Monday, August 27, 2012

Moel Famau fell race

Race: Cilcain Mountain Race (5m/1237ft/AS)
Time/Position: 36.37 (7th from 181 [4th V40])
A disappointing minute slower than last year: I could blame a strong headwind near the summit, or unusually heavy going underfoot, but these excuses would be clutching at straws. I initially thought it was my 10th consecutive running of the race, and therefore an anniversary of sorts, but think I must have missed a year - 2004 probably. Even so, the usual good weather failed to materialise this year, and we made our way up in windy and damp conditions. I wore my mudclaws, the weight penalty and consequent slow climb ironing itself out with a quicker than usual descent. I failed to gain more than a couple of places, but did at least find some energy for the final climb back to the finish.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Capenhurst 5k

Race: Capenhurst 5k
Time/Position: 17:04 (26th from 229 [6th V40])
An extraordinarily strong field for this quick 5k this year. In 2010 I ran 5 seconds quicker than this, finished 12th overall and won the V40 prize. This year was a different story, as at least 30 runners stormed off for a painfully fast first mile. I was really suffering, shocked by the pace after a summer in the hills - as always - and struggled to keep up with both John's initially. However, I recovered a bit when the route heads for home after 3k and managed to pick the pace up and gain a few places. Not many though, as the event felt far more competitive even than the average border league fixture and I finished way down the field. A fast, flat 5k is perhaps the ultimate contrast with Sunday's 22 peak 14 hour odyssey? I'd only had 72 hours to recover, so with luck I'll be a bit less tired for the Welsh Champs 10k next week!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Tranter's Round variant

Peaks: Mullach nan Coirean (939m), Stob Ban (999m), Stob Coire a’Mhail (990m), Sgurr a’Mhaim (1099m), Sgurr an Iubhair (1001m), Am Bodach (1032m), Stob Coire a Chairn (981m), An Garbhanach (975m), An Gearanach (982m), Na Gruagaichean (1056m), Binnein Mor (1130m), Sgurr Eilde Mor (1010m), Binnein Beag (943m), Stob Ban (977m), Stob Choire Claurigh (1177m), Stob a’Choire Leith (1105m), Stob Coire Cath na Sine (1079m), Caisteal (1106m), Stob Coire an Laoigh (1116m), Stob Coire Easain (1080m), Sgurr Choinnich Mor (1094m)
Area: Mamores/Grey Corries, Lochaber
Perhaps a bit more honest to call this 'Tranter's Lite', as we missed the crucial final section up Ben Nevis. I've held a vague plan to do a version of Tranter's for some time: as big rounds go, it's quite short and achievable. Peter was keen to go for the full job, and we set this weekend as the only possible mutually suitable date. As such, I never really thought it would come off, given the usual August weather in the area. However, remarkably, my weather luck (which has held all year) continued yet again, and we headed up to Glen Nevis on Saturday afternoon and slept in the car boot for a couple of hours before waking at 4am. A bad start caused by sloppy headtorch navigation and a desire for directness saw us crashing through very steep conifer forests on the side of the glen leading up from Polldubh - but we still reached the summit of the Mullach in 70 minutes. Superb views as the sun began to peek through the clouds above Ben Alder to the east. Wonderful low sunshine lit the ridge as we ran towards Stob Ban and my first ever repeated Munro (I'd nipped up during an astonishingly unproductive and lazy teenage week with Steve back in 1989!). It's a nice peak, rocky and distinctive. Great running down to Lochain Coire nam Miseach before a steep rise gains the Devil's Ridge. This is an annoying but superb appendage to the main Mamore traverse, and had to be done, so we dumped sacks before enjoying the excellent narrow ridge with good scrambling over a subsidiary summit to the fine peak of Sgurr a'Mhaim. It was all fantastically enjoyable, still only 6.30am with the sunlit ridge giving perfect exposed running, and the entire Mamore ridge completely to ourselves. After a snack, we plodded over Iubhair and up Am Bodach before heading out along another narrow rocky appendage - with steeper initial scrambling - over a superb ridge to An Gearanach. A tiring addition to the main ridge, but these two diversions provide the best views of the day. We were still feeling good at this point, but the weather worsened, with clag drifting over the fine peak of Na Gruigachean during our ascent. This was a shame, as the network of ridges continues excellent over to the parent peak of Binnein Mor, and it looked a bit threatening for a while. Compass work was necessary, which slowed us down a bit. Whilst eating on the small summit of Binnein, however, a small tear in the cloud gave us hope and we ran down the steep east ridge before contouring round towards Sgurr Eilde Beag. The three peaks at the end of the Mamores present an unavoidable conundrum on this round: there is just no easy way of combining them. Sgurr Eilde Mor, in particular, is an outlier separated from the rest of the range. Our solution, to contour round the ridge then drop down to Coire an Lochain, was a good one: but still involved a long climb up shifting scree to gain the summit. Great hill, though, and the sun came out for wonderful wild views over to Ben Alder east. Another massive descent to the valley and we picked up the good path over to Binnean Beag, which looks innocuous from afar, barely worthy of Munro status, but didn't feel innocuous during the climb. This was my lowest ebb all day, but two pork pies perked me up on the summit: from where Stob Ban looks an appallingly distant prospect on the other side of the Water of Nevis. So, all the Mamores were done by lunchtime, ten Munros in total. Now for the Grey Corries! A very steep descent down the northern slopes of Beag, draining and stressful, led to a predictable bog trot along the base of this broad glen to gain the river at the Nevis/Abhainn Rath watershed. A wild and remote location: superb in this weather. We were then faced with a monstrous haul up the side wall of Coire Rath, contouring past numerous red deer to gain the broad col below Stob Ban. This was the crux of the whole outing and it was with some relief that we gained the remote summit of Stob Ban (a long way from the nearest road and a very long way from our car in Glen Nevis). My Innov8s were now almost destroyed, and more splits opened up on the steep scree down to a small lake before ploughing up the south ridge to Stob Coire Claurigh. Peter now began to suffer a bit, after being ahead for most of the Mamores. I was surprised to feel great, however: the path feeling deeply luxurious after the trackless nightmare up Stob Ban. At the top, the ridge along the Grey Corries looked mouthwatering and I couldn't wait to get started, running again over several tops and subsidiary peaks. All of this was wonderful: a remote, magnificent switchback ridge that stays high throughout. I enjoyed every minute and still felt good for the much steeper trudge up the fine peak of Sgurr Choinnich Mor: which feels separate to the rest of the Grey Corries but is a beautiful peak. From here we contoured round to the climb up the Aonachs but decided to bail out at this point for the very long and horrendously midgy run through Glen Nevis, past the Steall waterfall, back to Polldubh. Around 17,000ft of climbing, 34 miles, 22 peaks with 14 munros, so still a big day out in the hills. I was struck again by my weather luck this year: crystal clear, stunning views from a galaxy of peaks across Scotland, the Italian Alps, the Maritime Alps and beyond. After fish and chips in Fort William, we drove home through the night via two short naps in Hamilton and Tebay - rather tiring.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Caire de Cougourde

Peaks: Caire de Cougourde (2921m/9583ft)
Area: Maritime Alps, France
Routes: SE Ridge/Voie Normale (uI+)
Alongside Maledie, this was another obvious gap in my Mercantour CV and another very striking rock peak. Indeed, it is such a compelling objective from the Cougourde hut that I felt obliged to do it before breakfast, even though the original intention had just been to rest after yesterday's 'vertical kilometre' run. A peaceful night saw all the mist melt away to leave a starlit early morning. I managed to sneak away from the hut without waking the children but then had real difficulty following the path to Lac des Sagnes. I've done this before, when going up Cime de l'Agnel, but it is rather tenuous in the dark with no headtorch! I picked my way from cairn to cairn, then the light improved as I reached the crucial turn-off towards the Combe du Cougourde. This goes very steeply east, rapidly gaining height below the stunning west face (indeed, as with Maledie, it was a shame to just be soloing the normal route rather than enjoying the obviously superb rock climbing it had to offer). The path is, by Mercantour standards, easy to follow and well cairned. It leads quite quickly to a 20m slabby wall taken on good holds which gives access to the upper cwm. This heads up towards Cime des Gaisses initially before veering north to take a broad spur towards a good traverse path below the hidden east face. The cwm up here is just a deep bowl of shattered scree, surrounded by vertical rock, and is quite an intimidating place alone at 6.15am. That said, after almost 20 years exploring the Maritime Alps on my own, these situations are quite familiar: I can count on one hand the other people I've seen on the 30+ peaks I've climbed in the area. Rough scree, followed by 30m of more solid slabby scrambling, then led up to the Baisse du Cougourde, the onward route still looking utterly unfeasible at this point. It seems so unlikely that a simple voie normale exists, but, sure enough, on emerging at the Baisse all is revealed as a simple broad ridge line leads up to the summit. Before starting up the ridge, I spent a few minutes gaping at the awesome view as the sun rose over the shoulder of Gelas. Again, a cloud inversion on the Italian side meant superb views of the nearby peaks. These got better as I ascended the simple slopes to the right of the SE ridge. This gradually became steeper near the summit as the route snaked left and became more exposed with a few easy rocky steps. The views from the small top were predictably electrifying. The ridge from here, Peak 1 of the Cougourde (the high point), over to Peak 4, looked superb but sadly unfeasible solo. The descent via the same route was surprisingly simple and very quick, and I got to the hut before 8am with the breakfast coffee still warm! After a short rest in the sunshine, we all began the descent which was absolutely delightful in the morning sunshine. We all really enjoyed it, I think, and a second breakfast in the lovely woodland near the Pont Peirastreche prolonged our time in the valley before washing in the river, heading to see the wolves in Boreon, and driving to Nice airport later on.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Cime de la Palu: 'Vertical Kilometre'

Peaks: Cime de la Palu (2132m/6995ft)
Area: Maritime Alps, France
Route/Time: KmV 'Race'/53:31
This was a perfect opportunity to stretch my legs after the rigours of the last two days: a chance to run unencumbered in the gentle 2200m hills above St Martin in contrast to my more usual mountaineering trips up the higher peaks in these parts. After the luxury of a family room at the Gite in St Grat, we had one more trip from Boreon to the Cougourde hut, which necessitated a visit to St Martin Vesubie, my favourite Alpine town. I haven't been here for two years, and was delighted to find that - as luck would have it - the local council has developed a series of trail runs around the green hills that surround the town. As soon as I saw the 'Vertical Kilometre' outing, it became an unavoidable challenge and I changed into my running kit immediately. Kate and the children went to a cafe while I jogged up Rue Docteur Cagnoli to the start of the route. I'd never seen anything quite like it: an accurately measured and marked out route, with each 100m of ascent signposted, up to the 1000m finish just below the summit of Cime de la Palu - a 2200m peak that towers above St Martin. I set out at around 4.5mins per 100m pace, and managed to maintain this up to a more runnable section as I emerged from the treeline at the 700m mark. Breaking the hour seemed like an obvious target but I had three disadvantages. First, no caffeine. Second, some fatigue after the last two days. Third, midday heat. I treated it as valuable training, though, and really enjoyed the effort - which is obviously quite an intense session with an average gradient of 27% over 4.5km or so. The 1000m mark arrives abruptly, sadly just below the true summit of Palu, and I stopped my watch comfortably below the hour on 53:31. Above this, gentle zigzags lead to a broad col below Tete du Marre, the next peak on the ridge, and I jogged over to the summit to enjoy excellent views up the Cougourde valley, our next destination. The eponymous peak is a magnificent pyramid of rock from this point and I began to think that it would make a nice trip from the hut if I could find the time. The Prefouns and Agnel peaks (2008) also impressed, as did the area I'd visited in 2010 around Lac d'Allos further north. The run back down to St Martin, in warm sunshine, was a delight. More by accident than design, I took a different route down from ? which extended the fun, and we had a picnic of local ham sandwiches and myrtille tart under the trees before driving to the Vacherie du Boreon for the walk-in to the Cougourde Hut. This walk was far more popular with the family than the more demanding outing to the Nice hut. I had deliberately chosen the Cougourde hut because of the scenic contrast: whereas the Nice hut is surrounded by dramatic and stark peaks, the Cougourde hut is situated in a truly beautiful Alpine meadow with a pastoral feel - small copses, boulders and babbling streams - with the amazing Caires du Cougourde towering above. One of my favourite spots in the range, and although I've had a meal here before, I'd never stayed. We passed a relaxing and enjoyable evening in the hut, watching the mist gradually envelop the Cougourde and other peaks.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Cime de la Maledie

Peaks: Cime de la Maledie (3059m/10036ft)
Area: Maritime Alps, Provence
Route: NW Face/Voie Normale (PD/uI+)
This magnificent peak is perhaps the most striking on the French side of the Maritime Alps and has been on my target list for many years. It was the obvious choice for a short and intense pre-breakfast outing from the Refuge du Nice. I left Kate and the children sleeping and crept out of the hut in the half-light at 5.40am: no need for 3am starts in the Maritime Alps, particularly this late in the summer. The route round the lake was easy to follow, well-cairned, as is the continuation up to Lac Long - presumably because it is also taken by the normal route up Gelas from the hut. This all helped, as it stayed dark for longer than I'd expected, and I was rewarded by a stunning red sky over Chamineye and Capelet. I was also very struck by the view back to yesterday's peak, Cime Nire, which appears as a spectacular leaning spire of rock from the entry to the wide valley containing Lac Long. Maledie towers above at this point, and the traverse remains relatively easy to follow up to the obvious problematic slabby rock band which guards entry to the upper cwms below the summit. It all added to the intrigue and enjoyment: steep slopes lead up to an intimidating side cwm, followed by a switchback to the east - tricky route-finding - which leads below a steep rock spur to slip into the little valley below the crucial Pas de Maledie (guarded from below by the rock-band). This little cwm was less intimidating than the one I'd left, but very atmospheric, and I rapidly gained the obvious steep couloir leading to the Pas. This gave some fine scrambling, around II, and was relatively solid. At the top of the Pas, I passed into Italy and gained a broad shelf of scree and stunning views over a cloud inversion in the Italian valleys. Monte Viso towered above the cloud, which the low sun had coloured orange, and vague distant glimpses of Gran Paradiso and Monte Rosa were satisfying, as I've climbed both. I was expecting a long traverse below the north face of Maledie - but actually the crucial summit couloir is reached after a couple of hundred metres. An arete, below a big drop, marks the line - the only feasible route of ascent. After a short rocky wall above the remains of a snowfield (which is much bigger earlier in the season), very loose scree and moraine dust leads to another short wall (II). Above lies more insecure scree and the spectacular small summit (90m from hut). This gave me a few of the more memorable minutes of my many visits to the peaks of the Mercantour: truly stunning views over the cloud inversion to the east. Clapier surprisingly impressive, as were all the other mountains I've previously climbed in this small but superb area: Capelet, Gelas, Ponset, Bego et al. I reckon I've climbed more than 30 Maritime Alps peaks since our ascent of Gelas in 1994. The descent of the couloir was distinctly unpleasant, down loose and steep scree, but it went OK - as did the scrambling down from the Pas. A brief breakfast of a tiny cereal bar in the sunshine above Lac Long, and I jogged back to meet the family by Lac de la Fous by 8.30am. A short but intense outing! All the family enjoyed the walk-down considerably more than the walk-up, and we enjoyed a superb lunch of wild trout and mountain herbs at the Gite in St Grat later. Cloud rolled in during the afternoon, and an atmospheric storm enlivened the evening meal.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Cime Nire

Peaks: Cime Nire (2666m/8747ft)
Area: Maritime Alps, Provence
Routes: East Ridge (uI+), NW Gully (uII)
After a week in the Esterel sunshine, we headed up to my old stomping ground of the Maritime Alps for a brief family mountain trip bolted on to the end of our holiday. After taking the children for a night at the Lac d'Allos hut two years ago (their first visit to an Alpine hut) my plans this time were a little more ambitious. First item on the agenda was the walk-in to the Refuge du Nice. The Gordolasque valley is an area I know well, so I was relieved to be able to park at midday on a busy August Saturday. The walk-in went reasonably well. There were a few complaints from the offspring, particularly during the steep zig-zags below the Mur des Italians. The view of the waterfall was scant consolation! The cloudbase gradually lowered during the walk and the atmosphere was quite foreboding as we entered the plain of La Barme, surrounded by spectacular peaks - many of which I have climbed in the past, like Ponset, Clapier, Capelet and Collomb. A short rise gained Lac de Fous and views of the hut. This was the morale boost the team needed, and they were rewarded with a hot chocolate in the hut. After a game of scrabble, it looked like the mist was lifting slightly, so I ran up to Lac Nire before dinner. From here, it is a fairly simple matter to traverse the boulder fields and plough up the slopes to an obvious scree gully, the only real way to access the Pas de Nire between the two peaks of Tete du Lac Autier and Cime Nire. The cloud began to descend again as I reached the pass, so I made a snap decision to go for the lower - but more striking - peak of Cime Nire. This was short but excellent. A fine narrow ridge gave a bit of scrambling to an obvious forepeak, after which grass slopes led down to a pronounced col. The final north ridge looks very steep from a distance, but on closer inspection only the first and last 20 metres give any real scrambling. A few short rock walls, on good but lichen covered rock (I assume this peak is very rarely ascended), led to easier slopes before a steep final wall gave more easy rock climbing to a small summit (45m from hut). The cloud base was only just above the cairn, limiting the views but increasing the atmosphere. After a cautious descent, I decided to give Tete du Lac Autier a miss, mindful of conserving some energy for tomorrow morning. As a result, I opted to take the steeper NW gully leading directly down from the col to the lake as a more direct route back to the hut after analysing the feasibility of the line from a high vantage point. This was very loose in places - indeed the one steep section that looked worrying from above was actually the most solid 10m section of the gully. But it had the virtue of directness and I soon picked up the more solid boulder field above Lac Nire before gaining the GR52 and good quick running back to the hut, where we all enjoyed a superb four course dinner with local lamb and cheese from the vacherie in the valley.