A February trip up to Scotland saw us climbing on Creag Meagaidh again, with very odd Scottish conditions -6 to -15 during the day (in the shade) with clear blue skies in all directions and fresh powder on a hard base leading it to feel more like the alps than the highlands! The first route of the day was Smith’s Gully a brilliant grade 5, that I have been waiting to climb for years, three long steep pitches each contrasting and really enjoyable lead to the top of the face. We finished the day with an ascent of the Wand a short Water Ice climb. On the Sunday we had a slight epic on Raven’s Gully of Buachaille Etive Mor; the route looked well ice, however this turned out to be an illusion – it was barely consolidated snow which wouldn’t support weight. This lead to a 7pm finish and a 2am arrival back in Leeds.

Walking out from Great Gable

The next weekend I only had one free day, so we had a day trip to the Lakes. We climbed Central Gully on Great Gable in perfect cold weather again! We got slightly lost on the way in, it turned out a 13 year old memory of the path (I was 12 when I last walked that way) was not quite up to scratch and some quick map reading led to the base of the crag. The climb was in good condition and quite busy that day – I think Gable crag must be one of the most reliable winter venues in the lakes.

Ralph leading the second pitch on Botterill's Slab

The following weekend we were back in the Lakes again; Saturday was spent on Scafell ice climbing. Scafell was in brilliant condition and it was another beautiful day; we started on the superb Botterill’s Slab (V/VI) – thin ice climbing with just enough gear followed by a really hard chimney. The second route of the day was Pisgah Buttress (V) which involved 3 pitches of pleasant mixed climbing. Sunday was spent rock climbing at White Ghyll in Langdale in the sun! This was basically the first proper day rock climbing of the year; I climbed 4 classic routes including White Ghyll Eliminate which I fell off.

On the Slab Pitch on Western Gully

Finally last weekend I was in Wales; climbing Ice on the Black Ladders on Saturday which was a bit soggy, but really good fun. First off we got to grips with Western Gully (V) a true classic, a tricky first pitch followed by a steep chimney with plenty of Ice in, led to the famous slab pitch that turned out to be really straight-forward and followed by one long pitch led to the top. We then climbed pyramid gully (IV) which I climbed 5 years ago and found quite challenging at the time – it was nice to go back a find it a bit easier. On the Sunday we rock climbed again in the sun this time at Tremadog – where I finally got on Vector a classic E2, which most people I climb with have done before. All in all several weekends of brilliant climbing at several different venues around the country.

We topped up stock of some firm favourites such as the Powerstretch Vest, the Driclime Windshirt, the Mica Jacket and the Women’s Driclime Windshirt.

We also received some great new lightweight softshells and windproofs:

The Trail Wind Hoody is an ultra-light weather resistant shell.

Marmot Trail Wind Hoody

The Trail Wind Pant is the accompanying pant, again ultra-light, packable and easy to carry in your back pack.

MArmot Trail Wind Pant

The ROM Jacket is a Gore Windstopper softshell, great for aerobic activity in windy and wild conditions.

Marmot Rom Jacket

The Stretch Man Jacket is a low bulk, stretchy shell jacket perfect for summer climbing.

Marmot Stretch Man Jacket

Check out the full Marmot range here.

Mountain bike orienteering is great fun. Basically you get a set time to reach as many controls as you can to score the most points. The route and navigation is up to you. You get ride in a new area and have an incentive to really push yourself.

This event was held in the Howardian Hills north of York. The area is a great mix of quiet roads and singletrack. It made for a great venue.

Over 4 hours I rode 52km and climbed 800m. That’s about my limit. To put that into perspective the winner climbed 950m and rode 80km. That’s an average of 20km/hr which is amazing.

The riding was great fun, although the mud seemed to stick to everything. At one stage I had to stop to get the 5kg of accumulated mud off my wheels.

As far as kit is concerned the couple of “must haves” were:

1)A  Miry Mapboard. These are expensive but well worth the investment if you regularly do MBO. (Mountain Bike orienteering)

2) My Marmot Driclime windshirt again was the perfect top.  These simply are the most versatile windshirts going.  They keep the wind away and are very breathable.  I use mine now for skiing, ski touring, walking and biking.

The next event is 17th April in Broxa forest in North Yorkshire. For further info see the NYMBO website.

Jake

Last Sunday I has my first run out as a male solo. Tim always stops me from making at least one big error per event so I wondered how I would fare. I went for an ambitious bike leg only missing 1 control but was 15mins later out on the run than I had wanted. The run course had a couple of big hills but was fairly compact so I recovered some of my lost time. I dropped 4 run controls to finish with 550 out of 600. I was pleased with my performance and finished 5th overall in male solos. I did however overshoots 2 checkpoints and one junction.

Will post when the results of the last round are in.

My dilemma with new clothes is that the only way to fairly test them is to put my faith in them and leave all my tried and trusted favourites behind. Not something I am completely happy doing, but out goes the ME Astron Hooded Jacket, ME Liskamm Pants, Ortovox Merino Top, Smarwool Merino Bottoms and Marmot Salopettes (can’t even remember the name they have lasted that long).  I did however draw the line at my Marmot Ultimate Ski Gloves.

So what have I got? No hardshell salopettes at all but the new fabric G2 Ultimate Mountain Pants from ME and the lighter Advanced Base Jump Pant from Mammut.  No softshell jacket either but an ME Shroud fleece and a windproof midlayer from  Mammut. I have base layers, all synthetic from Odlo, X Bionic and Craft plus a synthetic/wool hybrid from Mammut. The one piece I have no doubt about is a trial jacket from ME. It’s an insulated jacket with a full 3 layer pro shell outer, dare I say it a ski jacket. Might be another season before it’s perfected but it looks great.

Had hoped to line up some Rab Vapourise and eVent as well but that will have to wait for another time. Will send some updates from my trip and have full reports when I get back.

Do you prefer a zip neck or crew (round) neck on your thermal top? Zip necks allow for a bit more temperature regulation but cost £5 – £10 more than a standard unzipped thermal long sleeve top. Which do you prefer?

The down ranges of Extreme, Xero and Dreamcatcher are 20% Off RRP

The synthetic ranges of Moonwalker, Starlight and Sleepwalker are 50% off RRP

We do not have a complete spread of sizes and weights in the sale, just what’s left from last summer, but have a look because the bag you want might be there.

Recognition of what great events James and his team put on.

If all sound that sounds too much, start with a friendly little Open 5

Arcteryx has come to Facewest this spring. Today we had the climbing harnesses delivered but tomorrow we should have most of the shell and softshell with a few stragglers after that. For this spring we have concentrated on their lightweight shells for our ski touring, weight concious and summer alpine customers. Arcteryx still make a good range of shells in Gore Tex Paclite which ME and Marmot don’t use much any more. We have both membraned and non membrane jackets from their softshell range and a selection of non membraned pants in different fabric weights.

All Arcteryx Spring/Summer 10 Products.

Arcteryx Climbing Harnesses

The stock will go onto the site tomorrow but I know it’s in the warehouse now, so you can order it now if you wish.