News for January 2008

Cameraman Alun Hughes (Stone Monkey, 80's Extreme) filmed Ioan as he climbed in Snowdonia, Kalymnos and Yosemite Valley.

Ioan started to climb indoors when he was 11 years of age, and outdoors when he was 15, and his friend and mentor 'Mills' quickly realised he had a prodigious talent.

His mother, Catrin, is very proud of him and understandably experiences a range of emotions and fears watching her child pursue such a dangerous hobby. Catrin speaks honestly about the maelstrom of emotions she feels as she sees her son reach for the peaks.

Producer and director Alun Hughes says:

“This is the story of a climber who's immensely talented for one so young. We followed him for a whole summer as he faced extremely difficult climbing challenges. This is also a portrayal of a lad who is maturing as a climber and as a person and the feelings of both his mother and his trainer as they learn to loosen the reins on his life. It's a programme about climbing which will appeal to a much wider audience.”

Ioan is a UKC registered user. View his UKC Profile

Film Details:
Tuesday, 5 February, 9.00pm, S4C
Also, Saturday, 9 February, 9.35pm, S4C
Website:www.s4c.co.uk/ffeithiol
Broadband:www.s4c.co.uk/gwylio
S4C is available on Sky 134 outside Wales and on all platforms in Wales.

This year the Trust is offering a number of subsidised 3-day Alpine courses in Chamonix. Charges for successful trainees are only £68. These courses, offered by Plas y Brenin and the Mountain Training Trust, provide an introduction to the basic considerations, like use of equipment, glacier travel, and crevasse rescue.

The main criteria for selection are as follows:-

• You are a keen mountaineer/climber, intending to do some graded Alpine routes ('F' or above).
• You intend to benefit as a result of increased knowledge of good and safe Alpine techniques.
• This will be your first Alpine season, or you have been before but are still unaware of the best techniques.

The closing date for applications is Friday 18 April 2008.

To find out more visit: http://www.pyb.co.uk/courses/conville.php

tall guy

That must have been 5 years ago and anyway you can read about my reminiscing in this article here. But I like that, someone has a dream and rather than so much hot air, they make it come true and in the process give pleasure to so many people and make a living.

So first we had Matt's Heason Events, launched in 2003, that has an array of climbing and mountaineering stars who travel across the UK entertaining and inspiring us. Then three years ago Matt started the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival or ShAFF which "bring together the best of the films shown at the best of the festivals, new films that have not yet been screened, and old favourites." Matt then stepped upto the plate and organised Sheffield's Cliffhanger touted as the UK's largest outdoor outdoor-pursuits festival.

In advertising, repeat business is a measure of success and Matt's Sheffield Adventure Film Festival is now celebrating its third year and if you want to experience some top climbing and adventure films make sure that you are in Sheffield the weekend of Feb 29th to March 2nd.

Here is what you have got to look forward to, but first off:

"UKClimbing users (there's about 60,000 of you) can secure themselves a nice discount on tickets to ShAFF this year. Simply quote 'Stanage' when ordering via the Showroom Box Office (0114 275 7727) and you will be charged £5 instead of the normal £6.20

Hold on. Do I really have to list everything?

Go to Matt's site, view the video and look at the itinery, it's impressive. Click your mouse on this link: www.shaff.co.uk

UKClimbing.com are proud to be the sole media sponsor of the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival

Next up we shall talk about the Llanberis Mountain Film Festival happening on 7th - 9th March 2008. UKClimbing.com are also a media sponsor of that event along with our partner CLIMB magazine. We shall be reading some of our favourite My First Outdoor Lead essays at this event.

Winner

DMM are now pleased to announce the winners.

In first place is:

Confessions of a Coward by Nicola Wilding (link)

Nicola wins a £500 rack of DMM gear.

The runners up are:

Petticoats and Promises by Jo Horne (link)

and M1, Avon Gorge - 1986 by Rob Carlin (link)

Rob and Jo both get £100 of DMM gear.

We will have news of the prize giving and the reading of a selection of the entries out at the Llanberis Mountain Film Festival later. Then there is the task of getting all the spot prizes out to everyone.

And, there is one more My First Outdoor Lead essay, Paisley Pattern Pyjama Trousers by DMM's Chris Rowlands. You can read it here here

So far the guide has generally been well received and has sold over 800 copies since publication.

The controversy starts at page 8 of a thread entitled "Yorkshire Grit Bouldering Guide" when someone going under the name Moose writes a critical review. Some agree and some disagree, one poster going under the name of 1000.dave says that the guide is "better than any previous Yorkshire bouldering guide ten times over," but then says that he is leaving the forum for good.

You can take a look at the argument yourself, (link), but as usual always take what is written with a pinch of salt. Better to judge Yorkshire Gritstone Bouldering yourself by nipping down to your local climbing shop and having a look at a copy.

Plans to build one of Europe's biggest wind farms on the Isle of Lewis are set to be turned down.

More than 5,000 letters of objection to the proposals were received by the Scottish Government. It is believed environmental concerns are behind the decision. An official announcement from the Scottish Government is not expected for a further two or three weeks.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) has opposed plans for the 181-turbine development. It fears the proposed £500m development by Lewis Wind Power would destroy some of the world's most extensive and intact areas of blanket bog.

More info on the BBC Website

Crib Goch

With the recent deaths in the last year on Helvellyn, Blencathra, the Snowdon Horseshoe and in Scotland calls are growing louder for signs at the starts of paths into the hills and on dangerous sections of ridges such as Snowdonia's Crib Goch. The argument is that signs would be more effective than pleas in the media from mountain rescue teams and the police to be prepared and to know what you are doing. The North Wales Police have set up Mountainsafe, a joint initiative between North Wales Police, Snowdonia National Park Authority and the North Wales Mountain Rescue Association to promote safe practice in the hills by education but it appears that they are also suggesting to place warning signs on the Snowdon Horseshoe.

This suggestion has been met with some resistance from BMC Cymru

This from the latest BMC Cymru newsletter

Signposts on the Snowdon Horseshoe

As promised at our last meeting I have written to the Mountain Safe group headed by North Wales Police on this matter, here is what I wrote;

"We recently heard about some proposals to place warning signs for pedestrians on the Snowdon Horseshoe. The Snowdon Horseshoe is one of Britain's great walks and is a must for every serious mountain walker in the UK. It traverses one of the most unique ridges in the land with only the Black Cuillin traverse of Skye offering a greater challenge.

We know Snowdon is a popular walk for tourists who are not experienced mountain walkers and we know some of them stray on to Crib Goch, Most of them survive to tell the tale.

We are very strongly opposed however, to any signage being placed on Crib Goch or Crib y Ddysgl. This proposed urbanisation of the wild mountain environment is totally unaccept- able to our members. We could tolerate a clearer warning about the route dangers at the start of the PYG track and we have learned to live with the sign post at Bwlch y Moch.

We do not feel that signage would help the situation as is should be pretty obvious from Bwlch y Moch which is the correct way to go. People who ignore the obvious dangers presented early on the ascent of Crib Goch will not be the sort of people to turn back at a sign post, besides, it is arguably harder to descend the east ridge of Crib Goch that it is to continue.

So for these reasons over 50 people at the December meeting of the BMC Cymru/Wales voted to oppose any signage on the Snowdon Horseshoe whilst there was nobody in favour."

Mike Raine

Chair BMC Cymru/Wales

Blackpool Tower (click to enlarge)

Blackpool Tower - situated at the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire - is 158m tall (518ft 9 inches) and Mike and and Rich split the route into three pitches, protection was good, consisting of slings slung around the metal girders, with an overall grade of HVS 4c. Mike told us that some of the holds were a bit rusty, although the rusty bits are being slowly replaced as the tower is refurbished. He also said that there were many ways to go.

Blackpool Tower was opened to the public on 14 May 1894 and was the idea of Blackpool Mayor John Bickerstaffe who was inspired by the the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, which Mike Roberston also climbed, illegally, in November, to protest against Total's - the French oil company, based in Paris - continued involvement in Burma.

See the UKClimbing.com news report here

This ascent though was totally legal and is part of a promotion for the new Sony Alpha 700 Digital SLR camera that Mike is involved in. Mike is touring Britain climbing various towers, bridges and buildings, and taking photos with the Sony.

More details, including Mike's blog of ascents at www.sony.co.uk/unseenbritain

Rich Mayfield, Mike's partner on the Blackpool Tower climb is part of the Orange House and also, with Mark Stevenson climbed all the routes in the Ken Wilson's 'Hard Rock' last summer as part of the Hard Rock Challenge.

See a future issue of Climber magazine for a full account of Mike and Rich's climb of Blackpool tower.

MacLeod : To Hell and Back E10

UK Trad 2007 by Jack Geldard takes a look at the Trad climbing achievements of 2007. With comments from some of the UK's leading traditional climbers and a run down of some of the hardest routes - both onsight and headpoint, this is an in-depth, historical record of British climbing at its best.

You can read it here: here

Coming very soon are the Sport, Bouldering, and Alpine 2007 articles.

And in a couple on months, UK Winter.

UKC's evergreen roving reporter - Roberta Jinglestop has some amazing info on a cutting edge first ascent, breaking barriers in UK winter climbing standards:

"I'm very pleased to be able to report an outstanding and ground breaking new route on Ben McNaughty, the bastion of winter climbing in Tunbridge Wells." Writes Roberta.

THE KNOW-HOW is graded XXII 17 and takes the obvious line on the over-hanging onion, near the summit of Ben McNaughty.

Click Here For More Info and an Exclusive Video

Climbers and hillwalkers donating to Mountain Rescue

Laura Clout at www.telegraph.co.uk reports:

"One couple called the emergency number and demanded a helicopter because they were late for a dinner party, while another walker said they were just "tired and fed up". Other spurious requests for assistance included a walker who complained they were "lost" in tall bracken, and another who had got their push-chair stuck."

At the BBC website, news.bbc.co.uk it states that "It is thought a steady rise in call-outs has been fuelled by increasing numbers of people hiking."

Often people get in trouble because they are not prepared, with no map or map reading skills, wearing street clothing and shoes, with no food, relying on their mobile phones if they get in trouble. Only last week it was reported at UKClimbing.com by some winter climbers that some walkers were up on Helvellyn wearing leather brogues.

There are 57 individual mountain rescue teams in England and Wales, comprising over 3,500 volunteers.

You can learn more about mountain rescue in the UK and donate at www.mountain.rescue.org.uk

Running from Monday 21 January to Sunday 3 February, there will be 6 Leading Ladder routes (F6b, 6c, 7a, 7b, 7c, 8a) set at Awesome Walls, Liverpool for anyone to have a go at. This is part of the ongoing BMC Leading Ladder.

In Scotland, The Glasgow Climbing Centre (GCC) and Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (EICA) have been running their bouldering league since November '07. The next round (4) will start on 19 January and is at GCC. Round 5 starts 26 January at EICA. Round 6 starts 16 February at EICA.

At Kendal Wall there is a low stress competition aimed at giving rope climbers a boost and encouraging folk to try routes, get chatting to other climbers and have a go at 'working' routes and pushing their grade a little. There are two levels of route with six routes in each level - with a bonus route at each level going up every Friday. The Premier category has routes in the range Fr 4-6b and the elite a grade range Fr 6b-7b

At the Manchester Climbing Centre the winter bouldering league is well underway with the next round on 11th February.

If you have news about bouldering and leading ladders at your local wall please add them to the thread associated with this news item.

What you need to do is take a big whipper. 150ft do you? Maybe on a SCAD. What the hell is a SCAD?

A SCAD is a Suspended Catch Air Device - in short a bit like a bungee jump but without the bungee, yes you can actually free fall at 75mph into a big bouncy net. SCAD was invented by Montic, manufacturer of leisure systems, and presented for the first time in April 1997 at the world famous Neuschwanstein castle in Germany.

You can see how it all works at www.dropzoneuk.com/sd_whatis

If you fancy a go and maybe improve your lead head, there will be SCAD diving at the E2 Climbing and Adventure Activity Centre near Cardiff on Saturday 9th February.

More details at www.e2-adventures.com

We are always interested in any Article submissions from users, and we're also extremely interested to hear what our users want. Let us know if we're getting it wrong - and please let us know if we're getting it right too!

Coming up:

• Climbing With Sir Ran Fiennes, Part II, by Kenton Cool
• 2007 Climbing Round-ups, Bouldering, Sport climbing, Trad and Alpine
• 'How Heavy is your Jobby?!' by Mike 'Twid' Turner
• Arco destination article, with photo topo's and maps, including the route Zanzara
• Announcement of the DMM: My First Outdoor Lead Winner!
• I Want That Job! Part 2 - Tom Randall, Professional Route Setter

All this, plus regular News, User Submitted Articles and Product News, Forum Discussion and Gear Reviews.

From Kenton Cool - North Face of the Eiger:
"Suddenly a yelp broke our basking glory. Ian was speeding on his back towards us like an upturned turtle. The possible reason for the fall was a tangle in the rope, meaning Ran couldn't pay rope out as Ian was mid step..."

Kenton Cool - North Face of the Eiger: Read The Article Now

...As he strode quickly down in to the village, ageing feet suddenly sore from hitting the solid tarmac, his thoughts wandered. A woman flung open a door, bursting on to the pavement, language and clothing equally colourful. It was a scene he had relived many times, his face flushed with shame. He thought of her, tall and colourful, and of how he'd left in a brown Austin Maxi, with her screaming on the step. But climbing was everything to him then. Almost running out of the house, leaving his Simond twelve point crampons on the kitchen table, not daring to look her in the eye. He'd not sobered up until Dover. That winter in the Alps had been his crowning glory...

Later, detailing an attempt on The Indian Face:

...Stuck high on that slab, like a child swept out to sea, Chris had screamed for fifteen minutes. He couldn't move up, he couldn't reverse. Legs cramping, toes sliding, he swore. Then he'd gone quiet, resting his forehead against the rock. His rapid, loud breathing dimmed to a faint rasp. Young Martin held the useless ropes like rosary beads, his fingers twisting across them. It was too late, but Chris plunged upwards, no choice but to do battle with the cold, grey enemy. Shaking beyond control now, his foot stabbed the rock, eyes wide, fingers grasping, searching, crawling...

Read an interview with Jack on: UKClimbing.com

More information about the Mountain Literature Festival

Visit the: Climb Magazine Website

Braille Trail

Pete explained the difference between the two routes to PlanetFear, “Grandad's Slab traverses to the central pocket in the middle of the wall, as for Braille Trail but instead of lowering down to the pocket with your hands, you put your foot into it, hold some pebbles and rock over till you are stood in the pocket. Then you climb the bold wall above on some more pebbles. I think that it is probably E7 6c and I decided to stick with Johnny's name, Grandad's Slab.”

Report and photo at Planet Fear

The Judges (click to enlarge)

13. The Scent of the Sky by John Lisle: Read Here

15. Cat Got Your Tongue? (1969) by full stottie: Read Here

22. Great Expectations by Uriah: Read Here

33. Petticoats and Promises by A Jo by any Other Name: Read Here

50. Confessions of a Coward by nicolaw: Read Here

55. Growing Up by sarah79: Read Here

85. A new life for old... by Simon: Read Here

104. Move On by Mark HW: Read Here

105. One Hundred Years Ago by Jim Nevill: Read Here

118. M1, Avon Gorge - 1986 by RJC: Read Here

We've really enjoyed reading them all and thank you to everyone who took the time to sit down and write them.

We are so pleased in fact that in addition to the first prize of a £500 rack and spot prizes for all we have added two runner up prizes of £100 of DMM gear each.

Give us a week to make up our minds here in the DMM office and of course your comments and opinions are welcomed. The overall winner will be presented with their prize at the DMM Factory on Friday 7th of March (if they can make it) which happens to be the start of the Llanberis Mountain Film Festival where we will also read out some of the winning and favourite entries.

Once again thank you.

Chris and Simon - DMM

Rhapsody

In a forthcoming UKClimbing.com article on the UK Climbing Year 2007, Steve McClure looks ahead to 2008 and what he has planned.

So what is in store, or planned for Steve McClure in 2008?

"The thing at Kilnsey. Perhaps a look at Rhapsody, though I don't pretend for a minute I'm gonna just go and do it; just a look see, and to get fitter and stronger."

Rhapsody is the Dave MacLeod route at Dumbarton given the groundbreaking grade of E11 for an onsight ascent.

Also at Katherine Schirrmacher's website, www.lovetoclimb.co.uk there is an interview with Steve that says the same thing.

"I already have done plenty of trad where the sport climbing skills, particularly the focus, made a big difference. I'll never be a big trad climber, as in big numbers, as they require a degree of risk I don't think I can justify. However, safe, hard trad interests me more than anything, it's just that there aren't that many of them around. Strawberries – yes, I just need to go and try; Rhapsody, it's on the list for this spring.."

You can read Katherine's interview with Steve McClure, here

Pete MacPherson, Graeme Briffit and Mike Lates did the first winter ascent of Grand Dierdre Direct in Coire a Ghrunnda, Cuillin, Skye. This route is a VS summer route and the team thought VI,6 was a fair grade. Report with photographs at www.thefrontpoint.com

If you want to see some of this weekends action Jonathan Yates and David Hudson of TheFrontPoint.com have video of their ascents of Salamander (IV, 5) and Sneer III, in the Cairngormes.

Sadly there was another fatality on Helvelyn this weekend. David Thomas Burke, 41, from Newcastle reportedly out walking with friends, fell down Number 2 Gully possibly knocked over by strong winds.

There is much discussion about conditions and winter routes at UKClimbing.com's Winter Climbing forum.

The team trials took place at the Foundry in Sheffield and saw a number of new faces coming to the competition along with the present members from the 2007 Leading Team. Competition for the top spots was closely contested, with the top places being decided by the performances in the final.

2008 Senior Lead Climbing Team:
Adrian Baxter
Alan Cassidy
Drew Haigh
Rob Haigh
Tom Newman
Tony Musslebrook
Gaz Parry
Robin Sutton
Adam Watson
Ashleigh Naysmith (f)
Jemma Powell (f)

Junior Team Members:
Natalie Berry
Shauna Coxsey
Joshua Farrell
James Garden
Robert MacKenzie
Jonathan Stocking
Michaela Tracy
Kitty Wallace

Junior Aspirants:
Rebecca Hall
Edward Hamer
Tom Middlemas
Luke Tilley
Ellen Tracy
Catherine Whiteman
Paul Williamson
Suzie Zitter

View the British Climbing Team website for more info.

Experience is a great teacher, as is seeking the services of a qualified climbing guide, experienced friend or going on a winter skills course.

The next best thing is doing some reading or even better watching the BMC Winter Essentials DVD. You can view a trailer of that instructional DVD at www.thebmc.co.uk

Avalanche awareness? Try this quiz at the Glenmore Lodge website:www.glenmorelodge.org.uk/avalanche

To be known as the SkyMasters competition, both grassroots climbers and some of the world's top competition climbers will get a chance to compete on a unique structure with over 100ft of horizontal climbing and in places - moving parts.

Friday will be an open event for all comers, with those qualifying making it through to Saturday's open flash event and a place alongside invitational climbers from the UK and abroad.

More entry details here: www.theoutdoorsshow.co.uk

There is so much going on I can't detail it all here, but what really stood out to me was 'The Modern Face of Everest'. Kenton Cool and climber/film-maker Matt Dickinson will join Dave MacLeod to discuss the "Ethics of today's Everest" - now that sounds exciting.

Coming next is the Sheffield festival, ShAFF (29th Feb - March 2nd). As well as top films, ShAFF is featuring appearances from many top names, including; Ian Parnell, Joe Simpson and Niall Grimes. For those who prefer climbing to watching, the Climbing Works will be holding the International Masters Bouldering Competition and also a huge party free to ShAFF ticket holders.

Perhaps the most underground of all the Mountain Film Festivals is LLAMFF, (7th - 9th March) the dark, mysterious cousin of the other events. This brooding image is enhanced by the stark black and white imagery featured on the LLAMFF website and posters. With a strong line up including; Andy Cave, Leo Dickinson, Nick Bullock and Tim Emmett, this will also be a weekend to remember.

Links:

Fort William Film Festival

Sheffield Film Festival

Llanberis Film Festival

The past month, as you can see, has been dominated by Competition articles, the My First Lead essays of which there are 122 in total. But in the last month's mix there are winter climbing articles by Rob Jarvis and Andy Kirkpatrick, Glacial Trekking in Patagonia by Colin Henderson, Dave Turnbull's BMC address to the mountain community and Kenton Cool on climbing with Sir Ranulph Fiennes - stay tuned for part two this week. Simon Yates takes us to the Cordillera Darwin Range and Roger Wilko describes the Best VS in the World.

This month there is some overlap into January.

We are committed to publishing submitted articles from grassroots climbers and articles from professional climbing journalists. We are also very interested in Destination and Classic Climb articles that we need to publish more of. If you have any ideas, drop us an email.

SEE THE SUMMARY OF NEW CONTENT: here

We hope you find this feature useful.

Happy reading and viewing.

Mick and Jack
Editors at UKClimbing.com

"With snow and cold temperatures forecast we headed to the Cairngorms on Friday. The weather forecast was for strong winds gusting up to 60mph so we decided to go in to Coire an t-Sneachda due to its close proximity. It was snowing quite heavily with strong winds making the walk-in quite challenging with deep drifts in places and strong gusts swirling around. As we approached the coire conditions worsened and the gusts became stronger and more frequent."

More at: thefrontpoint.com/reports

AVALANCHE REPORT: Read about Andy Moin and teams' close call here

Produced by The Met. Office, Manchester Weather Centre

Issued: Saturday, 05 Jan 2008

There is snow and ice at all levels this increase in depth with height with drifts of 50cm at 900m. Where the wind has blown the snow from the path the ground and rocks are covered in verglas (Ice). The summit area is covered in ice and small amounts of snow, the snow on the east face is mainly made up of windslab, this is not bonding to the surface due to it being frozen.

Extreme care should be taken on steep east facing aspects, there is a high Avalanche risk until the snow pack has time to consolidate. The cornice on the east side of Helvellyn this is weakly bonded and should be avoided. The still air temperature today was -3.9c and a wind chill of -15.9c. Full winter clothing, footwear and equipment, including ice axe and crampons are recommended for anybody venturing above the snowline, and are essential if on steep ground. None of the winter climbs on Helvellyn are in condition at the moment PLEASE give it a couple of days for the snow to consolidate before climbing.

General Situation

A strong, cold, showery west or southwesterly airflow will cover the Lake District today.

More including Sundays forecast at www.lake-district.gov.uk/weatherline

That's £14.75 for an individual member rather than the usual £28.50.

And you can do it right now by going to this page: www.thebmc.co.uk/join

The BMC has been the national organisation for climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers since 1944 and work hard on your behalf to:

• Secure access to our mountains, crags and boulders
• Be the public voice for climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers
• Organise crag conservation & restoration work
• Support 60,000+ members nationwide
• Promote local activism, crag clean-ups & events
• Provide Summit magazine, guidebooks & insurance
• Own & manage crags

The BMC are run by mountain enthusiasts for mountain enthusiasts, and rely on membership subscriptions to fund vital work.

See original UKClimbing.com report here

Below Ian Parnell reports and speculates on a possible grade:

"We picked the right day, walking up from the visitors centre and getting a fantastic sunrise just before dropping down number 3 gully. The route was well hoared/snowed up with a bit but not too much ice in the crack. Garth led the first pitch which is stunning steep hooking and bridging up wide cracks in a chimney, we felt this pitch was VII 7. I then led the second pitch, managing to span in from the belay (which is high up left) and so probably missed a move that Andy would have made on the first ascent (he down climbed and accessed the crack direct I think.) The next 15ft were the crux, with an unhelpful icy crack and very very thin hooks. I also had two flakes pull off on me which came close to ruining my onsight. Luckily I held it together and the rest of the route had better hooks with a superb pumpy finish.

We had a bit of a debate about what grade we thought this pitch was... my feeling is that its IX 9. I've spoken to Andy Turner, and he goes with that as it was what he initially thought.

More importantly the route is superb, a stunning line, that is in condition often and I think will prove a popular challenge. In my opinion its amongst the very best short routes I've done in Scotland."

Read More of Ian's comments about this route in the Forums, here

Mick Ryan asked Pat Littlejohn a few questions about his OBE - see original news report below.

When did you find out that you were getting an OBE and how did you find out?

You get a letter a few weeks before saying you're being considered for an award and asking whether you would accept.

How does it feel?

Slightly mixed feelings - I'm very much a grass roots climber and not at all like the public figures I've always associated with these 'honours'. However it is nice to get some broader recognition for our sport and if it proves to be of some benefit to mountaineering, in my BMC work for example, I'll be happy.

What specifically did you get it for?

I've not been told anything beyond 'Services to Mountaineering' and wouldn't want to speculate. A positive thing about these awards is that they come out of the blue, you can't do specific things to get them.

Did you know that you had been nominated?

No - I know nothing about the process or who is involved, and its probably better that way.

There are some that may say that you should refuse the OBE, in fact they have said that. What do you have to say about those who are against the honours? Did you consider declining?

Not seriously, it would have been churlish and pointless and could have damaged other climber's chances of being offered awards in future. I think it is important that the value of a non-competitive, non-Olympic sport is recognised, particularly by this government which has drastically cut funding to mountaineering and to other non-Olympic sports.

Finally congratulations, personally I think it is a great honour and wholly deserved. When do you go down to see the Queen?

Thanks Mick, and to all the others who have sent congratulations. No idea yet when I collect the award, but I hope it's the same day as Kylie Minogue!

click to enlarge

'Rolando Garibotti and Colin Haley have completed the much-discussed—and occasionally attempted—Torre Traverse: the link-up of Aguja Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger, and Cerro Torre in a single alpine-style outing.

Garibotti, 36, an Argentine who lives much of the year in Colorado, is one of the most accomplished Patagonian climbers of recent years. Haley, 23, lives in Washington and has climbed very successfully in Patagonia two times before this season.

In an e-mail, Garibotti wrote, “Usually I would prefer to keep my doings to myself, but since, because of the high-profile nature of this climb, this was going to be impossible, Colin and I decided to provide the info right from the horse's mouth to make sure there are no mistakes.” '

UKClimbing.com sent their collective congratulations to Rolo and Colin this morning and Rolo got back almost immediately with his thanks.

Here's a photo of Colin and Rolo on the summit of Cerro Torre.

Read the extensive report by Dougald MacDonald at Climbing.com.

For full details and photo's visit the DMM website

Pointe Lachenal (3613m) is situated approximately 2km from the Aiguille du Midi lift station, high on the Vallee Blanche - in the Mont Blanc Range. It is a well travelled summer objective, offering great granite rock routes of around 250m in length. The ease of access from the Midi Station and the Refuge des Cosmiques, and the fact that the routes are generally solid, well protected and face South-East make this a deservedly popular summer venue. In winter the steep granite cracks offer thin mixed climbing in a similar style to the Northern Corries. The proximity of the face to the Vallee Blanche enables climbers to take an early lift to the Midi Station, climb and then ski back to the Chamonix valley in a day.

I spoke to Matt Helliker about the route: "This is the most sustained 'day route' I've done in the Alps, every pitch was full on. It's much harder that Scotch on the Rocks and its neighbours."

The Italian alpine guide, 48 year old Maurizio "Manolo" Zanolla, who has already climbed several 9a's including, Only For Old Warriors (7c, 7b+, 8b, 8c/9a) at Vette Feltrine (Italy) and Bain de Sang 9a at Saint Loup (Switzerland), has climbed another.

8a.nu reports:

"Maurizio "Manolo" Zanolla is getting close to 50, but still manages to keep the powder dry. Yesterday morning he climbed Francois Nicole's Bimbaluna, 9a or possibly 9a+, at St Loup, Switzerland. He tried the route one year ago, for a few days, then he came back before Christmas for three days, once falling at the last move, with a temperature of -2 degree. On Sunday (20th January) he sent it at the second try "

The hardest sport routes in the world are 9a+/b.

Manolo is sponsored by La Sportiva

Wills Young reports at the bishopbouldering.blogspot.com

"Yesterday (Friday) afternoon, Lisa climbed The Mandala (v12), and is the first female to climb this line first done by Chris Sharma in 2000. The problem has gained almost mythical status as one of the most popular and most famous lines in the world, and for good reason: it is an extraordinary climb. Lisa was psyched to achieve this goal that she's been aiming for since last season when she first started trying it. A torn bicep, weird weather conditions, a mystery illness, and a flim project revolving around her ascent of the super-highball This Side of Paradise (v10) kept her from success then, but this season, on just her third day of tries, she climbed the line at the third attempt, saying that moments before doing it, she felt strangely certain of success."

Watch this video of Lisa Rands climbing high boulder problems around Bishop including This Side of Paradise at video.nbcsports.com

More and a possible video of Lisa climbing the Mandala soon at bishopbouldering.blogspot.com

More photos by Jeff Sillcox at eastsidebouldering.blogspot.com

Bishop webcam at sierraimpressions.com

Lisa Rands is sponsored by Evolv, The North Face, Petzl, Voo Doo Holds and New England Ropes.

David Hooper emailed Patagonia and asked them.

Jonathan Petty of Patagonia responded.

'Thanks very much for your interest in what we do as a company, and specifically for letting us know about this - I am the UK Sales Manager and wasn't aware of this until we were emailed.

As you all may know, at Patagonia we give 1% of our sales to grassroots environmental organisations...to date we have given away $29 million. This is only one aspect of the many actions we do to fulfill our mission statement of "build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm to the environment". For example we have have been using 100% organic cotton since 1996 in all our cotton products; recycled polyester since 1996 in our synchilla fleece; and our goal is to be 100% by 2010 (Yvon Chouinard's aim for us).

As far as Sea Shepherd goes we are not a corporate sponsor as wikipedia suggests. We have supported them over the years, but we haven't given them a grant ie $s for 15 years. The 'official' word from Ventura our HQ is:

"Patagonia has supported Sea Shepherd's overall efforts to protect our ocean's biodiversity at times over the past 15 years. We, as a company, support a wide range of front line activism and grassroots organizations that are part of a vibrant and diverse environmental movement. Patagonia is aware that Sea Shepherd engages in direct actions as one of their approaches to protect and conserve marine ecosystems"

We have many people who are passionate, and enquiring, about what we do, and we welcome the dialogue. We don't get everything right, but overall please remember that it is in the DNA of our company to raise awareness and do practical things to help protect our planet and its environment.'

Kind regards

Jonathan

Several high-profile nominees have declined to participate in the awards process, decrying the whole idea of choosing the “best” climb of the year in a pursuit as diverse and personal as mountaineering. Last year's co-winner, Marko Prezelj from Slovenia, denounced the prize on stage and then wrote widely published essays explaining why such prizes were incompatible with the spirit of alpinism.

Read the full story on the Climbing.com website

Only one other person has reported flashing a V13 problem: Britain's James Pearson, who recently flashed his third problem given 8B (V13), Schule des Lebens in Switzerland.

Later, Paul Robinson has made the second ascent of Terremer (V15/V16), the hardest boulder problem at Hueco Tanks. Switzerland's Fred Nicole established Terremer at the beginning of 2006. The problem links Diaphanous Sea (V12) and Terre de Sienne (V14), two other Nicole problems on Hueco's North Mountain.

Read the full report by Dougald MacDonald at Climbing.com.

From Damien Gildea, on the Alpinist Website:

"We spent a long time melting snow for water, having drinks and something to eat, then trying to get some sleep. Pachi and Camilo both brought their sleeping bags; I just lay in the middle in my down jacket and Primaloft pants with my feet wrapped in another jacket... around 2 p.m. on Monday, Tyree [a nearby peak, first climbed in 1967 - ed] clouded over quite quickly from the west, the summit disappeared, and lots of clouds moved in, now with some snow blowing in the wind.

We decided it [ascent of Tyree] was not on; we'd have to go down and try again later... So down we headed, now pretty much in total white-out, following the GPS. But at the point we turned west to descend off the plateau, we decided to take the opportunity, as meagre as it was, to head north across the big plateau and make the first ascent of Mt. Ryan (ca. 3890m), a newly-named and designated peak at the northern tip of the Gardner massif."

Read the full details with info on other Omega Foundation routes on the Alpinist Website.

The Omega Foundation is a non-profit scientific organization founded in 1998 that conducts projects in Antarctica. It is dedicated to the support of scientific, environmental, educational and literary work in the Antarctic region. Part of that work involves GPS mapping in the mountains of Antarctica and relaying that information to the Australian government. The registered points are then combined with satellite images in order to make new, more accurate maps, for free distribution worldwide.

Damien Gildea is a long time Expedition member for The Omega Foundation, and has climbed numerous peaks and first ascents in Antarctica. He has summited Mt. Vinson (4,892 m), Antarctica's highest mountain, on several occasions. He is also author of The Antarctic Mountaineering Chronology, a reference book on climbing in Antarctica and South Georgia.

Sir Edmund Hillary passed away in New Zealand on Friday, aged 88.

Sir Edmund and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first men to climb Mount Everest on 29 May 1953. They were members of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by Lord John Hunt. Norguay passed away in 1986, Lord Hunt in 1998.

Sir Edmund Hillary was born on July 20, 1919 in Tuakau, New Zealand.

After Everest he devoted his life to the Sherpas of Nepal's Khumbu region. In 1960 he established The Himalayan Trust to help battle poverty in the region building schools, clinics and bridges. He was made an honorary Nepalese citizen in 2003.

Sir Edmund Hillary's family have accepted an offer by the New Zealand government to hold a state funeral.

You can make a donation to the Himalayan Trust at www.himalayantrust.co.uk

More information:
New Zealand Herald:nzherald.co.nz
Sir Edmund Hillary Timeline:tvnz.co.nz
BBC obituary:news.bbc.co.uk

UKClimbing.com Memorial Forum Thread; HERE

Royal Arches

"There was an almost ledge just below the anchor, and I sort of felt like I could stick it or something. I don't know, I just knew it would be okay somehow. This is all I can give you, really. I have no memory of the fall whatsoever. I think that bachman's must have slipped just as I feared, and in my grab for it, I must have let go of the red too? Somehow, I just fell right off both of them." writes Meghan.

Read Meghan's account here at www.supertopo.com

And her climbing partner Matt also gives his version:

"Her injuries included:
Fractured C2, dislocated C3 (top of cervical spine).
Several broken ribs leading to a punctured lung.
Fractured tales bone of right foot.
The usual scrapes and bruises.

Two days after a nine hour surgery (using bone from her hip to fuse C1, C2 + C3, attaching a HALO to stabilize her spine during an anticipated 3 month+ recovery) she was up WALKING (despite the foot Fx, oops). She is out of the hospital now and seems to have no long term disabilities at all. Hard to believe really."

Read Matt's account here at www.supertopo.com

The Scottish woman was interviewed by police and the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association after a gruelling wait to be rescued by other guides.

"She was full of praise for [Mr Wopereis] and also for other guides that came to his and her assistance," said association executive officer Dave Crow.

We extend our sympathy to everyone involved in this tragic accident.

Sources:
Yahoo
Aspiringguides.com
Everestnews.com

As a climax to their Seven Walls - Seven Continents project, the Pou brothers have just climbed an important new route on the Antarctic Peninsula. In a twenty-four-hour round trip from their base camp in the Lemaire Channel, Eneko and Iker Pou, with Jabi Baraiazarra, made the first ascent of the Three Pigs via a route they have named Azken Paradisua, a 400-meter rock wall followed by 200 meters of mixed and ice terrain to the summit mushroom.

The Pou brothers conceived the idea of the the Seven Walls - Seven Continents project in 2002, when they decided to travel to each of the world's seven continents and free climb a significant rock wall that was representative of the land they were in. This Antarctic climb is the last on the list, with other impressive routes climbed since the project started in 2003.

Read the full details with info on all seven routes on the Alpinist Website.