BMG Alpine Training

We had a super busy week last week running the BMG Summer Alpine Training course with 4 Aspirant Guides just about to start their Alpine seasons. This week was just the start of 2 seasons where they'll be working alongside fully qualified IFMGA Guides gaining the work experience necessary to pass both their assessment next year & give them confidence & the right skills, to go away once they've passed to work independently as an IFMGA guide.

 

Mike Brownlow, one of the Aspirants on the training last week

It's a long road going through the guides scheme with an initial induction process & preliminary training in September, Off Piste ski training through the winter & an avalanche course, then our summer rock climbing training here in the Lakes in May, some training & coaching skills down in Wales a couple of weeks later & then a summer rock climbing assessment down in North Wales in September again, after working through the summer. They then head up to Scotland to start the winter phase of training & assessment before linking up with them again at the Alpine stage..........

Like I say, they still have 2 seasons of Aspirancy work but then they start the ski touring training & then days working alongside IFMGA guides gaining work experience. 

Like I say it's a long road, but well worth it in the end!

The guys last week had a day working on a Via Ferrata, before heading up to the Moiry Hut. Up at the hut we concentrated on group work, roping up, glacier travel, short roping & moving together on snowy ridges, crevasse rescue techniques, ecole de glace..........all with the mind set of both being able to do it all perfectly themselves! but also being able to run a structured session & teach it to others confidently & well.

It's a great venue but just super snowy everywhere at the moment & we wanted to get the guys moving on more technical rocky terrain, so we bailed & worked the lower limestone ridges in the pre-alpine terrain which worked perfectly.

 Gastlosen, near Juan & north of Leysin

We first headed to Gastlosen & climbed the classic traverse from the SW to the NE which is great terrain for us to work on their short roping techniques, moving together, short pitching & all the transitions between up & down whether that's short roping up & down or using other techniques such as lowering or abseiling............the terrain couldn't have been better & the routes a long classic!

 One of the many towers on Gastlosen

We then headed to the Gais Alpin just above Montreau as the weather was mixed & worked on much the same, but then on the final day we headed over to Solalex above Villars & traversed the Miroir. This was a very long day working the 2km of rocky mixed terrain but really gave us the chance to pull it all together.

 The start of the Miroir de Argentine traverse

A very long week, but great & very inspiring to be around the guys & involved in their training & seeing some great progression from everyone by the end of the week.
Ended up in Leysin at 10.30pm on the Friday night! 

 

Gastlosen

Back in the UK now for 5 days & enjoying some great weather the Lakes is having at the moment.

Stay safe

Ade

Alps last week

I can't believe that I've already worked a week here in the Alps! The winter in the UK seemed to last forever & then after a short spring summer's arrived! The time seems to have flown by.

The same applies for the weather & season here in the Alps. It was only 2 weeks ago that Leysin had another 6 inch dump of snow! Although the switch has been flicked & even though there's buckets of snow around high up the weather here this past week has been fantastic - +30 degrees down in Aosta driving back to Leysin from the Gran Paradiso Wednesday late afternoon!

I had a great week again with the students from Petroc College, which used to have been known as North Devon College. For the last 4 years I've given the students an introduction into Icefall climbing during the winter, but this was the first week we've done together in the Alps during the summer. 

It was great to give the students an introduction into Alpine Mountaineering & they really gave the week 100% - it was great to feed off the students enthusiasm for rock climbing & just being in the mountains learning new skills.

Short roping & moving together techniques up the Leysin Via Ferrata on the Tour D'Ai

The guys enjoying being 'in at the deep end!' high up on the Tour D'Ai Via Ferrata

Tom enjoying the steep ground & exposure, but also leading his rope using simple short roping techniques.

Jamie & Mike high up on the steep headwall in the Leysin Via Ferrata

Rock climbing & teaching leading down at Dorenaz - Jamie doing a great job leading Jackpot grade 5b

Teaching the boys some prussiking down at Dorenaz - Tom & Sam

Jamie leading Arachnophile grade 5b+ down at Dorenaz

Heading into the mountains - buckets of snow still up in the Gran Paradiso

We stayed here a couple of nights in the Refugio Vittorio Emanuelle in the Gran Paradiso

Great conditions on the Ciaforon - the North Face route with a team just topping out & the classic North East Ridge on the left grade AD.

The team heading up to the Col beneath the Becca Di Monciair

Beautiful weather & very snowy conditions made for some fantastic mountaineering which was done in the most part with snow shoes on! incredible snow conditions for the middle of June, but super warm.

The team still all in one piece after a crevasse rescue session!

Ibex in Valsavarenche, Gran Paradiso.

Heading back to Pont after a great, adventurous few days in the mountains.

Coaching rock climbing & leading back in Leysin up on the Leysin Tours.

Perfect views from the Leysin Tours across the valley to Diablerets & the Gran Mouveran & the Mont Blanc massif further right in the photo.

Mike Bazley, the man behind the Outdoor course at Petroc & the driving force behind all their adventures, here enjoying the climbing here in Leysin

Chris enjoying the climbing & weather! here in Leysin

Peter relaxing & enjoying time climbing up at the Leysin Tours, Switzerland.

We all had a great week & I hope to see some new faces this winter Icefall climbing over in Grindelwald in January - Thanks again to Mike for making the trip happen.

The weather continues & I'm off to work on the British Mountain Guides Alpine Training Course this coming week - working with the new Aspirants is always very inspiring & I'm looking forward to a great week.

Safe climbing

Ade  

Tierra Roc Blanc Jacket review

Tierra Roc Blanc Jacket test & review

Test

I’ve worn the Tierra Roc Blanc Jacket for about 10 weeks this winter, icefall climbing in both the European Alps & the Canadian Rockies – which equates to over 50 days climbing ice & mixed routes

 

Fabric

The Roc Blanc uses a three layer Gore-Tex Pro Shell membrane with a brand new top face fabric. Pro Shell is best for extended trips in severe conditions. It’s less breathable than the Tierra Rockette Active Shell, but its solid no nonsense membrane makes it warmer & more durable than the Tierra Rockette Active Shell, which in turn makes it far better suited for trips into the higher mountains in both summer & winter where you’ll encounter the worst in what the weather can throw at you.

 

Fit

The Roc Blanc’s a very good tailored fit, they call it ‘athletic’ but I’m not sure that I’d fit that! It’s great though, feeling very trim with no access, but being well articulated at the same time. When placing the ice tools above your head the jacket doesn’t ride up above your harness. The sleeves are long & a good length, especially for someone like myself who stands up at 6ft. The sleeves again are well cut, so that when you need to stretch out the cuffs stay where they should & don’t ride up your arm. The sleeve cut & articulation is made even trimmer due to the under arm ‘pit’ zips being off-set towards to the front of the jacket & not bulking up the area underneath the arm ‘pit’. 

Features

The jackets well designed & very functional. The lines are clean with minimal excess due to the trim fit.  Two crossover chest pockets provide quick & easy access & a good size to fit a map, spare gloves or knife & abseil tat. Unlike most jackets the Roc Blanc has unique ventilation zips that sit just in-front of the arm rather than underneath the arm which are sometimes awkward to open & close. These zips allow easy access when on the move & when ventilation is a priority. The sleeve cuffs have good strong Velcro fasteners which really wrap around & seal the wrist. The storm hood’s a good size allowing the helmet to fit neatly underneath it. The wired peak keeps off the worst of the weather & gives it a great shape. Neat hood adjusters thread back neatly inside the jacket, but at the same time can be adjusted from outside with gloves on. The zips throughout are totally waterproof, neat & don’t feel like they’re going to fail any time soon! The draw cord at the base of the jacket can be used to tailor the fit even further.

 

Conclusion

It’s a solid no-nonsense jacket which looks great, is well designed, functional & a lovely trim fit.

Stay safe

Ade

Wild Horses 2!

A short piece on our new route this winter in the Canadian Rockies

We headed back up Totem Creek, after a semi rest day climbing over in Field. Our old tracks clearly visible in the unconsolidated sugar snow weaving around the boulders in the creek bed & around Canadian Pines & Silver Birch growing thick & dense up from the banks searching for firmer ground. Wolverine tracks cut across ours in places where the ground was more open & trees less dense. We followed our tracks high onto the left bank to where the sun had the most effect, with the freeze thaw cycle giving us firmer ground again.

Still, the going was easier than when we’d hike in a couple of days previous. The temperatures had been minus 25 & the snow even drier & more unconsolidated with every step breaking through to the ground below. Higher now we could see the top of the route, white ice filling out a huge rock corner just above the tops of the pines.

We had a similar view when we first caught a glimpse of the same ice driving down the Icefields Parkway on the way back from Weeping Wall. We were heading back to Lake Louise when out the corner of my eye I saw the ice, between 2 trees. A split second & only a fleeting glimpse, but Ice all the same. It took a couple of seconds for the brain to process but yes it was Ice & yes I’d never seen it before & no I can’t recall seeing it in the guidebook. Stop!. Dean braked hard & pulled over. He looked across & new I’d seen something…. so he slowly reversed up, while I tried to find the 2 trees again. Stop! There it was the same view, Ice? We think so, formed? We can’t see, accessible? We don’t know, excited? Yes very! We headed straight back to Lake Louise to do some homework.

Now that same view is more obvious & all the questions answered well all apart from one – can we get to the ice? 3 days earlier we hiked in to within 300m of the base of the route & had to turn back, due to a huge snow slope which we thought was unstable & could avalanche protecting it. We headed back down to a sunny place in amongst the trees where we could see the route in full. So close but so far! We ate, drank & sat looking at the route feeling very frustrated at not even getting to the base of the ice & it & what an awesome looking line, but how can we get to it? The more we sat, the more we looked at the right bank leading up into the base of the route. The bank looked a little scoured of snow in places, with a possible line weaving around a rock pinnacle & then down to an unknown & out of sight section getting to the base of the ice. We race back down the hill, excited.

Today it feels different, it’s warmer, there’s a track in, we know the route’s formed, complete & looks amazing. It’s easier walking but the access is still not totally known, we march on in silence. We’re earlier, it’s 5am which we hope will give us plenty of day to play with. We start talking again, as we break off from our old track and onto unknown terrain again. Bad unconsolidated snow again but added to it a firm thick layer below that ‘whompfing’ with every step. We assessed the slope again & I head off alone while Dean holds back. We do this until we reach more scoured ground above & the way opens up. As the sun comes up we can see the slopes below the route more clearly & our old tracks just stopping in the middle of it all. Good decision! Yep!.

We find a flat spot, take the snow shoes off, put crampons on, harness up & get the rope out. The way on still looks good but it’s still the last unknown section out of sight linking our new approach with the base of the ice. We rope up & I head across very slabby looking snow & on over a crest, while Dean follows unclipping the odd wire I place for protection. We swing the lead & Dean heads over another snowy crest & out of sight into the final gully linking the Ice. Will it go? The rope goes tight & I follow. Deans set up a good anchor which I use to access the gully & test the deep & very wind slabby snow. I reach the other side & drill in a screw, continue on & then build an anchor when the rope runs tight. Dean follows, racks up with the rest of the screws & wires, swings by me, looks back & smiles……‘it’s on!’

Adrian Nelhams & Dean Mounsey on the FA of ‘Wild Horses’ WI6, 160m, Totem Tower, Alberta, Canadian Rockies