Back on the rock

Tony checking out routes on sea-cliffs of Earnsheugh, Aberdeenshire coast.

Steve on Necromancer, Earnsheugh. 
(Credit Tony Stone)

The week before I leave and it's time to wind down the preparation. So far I've spent long days in the hills, done some fitness, done some mixed climbing, climbed some ice. Only thing missing was some rock climbing. 2 days after ploughing through the snow on Creag Dubh, the Scottish weather has obliged by turning warm and sunny, so I headed north again, this time with rock shoes and chalk rather than crampons and axes.
The first few rock routes of the season can often feel a bit wobbly as your body and mind remember the intricacies of trad climbing, placing gear, finding rests and making moves above gear while pumped. I was with Tony Stone, a master at this sort of climbing, and great to watch learn from and admire his tenacity and fight as he hangs on to tiny holds, working out the gear and moves onsite on steep E5's.

It's also a sad time as I'm leaving Edinburgh, my home for the last 5 years. So it was great to get out last evening for a climb on Salisbury Crags above the city for a last time. A great place for a quick session after work. A couple of solos to focus the mind and some bouldering to work the fingers and forearms. Or just to watch the sun set over the city. It will be missed!

Steve solo on Salsbury Crags above Edinburgh. Photo credit: Viv Scott.

Viv on the crag classic, Black Wall Traverse.

You don't know until you try

Previously, I have described winter climbing in Scotland as more like cragging than mountaineering. But it's not always that way. I'm writing this feeling completely stuffed after a day out yesterday that really worked us hard, yet we only climbed about a pitch and a half of proper ice.All the elements of a big mountain day were there. A 4am start, a long approach (3 hours) post-holing through knee deep snow, climbing sketchy, unconsolidated snow sloughing off rock slabs, dehydration. It's not always perfect ice and sunshine here. We went to Creag an Dubh Loch, a fantastic remote granite cliff in the Cairngorms. I had rock-climbed there in summer and had always wanted a rare winter tick. We were aiming for Vertigo Wall, a classic grade VII mixed route, but quickly saw that sun during the week had stripped it bare. Time for plan B.

Creag an Dubh Loch. We started up Labyrinth Direct, the obvious central S-shaped groove, before bailing left onto snow basin and ice above.

 We headed up Labyrinth Direct, which has a classic steep ice crux to get past an overhanging wall. I led off up the easier lower section, moving together up a few pitches to the base of the steeper upper section, ploughing a trench up steep unconsolidated snow. From here we could see the crux was complete with ice, but the conditions were rapidly deteriorating, the warming day melting the ice, as chunks peeled off the rock above and pelted us. The crux consisted comitting to a protectionless smear of ice on the wall, and with it no longer solidly attached it was an easy decision to bail and traverse sideways to an easier route. So a bit of traversing on snow-covered slabs, more snow wading, a couple of pitched of ice, and some digging over a cornice and we were up! Ready for a 3 hour walk out. All great alpine training I told myself. 

  Left: Looking up at crux of Labyrinth Direct.                   Right: James finally on decent ice.

More pics here: Chad put together a video of the day here.  It mostly shows me digging my way up windslab and the cornice at the top!

Scottish Ice Climbing

Scotland doesn't have big mountains, but it's hills have a long tradition of bold, traditional and fierce winter climbing challenges. They produce a fair share of top alpinists and after a few seasons, I can see why. It is a great place to develop and push your technical skills in mixed and thin ice climbing. It is esentially cragging, but can have a far more serious mountain feel.
Conditions are fickle and choosing the right venue or climb on the right day a real skill. It's been a funny season,  a massive thaw stripping back early heavy snows, though ice remains on the higher venues. I headed out for a weekend with Chad Harrison, heading to Ben Nevis on Saturday, we managed to avoid most of the crowds by climbing a lovely thin ice route, Observatory Buttress Direct.

Chad starting the thin ice groove of Observatory Buttress, Direct Finish, Ben Nevis.

We dithered on Sunday, but after a late start we headed for the cliffs of Lochnagar.

Lochnagar. We climbed a thin ice groove up a pale scar on the buttress in the centre.

We traversed under the cliffs, the line we had aimed for busy with 3 parties strung along it. We then spied a thin lick of ice at the back of a corner formed by a recent large rockfall. The guidebook gave us no clue if it had been climbed, or how hard, and it was intimidating, thin looking ice, framed by steep blank walls.

We couldn't resist however, as it was one of the most asthetic ice lines I have ever seen, and I soon found myself teetering up the thin ice corner, hoping it was well attached. It was more a mentally challenging climb than physical, sparse protection and fragile ice adding the the daunting feel. A slow, but steady lead and we were over the corner, It was now 3:30 and we needed to get a move on, so we moved together up around 150m of lovely ice to the summit, just making it back to the car for a lovely sunset. (More pics)

Edit: ScottishWinter reported on this climb, it appears we nabbed the second ascent!

Trip Report: Ski Mountaineering in Andermatt

My plans for some winter alpine climbing fell through due to work and partners bailing. So last minute I joined a trip to Andermatt, Switzerland for some ski mountaineering.

Alpine climbing requires a wide set of skills. However, as climbers it is easy to get sucked into doing what you are comfortable with and enjoy, to the detriment of other skills. If you don't like run-out climbing, or slabs, or cracks, or chimneys, you will avoid them, never improve, your ego is spanked if you ever get on them and this cycle is reinforced. On an alpine climb, you can't really avoid something if you don't like it, so it is really important to work on your weaknesses rather than your strengths, requiring you to leave the ego at home and drop the grades sometimes.

Rik seconding a classic jamming pitch on Hollendaren, Kvaloya.

So I've tried to identify my weaknesses over the years to make me a more well rounded climber. For example, I have struggled on small jamming cracks, so I spent the summer seeking out as many as I could find in Scotland, before a 10 day trip to the Arctic Island of Kvaloya, Norway. There we had pitch after pitch of fantastic granite cracks to climb (pics). 
Another glearing weakness in my alpine climbing skillset is ski mountaineering. This is utilising skis as the most efficient way to travel around snowy mountains, rather than zooming up lifts and down pistes. So this is something I've been working on the last couple of years.

Skinning up Oberalpstock, Switzerland.

So although I didn't get out climbing ice, I had long days in the hills, skinning up 3000m peaks (great for fitness) as well as improving my skills in getting about on skis without too much faceplanting. More pics.

Scoping out the best descent while skinning up Peak Central, Andermatt

Preparing for an expedition

We anticipate that these climbs are going to be difficult. To give ourselves the best chance of success, we want to prepare the best we can for them.  There are so many aspects that go into alpine climbing, building on years of mountain experience, gear, fitness, nutrition, mental preperation. All related, all important. It is easy to focus on one detail and forget something that becomes your downfall.

So this post will look at the bigger picture, all the aspects that come together for a sucessfull alpine climb.
Before we go, we plan to write a few posts describing some of the preparations we are making, and trips we go on to get ourselves ready.

The Goal
So what exactly are we preparing for? We anticipate that a single route will take between 2-5 days of sustained hard effort, technical ice, rock and mixed climbing, at altitude, and in difficult, cold conditions.

Mt Hunter Alaska. We climbed the buttress on the left, coming down the RH ridge in 60 hours of effort.

The best preparation for climbing big mountains is climbing big mountains. So I try and do this as often as possible. But when you don't live near them, its not always practical or even possible. So you do what you can. These are the things I feel are important to build up over the years.

• Mountaineering experience. No shortcuts here. You need time in the mountains, not necesarily on technical terrain, but the ability to survive and move quickly in mountain terrain.
• Techical climbing skills. The ability to get up steep, difficult terrain. Rock climbing, ice climbing, mixed climbing. It's hard to push these skills in big mountain settings, so getting out on local crags is really important.
• Fitness. Alpine climbs are very physically demanding. You need the ability to climb for a long time, and get up sustained, powerfull pitches. I prepare with long days in the hills, interspersed with short intense training sessions.
• Toughness. A big one. Also comes under mental preparation. It aint going to be easy. Can you hang in there when the going gets tough? How can you prepare for that? More to come on this subject.
• Gear/logistical planning/tactics. How much gear do you take? Single push, or bivvy? Your tactics can make a big difference between success and failure.

I will try and expand my thoughts on these, but let us know if you have any questions.