matthewmoore.org.uk

This question pops up a lot on UKC and here is my answer as a relatively new climber and a bit of a gear freak.  So firstly, just bear in mind I’m still a fairly inexperienced climber.  However I’ve taught myself with this lot.  Secondly read lots about gear.  As a starting place try the following articles:

Article from TradClimbing+ on buying a rack.

Andy Kirkpatricks advice on a climbing rack (read everything else on his site as well!!!)

Another good gear list from Needlesports, more on their website

This would be my list of ‘the bare minimum’ to get up short (up to about 20m) & easy (up to about HS/VS) trad routes safely:

Set of nuts 1-11 (I got DMM Wallnuts)
Set of Hexes 3/4 of the larger ones (I advise a full set of DMM Torque Nuts)
4/5 Quickdraws a mix of 18cm and 25cm
4 ‘Slingdraws‘
2/3 locking krabs (make sure one is a big HMS style krab)
2 x 120cm slings
1 x 240cm sling
1 x 400cm cordlette (not essential, but I found it made things easier when starting out)

Don’t bother with cams, they’re expensive and it’s harder to tell a good placement and easy to place them wrong. Once you’ve got up the grades a bit more, you’ll have a better idea of their use.  Plus all the usual stuff, harness, helmet, belay device, nutkey, prussic loops.  As for what actual gear to buy?  Well which ever brand/make/model you like the best. Or choose them on weight. Just remember the really small lightweight krabs can be annoying when fitting lots of clove hitches on them.  For example DMM Phantoms are rather small and it’s hard to get lots of clove hitches on the.  However they are ace in belays as they’re so light you can use them to setup a totally bomber belay. You can use the slingdraws for threads as the two krabs on the slingdraw can be put back to back to be as secure as a locking screwgate.

For quickdraws you’ve got several options, either buy cheap (eg DMM Prowires), or light and expensive (DMM Phantoms), lightish but normal sized (DMM Spectre IIs), lightish and with ’snag-free’ noses eg DMM Sheilds, or uber strong (DMM Shadow (great for sport climbing)).  The snag free noses reduces the rather unlikely possibility that you might snag a bit of gear on the nose of your quickdraw leaving the gate open and the krab very weak.

Here are a couple of good threads:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=391119

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=391878

Which contain some good advice.

A little over a year ago I began climbing properly at Symonds Yat on the Severe, Golden Fleece. I’d done a short course inside at the Summit climbing wall near Merthyr Tydfil (now sadly closed down) and climbed a handful of times inside.

UKC has provided me with a whole host of useless stats, 37 climbs in 2009, 40 (so far) in 2010. Average Grade – MS, F4+,II/III. Highest grade – VS, F5+, III. Lots of numbers, hiding a lot of good times, beautiful places, some great friendships and the odd scary moment. No full on proper epics so far, but a few dicey moments. Which when you consider I’ve largely taught myself to lead climb both trad and sport that’s possibly quite surprising. I have had a fair bit of backup and advice from friends in South Wales Mountaineering Club, but my initial leads have largely been me and a mate turning up and giving things a go. It’s got me into trouble once, but even then I wasn’t really as stuck as I thought I was at the time.

I’ve progressed fairly slowly through the grades, which when you consider I have the athletic ability and grace of a plummeting hippo isn’t that surprising. I’d already been loosing weight due to a bit of dieting and a bit of running. Climbing has spurred me on to loose more weight and I’m getting close to my goal weight of 12 stone. Many crags are in scenic areas and it’s not surprising that I’ve enjoyed some lovely views in the Lake District, the Gower and North Wales whilst out climbing, but what might be surprising is the number of crags in the South Wales Valleys which also have good views from the top, Trebanog and Penallta being two.

The Winter of 2010 has been the standout for me. I started climbing partly cause a mate had expressed interest in going bouldering and partly due to a long held interest in climbing and mountaineering. I’d only planned on doing it as a leader to the Alps. Slightly surprised to have gotten hooked on the rock climbing side of things. Still winter is where it’s at for me, so I arranged a couple of trips up to Scotland this last winter. I didn’t have high expectations for Scottish Winter Climbing, but hoped that I’d at least get some routes in. Obviously I managed to time my trips for the coldest winter we’ve experienced in years. I got some classic (and rarely formed) routes in and the winter climbing bug has truly bitten.

Ledge Route was on my winter ticklist so I was pretty chuffed when Alan Kimber from West Coast Mountain Guides suggested on the Saturday that it would be a likely route for Sunday. The weather was great all weekend long and after a great Saturday on Stob Dearg we arrived at the car park around 0900 ready for the walk upto the CIC Hut. We would have been a bit earlier had I not been late to Alan’s place (I forgot my water, what a numpty).  We made good time and geared up at the hut. We then proceeded to the bottom of the route, not lingering in number 5 gully and roped up on the bottom of the pitch just out of the gully. I led with Alan soloing ahead and placing gear. The first two pitches were dispatched easily and once we’d gained the ridge proper we began to move together over the much easier ground leading to the top of Ben Nevis.  I did find that I was a bit faster than Wendy and Kesia when moving together, leading to a few points when I had to wait mid move for the two ladies.  I ought to have been a better and less grumpy gentleman.  We didn’t summit as we topped out about 1400 and faced with a couple of hours walk back to the car we decided to head back down straight away. We were treated to another stunning sunset while we walked off and back down to the car. Eventually arriving back at the car as the sun was just disappearing. Below is a photo from the route, by Alan.

Photo copyright Alan Kimber

Alan was kind enough to lend me his Paramo Velez Light smock which I found to be a rather good jacket and has made it’s way firmly onto my list of kit to buy.  It was nice and warm with great venting.  I think it’ll go well with a pair of Aspira Salopettes for general winter climbing.  Thanks to Alan for great course and for Wendy and Kesia for putting up with my endless pulling on the rope.  More pictures can be found on Alan’s blog.

Ledge Route was on my winter ticklist so I was pretty chuffed when Alan suggested on the Saturday that it would be a likely route for Sunday.  The weather was great all weekend long and after a great Saturday on Stob Dearg we arrived at the car park around 0900 ready for the walk upto the CIC Hut.  We made good time and geared up at the hut.  We then proceeded to the bottom of the route, not lingering in number 5 gully and roped up on the bottom of the pitch just out of the gully.  I led with Alan soloing ahead and placing gear.  The first two pitches were dispatched easily and once we'd gained the ridge proper we began to move together over the much easier ground leading to the top of Ben Nevis.  We didn't summit as we topped out about 1400 and faced with a couple of hours walk back to the car we decided to head back down straight away.  We were treated to another stunning sunset while we walked off and back down to the car.  Eventually arriving back at the car as the sun was just disappearing.

Well I’m sitting here with a marg, ala Kelly Cordes and reflecting on my first full Scottish Winter Climbing season. I had 6 days planned and I ended up getting 7 days of winter/ice climbing done, thanks to the big freeze in early January which bought a route in South Wales into condition.  It’s been a stunning winter so far and there is still more to go, but sadly I’ve run out of money and days off.  So I’m going to spend a little time reflecting on what I’ve learned so far.

There’s little better than a great day out on a classic route (Ledge Route) on a classic mountain (Ben Nevis) in perfect weather.  It’s also great fun climbing a classic waterfall (Steall Falls) with good company.  I have to say I’m not a big fan of gully climbing.  The one gully I have done (Crotched Gully in the Cairngorms) wasn’t very pleasurable.  Partly due to my own inexperience, as I ran out of rope attempting to get to the belay.  That meant I had to do a downclimb to find a belay, which took a very long time as there were few gear placements on the route.  Also the climbing was very dull and samey.  I much preferred the Fiaciall Ridge which we climbed the following day.  However I led grade II quite happily.  Grade III next year, for sure!  I think that IV would be manageable, still we’ll see how next year pans out.  I’ll have a happy summer gear shopping to make sure I’ve got all the bits needed.  I’m still lacking ice axes, boots and crampons.  I’ve had such fun this year that I’m happy spending the money getting all the bits I need.

Many thanks to Alan Kimber and Alec Roberts for sharing their knowledge and skills.  Both are great instructors and I would highly recommend either for all your winter mountaineering and climbing needs.

An awesome video of Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner on Pigott’s Route on Ben Nevis.

Well it’s back to rain and wind here in South Wales, for the first time in a fortnight I’ve been able to drive with out having to worry about whether or not it’s too icy to drive.  It’s been a surreal couple of weeks.  I’ve been up to Scotland climbing for the first time (hopefully the first of many) and due to the fantastically cold weather I’ve been able to do some Ice Climbing here in South Wales.  I’ve climbed some classic routes in perfect conditions, Ledge Route on the Ben, Steall Waterfalls in Glen Nevis and closer to home the rarely formed Joe’s Waterfall on the Black Mountain.  Lets hope the final trip of the season in mid feb up to the Cairngorms is as good.  If not I can’t complain, I’ve managed to cram an awesome amount of climbing in the past fortnight.  Here’s to more!

On a climbing trip I was recently lucky enough to climb the Steall Waterfall in Glen Nevis.  I’m rather lacking in photos of the route and me climbing on it sadly, but I do have a couple.  After the previous three days of climbing I was pretty tired so the short walk in along the side of the River Nevis was just the ticket.  At my first glimpse of the climb my comments were along the line of ‘I guess we’re not climbing that as it’s still running in the middle’.  I guess we all start somewhere.  I’ve read that many climbs often don’t freeze in the middle, but as always there’s a big difference between reading and seeing.

When we actually got to the base of the climb after walking over the frozen river (we missed out the wire bridge) it became obvious that the ice was in good condition and that whilst the water was flowing and there were other teams climbing there should be plenty of space for all of us.  We geared up and waited for the faster of the two teams ahead of us to finish.  When they’d finished Alec lead off and being the consumate pro he is in no time at all we heard the call of ’safe’.  Shortly after that it was time for Martin to start off and I followed shortly after.  My previous winter climbing experience was limited to the three previous days, so I was a bit nervous especially after my failure on Squaddie’s climb the previous day.  However the start was fairly easy and once I’d got going there were a few decent rests on the first pitch.

The second pitch was even longer than the first, Alec using most of the 60m of rope.  As a result I experienced my first ‘full body pump’, my arms were burning, my calves were burning and everything else was pretty battered, but I got up it.  And even worse I enjoyed it!  The final pitch was much shorter and the angle slacked off quite a bit.  Finally we topped out.  A quick abseil down the side onto easier ground and we were off and back down to Fort William by 3pm.  A great day out.  Many thanks to Alec of Guided Mountain for being an excellent instructor and Martin for being a good sport.

My current kit isn’t perfect for winter climbing, but hopefully it’ll give you some ideas for your clothing and kit when winter climbing. I know I found it hard to get advice on what to buy, which is a right pain when everything is so expensive.  I’ve taken my inspiration from a couple of other blog posts.  I’ve gotten a lot of advice from places like UKClimbing, Andy Kirkpatrick, PlanetFear, Climb and Climber magazines.  I got 29 responses to my post on UKC about winter climbing clothing with some good advice in the thread.

Clothing
Currently I have the normal mix of goretex and pertex clothing. I’m planning on moving away from that to Paramo for UK winter stuff. I’ve got a Mountain Equipment shell, not sure which model it is, but it’s one of the cheaper hill walking style jackets. It fits a helmet etc as it’s a size too big for me now I’ve lost weight. Under that I have a standard ‘thin’ fleece with the Polartec 100 fleece, it’s a plain Peter Storm one, bought. As a baselayer I’ve got a Icebreaker 200 weight longsleeve high neck top.

As a backup layer/when stopped layer, I’ve got a Montane Prism 2.0 which will just about fit over everything. It’s too hot to wear the base layer, prism and hardshell all at once tho. I want to get a better ‘belay jacket’ however. On my legs I’ve got a pair of Rab VapourRise trousers, with a pair of Marmot Precip trousers with the full length legzip. 90% of the time the rab trousers are enough. I find I don’t need a baselayer underneath that, it’s more than enough. I’ve got a cheap pair of Gelert gaiters. Gaiters are essential, but don’t shell out loads on them as you’ll rip them to shreds while you learn to walk properly in crampons anyway. If you do buy an expensive pair, make sure that they’re very hard wearing and durable. Lightweight goretex jobs will just get shredded. Ditto buying expensive goretex trousers. Something like Marmot Precips will do fine for learning in.

Gloves
I’m currently carrying three pairs of gloves. A merino liner pair, which are ok for cold but dry walk-ins. Both my other gloves fit over the liner glove. I’ve got a powerfleece pair for walk-ins and easy snow plods and dachstein mitts for climbing in. I find that if I wear the liners underneath the dachsteins when I take the dach’s off for long enough to fiddle with gear etc they don’t loose as much heat. I’m planning on experimenting with other gloves however as the powerfleece glove doesn’t cut it when ice climbing (bad hot aches).

Safety/Misc gear
I’ve got a Wild Country 360 helmet, nice and cheap, with very good protection. I’ve also got one of the Wild Country syncro harnesses, which is ok, but IMO has a few too many loops on it and too much padding. I’ve got a normal buff and a windstopper buff .  The windstopper one is great, but overkill for me, I’d be fine with just two buffs. Gogglewise I’ve a Oakley Proven MX goggle as it was cheap, clear and goes over glasses (never actually needed this). Sackwise I’ve got a Mammut Granit 40l sack. It’s nice, simple and quite lightweight (1.25 kg).   Not waterproof so I carry Exped drybags for keeping stuff dry.  Obviously I always carry a first aid kit, map, compass and a survival bag. I’ve got a AlpKit gamma headtorch which is great for the price.  I have a cheapo pair of walking poles for the walk in.

Rack
Currently I’ve just got my normal summer rack of 1-11 Wallnuts and 1-4 Torque Nuts. I’ve got the normal mix of slings, all DMM Dyneema, two 60cm, two 120cm and one 4m Wild Country cordlette. I use DMM Phantoms for situations where locking krabs are needed but you don’t need lots of clove hitches etc. I’ve got a DMM Boa for that. I use a DMM Belay Master (with the clip) and Bug. Quickdraw wise I carry DMM Shield draws a mix of 18cm and 25cm ones up to about 8 of them. Currently no screamers, pegs, ice screws, ice axes, crampons, rope or slingdraws so it’s usually borrowing whatever anyone else has. I’ll detail what I plan on buying in future posts.  It’s all bloody expensive, which is why I don’t have all the kit yet.  Boots wise I have a pair of Asolo B3 rated boots, I bought second hand from UKC.  I wouldn’t recommend buying second hand boots, I’ve got blisters everytime I wear them.

Food

Obviously quite a personal thing, but here’s what I swear by:  Chocolate, Haribo (usually in a chest pocket for easy access), Malt Loaf, sarnies/rolls.  Drinkwise I don’t take tea/coffee on the hill.  Instead I prefer a flask of hot ribena (500ml) and a bottle of juice or water again usually 500ml.  I tend to heat up the juice/water first thing so it doesn’t freeze.  I currently don’t bother with drinks bladders, I usually stop long enough for a drink at one point during the day.

That’s about it.  Don’t think I’ve missed anything.  Next post will be about what I plan to buy, probably when I win the lottery!  It’s a stupidly expensive hobby if you want to buy decent axes and crampons.