Despite working full time at the moment (well four days a week but still, ugh), I’ve still managed to get out and about climbing some of chamonix’s premier slitter and pocket pulling in the Verdon gorge. The summer is in full swing now and its hot hot hot! Good for climbing granite in the mountains but not so conducive for southern french limestone adventure sport which is where this tale begins…..Continue reading
Just got back from a super fun trip in the Envers des Aiguilles. Despite being shut down by the weather on both our climbing days spirits ran high and many fun pitches of granite climbing was experienced. I’m a big fan of this zone and i’ll be back soon for sure. Maybe with a lighter pack, warmer weather, less snow and a more stable weather forecast!!
Cold Thistle: Climbing pack in Cham?.
A recent gear review of the Blue Ice Warthog for Cold Thistle.
I’ve been hankering after something bigger for a while now and it is with great excitement that I announce my up and coming plans for this October and November. Myself, Gavin Pike and James Clapham (of colton/macintyre brethren) have laid plans to head out to Nepal for a 6 week climbing trip with the main objective being the unclimbed 1800m North Spur of Talung (7,349m) near Kangchenjunga.
We have already received a great deal of support from various climbing grants which are hugely helpful and welcome. The contributors so far include the Mark Clifford Memorial Award, Nick Estcourt Award, Alpine Club, Mount Everest Foundation and the British Mountaineering Council.
We will be setting up a blog for the trip soon so be sure to follow it when it arrives.
Its been a slow few weeks mountains wise. Lots of snow has been falling and lots of leaving party’s to go to. Productivity has been low and therefor stuff to write about has been few and far between. Two days ago the clouds parted and the promise of good conditions saw me getting ready for a big day off the Midi. With my knee feeling good I was very psyched to get up and have a productive day. I meet my Friend Ross Hewitt and Si Christy. Continue reading
Its days like these that remind me why I live in Cham. It feels so good to be back out ripping around the mountains again. Yesterday myself, Rob Stokes, and Lorne Cameron headed up for the Breche du Tacul. This isn’t the first time that I have skied this route but I had such a good day on it last time around I knew it would be a good day again. Its been a week since the last snowfall and its been warm in Cham since so a lot of the snow has been destroyed by the sun. The couloir that you ski on the Breche Du Tacul faces almost directly east so fortunately the sun softens the snow up enough in the morning to make the skiing very pleasant. With an easy skin, bootpack and some fun easy mixed climbing up to the Breche this route is constantly interesting and even held the interest of Rob who has the attention span of a Gnat. When you get to the Breche you need to traverse along the ridge to the left about 20m and the couloir drops down the East face and joins into the Breche Puiseux descent. After skiing the Couloir (45degrees for 350M) we hit the upper Leschaux Glacier and found some weird but fun snow back to montenvers. All in all a great day had by all followed by that special kind of tired and satisfied that only a day in the Mountains can bring.
Pistes are OK, for a bit, but I personally get feed up of them pretty soon. I’ve been hammering about in the resort quite a lot recently trying to build up the muscles in my legs which had all but withered away since my accident. Everything was feeling good this week and with a good snowfall behind us over the past week it was time to take things a step further. Time to go touring!! Me and Michelle Blaydon headed up to Flegere to ski the Glacier Mort on Pointe Alphonse Favre. The first hike up to the Col Des Aiguille Crochues was a sweaty, busy and generally tedious experience which could have been avoided had we got there a slightly earlier. At one point I got wiped out by a punter who decided to fall on top of me whilst I was changing from ski’s to boots becasue my knee couldn’t deal with the slippy kick turns. Apparently it was my fault? I think not buddy . After the second sweaty hike we got to the top of PAV and found some great snow which lead us down to the Berard valley and on to a nice cold beer in Le Buet. Watch out for the cliffs on the descent if you head up there to do it. We had to hike back up 30m or so after we started to ski because we got cliffed-out following a track.
More Info here.
http://www.chamonixtopo.com/glacier-mort-aiguille-rouge
I’ve been back in Chamonix for a couple of weeks now and it has been more or less solid work during this super busy holiday period. This week however I managed to make it out for a few hours of skiing! I have been working really hard on the physio and things are feeling really good. It seemed quite apt that my first days skiing since I broke my leg was at the Le Tour baby slope. This is where skiing started for me 4 years ago so it was a bizarre feeling to be starting all over again in the same place. The day after Le Tour I headed out for another ski at Brevent, which again went really well I even skied a black run. I’m so happy with how things have progressed since my injury and also very surprised by how quickly I have returned to sport. My surgeon told me initially that I wouldn’t be doing any sport untill at least 6 months after my op. It turned out to be 2 months and 12 days. There is still a way to go before I am back to my normal pace but I really can’t complain.
I’m looking forward to getting out in the big mountains again soon but for the mean time its more pistes and one legged squats!!
About a week or so ago I went for my 6 week X-ray to check to see if the bone had knitted together properly. The news was good and the doctor allowed me to start fully weight bearing as I felt comfortable. I was off the crutches that afternoon and working hard on the physio. Thing have continued to progress well and I have had three physio sessions in the past week (thank you NHS!!). Lots of standing on one leg, squats and walking up and down stairs. I’ll progress onto the one-legged-swissball-squats in due time but for the moment I’m just happy to have my freedom back. It’s been great to be able to take the dog for a walk on the beach again and carry hot food around safely.
I’m hoping to be back in Chamonix in the next week or so but skiing and climbing are still quite a way of. My physio has been very impressed with my progress even in the last week so she thought that if I worked hard I should be able to get back on the Ski’s again in late March or early April which is of course great news. I however am just looking forward to being back in the mountains again.
My pace of life has slowed down quite a bit in the last month. At this time of the year I would normally be working long days for the airport transfer company I drive for (Mountain Dropoffs) and on days off I would be enjoying some of the awesome tree skiing that Chamonix has to offer or having some sort of adventure in the mountains. Skiing deep, soft snow with friends has given me some amazing memories from past few years and It sounds like Chamonix is getting the Ski season it deserves this year.
For me though it was not meant to be. Instead fun (and hard work) has given way to boredom and a state of lethargy that is difficult to shake. Not being able to get out of the house easily by myself has forced me to concentrate on other things. It would be easy to kick back and relax into some good old day time TV. The problem is I gave up on the easy life a few years ago and I am not about to forget this because of a broken leg.
Getting about on the old crutches is hard…..but so was climbing when I started. I try to go for a hobble every few days and each time I go as far as the palms of my hands will let me then suffer my way back home. I have been on the pull-ups too which I hope will keep my climbing fitness going. My main focus, however, has been developing a new website.
The idea was simple. Bring information together for the most popular routes in the Mont Blanc Massif. I have started to compile blog posts, videos and topos for some routes and I currently have information for about 60 now. Some have just a link to a blog post or a video and some have both.
I have also made three minitopo’s so far which you can look at on the site and download for free if you want. I am looking to create more over the next few weeks and keep at it as time goes by. Rome wasn’t build in a day as they say. If you have any thoughts or feedback then let me know in the comments section below of if you want to contribute in anyway then send an email to; chamonixtopo@homtail.co.uk
Apart from this my leg is doing well. I can bend my knee all the way now and I have been keeping my quads going with basic physio exercises which I do every few hours. Not quite the same as climbing a 1000m face or Skiing 2700m of vertical but I do what I can.
I have an Xray scheduled in a few days which should tell me that I can start weight-bear and will hopefully mark the start of me learning to walk again. I have a goal of skiing again before the end of this ski season in Chamonix which my physio thought should be achievable if I work hard. Which I will…..