The Path Less Travelled.....

Fort William Mountain Film Festival 2009

the showreel ....

(spot the nutter on the gym bars nr the end !!!!)

Andrew McAuley

A large percentage of the audience that watched Solitary Endeavour on the Southern Ocean on BBC2 last night are probably still this morning asking questions of themselves and of Andrew McAuley

The expedition and the outcomes of the kayak trip were reasonably well known, but the power of a very well made adventure-documentary brought the man, the journey and the outcome back to the fore.

Whether you saw it or not, the one hour programme is now on BBC i Player

Knowing the outcome makes the expedition blog kept by Vicki McAuley particularly poignant.

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore"
Andre Gide

Lakeland Days

i met up with a colleague in Glenridding on Tuesday morning, and commenced 2 days of, amongst other things;
wonderful Lakeland weather,
revision of some winter mountaineering skills,
one crushed nokia mobile,
two classic ridges,
an enormous bout of Grade 1  / 11 indecision
a spaniel sprinting across Sharp Edge,
"Hamish" with the worlds oldest down jacket and 3-sizes-too-big-crampons
and a re-affiliation with Jennings Sneck Lifter.

a lal but reet grand adventure ...

 

Striding Edge - 10 Feb 09

 

"Hamish" with Tam o' Shanter, that down jacket and those crampons !!

 

climbers approaching the corniced summit of the N face of Helvellyn

 

Swirral Edge and beyond

Helvellyn 10 Feb 09 from tomo thompson on Vimeo.

 

 

some bloke on the final section of Sharp Edge - Blencathra - 11 Feb 09

   

alpine conditions on Blencathra and across west to Skiddaw

   

back a bit, back a bit further, a bit more .... oops ...

The Underround Challenge ....

Rory Coleman presents a 42km capital city challenge with a subterranean mega twist.

Mountain Bling

Grivel  have brought out a wooden ice axe with a gold adze and pick, comes in 65cm length packaged in a wooden gift box, and you can have the pick engraved.
Pimp that peak !!!

WWW.

Welsh Winter Wonderland.
Epic conditions, an opportunistic meeting on Anglesey in the afternoon, and a bit of curiosity as to why everyone keeps falling off Snowdon.....

4am start from Sheffield, and a 8.30 start from the Pen y Pas carpark.

Crib Goch. On my own. With all the gear (but only used the sharp pointy bits in descent off the mountain - the actual ridge was committing, interesting, scrambling on perfect rock). In absolutely brilliant conditions.
Walking back down the PYG track it was almost sunblock weather !!
And lunch on Anglesey at 1.30.

 

errr.... the signpost at the path junction ...

 

 

looking back down the Pass towards Llanberis

Snowdon and surrounding hills - Fri 6 Feb 09 from tomo thompson on Vimeo.

All in all a top day.
However the fatality count on the UK mountains seems to be very high this winter. If you are not absolutely confident on snow and ice in mountainous terrain, why not sit the big freeze out for a few weeks, play safe, the mountains ain't going anywhere soon.
It's not always better to be a tiger for one day, actually, why not be a sensible sheep for many decades of mountain days.

Mountain Rescue Council England and Wales donations needed
Mountain Rescue Council of Scotland need donations

How to deal with snow - Part 2

i have taken the liberty of lifting the following piece from the BBC news daily blog 5/2/09. The thread subject was "how has the snow affected you ?".

"I couldn't get to my dialysis unit in Kingston on Monday due to deep
snow!! Even ambulances weren't operating to deliver patients!
I am in my 18th year on dialysis treatment and due to start at home on
haemodialysis! Thanks to my HHD nurse Debbie I did my 1st treatment in
my home on monday, but only because she walked (hiked) from her home in
Ashtead to my home in Ewell 4.9miles each way! Taking 3hours there and
back!! Debbie did it again on tuesday!! She deserves a medal! Big
bigThanks Deb!"

Stephanie Crawford, Ewell village

How to deal with snow - Part 1

Radio 4
a.m. 5 Feb 09
Interview with Highways Agency Manager on the issue of very low or non-existent stocks of salt at both local council and Highways Agency holdings....

"We cannot stock pile salt, because we cannot keep it dry in the rain, when it rains it just washes away"

a suggestion - www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/roof
a few people faced with a similar problem in their living rooms designed a thing called the "roof", farmers have exploited this cutting edge technology and have succeeded in keeping things like straw, cows and their own living rooms dry by using a roof.

cup of the day

from pedlars.co.uk the home of fine things and even finer customer services

  

or if the roll-over-and-just-don't-bother-'cos-it's-snowing attitude really riles you, you could wear your emotions on your chest ...

 

salve for a myriad woes

this "extreme weather event" will probably be finished by the weekend, let alone the beginning of March.

1 March 09 is the start date of the 2009 Iditarod Invitational in Alaska. i have mentioned the event before on this blog.
the 2009 race roster of 50 skiers / runners or bikers has been reached, of which 7 are from the UK
do they not realise that conditions there will be far worse than in Hyde Park or on the M2 today. fools.

of the 50 entrants, there are 5 runners intending to run the 1100 mile course to Nome
1100 miles
in an Alaskan winter
in probably the hardest race in the world which remains true to a self-sufficient and buddy-buddy ethos
Roger Leavesley and Howard Cook from the UK have entered the 350 mile foot race to McGrath. John Ross is one of the 350 cyclists 
 
maybe they should be invited to address Parliament and local Government contingency planners on their return.

an entry on the 1100 foot race has been on my things-to-do-before-i'm-40 list for a number of years now (you need to complete the 350 before being allowed on the 1100)
guess i will have to get my finger out before this country of ours passes judgement against such reckless undertakings

so, to all you residents of this Island of ours who looked out of the window at the gift of white stuff today and whined "no way", then rang in snowbound before diving back under the duvet, get a grip.

"Life is adventure, not predicament."
James Broughton