We were back in the UK this week for one of Kate's brother's wedding near Swindon then Kate went to Plas y Brenin for her IML training course and went accross to Ballycastle in Northern Ireland to visit my brother. The weather was superb with 5 days of unbroken sunshine, Roy and I managed a couple of routes on Fairhead a superb dolerite crag which sits above the seas on Ireland's north coast. The climbing is all pretty steep with good protection, the weather was so good we were climbing in sun glasses which must be almost unheard of in Ireland.
I was climbing in the Val dell Orco with Kate for 5 days over the weekend. The Val dell Orco is situated on the south side of the Gran Paradiso National Park, it is a beautiful valley with fantastic granite crack climbing similar in style to Californian granite. The routes are mainly trad with bolt belays and bolts on the slab routes but you will want a rack for most climbs. We started on the Torre di Aimonin climbing the Pesce d'Aprile a 7 pitch 5c then Spigolo a 7 pitch 6a We headed to Sergent one of the biggest and most impressive crags in the valley, we climbed the superb slab route Apparizione del Cristo Verde 6b we were back on the right wing of Sergent the next day for the superb Via Locatelli 6a an 8 pitch extravaganza with a huge variety of styles of climbing. We finished the weekend climbing a couple of single pitch routes Mary Poppins 5c and the amazing hand crag of Incastromania 6a which you will definitley find easier if you tape up first.
We arrived in Alicante to clear blue skies and sun kissed rock, after sorting our accomodation in Calpe Andy and I had a great afternoon at the super accessible crag at Toix Oeste. On Sat Kat and I went to Echo Valley and climbed a couple of trad routes on Castillo before breaking for coffee and finishing with a route at Toix on the way home. Andy and I headed to the Penon de Ifach climbing Direct de UBSA, it is worth noting that we found lots of nesting birds on this route and any other easier angled routes on this section of cliff. So stick to the steep routes to avoid being attacked. Monday was stormy and rainy so we hid from the weather the good weather was back on Tuesday Kat and I headed to the Puig Campana climbing the superb Espolon de Finistrat, it was so good I went back and climbed it again with Andy the next day. Kat and I finished the week climbing at Sella.
A team of us headed through the Mont Blanc tunnel this weekend to climb at Traversella. Traversella is a group of south facing crags near Ivrea, the crags are situated above the Bruno Piazzi hut so you can get a great cup of coffee beofre going climbing and a beer afterwards.
Kate and I were joined by Kath Murphy and Roger Knox for Roger's birthday. We climbed some great single pitch routes on Sunday then moved onto some of the higher multipitch crags on monday. The south facing aspect allows climbing at Traversella all year round, all you need is a dry day and the sun to be out. The forecast is for loads of fresh snow over the next few days with over 60cm forecast at 1500m and snow to 600m so winter is definitley on it's way.
I have just been in Sardinia with Andy and Kat Congleton and there new baby Ellen we took the boat from Genoa to Porto Torres then drove down to Cala Gonone where we were based for the week. The plan was to alternate days climbing with Andy or Kat. We started on Saturday climbing at Budinetto just behind the village; the crag has a great spread of grades from 4a to 6a on perfect rock. It was so good I returned for a second visit on Monday with Kat. On Tuesday Andy and I visited the large inland crag of Surtana we climbed the first pitch of Sound of Silence which was superb but got caught in a huge thunder storm and had to abseil off. We managed to climb in the cave at Birddiriscottai a really unusual venue which has a selection of routes from 5b upwards that stay dry in the rain. The weather was much better on Wednesday so we hired a boat and the whole team drove along to the beach at Cala Luna we climbed the 2 pitch crack line of Fissura Degli Spilli on the Scoglio di Luna. I climbed the route with Andy in the morning and Kat in the afternoon, Ellen slept all the way there and back in the boat. The weather was a bit mixed on Thursday so it was back to the cave and we finished the week climbing at Cala Fuili a dry river bed with crags on either side. The crags nearest the sea are quite polished but move inland a bit and the rock is great, we climbed 4 routes up to 3 pitches and 6a.
A rather mixed week so far Kate and I escaped the drizzle in Chamonix on Sunday morning and drove down to Traversella a great set of crags near Ivrea at the bottom of the Val d'Aosta. All th e crags face south so you can climb in the sun almost all year round. There is a great hut at the bottom of the crag which is open at weekends from March to December. We started off on Parete degli Eroi climbing the 2 pitch 5c Panorama sul Piazza we then moved round to Salto della Felici and climbed a number of single pitch routes. Ubfortunatley a few of the routes on this sector of crag have been chipped giving some of the steepest route in the 5s I have ever climbed. On Monday we walked a bit further up the hill to the Torrione degli Istruttori and climbed a coulple of 4 pitch routes we started with Via Degli Istruttori 5b which is great the top 5b pitch up an overhung wall on huge holds. In contrast the second route we did Ladri di Cristalli 6a+ which had 2 great thin slab pitches.
Since we got back it has snowed again about 30cm up high, Richard Lundberg and I went for a skin near St Gervais we went from Communailles to the bottom of the Evasion lift. There was plently of snow and I didn't hit the base once on the way down. We spotted a piste machine working near Le Bettex so fingers crossed for more snow.
After a weeks DIY we escaped to Traversella again this weekend.
We drove down on Saturday morning and walked up to the Bruno Piazza hut www.traversella.net and visited a couple of crags we hadn't climbed on before. We started on Settore di Nicchia where the theme of really steep 5's continued then moved onto the longer Placchea Nere where we climbed a couple of multi pitch 6a's which were superb. We stayed in the hut on Sat night which is one of the best huts I have stayed in. We were the only people staying over night, we had a wood burner in the dorm and the meal was rerstaurant standard great wine and coffee and the bill was less than 60euros. On Sunday we climbed at Paretina before heading for Torino, in the early evening we went to see the Cirque du Soleil's travelling show Delirium, which was on at the Olympic stadium in Torino, we spent the night in Torino then had a wonder round the city on Monday. Its worth noting for those visiting the city that most of the shops are shut on Monday morning.
I was climbing with Dick, Martin and Alan this week based round Chamonix, we started the week climbing the Via Feratta at the Col des Aravis in beautiful sun shine. On Tuesday we walked up to the Albert Premier hut meeting almost every British guide in the Alps coming the opposite direction. We had a perfect day on Wednesday for our ascent of the Aiguille de Tour though a bit warm as the snow on the way down was a bit soft and sugary. Thursday we traversed the Crochu which is really snowy in descent making the walk to the Lac Blanc hut really quick and easy. We finished the week with a mornings climbing at Le Fayet.
Kate and I had a couple of days off so we headed over to the Furka pass area. I had wanted to do a route on the Graue Wand for years and the weather looked good for at least one day. We drove over on Tuesday night and dossed in the van then walked into the route early on Wednesday morning, the walk in takes you passed the Albert Heim hut into a beautiful high mountain area with a glacier on the Galenstock and loads of great looking granite peaks. It was about 2 hrs walk to the route where we could leave most of our stuff so we could enjoy 11 pitches of perfect granite to a great summit. The climbing is in cracks and grooves with some very memorable chimney's towards the top. A really well equipped abseil descent quickly put us back at our packs then it was about an hour to the hut. We had a great evening in the hut hoping to climb another route the next day. The weather didn't cooperate so we did lots of coffee drinking and a bit of cragging on the way home.
Usually in the Alps the weather forecast is pretty reliable giving good indications of what to do, this week I wish I had ignored it completely. After cold snowy weather the forecast was to be warm with the freezing levels rising to 4200m by mid week so we decided that getting onto big snowy faces and ridges wouldn't be to clever. The weather man got it totally wrong and it stayed cold all week. We started the week with a bit of acclimatisation on the traverse of the Entreve then we headed to the Dent Blanche Bivi hut hoping to traverse the Grand Cornier, the bivi hut was incredibly cold and the morning dawned cold and windy. We had a look at the ridge which was way more snowy than we had expected and given how cold it was and the strength of the wind we decided to head for the valley. The forecast was still looking warm so we decided to go and explore a new area, we headed for the Perucca hut above the Val Tournenche a beautiful quiet corner of the Alps. The next day we traversed the Pta Fontanella and M Dragone a superb AD ridge, there is a bit of loose rock about to keep you on your toes but not enough to spoil the experience. Be a bit careful if you head round there the Alpine Club guide book description of how to get onto the ridge isn't feasible unless there is lots of snow so ask the guardian for the best information. After a rest at the hut we headed over towards the Rivolta bivi hut hoping to traverse the Cresta Rae the next day on the way over we got a good look at the descent route which looked in dangerous condition so we headed home. We finished the week climbing at Le Duchere at les Contamines.