Another day, another adventure! This time we had to open up our storage box in the van to find our via Ferrata slings as they had been out of use since we left the alps. We were going to climb the local via Ferrata route in el chorro, that we had found information about online.... Continue Reading →
Exploring El Chorro
So it's the end of our first week in El Chorro, and the heavens have opened, leaving me with some time to write up a blog post of what we have been up to so far. In all honesty this first week has been a little up and down. First of all we drove close... Continue Reading →
A walk around El Tocal
Whilst we were travelling towards El Chorro, I placed a thread on the UKC forum asking wether there was any descent places to go walking or scrambling near El Chorro, as I fancied the option if there was a chance between climbs. As luck would have it I chose an Aire in a town called... Continue Reading →
Chasing top fifties
We have continued our climbing tour through Costa Blanca, with a trip to a crag called Sax, again we were chasing top fifty and three stared routes from the Rockfax book. Sax had a lot of good routes, and looked like a great place to climb although the guidebook did say that the venue was... Continue Reading →
A Bad Days Climbing!
After what was a great day out on Toix the day before, we were to have a trying day on Mascarat. We woke up to an overcast day, and decided that a trip into Calpe for some supplies would give us time to gauge what the weather was doing. After this little jaunt the weather... Continue Reading →
More adventures from Costa Blanca
The adventures in Costa Blanca just continue to come. Following on from our success on Parle, a sea cliff/cave climb, that tested our ability to the max, we thought we’d head north and take on another time and again recommended climb, Sonjannika at Morro Falgui. I initially found out about this route when searching for... Continue Reading →
New Years Eve on the Bernia Ridge
There have been some highlights on this trip for me and this day is another to go on that list. I'm not sure why, but this ridge has been on my wantlist for a while, I can't even remember where I first read about it, although at some point it crossed my path and ever... Continue Reading →
Our Six Month #vanlife Tripaversary!
It feels like half the time, which can only be a good thing! When we set out we planned on a years trip and so far it is all going to plan. Of course there have been a few problems on the way ( no one mention getting stuck and wedging the van under a... Continue Reading →
Adventures in Slovenia: Sport Climbing and Via Ferrata
So far Slovenia has been a beautiful place, we have only a few places on which to base this opinion, but so far we have had a blast. The classic sights of Bled coupled with some Gorge and waterfall walks have been fantastic, however we still feel the need to itch the climbing addicts within... Continue Reading →
The hardest via ferrata in the Dolomites
Or so my guidebook says, Magnifici Quattro (The magnificent Four) is a grade grade 6BVF, and is named in honour of four members of mountain rescue who tragically died whilst on a rescue mission. Jess and me both felt as though we had the ability to climb this route and so set our alarms early... Continue Reading →
Dolomites take two! Via Ferrata and climbing on the Col Dei Bos
Finally we have made it back to the mountains, oh how much I have missed being here! It sounds weird to have been travelling, climbing and diving across Italy and Sardinia, and the whole time I felt like there was something missing, and I've not realised it was this, hills, mountains, towering rock faces, amazing... Continue Reading →
Aiguille Dibona, Face Sud Classique/Southface Classic, D
Many years ago, I was climbing in North Wales and me and my partner decided to pop into Plas Y Brenin as there is a bar there and an adventure presentation/talk on the Alps. Whilst enjoying a pint of local ale I watched and listened as the presenter (an instructor at the centre) talked through... Continue Reading →
The Pointy Red Rock, The Aiguille Rouges
By Christ the weather has been a big load of manure for a few days, and this time it’s was wet, cold and just plain horrible for days on end. As we are tighter than tight, we can very rarely do anything, as everything here costs money, so we spent a good period of time... Continue Reading →
In Descent Proposal, Voie Ravanel (D, 5b), Pointes de Bayere
For a while now I have moaned about the weather here in Cham, it’s been okay, however I’ve always wanted it to be better! So the other day we got a window of what looked like good weather and we were going to take it! I started looking into routes in the mid mountains, as... Continue Reading →
The Rematch- Ravanel vs Beta Thief!!! Aiguille Crochues, Voie Ravanel, D+, 5c
As the title says this is a rematch against this route as a few weeks ago, both Jess and me retreated from the route, the whole story is here, and involved lots of tiredness, rudeness, dysentery and a stuck abseil rope. All in all, its fair to say that we hated that day and did... Continue Reading →
Aiguille Grands Montets, East Ridge
We have had a barren spell of getting into the mountains recently, mostly due to the weather. That’s not to say we have not missed a couple of average days, when getting up at 6am, looking through the curtains and seeing nothing but cloud or rain, and on those days my bed is more inviting.... Continue Reading →
First Alpine Trip Diary – Arolla
The weather here has been a bit poor recently and has kept us rooted to the valley floor, with rain, wind and cloud. However all this bad weather has enabled me to write a few more blog posts about climbing in the valley that I will publish later. That said, the days of sitting in the... Continue Reading →
Madagasikara, TD- 6a
Sometimes a post does not need a title, as the name of the climb is so cool! That’s the first thing that drew me to this climb, the second was its vicinity to the Index chair lift, only 20 minutes to walk in, and thirdly was the 6a pitch, as I’m hoping to climb bolts... Continue Reading →
Index, Southeast Ridge- AD, 4c
Just a short one as it was a short day! After such a long day spent on the Aiguille Purtscheller, me and Jess fancied an easier day with less approach and lower graded climbing, but still keeping to traditional climbing, so the South East Ridge on the index was an ideal choice. It has a... Continue Reading →
RED ROPE RED ROPE RED ROPE! Aiguille Purtscheller, D, 5a
Before I begin going on about the to and fro that took place on this trip, I will state in a phrase that I have read I the past, “… we humans often experience happiness without recognizing it, later we realize that at such and such a moment we were happy”, Re reading this recently... Continue Reading →
Cosmic-ish! Arête des Cosmiques (AD-III, 4c)
It seems that everyone who has been mountaineering in Chamonix has done the Arête des Cosmiques, well not me, until today that is! It's a classic route that is a short walk from the lift station, and after a few ups and downs ends back at the station. So it is obvious why it's popular,... Continue Reading →
The Longest, Shortest Day! – Petit Verte, Integrale North West Ridge (AD)
After a couple of day’s downtime, we finally struck up a plan to get back up in the mountains for a day. We chose this route, as the North West Ridge is in nearly every guidebook for the area, so it must be worth a spin! We then looked into the Rockfax guidebook and found... Continue Reading →