Sunday 16th Feb.............finally winter climbing in the Lakes

A very brief interlude in the freaky winter weather allowed us to take a trip into Brown cove Crags.
Climbing conditions weren't ideal with soft snow and unfrozen turf making the going sketchy in places, but the gullies were full, so i took Peter on his first 2014 winter climb up Central Gully, followed by an unsuccessful ascent of Left Branch" and finished wit a quick run up the Right Parallel Gully.

Left Branch, Central Gully and Broad Gully

Central Gully

Sunday 9th Feb........A black and white day in the Dales

With the poor weather showing no signs of improving I set off into the Dales with little hope or expectation of getting any descent images, but on such a wild and bleak day the Dales are in their most uncompromising mood and can be even more photogenic than usual.

I was struck by the wild open power of the moors and the way that man has tried to force train lines, roads and telephone lines across a such desolate landscape.

Yew Cougar Scar above Arncliffe
This image (above), taken from about a mile away, of an enormous water fall coming out from underground is very unusual.  These falls are usually completely dry and will only run after a very long and heavy spell of rain and are a testament to the amount of rain we've had over the last few months.

Glen Coe and Ben Nevis ....winter climbing at last

A fantastic 2 days climbing in Scotland with Mountain Motion guide Richard Bentley last week. Both days we practiced belay building and rope work to help us lead routes and bring others up safely.  Richard climbed along side us supervising our technique and made the climbs look very simple.

With lots of powder loading the slopes Richard took us onto the ridges to minimise any avalanche risk, we still had to do some wading and swimming through the deep stuff to get to the bottom of the climbs, but once on the ridges progress was much easier.

Day 1:  Climbing on the Ben on the Douglas Boulder (South West Ridge).  This is a 180m climb at about grade 3 with a short abseil off the end into the Douglas Gap.

Day 2:  Climbing in Glen Coe, a steep walk in to climb Stob Coire nan Lochan (1115m) via a mixed route called Boomerang Arete.  Two hard pitches to start with (lead by Richard)  made the going tough but once we passed this  the climb was on neve and ice and the progress was a lot easier.  The summit of SCnL is small and has that perfect mountain feel to it, a few photos a quick drink and  an easy descent through powder down Broad Gully to the walk out ............. another great day :)

Central Buttress (SCnL)

South, Central, and North Buttresses (SCnL)

Stob Coire nan Lochan summit 

Descending to North Gully (SCnL)

25th Jan.................a wet day in the Dales

One of my favourite walks in the Dales is from Arncliffe to Malham and return via the spectacular Gordale Scar.  the weather was quite kind to us considering the forecast but as we approached Gordale the rain came down. It didn't really matter that much, we climbed through the waterfall and were lashed and drenched  by the swirling wind and spray from the falls......very exciting and exhilarating!!

Gordale Scar with scary rock face

Gordale Scar

The steps down to Malham cove

Malham Cove

At the top after a  drenching

19th Jan........Buttermere and Ashness Bridge

With no sign of any snow a trip to Buttermere to check out its very photogenic tree followed by a visit to Ashness Bridge.

All the images were taken with Canon 6D and either a Canon 24mm TS lens or a 50mm Olympus Zuiko OM lens with Lee 0.6 soft grad and polariser.

11th Jan .....The Yorkshire 3 Peaks....(well 2 of them anyway)

One of my favourite  walks on the 3 peaks is over Ingleborough and Whernside.  It's a longish walk, especially in winter when the days are short and the weather can change for the worse quite quickly.
Saturdays forecast wasn't too bad but as the three of us set out the sleet and snow started and the wind picked up, not a good start, but it does add to the atmosphere of a full on winter day in the hills!

Having parked at the viaduct at Ribblehead we walked up the broad and grassy ridge that leads to the summit of Park Fell then on towards Simon Fell and the summit of Ingleborough.  The bitter wind and the low cloud added to the high mountain  feeling of exposure and we didn't linger too long before retracing our steps for the steep descent through Humphrey Bottom towards Souther Scales.

After a quick stop for lunch we just had the long climb up onto Whernside, the weather improved but the chilly wind still kept us moving just to keep from freezing up.

4th Jan..........Winter on Helvellyn

Despite the poor weather for the last few weeks, we managed a quick walk up onto the summit of Helvellyn.
The snow was soft, sugary and didn't compact when stepped on, making the descent of Swirrel Edge quite awkward.
The cornices are forming nicely and the gullies are starting to fill on the east face above Red Tarn and when  the cold weather arrives we could have some good climbing conditions.  Its not there yet as the snow is far too soft and just gives way under your feet and the  ground isn't really frozen yet.

It'll be ready soon though...fingers crossed :)

Red Tarn Cove

Swirrel Edge

Helvellyn summit plateau

Swirrel Edge

Red Tarn and Striding Edge from Swirrel Edge

Red Tarn Cove

Swirrel Edge

Red Tarn

Cat Sty Cam and Swirrel Edge