Soleil Trompeur, Sagnette

Alastair BegleyEcrin, France, Rock Climbing Short Link

Having decided not to head over to Chamonix due to the weather we were keen to get to another summit and have another big mountain day out before the end of our holiday. Unfortunately due to the weather this was put back until the day we were leaving. Despite the plan to leave we were both drawn to an amazing looking route at the head of the Ailefroide valley which climbed the Sagnette. The route was 15 pitches long, well bolted and involved about 10 abseils to get back. Due to our desire not to finish in the dark, and to finish early enough to make a good indent into the journey that night we had a very early start. After a hideous alarm call we drove up the valley in the dark and discovered that even if you turn up before dawn you still have to pay the park entry fee! A hasty walk in enabled us to overtake two other parties and arrive at the route without anyone in front of us. The first few pitches were very cold in the shade, however the climbing was excellent. It. Read the full article…

Ailefroide Multipitch

Alastair BegleyEcrin, Rock Climbing Short Link

As the weather has remained excellent in Ailefroide we have stayed here to focus on multi-pitch rock rather than heading off somewhere else to do more alpine climbing. Palavar les Flots, 12 Pitches, 430m, 5c We started with the long but relatively straight forward classic of Palavar les Flots, which is a 12 pitch 5c which climbs the dominant arête above the campsite. The climbing was relatively sustained all the way up at 4b-5a which made for an enjoyable day out, the crux pitch was notably harder than the rest of the route but had an enjoyable sequence up the slab. Despite being stuck behind a slower group of three, we made quick time up the route and we were at the top by lunchtime. After lunch on the top, we made the long abseil back down to the valley. By the time we were back down at the base of the route we were in the full heat of the afternoon sun, so we made a hasty retreat to a hotel in Ailefroide for a beer and some ice cream. Little Palaver, 8 Pitches, 300m, 5c Next to Palavar. Read the full article…

A Week in the Ecrins

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Ecrin, France, Mountaineering, Rock Climbing Short Link

For the past few years the weather has always been very unsettled during the time I have spent in the alps, so it has been great this year that the weather has been very stable since the day after we arrived. This year we have started our Alps trip in Ailefroide in the Ecrins. On the first day the weather forecast for the afternoon wasn’t brilliant so we headed for some local multi-pitch rock climbing before the storm came in. As it was the first day we were a bit slow getting started, so our early start turned into a leisurely midday start. After enjoying six pitches of excellent climbing on brilliant rock we got to the top just as the forecast downpour hit. This lead to a rather soggy abseil off in the rain, before walking back and enjoying a well earnt drink in Ailefroide. Roche Faurio With a stable weather forecast for the next week we decided to head up into the high mountains for three days. We chose to acclimatise by climbing Roche Faurio at 3730m before climbing the Barre des Ecrins at 4102m. What I didn’t. Read the full article…

Rock Climbing in Langdale

Alastair BegleyLake District, Rock Climbing Short Link

Having made multiple trips up to the Lake District with the hope of climbing only to be thwarted by bad weather and ending up at Shepards, it was great to finally have a weekend in the Lake District with decent weather and dry rock. Over the weekend I climbed with Becky and Andrew and come home having completed a decent haul of routes Day 1: Pavey Arc – Capella & Golden Slipper Having left bristol at an hour which should not exist we were enjoying a coffee and breakfast in Ambleside at 9am while looking at the unfortunately grey sky. Despite this we held our nerve and carried on with plan A, which was to climb a link up of two classic routes on Pavey Arc. Having spent too little time in the the mountains and too much time sat at work, the walk in came as a bit of a shock to the body. Thankfully after not too long we emerged at the tarn and were able to admire the crag. We were soon at the start of the route, and thankfully it looked like the route was mostly. Read the full article…

Diedros Mágicos

Alastair BegleyCosta Blanca, Rock Climbing Short Link

On our last day we headed up to the the impressive south face of Puig Campana to climb the classic corner of Diedros Mágicos which is a 5 pitch f6a. Unusually for Spain, the route had no bolts other than for the belays which gave the route a UK grade of E1. Also unusually for Spain there was actually a decent size walk in, although it looked pretty short from the car as the south face is so large. After a hot walk in with a fantastic view of the south face, we were soon at the crag which other than a team on the classic ridge of Espolón Central we had to ourselves. From below the groove of Diedros Mágicos looked very impressive so I was pretty psyched to get onto the route and the lack of bolts made me even more excited. The first pitch was much harder than I was expecting, but the climbing was amazing. It involved excellent bridging and laybacking up the steep corner, with excellent unpolished rock, loads of gear and it finished at a very comfy cave belay.   The next two pitches involved more of the same, just a bit. Read the full article…

El Dorado

Alastair BegleyCosta Blanca, Rock Climbing Short Link

As we didn’t have time to climb El Dorado yesterday we had another chilled out start this morning with the aim of climbing El Dorado in the afternoon. To warm up we headed to the main cliffs of Sierra de Toix for a few sport routes in the morning. El Dorado is an impressive line up a striking cliff face above the sea below Sierra de Toix. The first pitch is an exposed traverse onto a ledge below the main groove line, while the climbing was never hard it was pretty serious due to a lack of bolts or natural gear. The main pitches then follow a huge groove line up the cliff, from the bottom this looks incredibly intimidating as it is incredibly steep. The climbing up the main pitch was absolutely fantastic, it is now also fully equipped with good bolts so it was just a case of enjoying the outstanding climbing. The route was impressively steep, but generally the holds were excellent so it was often possible to get the weight off your arms. This just lead to a brilliant atmospheric pitch, from the hanging belay towards. Read the full article…

Magical Mystery Tour

Alastair BegleyCosta Blanca, Rock Climbing Short Link

After a mountaineering day out yesterday it was back to rock climbing today. We had planned on climbing the classic El Dorado in the afternoon and something else in the morning. After a very leisurely start which involved eating breakfast in the sun, we decided to head for Magical Mystery Tour which is described as a classic expedition in the guidebook. The guidebook says that the route requires trad gear and is HVS 5a in UK grades, but it is now fully bolted and is certainly not HVS and I am not sure where the 5a the guidebook referred to was. If you aren’t confident climbing f5 then a set of wires may not be a bad idea for the final pitch. The start of the route was an superb 40m free hanging abseil which was very atmospheric. The first few pitches were very easy and thankfully a slower party in front of us kindly let us past them on these pitches. The main pitches of the route involved excellent climbing with lots of exposed traversing and enjoyable climbing. The climbing was never hard, but the atmosphere of the route was. Read the full article…

Bernia Ridge Traverse

Alastair BegleyCosta Blanca, Scrambling Short Link

After a few days of climbing we decided to enjoy the excellent weather with a mountaineering day out. We headed for the classic traverse of the Bernia, which is an excellent scramble which is like Crib Goch on steroids. For it’s entire length it has interesting and often exposed scrambling, with a very short section of climbing in the middle. As the guidebook said that the estimated time was 5-10 hours we had a fairly early start to ensure that we had enough light, this had the added advantage that we weren’t walking up to the start of the ridge in the full heat of the day. As soon as we started scrambling along the ridge we were greeted with excellent exposure, interesting scrambling with some enjoyable down climbing. We made really good time along the technical section and we were soon at the single graded pitch, which was as expected a bolt ladder which needed no gear. The climbing was up a very strange section of rock which had three vertical fins which were attached to a weird curving ridge. From here a short section of scrambling up the ridge. Read the full article…