Learning to Ski

So Monday morning. In Chamonix with the gang, all of who were working at various hours of the day. As the weather was so poor, and Ollie wasn't going to hang around, and the fact that I left my snowboard with Ollie at his place because it would cost me an extra £50 to get insurance to use it (I could have quite a rant about that.... I have a yearly Alpine BMC insurance policy, and they want an extra £50 to add snowboarding to that for the year. So I phoned them before leaving and asked to get 6 days of snowboard cover, they cant apparently do this though, so its either £50 for a whole year, or I asked for a separate policy, and its £104!!! But I can ski all I want... Though I can snowboard well and not nail myself, I cant ski to save my life, but apparently thats ok... I was so annoyed. In the end I left it as I could add the yearly cover at any notice, so considering so little snow is around I would try to climb more and not go snowboarding at all, rant over). Anyway, all that left me with little to do, other then learn to ski. So I grabbed Rhys' skis, which have been left in Cham, and hired some boots and got cracking. I figured it must be easy, as so many people can do it, and you have more ways to keep in balance then on a board. Really, how hard can it be?

On the chair lift

Sophie Lucy and I went to the Grandes Montets, the perfect place to learn to ski... I immediately stacked it getting off the first chair lift. Not a good start. My skis had minds of their own, one went one way when the other went the other, and I often found myself dragging my hands along the floor doing some crazy reverse snowplow whilst making some whining sounds. This was definitely going to be harder then I thought.

The easiest run on the mountain there was totally desperate the first time down. Trying to snowplow turn just wasn't working for me, until at the bottom there was a flatter bit, and here it just clicked, I made a few 'nearly parallel' turns, and it all started coming together. Soph and Lucy left me to go and do some proper skiing and for the rest of the day I made it my mission to get this thing dialled. I repeated this run probably 30 times. Every time I got better, until by the end I was much faster down then the lift was getting me up. Of course I stacked it every now and then, getting less frequent as the day went on. I was pretty pleased though. It definitely was easier then learning to snowboard. But sadly not as easy as I had hoped.

Rhys' skis he unconsciously lent me

I can sort of ski now though. I made quite a mistake at the end of the day, I wanted maximum value for money for my pass, so once my lift for MY run stopped, I descended right down to the valley on the red run, which on my board is one of my favorite runs. On the skis it was a horror-fest. Lumpy, steep, uneven, slushy, you name it. It took absolutely ages, and I fell more then i did all day. I felt like such a punter. I guess everyone starts somewhere. All in all a top day though. Now I'm ready to ski into some routes...

Sunday morning, 6:30am, dry mouth, boiling hot, a strong smell of cheese in the air and a phone alarm going off. This is how the day started. Ollie and I were staying in quite a nice, (and very hot) little hotel just down the road from Cogne, 24 euros a night, cant go wrong. 

We checked out and drove up to Lillaz where we planed to climb Lillaz Gully. You can straight away see the route from the village. We parked in some car park that had confusing signs, a clearway sign, and a parking sign... So we just parked there. The route looked so close, but the guide suggested just over an hours approach. It was a total slog up the hill. It just kept on coming, relentless uphill. By the top, in our car park, there were loads of cars arriving on mass, and orange tables getting set up everywhere. We guessed it must be a market square, and we were parked right in the middle.... But there was no way we were going to walk down after that epic climb.

Ollie on the first pitch, with newly bad eye

So we reached the first ice pitch. I led up, the ice was prety fragile, and I smashed a chunk off into my eye almost immediately. It got better though and was a great pitch. As Ollie seconded, I asked him to smile as he came round the corner, he didnt. He was not a happy bunny. He had somehow managed to smash off a shard of ice into his eye in about the same place as I did. Only it had cut his eyeball ever so slightly, right over his iris. So he was seeing things slightly blurred, and he was convinced he had something in his eye, driving him mad. Despite this he continued up for 2 pitches of easy ground. 

Next there was the best pitch of the day, really nice ice, every placement a sinker. When Ollie reached me he was actually enjoying it! Car related stresses were in our minds still, with the car park completely full, and definately something going on down there. 

Ollie finishing the really good pitch

A couple of pitches later, including quite a nice little mixed move, and then some horrible climbing of mud right at the top and we were done. We walked down following a friends advice, it was a long way down, but better then absailing the route. When we got back to the car there was some sort of ceremony going on, a kids cross country skiing race or something, but they were all inthe same clothing and there was a podium. Thinking we were hated for being there, we kept a low profile, and then once all the celebrations finished we made a move. Ollie really showed off his amazing awareness of his cars dimensions in getting us out of the tightest parking spot ever. Funnily though the italians there were cheering him on and getting him within milimeters of the other cars to get out! Really friendly folk. Rather a different experience to firdays run in with the locals. 

Can you get through all those trees? Ollie wonders

We tried to find a doctor for Ollie to see about his eye, but the hospital was closed on sunday... And stuck for a plan we chilled out in Cogne for a bit, ate a massice ice cream that was like eating pure nuttella, and hot chocolate, all really cheap too. Italy is an awesome place, and I will definately go back to Cogne again. We decided in the end to go visit the guys in Chamonix whcih was really nice. 

Patri

I should actually have written this on Saturday night. But I was too busy eating vast ammounts of pizza and feeling totally exhausted, and there was no internet so I didnt. So I'm writing it now. Anyway, I am currently in the Alps, visiting my my younger (and little) brother Ollie, and the Chamonix massive, Simon, John, Lucy and Sophie.

Monster Pizzas

Following a half 3 start on Friday morning, I was picked up by Ollie, Helena and Twid in Aigle at about midday, expecting to go over to Ollies briefly and dump some stuff off. But no, without a second to spare we all loaded into Twids car, and sped off as if we were in a rally race up some extensive Swiss switchbacks to some middle of nowhere village that I have forgotten the name of. Here we were greeted by waht I hear is a typical Swiss man. He wouldnt move his truck out the middle of the road so we could get by because he was 'working'. All we saw was him drinking a beer in the middle of the day. So we had to go the long way around instead despite the near war we had with this miserable git. Ah well.

Eventually we found the crag we were looking for. Again I forget the name. It was about 30m high, limestone, in the woods, so I guess that narrows it down to about 3000 in that area. It was a nice cliff though. Most routes were pretty hard. Ollie and Twid did pretty well, some hard 7b's and 7a's. I didnt lead a thing, or even succesfully second a thing. Though I did get up them eventually. It was a nice afternoon, and was great to be straight into it. Later that night we made a plan. Then went to meet a load of Ollies friends whcih was nice.

The upper pitches of Patri

 Our plan lead us to Cogne, at 5am on Saturday. After missing an un-signposted junction we got there for about 8. And began our walk in to a route. We had a route called 'Patri' in mind. 250 meters long, given the water ice grade II 4. I didnt really know what to expect from this but figured we could probably do it. It was spot on. Fat ice, great interesting pitches. It was fairly brittle (bulbous axes didnt help here, file next time!), but it took screws well and with bolted belays it really boosts your confidence.

Ollie leading the first pitch of Patri

 As Ollie lead up the first pitch, a beautiful Alpine red fox started to rummage through our bags. I got rid of it by scaring it with snowballs, then had to go down to the bags and hang them off a cliff to pretect them from being shredded, little bugger. Great to see though.

Cunning fox

 For the top half of the route, another team had over taken us and got on the right hand finish of Patri, so we opted for the slightly easyer left finish whcih looked like the ice was amazing. We got on it, and it wasnt. So it was a fairly scary lead to the firt belay, after this it was ok, though you did hear a real deep thud with every kick, telling you it was fairly hollow. Infact when I reached the next bolted belay, there was a fairly large crack across the thinnest part of the ice, and it was creaking as ollie climbed. I wasnt a fan of this, and was very relieved when ollie removed the last screw. It could all fall down then and it wouldent do any harm. Would be very funny to see Ollies face if that had happened!

Ollie nearing the scary crack

Now this all sounds very well this day, but there were a few things that we did, that we will never do again. It was very much a day of learning.

Firstly, we forgot to buy food on the journey, so we had a Mars bar, and a Bounty that were already in my bag.
Secondly, the route didnt look too long from the bottom, so we left our bags, with everything in them.
Thirdly, we assumed on starting that the route would be in the shade all day, so we wouldnt need shades and would need to stay dressed warm as the day goes on.

These three things meant that we were starving hungry all day, (a bowl of cornflakes at 5am didnt go far), we were in the baking sun, with no water, and eyes screaming most of the day, and we were roasting alive too. So it was a pretty miserable experience in a lot of ways. It wont be like that again though thats for sure.

A thirsty, starving roasting hot Ollie

 After what felt like a never ending walk out, we went into Cogne, and got some food. Pizza of course, 'maxi' ones too. Whcih to our amazement were about a tenner, for a pizza that must have been 25 inches in diameter! I ate a whole one that night which I thought was pretty good going. Ollie was weak, and ate a third. A good day in the end, with some serious learning points.

2 Mammoth bike days

After Sunday mornings bike ride, I am super psyched to go riding loads now. Proper mountain rides too. So today I dragged James out for a biking mission we planned on doing around this time last year, stumped by my back wheel totally locking pushing it from the house to the car... I was not a happy bunny. This time round though, the wheel was fixed and everything looked good to go.

Our ride took us from the bottom of the road to Ffynon Llugwy, up to the leat system, along this, down past Llyn Cowlyd, then up over the shoulder on the right, down to the end of Llyn Crafnant, and back up over the hills at the back of the Cwm to Capel Curig, and along the old A5 back to the car. It totalled about 24km, with a fair amount of climbing in it. Some good sections to ride, others that were un-ridable nearly (super rough ascents). unfortunately it did feel like we rode 90% of the day uphill. But some of the trails were good, but I think the joy of the ride comes mainly from the incredible remote setting. I was surprised at how many people must ride this as there are loads of tyre prints in the soft mud.

We were totally boxed by the time we got back to the car. I feared James would never go out riding with me again.

James pushing up Allt Noah

He did come out whit me again luckily. The next day in fact. We went up Snowdon, up the Llanberis Path, and then descended down the Ranger path, up again to Telegraph Col and down Telegraph Valley. The push up wasn't as bad as we thought it would have been. Certainly the easiest i have ever found it. It's still a long way though, took just over 2 hours.

Nearing the top

It was freezing at the top. Hoar frost was forming all over the rocks and cafe on the summit. And we were freezing. So very quickly, we donned the pads and full face helmets in preparation for a rapid descent. And got going.

On the summit

We flew down to the top of the Zig Zags on the ranger path, my little computer tells me I hit 46km/h down there. Hitting the rocks and flying off clearing the others. Brilliant fun.

Flying down, nearing the top of the Zig Zags

The zig zags next, not so fast here. With some drops that are boarder line ridable. Super tight lines need to be chosen, and stuck to perfectly to get down some of it. It's fantastic rough technical riding. Not for the faint hearted mountain biker. I dabbed a rock once which annoyed me. In exactly the same place as I did last time I rode this. I do love that bit of trail.

Now it gets rocky

Then we pushed up to Telegraph Col, and totally flew down it. Fastest I have ever done it. I hit my all time high speed on the bike too at 56km/h. I nearly lost my balance on bunny hopping over the lethal drainage ditches. Very annoyingly near the bottom, I ploughed through a section of rocks without slowing down, and managed to pinch puncture both wheels. So annoying. I only had one spare tube on me, and a single patch, so I didn't have the means to fix them both. So pushed home. I cant believe that happened! Well I can, I did hit the rocks fast, but my tyres are massive and super tough.

The route in the background

Anyway, all in all it was a fantastic ride. I think it might end up being a training circuit for after the bike curfew over the summer months. 

Millpond lake Canoeing

I had agreed on Monday to do a bit of Canoe coaching with Simon in preparation for his 2*. We went down to the lake, and it was stunning. It would have been a perfect day to go out cragging but I had agreed to do it and it was good experience for me to do a bit of skills coaching. We had to break ice to get on the lake amazingly. I wish I had taken my camera along as its a beautiful image, someone canoeing peacefully with the Llanberis pass in the background on a completely still lake. Awesome. Simon, who had never solo paddled a canoe before picked it up super fast, and by the end of the day was well up to 2* standard.

Sleeping on the Beach

I was woken at 9 on Sunday morning by an intruder in the house. It was DMM Ben, and his super psyche. He came to tell us he was going out bouldering to Porth Ysgo. He was heading down there for about 10 or so. I didn't want to go that early though as I had a few things to do around the house. Then I looked out the window. 

My plans changed. I wanted to get out right away into the amazing sun! I decided I was going to ride over Moel Eilio, over the ridge and then descend down Telegraph Valley. A tried phoning a few people but no one was free and I wasn't going to hang about (I still wanted to go to Porth Ysgo at 11). So kitted up in shorts and t-shirt, threw the bike in the car and drove up to Cefn Ddu. It was quite a slog at time but the views were stunning (its one of the best mountains for views), and the descents were super fast. I got back home at ten past 11. Out for an hour and a quarter. 

Ben on some highball V1

I then met Jen and Jim and we headed down to Porth Ysgo. Where it wasn't as warm as we expected. I had never been there before either. I must admit the approach down that grassy death slope was pretty scary. Once down there though we met Ben, Haf, Martin and his kids. Started off on some easyish problems. Its very rough down there. 

Jim on the difficult problem

We did a number of problems. I don't know any of the names as we had no guide book. But the other guys knew good ones to point me at. At one point when Jim and Ben were working this hard problem, I actually fell asleep in the sun, for quite a while too I think. It was just one of those types of days, super chilled out. 

This one called popcorn....I couldn't do it. next time

We had to call it a day as everyone's fingers were screaming by the end of it. Was really nice though, although I'm not a fan of bouldering at all, I can see myself going there again sometime. 

Paddling the sea of plastic

I'm rubbish at keeping this blog thing up to date. And when I forget my camera it doesn't really help. So in short: I was at the Tryweryn on Saturday with Dave, and it must have been the busiest I have ever seen it. A river of plastic boats pretty much. Still, it was the only place with any water around, and it was a fairly miserable day, so still worth it. The aim of the day was to challenge ourselves and make some of the more difficult eddies and stuff.

IT was a good day after the early frustration of constantly failing to get this one damned eddy. What else was interesting was to swim in the weir of the top site, to see what it was like. And then to side surf across it all and try to get out. To my surprise it wasn't too bad at all, if you were swimming in it it wouldn't drown you, but in it in a boat, it was fairly difficult to get washed out of it, some fairly desperate draw strokes were needed in the right place. Dave and I were in hysterics after his first attempt at exiting it.... He got spun round and sucked back across bracing off the weir more then he would have liked to! I guess you had to be there but it cracked us both us.

I was chuffed I managed to get the eddy half way down the ski slope which I have always been too scared to go for. And then a nice run down to the bottom. Rescued a couple of boats from numerous people thrown out in the 'fingers wave', one with a snapped paddle who was most annoyed. Still for Dave and I, a really good day.