Taking climbing bags for a walk around Helvellyn

Alastair BegleyLake District, Winter Walking Short Link

There had been lots of snow in the Lake District, which is always the first hurdle for winter climbing in the Lake District. On this weekend last year we were rock climbing in Langdale! However, unfortunately there was really a bit much fresh snow, which had even led to some sizeable avalanches over the previous few days. James and I came up with a plan to head to Dollywagon North, which had lots of good looking short routes on it. Unfortunately from Patterdale the walk up to Grisedale tarn is a long way, which was made worse by endless trail braking with often thigh deep snow. After a three hour approach we made it to the top of the crag, at the same time as some other teams. Unfortunately we were all disappointed as the crag was completely buried, the approach slope was under a large cornice, the top outs looked like they involved almost vertical powder below yet more cornices. With all these negative factors it wasn’t hard to make the decision to take our climbing bags for a walk to the summit of Helvellyn. On the summit we. Read the full article…

Gael Charn

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Walking Short Link

After an aborted attempt at the Tarmachan Ridge due to the car park being an ice rink and having a downhill entrance we had to reassess our options. As Becky is Munro bagging we had to find a single munro which she hadn’t previously climb and which wasn’t too far away. In the end we settled on heading up north to climb Gael Charn, which is an isolated Munro in the Monadhliath. Based on the forecast and the description, combined with the wind hitting the van in the car park, I wasn’t expecting brilliant day out. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised, as the boggy approach was frozen solid and apart from at the summit we were below the cloud for the whole day. Once we got to the snow line the going was quite difficult as the snow was unfrozen and wet, but we made reasonable time to the summit. The views on the ascent were stunning, it was just a shame that we couldn’t see anything from the summit. From the summit we made a quick descent into the freezing wind, and managed to get back to the car just. Read the full article…

Lundy 2017

Alastair BegleyRock Climbing Short Link

We had an excellent weekend on Lundy this year, we were fortunate to have good weather on the island and smooth crossings on the ferry. The excellent weather allowed us to do plenty of climbing, although unfortunately on the first day this was curtailed due to side effects from sea sickness drugs! As we hadn’t done much climbing this year we enjoyed some of the islands easier classic routes which we had missed previously.

Arco multi pitch

Alastair BegleyArco, Rock Climbing Short Link

Having abandoned the Dolomites due to unexpected snow, we headed to Arco which is just north of Lake Garda. Arco is best known to climbers for sport climbing, however it turns out there is also a huge amount of big multi-pitch naturally protected routes. For the most part these seemed to have fixed protection, either threads or bolts. But it was occasionally necessary to place gear. For the first few days we climbed routes just north of where we were camping which were 3-4 pitches. These were enjoyable routes, and more importantly they were out of the afternoon sun! On the last day we headed further up the valley to climb a long multi pitch route called La Bellezza Della Venere. The route climbed 300m in 9 pitches, and was excellent throughout. It was slightly marred by some rude Germans behind us who were getting angry with the party in front of us who were not as fast as they wanted to be. We enjoyed a relaxed day on the rock, in the sun, with beautiful views up the valley while chatting with the party in front of us at belays.. Read the full article…

Che Guevara

Alastair BegleyArco, Via Ferrata Short Link

Due to snow in the Dolomites and a cold forecast for the remaining week, we decided to decamp to Lake Garda where the forecast was 15 degrees warmer and for constant sunshine. The via ferrata of the region which stood out to us was Ferrata Che Guevara, which climbs an impressively big face and gains 1220m in the process. The total height gain throughout the day was 1380m! As we didn’t want to move the van from the campsite, we decided to cycle the 15km up the valley to the start of the route, which was a bit harder work than anticipated with 20% hills to climb en route! It was a strange start to a big mountain day, as we had to walk through an industrial estate and then around  huge quarry. The ascent up to the start of the cable in the woods was hard work due to the heat, which turns out was just a sign of things to come. We almost didn’t start the via ferrata due to a rockfall incident from an inexperienced person above, who had left his girlfriend at the bottom unable to. Read the full article…

Delle Mèsules/Possnecker

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Via Ferrata Short Link

After a leisurely start we headed over to the Sella pass to do the Delle Mèsules via ferrata, unfortunately we discovered that the pass was closed to cars every Wednesday during the summer when we got to the bottom of the pass. Thankfully it turned out that we could get a bus up to the start of the route, it just meant that we had a defined finish time as it would be a very long walk back if we missed the bus. The short walk to the start was under the impressive Sella towers. The start of the via ferrata was the most sustained part of the route, with excellent climbing but some fairly long sections of cable which made it feel fairly exposed. After this first section of steep climbing there was an easier but unprotected section, this included a short chimney, an exposed ladder and then a climb up into a rift. We decided to get a rope out here and quickly moved together up this section. After exiting the confines of the rift, we moved around onto an exposed face. The climbing up this face was amazing. Read the full article…

Brigata Tridentina

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Via Ferrata Short Link

We had a later than planned start as we found out that the via ferrata that we had planned on doing was closed after we had driven to it, paid to park and started the walk in. Due to being in a stunning valley we decided to go for a short walk where we were, before heading back over the pass we had just driven over to do the Brigata Tridentina via ferrata which is a very popular via ferrata. We were hoping that with the late start we would be able to avoid the crowds, but it was not to be. Thankfully for most of the via ferrata there wasn’t too much queuing. The first section of via ferrata was fairly short and straightforward, apart from the wet rock. A hot walk in the sun lead us to the second section of via ferrata which was were all of the good climbing was. We quickly made our way up the impressive face, with lots of excellent scrambling on good rock with some exposure thrown in for good measure. Most of the climb was in the shade, which was no. Read the full article…

Piz da Lech

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Via Ferrata Short Link

With thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon we wanted a quick morning out was in order. Just above where we are staying is a classic short via ferrata called Piz da Lech. After a quick amble into Corvara we took the two lifts up to near the start of the via ferrata. It had started to look cloudy, but after a quick discussion we decided that we probably had enough time to finish the via ferrata. The route was fantastic as the cable provided excellent protection but it was not necessary to use the cable, all of the moves could be done by climbing the rock. Towards the end of the via ferrata there was a short bridge over a steep gully and then some ladders up the steep final headwall. A short walk lead us to the summit where we were able to enjoy the contrasting views from the rocky high mountains to the lush green valleys below. After a fairly quick descent we were soon back at the lift station and were able to enjoy lunch in the sun with a stunning view of the dolomites. As it turned. Read the full article…