It was a full family turn out in Mallorca for my parents 40th wedding anniversary we were staying in the north of the island but Mallorca is so small that you can get to any of the crags fairly eas ily. We started the week visiting the bug crag of Sa Gubia climbing the long Le ley del deseo 5+ which was fairly sporty for the grade, the next day we visited the road side crag of Sestret near Valldemossa which has some great routes. We had a break from climbing on Wednesday hiring some sea kayaks and exploring the local coast line. Thursday we hired some road bikes from the excellent www.procyclehire.com who have a great range of bikes at very competitive prices. We went for a long ride with my Triathlete brother which was a bit of a beasting and involved 2 thunderstorms cycling in the dark and being rescued by my dad, enough said. A day of recovery was required after this so we all went horse riding not the best recovery from a sore back side but great fun. Saturday we climbed at La Crevete with Roy and Dee then Kate and I went to a steep crag on Cap Formentor. Kate and I went back to Sa Guibia on Sunday and climbed the long Albahida a 7 pitch trad route with some great scrambling to finish. We stayed in Deia which is beautiful traditional village on the west coast of the island no Sky TV and full English breakfasts here just great Mallorcan food wine and hospitality. We managed a morning climbing at the road side crag at Valldemossa before heading for the airport.
A rather different week, it was Kitchen renovation, working with a French friend Patrick we pulled out a chimney breast and the old kitchen, ripped up the tiles then started the difficult bit of putting it all back together. Patrick is going to carry on when I go back to work.
Back in the Alps this week climbing with Ian McIntosh we started the week driving round to Arolla and walking up to the Vignettes hut, we were one of the last visitors before it closed for a full renovation. It should be open in time for the Haute Route season. Leaving the hut early we traversed the Pigne dArolla then the superb Mont Blanc de Cheillon (AD) this superb high level combination is one of my favourite traverses. We drove round to Zermatt after climbing so we could catch the first lift to the Klein Matterhorn then traversed the Breithorn. We had a bit of excitement when a thunder storm blew through, our ice axes buzzed and hair stood on end we descended 10m off the side of the ridge, luckily it blew through quickly and we finished the traverse in sunshine. The weather wasnt looking to good on Wednesday so we headed down to Thon and climbed the super steep Via Ferrata we finished the week climbing the Arête Marion above the Col du Aravis.
A change of venue this week we headed back to the UK for a wedding and some time with kate family at there farm in Devon, we sneaked in the climbing gear hoping to manage a few days in the south west. The first crag we visited was Boulder Ruckle at Swanage, we climbed the superb Finale Groove a steep but superbly protected HVS. The next day the weather looked dry and the tides looked right for a shot at Moonraker at Berry head. Moonraker encompasses everything that is great about UK adventure climbing a traverse just above the sea to find the start of the route then three pitches of great steep climbing with good gear. A top tip for those trying the route is that the first belay is above the traverse line its easy to go straight past it as there are only a couple of stumps left of pegs mentioned in the guide. The last day we managed was a couple of routes at Haytor on Dartmoor the first was the classic route by Tom Patey Outward Bound which has some superb moves through some improbable ground for the grade then Kate led the excellent Raven Gully. I was really impressed with the climbing in the SW and will definitely be back.
I was climbing with Dave Craven this week who I had last climbed with in the Watkins Mountains in Greenland. On that trip we were blessed with 3 weeks of perfect weather but unfortunately it was not to be this week. With a decidedly mixed forecast we decided to get as much in as possible at the start of the week before the weather broke. We began by climbing the normal route on the Peigne (AD), a superb rock route starting with big boots changing to rock boots for the final couple of pitches. When the midi lift runs at its summer timetable it can easily be climbed lift to lift. Monday offered fine weather so we set off early leaving Chamonix at 0430 heading for Pointe Percee. An hours drive and an hour and halfs walk put us at the Gramusset hut in time for second breakfast. We climbed the superb North Ridge in glorious sunshine with spectacular views of the Mont Blanc Massif. The rest of the week gave us some challenging conditions on Tuesday we drove through the Mont Blanc Tunnel to climb at the road side crag at Machaby we managed a couple of pitches before rain stopped play. We were back the following day and climbed 4 pitches of Bucca dArranca before being caught in a huge thunder storm. We took the next day off then finished the week climbing Diretta de Banano a brilliant 10 pitch route at Machaby.