[Closed] Climbing mountains

I managed (sadly with oxygen and a full sherpa support team) an ascent of the Col Du Clent. We summited on the morning of July 25th 2003. Locals may remember the year, it was the first time in decades that the snow on the peak melted during the summer months. However we did lose one member on the descent due to a rock fall (RIP Sherpa LDV 😥 )

Ok it's not K2...not even snowdon but it's the only decent photo i have of me up the good old Idwall slabs (top of Tennis shoe) dont know how high (about 400 foot??)
Would love to give some big alpine routes a bash but lifestyle, time and familly mean that peak district cragging is all the climbing i do these days....maybe one day....

Did you see the thing about Munroe then last night???

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I'm off to the Tien Shan on Friday to hopefully climb some unclimbed peaks (fingers crossed).
Not super high though, but it's not about the altitude (unless you are a masochist).

Not sure if you'd call it 'mountaineering', but a nice winter's day in the Lakes is hard to beat...

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Highest I have been is top of Island Peak in Nepal (6200m). but no pics as before digital

Also done a fair amount of snowboard mountaineering in the Alps etc.
Here I am on the Domes de Miages (near Mt blanc)
[url] http://nickmorrish7436.fotopic.net/p40446274.html [/url]
Looking rather sunburnt in the BC coast mountains!
[url] http://nickmorrish7436.fotopic.net/p28496113.html [/url]

Did you see the thing about Munroe then last night???

No, but I did watch something about the Mark Inglis/Russell Brice/David Sharp incident.

ive done a few 4000m peaks in the alps, some scottish winter climbing too.the highest ive been though is sat on my fat one at a base camp in nepal when i visited a mate who was out on an expedition there.(ama dablam)
seen a few nasty accidents and they made me get the fear, dont even rock climb anymore.

I've been to about 3,500m in the Alps, on a glacier. It really just involved putting one foot in front of the other many times.

I've also done some classic 'mountaineering' routes in N Wales.

Mountaineering is brilliant. The absolute apogee of outdoor sports I think. Getting to the top of a mountain, especially if you needed ropes, is just the best 🙂

There's really two kinds of mountaineering. UK style where the mountains are small, so you just have to find a difficult way up; and Alpine style where you sometimes need to get the ropes and gear out just to get up at all. There are however plenty of mountains in the Alps/Rockies/Himalayas etc where you really just walk or scramble up, but the sheer size requires you to take a bivi bag and three days of food. Then there are the ones where you have to take a tent, food AND your climbing gear...
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rode a motorbike to 3300m in columbia - does that count?

would love to climb big mountains. will do one day.

Mountaineering - hard to define. I don't do dangling off ropes but don't mind a bit of scrambling, via ferrata or ice axe and crampon work.

Done many Scottish mountains - summer and winter. Highest is Ben Nevis at what 4400ft. Been up alps and pyrenees at well over 10 000 ft - but some just a walk from a road, did a couple of julian alps peaks at around 7000 ft but the highest I have been is a pass in the andes at about 16 000 ft.

Best view from a op perhaps. Teh furthest peaks are about 70 miles away
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On top of a julian alp
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Panorama - should be clicky to make huge
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Big plateau[img] [/img] top in scotland - but a bit of ice axe and crampon work to get up and down

I've winter climbed all over Scotland the lakes and Wales when conditions allow, sadly don't do it anymore as the cold nearly wiped me out on a few occasions.

The frienship of fellow climbers in adversity is hard to match.

Holy shiiiiiiit Molgrips, I'm getting vertigo just looking at that picture. And that's why I had to give up climbing.

I live at 1150m, does that count?

The pic I searched for used to be on a North Face advert poster. It's of a bloke sitting bleary eyed in a tent in his sleeping bag, making a brew. Except that the tent is anchored half way up a cliff and the rest of the shot is just an impossibly large void. I don't think TNF make the tent any more, it was called Room with a View IIRC.

DOing this

http://www.spanishhighs.co.uk/climb-mulhacen-highest-mountain-in-spain.php

in Sept, having done Snowdon the hard way a couple of years ago and liked it...

Patagonia, not high but wild and awesome:

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Volcan Villarica, 2847m. Glissaded most of the way back down. 😀

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Done some fun mountain stuff in UK, but winter mountains and multi-pitch climbing still on list for future.

Done about half the Munros before running out of steam, and about 60 of those in winter + tonnes in the Lakes and Wales. Am a terrible rock climber, but can manage a bit of snow and ice, easier scrambles and via ferrata. It's kinda mountaineering for mortals and 100% ace.

Would love to do some proper alpinism in Alps.

I used to work as a guide in Bolivia, and there was one ride we did that started at 5400m, then descended all day to 1000m at the edges of the Amazon. That's the highest I've ever been, and it was amazing.

Climbing terrifies me and I'd never do it!

I'm more of a hill walker than a climber but I have managed 6194 metres.

I have some slides in a box somewhere but nothing on-line I'm afraid.

There was a great programme on BBC 4 [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mwgyq ]Munroe Mountain Man[/url]last night, re-run I think, all about how the 3000ft mountains got their name and the man behind it.

Just back from a trip to the Alps. See link below for photos (they're my pal's, not mine).

[url] http://www.flickr.com/photos/chenderson/sets/72157624338726725/show/
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And I managed to fit in a few days at Les Gets afterwards, as well as catching a stage of the Tour. Top holiday all round.

[i]DOing this

http://www.spanishhighs.co.uk/climb-mulhacen-highest-mountain-in-spain.php

in Sept, having done Snowdon the hard way a couple of years ago and liked it...
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If you're planning to camp near at Sieta des Lagunas, near the top of Mulhacen, beware the fox. We pitched tents there last December, did the summit and came down to find one of the tents had been ripped open and the fox made off with a load of food.

Its not about the height in Mountaineering.
There is some of the best mountaineering to be had on your doorstep - get up to Scotland in the dead of winter and go climb the north face of the Ben, jump across to the Cairngorms for some ski mountaineering or easy access scottish winter climbing in the Northern Corries.
Great End in the lakes has some excellent routes.
Snowdon has some classic lines on Lliwedd.

I have had two winters in the Polish High Tatras (2100m+):
Rysy
Kozi Weirch
Zawrat
Swinica
Kosceliec

Very cheap to get to, cheap food and accomodation and truely stunning scenery.
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Swinica, Jan 2010

I climbed this twice last year, not a mountain but 1000ft of vertical conglomerate
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My highest is about 4200m on a few peaks in the Swiss alps a few years back. Mostly snow plods but with a few exposed bits that made me quite nervous.

HC that does look a bit boring..!

The Polish snowy peak photo gets my juices going. That looks doable.

Looks like Wales or Scotland too 🙂

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Didn't quite go over the summit but that is the Cordillera Blanca in Peru, got up to a tad over 6000m, would love to do it again and many many more!

yeah that polish mountain is easy but as we approached the top, a weather front closed in and the temp plummeted and I soon realised I had left my mittens in the hut. got to -15 according to my Suunto.

Ive been over the Thorong La (5416m) 6 times, with and without bike, but would love to go much higher one day.[img] [/img]

Im the non nepalese looking one !!!

The highest I've climbed is Doufourspitze in Switzerland @ 4634m, by the Cresta Rey route (AD+). We did it from the margherita Hut, which itself is perched on the summit of signalkuppe at 4559m and the highest building in Europe.
From Margherita Cabina looking across to Doufourspitze (centre).
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kennyp :- fantastic pics of Cham there.
I haven't been climbing in Cham for over 10 years but bringing back many memories. Liking the pics up to the Albert Prem and the Chardonet (done that twice, brill).

Highest I've been would be Mera Peak in Nepal, around 6300m ish.

I managed to scale Primrose Hill unaided last week, and at the top it was quite windy and there was a lady with a summery dress and no pants.

WTF is that bloke doing in Molgrips' picture? no way. No ****ing way. That's just perverted.

Off to do the three passes trek and EBC then hopefully Island Peak. Then climbing my way round SE Asia, then New Zealand and then South America, would like to head to Patagonia but is winter when I arrive there. Quite a bit of biking thrown in along the way on an 8 month holiday. Hurray.
Am always torn between biking and climbing really. I do like a nice view whilst eating my butties. 😆

I appreciate it has an immense appeal for many people, but it's just not my cup of tea, really. I'm not the biggest fan of walking as it is, and the idea of schlepping all the way up just to come down again, just doesn't turn me on. If there was a pub at the top, I might be slightly more tempted. Whilst I admire the determination etc of those that do climb bloody great mountains and accept it's something with a great sense of challenge, it's never really appealed to me personally. I think it's the idea of all that effort, for a reward I just don't 'get'.

Add a bike into that mix, and it seems to make a lot more sense. I wouldn't go out of my way to do it without one though.

elfin - have look at the panorama pic I posted - thats one of the reasons why we do it.

A lot of peace of mind at the top of a mountain

one of my heros as a climber

dan osman 400ft in 4mins 25seconds with one of the scariest dynos ever

Yeah I see what you're saying, Tandemjeremy, and undoubtedly some of the pics here are stunning but without a bike I don't find that sort of thing exciting really. I was on a walk up Helvellyn with some friends a few years ago, and I faked an injury so that we'd come back down and I wouldn't have to traipse around for miles. Selfish I know, but I was so bored.

With me, it's just 'plod plod plod oh look what a nice view yeah whatever can we go now?'. I long for a cable car or a funicular railway! 'Plod plod plod ah back down again pub nice one'.

Oddly, I enjoy climbing up steep hills on a bike, so riding up an alp would be brilliant. Maybe it's just the walking thing I'm not into.

I used to do a bit of climbing and mountaineering. I'd like to do more again, but there isn't time to do everything<sigh>

Alps back in the 90s (pre digicam):
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Andean Mountaineering by rental SUV (~4200m?):
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A nice scramble near Annecy:w
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I'd love to do something in the alps one day, but now I just bimble around the UK mountains 'n hills.

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Summit photos required

Was climbing in Peru a few years ago and the guy I was with managed to chuck himself off dragging me down with him. Silly arse. Anyway, I cut the rope and it took him ****in' ages to drag his sorry arse back to base camp. I was well p1ssed off, innit. Last I heard he was talking about writing something about it. 'Touching the cloth', or something.

I've been wondering for a while actually. What is the best way to learn Alpine climbing? (not UK climbing...). I've looked into this and there are some places in Switzerland that offer packages for a week for about £1,000, but that sounds pish because I bet they spend 2/3 of the time teaching you to tie knots and do up your crampons, which I can just learn in London for 1/20 the cost. Does anyone know any courses you can do in London for theory/the basics and then courses you can do in the Alps where they teach you the practical stuff like how to actually cross a ****ing great glacier?

Or, is this not the way you do it at all (a bit PADI) - do you just learn through years of grrr and near misses?

Mont Blanc summit:

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Awesome day. Really, really tough (we were one of the first parties up the route that season and had to break a lot of trail) and hard to say that I really enjoyed it at the time, but brings a smile to my face every time I think back on it.

Yeah, I've done some bits like Mr Nana. Might put some photos up to prove it if I remember tomorrow. Rather put off by my mate falling down a crevasse - luckily he didn't pull me in too but it put us off a bit!

I'd love to climb some proper mountains but I think that constantly sh1tting my pants would spoil it for me and everyone else.

Have a look at this video of Ueli Steck -

What he's done over the past few years is almost unbelievable. Eiger North Face, Heckmair route (used to take days) in 2:47mins 😯

Kilimanjaro in 2008. I did it to remember a friend but otherwise wouldn't have bothered.
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As has been mentioned above, much better stuff in Scotland
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or Norway
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That is really cool Stevomcd.

Reckon you'll try the North face of the Midi at some point?

Wow!

For me - mt Fyffe in S NZ, a couple of Munroes (Ben Lawyers and Ben Glas) and a few peaks in Wales so a bit lame. Have also fell run up a few smallish mountains in SW Ireland.

Definitely going to do more - love mountains.

What is the best way to learn Alpine climbing? (not UK climbing...)

Best way to learn Alpine climbing is read Mountaincraft and Leadershop and start in the UK. The UK has everything (apart from glaciers), it just doesn't go on for as long. You can however practise bivvying anywhere you like. Just do something like all 13 1000m peaks in North Wales in two days, climbed by the rocky bits. Just make sure you get up at 2am each morning and wear uncomfortable plastic boots 🙂

Just to re-iterate, the UK is NOT lame for climbing. Just smaller 🙂

too support molgrips comment about uk mountains:

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Oh yeah and more fun to do all 14 3000's in wales in one day.... get used to those long days and nights out. See my experinces here: [url] http://hike4henry.blogspot.com/ [/url]

Molgrips is right.

I think the traditional way to learn Alpine mountaineering is either to join a club and get to climb with someone experienced or read a few books and go for it. If you do the latter and survive a few seasons you've probably got the hang of it!

Welsh 3000s should be done in less than 12 hrs. We intend to go back next year and see if we can beat 9.46 🙂

Personally I love it and didn't find climbing scary except when uncontrollable things happen (rockfall, avalanche or crevasse danger, see above) Most things you can make a judgement about as in "ok this rock is loose but secure enough to hold this move", etc. The other objective dangers don't fall into this category hence no more Alpine climbing for me. (can't rule out some Alpine rocky ridges tho')

Scottish winter scrambling is ace.

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what dangers are inherent in Alpine climbing that you just can't do anything about then?

I'm a newbie into the mountains, done 11 Munros including Nevis, only two in winter though.

My plan is to get some climbing in this winter in Scotland, then do Island and Mera Peaks in Nepal for my 30th next year.

As above, Scotland has everything you need to learn to alpine climb, apart from altitude and glaciers.

For example, here's some Scottish stuff:

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and stuff from further afield:

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The person complaining about it being boring ploding just need to get out and do some proper climbing 😛

For me - [b]mt Fyffe in S NZ[/b], a couple of Munroes (Ben Lawyers and Ben Glas) and a few peaks in Wales so a bit lame.

I hope you took a bike up Mt Fyffe? Be a right waste to do that lovely bike ride as a walk!

On foot, I've done a few easy bits (one of the easier gullies on Ben Nevis, various Munros in winter, icy scrambles in the Lake District, but nothing involving hard climbing, as I suck at it.

Joe

what dangers are inherent in Alpine climbing that you just can't do anything about then?

Altitude, glaciers, and the sheer scale of things. Glaciers have their own set of rules that aren't complicated, you just NEED to know certain things. Likewise altitude.

The sheer size and distances involved are also a factor. It can take you a day to walk in and a day to climb, then a day back easily for a single peak, which it doesn't in the UK unless you contrive a longer trip. You have to be aware of this and the associated logistical issues. Given the altitude you might be at, this could compound matters - you'll be more tired climbing for 12 hours high in the Alps than you would be for 12 hours in the UK for instance.

Then there's stuff like the sunshine - in the summer, it's extremely sunny so you'll get sunburned if you don't take care, even when on snow. Particularly UNDER your chin is at risk from reflected snow. Also it's very cold at night but the sun warms things, so you get a lot of rock/ice falls because of this. And the sun also melts the snow, which is why you need to get up at 2am to be off the mountain by 10 or 11am, otherwise you'll be wading in slush and slipping off the mountain.

Also your mobile won't work, you're a long way from a road etc etc.

Otherwise, it's pretty easy 🙂 In many cases it's a big fun challenge just getting to the summit of something, whereas in the UK most summits are just easy, so you have to pick some cliff or other to make it interesting.

Oh, and in the Alps there are many bars scattered through the mountains at convenient locations 🙂

EDIT: note that the above list of issues is far from comprehensive!

Indeed Scotland can be a bit of a hoot. Aonach Eagach, Feb just gone:

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Lol, it looks like you're hanging lifelessly from a rope in that pic 🙂

That just about sums up my mate (the bloke in the pic) 😆

He was actualy decending hence the funny angle.

glenh, which route off the Glacier Blanc is that?

I really miss climbing... 🙁

what dangers are inherent in Alpine climbing that you just can't do anything about then?

Mostly, these days, things falling on your head - the Alps are crumbling quite badly, lots of rockfall and yes, you can minimise your exposure to it, but sometimes big things fall off, like most of the Walker Spur wasn't it? Ditto seracs, some routes are exposed to them, again you can minimise risk by avoiding those routes and staying away in the heat of the day, but there's always some risk of that happening regardless, you can just be very unlucky. Weather - again you can make judgements based on forecasts and reading the conditions, but if you get caught high and exposed by a big storm, it can kill you. That's less likely to happen in Scotland where the scale is simply smaller.

Equipment failure - doesn't happen often, but consequences tend to be bad when it does. Human error - because of the scale of the routes, you tend to be moving together a lot with minimal safety back-up on easy ground. If one of you slips or something goes wrong, then the consequences can be serious, whereas in the UK, there's less pressure on you to move fast.

The less experience you have, the more likely you are to find yourself in a high risk situation without being aware of it ime. Brits have a bad reputation in the Alps for carrying too much and moving too slowly and also going out on days when they shouldn't. If you're young, the BMC runs subsidised alpine training courses under the Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust see:

http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Feature.aspx?id=1166

The BMC also has an excellent series of instructional DVDs that are better than any skills book I've seen including one called Alpine Essentials.

The likes of Plas y Brenin run alpine training weekends in the UK where you can learn some of the basic skills you need to climb in an alpine environment. Courses are a great way to learn the basics. Good short-cutting skills book is Extreme Alpinism by Mark Twight. He's as mad as ****, but talks a lot of sense based on a huge amount of experience.

Anyway, mountaineering's ace, but arguably significantly higher risk than most mountain biking, though it all depends on what you're climbing, the conditions, your ability etc.

Sorry, blah blah blah...

It's only higher risk if you really push yourself. If you are well prepared, understand things and don't go too extreme when you are not really ready for it, you'll be fine.

The consequences for failure are worse tho...

molgrips - Member
It's only higher risk if you really push yourself. If you are well prepared, understand things and don't go too extreme when you are not really ready for it, you'll be fine.

The consequences for failure are worse tho...

Being well prepared and understanding things don't go well with being a novice. The problem is, beginners, through their inexperience, can get themselves into situations they don't recognise as dangerous and the consequences can be significant.

The tradditional apprentice to a more experienced climber has a lot to recommend it. Means getting into your local Mountaineering Club and making a few contacts/friends which is no bad thing.

B.A.Nana - south ridge of the pic du glacier Blanc. AD+, but pretty easy for the grade, just a short tricky pitch near the start. Other than that its fairly straight forward and quite short. Very nice route though. 🙂

PS the one below that is the traverse of the aiguille during sialouze which is considerably harder and more exposed!

ooh my perfect alpine day:

Early sunny morning start from hut
Easy snow and rock climb to a high summit with stupendous views
Snowboard the power face down to the snowline.
Mountain bike singletrack through the forest down to the valley
Beer and grostl in a hut
Romp in the flower-filled meadow with buxom Swiss milkmaid

😀

Being well prepared and understanding things don't go well with being a novice

Well they should - if you are a beginner with half a brain, you'll know when you don't know something. Only do something you are absolutely sure you can manage - this goes for pros as well.

Or in other words, do your research.. and build up slowly 🙂

buzz-lightyear - Member
ooh my perfect alpine day:

Early sunny morning start from hut
Easy snow and rock climb to a high summit with stupendous views
Snowboard the power face down to the snowline.
Mountain bike singletrack through the forest down to the valley
Beer and grostl in a hut
Romp in the flower-filled meadow with buxom Swiss milkmaid

Hard to pick fault with 😆

Except the cost of having your equipment dropped off and picked up by Sherpas or helicopter 🙂

So - you guys got me thinking. I really really really want to do a big ( 20 000+ft) mountain before i finally get too old and feeble. Must be unguided. I'm not a dangler but don't mind a scramble. No issue at all with long trips self supporting.

So where? Perhaps off the altiplano in Bolivia? One of the big ash cones? That means altitude training in the bars in La Paz ( one of my fave places)

My dad did a Himalya when he was 65 and he only has a lung and a half so its got to be possible 🙂

TJ. I've had a failed attempt at Aconcagua. I think that fits your requirements?

If you've got a month free and don't mind a lot of sitting about acclimatising it's worth considering.

Love the mountains....

Have mainly done the foot slog stuff though.

Mt Blanc via Cosmiques hut, Mt Elbrus, Matterhorn, Mt Elbrus,Mt Kinabalu,Mt Cook. Would love to do Aconcagua next year but finances may not allow.

Loads more trekking than acual mountaineering...EBC,Annapurna circuit, GR10,GR20, blah blah

From the footage I've seen, Aconcagua looks a bit of a rubbish tip. Why not pick on one of the trecking peaks in Nepal and do yer own thing. We did Fluted Peak and Tent peak like this a few years ago.

Cheers chaps.

Highclimber, is that Riglos? If it is then the climbers descent path is a fantastic mountain bike descent! We rode it last year, techy as old f... but great.

We went up the less frequented of the two "tourist routes". There was no rubbish. As it's a national park it's quite well policed. Toilets are available up to and including base camp. At the higher camps you need to keep an eye out for human eggs 🙂

It isn't a pretty hill. Rubble and scree mostly. These things are cool though..
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