Favourite climbs

GRAND CAPUCIN - Mont Blanc massif

Leading the first technical pitch

Rest of the pics here :
https://photos.google.com/shar...T3dlLTNQSDNsWmNzRTJn

Really nice photographs Tomser! Impressive stuff.

You mentioned earlier that you guided your wife. Are you a Guide or an enthusiastic amateur?

Stu

stuart.ashen posted:

Really nice photographs Tomser! Impressive stuff.

You mentioned earlier that you guided your wife. Are you a Guide or an enthusiastic amateur?

No I'm not a professional guide. I'm just an amateur and member of the Swiss Alpin Club (I have there some responsibilities). Mountaineering is just a hobby :-)

stuart.ashen posted:

Funnily enough most of my really hard days have been in Scotland in winter. Different to the Alps or Pyrenees but very serious in its own charming way. Worth checking out, and no need to acclimatise!

Scotland! Never climbed there but I wish I had the opportunity. There are some amazing mix routes in Ben Nevis that I would love to try. And yes, no need to spend to acclimatize. This is a real plus! Every year it's the same problem : acclimatizing during the month of March or April. Each year a bit more difficult...

"Repentance Super" - Cogne, Italy
Leading first, then crux pitch.

Rest of the pics : 
https://photos.google.com/shar...clZKazFDZ1k4Rk0tc2ln

Tomser, looking at your ice climbing pictures you would love the Ben. Not sure about blue skies though. More a case of regular spindrift down your neck! This will give you an idea...

And another fron Glencoe... A much lower standard to what you are used to, but a delightful if occasionally extreme place to climb.

I don't have many climbing photos, but given the recent weather, here's a pic of an obscure Welsh winter classic in the Ogwen Valley. Taken by a friend who just happened to pass by!

Can I just say a big thank you to all of you who have posted on this thread. I haven't climbed seriously since the mid 70's apart from a solo 'walk' up Mt Blanc in the mid 90's. These post have been great fun. My climbing was done mostly in Scotland on snow and rock and on rock in the Lake District and North Wales. Then we only had S, VS and ES which then became + or -. Neither the grading or the climbing was quite so technical then. I always intended to do more climbing in the alps but work and family along with moving to London simply got in the way. These posts have brought back many happy memories.

In Scotland the winter traverse of the Cuillin on Skye is much talked about. I have only done some sections in the summer. I suspect this winter the conditions would have been good.

Has anyone here climbed this?

You have my undying respect and admiration if so.

We just felt lucky to see it. The clouds cleared for all of twenty minutes..!

Mt Fitz Roy, El Chaltén

rodwsmith posted:

Has anyone here climbed this?

You have my undying respect and admiration if so.

We just felt lucky to see it. The clouds cleared for all of twenty minutes..!

Mt Fitz Roy, El Chaltén

No, I haven't! As it happens, a friend of mine climbed it in the early 70s. I believe they were stranded by a huge storm that lasted for over 2 weeks before finishing the climb, which is not that unusual in Patagonia, so maybe you were lucky!

We were very lucky indeed. In the area for 60 hours, only one brief - 20 mins - gap in the clouds (El Chaltén means head-in-smoke, or something similar). 

I posted this picture on Facebook, and no fewer than three of my friends, who had been there, asked for a copy, because they had never seen it without cloud while there.

Climbing it - quite apart from the obviously technical nature - must rely on a massive amount of weather luck, and even then you probably wouldn’t get a view from the top.

Kudos to your friend!

ChrisSU posted:

rodwsmith posted:

Has anyone here climbed this?

You have my undying respect and admiration if so.

We just felt lucky to see it. The clouds cleared for all of twenty minutes..!

Mt Fitz Roy, El Chaltén

No, I haven't! As it happens, a friend of mine climbed it in the early 70s. I believe they were stranded by a huge storm that lasted for over 2 weeks before finishing the climb, which is not that unusual in Patagonia, so maybe you were lucky!

This is from a trekking trip many years back. Anconcagua, Torres del Paine, Los Galciares (Fitzroy, Cerro Torre etc), the Antarctica.

Gervasutti Pillar - Mont Blanc Massif (Summer 2016)

Rest of the pics here

Some lovely (and rather serious) photographs everyone. Thank you all for posting. Kent seems to have slipped back into the ice age this weekend so very appropriate!

Stu

stuart.ashen posted:

Kent seems to have slipped back into the ice age this weekend so very appropriate!

Kent is a very underestimated winter climbing venue in my opinion!

I had seen climbing on chalk cliffs before Chris. It looks both odd and precarious to me. What do you use for belays? Do ice screws work? Very interesting but I might give it a miss!

Stu

The route in the photo is the original white cliffs route, Dry Ice, pioneered by Mick Fowler in the early '80s. It became considerably easier over the years, and axe and crampon holes get bigger with traffic, and chalk doesn't melt! Unlike many Dover routes, it is not that intimidating, and a good way to dip your toe in the water. Ice screws are generally very secure, but you need Warthogs, not tubular ice screws.

Here's a snapshot of a slightly more conventional sea cliff route in North Devon

Summer is here, time to get off the sofa! Here's a bit of classic Derbyshire Grit....

It’s not a climbing. It’s kind of trekking with skies & skins. But the descend is fast. Pics from this April. 

ChrisSU posted:

Summer is here, time to get off the sofa! Here's a bit of classic Derbyshire Grit....

Short route, but very nice crack! 

Salbitschijen Westgrat (Switzerland) , 2 or 3 years ago.

(some other Westgrat pictures here)

That looks like fun (but hard work too) where is it, Ivo?

CHRISSU, 

Bulgaria, Pirin mountain, on the way to Polezhan peak, 2800 m. It was very hot, late April, around 20C.