Be Prepared

I get envious of people who have probably indexed and catalogued their photos into various albums. However, when you have 33,826 photos the thought fears me with dread so I choose to ignore and live in the world of unorganised photos.  

The same can be said for preparing for winter.  If it was a simple case of digging out the winter boots and crampons it would be a simple job.  Now I don't have 33, 826 items of winter equipment but today it has felt that I did.  I kicked myself of the opportunity to play today when I realised that I haven't made the change into winter mode so instead I have been a proper boy scout and got my sh*t together.

What does that actually mean?

First up was getting the Scottish skis ready to rock n roll.  I have learnt over the years that you really do need to look after the planks but it does take some time for a mere moral to get them ready for action.  After removing their summer wax coat you spend the next 30 minutes trying to get all the wax off yourself before dragging it all through the house.  Every day is a school day.

Mountain bike rucksacks have been replaced with ski touring rucksacks; crampons have been adjusted to normal winter boots and not 8000m boots; rock shoes have been replaced by Phantoms (well nearly, there is still the rock wall); bike helmets have been replaced by ski helmets; the summer rock rack has been replaced with a scottish mixed rack; the gps has been dragged out of storage and updated; batteries replaced on everything that needs them; avalanche transceivers have been sent away for a diagnostic test and to make sure the magic still works and all my winter woolies have replaced the summer thermals.

The crampon and ski repair kits have been refreshed and all my maps have been refreshed with ones that I can actually read.

Sad I know, but it's a big world out there and I for one needs to be prepared for everything she throws at me.

Autumn days

The summer work is officially over for me now.  I can honestly say that I don't ever remember such a memorable Autumn in Scotland before.

The primary reason for this, in my eyes anyway, is that we still actually have not had the first big autumnal storms.  As a result the trees are holding onto their leaves and are displaying natures finest technicolour dream coat.  The deer grass too has changed colour and displays the most amazing carpet to walk on.

The low sun is casting fantastic shadows and the sound of the roaring Stags can still be heard.

The rock climbing days are limited for me now since I really don't enjoy climbing with numb feet and cold fingers.  It's time to enjoy the last few weeks with a light rucksack, before autumn turns to winter.

Scrambling in Glencoe

The nights are drawing in and the early morning frost is a common sight.  However, the weather remains settled and it was great to be in Glencoe with Mountaineering Scotland.

Mountaineering Scotland (formerly the Mountaineering Council of Scotland) offer some unbelievably good value courses and this weekend was no different.  Their new website will be launched soon so stay posted.

It was great working with 4 students who were keen, desperate to learn and a good giggle.

2 scrambles, 1 corbett and 1 munro wasn't a bad outcome for the guys.

Deep into the Cairngorms

Every now and then I meet somebody completely inspirational.

It's not polite to ask a women her age, and all I will say is that Jean is just ever so slightly younger than my Grandfather.

Yesterday, Jean travelled over 35km and climbed over 1616m in ascent and bagged 3 rather remote Cairngorm Munro's.  Jean got blown over once in the wind - promptly got back up, dusted herself off and continued - and fell off her bike once - once again, got back up, dusted herself off and continued without a word of complaint.

Next time, anybody who uses the 'age' excuse needs to meet a very special lady.  Jean Dougall, you really are a Beast and I salute you :)

Stone Valley

I have climbed more this last fortnight than I have all summer and it's been great.  I love climbing in the Autumn - the crisp skies, the rock still holding onto any summer warmth and the breeze keeping the midgies at arms length.  Yesterday, we headed up to Stone Valley and never saw a soul all day.  The wind certainly kept any biting things away and when the sun disappeared we were grateful of down jackets and multiple layers.

I was sad to see that the Poca Buidhe Bothy is now closed to all visitors.  How many people actually know what the Bothy Code is?  Actually, thinking about it how many people know what the Countryside Code is?  Yes, we could probably take a pretty good educated guess but ....

The little adventures

Sometimes I think that there is too much emphasis on the big adventures.  Realistically if I can do one big adventure every year I am happy with that, so the question is what do you do the rest of the time?

Little adventures.   Lots of little adventures.  Preferably lots of little adventures with lots of variety.

As the summer starts to draw to a close (oh yes, it will nearly be that time of year to get uber excited again) it's all about cramming it in.

We done lots on our latest little adventure, but the one that will stick in the mind is the Breamish Behemoth.

For me, it was simply about getting to go riding over some amazing terrain without having to look at maps, decide where to go and tapping into local knowledge.  It was awesome.  What was more awesome was stopping half way around for the best cake that I have ever had - and from me that is a very big statement.

I haven't done much riding in Englandshire before but it comes highly rated and recommended :)

To the Alps and back

Oh my goodness, I have discovered that Alpine Mountaineering is now predominately a rich persons game.

We had lots of plans for our mini break but with the conversation rate as it is, we embraced Alpine Mountaineering as it should be.  Long walk ins, cold bivi's and good old student food. 

Now it's not that I'm adverse to spending money, but let's keep it real.  We managed to survive a week in Switzerland before finally bailing back to good old France where we didn't actually mind buying bread, cheese and wine.

As much as I love the Alps, it is very very good to be back home.  The garden has been completely neglected - actually this isn't entirely true since Derek has been very productive in the vegetable patch (more strawberry wine on the go, carrots coming along perfectly and courgettes the size of marrows) but the piece de resistance is without doubt the tree lilies whose aroma are filling the whole of the village.