Intro to Climbing

Thanks once again to everyone who came at the weekend to our Into to Climbing event. It was a great success with brilliant weather and some amazing people! In total we reckon we got 150 climbing over the two days which is rather impressive!

Here is a short video from the weekend and some photos, Enjoy!

About UBES!

To all those new to the university, welcome to Bristol, and more importantly, welcome to UBES: The University of Bristol Expeditions Society! If you’re returning for another year, welcome back!

Who are we?

UBES is probably the largest, certainly the most active, and unquestionably the BEST outdoors society at the University of Bristol. We are a group of like-minded individuals united by our love of the outdoors and adventure, who run regular trips, socials and outdoors-y activities to get a break from the daily grind of university.

What do we do?

Hiking, scrambling, trekking, climbing, you name it, we do it! We run regular weekend trips all around the UK; in a year, we might visit the Lake District, Snowdonia, the Peak District, the Brecon Beacons and the Yorkshire Dales, amongst other places. Membership will allow you to come on trips, and access to our extensive kit storage in case you have any exciting plans of our own.

Every Wednesday we run climbing sessions either at a local indoor climbing wall (Redpoint) or outdoors in the Avon Gorge if the weather is good. Membership will also mean we’ll teach you the basics of how to climb (and do it safely)!

Click here to join us today for only £12 a year!

The fun doesn’t stop during the holidays; at Christmas, UBES runs a trip to Scotland for a week of winter mountaineering and ice climbing, and during the summer, in addition to sending out an Alps cohort, we run several longer expeditions, which in the last few years have taken us to Morocco, Romania, Norway, Corsica, Iceland and the Pyrenees. Check out the details of our last summer expeditions on our website!

During term time, UBESters gather at our weekly climbing sessions, regular pub trips and awesome socials. There’s always something going on! So, whether you think you’d like to get involved in the lively Bristol climbing scene, have mountaineering aspirations, or just love the outdoors and want to meet friendly, adventurous, like-minded people, the University of Bristol Expeditions Society is the one to join! We welcome people of all abilities; don’t worry if you have little or no experience, we’d love to meet you. Get involved - participation is only limited by how much you can squeeze in around your lectures!

For more information, see us at the Welcome Fair on Friday the 25^th, or come to one of our introductory talks on Monday the 28^th:

7:30pm, Racks, St. Paul’s Road, Clifton

7:30pm, Hiatt Baker Hall Bar

To have a more informal chat with us about the society, come to the Highbury Vaults on St. Michael’s Hill at 9pm this Wednesday!

Our society aims to be affordable, inclusive and exciting, so make sure you don't miss out!

Keep up to date with the society on Facebook!

SPA Training 2015

Earlier this summer I was lucky enough to head over to Snowdonia for a few days to complete my Single Pitch Award Training, subsidised by UBES and Bristol SU. The fantastic Paul Poole (www.paulpoolemountaineering.co.uk) guided myself and three others through the course and as always he made it an informative, interesting and (most importantly) enjoyable experience!

For more information on the award, have a look at the UBES website. I can’t recommend the SPA highly enough if you want to get your trad climbing up to the gold standard required for teaching and learn the group leadership skills to help UBES climbing grow from strength to strength!

Many thanks to UBES and Bristol SU for my course subsidy, I can’t wait to start sharing everything I’ve learnt throughout next year!

Ben Caley

Southern Sandstone

After months removed from the luxury of the proximity of outdoor climbing in Bristol at the Avon Gorge, it all got too much. Despite the tens of indoor rock walls to be found across the capital there are no crags – unsurprisingly! The nearest outdoor rock to London are the Southern Sandstone crags just south of the North Downs, stretching from East Grinstead to Royal Tonbridge Wells, and they make for some great – if ‘interesting’ – climbing. In pursuit of the simple pleasure of cycling to the crag and climbing, this is what happened…

Inspired by a video on the internet entitled “Cicloarrampicando” which quite literally means “cycle climbing”, the challenge was set to link up the Southern Sandstone crags by bike and cycle between each one marked in the Jingo Wobbly guidebook. In addition to this Italian inspiration, there is also Kyle Dempster’s “The Road from Karakol (https://vimeo.com/69045994) which makes for a great 20 minutes watching which I can’t help but recommend.

A frustrated Facebook message from my old school friend Quentin about being laid off work for a few days meant that an adventure was exactly what he needed to take his mind off! Originally we planned to bivvy overnight and complete the cycle in two days (this would later turn out to a much more sensible plan), but when Q was signed up for work again we decided to try and push it in one day. Our route would take us south out of Greenwich, past Biggin Hill and towards East Grinstead for the first crag at Stone Farm Rocks, south east towards Crowborough to take in the out-of-the-way Under Rocks before heading up by the main concentration of Southern Sandstone crags – Bowles, Harrisons, Eridge, High Rocks etc. With a route planned and kit packed, we were ready to go!

Following some last minute sorting, we set off at 6:13am stopping only for red lights. Our first challenge came in the form of Biggin Hill. Compared to alpine road climbs it was nothing, but we were still feeling it when we got to the top - and then came our first problem. My rear pannier was beginning to tear off the frame however we were able to cable tie it back on and head off. With some lovely cruising downhill from the top of the North Downs, leaving London behind us, we were really beginning to get into the pace of things until only 45 minutes after leaving Biggin Hill we hit our next snag. Quentin’s back spoke had snapped and, worse, become caught in his cassette. Fortunately this happened right in front of a petrol station so we were able to stop and sort the problem out quickly – a few laps of the forecourt later to check everything was in working order, we were good to go.

Our pace was steady until and after hitting East Grinstead with only a minor navigation hitch landing us in a dentist’s carpark. Before we knew it and after two and a half hours or so of riding and 33 miles we’d reached our first crag, Stone Farm Rocks. Following a speedy shoe change we were climbing. Because we could only choose route at each crag it made sense to pick a three star route, and we aimed to be climbing around British Tech grade 5a for the day. Our first climb was “Key Wall”, an interesting line up the side of an isolated block. With the excitement of being on the wall getting to us it was easy to forget that we still had a good distance of cycling to go. Cycling shoes back on we headed off over Weir Wood reservoir in search of Crowborough which was a steady 30km cycle from here. While this was the longest section between two crags on the route, we were rewarded with beautiful views of the Ashdown which was a contrast to the busy and lorry-infested A26. After stopping at the Red Lion pub (conveniently marked in the Guidebook) for water we carried on cycling; our pace had definitely slowed by this point and the undulating country lanes of the High Weald were beginning to take their toll on our legs. One particular highlight has to be the aptly-named “Steep Road” which Quentin dashed up having successfully clipped into his pedals on his first try (I’m sure any roadies will be more understanding about this than I was…) By 12:00pm we had reached Under Rocks – definitely one of the quieter Southern Sandstone venues I’ve been to!

A word of advice for anyone considering Under Rocks as a Southern Sandstone venue: the climbing is fantastic but there is little parking, the path to the crag is well hidden and it’s very overgrown. Sadly the crag shows signs of vandalism and being more of a local drinking haunt than a popular place to climb. The holly leaf carpeted path proved… painful for Q in his flip flops but he persevered and we later found ourselves at the foot of the crag. We had decided to climb straight out of the crag and pick up our bikes at the top due to the overgrown nature of the place. The climbing at Under Rocks is predominantly quite difficult – any of the routes that aren’t covered in moss are 5b+ so we had little choice but to tackle “Evening Arete 5b”. Despite my downer on the crag because of the Strongbow cans littered along the bottom of the rock and the ‘drawins’ on the wall, this may well have been my favourite climb of the day.

By the time we had finished climbing, it was lunchtime. After a twenty minute cycle to the Kings Arms pub in Rotherfield we were grateful to find they had a two courses for £10 offer – I had sausage and mash while Q tucked into ham, egg and chips. These were washed down with ice cream and a hazelnut brownie respectively. Feeling energized and ready to push on we headed towards Bowles Rocks; despite being just up the road from Harrisons and Eridge this would be my first trip to the crag.

Bowles Rocks is located on the site of an outdoor education centre and is one of the best equipped Southern Sandstone crags with really easily accessible top rope anchors and some fantastic climbing. Cycling up the main road past the rocks we had settled on climbing “Fragile Arete”, another 3 star 5a route that was as close to the road as possible. The ease of setting up the anchor here meant we both shot up the route, and was also the first time we had seen other people climbing all day. Now with grey clouds rolling over the horizon we raced down the road towards Harrisons Rocks.

After a tree and peanut butter sandwich related incident (don’t dispose of your food by throwing it at a tree…), we headed up to the rocks and right towards the Isolated Buttress. To avoid a long walk along the crag to save time, and now feeling the day’s activities in our legs, we dropped down a grade to climb the three star 4c “Isolated Buttress Climb”. This was a big mistake. Previously, access to the anchors was made by jumping across onto the buttress but a loose block at the top made this dangerous and instead a climb around the side was required. Fortunately for us, another party climbing on the buttress had left a line in place to use as a handrail while traversing around the buttress and up onto the top. We got talking to this group and, a lengthy conversation about the Tour de France later, began to climb. Although the chat had set us back in our timings, Q and I agreed that this friendly, community spirit is the best bit of going on an ‘adventure’ (even if it only lasts a day!) and the climbing community in general and the hour or so we had spent at Harrisons was one of our favourite for this reason.

Of the nine crags listed in the Jingo Wobbly guide, we had visited four by this point and pressed on for Eridge however the rain began to hang in the air as soon as we reached our bikes. While Eridge is really close to Harrison’s rocks, it seemed to take an eternity to get there and even more time to start climbing. This may have been down to my reluctance to look properly at the guidebook, and I now realise the route we did wasn’t the one I had picked – instead of climbing the “sandy but good” three star “Hanging Crack”, we had actually ended up on 5c “Nuthin’ Fancy”. Feeling defeated after what, at the time, seemed like a particularly tricky 5a the rain didn’t help our mood and we sought refuge in the Paris Cave just around the corner. This was another mistake! No sooner than a minute after cries of “what is that smell?!” we noticed that we had worked our way into Eridge’s own animal toilet.

Sometimes it’s okay to take a hint, with the time now approaching 6:00pm we knew that even if we ticked off the rest of the climbs we would be cycling home into the night. Feeling satisfied with the 100km+ that we had now clocked on the bikes and the 5 climbs on top of that we decided to head back to Eridge station, grab a pint and take the train home - feeling defeated but pleased with ourselves. We bumped back into the group we had been climbing next to at the station and ended up on the same train home as them. If we were going to do a “Southern Sandstone” challenge again, I would recommend starting at the Southern Sandstone crags themselves! The 33 miles we had done before we even reached our first climb was unnecessary, but this thought left us with a plan for the future – it must be possible to tick them all off in a day! Maybe another time…

Jono Hawkins

www.jonohawkins.co.uk

Mountain Leader Training 2015

Each year Bristol SU subsidises six UBESters to go on a mountain leadership course in Snowdonia. Despite my (very) last minute application to the course, I was lucky enough to gain a place to learn skills invaluable for anyone hoping to lead walks.

The day before the start of the course the six of us congregated at Gwen Gof Isaf, a campsite right in the shadow of Tryfan. On Sunday, we met our guides for the week- Paul and Rusty- some of the most experienced mountaineers I’ve ever met, who had a story to tell for any situation and an unbeatable knowledge of plants! We then headed out for a day of micro nav, a challenge that felt like we had to find the right blade of grass on the mountainside using only a map and a compass. I quickly learned that wearing hole-ridden, ancient boots was a bad idea when wading through bog…

Later in the week we learned to body belay and some basic emergency management, and paid a visit to the Llanberis mountain rescue base. The next day we put the skills into practice with an ascent of the east ridge of Y Garn, during which we were treated to spectacular fly pasts of RAF jets. We managed to keep ourselves entertained in the free evenings: highlights included an ill fated attempt to blend car and tarpaulin into a cooking shelter, and a forlorn ramble up (what turned out to be) a cliff, to try and find a cave Alasdair had spotted on the map.

The course culminated in an overnight trek to a beautiful lakeside, where we set up camp for the night. I tried to get a rest before the night nav exercise, but was reluctantly awoken by “Ben, camera!” The magnificent sunset over the mountains proved well worth getting out of bed for! To round off the week in true UBES fashion we headed to Canaervan in full hiking gear for a well-earned Spoons.

Ben Towers

If you're interested in taking part in ML training next year check out our website for more info.

Australia: A weekend in the Blue Mountains

For anyone hoping to start exploring the Blue Mountains, a good place to start is in the town of Katoomba. There being good train connections to Sydney, many different hostels to choose from and one of the more famous sites in the Mountains- The Three Sisiters.

 I started off my Friday visiting this site, the town and walking to Katoomba Falls. After dramatically staring a various rock formations and bits of falling water for the day, I retreated back to my hostel. The Blue Mountains Backpacker Hostel was large, located near to the train station and equipped with a kitchen, fire, pool table and of course the all important free Wi-Fi!  ‘Twas here I rested on Friday night with plans to head out early the next morning to visit the very striking and extremely beautiful Wentworth Falls.

There are many walks to choose from in this area ranging from those meant for people so fat and lazy they can barely walk 10 meters for their car, to those for people experienced in the mountains, needless to say I was more than able to spend a day entertaining myself here.

I started off following the Darwin Walk from the village of Wentworth Falls to the falls themselves. It took about half an hour and when I arrive I was gifted to some views of the beautiful surrounding countryside complete with terrifyingly high cliffs, captivating cascades and an amazing temperate rainforest (photos to follow). If you follow the paths all the way to the bottom of the cliffs you will be greeted by the massive waterfalls plunge pool. This is an ideal place to stop for lunch and a great place to swim, temperature permitting. From here one can follow either the Wentworth or the National Pass, taking you through the rainforest and along the cliffs respectively.

Following the National Pass is a definite must as it takes you along the middle of the cliffs via a man made path, it has been one of the most travelled walks in the mountains for a century. 

After whiling away my days wandering all the possible paths in this area I returned to Katoomba and my hostel. After watching the Wallabies beat the All Blacks in the first Bledisloe Cup match I retired to bed with the next day promising more excitement.

On Sunday I chose to visit Scenic World, one of the few attractions within walking distance of Katoomba. Consisting of cable car rides around the mountains and boasting the ‘Worlds steepest railway’ at an angle of 54˚. An entertaining day, good for the more casual walker as they have boardwalks through the rainforest and lots of information about the mining industry within the mountains. For experienced walkers this can be a bit boring, so following the walk from scenic world to the three sisters and the giants stairway is a good way to brighten up the day.

After a more casual Sunday I return to Sydney by train (about 2 hrs). One noticeable difference in walking here compared to in the UK is all of the villages are built on the tops of the mountains (which are very flat-peaked), and most walks go down into the valleys. I would definitely recommend the Blue Mountains to anyone who visits Australia. Even for those who’re not fans of walking, as there are many other activities on offer (climbing, caving and canyoning to name a few).  10/10 would visit again.

 

Conville Courses and Alpine Adventures

After a long exam period a gang of lucky UBESters headed to Chamonix to do the Jonathan Conville Alpine Mountaineering course and get our first alpine season under our belts. The Conville course is a fantastic three day programme subsidised by the Jonathon Conville memorial trust which was set up in memory of a young mountaineer who died on the Matterhorn in 1979.

After two days of driving (or on my part singing musical soundtracks and annoying Megan and Ben) we arrived at the campsite in Argentière. Megan and I were to be on the same course and it quickly became clear that the campsite was a stronghold for Convillers which seemed to be dominated by UBES members! The next day a UBES cohort headed to Le Chesery to enjoy some slabby sport climbing and get our psyche back after a climbing dearth over exam season.

That evening Megan and I made our sandwiches (camembert baguettes naturally) and diligently packed our bags hoping that we had everything we needed. Emily and Duncan who had just finished their course assured us that we’d have a brilliant time and warned us of the guide’s opinions on buffs (pointless), camelbaks (unreliable) and GoPros (make you look like a… chump).   The morning started with introductions and discussion as to what you actually needed to carry with you on an Alpine mountain day. The Alpine spirit of carrying as little weight as possible was quite alien to those of us used to packing a bag capable of dealing with every eventuality on a rainy day in the Lake District and spare-spare jumpers. Full racks and favourite ear muffs were quickly jettisoned. Due to miserable weather we weren’t able to go up high so spent the morning learning how to move across a glacier roped together and carry out crevasse rescue at the campsite. We then drove to a local crag Les Gaillands and practiced prusiking and climbing in our boots accompanied by the sound of bongo drums courtesy of some French hippies. The next day we got the lift up to Les Aiguilles Rouges, for most of us this was our first experience of the Alps in summer and the views were breath taking. At the top we practiced all the skills we learnt the previous day in a snowy environment, as well as learning how to make an axe belay and a snow bollard.

On the final day of the course we went up to the iconic Aiguille du Midi, the highest point I reached during the trip at 3800m and the increased altitude was noticeable. We quickly got our first taste of Alpine exposure descending the Midi arête with its steep gradient and sheer drops.

Excitement was high as we undertook our first Alpine route – The Arête Laurent, moving together and taking it in turns to lead sections as the guides soloed next to us.

We finished the course elated and keen to build on what we had learnt. The guides were incredibly helpful and enthusiastic and after extensive quizzing and leafing through their guide books Megan and I had soon composed a list of ‘totally rad’ routes we hoped to complete by the end of our stay.

First on our list was the normal route up Aiguille du Tour - a friendly introduction to Alpinism with plenty of glacier travel and an easy rock section to practice our rope skills. We set off the next day and walked up the scenic path to Aiguille du Tour with bags full of rope and bivvy stuff. After a beautiful night under the stars with some other UBESters we enjoyed perfect conditions and although the trudge back down seemed far longer than it had the previous day we were kept motivated by the promise of a midnight express in Chamonix once we reached the bottom.

Blessed with consistently good weather we went on to have several more fun packed days in the mountains climbing the Traverse of the Crochues, Cosmiques Arête, L’ Index and Point Lachenal.

After a great two and a half weeks with brilliant company I can’t wait to come back next year!