedition. And we won! Here we are collecting a huge cheque from climbing legends Mick Fowler and Chris Bonnington.
Saturday at Gogarth was probably my best single trad climbing day to date. Five great routes, including the 5 pitch sea cliff adventure Gogarth. Sunday began in a small snow blizzard, but quickly cleared to provide sunshine for the 12 pitches of the Avalanche/Red Wall/Longlands continuation.
The UBES AGM, traditionally held around a campsite on the edge of Windermere, gave us two great days of scrambling and climbing in the Lake District. Ran Chockstone Ridge and Harrow Buttress together on the Saturday, and then ticked a couple of routes at Castle Rock on the Sunday.
Arguably the best adventure you can have in Snowdonia. An epic route of old mining tunnels, rusty ladders, a huge iron chain and a couple of good abseils leads you around the different quarries of Llanberis.
Grooved arete is a brilliant 7 pitch climb up the side of Tryfan in Snowdonia. My partner for the day, Matt, had never climbed outdoors before (I taught him to belay as we geared up), owned no rock shoes and had two arms which were very prone to dislocation. So to make it fair, I led the route in B2s as well, which made for a much more exciting day out.
