Autumn sunshine

This week has been a return to climbing courses at Symonds Yat - where the late summer sun has been very welcome; in fact the rocks look busier than they have been all year !

The sun gets around to these west facing cliffs around lunchtime at this time of year and lights up the limestone with shades of gold, yellow and silver - combined with ease of access, climbs at all grades, and more protection than normal on limestone, it is a good environment for an introduction to limestone climbing ( limestone generally gives steep climbing ! )

The climbing has been warm and relaxed with favoured routes ticked off bysome new converts to the delights of climbing outdoors - apparently the air smells fresher too!

Frendo Spur

Well we're back !

Good luck with the weather allowed us time to acclimatise with a walk-in on Tuesday, a coke at the Plan de Aiguille mid station and an afternoon of leisured study of the Frendo Spur from the bivvi site on the medial moraine ridge below the route. An early start next morning with the stars and a full moon to show us the way led to the base of the rock. Our guide book needs updating! the snow ramp start no longer exists - we zig zagged right and left until we reached the chimneys which proved to be constricting with big bags and time consuming; then onto the spur proper and with excellent protection all the way up we were beginning to relax. Climbing the crux sections with big boots and big bags took a lot of energy and we were relieved to finally get to the bivvi ledge. The Telephrique looked very close and it was tempting to push on up the snow slopes as we contemplated a cold and uncomfortable night !

An altitude headache , a long day and the prospect of a bivvi in the station tunnel persuaded us to stay put until early next morning but with the indicators of a front coming in - high cirrus , ice halo and forecast from the Office de Tourisme - we kept a check through the night. At first light we were at the base of the rognon after plodding up the snow ridge bathed in moonlight, and after 3 long traverses rounded the corner towards the exit slopes.With the sun up, headaches gone, excellent ice and the occupants of the telephriques waving to us, we enjoyed the last exit gully to finish on the arete leading to the top station - sunglasses, photos and handshakes!

The front came in late afternoon bringing thunderstorms , prolonged rain in the valley and 8 hrs of snow above 2500 mtrs - it looked like the Cosmiques ridge was going to be out of condition for the time being ! A leisurely day taking photos from the Flegere ensued with plans for a cragging day for Saturday. With blue skies, sunshine and the mountains coated in a fresh mantle of white, the cragging plan was dumped and a trip up the Mer de Glace with a stay at the Leschaux hut seemed a good way to finish the trip - and it was !

Notes:-

The constricting chimneys on the lower section of the Frendo can be avoided by an earlier exit of the ramps - but where I don't know.

Rope drag around the second difficult section of the upper steepening might be avoided if the block on the start of the rightward leading ledge is taken on the right.

Excellent bivvi site 50 mtrs up medial moraine ridge from the path marker from the mid station.

Mer De Glace Campsite at La Praz is highly recommended.

Alps trip

It looks like the Frendo Spur and Cosmiques Ridge on Aiguille de Midi is to be our destination for next week so the packing has started:-

The Frendo is one of those routes with a lot of decision-making:- go light and try to do it one day, with the risk of poor conditions on the top snow / ice fields during the afternoon:

or bivvy overnight and wait for cold conditions next morning with all the weight that entails ?

Anyway back to training :- big boot climbing on slippery limestone at Symonds Yat !

Skye Cuillin

After having a week on The Black Cuillin of Skye wilting under an unmerciful sun in July,
August's dark and rainswept days no longer surprise me - the variability of the British weather !
A couple of days scrambling on the North Ridge of Tryfan and Bristly Ridge in misty conditions reminded me that familiarity can lead to complacency - with at least one rocky gendarme climbed needlessly !
This was a timely warning as an unexpected ( unprepared ) trip to Mont Blanc on the 15th Sept. is planned - healthy eating , early morning jogs and a few pull-ups on the door frame are the order of the day for the next 2 weeks.