Happy Christmas!

I was a bit suprised to see how long it has been since I last posted a blog!

Its been a busy Autumn with Mountain Leader , Walking group Leader and Single Pitch Award training and assessment courses. There has been mixed weather for all of them including a ferociously cold SPA assessment!

I have also been very busy putting together the Whole Hog races for our sister company Adventure Challenge Events - www.acefundraising.co.uk . These races are a series of off road adventure races - great fun to work on and great fun to watch the mayhem (see picture above).

Personally, I havent been too busy as I managed to crack a few ribs which put pay to any activity for a few weeks. However, a recent trip North to Lochnagar was well worth the effort with a good mountain day out. For those of you who havent visited the area its well worth a visit - unfortunately the recent mild spell has made things a bit 'sloppy' for Winter climbing but it should be good if/when it cools down again.

Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Alpine Summer

Adventure Unlimited have been 'enjoying' the wet Summer weather in the Uk whilst running our regular climbing and skills courses. I, however, have been lucky enough to escape to the Alps for the past month!

The picture above is of my climbing partner, Billy, enjoying the 55 degree ice on the approach to the Grande Rocheuse in the Argentiere basin in Chamonix. Although the hut has been closed for the Summer there has been some excellent climbing for those prepared to do the bivvy in the toilets of the Grande Monte cable car station. After a 12.30 am start we were rewarded with great conditions for the first half of the route. The final 400m on the Grande Rocheuse wasnt so good but it was still a great day! We both had very soar toes after a 1000 metres of hard ice!

Summer's Gone??

After a very busy spell I managed to have a weekend off! To try and make the most of it Martin and I headed off to the Lake District. Dow crag is situated a short and enjoyable walk(1 hour) from Conniston! Unfortunately it was very cold - both Martin and I were dressed in full water proofs and had on all of our warm clothes - even so I spent the whole day shivering... There were a few other parties out but most were keeping to the lower grade climbs due to the cold conditions. The picture above is of the 4th pitch of Eliminate A, a classic 6 pitch VS situated on 'A' buttress.

Busy, Busy!!

Its been a busy month so not much updating going on!! I have been working alot for our sister company Adventure Challenge Events (see www.acefundraising.co.uk). This has meant two rounds of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, a zip line in Ipswich town FC and a quick juant up Ben Nevis this last weekend. Luckily Matt and I tagged on a day of climbing on the Buchaille, Glen Coe, on the worryingly named Slime Wall. The picture above shows Matt getting stuck in to the first pitch of the brilliant 6 pitch, 4 star HVS, Bludgers Revelation. There was a fair bit of dampness around on the first pitch but the rest of the route was superb and dry.

Elsewhere Adventure Unlimited have been running various climbing and navigation courses - enjoy the Summer (when it arrives)..

More Hot Weather

Another fantastic weekend for the Summer ML training course! North Wales was very busy over the weekend but we managed to stay away from the worst of the crowds. Saturday was spent looking at party management on Tryfan and a bit of confidence roping on the way down . The picture above is of two of the candidates practicing their confidence roping. Sunday was the last day of the course and consisted of a few lectures, security on steep ground practice and, lastly, river crossings. Unfortunatly it has been so dry recently there wasnt a geat deal of water around. Our thanks to the course for their effort and concentration throughout!

Sunny Days In The Lake District

We had two fantastic days in the Lake District on the 2nd weekend of our split weekend Mountain Leader training course. The picture above is of 1 of the campsites we used in one of my favourite arweas of the Lakes - Eskdale. Relatively quiet and no great 'motorway' tracks. The other team camped a few hundred metres away!

Single pitch Award

At last the weather has changed!!

Glorious sunshine everywhere and a perfect two days for our SPA training course. On the course was Lorna, Jonathan and Nick. Heres a few pictures from the course. We also have a Summer Mountain Leader training course running - pictures from this shortly. Enjoy the weather whilst it lasts!

Walking Group Leader Training course

We ran the first Walking Group Leader Training course of the year over the long weekend 4-6 April. The weather was a mixed bag with clear days and then hail and snow! Despite this we had a good, strong course.

Single Pitch award

Jules Barrett and I ran a Single Pitch Training course over the weekend in the Peak District. The weather was generally pretty grim over both days though there were a few hardy souls out and about on the crags!!

Scotland still looks good if you want some classic Ben Nevis ice!!

Sponsors

Over the past 5 years I have been involved with Arcteryx and 5.10 with their product testing. I have always rated their kit as the best on the market.

I am, therefore, very pleased to say that we are now 'officially' sponsored by both manufacturers!

Thanks!

Saas Fee Skiing

Sean and I managed an ascent of the (4128 m) Stralilhorn on a beautiful day. Great skiing and great tracks!

The image shows (Sean James collection) the line of the route to the Summit. Some walk from the col shown but its a great ski up (and down) from here.

Ski Touring around Zermatt

Sean James and I managed to snatch 6 days of touring around the Saas Fee and Zermatt area of Switzerland. We were pleased to have got anything done in the middle of some pretty rough weather in the Alps. Here i am negotiating some awkward ground on the way from the Monta Rosa hut toward the Brittania hut!

Alpine Skiing

March is often quite quiet for us so I (Ian Loombe) have been off to the Alps for a few weeks of off piste skiing and touring.

Highlights of the week were a tour to the Col De Balme and some amazing off piste on the Grande Monte! Unfortunately there was no climbing to be had as a 4 hour stroll around Cogne proved to us!

Scotland 2008

Welcome to our first 'official' blog!

We aim to keep those of you who are interested up to date with what we have been up to and what our instructors are doing 'out and about'..

First up - we are delighted to have ran the 2008 Snow and Rock Winter Staff Training. We had a great week of activities and a fantastic crew of staff and helpers including Neil Gresham (Black diamond), Ian Parnell (Arcteryx) and Matt Helliker. The week saw lots of Winter training undertook and plenty of climbing including numerous ascents of routes on Aonoch Moor, Ben Nevis and Stob Corrie Nan lochan. This was the 5th year that we have ran the training and was a great success - regardless of the weather!