Making the most of it..................................

Northern Heights

Sunday, 1 December 2013

Making the most of it..................................

It's snowed here so wanting to make the most of it,

 The boys doing 'Dulux'

  Pete 'Shreddin ' Verbier



I skied at Les Chaud in the Villars Resort yesterday with James and Pete we managed to have a great afternoon finding some powder and variable snow condition, ideal for an early season outing.

Today I was joined again by Pete and James we decided that Verbier would be a good bet, it was some great skiing in god conditions and great company, AND it wasn't that busy

 

 

Vorschau

Vorschau

Well almost.............................

Here are a few pictures from last weekend skiing and a nearly but not quiet attempt to climb a multi pitch rock route before I leave with Pete, Sarah & Tanya

James & Chappers in the bin on the way up Mont Forte

 Chappers 'shreddin it'

 Tanya looking good at the Pierre du Moelle after a little snowy walk in must have picked up the fashion from somewhere

 

 

Sarah and Pete just before we lost the sun and it got cold

Impressive, very impressive.…

http://emmagodfrey.com/blog/lifestyle-portraits-climbing-with-chris/

Very occasionally I take a good picture. Emma & her husband James are great friends I'd  as seen Emma photography and was blown away just how good she was. Some would say a 'natural'. I offered her the  challenge of making look young and good. I can safely say she achieve the challenge.

I would totally recommend Emma to friends & friends colleagues who needs high quality media for website, publicity, etc. follow the above link and see for yourself.

Thanks to Emma & James for a really fun evening. Skiing next ……

Iceman this is Goose, more top gun

Having had a great Via Ferrata with Tom (Gooseman) last weekend on Tour d'Ari we had spotted another Via Ferrata on the way up on the lift Tom had texted me last night and said I've got three hours so it was obvious what the choice would be.

I suspect that the via Ferrata on the Falaise has been developed by the Leysin Mountain Guides as it gives  great experience of ascent and decent traversing bench bridges, logs Plus its really quiet strenuous, we knocked it off in just under an hour.

Oh and a bit of snake action walking off from the ecrag

Famous Five get High

With a great forecast after a dismal day. Tanya, Sarah, Jim myself and uncle Pete hatched a plan so Uncle Pete could experience Switzerland.

We decided that Pierre Avoi (2472)m above Verbier with great access form the col Coer would be  a good objective for the day, and what a day it turned out to be. I have been up here a few time before to climb (the classic L'arete) and walk today we did both, there are some great buttress's so we climbed Felix 5c & La Rape 6a, it was tip top, (sorry to Tanya who I told that Felix was 4c)



 
It's over there

Sarah atop La rape

 

 A most excellent day where we never stopped laughing, Thanks guys

Great afternoon

This afternoon I was joined by Tanya for a quick trip up to Pierre du Moelle, to an area of Chienqui dort this is a great venue of slabbed of water fluted limestone, we have been working toward Tanya becoming an independent climber. We culminated today climbing single pitch routes as a leader and a second.

Tanya looking rightly please at the top

Gooseman & Iceman go to topGun

It's the October holidays so keen to make the most of the weather and the area, I teamed up with Tanya on Friday for a quick walk above Leysin, on the way Tom (aka Gooseman) called asking if I fancied the Via Ferrata up the front face of the tour d'Ai (2331m). A plan was hatched

Use up lift, mountain bike down to Lac d'Ali, hide bike walk up to the route, do route, quoting anything we could for the film Top Gun, the walk down, find the bike and then use the most excellent MTB trails back down to Leysin............................ Top Gun

It all looks a bit improbable from the ground but a great day with a great friend

A few routes between work

I was joined by Pete (Chappers) this afternoon for a quick climb at a very friendly crag very close to Ollon, Verchiez,- Besson we climbed three routes, Orties au the vineron 5+*, Deja5b & Quela force soitavec tios 5+ a great couple of hours before the clouds started to build for the inevitable.

Pete on the top moves of ' may the force be with you', well it had to be done...............

Mr Lazy

Apologies to those who have looked at the blag and assumed I've been doing nothing.
Skiing, climbing, Rwanda, cycling, more cycling and climbing.

Here are some pictures...........................

Worth posting

Pleae click on the link below, I dont think there are many of us that have'nt experince someone we know and love that has been affected by cancer. Rember all those great times. go on get a t-shirt........

http://www.climbersagainstcancer.org/

Busy busy busy

It's been a very busy but fantastic few weeks with some little adventures in the verticle and the horizonal, here some pictures which they do do paints a thousand words......................

Pow Pow..............Pow Pow

Well it read -10 on the car read out yesterday, its snowed and snowed. So we've had one or two little runs in Villars on the Glacier and other places, skinned, skied and snow pack evaluation.

we spent a day with Louis Piguet IFMGA mountain guide from Leysin and Mammut's avalanche man looking at avalanche awareness and transceiver work, it's always useful to get out and practise in the event that you may have to help when out and about in the mountains

Last weekend Villlars opened there was loads of snow but it dictated care as with this much new snow many aspects were loaded, so watch out when your out there................................

A great few runs with Sarah, Frances, JP, Kelly, Hugh & Lucy

POW POW not worth the picture if your in it !

With the season of pow pow nearly upon us we should being thinking about, checking all our kit and making sure it all works.

It is worth thinking about for those of us who enjoy those iridescent videos of perfect tracks considering the link blow as more and more technology arrives, camera, mobile phones, helmet cams, etc etc

http://www.facewest.co.uk/facewestblog/2012/11/06/go-pro-warning-for-transceiver-users/

Be inspired, be very inspired

I've just watch this and it's blown my mind, watch it and then go out................... and do some thing

http://vimeo.com/51767176

Sking & how to do it well

If your thinking of skiing this season and want to get good the follow this link. It's a good friend of mine but she's a brilliant instructor.

this was reinforced last year when i friend said ' Chris you ski like a skier now not like someone from Scotland'

CHECK IT OUT

http://www.comeskiwith.me/alison-culshaw

Pow pow, well I had to start sometime

Check this out, with all the RIBBISH weather makes me smile

I feel a trip coming on...........................


http://youtu.be/3c07tODpnc0

The dark side

Keen to make the most of a good even a few of us headed down the Valley to a great crag called Yvone ( there must be a song in that)

From previous experience with Sarah i now keep a head touch in my cragging sack all the time and guess what.................... we needed it again.

So Kelly (the sandbag), Sarah (the head torch), Frances (the lens) Chappers (the chappers) and me (the mug) got stuck into as many routes as we could Sarah led the La route des Indes F 5c, Kelly and I did La dalle du caravanserail F6a which i found a bit hard and pummpy.

Then due to popular encouragement I got on Macao direct F6a+ , well Kelly said it would be really really photogenic............................... I should have asked the grade but vanity got the best of me.

Then Sarah did it when it was nearly dark and Kelly did it in the dark.

A great evening with lots of laughs, I wont mention the walk off, flip flops & Crocs

Anyway here's some pics

 Sarah on Les Routes des Indes F5c

 Kelly dancing her way up  La dalle du caravanserail F6a

 

 

Chris (the mug) onMacao direct F6a+.... it was really good

 

 

Keely's face say's it all, I guess it'll be the first 'head tourch ascent

 

 

A new hope................

Armed with my new clip stick the search was on for the 7a that I'd set myself the challenge of climbing this year.

Search no more I need not........... the route

 

The crag Sex Du Corbeau near Monthey

 

The route Tateu gauche, steep, with a bit over over hang about 25m

Here we go I'll try and post my progress, I doubt it's going to be a flash

Nice View

Check out the link below good friend and Mountain Guide James Thacker having an adventure on the Central Pillar of Freney



https://vimeo.com/50204807

Hot Hot Hot

It's been a great few weeks back in the UK catching up with family and the Olympics, it's been great to see everyone and the Chateau Planty is now open so please get in touch for availability...........................

I have a couple of weeks before I go back to work so returning late Thursday, i got out on my road bike with Sarah & Frances on Friday for a ride up to Solalex, woh it was hot.

 Saturday I joined Hilary and David for an ascent of the Dent Des Morcles 2968.9m and woh that was hot too. .

 A great day out scrambling up the final chimney and popping out only a short distance from the summit, you reverse the route, which can be a little exposed, reminded me of Torridon

This morning keen for some cooler action I joined Sarah & Dan and headed Dorenaz, specifically the Dalledes vaudois this has a wide variety of routes and grades and importantly cool, we climbed L'ABC (F5b+), Variente (F5b) and the 1st pitch of La Fissure (F6a) which reminded me of some of the old gritstone pegging cracks of the Peak district.

 Sarah on L'ABC (F5b+)

Me on La Fiissure (F6a)

Thanks for everyone it's been great getting out, here is to more over the coming couple of weeks