George Cave

Crossing to the Finsteraarhornhütte

Today was a big day out as we crossed over the range to the Finsteraarhornhütte on the opposite side. The steep approach to the col was filled with the same soft snow we had experienced two days previously on the Monch and we were very grateful for the French guided party in front for breaking the trail!

After summiting the Hinter Fiescherhorn we set off down to the hut through the maze of crevasses, serac debris and must-make turns!

Walcherhorn

A marvellous day of weather in the Bernese Oberland. We were sad to leave Will behind to fix a problem with his skins; the remaining three of us made a day trip to the Walcherhorn across the glacier from our base in the Mönchsjoch Hut.

Approaching the Mönch

Will, Clay, Steve and myself began our week of ski touring with a skin across to the base of the Mönch. The half metre of unconsolidated powder did little to deter us from making a start on the route... until around 40m up when we decided our vertical swim was a hopeless endeavour and we should retire to the hut to plan the rest of our week's touring.

Will 'o the Wisp

Proclaimed in the guidebook as "one of the all-time Mid Wales classic routes", we found the crag at Craig Cywarch in a rather damp, vegetated condition. Undeterred, and hoping never to need return to this Classic Rock destination, we set off of a team ascent and were pleased to see the route improve considerably after the first, dripping pitch. Overall it was a rather cold day, clearly illustrated by the chilling temperature inversion in the valley below.

Gashed Crag

Ross, Clay, Steve and myself spent our first day of New Year's week in Snowdonia and the cold, clear conditions gave us great weather for a team ascent of this classic Tryfan scramble. One pitch below the summit we were joined by the buzzing hulk of the Coastguard Rescue which hovered obligingly long enough to get some decent photos mid-belay.

Stanage Popular and Hen Cloud

It's been a good weather weekend with Steve in the Peak District. We aimed to tick four classic rock routes at Stanage and Hen Cloud, which we achieved with plenty of time to spare, so squeezed in a couple more including the excellent gritstone climbs of Mississippi Buttress Direct and Robin Hood's Cave Innominate.