the 'Abode of Snows' here we come!

Doh.....

Forgot to get our Visa's sorted for India (had other things on our mind). So spent this week arranging our trip and going to Birmingham to get a Visa. Expensive game!

Anyway, I guess it is a good thing because now we know what we are doing and have some kind of agenda.

It is going to be a knackering trip!

> Manchester to Delhi, chill out here for a bit.
> Overland Delhi to Kathmandu, an adventure in itself!
> Flying to Lukla airstrip
> Going trekking around the Khumbu region. No specific goals here.
> Walking back to Jiri and the bus to Kathmandu
> Explore Kathmandu
> Fly to Bengalore (South India) and Explore
> Train (Sleeper) to Goa and Chill by the Beach
> Train (Sleeper) to Mumbai
> Watch the India vs Sri Lanka Test Cricket
> Train (Sleeper) to Delhi and Agra to the Taj Mahal
> Relax back in Delhi at the end of our manic trip!

Back in time to get an MOT on the van then drive it out to Chamonix!

MIA Assessment week

Well, a tough week but a great outcome. Passed!

Just a quick message to say thanks to everyone who has lent a hand over the last month during my personal training for this.

So pleased its all over....until the next one!

Having a week off now then flying out to India with Jen :)

Teaching Climbing & Rain

Just a little update, have been doing a load of climbing and scrambling days in and around North Wales this month. Bit of teaching trad climbing. All is well, my MIA assessment starts today which should be fun..... :S. Feel 25% prepared!

(Above: Zora leading the top pitch of BooBoo Slab, Tremadog)

Snowdonia

Not been up to much, but just a quick rundown on mountain type stuff that has been going on here!

4th: Idwal Slabs with 2 students, Volunteering for the BMC Student Seminal at PYB

5th: Scrambling Short Rope day with Max and Mark, up Nor Nor Buttress variant descend west face

6th: Rainy day! Rescue Training at Indy indoor wall, and weak bouldering session on my behalf!

7th: Bochlywd and Milestone with 2 David & Steve

8th: Gold Navigation Training Course (work)

9th: Moelwyns solo

10th: Scrambling Day with Tom, Little Gully>North Gully onto North Buttress Variant. Descend South ridge Tryfan, to Glyder Fach main cliff up Chasm, descended Gribin Ridge to Cneifon Arete, descend to Ogwen.

11th: Tremadog, rained and recce'd routes. No climbing! Drove to Sheffield!

Got a week of Supply Teaching at KES!

Chamonix to North Wales

Ok, so the end of the summer and some fantastic routes this summer.

Now its time for me to head to North Wales to get some climbing, scrambling and mountain fun in prior to an MIA assessment at the end of the month.

So far have had a good session down at the works, out on Eyam moor on a navigation course, multi pitch climbing on Idwal and a day out on Tryfac East Face today.

Not the alps, but great fun and feeling fit.

India & Nepal at the end of the month, really exciting!

Aiguille Noire de Peuterey

Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (South Ridge) 1200m, TD.

Write up coming soon... here are some pictures for now!

Cooking up at the amazing Noire (Borelli) Hut

The skyline ridge starting from Point Gambi (big spire on left) to the summit.

2/3rds up the ridge... first time the camera came out.

Making myself comfy on the 1 man bivvy ledge. Byron left me after an hour or so of crouching. Stayed clipped on all night.

Brewing up at 3600m

Arriving at the Bivvy just as the sun went down

The last abseil before the summit......

...before the ropes got stuck, so had to prussik back up the full 50m

Byron with his ladyfriend

Summit view is always amazing.

The descent is long, tedious and hard to follow. Worth getting some good beta on about the descent. We wasted quite a lot of time route-finding on the East ridge.

More write up and beta soon.

Cordier Pillar (take II)

David Hasselhoff called; he wants his shorts back.

Byrons Guest Blog:

Holiday synopsis so far:

- Fly to Geneva

- Drive to Cham (5 pitches climbed)

- Drive to Saalbitschijen (1 pitch climbed)

- Drive to Val di Mello: too tight to pay for guidebook + Guy's rope broken = 2 pitches climbed.

- Drive to Bregaglia (0 pitches climbed)

- Back to Cham where we had a little fun from the Midi.

Not quite the super alpine holiday we had planned!

So...Guy suggests the Cordier Pillar on the Grand Chamoz. "Great!" I say.

"You need a number 5 cam to avoid a 10 metre run out on the final hard pitch" Guy says.

"But they're like, £60 aren't they?"

"£80. We'll just have to man up."

A quick walk from the middle station across some moraines to the bivvy site see's us eyeing up our obvjective and making our beds for the night. A few rocks roll down the glacier but they don't matter as it will all freeze overnight holding them in place.

9:00: The usual pasta dinner to the sounds of some more rockfall doesn't deter our spirits before an early bed and hard day's climbing the next day.

9:20: More rockfall.

9:30: More rockfall

9:35: More rockfall

9:37: Lots more rockfall; getting much more frequent now.

9:38: Pan fall (stove falls off the wall)

9:39: BOOM! Sit bolt upright to witness a shower of sparks sliding down the glacier. "Errr, we have to go across that in the morning" says Guy. "I don't like playing Russian Roulette with a mountain" says I.

The look of delight on Guy's face at another failed route.

9:40: Back down to Cham to a comfortable bed and Guy's drunken housemates.

Plan aborted. Not to worry, next morning Guy hands me a book with our next possible objective - 1200metres of TD climbing. Yeah right, I say...

L'ete Indien - Mont Oreb

Saturday 19th September

Headed to Le Buet and up the Berard valley today for a late start (with bad weather due) on L'ete Indien. Turns out to be a superb homogenous route at about 6A. Another fantastic outing, looked like it was going to rain all day but managed to hold off.

Byron on the second pitch

Splattered on the superb green slab

Route: http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=72327

Contamine Grisolle (Left Edge) Triangle du Tacul

18th September: Contamine Grisolle (Left Edge) Triangle du Tacul

AD III 350m

An easy line but one I have fancied the look of for a while. After a good kip in the hut, we set out at 7.30am with Byron Buck (Short for Buckminster, long for B) from the hut. Lovely route, good condition right now with a thin covering of consolidated snow to make travel straight forward. Great mixed step (around guidebook pitch 4) to keep things entertaining.

Descended down the NW Slope and onto the normal Mt Blanc du Tacul route, good snow cover on this slope Making the winter season REALLY exciting and seem quite close!

All in all, fantastic route - short enough to knock it off in a morning and tricky enough (if you just follow your nose not the guidebook) to make it more adventurous!

On the starting snow/ice slopes

Getting onto the ramping slope before the mixed step

Came down this afternoon as the weather looks ok to go get on some rock.

September Badile Cassin Project: Still keeping eyes open on the Vicosoprano Meteosuisse forecast for another drive over to the Bregaglia. Looks like tue/wed will be dry and maybe warm enough to start melting snow off the route.... optimistic.

Byron has a treat for you today with a little video:

Cosmiques Arete (Again)

17th September: Took big bags up to the Abri Perroux nr the Col du Midi. For a couple of days of scouting around and having a look.

Lift didnt start up until about 9.30 so we dropped gear off, had a brew and made for the Cosmiques Arete to help Byron get some acclimatising - besides, its always a great route.

Completed that in a couple of hours, realised we forgotten coffee money, so retreated back to the hut for another brew!

Fresh snowfall (maybe 10-15cm in places), but otherwise people were out getting some routes done (Chere Couloir, Mt Blanc du Tacul, Traverse of Lachenal etc etc) not much else.