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A few months back I decided to start walking around the Surrey countryside, so armed with a map, bottle of water and GPS (of course) off I went. I took the GPS because I was sure there was a way to share my route with others, plus I wanted to save them for posterity. I've since found ShareMyRoutes.com which lets you upload GPS tracks so other can enjoy your walk/cycle/paddle. Four of my routes are already there. Enjoy

October 16

Climbing, Switzerland, 12 & 13 October 2007

12/10/07, Hintisberg, Grindelwald

People: Beat, Nadia and I

Route

Zick-Zack, Overall 6a (French), 5 pitches: 6a, 6a, 5C+, 6b (crossing to Tintangel) and 6a (Tintangel). Altitude 2100m, length 150m ish.

The first 2 pitches went without any issue, however there was a balancy move on the 3rd which caught me out resulting in three falls (Beat had led so Nadia and I were top-roping). This was annoying, but I just couldn't suss the move out. The 4th pitch had several roofs, which also caused me to fall a few times. Final 6a was a breeze in comparison. A nice climb, really worth doing, and great views of the North face of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau opposite. I had my Finepix 700 with me confident that my "camera in zipped-up pocket, lanyard around wrist before removal" approach to taking photos was fool-proof, however on the start of the 3rd pitch I put the camera into the non-zip pocket without realising, and on the 1st move the camera fell 70m to the path below. Fortunately, Beat found the memory card intact on the path when we rappelled off, the camera obviously wasn't in the same shape.

13/10/07, Eldorado, Grimsel Passhohe, Bern

People: Beat Schwegler, Nadia, Beat, Bear and I.

Route

Motorhead, Overall 6a+ (French), 13 pitches: 4a, 5c, 6a, 4b, 5a, 5c, 6a, 6a+, 4b, 5b, 5c, 6a, 5c (didn't bother with the 14th pitch). Altitude 1960m, length 440m

What a climb! Beat had told me that it was world-famous, but I didn't really know what to expect. It had to be special after a 545am start, 1.5hr drive followed by 1.5hr approach walk. 440 meters of slab with differing degrees of angle, grip and cracks is what we got. Beat lead again with Nadia and I following. A really nice 10' lay-away at the start of the 2nd pitch is the first thing I remember well from the route. The 3rd pitch is where most photos get taken; a really nice crack to climb for what seems like ages. I climbed it well but it damn hurts your feet, I slipped when moving left off the crack to get to the belay: most would climb further up the crack then down a bit to the belay.The 5th pitch was awesome: a tiny crack which you could just get your fingertips into with a steep layaway followed by a roof at the top. I did this without falling and got such a feeling of accomplishment :-) The crux on the 8th @ 6a+ (see photos of Nadia) was straight-forward once you moved well to the right. Of course, it didn't feel that straight-forward in my first two attempts... The 4b 9th pitch was a real challenge as Beat literally ran from bolt to bolt - feeding two 60m ropes through my DMM bug quick enough was hard work. A quick bite to eat at the 9th stand was followed by a pitch which had a difficult move off one slab towards the end; I fell twice but coped with the following overhang easily. Ironically, Beat had only really come close to falling on the whole route at this overhang, but that was largely due to not being able to reach the right sized friend from behind him for quite some time, he spotted the bolt right by his nose and quickly clipped. The final pitch we did was good, even though I moved right off the crack early and went across the slab. It was hard work and I had to rest for a minute before moving on. Nadia came last on this pitch as it was easier from a rope management perspective, plus the other Beat had reached the belay. Most belays Nadia and I had a reasonable shared-belay process where she pulled the rope up from below and untwisted it whilst I belayed Beat. However, we still managed to get the rope twisted and blocked numerous times, much to Beats annoyance. We completed the climb in 5 1/2 hours, not bad for 3 people climbing together. I was completely knackered by the time we got back to the car and felt the waves of energy flow through me after eating some pieces of chocolate and energy bar.

I can honestly say this is by far the best climb I've ever done. Apparently there are plans to raise the lake level by 30m, which means the 1st pitch will go at some stage in the future - a real shame.

Glacier at the end of the lake

September 10

I'm Climbing Again :-)

After two shoulder injuries and seven months physio therapy, I'm back on the wall.

In fact this blog is a bit late - I've been ramping up for about 6 weeks and the last two visits to Craggy Island I lead a few easy 5+'s

I'm really hoping for an Indian summer so I can get to some outdoor crags (like Portland) before its too cold. Either way, I'm over with Beat and Nadia in Switzerland for a weekend of climbing in October.

Either way you'll see another blog entry soon.

Kevin

3:55 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

September 11

Climbing, Portland, 9 September 2006 or, "back down to earth with a bump!"

09/09/06, The Cuttings, Portland

People: Mark Harrison, Steve Wake and I

Weather: Mild, low-mid-20s, very windy

Massive hangover from the Company Party I'd been to the night before - but thats no excuse! :-) On a high from last weekend in Switzerland, I was looking forward to The Cuttings. I'd been there for a look on August Bank Holiday Monday, and liked what I saw.

Routes

Three Fingers, 5+/6a (4 in the Rockfax 2005 Dorest guide)

At 4 in the guide, Three Fingers looked like a nice warmup. I wasn't that keen to lead it what with the fuzzy head, but once I was past the first few moves I was enjoying myself. I mis-read the guide and actually did the start of Two Fingers, when I got to the first bolt and looked up, I decided the route to the right (Three Fingers) was more reasonble for my ability. Two bolts later, I was stumped. The move wasn't that difficult, ok you have to trust to footwork to gain a steep mantleshelf but the exposure was the issue. Eventually after 4 half-hearted attempts, I bottled it. Mark gave it a good go, but eventually struggled at the same point, Steve managed to kneel on the ledge but didn't have the guts to stand up. Not wanting to be beaten by a 4, I had another go; made the move copying Steve's approach, and cliped the next bolt. The next move was even more exposed, and after about two mintues, I lowered off accepting defeat :-(. When I got home I checked the Rockfax database, and there were about a dozen comments posted that a large hold had fallen, and it was now either a hard 5+ or easy 6a. I felt a bit better, but I want to do this; so a project for the tick list.

The Ramp, 4+

The Cuttings were really busy, so the only easy climb we had the option of was The Ramp. 4+ in the guide didn't raise any warning bells (all the routes in Rockfax Costa Blanca were over graded if anything, so it didn't even cross my mind that the opposite might occur), but at mid-point the next move was above the bolt, under an overhang and I wasn't happy with the holds (i.e. they weren't massive jugs!), so I bottled. Mark and Steve did the same. We were feeling quite dejected by this time. We'd been there 90 minutes and failed twice.

Chips with Everything, 4+

Ok, this was the one. I said I wasn't going to lead it as I was obviously jinxing the routes on the day. Mark went first and made good progress until the mid-point. Again, exposure got the best of him, then Steve, then me. Our tail was so far between our legs now, we could hardly walk. (Comments on the Rockfax d/b are mixed in opinion between 4+ and 5).

Magical Mystery Tour, 3+

There were no 4's free, and I was determined to tick at least one climb even if it was just some steps! Magical Mystery Tour was very polished, but a tick nevertheless. Mark and Steve also lead, using it for practice to thread the rope and lower off. Whilst we were climbing, someone decked out on We're Only Placing Bolts for Nigel to our left. Fortunately it was a short fall (3m or so) and she wasn't hurt.

Lessons for the day;

1. Don't drink heavily before a day climbing (der!)

2. Check the grades online/in mini guide before going to the crag

3. Learn to spot the distances between bolts from the ground, so you're able to see the exposed bit and make an informed decision

4. Get some guts and climb past bolts!

5. See number 4.

6 hours driving, one route ticked and three routes failed, not a good day. Time spent with friends, three new projects and some lessons learned, not a bad day.

More photos to follow.

September 05

Climbing, Switzerland, 1-3 September 2006

01/09/06, Sandbalm, Goschenen

People: Beat Schwegler, Nadia Spilordo and I

Weather: Warm, mid-late 20s

Route

Bijou, Overall 6b (French), 6 pitches: 5c, 5c+, 6a-, 6a-, 6a-, 6b. Altitude: 1490m, Length: 240m.

My first friction climb on granite and my first multi pitch route. Beat lead, Nadia and I followed. I really enjoyed the climb, quickly learnt a whole new level of trust in my feet and discovered you can climb something with at first glance has almost no holds. The top pitch was really tough and took me a few minutes to string the first couple of moves together.

3 Photos of Sandbalm below.

Telli

People and weather as above

Via Gloria, 6a (French)

Beat lead, I followed. A tough and steep route, but great view and setting.

Lochliwag, 6a+ (French)

Beat lead, I followed. Another steep route, ran out of energy and had to rest. Great climb.

New Route (yet to be named and graded)

A tough route at the far left by the fallen tree. Pumpy towards the top. Beat lead.

02/09/06, Frutt

People: As above

Weather: overcast, as the photos show with occasional spots of rain. Mid to late teens.

Routes

Alpabfahrt, 6a (French)

Beat lead, I followed. Damn steep but with real positive holds. Brilliant climb. The last but one move was scary as you have to unclip the last quickdraw and the reach across right. A fall would result in a nice pendulum! I bottled it and had to re-clip to rest, then down climbed and did it direct rather than traverse: took more energy but I didn't feel like I was going to get hurt if I slipped.

Boniwag, 6b (French)

I didn't want to climb Boniwag at all as my arms were aching nicely after the day before and Alpabfahrt, the thought of a 6b just wasn't that appealing. But when Beat nagged me about how good the route was, and that grade was 5c until the last 5m, so I relented and climbed the 5c part (wimp eh?). Beat was right - another brilliant climb. Beat lead, I top roped. Nadia climbed it to the top.

Two photos of Nadia on Boniwag below.

Steichuiz, 6a

Wet and grassy: I didn't climb it.

Heiwrächä, 6a

Quite a tough start followed by a nice climb which wasn't as steep as the others.

Adventure Factory, 5c+

A good climb which went easy at the grade, although we think we went off route.

Three photos of me on Adventure Factory below.

03/09/06, Schollenen

People: Beat Schwegler and I

Weather: cloudy, low-mid 20s

Route

Diagonale, Overall 6a (French), 7 pitches: 4a, 4c, 5c+, 6a, 4b, 5a, 5c+, 5c. Altitude: 1300m, Length: 330m

This was brilliant. Easy first couple of pitches leading to a few pitches of sustained crack climbing. We climbed the first three pitches really quickly to ensure we didn't run out of time (we didn't leave from Luzern until 1330). Then we relaxed a bit, and I concentrated on technique - using foot holds and standing up rather than pulling up. Some pitches were a bit wet, one had water running down the crack. Beat lead, I followed. Whole route was climbed in 90 mins! Awesome.

Wadlichlimser, Overall 6a (French), 8 pitches but we only did the first two as it was late: 5c+, 6b (guide is wrong stating 5c+)

Saw this as we abbed down from Diagonale and decided we had time for the first couple of pitches. Another brilliant route, starts relatively easily then a tough bit on the start of the 2nd pitch due to one or two moves. Arms were killing me after all the exertion - even belaying Beat was difficult :-)