Adidas walking boots......no wait hear me out!

I've been looking for a decent pair of walking boots for some time. At present I have B2 and B3 boots, but no B1 walking boots for scrambling etc. I have looked and tried on a number of boots, but non I have tried looked good enough or fitted well enough to justify splashing the cash. I liked the look of the Salomon Quest, and they fitted well too, but they didn't have that something extra I like to have with anything I buy. Anyway long story short I was mooching around Manchester today  (where it turns out there is 100 outdoor shops....). I went into the Blacks there, where there was (for once) a helpful lad working in the boot department. I clocked a pair of cool looking boots. These turneed out to be Adidas Terrex GTX hi FM. I instantly liked the look of these boots, and whats more

I'm sure I recognised the shape as being the same as the Salomon Quest I had tried on before. A quick chat with the guy in the shop revealed they were in fact the same boot (albeit with some reworking by Adidas), as Adidas and Salomon were owned by the same parent company. So now I was very interested, a boot that had already fitted well, but a cooler looking version, and at half price (£59.99) I invested. They look awesome, they fit brilliantly, and more importantly they shatter the stereotype that many of us have that Adidas can't make outdoor kit. Indeed the emergence of sports companies making gear, is

part of an ongoing trend started by Nike with their ACG (All Condition Gear). Looks like Adidas has hopped on the band wagon, and I am very impressed! These boots remind me of being young and when the "must have" football boots were Adidas predators. Therefore from now on these boots will be known as my Adidas Predators :) The next few months will reveal whether thesee are everything I hope for from my boots!

Helmet cams, Metoffice and Twitter

So for Christmas my girlfriend got me a small camera designed for recording outdoor pursuits. Naturally (and lets face it this is true), everyone has thought about using a helmet camera to record them doing something cool, so for me this was the ultimate piece of coolness for my kit collection. The camera included a 4gb microSD card, a mount for bike handlebars, and a mount for webcam use. Sadly the mount supplied didn't fit my bikes handle bars, and the transfer cable seems to be a bit dodgy. So eBay provides! £4.98 got me a new mount (helmet compatible and an SD card adapater). The new mount arrived the other day and is 1000x better than the one that was included. This one had flexible rubber straps to attach the camera, and to attach to whatever you want to. This means you can attach to a helmet by passing the straps through the holes in the helmet (see picture). Sadly this doesnt work on my grivel salamander due to the lack of vents in the helmet. However it was fine on Petzl Meteor and a Giro Indicator.So I fitted the camera up last night,

and with a planned trip to Harborough rocks tommorow, I figured it would be the ideal chance to get some good BETA footage. Sadly the Metoffice had other ideas. When i went to bed (11pm) the Metoffice was forecasting overnight rain, but dry from 4am, then sunny from early throughout the day. Sadly (in truest form with the Metoffice), when I got up it was slinging it down. The 'forecast' had then been updated to say rain throughout the day. Now honestly, what use is that? The past 3 times I have relied on the Metoffice they have let me down, as a geography graduate, and dabbler in meteorology, I appreciate the finer subtle details of weather forecasting, but HOW do they keep getting it wrong, there is a huge difference between "Sunny all day" and "wet all day", as Reynolds said "it is the only job in the world where the can get it wrong everyday and not get fired". So instead of being at the crag today I am sat updating my blog. The last thing I wanted to mention was

Twitter. I have heard "tweeting" talked about a lot recently, and it wasn't something I had ever done. However I decided to give it a go, and actually it seems very cool. All the major gear companies, mountain centres, and organisations seem to be on there. So having "followed" all of them, I can now access their tweets about latest releases, competitions etc. Seems very worthwhile. I can also update my tweets by texting a number (at no charge), which updates my profile. I have also added a gadget to my blog which allows a display of my current Tweet, so anyone who is interested can see what I am up to/working on. (I don't expect many people will be, but I think it's cool!). Thats all for now anyway, I will get some helmet cam footage up soon, and also update on whether Sonim's 14 day replacement quote is accurate!

Landrover S1 - Not as invincible as advertised?

I have had the Landrover S1 for some time now, and this is the second time it has broken. The first time was not a hardware issue - the phones software stopped working causing the phone to freeze up. In fairness to Sonim the phone was replaced with no questions asked, however I did miss having the phone when I was in Morocco.

This time however I dropped the phone to the ground by accident (baring in mind the company claim the phone can withstand 2m drops onto concrete), the resulting damage can be seen in the picture (left). The screen has a giant crack in it, whilst I should point out the  phone has continued to function fine despite the screen being mangled, I decided to (for the second time) take advantage of Sonim's "3 year unconditional guarantee". A short phone call to Sonim later and I had an address to send my phone to in order to recieve a replacement, no questions asked; except "what is wrong with it". Can't say fairer than that I suppose.
My issue is that the phone broke in the first place, surely a phone that claims to be literally bomb proof should be able to withstand damage from impacts on the screen? However credit where credit is due, Sonim really do follow through on their guarantee to replace the phone, no questions asked, if it breaks, so in this regard, I can't fault them as a company, great customer service. Overall I still like the Landrover S1, I had been having a few problems with the Microphone when calling people, as my voice came accross very quiet. So hopefully this will be fixed with the new one. The waterproofness of the phone however is still outstanding and is yet to let me down, even when I dropped it in the lake the other day! 14 days until the Landrover S1 Mk 3 arrives.....

A week of orienteering.....soggy sarnies and too much running

So this week at work was a GCSE orienteering group. I like to get involved with this each year, as the group are usually good fun to work with, plus I get the constant reassurance that my navigation is better than a 15 year old novices! We used a number of venues away from the centre to increasingly test the students over the course of the week. I lead a number of evening training sessions throughout the week aimed at helping the students develop skills, copy of the powerpoint I put together for a quick contours introduction can be downloaded here. From my point of view the courses involved me running around as quickly as my legs would carry me in order to avoid the inevitable "Sir, you suck I beat you", chants from the group. We used 2 parks in Leek, Knypersly reservoir, and Buxton Country Park. The week got off to a bad start for me when I forgot my water bottle, not a huge issue I took one from the staffroom. Upon reaching lunchtime at the first site, I reached for my "gourmet" sarnies I had been gloating about (BBQ chicken and cheddar in cheesey rolls), I discovered the water bottle had leaked everywhere ruining my delicious food! Needless to say the water bottle received an apt reward for its betrayal...

And while we are at it Thermos Hydro Active Sports Bottle, best price: £4.99 from Amazon, is the worst designed water bottle I have ever seen, I mean the thing has a flimsy cap with a weak rubber seal which, if knocked will come undone instantly, do not ever buy one of these water bottles!
The week progressed very well, with my evening lectures seeming to make a difference to the group, the teachers seemed impressed, and the group were doing better than any previous year, so I was feeling pretty chuffed! I managed to get hold of a copy of the map for Thursday, and calibrated it using a product called OziExplorer (useful piece of software for calibrating .jpg files into geo referenced maps). This was very effective during the thursday, especially for getting the control points in exactly the right place! All in all I was very happy with the orienteering, once again (as usual) my Osprey Talon 33, proved the most comfortable bag I have ever owned,  even running up and down hills all day it didn't chafe or hurt at all. Once again highly recommended!

My ME Fitzroy also kept me toasty warm whilst waiting around in the wind and cold for the group to come and collect various orienteering points around the place! Enclosed is a small JPG of the orienteering map of Buxton Country park, well worth a visit! Excellent park with decent toilets etc, worth a walk over to solomons temple as well, with a good view across the quarries.

Summer rock climbing rack

I recieved a message today (via my contact me on my blog for the first time woop!), asking what is in my summer climbing rack. So this a brief response for Dave Harrison (thanks for you mail) and anyone else who is interested, as to what I carry on my summer trad rack:

10 x wild country oxygen quickdraws (various lengths)
3 x sling draws (60cm slings)
4 x D shaped screw gates (Zero G neutrons)
2 x DMM/Mammut Boa
1 x Metolius nutkey (saved me £24 to date!)
1 x Petzl Reverso3 belay plate + DMM Fatboy
1 x Petzl Reverso + HMS
7 x DMM 4CU cam's sizes 0.5-4
Black Diamond wired hexes
DMM Wallnuts 1-11
Zero G Spectrum wires 5-13
Zero G Spectrum wires 1-4
DMM Offset wires

1 x 60cm sling + karabiner
4 x 120cm slings + karabiner each
2 x 240cm slings + karabiner each
1 x 400cm sling +karabiner

2 x prussik loops

+ Harness, helmet, rockboots and chalkbag


All the above won't come on every route, but this is what I have, however I customise what I actually carry depending on the venue and route.

Why old style pierce top stoves are bad!

As the title suggests really, I witnessed an incident a Peak District campsite a few months back that highlighted to me the reason these stoves should not continue to be used for expeditions with young people. Whilst waiting for my DofE group to arrive I was sat in my tent observing another group cooking (no idea where they were from). As I watched, one of the young people busted out an old style pierce top stove. These were replaced a number of years ago with the safer, more reliable, resealable stoves. Curiously I watched the events that unfolded next, where the young person mounted the gas canister, and lit the stove. Before I had chance to shout to them, the whole stove had gone up in flames, I ran in and grabbed the stove hurling it away from the tents into the empty camping field, I quickly extinguished the stove, and turned the gas off.

I promptly headed over and gave the leader of the group an earful. It should be noted that in these cases I do not blame the young people, I blame the leader who allowed them to use the stove in the first place. Pierce top stoves are too dangerous, and too easy to use wrongly. So this is a plea to any scout groups, cadets, dofe groups, schools or anyone else who still Show Allhas these stoves squirreled away somewhere......Bin them now! Afterwards I collected the stove and took some pictures for instructional purposes, so that others can see the results of using these stoves incorrectly. The main issue is if they ignite, it is very difficult to deal with as the stove becomes a fireball, something that for a young person on an expedition will be very scared of.

The issue occurs when the arms securing the canister are not placed correctly, when the canister is is punctured a leak occurs, and when the stove valve is turned on and lit, the pressurised gas sprays out of the canister and lights instantly, and continues to flow. The best case scenario is that the canister remains attached to the stove, the worst case scenario (something that I have seen before), is if the canister becomes detached from the stove, the pressurised canister then blasts off like a rocket with a trail of fire behind it. Obviously this represents a huge hazard, not least of which hitting another young person, or a tent, or vehicle. The question we have to ask ourselves is "is it worth the risk", when resealable stoves are available from £9.99?....Food for thought.

Fig4 Drytooling....very good!

Further to my previous post on dry tooling with Fig Fours, I decided to head to Awesome Walls to have a play on their dedicated Fig Four/Schmoolz routes. Had a good hour and a half at the wall, and have to say I really enjoyed it! The tools are great to play around at the wall with and really get you pumped quick, but more importantly there's a real focus on technique and thinking moves over. The only problem with the Fig Fours is a lack of bottom horn, without leashes this makes them hard to use without gripping much higher up on the axe. Outside of that these were great, myself, my brother and my best mate had a great time, and enjoyed pushing each other with new routes, overhangs, corners and tricky moves, and I will definitely be heading out again! But we all agree the Fig Fours are definitely a great piece of kit, will be including some Fig Four training in my training from now on and looking to push my grade a bit when I head to Scotland in Feb! So there's something to aim for! Other than that I'm more motivated for getting out winter climbing a couple more times before the end of the season!

Atko was very fluid with his climbing and hopefully we can really build on our team work for Alpamayo 2012! Also hoping to head to Awesome Walls Stockport to test the Fig Four's out on top rope and leading to see how they function going vertically instead of just traversing! Also going to aim to climb in B2 boots in the future rather than rock boots, and may also consider wearing a helmet (I cracked myself on the head twice and it hurts!!). Also watch out the axes slipping off and hitting you in the face!

The video below shows Simon playing around on a Schmoolz route given the grade V3-4. Enjoy! Download available here: www.electronicmountainleader.co.uk/DSCF5121.AVI

Fig4 Drytooling....any good?

I have been meaning to write this for some time now. Managed to pick myself up a set of Alpkit's latest innovation the "Fig4" second hand for a respectable price of £25. Have been meaning to get down to the wall, but after missing several chances to do it, I decided this evening to have a play on the wall at work before my evening climbing session. So I headed down a little early to test them.
First things first, I kitted up climbing with my B2 boots, gloves, and helmet. I had a mess around for 30mins or so traversing around the wall. The first thing I will say is that it certainly gets you pumped! After 30mins I was knackered! The small loops on the axes fit all the holds in the wall at work, and are strong enough to easily support my weight dead hanging.

These are very cool to climb with, something very different to enjoy at the wall, and I imagine with sustained practice would facilitate a marked improvement in winter climbing strength. One cool thing about them is the fact you can hold the axe in different ways as the wood is shaped to mimic triggers and rests and various points on the shaft. Mine also cam pre fitted with cord so that when climbing upward should you fall the axe doesnt plummit onto your belayers head!
The one problem I encountered is that many of the holds around the wall were no use what so ever for these, the loops simply slipped off. In one way this adds another dimension, in another (more accurate way) it just means certainly sections of the wall are not climbable.

Alpkit sell these at £65 a pair ( http://www.alpkit.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16500&category_id=252 ) are they worth it? From my point of view no. However the amount of mixed climbing I do in a year wouldn't warrant such an investment, however for hardcore winter climbers looking to train in the wall, I would highly recomend these bad boys. Many climbing walls are now stocking these for borrowing during sessions, so worth a play! Alternatively if you can pick them up on the cheap second hand go for it! Definately fun! And I am looking forward to heading to the wall again soon!

A dream of white mountains?

I had a dream a week ago now, in my dream I was clawing my way up the final snowslope of a big mountain. That mountain was Alpamayo. Alpamayo is located in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru and stands at 5,947m, as is widely considered the worlds most beautiful mountain, and looking at pictures it's easy to see why.

Why Alpamayo? Ever since I first saw a picture of Alpamayo I have wanted to climb it, it is an inspiring target for any young mountaineer. Today I was mulling over a couple of options for a 2012 expedition, and have come to the conclusion that Alpamayo is what I want to do, following in the footsteps of my friend and mentor John. Alpamayo is a small amount higher than my previous highest climb, and the French Direct route goes at Alpine "D" which is slightly harder than my toughest route to date.

I have a guidebook on the way "Classic Climbs of the Cordillera Blanca" by Brad Johnson, and have already started a wealth of research on the mountain, I am incredibley psyched for this, me and whatever team choose to accompany me will be looking at July/Aug 2012 as a date, giving me 1 year and 7 months to get my fat ass in gear and train for this, but with the level of motivation I'm feeling right now, that shouldn't be a problem!

This will be the toughest and highest climb of my life, and also the most inspiring.

Sealskinz – waterproof uber kit? Or wet flannels?

I have been using Sealskinz products for over 3 years now, this includes; gloves, socks and hat. These products boast a high level of waterproofing and breathability but is this the case? And are they worth the money?

The first piece of kit we will look at are the Sealskinz Ultra grip glove (approx £25). These gloves appealed to me as they were a close fitting, waterproof glove. Useful for maintaining dexterity, whilst remaining warm when wet. I have used these now in Scottish and Welsh winter, high altitude climbing in Morocco, glacier work in Iceland, climbing gritstone HS 4b at Windgather, and many more trips, and can honestly say these bad boys live up to their reputation. They are comfortable and warm, but close fitting enough that tying knots, boot laces and other tasks is simple and doesn’t require them to be taken off. They are also thin enough that they can be worn under a larger pair too. As for the waterproofing on the gloves, you can test this for yourself, stick a small bit of tissue paper in the glove, submerge your hand in a sink full of water, then check the tissue. For me this test left a piece of bone dry tissue!

So far so good Sealskinz!

The second piece of gear is the Sealskinz beanie (£15 approx). This has been a faithful companion of mine for a number of years now, and has accompanied me all over the place. It is comfortable, waterproof, and cozy. It also comes in tactical olive green for military use. The hat itself does tend to rustle a little bit, I imagine this is due to the waterproof layer including in the hat. I have never liked wearing a hat on the hill, but this one is ideal for me, keeps my head dry and warm all day!

Last but not least, Sealskinz socks (approx £20 a pair!). I have 2 pairs of these and have used them extensively all over the place! They are a great sock on their own, what I particularly like is the fact that they come quite high up the calf. This means should your foot plunge into a dreaded Kinder Scout peat bog over the ankle, your foot will avoid the “over the boot” misery many of us have experienced, and keep your foot dry! I tend to wear these with a second pair of socks underneath, this keeps my foot comfortable, dry and warm, whilst protecting against blisters. Again they have a bit of a rustle due to the waterproofing, however they are great socks and really do what they say on the tin with regards to waterproofing so can’t complain about a bit of noise when putting them on!

So overall what would I say about Sealskinz? Great products, and they keep you dry. Certainly at £20 per pair the socks are not cheap, but they are an ideal piece of kit to keep feet dry on those naff days on the hill and certainly worth investing in! The gloves at £25 are excellent, and better/cheaper than other gloves out there that claim to do the same thing.

In a nutshell: Give Sealskinz a go, you won’t be disappointed!

Mountain Leader: My leader kit

This is the last of my "xray" diagrams for kit lists. This one is a typical(ish) ML leader pack. Containing a variety of items essential for leading groups in the mountains. This is by no means an exhaustive list and any ML or aspirant ML should pick their own kit based on their experience. My equipment listed below is everything I would take (although not everything is shown on the diagram)for a standard group day on the hill, any specialist items are not included, however these could include things like GPS, any books or guides for the area as required, I also list a sling in the equipment, if going for you ML assessment it is worth noting that some ML assessors do not allow the use of a sling and biner and some do. If you do have one, make sure you know how to use it correctly! Kit list:



Camelbak
Spare water
30m Confidence rope - Set up for easy use
240cm sling and HMS karabiner
Hardshell
Spare warm jacket
Food and emergency rations (in yellow stuff sack)
Headtorch
Phone
First aid kit
Group shelter
Penknife
GPS handset
Walking poles
Thermos flask with warm drink
Map

The above list is not exhaustive, but is generally what I carry when with groups, I add or take away items depending on time of year, group size/age/type, and the nature of the day.

I hope you have enjoyed the series of little diagrams in the last couple of posts, feel free to use these in any presentations etc, but please reference me or let me know if you do :)

Next post: FigFour Dry tooling....any good?

Expedition loadout

Really enjoyed messing around in photoshop and creating the winter loadout image below, so decided I would do one for expedition loadout and mountain leader day sack. My expedition equipment varies a huge amount depending on length of expedition, time of year etc. In the diagram I have not included items like penknive, gps, phone etc, as they are too fiddly to edit in photoshop! Kit shown:







Tent (or part there of)
Sleeping bag
Thermorest (right side)
Poles (left side)
Hardshell
Insulated jacket
Spare clothes (red stuff sack)
Food (yellowy stuff sack)
Stove
Gloves
Camelbak
Spare water
Group shelter

Other kit can be added or taken out as needed. If wet weather expected then thermorest should be covered in a drybag to prevent it getting sodden! Additional kit like: scrambling rope, ice axe (and other winter gear) etc can be added also depending on the nature of the venture.

Bag in picture is my faithful Lowe Alpine Frontier 80+15L. Fantastic bag, present from my parents for my 20th birthday.

Winter Loadout 2010/2011

So last year I spent some time doing a cut away style diagram to detail my winter kit. I thought I would do the same kind of idea again this year. The diagram to the left shows a standard winter day pack. The only changes being that my crampons are not covered and the axes shown are actually strapped to the outside of my bag not the inside as it may seem. As you can see the packing is a little tight, but largely whats included is:


Roughly half a winter rack
1 x 60m half rope
2 x DMM Fly
Helmet
A small group shelter
A water bottle
An insulated jacket
Goggles
Phone
Crampons
Headtorch
Spare gloves
Harness


Naturally that is quite a sparse kit and would only be useful as a daypack. Other things could be added or taken away depending the type of trip/length of trip. It also makes the assumption that I would be wearing certain kit like my hardshell jacket and trousers, gloves etc

Overall I usually pack my bag as shown, with items like helmet/harness and goggles towards the top. I might also add things like GPS, first aid kit (if partner wasn't carrying). My bag of choice is my Osprey Mutant 38, however in some instances this is often not big enough.

Clipper Leashes!

After the hardcore failure of my chokehold leashes at the weekend I vowed to sort out my leash system. This is my story....
Prior to hitting the first ice of the season at the weekend I had been looking into how best to "mod up" my axes for winter. Having struggled with my chokehold leashes previously, I decided I needed some form of clipper leash. I contacted DMM regarding a fitting kit for my DMM flys. The good thing about my axes is that I have a slightly older version of the DMM fly featuring hollow bolts on the shaft, these can be fitted up for a clipper leash. Simon from DMM very helpfully sent me 2 fitting kits for my axes to enable me to fit these leashes.

Having shopped around for the clipper leashes I found Joe Brown offering them for £35 each! http://www.joe-brown.com/outdoor-equipment/winter-mountaineering/climbing-tools/dmm-clipper-leash.html, V12 offering them for £40 a pair, and www.theoutdoorshop.com offering them at an incredible £32 a pair. I immediately put in an order with the outdoorshop.

Quick plug for www.theoutdoorshop.com - this is a brilliant site, great customer service, online BMC discount (if you mail them your membership number), and most of all cheapest prices on everything! incredible! Never had bad service from them yet! Worth a browse with christmas coming up!


The leashes arrived today (8/12), I fitted up the fitting kits (simple enough), and attached the leashes. Job done!

The leashes themselves are simple enough, I was very surprised to recieve 2 DMM phantom karabiners as the "clippers". At £8-9 each these were a nice bonus to have with the leashes (not that I will use them for climbing!). The leashes are very padded and comfortable, and have a small buckle for keeping the leashes in place on your wrist. I imagine when I use these I will simply attach them at the start of the day, and take them off at the end!

Overall for the time and cost investment, I think these will be an excellent addition to my axes! Stay tuned for my next trigger modifications!

Early season winter climbing

Reynolds text me last week asking if I fancied heading over to Wales for a spot of early season winter climbing. The idea appealed to me and over the course of the week we decided on a plan to bivi out in Devils kitchen in Cwm Idwal, and hit the ice early in the morning to avoid the queues. A great idea...until you consider the temperature will be below zero. That said we went ahead with our plan and headed into Idwal around 11pm on Friday night. We bivied out and heading for the ice in the morning. After some pleasant climbing we headed back down and back to the car. Based on crap weather reports we headed back saturday night. We both carried a large amount of kit with us, but which kit did well? And which didn't do well?

Champion kit:

Mountain Equipment Fitzroy:

A cracking jacket, I wore this all day climbing, during the walk in and in the morning in the bivi. It held up to everything Wales threw at us, snow, rain, wind, cold, not only that I didn't overheat in it (often a problem I get!)







DMM Fly:

A cracking all round axe, comfortable to use and ideal for UK winter climbing!

Jetboil:

I love the Jetboil - simple as. Nothing better for making a brew and cooking up boil in the bag meals.


Vilified kit!

DMM Chokehold leashes:

Whilst I love the DMM fly, I HATE the standard chokehold leash, they are uncomfortable to use, hard to get off, and generally not user friendly. Fortunately the good folk at DMM sent me a free fitting kit for my DMM fly axes (I have the slightly older version that have follow bolts for clipper leashes). And I will now be buying some clipper leashes!

Leki walking poles

Titanium poles my ass! One of my poles snapped during the walk in to the first climb, not impressed in the slightest, I will be contacting Leki to try and get this fixed, details to follow!

All in all it was a cracking day! Good nick climbs, good company and ok weather!

Writing my book - good times

Hiya guys,

Sorry for the lack of posting as of late, as the title suggests I have been writing my own DofE training manual lately, I have just finally finished off the chapter 2 of 8: navigation, word count sitting at 8217words, I am so psyched for writing this at the moment, really enjoying making the book the way I would want a training manual, it has taken me a while to write what I have so far, however quality is an issue so slow and steady is the best way. Little sneak peak in the picture there! More updates soon!

Jbel Toubkal 2010

So the day came for Morocco, weeks and weeks of planning, worrying, and packing all came to a finale! Overall the trip was a great success with all of the team summiting on 17th September at 11.05am. Whilst the trip was a slog and a half, and wasn’t without it’s issues, it was very enjoyable, and a trek I would definitely recommend.
The trek consisted of a long day from Imlil (1600m) at the edge of Toubkal National Park up to Refuge Du Toubkal Les Mouflons at 3207m. So 1600m in 35-40Degree heat, with full expedition packs on....what a day huh? The day went smoothly until exiting the small village of Amround via a dry river bed when Ruth tripped and dislocated her knee.

However being the hardcore adventurer type, we promptly relocated the knee and continued on. This leg of the climb just goes on and on and on, the most annoying part of the trek was seeing the large groups of amateurs on the backs of mules heading up with no effort on their part what so ever. While on the subject of mules if you ever do this trek be very careful of the mules and muleers, they make the broad assumption that no matter what the circumstances they have right of way, and will quite happily egg their mules on along the track knocking you out of the way, crushing you against rocks, and generally not considering trekkers along the trail. After continuing through the small shrine of Sidi Chamarouch the path zig zags upward and continues up toward the hut. Eventually we arrived at the hut.

The summit day began up a steep scree slope in poor weather. After reaching the col we continued on upward and up to a false summit before moving along the summit ridge to a giant Iron summit cairn. After enjoying being at the highest point in North Africa we heading back down and to the hut. The following day we descended back to Imlil thus completing our trek.







Equipment wise a brief look at the best bits of kit I had with me;
Leki Makalu Ultralite poles: Brilliant, simply brilliant, I have always highly recommended poles for mountaineering of all kinds, for descending they came in particularly handy really helping to take the weight off my knees on descent.
Marks and Spencers Microskin Boxers: Mark and Spencer boxers eh? Might seem like I’ve got mad but good god these are the best shreddies I have ever worn, so comfortable all day long, I highly recommend these for all outdoor activities!
Camelbak Unbottle 1.5L: Did very well up until I lost the valve for the drinking tube in the scree field. However when I did use it, it kept the water so cool in my back and was refreshing to drink from.
Scarpa Manta: My boots once again proved they are perfect for anything from winter climbing to high altitude trekking in high heat!



Big shout out to the rest of the team, a climb like this is what the team make it, and the our team made the trek for me. Cheers guys.

Toubkal preparations – First aid kit

Continuing on my theme of Toubkal preparations this post will focus on additions made to my first aid kit to accommodate issues we may experience at altitude. I will be sticking with my standard Mountain Leader kit by Lifesystems, and making some modifications and additions for stuff that I may require for altitude related issues. Also past experience of this type of trek has taught be carrying certain medications is very useful, below is a summary of the kit I will be carrying in addition to my standard gear:



Acetazolamide – Anyone who has done any altitude work will be familiar with Acetazolamide (aka Diamox). Diamox is a drug that is used to treat the initial stages of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). It is one of 2 drugs usually carried on expeditions the other being Dexamethasone (something I would never use or carry). Essentially I carry Diamox for use to treat initial AMS, I do not take it as a preventative measure. Diamox is a prescription only drug, and you should consult your GP in order to get this prior to a trek. The drug works by acidifying the blood, this means the blood functions more efficiently in its removal of CO2. In this way it minimise the effect of high altitude on the body.

Co-codamol – Co-codamol is the strongest pain killer available without prescription. It is essentially codeine combined with paracetamol. I carry it so that in a worst case scenario I have a strong pain killer to mask any discomfort I may be feeling. This came in particularly handy when I broke my collar bone at 18,000ft. This is available over the counter at most pharmacies.

Imodium – Imodium is an over the counter drug used to treat diarrhoea. I carry this because more often than not changing to a local diet when abroad can mean your body struggles a bit. Personally I try to avoid this my changing my diet over about 2 weeks before I go to help me. I am usually ok (touch wood), others I have been on expedition with have not been so lucky....

Oximeter – I carry a small oximeter. This allows me to accurately check my own (and others) oxygen saturation rate (SP02). Oxygen saturation is a measure of how much oxygen is in the blood in a given sample. It can be a useful tool in an emergency as an indication of weather altitude is hitting someone hard.

You should always consult a medical professional when using/buying any of these drugs. I have been revising all my expedition medicine skills by using the Royal Geographic society expedition medicine book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Expedition-Medicine-Royal-Geographical-Society/dp/1861974345/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282077807&sr=8-2 very worthwhile if you aspire to learn first aid abroad.

I have been on a number of courses that focus on first aid and emergencies in remote areas, in particular I can highly recommend High Peak First aids expedition medic and wilderness level 2 courses http://www.highpeakfirstaid.co.uk/. They really helped increase my existing first aid skills to include remote care and emergencies.

More prep to come.....

Toubkal 2010 trip preparations

So there is a month and a half until I head out to Morocco. The main objective is obviously Toubkal (4167 m) via the North Col route (PD*). However hoping to tick off 2 other 4000m+ peaks in the area; Timesguida (4.089 m) via the East ridge route (F***) and Ras n'Ouanoukrim (4.083 m) via the North Col route (PD*). Ambitious perhaps to climb North Africa’s 3 highest Peaks in 7 days but I’m confident it’s very achievable.

Naturally my thoughts have been running over what equipment I should take, and what equipment should stay behind. I have made a number of purchases lately which should hopefully allow me to adapt to the climate in Morocco a little easier. First off I have bought 2 new pairs of trousers:

The Mountain Hardwear Canyon trousers and Craghoppers Kiwi convert trousers. I bought these specifically as they were lightweight, light coloured and UV protective. My current trousers are (for the most part) heavier weight trousers more suited to UK climate. I have also bought a Mountain Hardwear Canyon Long Sleeve shirt. I chose this shirt as it will make a happy change to the base layers I usually wear, and because most of my current set of base layers are short sleeve. These recent Mountain Hardwear purchases are the first of this brand I have bought, hopefully they will perform as well as I’ve heard they do!

I have also bought an MSR miniworks water filter. This will be ideal for providing me with a clean source of water throughout my trek. Review will be coming soon! However a number of features appealed to me about this filter over the many others on the market including the ease of maintenance in the field due to its simple design, and it's efficient filter unit that gives around 2000 litres of water before needing replacing

















I have also finally completed my Memory Map Morocco file. It is now fully georeferenced and good to go. It is also working fully on my GPS so that should be ideal for emergencies and the like!


Other preparations have not been going so well, my eating habbits that had got much better have now disapeared and returned to the ways of old, my fitness has not really changed, and my lung training to help my asthma hasn't been moving at all. However from today (1 Aug) I will be resuming all of the above more positive than ever. I have set myself the goal of losing another stone and a half before I go. I have also been continuing with my French training so we will see how that progresses!

More information soon...

SPA assessment

So it’s been a while since I posted anything. So I guess I should start with a post about my SPA assessment at Plas Y Brenin.

First of all...I PASSED! Woop! I am incredibly chuffed, but equally I can honestly say I deserved it, I have put so much effort into my climbing lately, working hard on the coaching side of things as well as pushing my personal leading. I came away from my assessment with a huge feeling of pride in myself, my skills, and my ability as an instructor. The guide who was running the course gave me a lot of positive feedback about my experience and said long term I should be looking towards my MIA. He also commented on my passion for climbing and working with kids, and that being a centre based instructor was an ideal place for me.

The assessment itself was straight forward, I lead 3 climbs, rigged a number of top ropes, bottom ropes, and abseils, at 2 different crags. There was also a climbing wall session. But how did my gear help? What gear did I take? Anything I would recommend? Any lessons learned?

Firstly, if you do not own a set of DMM offsets, buy a set now. The DMM offsets were the best bit of kit I carried with me, they just fitted so well. The assessor commented on how every time I used one it was a bomber placement. They were just excellent all weekend, and for the sake of £40 I think they are perfect for any rack!

Secondly, DMM Boa’s are ideal for top rope rigging, Italian hitch’s and setting up belays. If you do not own at least one Boa, then buy one, they are excellent for a number of things.

Gear I took on assessment:

1-11 DMM Wallnuts
1-11 Zero G Spectrum wires
5-11 DMM Offset wires
Black Diamond Hexcentrics 4-10
DMM 4CU cams: 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4

3 x 120 slings
2 x 240 slings
1 x 400 sling

8 x Wild Country Oxygen Quickdraws
3 x Slingdraws
1 x Screw draw

10 x Screwgates
2 x DMM Boa
1 x Reverso3
1 x DMM Fatboy locksafe

So standard rack really. I racked slings round my chest with a screw gate. I had wires racked on 2 biners (small wires and large wires).

Lessons learned that might help people going for SPA assessment:

These are points of discussion raised on my assessment that may be useful for anyone going for their assessment. These were either things I did, or things others on my course were pulled up on!

1) Italian hitch, ensure you are well below the Italian hitch and when lowered have both hands on the dead rope!
2) Larks footing slings as safety sling; I was told by the guide that larks footing through the belay loop is the best way to do this. Apparently over time larks footing through leg and waist loops (as per tie in) can erode away the loops and weaken them. He reference an accident in which a climber was killed by a weakened harness in this way.
3) Extending wire placements with a second wire. Using a second wire to extend a placement out is very useful to prevent rubbing on the wire.
4) Simple! Keep everything simple examples include:
Q: Climber stuck on a top rope system, you are in the system
A: Tie off, get out of harness, get a harness from group, abseil from above

Q: Climber stuck on bottom rope system, won’t budge
A: Abseil from above pull climber off, tell group to payout.

Q: Solo’ing climber cragfast
A: Abseil from above with a accompanied abseil setup

Q: Stuck client on group abseil
A: Tighten up safety rope to remove weight from abseil (note: I was asked on second time to tie off and release ab rope!)

5) Rating anchors out of 5, 5 being bomber, 4 being good, 3 being average etc this helps decide how many anchors to put in.

Ultimately consider that the assessor wants you to pass, you just need to demonstrate you are safe, quick, and simple. Don’t over complicate anything! Anyone who wants any info just message me!