Last week saw James Clapham and I head up to the Gervasutti Pillar on the East face of Mont Blanc Du Tacul. This is a route that has been on my wishlist for some years and it feels great to have finally laid it to rest. I think we both underestimated its length and difficulty and it took much longer to climb than we were expecting.
I’ve put together a new blog for our up and coming trip to the Himalaya’s this autumn. Its not much right now but has a bit of information about my team mates James Clapham and Gavin Pike and the objective. It will have more stories from the other guys on training climbs and past routes together and developments in the run up to trip. Check it out here.
http://talung2012.wordpress.com/
With the end of another action packed week in Cham I’m feeling pretty worked out but also pretty happy with packing so much in. 2 Sport climbing sessions, 2 bouldering sessions, 2 runs up to the Mid station of the Aiguille Du Midi, 1 Mont Blanc “rep” from 2nd Bin at the Midi over the three monts route (in 2h40mins to the summit) and a 550m E2 granite rock route in the Envers Des Aiguilles. Oh yer and 4 days work at Mountain Dropoffs. All in a 7 day period.
Heres some pictures and blurb about Children of the Moon Integrale, a stunning 18 pitch 6a+ in the Envers Des Aiguilles.
Summer alpinism is here!! Long, sweaty approaches, manky snow conditions and rainy afternoons. Still its all good fun and with the longest of days upon us getting out for a classic alpine route seems to good to pass up. My original plan was to solo the Migot Spur but with high temps forecasted I didn’t fancy A) walking across a glacier by myself or B) climbing on a north face. Luckily my good buddy Ben O’Connor Croft (of Petit Dru North Face fame) was able to make it out so we headed up to the Albert Premier hut for a Sunday night bivying on the rocks…..Continue reading
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 reasonably hectic last few weeks for me without a lot of really interesting stuff to write about. I’m currently back in the UK for the next few week’s waiting for the snow to hit Scotland so I can do some winter climbing up there. Just coming out of the two day hangover which was Kendal mountain film festival which was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. Before that I spent one night in London where I went to see the new North face film about Gasherbrum 2 and had a catch up with some mates down there. Before I left for all this me and Ally Swinton had a go at the Desmasion/Gouseault on the North Face of the Grandes Jorasses which was cut short due to a combination of factors but mainly the lack of gaz and lots of spindrift which slowed us down in the first few hours on the face. Here’s some photo’s of what we we managed to do.
Today we went to the zoo. We saw lots of animals and had lots of fun. My favourate was the Moose and the Dinosaur….