Sunshine, Mountains and Cloud Inversions!

The Lakes in early February

The Lake District trip earlier this February was one of my favourite UBES trips. We were lucky to have beautiful sunshine all weekend, basically no wind and the not-yet-melted snow from the flurries the week before to play in (a great combo).

Saturday morning’s drive from Thirlmere to Glenridding was spectacular: low morning light and misty fields. From there, a group of us tackled Striding Edge, bumping into another group at the summit of Helvellyn who’d walked up from Thirlmere. Striding Edge was in basically summer conditions, with no ice and patchy snow; we felt a bit silly in our crampons!

We met a woman who reminisced of her student days, when her university hiking club would hire a minibus from their union for £5 for the weekend, fuel included! How times have changed.

Looking down onto Red Tarn from Red Tarn Cove (spot the UBESters!)

…Some things will never change, and we stopped at Red Tarn, after descending via Swirral Edge and a snowy, bum-slidy gully, for an inevitable lake bag. This involved hacking through 4’ thick ice and very little dignity. Luckily, Hugo’s Jetboil restored some warmth to icy limbs.

Alex’s pleasant afternoon dip

In the midst of these naked antics, we spotted Laurence, Ben and Duncan on V-Corner (III) on Red Tarn Cove.

The boiz on V-Corner (III) on Red Tarn Cove

Another group had a brilliant day on Blencathra, via Sharp Edge (involving equally heroic *assisted* (people lowering other people into icy water holes…!) lake bags), and another an ‘awesome’ epic, doing a long loop encompassing Langdale Pikes, Bow Fell and Crinkle Crags.

Team Sharp Edge

On the Sunday, Striding Edge and Sharp Edge were revisited, along with some some lower level walks. It was another beautiful day, with stunning cloud inversions.

What a weekend!

For more photos check out our Flickr page!

Snowdonia 2

This weekend, forty of us set off for a wintry weekend in Snowdonia. In case anyone was wondering what we got up to, I thought I’d write a brief trip report! 

Going crazy on the Carneddau

On the Saturday, ten of us optimistically set off up the Miners’ track in search of a winter climb on the Trinity face of Snowdon. Despite the thaw the day before, we found Central Trinity in slightly slushy, but climbable condition.

One party soloed, and two parties roped up for the snow gully, which cuts straight up from Glaslyn to the top of Snowdon. It had a chockstone and a teeny bit of almost ice to give interest, and it was great to get the axes out. We were slightly bemused when we topped out to see crowds of people crawling up to the summit in trainers, and then sliding back down again.

An intrepid group of UBESters on the wintry Glyders

Other walks took on the Carneddau and the Glyders, finding plenty of wintry excitement and a fair bit of scrambling too. Tim lead one of his classic slogs, taking in twenty kilometers of epic Welsh hills, and returning late enough that people were talking about getting in touch with Mountain Rescue (It's okay; they were either joking, or had had a considerable amount to drink). 

We all returned ready for a nourishing dinner, however we were not aware that disaster was about to strike. A hole was discovered in the rice pan. The starchy water gushing onto the stove somehow managed to ignite, creating a small fire and a lot of excitement. After consuming copious quantities of delicious slop, cooked at last, the Saturday evening contained its usual dose of organised fun, a bonfire and a disco! 

One of the climbing officers gearing up for a very serious climb

On the second day, which was warmer, wetter and windier, several groups set off to take on some of the smaller peaks. A group of twenty took on Moel Siabod, some of us attempting to run it, to greater and lesser degrees of success. Other walks included a miniature 'three peaks', involving the all important driving aspect of the more grandiose UK wide challenge.

There were many lakes bagged this weekend, one of the more ‘heroic’ ones on the Sunday walk up Cnicht, was described by the bagger himself. “It was too shallow so I had to wade out into thigh deep mud, and the weather was like a moist apocalypse, but less exciting.” Sounds like great fun!I had a great weekend; I really hope everyone else did too.

A massive thank you to everyone who helped organise it, and I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

A postgrad officer looking like a pro!

Topping out on the summit of Snowdon

Castle Ridge (III), a winter adventure.

Castle Ridge, a classic winter route on the UK's highest mountain!

Check out the short video below! 

Ben and myself set out early on Sunday the 28th December 2014 to tick my first winter climb of the season, and Ben's first ever!

After an early morning 5am alpine start, we walked in from the North face car park up to the CIC hut to start our route.

The line of the route can be seen as the ridge on the far right of the picture below.

 

We were met with beautiful views as the sun finally rose over the mountain side and lit up the snow covered slopes.

We got to the start of the route, geared up and got excited.

Once on the route we started moving together up the easier angled slopes, only stopping to pitch the 2 difficult sections, including the "awkward chimney."

The whole route seemed to last a lot longer than the 200m stated in the guide book, with us topping out Carn Mor Deag just as the sun was going down, after a full day of alpine style winter climbing!

 
 



Laurence

Alpine Adventures–Conville Course

This summer I travelled out to the French Alps for my first ever foray into the world of slightly higher altitude mountaineering. I was lucky enough to be able to take part in a Conville course. The Jonathon Conville Trust was set up in memory of the young mountaineer who it was named after, who died on the Matterhorn in 1979. They provide subsidised courses in the Alps, among other things, which are aimed at helping young mountaineers start their alpine career safely, with knowledge of techniques such as crevasse rescue and safe rope work over technical ground.

So I packed up my bags and headed out to Chamonix, to live off a diet of tinned food and cheese, and far too few showers, for my first alpine season.

On the first day of the course, after a quick briefing and kit check, we caught the Montenvers railway up onto the Mer de Glace, to practise crevasse rescue technique and roping up. The day started with the descent of over 250m ladders, to get us down to the level the glacier had retreated to. We watched with envy as groups of school kids marched out with us. Why didn’t my school do that! We were greeted at the bottom by the cool breeze off the glacier, and the smell of ice. Crevasse rescue turned out to be fairly fiddly and tiring work. We split into teams, three Convillers to a guide. Our guide taught us how to improve the system to make it efficient as possible, but I still reckon I’d have a hard time pulling someone out. As one of the lightest, it seems likely I’ll fall into the role of crevasse poodle (literally).

The second day we caught the amazing Midi lift (the third most visited tourist attraction in the world), up to the grand height of 3800m at the top of the Aiguille du Midi. We started by roping up in the famous ice cave entrance, and then slowly tiptoeing our way down the thoroughly exposed Midi arête. The day was spend applying the previous day’s learning, doing the first two points on Pointe Lachenale (one of them is definitely more of a bump), and slowly acclimatising to working at altitude.  

The third day we made our first attempt at a route, in the slightly lower Aiguilles Rouges. The three of us moved together, along the Traverse of the Crochues, a PD+ ridge, while our guide soloed alongside us, cajoling us along, so as not to turn the trip into a faffalanche. It turned out at the abseil that two of us had taken the motto ‘fast and light’ too far, and our guide was not impressed by the lack of belay plates, so we were plied with his and told to be snappy. Climbing in big boots turned out to be a lot of fun, and also surprisingly practical, in stark contrast to my pre-Alps practice in the gorge, which as by all accounts, traumatic. All in all, it was a fantastic route, covering lots of interesting ground, surrounded by amazing views of the Mont Blanc Massif. To top it all off, there was enough snow for a speedy descent, practising both our skiing, and more often than not, our bumsliding. 

Over the next few days I spent plenty of time watching the rain gush down the windows of the refuge, and studying various ambitious routes. When the sun was shining, I did manage to fit in the Cosmiques Arete, an exciting variation on Pointe Lachenal, some long mountain sport, an epic valley level ‘grade 3’ scramble, and some ice climbing on the Mer de Glace. I had a great time and I can’t wait to get out there next year.

 

More information about the Jonathon Conville Mountaineering Trust: http://www.jcmt.org.uk/

If you want to see how little it has changed, this is an article my friend wrote 11 years ago (Midnight Express has been a thing for that long, and you still can’t get it in every café in Wales?!!): http://www.jcmt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Summit_37.pdf

 

Rebecca Millington

Climbing on up!

 
 

This year has seen the climbing scene within UBES undergo something of resurgence in both strength and depth. The year started with intro to climbing which saw a large number of UBES freshers make the journey down to the Avon Gorge and those with more experience to nearby Goblin Combe; see old blog post, These were quickly followed by gear nights at Dicks Climbing with record turn outs!……This is where the outdoor scene took something of a hiatus as poor weather severely affected the ability of individuals to gain experience climbing outdoors.  Whilst the rock was wet, all of the new UBESters were busy pulling on plastic indoors at Redpoint. This early dedication has undoubtedly aided the rapid progression of individuals in the Spring term.

In November last year we had a one day trip to the Peak District after the conditions in Snowdonia had led to a cancelled weekend. This weekend seemed to provide the opportunity for many new and old UBESters to experience their first lead whilst acting as a springboard for some serious climbing psych!
Since November lots of climbing has been done and in various forms, with a new winter route (Aquilo, II/III, St. Sunday Crag), ice climbing in Rjukan, sport climbing in some long lost Somerset quarries along with multiple trad outings.
In March we ran a trad climbing trip the Cornwall coastline where we visited Sennen and Bosigran. Despite initially damp conditions that made for some rather intimidating climbing the weekend saw a number of classic climbs ticked.

 
This year has undoubtedly seen it’s fair share of leader falls that range from slipping in the wet, sliding down slabs through to lobs onto No.1 nuts. A special mention must go to Laura Shaw for contributing more than most to these incidents.
Falls aside, this year has also seen witness to a large number of individuals climbing HS and above, with five people who have lead VS and three who have managed to break into the HVS range! The older members within the society have also managed to find time to escape work and regain their climbing prowess, whilst getting ‘classic rock’ ticks at the same time. I am sad to say that on a personal level I am still trying to achieve this.
So where does this leave us? Well, there is no doubt in my mind that UBES climbing is in a strong position and I am glad to say that this looks set to continue into at least the next few years. It is without doubt that the strength and depth of those who currently enjoy climbing within UBES combined with their continual psych that put climbing in such a healthy place within the society.
So what’s next? Well as the sun begins to warm the limestone of the gorge, I am sure that the climbing scene will only grow in strength before academic year is finished. Alongside this there are number of experienced and new members heading to the Swiss and French Alps in the hope of gaining experience and reaching a number of 4000m peaks at the same time.
Will

Cornwall-Terrifying Exposure

Last weekend (16th-17th March) twelve climbing Ubesters drove down to Cornwall to have a look at what the Sennen and Bosigran areas had to offer…

 Abseiling down slimy cracks to the base of the sea cliffs, prospects of decent, dry climbing conditions seemed low. Once at the bottom of the routes, hopes faded further as climbers slid all across the algae covered ground. But Ubesters are nothing if not persistent, and having got down we had to get out, so one brave climbing officer started to delicately lead a route out while the other started lessons on rope prussicing, a method of ascending ropes using tightening knots. Persistence was rewarded and the clouds opened just as the midday sun reached the west facing rocks.

The sun spent the rest of the afternoon steadily moving across the cliffs which quickly dried to the UK famed grippy granite making good climbs for all standards. Everyone made the most of the conditions; the single pitch granite was addictive and everyone climbed though the sunset to the last light making spectacular views. The day was ended in a friendly pub close to our campsite where the group did the kitchen out of fish pie in the good company of “Louis” the pub pug.

The next day, Ubsters tentatively poked heads out of tents looking for the mist which had made the sea cliffs so slimy, but conditions were looking better so we headed to the next planned stop, the muti-pitch giant, Bosigran. From the car park we walked with the previous day’s climbing excitement buzzing in the group. To reach the higher cliffs we crossed giant grey boulders and traversed the steep high hillside which turned into black cliffs and tumbled to the sea. The theme tune of lord of the rings was sung and Arthur’s tales were imagined by the more fanciful members as we took in the dramatic scenery.

 Once we reached the bottom of the climbs ropes were divided and little groups went off to try various routes. For those who had their first sea cliff granite experience, the steep gradient, exposure and height of the cliffs with the sea below made the climbs a little more exciting than expected. Grades felt more challenging and topping out was even more rewarding.

Plenty of climbs were had and everyone in the group got a lead in, particular mention goes to Zolly for leading the “Big Top” and Emily and Emily for their first outdoor leads! Everyone did really well and both areas are defiantly worth a return visit, even more so perhaps for the unexpected highlight of sighting dolphins cresting in the water which caused even more excitement on top of the climbs! The weekend was ended with a traditional stop in Macdonalds before a long drive home.

Well done to the organizers, drivers, rope washers (wet salty ropes have to be sorted by someone) and everyone for a great team energy which resulted in lots of climbing and fun for everyone.

       Pippa