The Beauty of Rime
I love rime. I love how these tails of ice seem to form on rocks, fences, walls, posts and anything bold enough to stand upright on a frozen, windy mountain. I love how rime’s strange, white crystalline structures seem to sprout from the dark surfaces of rocks to either bring them into relief or bury them in ice. It amazes me that rime can form as a razor of ice down one side of a single blade of grass and as an icy lattice inches deep on a wire fence. What I especially love about rime is how it adds a new beauty and character to these small things as well as to a whole mountain landscape. Continue reading The Beauty of Rime
Be Seen on the Mountain
I couldn’t see where the cries for help were coming from. The rocky hulk of Tryfan was almost black in the twilight and was shrouded in cloud. I could tell the shouts of help were definitely coming from high on Tryfan’s west face, but they were just disembodied voices in the growing dark. Continue reading Be Seen on the Mountain
The Recipe for Rock Climbing Cereal Bars
There’s no denying it: when I’m on a mountain, I want my calories. On a recent climb, having run out of both food and water, the path down the mountain was occupied with intense fantasies about ice-cream, salty crisps and about as much icy water as my stomach could handle. It’s common sense that when you’re exercising, unless you’re trying to shed the pounds, you need to increase your calorie intake. Continue reading The Recipe for Rock Climbing Cereal Bars
Climbing in the Palms – Sport Climbing on Gran Canaria
Rain, or the threat of it, is a big part of the life of an English rock climber. A fair amount of time is spent planning how to avoid rain, waiting for rain to stop, finding somewhere that it isn’t raining or just being rained on. In 2012, I seemed to spend far more time than usual in this dance with the rain and so wanted somewhere for my honeymoon in November where I could climb without having to worry too much about rain driving me off the crag. Gran Canaria, the biggest of the Canary Islands, was the destination my wife and I settled on. Continue reading Climbing in the Palms – Sport Climbing on Gran Canaria
Vie Ferrate on Gran Canaria
I never would have guessed that an island in the Atlantic, off the coast of Africa, has incredible vie ferrate – the cabled climbing routes more normally associated with the Dolomites and the Alps. But Gran Canaria has several vie ferrate that give interesting, hard climbing on volcanic rock and which take you through wild country with stunning views of mountains and sea. Two of the vie ferrate on this Spanish island have even been listed in the top ten in that country and I fully understand why. Continue reading Vie Ferrate on Gran Canaria
The return of the rock climbing wedding cake toppers
On 27 October 2012 I got married to a wonderful woman. On our wedding cake were a pair of rock climbing wedding cake toppers made by my brilliant and amazing wife. Continue reading The return of the rock climbing wedding cake toppers
Recalling a Crisis
A failure of crucial safety equipment leads to a tragic death. Major manufacturers issue urgent recalls of the equipment and an emergency meeting of the industry body decides to review safety standards. If this were a story about a major consumer product, it would be major news. It’s not. This is a story about a piece of specialist mountaineering equipment – via ferrata lanyards. For this reason you won’t find this story mentioned outside the specialist press. It’s a story with a lot of the features of a crisis. Although the response to it has been swift, it raises all sorts of questions about the regulation of mountain sports and the accessibility of the mountains to the public. Continue reading Recalling a Crisis
Rocking stag weekend
Rock climbing certainly had to be part of it. My best man, Jim, and I agreed that pretty early on. My stag do would have to involve adventure and I’m a keen climber, plus I had met all of my friends who would be on the trip through rock climbing. However, there were some issues with this idea. Continue reading Rocking stag weekend
Rock the morning after
It’s common for rock climbers to drink alcohol after climbing. It’s also common for rock climbers to go climbing the morning after drinking alcohol. If done in moderation and sensibly, this can be fine. But it can also be unsafe and affect climbing performance both in the short and long-term. Continue reading Rock the morning after
One of the most photographed views in the Dolomites…in cloud
It’s been said that the view across Lago di Misurina to the Sorapiss group of mountains is one of the most photographed in the Dolomites. The full mass of these mountains reflected in the quiet, clear waters of Lago di Misurina is a view to make you sigh and stare as you try to take in the glory of it. During my time in Misurina, this view was in cloud. Continue reading One of the most photographed views in the Dolomites…in cloud
UPDATE – Totally Recalled
It’s been reported that an emergency meeting of the Safety Commission of the UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations d’Alpinisme – International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation) will be held this week because of concerns over the safety of via ferrata lanyards from several manufacturers. Continue reading UPDATE – Totally Recalled
In praise of Builders Bars
It’s hard to write about Builders Bars without sounding like an advert. They may only be protein bars, but they are great protein bars. They are also brilliantly convenient if you want to recover after rock climbing and don’t want the hassle of protein powder drinks. Continue reading In praise of Builders Bars
Totally Recalled
Earlier this week equipment manufacturer Edelrid issued a product recall for a selection of their via ferrata lanyards. This recall follows a fatal via ferrata accident a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, investigations have so far established an association between increased use of these lanyards and a weakening of their elasticated webbing. As the Edelrid lanyards involved in this accident had apparently been rented, it is quite possible that they had seen greater than usual use. However, the actual cause of the accident has not yet been established and Edelrid have issued the product recall as a precaution. Continue reading Totally Recalled
Learning to lead
Well, after two years following Robin up crags and cliffs, we decided that 2012 would be the year I would learn to lead. Aside from the fact that it’s frankly rather cool, I had several reasons I wanted to progress to leading. Firstly, I wanted to start pulling my own weight in our climbing partnership, we both want to have a stab at longer multi-pitch routes where leading through is necessary, and lastly, you haven’t really experienced trad climbing until you’ve been reduced to a quivering wreck… Continue reading Learning to lead
the Severe climber 