3 Peaks & caravaning!

Super busy week last week - cycled the 3 Peaks on Sunday which was mental, headed down to Wales for an end of year ISM meeting, arrived home again late on Wednesday night. 9am Thursday morning the removal company arrived emptying our house of all it's contents! Friday afternoon Sal & I were drinking coffee in Sedbergh enjoying the calm after the storm. Friday night was our first night finding space in our new abode for the next 3 wks - a friends caravan on their farm on the edge of Sedbergh which is fantastic, feels like we're on holiday especially without the added stress of selling a house........

Better still the sun's shining at last - it's great weather here in the Lakes, warm in the sun, dry, no wind & clear, crisp skies - awesome & a welcome change from the weather we have had for the most part of the year & a far cry from the weather last Sunday on the 3 Peaks Cyclocross race down in Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

One of the many flooded lanes & rivers we had to ford during the race

 

Heading up Ingleborough in the murk, hail & gale force winds

 

There was way more running with the bike this year

Gale force winds, hail & very boggy wet ground set the pace, which for most of us was alot slower than in previous years!

 

 

Managed to stretch the legs out for a few hours on a more sedate ride yesterday which was great & feel reasonably fit at the moment & I feel that much of that is more head space after selling the house........... Anyway back on the rock again and enjoying some free time to get back into the training.

 

Me leading The Firing Line E5 6a, Middlefell Buttress area, Great Langdale

 

Just popped the roof hatch in the caravan - it's boiling up in here!

 

Off out bouldering later

 

Stay safe

Ade

 

The Sharks Fin

Matt Stygall sent me through this great photo of him looking back at his roped team & myself climbing over the great 'Sharks Fin' on the Classic North Ridge of the Zinal Rothorn.

Great stuff!

Ade

50th Anniversary 3 Peaks Cyclocross

The 3 Peaks Cyclocross

51 years ago in 1961 John Rawnsley of the Bradford R.C.C organised & won the very first 3 Peaks Cyclocross. It was John’s passion to organise a tough cyclocross event that would test & challenge the rider to their limits. At the time John felt there would be absolutely no risk of 100’s of cyclists taking on the 3 peaks challenge, as he very much doubted if there would be more than 30 riders in the country who’d be prepared to take on the challenge!

 

An image from last year, as we made our way up Simon Fell towards the summit of Ingleborough

 

Yesterday on the races 50th Anniversary a little under 600 cyclists (including myself) braving the weather that left Helwith Bridge & headed up the road to Horton-in-Ribblesdale (the race didn't run in 2001 due to Foot & Mouth). Around 500 cyclists managed to finish the event which saw some of the toughest conditions seen over the 50 years of the event taking place. Thick low cloud, gale force winds, hail, horizontal rain & flooding sapped all the strength of the rider as they ascended & descended the classic 3 Peaks, of Ingleborough, Whernside & Pen –Y-Gent.

It’s a 61km circuit over the 3 Peaks starting & finishing at Helwith Bridge. 33km’s is riding on unsurfaced paths & tracks, around 8km is unrideable & the rest is on the road.

Yesterday with the ground being so wet/boggy & the wind battering you at gale force strengths it was hard not to have to push or carry your bike during parts you could normally ride. It made for a really tough day, especially when carrying you bike knee deep in bog with the wind trying to rip the bike off your shoulder, or trying to ford one of the many rivers, climb the steep, slippery & boggy hillsides and cycle down very exposed windy ridges, with little visibility & on very wet slippery limestone………………………..

 

 

 

It's just a fantastic & inspiring event as shown here from 2010 -

 

http://vimeo.com/15351300

 

I was chatting to a guy at the finish, who had come up to watch the event. He said ‘he was surprised the event wasn’t cancelled?’ I said ‘they'd only cancel the event if it’s bad weather weather!’ He looked at me & said ‘what the hell do you call this!!’ & I said ‘your in Yorkshire now mate!’.

It’s one of my highlights of the past few years, a real adventure, physical endurance & test of bike handling skills on some of the toughest terrain a road bike without any suspension, but with standard drop handlebars can endure – awesome.

Rob Jebb did a great job winning the race, his 9th win since the year 2000 finishing well clear of the field & last years 3 Peaks winner Nick Craig. 

 

Hopefully some of this years photo's to follow..........

Roll on next year

Safe cycling

Ade

Zinal Rothorn

Well, much time has passed since I last had chance to sit down & catch up on life & even now it's only an hour!
The Zinal Rothorn seems a distant memory with so much that's been going on, driving back from the Alps, Flying out to Kyrgyzstan, virgin summits climbed, valley's explored, first ascents of rock routes climbed, mutton ate & Vodka drunk! not to mention the fact that Sal has sold the house while I was away, we've bought another & our life now is in boxes which fill most of the space that used to be my office! So yeh, all go at the moment & thank Leo as the Fly Cave's been a god send this busy time with short 1hr/1.5hr hits to keep the climbing ticking over & to let off some steam!

Me trying to get back to some Fly fitness

Note the picture isn't even in focus! well, Woody was waxing on about how good his new camera was, view finder + screen, 'AA' batteries & how I needed one.........well this is the image from that same camera he fired through during a session last week! he was either still shaky from working the green or I'll give the camera a miss thanks Woody!

 

 

Anyway, we had a great week. The sunday was tipping it down but we managed to get a couple of good multi-pitch rock routes climbed down in the Rhone Valley close to Martigney which was very rewarding as it was bad weather & the rock very slippery.

 

On the Monday we then drove to Sierre & headed up the Val d'Anniviers to Zinal where we parked up & took the look but very scenic walk into the Mountet Hut.

 

This hut has some fantastic views, down to the merging Grand Cournier & Zinal Glaciers & across to the surrounding peaks that dominate the head of the valley here - the N/E side of the Dent Blanche, the N/Face of the Obergabelhorn & the west face of the Zinal Rothorn - amazing.

 

 

The huge faces & ridges of the Dent Blanche seen from the Mountet Hut

The classic & easiest way up the mountain - the Wandfluegrat or South Ridge on the left

The North Face route from the Col de la Dent Blanche on the right

Arete de Quatre Ans in the middle

 

The Classic North Face of the Obergabelhorn seen from the Mountet Hut

 

The Grand Cournier & the Mountet Hut seen when heading up to check out the route to the North Ridge of the Zinal Rothorn

 

 

Our plan was to have a shortish day after a long hut walk, acclimatise & cover/refresh some basic skills while climbing the Trifthorn. I hadn't climbed the Trifthorn before & had always been steered off the peak by folk saying that is was just an easy plod. I'd always thought that it looked good sat there in between the Zinal Rothorn & the Obergabelhorn & as often the case it turned out to be a great little climb which fitted the day perfectly. 

 

Heading up the Trifthorn from the Mountet Hut

 

Matt heading up the steeper part of the Glacier on the Trifthorn

 

Great views looking north from the Trifthorn directly onto the South Ridge & across to the North Ridge of the Zinal Rothorn. 

 

 

The Next day we woke early & headed up the classic North Ridge of the Zinal Rothorn

 

John Riley enjoying the North Ridge of the Zinal Rothorn

 

 

A great panorama view from the Zinal Rothorn

The Matterhorn on the right, The snowy N/Face of the Obergabelhorn & the Dent Blanche on the right.

 

Matt, me & the team on the summit of the Zinal Rothorn

 

 

Matt & his team descending the great tower on the North Ridge of the Zinal Rothorn with the Matterhorn in the background

 

 

 

Packing up to descend from the Mountet Hut with the Dent Blanche behind

 

We had a day rock climbing on the friday which rounded off a great weeks climbing.

 

I had another week in the Alps before heading home - we climbed a couple of the 4000m peaks around Saas.

 

A fantastic early morning view looking across to the inspiring Mischabel Range & the 4000m peaks rising above Saas Fee

Left to right - Monte Rosa, Stralhorn, Rimpfischhorn, Allalinhorn, Alphubel,Taschhorn, Dom, Lenzspitze and the Nadlehorn which are all 4000m peaks

 

Summit ridge on the South Ridge of the Weismeiss, Saas Grund

 

The classic Hohlaubgrat on the Allalinhorn, Mischabel range Saas Fee

 

And the end of a great summer climbing in the Alps.

 

Safe climbing

 

Ade

 



  

Amazing & very inspiring - an Olympic Gold medal for Bradley Wiggins

 

Bradley Wiggins on fire, in the Olympic 44km time trial today

44km in 50minutes & 39 seconds!

An awesome effort on the back of his historic Tour De France win, crossing the finishing line at the Champs Elysees only 7 days ago!

Great stuff

Ade

A great few weeks guiding in the Alps

http://www.kizoa.com/slideshow/d3024022kP87774841o4/classic-alpinism

Music - Ghost Poet, the track - Survive It!

Enjoy

Safe climbing

Ade

My thoughts on the new Scarpa Crux

Back in the Lakes this week & my new Scarpa ‘Crux’ approach shoes have just arrived, which is great as I’ve had a couple of days guiding/climbing booked in & have being looking for a replacement shoe for some time now.

I’d been looking to replace my Five10 Tennies since before Christmas, but up until now haven’t found anything that was both comfy, supportive but also great to climb in. Up until now I’ve had a couple of pairs of the Five10 Tennies which I’ve been very happy climbing in as they’re super lightweight & have an awesome sticky sole which I‘ve been happy climbing/guiding in up to HVS in, but they’re so lightweight & soft in the mid-sole that I find them really hard on my feet during the walk-in’s, approaches & long days on the hill.

Early January I bought a replacement in the form of the Sportiva Ganda’s. They’re a much heavier shoe but gave great support & cushioning to the foot when approaching & walking into the crags. They also have a great lacing system which tightened the shoe right down to the toes for extra performance when climbing added to which the super sticky sole made for a great climbing/approach shoe, they even performed great on wet rock. Unfortunately though the sticky sole didn’t last a couple of weeks before it started peeling off from the main sole unit & I had to re-stick it down with super glue. This continued to be a problem on the other shoe & then also in different places around the edges & the toe area which was frustrating. Also the weight of the shoe became more & more annoying, it felt like one Ganda shoe was the same weight as both my Five10 Tennies put together!

I spend a lot of time walking, climbing & guiding so it makes a real difference & the shoe needs to be absolutely right.

I’d heard good reports about the new Scarpa Crux’s so I thought that I’d give them a run out. The Lakes this week was a real test for the Crux’s as the weather’s been absolutely awful, heavy rain, flooding in places, strong gale force winds, thunder, lightning & super wet grimy rock!

The Crux’s are slightly heavier than the Five10’s but much, much lighter than the Sportiva Ganda’s. Comfort wise & the feeling of supportiveness around the foot walking in & climbing all day in, they are comparable to the Sportiva Ganda’s but lighter & easier on the foot as the Ganda's & not as hard or uncomfortable after a long day out climbing/guiding as the Five10 Tennies.

The Scarpa’s felt very sure footed on the approaches to the crags, comfortable & supportive & didn’t feel like slipping once on the wet rocks or boulders approaching the climbs/routes. At the end of the day my feet didn’t feel like they’d had a hammering which I couldn’t say after a day climbing/guiding in the Five10’s.

Climbing wise I was a little sceptical & it took me a while to trust the Scarpa’s on small wet footholds, but the rubber & sole was awesome. The Crux’s stiffer sole unit gave the foot more support & comfort than the Five10’s when edging & the rubber was fantastic on the wet rock climbing around VS/HVS standard. Later on during the second day the wind had started to dry the rock out and I enjoyed patches of dry rock where the Crux’s really came into their own with great friction & security when I needed it & comfort/support throughout the pitch/route.

It’ll be interesting to see how they last out…………….. but really enjoying them at the moment – a great shoe for approaches, scrambling & climbing up to VS/HVS being also very comfortable & supportive during long days out.

Very impressed & they look great as well!

Safe Climbing

Ade