Overall 2015 was a very successful year, but it certainly wasn’t without it’s ups and downs. In addition to climbing I had lots of positives in my personal life as I attended four weddings and moved in with my girlfriend.
Winter
I spent a lot of time out in the mountains in the winter and had some fantastic days but I would have liked to have done some more harder ice climbing.
My best weekend climbing was an impromptu trip to North Wales where we climbed Western Gully and El Mancho. As ever I enjoyed taking less experienced people out climbing and I really loved learning to ski tour in the Cairngorms.
My winter highlights were
- Ski Touring in the Cairngorms
- Western Gully (North Wales)
- Left Hand Branch & El Mancho (North Wales)
- Zero Gully
- Comb Gully
- Curved Ridge
- The Haston Line
- An Teallach
Summer Rock
My summer climbing got off to a fantastic start with a weekend down in Cornwall at Easter. And over the next few months I went from strength-to-strength which culminated in a fantastic weekend in Pembroke at the start of June. I was just loving climbing and progressing really well into E2. Unfortunately, after Pembroke weekend I became ill and it was the end of my hard climbing for the year. I had a few other notable weekends climbing up in North Wales and really enjoyed climbing Terminator on Lliwedd, Gogarth and A Dream of White Horses with Becky.
Limited Blog posts for summer climbing but here are a few:
Alps
After numerous changes of plans due to being messed about by the person I was meant to be going out the alps with, I ended up flying to the Alps to meet Becky and Dave. At the start of the trip we had a multi-day trip out in the Bernese Oberland which was great, but thanks to me getting altitude sickness and the weather wasn’t overly successful and the only peak we climbed was the Mönch. After this the weather completely crapped out until the last few days of the trip, and other than optimistically walking into some huts and a multi pitch sport route in the valley we didn’t achieve anything in over a week.
This all changed at the end of the trip as we got a weather window and headed over to the Salbit where we climbed the stunning Sudgrat, which was by far and away the highlight of my trip and is one of my highlights of the year.
Blog Posts:
Autumn
After the alps I wasn’t able to do much for a few months due to my illness getting worse. In September I headed to Lundy and managed to fit a few climbs in between being sea sick, being ill and the weather being crap.
After a few weeks off work and a course of antibiotics I seemed to start getting better and had a good weekend in Snowdonia in November.
As a change to the past few years I headed out to Chicago with Becky for new year with the hope of doing some ice climbing futher north. However, thanks to an unseasonably warm December nothing was in condition. Instead of ice climbing we spent a few days skiing and relaxing instead.
Photos
Enjoyable descent into Coire Raibeirt
Skinning towards Ben Macdui
Sastrugi on the approach to Ben Macdui
Descending into the Lairig Ghru with the setting sun
Cooking dinner while ski touring
Crossing to the Chalamain Gap
Good snow cover allowed the gap to be crossed on skis
Walking up towards the summit of Carnedd Dafydd
Stunning views into Snowdonia from Carnedd Dafydd
Descending into the sunset from Carnedd Dafydd
View towards mid wales from the of Cwm Cneifion
The icefall variation of Pillar Chimney
Nick high on the crux pitch of El Mancho
Foggy conditions on Zero Gully
Stunning positions on the Curtain
Stunning views from Ben Nevis
Amazing walk out from the North Face of Ben Nevis
Ascending into Coire na Ciste
Trident Buttress looking fantastic
At the start of Curved Ridge
Fantastic conditions on Curved Ridge
Steve descending after climbing Curved Ridge
Snowing on the ascent
Climbing Twisting Gully
Abseiling off Penguin Gully
Stunning views on the walk in to Coire an t-Sneachda
Becky post crux on the Haston Line
Great views from the belay on the Haston Line
Cold descent in belay jackets
Lots of parties heading up into Coire an t-Sneachda
Enjoyable icy groove on Hidden Chimney
Great climbing on Hidden Chimney
Cold conditions at the top of Hidden Chimney
Lots of wind and spindrift on the descent
Walking into An Teallach
Me walking towards Sàil Liath
Climbing Sàil Laith with views to Fisherfield
On the summit of Sàil Laith
Stunning conditions on the An Teallach Traverse
Fantatic conditions on the traverse of An Teallach
Broken Spectre on the Pinnacles of An Teallach
Me on the ascent to the summit of An Teallach
The An Teallach Traverse
Smith’s Route in poor conditions
At least there were some views on the descent
Exposed climbing on Red Wall
It’s a hard life
Me on Bishop’s Rib
Andrew & Sarah’s Wedding
Great climbing near the start of Grooved Arete
The infamous Knight’s Move on Grooved Arete
Brilliant day to be out on Moel Siabod
Enjoying the easy scrambling on Moel Siabod
Great views on the ridge of Moel Siabod
Stag do summit photo
Becky on the summit of Lliwedd having climbed the Terminator
Summit Selfie on Lliwedd
Lovely descent from Lliwedd
Fantastic Climbing on Lighthouse Arete Direct
Great exposure on Gogarth
Lou & Mango’s Wedding
On the main pitch of Dream of White Horses
Superb exposure on the final pitch of Dream of White Horses
Happy at the end of A Dream of White Horses
Looking down the Aletschgletscher
Feeling small looking down the Aletschgletscher
Descending from the Grünegghorn
Lots of water flowing on the Grüneggfirn
Stunning scenary around the Konkordiaplatz
Large crevasses on the Jungfraufirn
Approaching the Jungfraujoch
Climbing the Mönch
Approaching the summit arete on the Mönch
Descending the SE Ridge of the Mönch
Descending the SE Ridge of the Mönch
Climbing Arete Sud at Bramois
Atmospheric morning at the Cabane d’Orny
Great Positions on the Hüttengrat above the Salbit Hutte
Spot the climber on the huttengrat
Summit selfie at the top of the Huttengrat
Sunrise on the walk in to the Sudgrat
Beautiful morning light on the Sudgrat
Another team on the Sudgrat
Great positions on the Sudgrat
Great exposure on the Sudgrat
On top of the Gipfelnadel
Becky on the Gipfelnadel
Exposed abseil off the Gipfelnadel
Exposed descent from the Salbit
Stunning evening light on the from the Salbit
Walking up Black Hill on the morning of Katherine’s Wedding
View up Ogwen Valley in the morning
Stunning views walking up to the Carneddau
Spindrift while walking up to the Carneddau
Climbing Carnedd Llewelyn
Descending from Carnedd Llewelyn
Skiing at Cascade Mountain
Chicago from the Handcock Building
Cloudgate
Handcock Building at night