Just a quick note about the last few days as I'm in the midst of getting ready to move out tomorrow...

Went down to Llanberis on tuesday morning to meet the rest of the course in Pete's Eats - Eve a local and Luke & Becks from CMC. Went to Tremadog Upper Tier for the first day dealing mainly with personal climbing skills but also some group work stuff. Finished up with some climbing there in the evening as the weather was superb leading a fantastic HS and VS 4c with Eve. Back to Llanberis to crash in the bunkhouse above Pete's Eats after a devouring a Madras from next door.

Up again the next day to meet everybody and then we preceded to flit between several smaller crags locally dealing with stuff like group abseils and rescues etc. Finished up at the Beacon climbing wall again getting some climbing in in the evening. Pretty good wall with some really interesting routes. Then did the paperwork side of things and got recommended to go for assessment as apparently I'm ready, think I'd feel a bit more confident with a few more group sessions outside under my belt so will try and get them in before doing it. Home that evening via an Indian buffet near Wrexham - yet more Madras!

Was fairly tired yesterday but managed to get some stuff done for university before cycling to Rufford to meet Martin so we could practice our sea kayaking for Splash an Dash in the evening.

Next time I post I'll be living in Lancaster and by the sounds of Fresher's Week probably inebriated.

Feels like I've had a bit of a rock and roll lifestyle for the past few days, drinking to all hours every night, jumping on and off planes and meeting some very very attractive foreign ladies! Quite a contrast from last weekend when I spent 3 straight days at the Dark Lane climbing wall!

Stuff really started happeing thursday afternoon, got myself down to Margaret Loma's to do my much needed CRB and have some tea before Martin picked me up and we headed to Lathom. Arrived and met Chris and started packing stuff into numerous veichles, then down to Tawd to unload the stuff only to find somebody had pitched up in the middle of Chris's 'Danger Zone'. Dumped stuff closer to the training field then headed back to the masonic. Hitched a lift back to Tarleton with Ken getting home about 9.30pm and dropping into Yeti which was finishing up. Got in after that for a Portuguese shower and change of clothes before Jenny arrived around 10.30 then grabbed Bob and set off into Preston.

Met David and Katie in Revolution as well as several mates from High School I've not seen for a while. Phil an Lewis arrived shortly after us, drinking and dancing ensued. Me an Lewis then moved on to Yates to meet Liz an Laura and co, and take advantage of the cheaper drinks - £1 a pint! Eventually got evicted when the place shut and went to Loft, now I've not been to loft before but I don't think i'll be going back... £5 to get into a room the size of somebody's loft!!! Think it was about 4am when we got out, after numerous texts throughout the evening between me an Phil counting down the hours to Germany. Grabbed some garlic bread from a kebab house with everybody and then back in the car with Jenny and off home.

Up only a few hours later to frantically pack fro Germany. Stu an Bob arrived and we set off down to Ormskirk. Met the rest of the crew there and in the minibus to Manchester. Checked in fine, minor issue at security with my knee brace and into the terminal to start the weekend with a hearty meal in 'Giraffe' and a few beers. Then downstairs to drink some more at the bar with the purpose of getting free hats... The plane we had was only small being predominantly a business flight as Düsseldorf is in Germany's most industrialized state. So you can image how we fitted in perfectly! More free drinks on the plane courtesy of Lufthansa.

We landed and were greeted by one of our coasts then onto the 'party' bus for the drive to Erkrath and our accommodation in quite a posh boarding school. We found some crates of Becks in the entrance and gathered around them when one of the German organizer's arrived to highlight the European stereotype of the British that we do drink an awful lot... We got given our teams (I must stress this is a sporting weekend - we didn't just get pissed!) and back on the party bus to go bowling. After driving around the leafy suburbs of Erkrath we arrived at the place and started bowling which was good fun, there is also the small fact there was a free bar.

Back to the school to consume huge quantities of Beck's and mix with the foreigners. Many an hour later I headed upstairs, last to bed with Ricko. On the way we found Phil in a room with 5 of the younger girls... entered and talked for a while until we decided to remove Philip much to his disgust. Got abuse for half an hour or so from him while going to sleep claiming we'd ruined his chance for a foreign five-some!!!

Woke not feeling too bad, just extremely tired due to the lack of sleep on the previous too nights. Had breakfast and then off to go swimming at the local pool. Did countless races against the other teams in the pool, with me and Waldamar (who Lewis referred to as Voldemort) having to do double laps due to our team being a few people town... absolutely exhausted. Got some relaxation at the end jumping off the rather tall diving board and playing polo. Back to the school for lunch, with more Becks.

Off to Düsseldorf for afternoon to peruse some very expensive shops, on allegedally the most expensive street in Germany. More bouncers on the doors there then there is in Manchester on a Saturday night! Many many posh cars as well, went to look at a Bentley with Phil an Lewis and then crossed a road only to nearly get mowed down by a Ferrari! Soon learnt the lesson that Germany is like the US, no J-walking. Got some Jagermeister from one of the shops and then back to re-group via some of the local beer tents that lined the streets. They employ a very very clever idea whereas the price of a beer includes the glass so you can just walk off with it, or with 3.

That evening we were doing water-skiing which I've never done before... and not behind a boat ever, on a crazy ski-lift-esque maching that towed you in circular pattern round the lake at great speed. I still maintain that machine was the devil. Took me a few a go's to get the hang of it but when I did it was superb, defentely something to do again.

After this it was onto the evening's BBQ, good food and even better watched Pam get extremely drunk. Likened the level of respect I had for her to the level of beer in my bottle - constantly falling, and then to be ultimately discarded. Back to the school to consume much Jagermeister, the best part of two bottle methinks! Talked with everybody, occasionally making very poor attempts at German. Played spin the bottle with the foreigners, sang some more, tried to deal with a pissed Maria and failed, sang more and then eventually at a god-forsaken hour collapsed on the coach in our room. Top night. Absolutely fantastic.

Woken by Ricko, had breakfast and then packed stuff to get back on the Party Bus. Slept all of the way as by this point I really think I was suffering from exhaustion, and was probably also still drunk from a few hours earlier. When we arrived I thought they'd driven us to an abandoned industrial estate to be shot or similar but we went inside one of the derelict looking warehouse to find a pretty cool sports centre! Our final competition was beach volleyball and football. Our team nailed the football and won one out of 2 of our volleyball matches.

Lunch was at another venue, I think maybe their town hall with a very German buffet. The team's results were announced, we (Orange) came 3rd which is a downturn from last years 1st but we maintained we were defentely the most stylish! Said goodbyes after this and got back on the party bus and to the airport, every thing after this is quite blurred as I was falling asleep whenever I sat down!

Lots of photos all over facebook of the weekend, I'll put some of mine onto my gallery when I get the chance.

So again, a weekend with no mountaineering much like Connected but in this case possibly better than a lot of weekends in the mountains I've had. Made lots of new friends that I think I'll be keeping in touch with, and had a great time with others I've know for a very long time. Pretty dam good.

Friday brought rain, in fact from the moment I got up I don't think it stopped raining once. Tom arrived at mine at 3 just as I got a text from Maria to say we were leaving an hour later so we killed some time - mainly looking out the window wondering if it was was going to ever stop raining, it didn't.

Olivia soon arrived and we packed the car and left, a quick pause at the BP garage at the Parbold Junction to meet Maria and we headed South. The weather was still atrocious and their was congestion on the M62 so suggested the A580, which after finding our way onto it through some small flooded roads turned out to be a good move. Hit the ring road and came off in Stockport to stock up on much needed supplies at the Tesco there (Jägermeister) and then south through Marple to the campsite. Put too much faith in Olivia's sat nav which took us the wrong way... into a farm with a £10 turning fee! Hastily retreated and found the right entrance.

Put up tent and then into Marple with Maria, Olivia an Tom to retrieve Chicken Madras. Back at the site we engaged in the evenings activities, got to talk and catch up with loads of people i've not seen over the summer. Heather made an appearance which was cool, taking a liking to Tom! To bed 5ish maybe...
Up an packed stuff, due to the continuing rain made a tactical decision to go to awesome walls rather than a crag. Didn't bother me too much as 'd been climbing at where we would of gone (Windgather) the week before. The awesome walls place in Stockport is truly awesome. Theres a 25m wall which I think is the biggest 've ever seen, really good for stamina training. Found grading a bit funny tough, quite a few of the 5's were easier than some of the 6a's - strange, but then again I reckon its April since I climbed indoor! Ate lunch on the big nice leather couches upstairs while flicking through copies of climb and moaning that my climbing shoes that I've had for 2 weeks now look more abused than Katie's that shes had for over a year, despite being th same model! I blame Valkyrie.

Sloped off late afternoon after getting quite pumped and suggesting that a few pints in a beer garden would be a nice way to finish the day to Julie.

Once back to site watched a drunk Jenny roll about in the mud, had a nap then feasted at the BBQ. Then it was Toga time, got into my costume and started the partying. Really good fun and was great to see most people had made an effort with their costumes. The band that played were pretty good and seemed to hold scouting in some respect which was good, then dancing ensued which was also good. Found myself with Tom an Maria around 3am I think with most people either in bed or passed out somewhere... so figured that we should probably follow the trend!

Got woken up by Tom an 12.30pm, apparently I'd missed flag-break and all the morning activities (not the first time thats happened!). It was still raining do they moved the closing ceremony earlier to 1pm. Packed stuff and said goodbyes then hopped in Maria's car and set off home. Had a minor hitch with a detour to Denton but other than that the journey home was smooth.

So, a weekend of a lot less mountain adventure then I've been used too over the last few months but none the less good. I am coming to terms with the fact that on a lot of these events the priority is the social side of things rather than the activities which if thats what people want I don't have a problem with, but I do come away feeling rather un-satisfied. Hmn.

Just a quick note to start with... this is my 50th Blog entry! So I'm averaging on more than one a week which is above what I was aiming for... so all is good.

Spent Friday in Southport first trying to frantically get a photo printed and then
finding a frame for it before buying large quantities of meat for Dave & Tracey's BBQ. Ash collected me from the house around 5 and we set off plotting a route on minor roads south, through St. Helens for a un-forfilling LPG stop an then on the M62. Eventually got to Heather's farm shortly after 7. Was then ditched by both Ash and Heather (!!!) so borrowed a guidebook and ran up to the local crag of Windgather, about 20 minutes away. Light was dying so gleaned what I could from a guidebook and then solo'ed 2 mods, 5 diffs and 2 vdiffs - so a rather productive 50mins. Back to Heather's to chill with her folks and discuss with her dad what sought of a dowry he should offer to marry Heather off!


Woken from my bed on the living room floor by Heather at 8am and had some breakfast then watched the DVD of Heather climbing Valkyrie at The Roaches followed by many stories of people having big and scary falls on there with career ending consequences - not a good thing to hear about a route your about to do! Ash arrived soon, and smartly paid no attention to the tales of the route Heather was spinning and after the Tupperware incident we were soon off. Stopped for fuel, and Heather decided on a Magnum to aid her head which apparently worked...


Arrived at The Roaches, I've never climbed there before, was chased along the top a few years ago on an Alcatraz by Andy Davies and Matty Parker though! Me an Ash decided to go straight for Valkyrie, the 2 pitch VS/HVS with pendulum fall potential. First pitch went well to a really nice belay. We tossed to see who was going to lead the next one and I won, or lost depending on how you look at it. First moved entailed swinging out onto the buttress via a big flake and getting a sling over it before downclimbing the flake on the other side - while attempting not to fall and become a human wrecking ball. Managed the first bit ok and attempted to move down the flake but then suddenly didn't have the nerve to go any further - looking down the flying buttress to the ground a long way below. Decided that rather than push on and end up hurting myself the wisest move was to come back an let Ash have a go - we all have to admit defeat sometimes! Ash led it out, managing the part where I bottled it across the gap and up the frontal face of the buttress. I then had the job of seconding which on most climbs is usually a piece of cake but on this there is still quite a fall potential for the second due to the downclimb. The hardest part was after the first move, having to remove two 240cm slings from the spike and do 'something' with them to get them out the way before continuing the downclimb while hanging off the slopers on the top of the flake. Knew there was no chance of knotting them or coiling the round me so ended up stuffing them down my shirt. Continued down eventually finding the ONLY foothold which is very cunningly hidden and no matter how you do it is invisible! Had an epic fight with one of the hexes Ash had placed before making the ballsy move across the gap then up the fabulous climbing on the frontal face to the top. Topped out an shook Ash's hand an we both took in what we'd just done feelling rather happy. We then sorted the gear and I passed him the slings which were down my shirt now rather damp - a consequence of what I can only describe as 'fear sweat'!

Wandered down and found Heather who had been taking the rather spectacular photos of us while intermittently bouldering and being a general Crag Socialite. She'd eyed up a HVS 5a on the upper tier so after recouping with fresh orange and donuts we went up there. Ash was on belay duty and I was on photo duty. Heather did a really good job up to the crux which after 'physcing' her self up she manged only to find she couldn't reach the final hold for the last committing move. After a few goes she decided to come down admitting defeat. Ash decided it was worth having ago so tied on and I belayed him up and he managed the final move, I then followed and stripped the route of the gear. Got to the top and felt happy once again, very content that we'd climbed, depending on which guidebook you look in 2 HVSs.


Swiftly (no pun intended Heather!) to the car and further south to Dunchurch where Dave an Tracey's quaint little cottage sits in a village just outside of Rugby for their housewarming. Ash drove, I navigated and Heather sprawled out on the back seats and went to sleep. Took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there including our impromptu stop at 'Ash Green'.

Really good crowd of people there, and lots of food, oh, and the keg! Fed and socialized for the evening which eventually degraded into a few of us raving in the front room to some music Dave had put on at some early hour in the morning! Eventually we all fell asleep, leaving the stereo playing which some music that Jonathan had chosen claiming we could sleep to it.


Woke up at 10ish and glanced across the coffee table through the maze of bottles, pint glasses and wine glasses to Ash who had also just woken. Had weird photos taken then went to the kitchen to say good morning to everybody and have some nice breakfast sausages cooked by Maria with some of the excess BBQ sauce that was supplied with my ribs the previous night.

Bid farewell to Dave an Tracey, and everybody else after lunch an started our journey home. Went via Buxton to drop Heather off and then Knutsford and north. Called in at Ash's to let him steal my photos of the weekend then he dropped me off.

Conclusion - amazing weekend, did 10 routes including a VS an HVS and had a great evening with good friends. Very content now.

Up and off early in the morning heading south to welsh Wales! Left mine shortly before 8am and managed to avoid all traffic ending up at the car park in Ogwen around 10. Andy hadn't done much climbing for a while but was keen so I thought he'd really enjoy a day I'd done with Dave an Tracey in the area a few months ago, moving alpine style up a few multi-pitch routes strung together.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side, we left the car park in full waterproofs and it was still coming down when get got to the base of the slabs. Decided to have a crack anyway and if the first pitch did turn to out to be slippery death on a stick we'd come back. I led up and didn't find it 'too' trying so brought Andy up to the first belay and set off up the next pitch. It went on like this for another few pitches with things being difficult but not impossible. I had forgotten about the crux on one of the top pitches though, in dry conditions a simple traverse across an angled smooth slab with lots of smearing on the rock with rock boots. A whole different issue when its lashing it down and wearing big boots with no edges or sole left (mental note to get Trangos re-soled!), first step onto the slab and my foot slid from beneath me...'ah, this could take a little more thinking' I think was my though. After about 15 minutes of trying different ways I figured it out, I had to grasp the single hold in the middle, a little crimp and then crouch down before lunging for a tuft of grass on the other side... will not be in a rush to do that again! Then came the problem of bringing Andy across, who was I think reaching the end of his comfort level by now. I knew that when he took out my last piece of gear he woulden't be protected and if he slipped he'd fall a long down and swing. Placements were sparse but I managed to find a good nut about 5m above and clipped the rope going from me to him into it and used it to keep him on a tight rope as he crossed the slab. One more pitch after this and we were at the top.

We then roped together and moved on up the ledges taking the easiest route possible as there wasn't an inch of rock that was dry! We eventually topped out into the Cwm, and after a bit of persuasion I convinced Andy that we should go for Cneifion Arete as apparently he hadn't been really enjoying it that much up to now, and I could certainly sympathize with him, I now see why nobody climbs on the slabs in the rain!

The first pitch of the Arete is fairly steep, and quite strenuous I think for a diff but all the holds and gear are there if you look for them. I set off and managed to get most of the way to the stance below the chimney before Andy had to set off, the rope went tight as is normal but he didn't move for ages. Peered back over the edge to see him having a few problems so set up a belay and brought him up to me. I then set off up the chimney, this is where Andy started to have real problems - he'd had his sleeves rolled up all day and as a consequence of the muscles getting cold he was getting really bad cramp in both his arms. He attempted the chimney but kept getting the feeling it was pushing him out. Eventually I lowered him back down to the grassy ledge and got him to drop his coils and stick his rucksack on the rope. Brought that up to me and then stuck him on a magic plate and had him come up the chimney again slowly and pointed out all the holds and without his sack his manged to do it. Realized at this point that getting off this at speed was a priority so sat Andy down and told him to wait until the rope went tight and he heard me shout and then start climbing. I then solo'ed up the arete with both the sacs running out the length of the rope and then brought Andy up to me. He'd managed to compose himself a bit by now so took his sac back and I solo'ed up again at speed, two more of these pitches and we were at the top - very much to the relief of Andy!

Contemplated going to bag the Glyders but Andy wanted to get back so we went straight down the Y Gribbon ridge to Cwm Idwal. Got tot he car park at 18.45pm so a pretty long day, but an adventure at that!

Been wanting to do this route for a very long time, eyed it up every time I've been to Dow. Its a really impressive line which winds its way through some of the spectacular rock structures on the very imposing A Buttress, needless to say its very atmospheric! Its six pitches of VS, and I can now say that every pitch is certainly VS, and all of them deserve their technical grades! Probably the most significant image I have of the climb was of a wet day at Dow, coming of Murray's in the rain and seeing quite a lot of people not looking too happy at certain parts on the route and a whole world of fluorescent nylon tat beginning to appear! Was going to attempt it with Phil on the March weekend earlier in the year but were foxed firstly by the amount we drank the night before and secondly by the fact that it started to snow!

Had already been in the Lakes earlier in the week and experienced the atrocious weather, not really into this getting rained on! Forecast for the weekend brightened up though so spoke to Ash, debated and then decided to go for it on Saturday. Mega early start, up at 5.30am to make sure we were off the route before the rain came in. Got to Walna Scar soon after 8 and sorted rack, then re-sorted after deciding we had too much. Got to the bottom of the route for 9.30ish and were climbing soon after.

Ash did the first pitch which didn't waste anytime starting with a short traverse and then up a steep wall. I followed him up and then led through onto the next pitch which was the longest, a 4b but with some tricky moves with lots of exposure. All the gear and holds were there they just took some looking for! Ash then came up and went through to do a relatively short pitch of 4c which traversed a very delicate line above an overhand with quite a novel threaded nut for gear in the middle. We swapped again and I did the next one, up as the guidebook described it as a 'Crevasse line' simply a very big diagonal crack in the rock, brought back memories of savage slit, this was followed by a rather bold round a rib to the belay. I think as I made the move I made some 'comments' which Ash agreed with once he joined me at the belay, nothing but nearly 100m of air below your ankles kind of stuff. The next pitch was the photogenic one, well photogenic if you didn't mind your belayer leaving go of the rope to take some snaps of you while you perched on some very small holds, with not much gear and a very large drop... sort of like the photo in the guidebook! I then followed Ash up this superb pitch and led through onto the final one, another really good pitch of climbing, quite delicate and with quite a few bits that made you 'think'. Ran the rope up as far as I could to near the top of the buttress until drag got too much an brought Ash up we then moved up to the top and sat down and took in what we'd just done with some very big grins!

Back down to the car within an hour and into to Ambleside to meet Simon and peruse various shops in search of Merino Wool, eventually ended up getting one of Simon's which he bought a few months ago but hasen't really used as he isn't a fan of sleeves... and a bonus at £20! Called in very quickly at GT on the way back to say hi to Mr & Mrs Miller who were up there for the service team weekend and then drive rather quickly, on small minor roads while simultaneously searching for coffee to Waddacar. Spent a few hours there, leaching food from Pete's BBQ and talking to Ricko about the Gathering amongst other things.

Ash's account is on his site - http://www.ashthegreen.co.uk/ashblog/?p=88

There the words I can't get out of my head after Thursday nights session... but more on that later!

Fresh back from Mexico I got my A-level results on thursday morning, the one I was really hoping for was my Physics; defentely the subject I've found the hardest over the last few years, and over study leave I spent every day in college in the lab doing every past paper from now back to 95! Was really hoping for a B which is what I needed to get on the Geophysics course at Edinburgh. Unfortunately I only managed a C, and I later worked out I was only 1.25% of the grade boundary for the B... a few more marks over the two years and every thing would of been different! Gave Edinburgh a ring just to see if there was any flexibility in the system, and apparently there isn't and they aren't even offering any places in clearing this year as they've already filled all there places in all departments. So turned to my second choice which was Lancaster, who had accepted me. Gave the admissions tutor there a ring and he said that they would really like me and that they were impressed with my personal statement and I was the sort of person they wanted so I could choose any course in their department... and a place on their International Students course. So it didn't turn out too bad, considering that the original asking price for the course I'm planning on doing at Lancaster now is the same as what Edinburgh wanted from. In some ways as well it may be better, the course itself is an Earth Science one, so not as specialized as the Geophysics course but its still has Geophysics modules in the second and third year, and if in 3 years time when I'm finished I'm still really keen on Geophysics I can always do a masters in it which will put me at the same level, if not a stage higher than if I'd come out of Edinburgh.

Got persuaded by Steph, and then by Joey to join the masses going to Preston that night. Met Barry in Manyanna's first then we went to join the queue for Lava. Soon realised it was going to take a very long time so me, Ian an Barry killed another hour in Revolution before going back to Lava through the slightly (£9!!!) more expensive door but no queuing... Met a whole host of people inside, many I know from college and also people i've not seen properly since high school. Very very fun, lots of dancing and drinking. People started to drift off from 1.30/2ish I think. Remember being on the dancefloor with Davidoff, looking at my watch to see it was 3.25am and that a lot of people were leaving. Once outside got in a taxi and explained in some manner to the driver I didn't have much cash and could he take me as close to Tarleton as he could with £15. Got me to Much Hoole, 40mins (5.6km) to run from there... wished I had the money to get myself some Rios at the time though! Home just before 5.

The next day was fairly uneventful, mainly due to the fact I slept in all the way to 7.30pm at night! Got up and had some cereal then went to Helen's to see her, catch up on things and return bits of kit I'd acquired.

Out Saturday morning climbing with Rob, destination was Trowbarrow. Stopped in Lancaster first as I'd promised myself a pair of rock-boots with some cash I'd got given for my birthday, ended up after a few hours with a pair of Red Chili Sausilitos, in very sexy red! Got in 3 long routes at Trowbarrow before the rain came, then very swiftly ran away home.

That evening was Emma's 18th BBQ at her house but the plans of a summery BBQ were rather scuppered by the weather. Was still a good do though, met loads of new people many of them very very talented musically, spent a good few hours just sat in chair listening to them play! Was supposed to be camping in the garden but had neglected to find my tent before I came so instead had just a bivi bag, kept me perfectly dry if a little clostrophobic as I had to have it sealed all the way up as the rain puring.

Woken up this morning by Emma, saying bye an thanks as she was off to church. Discovered I was last up so packed my stuff, had some toast very kindly cooked for me by Emma's mum and then headed off.

Out to drinks tonight, was a bit depleted as first with only me, Steph, Ian an Carrington but more turned up eventually. Lift home with Steph, got in and had a shower and started writing this!

Going to the Lakes tomorrow and then hoping to hit North Wales later in the week but all depends on this weather... I'm not a fan of climbing in the rain!

It may appear that I'm writing this on my birthday, but while its 1am of the 4th of August back home its only 6 in the evening here!

After my first foray into the world of ancient Mayan culture, visiting the ruins on the coast earlier in the week at Tulum I went to visit Chichen Itza, the famous archeological site yesterday. I'd seen lots of photos of the main pyramid there before but none of them compared to seeing it in the flesh and also I was surprised as I'd been under the impression that once you had seen the pyramid that was about it to see at the site, but I was wrong. The pyramid is only a small part of what is a huge Mayan city. 70% f it is still buried in jungle and not accesable.

Aswell as the pyramid we got took round the ball courts, several smaller temples and the marvellous tower of astronomy. After this we left and went to one of the local Cenotes. The Yucatan peninsula is strange in that it has no rivers, or very very few at least and all of the fresh water in the area is drawn from water-filled holes in the ground call cenotes (pronouced Sen-note-a-ss). These are effectively huge boreholes in the limestone bedrock, often topped with a roof making them a cave. The one we went to a cave and we swam in, underneath, above and around the biggest stalactites and stalacmites i've seen.

After this we went for lunch to a local retaurant, a favourite of the taxi driver we were using and where he ate with his family. It was fairly basic and we were the only western people in there but the food was amazing. I had spicy beef kebabs with rice and tortilla chips. Felt completely like being in the rural mexico thats portrayed in many movies, with an old man sat in the corner strumming his guitar!


We then headed back south towards Tulum stopping briefly at some small ruins at Coba, a much smaller site when compared to Chichen Itza. Climbed to the top of the pyramid here, slightely higher than the one at Chichen Itza to get amizing views out over the jungle. It was like a green sea as far at the eye can see, the canopy occaisionaly broken by the odd cenote. Took a few panorama pictures which will hopefully come out well.

Off out for the evening meal now, a barbecue on the beach!

Met a very nice girl this morning while swimming in the sea, at first percieved her to be American but soon lernt she was actually German and just spoke exceptional english with an American accent, at least a hundred times better than my German! Had a drink and then some lunch with her, Katerina, only to discover shes leaving tomarrow - gutted! Spent a few more hours talking and swimming with her and then decided I had to do something a little more active...

Instead of going to the gym this afternoon I found out that the watersports center rents out kayaks so borrowed one and went for a paddle for an our or so into the sea. was really good paddling above the coral reefs and seeing all the colorful fish below. Had fun trying to surf the breakers and they came in over some of the further out sandbanks with varying degrees of sucess - Raymond would of been proud!

Off for a meal now, and then I think some dancing might be in order as theres a concert going on tonight...

Flew out from Manchester at the weekend and after a reasinable 10 hours on the plane landed in Cancun.Then in a minibus and drove 2 hours south along the coast of the Yucatan Penisula to the hotel near the small town of Tulum.

First thing to sat about Mexico is it bloody ht, probably hotter tan anywhere i've been before, and thats including being on the equatorin Singapore! Just about getting aclimatized now. The food is amazing, the local stuff is often completely different from the mexican food that is sold in the UK or to the market in the states. For example, tacos which in the UK are usually quite hard and very similar to Nachos are much more like what we would call Tortillas! Been to the gym every day to now for a few hours and if I don't want to come back looking like most of the Americans that are here with the amount of food i'm eating looks like i'm going to have to keep it up!

Before I went I'd been looking at the area where I am on google-earth, found that there was a archeological site, the Tulum Ruins about 6 miles down the beach. Did some more googling to see if it was possible to walk there with not much look, most people saying bits and bobs about impassable cliffs and such. Decided to give it a go anyhow so had breakfast on morning, left the other and went down the beach. Took probably 1.30hrs to get most of the way, walking along some fantastic secenery, the green jungle spilling out onto the white sand with the bright blue Carribbean sea lapping at the sure. Eventually got to these 'impassible' clifs that i'f heard talked about but could see the pyramids in the ruins not oo far away so scrambled along them while the were still easy. The rock on the coast here is razar sharp and very brittle, I found myself breaking bits off in my hands. Eventually the cliffs got quite a bit steeper so I dropped down into the sea below and had a go at swimming outa bit and round, got 30m or so when I realised this probably wasen't the best idea with the posibility of getting thrown against the aforementioned rocks! Decided to get back on the cliffs and have a go at traversing across then, the climbing wasen'ttoo hard, and quite pleasant with really good holds in the pot-holed rock. I get to quite an exposed bit, a traverse above a roof that the sea had cut forming a cave and got across it ok. As I reached for the last whole in a big crack a huge Iguana popped its head out and looked at me, and I looked at it before it scuttled off up the rock. Most cool. Continued along and got to the ruins, had a look round them, which were filled withs loads more Iguanas then went to some more of the beach cliffs which had some boudering problems I'd found out about so had a crack at a few. Wandered into the town and through some of the markets and then got a taxi back to the hotel. Top adventerous day!


Went to another local town yesterday, Playa del Carmen, this is further north up the coast so was a lot more westernised/touristy than Tulum, still nice to see though.

Hopefully going to Chichen Izta tomarrow to sea the mother of all Mayan Pyramids, sound be really good especially with visiting a Cenote and the ruins at Coba as well... but i'll right about that later. Off to th beach now to sip cocktails and relax in the sun for the rest of the day!

Not posted since I was in Zermatt, and i've been back from the Alps for 2 weeks now so feeling rather guilty! Unfortunately I don't have time to recount everything in detail as I'm getting on a plane to Mexico in 5 hours time and am still in the throws of packing!

Anyhow, Alps trip ended on a massive high, managed to nail the Dom, 4545m, the highest in Switzerland followed by a trip to do the North Face of the Lenzspitze and then a kilometer long ridge traverse of AD+ climbing all above 4000m to the Nadelhorn. Absolutely amazing.

Mananged to get myself across Switzerland to Geneva and on a plane, got a call from Ash while killing time in Gatwick asking did I want to go to Scotland the day after... contemplated and then said yeah. Met him and up to Aviemore on the Friday night, crashed in the sugarbowl car park. Crap weather on the Saturday but still managed to do Ficaill Ridge taking quite a direct line. Then chilled by loch Morlich having lunch, up to Inverness to watch 'Hancock' then back to Aviemore for a curry and catch some tunes in Mambo. Sunday up and set out on our mission to do Savage Slit in Lochain, achieved! And it was a superb route despite still being a bit wet, must go back for the VS next to it... Home latish.

Spent most of the week chilling at home as it was the first time I'd been around for nearly a month so a bit of 'family' time.

Went with Bob to Maloney's in Southport on the Wednesday for a friend of Jenny Barrett's birthday, then crashed at her house with Stubbs and caused poster mischief.

Friday night was Ash's housewarming party, really good to catch up with loads of people i've not seen for ages, and then get wasted on dodgy Czech spirit (Although I hasten to point out not as trashed as Freeman!). Home the next morning, contemplated going climbing but ended up sleeping for 5 hours instead! Then out with Ian to Upholland to camp on the land behind Lewis' house with him, Stubbs, Speakman & Co. Had large Bonfire of sorts, got rained on and watched PITA nearly kill himself with flammable liquid again... deja vu.

Had a free day on wednesday so went with Emma an Carrington to Wilton, did quite a few route including my first VS lead of the year, and since my injury, so its all good!

Went for a meal at the Prince William in Dalton on Thursday, saw folks before everybody disappears off their own summer trips and caught up with Stu who i've not seen for ages.

Today was my first day working for the company thats hired me, Hill Climb Activities. Hopefully got lots of work lined up for when I get back from Mexico running climbing towers and high ropes course which will be pretty fun and provide some much needed cash.

Off to pack now, and then endure the 11hour flight to Mexico, allegedly the hotel has free wireless so i'm going to try and update my blog while i'm out there, hopefully sat on a sun lounger underneath a palm tree with the waves lapping at the shore!

Since this is quite a long trip (22 days!) i've decided to start my blog on it now, should of really done it even earlier but hey ho. Currentely sat on the terrace of the Bahnhof in Zermatt writing this in the evening sun with perfect view of the Matterhorn!

So to start at the beginning...

Met Maria at the BP garage on the M6 at Parbold on the friday evening, hitiching a lift with her mum down to Dave an Tracey's in Dunchurch, Rugby. Had a minor detour via Maria's in rugby to pick up some snow stakes she'd left at her house. Got to Rugby soon after 10pm and met Dave & Tracey in the local pub, then back to their to pack stuff, book last minute tickets and then crash out on their couch.

Up at 7am to start to pack the car, was a momentous task. After a good hour we managed to fit most of the stuff into the Corolla, then rest had to be piled on top of each of the passengers one by one once they were sat down with the driver getting in last. I sat in the back with Maria, who despite being only a foot away sounded like she was a million miles away due to all the stuff in between us. Got to dover around lunch and a wander up to the viewing platform with Dave to look at the sea then back into the car to get on the ferry. Talked plans and pereused guidebooks on the ferry then off and made in-roads into Europe. After several hours of driving we found a nice campsite in Ay, town in the Champagne region of France. Had a minor incident when we orded food at the restaurant on the river, first it didn't come, and then some other food did served by a rather drunk franchman wielding a large cleaver and pizza cutter! Scary! Back to our tents and then to bed... was kept up for most of the night due to some local celebration, with live music and the fact that both of us had slept most of the day in the car.

Up the next morning, took down the tents and set off. Stopped for lunch on a backroad at a little cafe next to a pottery, browsed a little and then headed off. Got to the Swiss order and managed to get through without paying their extortionate road-tax for the motorways, but drove off very quickly due to some people commenting that the car may be over-loaded! A few hours later we arrived at the campsite in Zinal, a small village the next valley over. Me an Maria put up our tent and Dave an Tracey did theirs and then we headed down to a little restaurant for a meal, had a very nice 'Jambon Croute' and then collapsed into bed.

This being our first day in Zinal we decided to explore for te morning and then walk up to one of the huts in the afternoon. Had a lovely walk up through the forests having lunch by a little lake. Started to feel the effects of altitude and was completely out of breath by the time we got to the hut at 3000ish m. Descended via a different route taking in a section of via ferrata which was fun. Back to camp to cook a communal tomato Gnochi and then to bed.

Up early the next day to breakfast and pack stuff before starting our walk in to the Tracuit hut at 3200m. Started to feel the altitude again bout 2500m but was better than the day before so pushed on to the hut at a reasonable pace. Arrived a few hours before dinner and packed stuff for out ascent of the Bishorn the next day. This was my first night in a mountain hut and it was superb, we had dinner on a big communal table and chatted to climbers who had come from all over the world, Canada, Holland, germany, Scotland, America as well as locals. Went to bed reasonably early in preparation for or Alpine start the next day.

Up at 4am(!!!) for breakfast and then kitted up. We knew conditions weren't ideal as there was a lot of snow and it hadn't been that cold to freeze it. Set off at a similar time to the others in the hut we the four of us roped together going up the glacier. The going as really hard, each step we sank to our knees in un-frozen snow. Guidebook time reckoned on 2-3hours for the ascent but by this we were still not even at 4000m. Maria was finding it hard going so decided to wait for us around 3800m with a Scottish man from another party who was in a similar position. The 3 of us plodded on eventually reaching the summit, my first Alpine and 4000m peak - The Bishorn at 4153m. Started the descent through the now very wet and mushy snow eventually arriving back at the hut early afternoon. Rested for while, and drank the best can of coke i've ever had! and then headed back down to Zinal. Top day!

Decided we needed a rest day today after the busy last 3 days to mulled around the village, sleeping and looking in the shops. Cooked up a group Madras Curry for tea which went down well and then walked into town for few drinks in a bar while Maria used their Wi-Fi.

Moved over to the Saasatal valley today so up early to pack the car and drive to Saas Grund via a minor stop in Sierre for Maria to post some work. Arrived and checked out the forecast in he guides office before deciding of doing the Lagginhorn via a PD+ ridge route. Got the lift to the Hoshaas then walked in to a bivy spot for a few hours including some really nice scrambling over one of the spurs of the mountain. Cooked team drank hot chocolate and then fell asleep wit wonderful views of the Lenspitze and Nadehorn.

To esure the snow was firm we got up 3am and started up the glacier, the route entailed a few hours up the glacer before climbing a couloir and along the crest of the ridge to a notch. Tracey led to here where I took over for the final 400m of height followng the crest of the ridge up a some steep snowy ground, probably top end of scottish 1 but still really good fun. Topped out at 4010m about 9am with more beautiful views before descending back to the bivy spot and then to Saas, arriving mid afternoon. Had a pizza in a local restaurant to reward ourselves and hen found a campsite with really good facilities including a pool!

Got up the next day and packed the car and our sacks and drove up to Saas Fee. From their we had planned to do an ascent of the Alphudel from the Allanhorn station. The lift ride up was amazing, first a massive cablecar and then a underground funicular railway going through James Bond Villain's lair sort of tunnels. Emerged at 3500m beside the world's highest rotating restaurant. Alone at the station we searched out a bivy spot on the terrace and had dinner. Me an Dave had both been being quite pessamisitic about the weather where as Tracey the optimist was hopeful. Unfortunately the weather did turn for the worst and it began to rain followed by thunder and lighting. Managed to prize the automatic doors into the porch of the restaurant open and slept in their for shelter. As the storm continued and the lightning continued to strike we could hear was we thought was the metal restaurant we were in buzzing with the static electricity, scary stuff! Just as we were going to sleep we saw lightning strike the small peak only about 150m from us, awesome! The storm seemed to die down and we all fell asleep.

Got up at 2.30am to clear skies so me, Dave and Tracey set off up the PD route leaving Maria at the bivy who had a sore foot. Within 30mins the clear skies had gone and it had started to snow. After another half hour the snow had got thicker ad we had lost sight of all of our objectives so decided that we should turn back not wanting to have o negotiate the ridge climb in the scottish like conditions. Back under the seracs we went and were eventually at the station. To not waste the day we spent the morning looking round the big Ice-grotto that is there under the glacier, allegedly the largest in the world. I was really interesting with lots of infomation about the local guides and mountains. I'd noticed there was a small summit not far from the station along a small snow ridge with a little scramble to the point at the end. While the others were packing I soloed lond to the end and took some really good photos of the area as the sun was beginining to rise over the mountains. Went back down to Saas on the lift and hoped in to car to drive round to our final desitination, Zermatt. As Zermatt has no cars allowed in we parked in Taisch and got a taxi up with out stuff, found the Bahnhof, the climber hostel which we're stating in and got alotted beds before exploring the town which is beautiful, despite being quite touristy. Hundreds of lovely places to eat line the streets as well as loads of really tempting gear shops. We all got some food from the supermarket on the way back from our wander and cooked in the Bahnhof before going to bed.

Up in the morning and me Dave an Tracey had decided to try something harder, an AD route on the Ober Gadelhorn. Maria stayed in Zermatt to do some cultural things and rest her food while we hiked up to the Rothornhut. After 5 hours we got there in guidebook time to find we were the only people staying there. Got served a superb meal by the Guardian and his girlfriend, Pork steaks with gravy and sauteed potatoes. Dave an Tracey both reckon it was the best meal they've ever had in a hut! Spent the rest of the evening on the phone to my parents atempting to sort out the bank balance as I coulden't access it over here and then to bed.

Up at 2am and away from the hut before 3. Plodded up the glacier for two hours which was, as a coseqence of a storn during the night covered in a foot of powder, made going quite difficult. Evenually got the the ridge we needed after a hairy moment by the Bergschurd and set of climbing. according to the guidebook i should be exposed scrambling with sections of diff. So I had in mind something similar to a massively enlarged version of pinnacle ridge in the lakes or the cneifion arete in Snowdonia. Was right in some ways bu due to the snow fall things were going to be a lot harder. we had to keep crampons on due to verglas on the rocks which made the climbing tricky and it was bitterly cold... and did I forget to mention half the ridge was really loose and falling to bits! Tracey led the first bit up a chossy gulley and to a chimney, this was when things got a bit dodgy. She pulled on a small rock that was loose which in turn dislodged a big one, about 2 foot across. This scraped across the side of Tracey's helmet and fell past Dave rolling towards me. Dave shouted for me to take cover and I threw my self into crack covering my head but knowing the rock was going to hit me somewhere. Very luckily it came to a halt on a snow-ledge just a foot or so above my head - very lucky. Tracey was a bit shaken up after it so took over the lead, going up the chimney. It was only supposed to be diff by by the time I got to the top after having to clean all the holds of the snow and climb in my crampons it felt more like Severe!!! Brought the other p and then we continued up the ridge. By this point the sun had come up and rockfall had started, we were moving really slowely, with Dave belaying me up the tricky bits effectively pichthing it. We decided that this wasen't going to get us to the summit, and we needed to get back over the glacier before the rockfall got worse. We this though we backed off, abbing down 3 sections and then downclimbing the rest. Moved as fast as we could over the glacier which was now a prime avalanche prone slope, sunballs coming down it etc. Eventually got to the safe refuge of the hut pretty exhausted. We didn't get the summit but did a good proportion of the route in pretty wintery conditions and lernt a lot which was good. Packed stuff and paid at the hut then 4 hours walk down to Zermatt an back to the Bahnhof via an ice cream shop whcih is about when I started writing this!

Stories from the rest of the trip to come soon as well as lots of photos!

About to step put the door for 20 days of mountaineering in the Valais Alps of Switzerland! Packed this afternoon and meeting Maria in about 30mins to go down to Dave an Tracey's for the night. Should be a really good trip, we've all got ambitions and are hoping to forfill them.... I'm going to be extremely impressed if I come back having summited the Matterhorn aswell as a handful of other 4000m peaks

Been a busy week of some quite tough exams... hence the week delay in this post!

Had a Geography exam last friday morning which went fairly well, dashed home soon after it finished to rapidly pack stuff, sort out a lift to Wales and then hurridly get to Warrington to Jonathen Phillips (A friend of Dave an Tracey's) and his two friend's Phil an Kylie. Set off with haste heading south...

Got to the pass around 4pm so quickly sorted gear and headed up to do 'Crackstone Rib S 4a' on Carreg Wastad, a climb in Classic Rock. Jonathen lead the first pitch up onto a stunnin arete with great situation then I follwed him up leading through to the top. The second pitch was really good, started with some balancy work on a small slab before going up a steep section to a roof before a commiting traverse underneath this and then a top out move over a small overhang. Absolutely amazing... need to go back as I've been told the VS next to it called 'Ribstone Crack' is even better!


Loitered back down to the car and then down to Nant Peris, up to the Cottage to lob up Jonathen's, Phil's and Kylie's tents and then down to the Vaynol for drinks and food. Observed the afternoon's photos on the new touchscreen uber small laptop College has given me to test out and then orded copious amounts of food from 2 different and therefore confusing menus!? Dave an Tracey soon arrived followed by a whole host of other people from all corners of the country. Lots of interesting conversations with many folk.

Up to the cottage, offered a bed inside so moved my stuff into the bunkbed room, very kind of Tracey. Sat around with folk in the louge until late talking about all manner of things including plans for the next day then retired to bed to talk to Heather on the bunk above and fall asleep halfway through conversation...

Woke the next morning to the sound of Heather's alarm which she had conveenitately placed on the stool next to my head. Had a wander outside and around the cottage before having a brief and small breakfast still feeling full from the HUGE shoulder of Lamb I had in the Vaynol the previous night. Got off soon after 8, with 6 of us (Me, Jonathen, Heather, Jim, Phil & Kylie) heading up to Lliwedd, a big crag on the side of the Snowdon Horseshoe. Walked in and decided to do 'Horn Crag Route' a 875ft Vdiff wihich had another 200ft of scrambling at the top to get to the path. I lead the first pitch and then we swung the leads from then on. After pitch 4 we found a nice little spot to have some lunch looking out towards Capel Cruig then continued. The climb had 2 cruxes, the first was just before the horns which Jim led and the second after which I did followed by a very long run-out of the rope with minimal gear.... 50m with 6 pieces! Reason being the rock was really crap, falling to bits in places compared to the bomber stuff we'd been on early. Found a spike belay an brought Jim up suggesting that we move together for the rest. After about 100m of climbing we finally topped out on the path much to the surprise of the horseshoe walkers! Got some funny looks sticking a sling round a big boulder on the path and brining Jim in!

Once we were up and had rested for a minute had a look for the to others on their route. Spotted them and tehn got convinced by Heather to come down and try the last pitch of their route... technical grade 4c. Abbed down to their stance and then tried, and succesfully followed Heather up the driect start - Very balancy and pincy! Packed gear on top and then quickly down to Pen-Y-Pas. Jumped back in Jonathen's car... pretty squashed in the back with 4 of us then back down to Nant Peris. Quick sup in the Vaynol with Heather an Jonathen then up to the cottage for the BBQ. Quick change and then out to socialise and cook muchness of meat and drink muchness of ale. Saw Maria who was trying to finish her uni work off for the dealine on Monday and also met the other Jakulis sibling Paul who seemed pretty cool. Remember falling asleep on the sofa next to Maria while watching Heather try to beat Jonathen at Chess... lost all concept of time so ahve no idea what time I eventually went to bed!

Woken by Heather in the morning as apparently most people were already up and packing! Helped tidy cottage and said goodbyes then wonderd down to the Vaynol to meet my folks who had been by coincidence staying in Llanberris the previous night. Stopped in Capel Cruig and then Betws-Coed on the way home to pick up some bargins, a pair a La Sportiva climbing pants from Joe Brown on sale and a light-weight pair on Montane waterproof pants for the Alps. Home after lunch to do some revison for the impending physic's exams!

Finished up college last thursday, after some physics exams which went fairly well. On the Friday morning met Ian and Barry after their maths exam and went to Ians to chill for a bit before going to Southport to catch one of the first showings of the new Indianna Jones movie. Seemed a little different to the other three, but maybe thats because they were made 2 decades ago... still a very good film, can highly reccomend it and a definite must for anybody who has seen the first 3, ties up everthing rather nicely. Came back to mine for a bit and watched some TV, including one of the Batman movies which we all agreed was definitely a low point in George Clooney's career! Guys left and I got stuck into that nights portion of revison...

Got up on saturday and did some more work before packing my stuff and heading off up to the Lakes with Emma and Martin. Attempting to tick off the climbs in the Classic Rock book by Ken Wilson so headed to Bowfell, to do Bowfell Buttress (VD) on Bowfell Buttress... original name there! Left mine about 7pm and got to the lakes just before 9, only to find that with it being a bank-holiday weekend Langdale was packed with all the campsites full. Contemplated our next move in the ODG carpark and glanced over the map to look for somewhere inconspicuous to camp. Decided on Blea Tarn up the road, so drove up, ditched the car and wandered down to the ODG to sup different ales, and flick through guidebooks until last orders, at which point we returned to the car, threw up tents next to the tarn and hot the sack.

Woke to a very nice looking but rather windy morning, quickly packed stuff and then breakfasted in the carpark by the car. Moved the car down to the ODG and then set off on the approach up the Band towards Bowfell. Took 2 hours to get to the foot of the buttress, about 10:30am. Geared up, checked the guidebook numerous times to make sure we were in the right place and talked Emma (Who, despite being a good climber hasen't done much outside and no multi-pitch) through what we were going to do and her role in it. I led the first pitch, a simple line up to a chimmney, brought up Emma and then Martin led through up the first difficulty which was a flared chimmney. We all go past this we reletively little difficulty. I then led up the 3rd pitch, a really nice face line which trended towards a large broken crack, found my self a nice stance and brought the otheres. martin then led thourgh to what was alledgedly the crux of the climb, the 'slippery chimmney'. According to the guidbook this was a highly polished chimmney at the top end of v.diff. I set off up this very stepp and imposing chimmney, from the bottom in looked a lot harder then v.diff and by the time I got to the top I knew that their was no way it was v.diff! Martins comment of 'And breath...' after I made the final move kind of sums things up!


it did twig with me half way up, the holds were in no way polished -meaning there had not been as much traffic as the guidbook said there had been, now I know why...Turns out we were on the wrong chimmney, which infact belonged to the neigbouring E3-, which that pitch having a technical grade of 4c! The other two eventually joined me at the stance, each having their own fun on our little epic stance. martin then lead up the penultimate pitch, which was stunning in situation, just 100m below your heels of thin air to the base of the buttress. I seconded and led through.


By now It had got really really windy with everybody getting very very cold... at several points it did cross my mind as to whether or not I'd get blown off the route. Spoke to Martin and decided to quicken things up i;d run the rope out ot the top of the buttress. Climbed quickly up the pitch and then onto the easier ground and got a below. The wind was getting so strong I was stuggling to keep a slolid stance, and to make things worse despite many should of 'Safe' martin coulden't hear me so was keeping me on belay. I tied of everthing andabbed down a short section of the rope until I could see them and signal that I was ready for them to climb. Later found out martin had even tried ringing me on his phone! Once the other tow reached me wwe roped together and moved together over the last section of the buttress due to the pounding wind, eventually finding some shelter near the summit and de-geared. Went up and bagged Bowfell and then quickly back down the band to the carpark. Fun had by all I beleive despite the blustery conditions, I believe it was afine introduction to multi-pitch climbing for Emma! Back in Martin's car and home for late evening.

Monday was more revison, as was tuesday until the afternoon when I got ready for the Runshaw Leavers's do. Met ian and Barry in teh Adeplhi before wandering up to 53degrees to be 'fashionably late'... unfortunately everybody else seemed to of had teh same idea as us and the place was still pretty empty, filled up after a while though. Nice to see every, good food and good music. Drank loads and then danced like a fool while simultaineously eating the buffet out of hotwings. Left about 1.30am, thanks to Ian's Dad for the lift home.

Wednesday I went with the family to the new Chill Factor palce in Manchester. Had a few hours skiing, very realistic although its quite a short run. For people that are used to big open pistes in the Alps, and especially compared to the big skiing I did in Greenland it was rather small and tame. However its still superb to go and brush up on skills even if you do find youself at the bottom after 2 turns! Bimbled round the Snow & Rock thats there in the afternoon and managed to pick myself up a new Rab Photon Primalift Hoody for almost half-price, should be really useful in the Alps this summer. Went over the Trafford centre and had a early tea and Nandos... mmmm spicy chicken. The home, did a bit of work in the eveing.

Thursday Friday and Saturday were all alike really, sat at my desk doing past paper after past pasper of physics and maths in preparation for my exams. Been reading up in the evenings on the Valais Alps the area i'm going to with Dave an Tracey in ym new guidbook - 'The 4000m Peaks of the Alps'.... very inspiring lots of aspirations now... did somebody say the matterhorn!?

Next week is full of exams as are the 2 weeks after, I doubt i'm going to see the light of day for physics textbooks... hey ho it will soon be over, and i'm hoping to maybe get to Wales for a day next weekend for Dave an Tracey's BBQ... but we'll see...

After a weekend of activness at the Welch meet college on tuesday seemed a little sedate, especially with the glorious weather outside... longed to be on a crag somewhere! Had a meeting in Preston with the DofE group i'm tagging along with in the summer so decided it would be a good idea to save the £2 it costs to get the bus and walk it from college. Left runshaw with my shorts on and 13.4km later arrived at Preston station, took 2.10hrs.... memory map reckons it should of taken me 3.33hrs at 4km/hr so pretty good! Lets hope the weather stays....

Been uber busy the last 10 days...

Hit Wilton 1 with Andy last week, never climbed there before, always gone to 2 or 3. Being the cheapskates that we are neither of us own a copy of Lancashire rock... or any guidebook with wilton 1 in! So whenever we climb in Lancashire we just guess at the grade of something and it usually turns out to be ok. After all the winter climbing recently it seems I may be a little out of practice! Arrived and did what I thought looked to be vdiff, a route we later learned was S 4b on the prow. Managed to get up it without too much of a fuss, brought Andy up and then discovered that getting of the 'Prow' was an expedition in itself! Eyed up another quite steep looking line and decided to give it a crack thinking it might be in the HS range, got a few metres up and then got to an off-width crack. Managed to net a size 6 nut in at its base and then moved up, was too big to hanjam so had to pull outwards on either side and work my hands up for about a metre and half. Started to loose strangth from having to keep mu arms fully contracted and realised i'd have to make the move at the top or else I was going to come out... which was a lunge for the top of a block. I knew in my mind that as soon as I went for it I was going to start moving towards the ground unless I got it as my feet were just smearing. Warned Andy and then went for it...

... for a tantilising second my fingers brushed the ledge ebfore I descended very very quickly. Fell past my nut at the bottom and then heard a ping! the no6 nut had come out dislodging part of the wall! thankfully the next piece (no2 nut!) held and I came to a hault about a foot off the floor.... lucky! Turns out the grade was HVS 5b, can see why now. Sacked off climbing for the rest off the day and went to Bolton for Pizza and then got lost in the maze that in bolton/manchester/wherever else we ended up!

Met Lucy and Jenny in Ormskirk that evening to help plan their Summer DofE expedtion i'm tagging along on, few drinks and then home. Cheers to Jenny for the lift.


This last weekend was Netzec, being pretty new to Network and to gain an understanding of how things work I figured it would be a good idea to attend. Was pretty interesting, lernt a lot and met quite a few of the key players i'll be spending some time with and working with over the next 7 years. Lots powerpoint presentations and lectures interspersed with fun stuff as well. product of the weekend was the 'Action Plan' we got together for Ormskirk, it should ensure that things continue as they are and improve even after we loose the older members of the exec in the next few months. Really glad I went, was a lot of fun especially its the first weekend sor a long time where i've not had to pack rope, ice axes or boots! Again cheers to jenny for the lift... see a trend here!

Drinks that night, won quiz... requested IOU for the prize which was a round of shots as there was only me and Bob left by the time it finished! Then back to college on the monday.

Had another gathering for our summer expedition on wednesday, this time in Preston with our new recruit Kelly from netzec. Finalised things and made a good stab at the route cards... then got hungry and went to a dodgy kebeb shop! home sometime near midnight.

Finished college early yesterday so arranged a session with Bob an Andy at Denham. Lovely weather, climbing sans shirt with a refreshing breeze. Did concave and then both the Mohammeds. Then played with Bob's giant catapult firing stones at wet. Top afternoon.

MAC is probably one of the most, if not 'the' most important event in the Yeti calender. We came hold with the Gold trophy last year so were determined to return with another piece of slate this year! We got told shortly before the event that the Gold+ Catagory we'd enterered wasen't being run due to us being the only ones to apply! Instead we were bumped down into the Gold catagory which is aimed at Network members.

We drove up in convoy on the saturday morning, getting to Rydal hall on time but with no sign of any of the usual crew... soon realised that all the people around us we thought were doing MAC were coincidently just another scout group going walking in the Lakes.... spread out and eventually found our lot a few hundred metres up the road in another field. Registered, did the route and had our kit checked with no hitches. Then team Extreme (Me, Johnny, Caleb and Tom), fully physced left with one thing on our mind... winning!

Made good progress in the detierating weather, up by the side of Rydal water and then onto the long broad rising ridge that goes up to High Raise. Hit the first 2 checkpoints on time and then made the final ascent up to High Raise in the snow, in places it was a foot deep!

As we got to the summit plateau it began to hail with a bitterly cold wind, and visibility dropped to 50 or so meters, this only stirred us on more and we hit the summit bang on time. Dropped down into Mickledore and followed the valley to the campsite, all in all quite an easy first day.

Set up tents and cooked tea. Discoverd Tom's wayfahrers were self-heating, the only downside was the fumes the heating chemicals gave off that attempted to gas us as we were eating inside the tent due to torrential rain! Disscusses the pros/cons of the superlight tents we were using with Phil Ack... decided to make judgement the next morning depending on how wet we were! Pity'd John who was having to share a tent with the item that is Hannah and Rob, then left him in the rain and went to bed.

All of our team amanged to sleep through all 3 of our alarms! Soa fter our slightely belated started took down tents at mach 10, packed kit, worte safety question aswer and then to John to set off. Spoke to Phil on the way out with my verdict on the superlight voyagers.... super-superlight, and not for british weather as we were rather moist! Think its worth carrying the extra few hundred greams of a proper mountain tent...

Headed south first towards Wetherlam, passing two silver checkpoints before we reached our first. Met Julie at the base of Wetherlam and lernt that Wayne's team (our competition in the Gold catagory) were only a few hundred metres ahead of us. Adreniline kicked in and we took a uber-direct route straight up, eventually catching Wayne's team and then over taking them. Johnny was starting to struggle with the steep ascent so we did a few shuttle runs with his abck to speed up our pace... its quite obvious that doing these events together for the last 4/5 years has meant we really work well as a close knit-team now. Eventually topped out on Wetherlam in glorious weather amongest the few reamaining patches of snow. Set off down to the Tilberthwaite valley, underestimated this time slightely and ended up having to run the last kilometer or so and were a few minutes late. Fromt there we continued through the lowland north towards Rydal. At the last checkpoint we met up with Waynes team again, unfortuntely one of their members had had to drop out which meant they were out of the competition. Still up for some competition, and challeged by Julie to see how fast we could get back to the finish we ran from the Loughrigg checkpoint back, our route card said 50mins and we did it in 20!


Arrived at the finish on fire and pretty out of breath after our run! Helped dismantle the marquee and then to the awards presentation. Helen made it just in time with some last minute directions over the phone. Out team in silver managed a superb 2nd in the silver which was a great result for their first time. Phil awarded us the Gold + trophy since we had applyied for that catagory, giving Wayne's team the Gold as runners up.

Lift back home with Helen, everybody in the back was asleep within minutes to disscussed all manner of things with mother. Great weekend.

Up with Bob on friday to hit Moor Crag about 8pm. Found bed and dumped kit before returning to common room to sip wine and play many a 'icebreaker' game. consumed the remainder of the bottle during the evening and swam in the Lake not once but twice!



Realised that everybody else had gone to bed so decided that I best hit the sack too... only to realise it was 7.30am and everybody was getting up! Packed stuff and got in Smiler's car to the Langdales feeling utterly wrong. Went with the group an Ash up stickle gill and then along to grade 2 on thorn crag. Conveeniently brought up the rear, offering inspiring words of confidence to Lewis who does not take to scrambles as well as some people! Once up that we traversed round the tarn before doing the classic Jack's rake, once on top banged out Harrison Srickle, Loft Crag and Pike of Stickle. Weather turned to ming with horizontal hail burning our faces so we headed back down to the old hotel and then back to Moor Crag via the Costa in Bowness for a large frozen coffe drink of goodness...



Saturday night was simlar to friday's. Once everybody was suitably 'conditioned' we turned off all the lights and broke out the glowsticks with tricky disco booming! Bed sometime around 2am I think...

Had planned to go and attempt Eliminate A on Down Crag on the Sunday but when we woke up it was clear that neither me or Phil were really up to it and neither was the weather... 8 pitches of VS in the snow would of been hell! Instead packed up stuff watched people get invested and then mossied down to bowness for a pitch and put session, was bloody cold though - I must of looked a little out of place on the gold course in bright yellow Nepal Extremes to keep my toes toasty!

I've been back from the glorious Alps for 2 weeks now but not had chance to get near a computer for various reasons, so heres my slightely belated account of what went down...

The week leading up to Switzerland was anything but quiet. Spent the Monday and Tuesday in Glasgow visiting the University and loitering round the city. Wednesday was spent going north yet again for a Geography fieldtrip in the lakes (beginning to think I spend far too much time on the M6!) so my only day in college was the thursday which was spent warming all my tutors that I wasen't going to be in lectures for 10 days as I was going skiing!

Good friday was chance to pack before going down to Dick's for 3pm. Boarded the Caravelle and set off south (for a change!). On the bus was Dick, Helen, Steve, Stu, Jim, Danny, Carrington and myself. We were met at Dover by Sean and Sarah who had hitched a lift with Andy and Emma Cunningham. Went into an extremely busy docking terminal before deciding that the few hours wait would be better spent having a anp on the back seat of the bus. Eventually boarded the very very full, and wobbly ferry. Stuart proclaimed that he felt cheated that he'd paid £40 to get the same sensation on his night out the night before! The journey from Dunkerque through to Morgins is about 10-12 hours depeding on how many Belgium tourists are clogging up the fuel sations! Eventally got to Rosie's mid afternoon, Chalet looking as welcoming as ever and Rush looking very excited. Went and got fitted for boots and skis in the local shop and picked up copious amounts of wine before returning for the evening meal.


Day 1
We split off into a few groups so people could ski at their own ability. Team extreme, consisiting of myself, Sean, Splatt, Cuni and Carrington got the early bus and first lift up to the Foilleuese. Conditions looked good with it having put down a fair bit of powder so we set off heading over tot he bowl and then to Champery. Eventually the pace just became to much for the oldies so me, Sean and Graham set off on a misson. We made it to Les crosets on the other side of the resort and had a few runs through the snow park before realising that it was lunch time and heading back over to Morgins. Unfortunately conditions detieriated and we ended up skiing with about 10m visibility looking the Boshaus restuarant, after numerous runs we found it and had a lunch of Chocolate chaud and croute de fromage! Disaster struck when left the Boshaus as my ski binding unexpectidly broke. After a bit of bending I manged to get it to fit back on but decided to leave the others and ski back to Morgins to get the hire shop to fix it soon. An hour later I was back on the slopes with a brand new pair of skis! Got myself back over to Champery and called Sean to discover they were on there way back. Spent the lsat few hours skiing back perfecting my style to some extent before meeting them at the Foilleuse and then getting the bus back to Morgins.

Day 2
Set off for a hard day with Sean and Carrington today, hitched a lift over the border and round to Pre la Jeux then up and over into Ardent and up the valley from there. Eventually found a valley called the 'Canyon de Physcott' that me and Sean had skied the previous year. The weather was really appaling and the skiing was difficult, it was so cold I was loosing feeling in my fingers and my face was burning from the wind and hail... no wonder we were the only people on the slopes! Manged somehow to get to the refuge of Avoriaz where we hada tactical pizza in a restaurant full of excentrict frenchmen. Unfortunately the weather didn't better, it just kept snowing harder and harder and watched the avalanche catagory go from 3 to 4. yay. Mustered the courage to leave the restaurant and began the journey back. Met out pick-up (Dick) in the car-park just on time.

Day 3
Today was mission day. Set out with Steve to challenge ourselves, first headed over to Les Crosets from Morgins and grapped a chocolate chaud in the once again detieriating weather. Our aim was to do the infamous swiss wall, allegedly the hardest slope in Europe and thats what we did. Its a 45 degree black mogul run with a near vertical drop in at the top. I'd done it twice before a few years ago and found in fairly difficult and but still loved it, this time however due to the condition it was covered in powder which meant it could be skied a but better. After our triumph we nailed it to Avoriaz for another pizza in the same place... once agian superb! In afternoon we did some serrious milage skiing over to Ardent, Pre la Jeux, Linga then through Chatel to Super Chatel, Torgon before skiing down into the center of Morgins. Must of done upwards of 40 miles that day.



Had a great evening back at Rosiesm hooking up Danny's laptop to the TV and watching back to the future... '21 Jigawatts!' Then to bed.

Day 4
Today Chris and Andrea came over from Chamonix to visit is for the day, weather was glorious with a fresh dump over poweder having come down during the night. Did the same journey as me and Steve had done the previous day but too Popey, Sean, Cuni and Graham along for the ride. Had yet another great Pizza in the same restaruant, but this time basking in the sun! Weren't moving quite as fast as we should of been and were a bit alte going over to Super chatel side so had to ski very very fast to get to the last lift before it shut! Got there just as the guy was closing up and persuaded him to wait until we were all there... very lucky!

Went out for a meal that night to a restuarant in France. Had a huge meat platter to start followed by a selection of very salty meats, and then a mint liqour sundae (I've never manged to finish the desert before as the portions are truly enorous, got put to shame by Sean last year who shoed off by downing his in one! But managed to stomach all of it this time!) Did the whole creepy museum thing downstairs and then back to Morgins, got dropped off at the T-bar with Stu, James and Danny for a few drinks before staggering back to Rosie's at some stupid time in the morning.

Day 5
Had a more lesiurly day today, set off from Pre la Jeux with Dick and Helen and the rest of our crew from the previous day and went out to Les Gets, lots catching lifts but got some fantastic views of the whole area, could even see Mont Blanc. Hurried back to the Chalet to get ready, say bye to Chris and Andrea and then down the valley to the thermal spa. Had a really good session doing all the crazy mood rooms and many different saunas and playing in the whirl pool. Managed to event everybody other than our party fromt he circle in the centre of the whirlpool!

Back to Rosie's for an amazing fondue, and feeling utterly stuffed with molten cheese headed to bed.

Day 6
Last day skiing today so we all decided to go over to Les Crosets. Most went in the bus but some of us decided to ski over. Weather was great so took the opportunity to nail the Swiss wall again. Had lunch at a very very expensice restaurant with three of us ordering £75 worth of cheese fondue... hmm cheese...

Had a very fun ski back with Sean, Sarah and Carrington with much snowball fighting. Got in a last few runs up and down the Foilleuse before joining the others in the Crystal bar. Helen very nicely paid for my ski hire as the machine in the shop woulden't take my card with a big crag down the middle from where i'd fallen over. Back to rosies for a last fantastic meal and then waatched Lord of the Rings with everybody... who all slowly drifted off to sleep until at 1am there was just me and Sean left! Up early and on th ebus, bid farwell to Rosie and Rush and had the obligatory group photograph before hitting the road.... 22 hours later we were home!

Abosolutely amazing week with some very very top people, all credit to Dick for making it happen and Rosie for having us!