FANTASTIC Fontainebleau WINTER skills HOT ROCKS Majorca · FANTASTIC Fontainebleau WINTER skills...

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Issue #13 - Winter 2002 FANTASTIC Fontainebleau FANTASTIC Fontainebleau WINTER skills HOT ROCKS Majorca

Transcript of FANTASTIC Fontainebleau WINTER skills HOT ROCKS Majorca · FANTASTIC Fontainebleau WINTER skills...

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Issue #13 - Winter 2002

FANTASTIC FontainebleauFANTASTIC Fontainebleau

WINTER skills

HOT ROCKS Majorca

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EditorialHi! Well hasn�t time gone by?Summer, although brilliant andfull of loads of climbing, wasnowhere near long enough!

I can�t believe we�ve alreadyprepared our Pumpkins, Halloweencostumes and our Christmasstockings, maybe even ourtraining strategies forBirmingham�s round of the EYC andthe annual BICC�S! It seems onlyseconds ago that we were floatingin the sea in some far away sundrenched island, but now it�s backto school and back to the adrena-line of competition climbing.

Although competitions at themoment seem nothing compared tothe buzz of outdoors, traditionaland sport climbs.The classicssadly are going to bed until thesummer next year, unless westumble across a dry weekend!Internationally we have had asuperb summer, with anotherpodium placement, this timecoming from Adam Dewhurst whosuccessfully achieved a thirdplace in the Arco round of theEYC!

Well, hoping as always that youare happily cranking on the crags,and cruising on the walls.

Jemma

CYBER-STUDENTJemma Powell

Britain�s junior climbingcomp champion JemmaPowell has signed a deal withPlanet Climbing�s trainer inresidence, Neil Gresham for atraining programme�

When asked how she was gettingalong with the structuredprogram, Jemma had this to say:

�The program is really great. My fitness level is definitelyimproving already. My shouldersfeel stronger for longer on mycircuit and on the competitionroutes I climbed in Italy (where Iwas placed 7th).

�So far the program appears tobe working brilliantly and it�s anawesome idea for climberslooking to improve theirclimbing skills, endurance,stamina, etc.

�I am also feeling more confidentin my climbing which is reallygood.�

Courtesy of

NOSE SPEED Record SmashedOctober 17 2001

Tim O�Neil and Dean Potter havejust broken the speed record forThe Nose on El Capitan, Yosemite.Taking 23 minutes off theprevious record of 4 hours and 22minutes held for almost ten yearsby Hans Florine and Peter Croft.

The new record is a mere 3 hours59 minutes, for a route thatregularly takes three days, andonly last week saw an �in a day�attempt by Brits Ian Parnell andAirlie Anderson end unsuccess-fully just long of the golden 24hours, which rather puts it intocontext.

Design by Vertebrate Graphics www.v-graphics.co.uk

All ChangeAt the BMC we�re having a majoroverhaul � we�re re-organisingthe entire office. One of thethings we�re changing is ourphone number. If you want to callour office after January you�llneed to call: 0870 0104878

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Next Issue…UIAA Youth Commission PresidentAnne Arran experiences youthclimbing in Russia. See next issue for training �Eastern European style.

Landscape painting by a youngRussian climber C Anne Arran

watch out for…Anne Arran�s profile of the Iranian Girls� Competition Climbing Team - Next Issue�

C Raheleh Alhoee

Please send suggestions forcontent for the BMC websiteto [email protected]

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Risk and ResponsibilityParents and young participantsshould be aware that climbing, hillwalking and mountaineering areactivities with a danger of personalinjury or death. Parents and partic-ipants in these activities should beaware of and accept these risks andbe responsible for their own actionsand involvement. The BMC publishes awide range of publicity and goodpractice advice and providestraining opportunities for members.Additional advice and events areavailable to young members andtheir parents. Details about theBMC�s training and youth programmesare available from the BMC websiteand office.

HEY!We want your news, views andphotos for the next issue.Please sent articles on diskor by E-mail to:[email protected]

LAKES YOUTH MEETA Roaring Success

Once again we�d like to thankthe Fell & Rock Club for yetanother exceptional youth meet.

For a full report � check outthe next issue.

Nathan Reece C Ron Kenyon

Roger enjoying the alps C Anne Arran

BEST

SUMMERof theROUTEs

Barbarian E1, Tremadog

This top route was the first E1

that I ever led. Barbarianis a 2 pitch climb the firstpitch being short and easy and

the second pitch being long and

hard. There are loads ofdifferent climbing styles on it

�cause it has a slab section,overhangs and a thin crack line.

Rosie Payne Terracotta HVS, Anglezark

This route is mostly in balancepart of it being quite delicatefinishing with an overhang atthe end. The gear is really good(but being in a quarry the rockis quite likely to peel off!) �it�s just such a good route.

Rosie PayneIncursion HVS, Stanage

This is a really delicate slab

climb and being on Stanage it

just has to be a top route. The

lack of gear adds interest. :)

Rosie Payne Cheat E3 5b, Wilton

Excellent route with anawkward move at the start ifyou are small. The top wall iseasier than it looks with nicedeep flat holds.

Ian HollowsChequers Crack HVS 5b, Froggatt

A brilliant route that looks

like it has got to be done. It

has an unusually awkward start

even though it looks easy; the

top isn�t hard if you can jam.

Ian Hollows Horror Arête 6b, Bridestones

I did it in the rain with wetholds� Paul Smitton

Virgin F8a+, Majorca

Ground-up on the fourthattempt. Paul Smitton

Orphée au Nez GrosF7c, Ceou, France

I did this onsight, placing theclips, massive, overhangingpitch in a huge cave called the

Cathedrale. Paul Smitton

Contents2-3 News

3 Best Routes of the SummerGripsters recall their bestclimbs of the year

4-5 Hot RockzzzOut and About in Majorca

Fantastic Fontainebleau6-8 The BMC Extreme Bloc Top

Performers� Youth Meet 9-11 Five Go Mad in France

- the Kent-Pearsons on holiday

12-13When Thoughts Turn to WinterWinter skills advice

14 Access News Join our competition tocelebrate the launch of theAccess and ConservationTrust - WIN GREAT GOODIES!

PASTURES NEW…Roger Payne [right] the BMC�sGeneral Secretary is leaving theBMC to become the first everdevelopment officer for theUIAA. Best wishes and good luckfrom all at the BMC.

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• Banish the winter blues and• Climb, walk and swim

[by Paul Smitton]

We were getting closer and closer to the runway atPalma airport and the cliffs looked amazing. Thesheer cliffs hung over the sea and looked sooooextreme and fantastic.

My Dad had arranged for us to rent a car. We got aFiat Punto. You should have seen my Dad, speedinground the mountain bends at top speed. He surelycan�t have thought he was on the Fiat advert beingchased by a runaway lava flow, could he ?

The crags were a lot better than I had thought.They had great, massive tufas and fantastic caves.On the very first day of climbing we went to a cragabove the sea called Santanyi. Paul and my Dad didsome routes but me and my mum found it too diffi-cult so we didn�t go back. Our three main crags werecalled Alaro, Port de Soller and Cala Magraner. Alarowas above a very long path and took forever to getto the crag. It was based just below the ruins of anold castle. My mum and I walked up to the castle andfound the smallest village I had ever seen � it onlyhad one house, one church, a pub and two overnightstay rooms. Port de Soller was our favourite crag.It was just above the sea and had two awesomecaves. I led a really nice 6a there. My brother led agreat route in an immense tufa cave. It was calledThe Virgin and was graded 8a+. It went up and out ofthe cave. Our next favourite was the crag, CalaMagraner. It was by the beach and the ground wascovered in weird fluffy brown balls that lookedidentical to kiwi fruits. We never found out whatthey were. I had a scare at Cala Magraner one day asI was up a route when my Mum shouted up to me �Ididn�t check your harness, is it alright ?� I looked

down and saw that it wasn�t even done up! Mybrother had to solo up to me, clip me into a bolt andthen I had to do up my buckle and carry on climbing.

There was a brilliant bouldering crag called Porto Pi. The climbing was fab until we found out itwas a nudist hangout. When we were walking down tothe crag, a strange old man popped up. I could onlysee from his head to his hips and was expectingsomething on his bottom half but I�d forgotten thatthis was a NUDIST beach ! It was so funny, I couldn�tcarry on walking as I was laughing so much.

On one day we decided to go on a gorge walk. We hadto walk down into a gorge which took a good fewhours and then had to walk along the bottom to getto our car. The walk took around 7 hours. When wewere walking along the bottom, we barely walked, webouldered. The size of the boulders was amazing. Ifyou fell off some you could have died, they were sohigh. You wouldn�t have been able to do it if youweren�t a climber ! Whilst we were walking along thebottom, we came across a party of Spaniards whowere going up a very narrow side gorge. Suddenly,one of them dropped his rucksack and he tried tocatch it but he lost his footing on the smoothrocks and slithered and crashed down into a deep,dark chasm. We thought he was dead but after ahorrible silence, he shouted he was OK, his friendspulled him out and we carried on our way.

I can tell you a lot more. We went to loads of cragsloads of walks, swimming and beaches � it is a bril-liant island and I would recommend it to anyone onthe look out for a great climbing holiday.

We were off to Majorca with a flying start. We had booked our holiday at exactly the right time as the outbreak of foot and mouth would have prevented us from climbing in England.My family and I were going to have a fortnight of climbing and swimming in the sun.

Did you know… ? 1. Majorca is the biggest of the Balearic islands - the other islands are Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera2. Although part of Spain - the main language in the Balearics is not Spanish but Catalan 3. Majorca and Mallorca are different words for the same place! Both are pronounced �ma-yor-ka�

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dream of sun-drenched islandsin this limestone heaven

out & aboutin Majorca

Balearic Islands

MarseillePerpignan

Barcelona

Valencia

AlicanteMediterranean

Sea

MenorcaMajorca

Palma

Ibiza

Al-Jaza’ir

Formentera

Spain

France

Andorra

Algeria

Travel information, courtesy of

Getting theres There are a great number of flights

to Palma airport, especially from theUK. Budget airlines such as EasyJetoffer a 'no frills' low cost service.

s Once in Majorca, you will need a caras the crags are spread evenlyaround the island, and you might findyourself staying a reasonable driveaway from any of them.

Local accommodations Climbers often find unbelievably

cheap package deals, search and youmay be lucky � so long as you don'tmind the risk of staying in touristhot spot Magaluf...

Guidebookss RockFax Costa Blanca, Mallorca, El

Chorro. This excellent guide hasbeen republished (August 2001).

s Rock Climbs in Mallorca by ChrisCraggs, published by Cicerone. Acomprehensive guide which alsocovers the Canary Isles, and Ibiza.

Photo: Climbing hard on Sastre don Boret 6c+, Valdemossa C Smitton Collection

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Many people think the forest ofFontainebleau in France is thebest bouldering area in the world.We have two special articlesabout climbing in this amazing place…

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Seven girls and six boys were the lucky lotchosen to go and we were all excited, as manyof us had never been there before. We set offearly on the Friday in two separate groups. Inthe minibus were Leah Crane, Hazel Findley,Rosie Shaw, Lucy Griffiths, Jacob Cook, RichardWinters, Richard Sharpe, Cal Reedie and JamieCassidy, they were being driven by two of theadults Tom Briggs and Roger Barton. Their tripwas crowded from the overflowing boulder matsand luggage in the minibus. In the car wereJemma�s parents driving Katie Hill, JemmaPowell and I. Tom Bolger and his dad were tomeet us at the place where we were staying.

It was a long and tedious drive though wedid have some laughs as we tried to stand

still and not be sick on the very rockyHovercraft. At about 10.00pm we finally

arrived at the gîte. This was aconverted barn with two floors � the

ground floor, which consisted oftables, chairs, toilets and a

kitchen and the upstairs - fourbedrooms each full of beds and

equipped with a shower andtoilet. The girls had one roomand the boys another whilethe adults spread

themselves between theother two.

After grabbing a bedand trying to unpackwe settled down andeventually fellasleep eager forthe next day tocome.

supported by:

[by Hazel Duff]BMC Extreme BlocTop Performers’ Youth Meet

We woke in the morning and afterbreakfast we began the journeyto a place called 95.2. It wasfoggy and everything was dampwhen we got there but afterexploring we found several over-hanging problems which hadescaped the damp so we startedon them. After an hour or twoeverything had dried off and wehad loads to chose from. Ourfirst day bouldering was greatfun as we tried many problems andI began to get to grips withmoving boulder mats and spottingpeople.

The next day we set out againthis time to a place called Isatis.It was sunny and we were alllooking forward to climbing. Whenwe got there a few of us went fora run led by Roger who got us abit lost in the undergrowth butwe found the others after somesearching. Now that we had expe-rienced outdoor bouldering wewere much more prepared and gotstraight to searching some goodproblems. There was one route ona slab with crimps so small youseemed to hold them by yourfinger nails but after a few goeswe got to he top. The older boysstarted to try running up torocks and jumping for jugs at thetop. We had a good laugh whenRosie attempted but forgot s

On the 26th October a group of twelve kids and five adults set outto Fontainebleau in France. This was the 2001 BMC Extreme Bloc �TopPerformers� Youth Meet and would involve four days climbing and twotravelling. Fontainebleau is a well-known bouldering area to manyclimbers and is often mentioned in magazines for its problems on allshapes and sizes of boulders.

Everyone on The Elephant C Jemma Powell

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to jump and splatted into theboulder. But she didn�t give upand managed it � to her surprise!Often, once you had completed aproblem, you had to work out howto get down without falling. To myembarrassment, I once slid down awhole rock on my bum. Other moreadventurous people jumped downonto bouldering mats.

In the afternoon we went toanother place known as Cuisiniere.This had some nice traverse problems which we we did while the older boys attempted a slopeyproblem that looked prettynasty. We climbed until we could no longer see the holds and thenheaded back.

The third day consisted of areally long car journey to a placecalled L�Elephant. It is calledthis because there is a hugeboulder the shape of an elephantwith an enormous trunk. We hadbeen told that this was one ofthe best places in Fontainebleauand it was true. We quickly spreadout in groups and began climbingeasy juggy problems and thengoing onto more tricky stuff.After lunch a group photo wastaken of us all on the elephantboulder. It took ages for us toget organised but once it wasdone we set off again. We didproblems that just involved onebig rockover and others thatwere so high up (to us anyway)that we needed two spotters anda sea of bouldering mats beforewe would try them. Once again wekept climbing until it got darkand we were all really tired.

Tuesday was our last climbing dayand, even though we were stiffand had sore fingers, we stillwanted to climb. We went to

Bas Cuvier, which wasyet another greatplace. It had lots ofslabs and Lucy managedto get up most of themreally easily to my envywhile Katie and Hazel F.climbed another slabwhere the holds weremicroscopic to me.Jamie tried a problem hehad done before calledHelicopter this isbecause the last moveis a dyno to a sloper. Ifyou don�t get it you fallspinning like ahelicopter. After a fewattempts he managed todo it gripping tight tothe hold. Everyone gotinvolved in a trickytraverse found by someof the girls. Only Rosieand Richard S. managedto complete this, as it wasreally reachy. After loads oftries we gave up, as we knew wecould get no further and foundanother problem to try.

At the end of the day we wentto a restaurant for our lastsupper together. After a verysleepless night we travelledback to England. We all wishedwe were still in Fontainebleauand not in the car or minibus.We all really enjoyed the tripand it was a great experience.

I would like to thank all theadults that came with us for alltheir support and hard work itwas very much appreciated. AndI also want to thank all thosewho helped organise it, it was areal success and I would goanytime it was ever offered tome again.

BMC Extreme BlocTop Performers’ Youth Meet

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�Fall off, fall off, fall off? hurray!� I put my arm around Josh�s mum�sshoulders as she recovers from another heavy fall from, ooh, abouttwo foot up: �Kids can be so cruel,� I sympathise. On cue, Josh�s face lights up: �We can? Fatty fatty fat fat� and�you�re going bald, big ears.�

It�s just another typical dayat the crag for the Kent-Pearsons family - Josh isburning his mum off,Simpsons quotes are flyingthick and fast and Josh�ssister Bethan is shouting�Shape yourself, Neil!�everytime I touch rock in agleeful bid to put me off.Sadly it usually works.

The venue is Fontainebleau,possibly the best familyfriendly quality climbingspot in the world - it�s likebeing at the beach butwithout the sea - beautifulsoft sand to keep youngerbrothers and sisters happyand cushion the blows ofpast-their-prime mum�s fail-ures and encourage theincreasingly highball anticsof the Josh and his sister.

Josh is 12 now and he�s beencoming to Fontainebleauvirtually every year since he

was two. It was here that he first burned hismum off, doing an Orange problem at the areacalled 91.1 that she couldn�t do. That was afew years ago now and it�s such a regularoccurrance that it hardly warrantsmentioning, apart from the immediate jeering.

It�s his mum I feel sorry for, it�s not as ifshe�s one of those mums who has a go becauseher kids are into climbing. Josh�s mum isGill Kent, one of the best women climbers inthe country in her day, unfortunately todayisn�t her day, her week, her month or evenher year (yes, we even quote Friends in thisfamily, we�re not proud).

[by Neil Pearsons]5 go MAD in Francethe Kent-Pearsons in Fontainebleau

Gill lived the life of a full timeclimber with her then partner,rock-god Ron Fawcett. Togetherthey travelled the world, climbingeverywhere and everything, all dayand every day. Even if Ron did thelion�s share of the leading, it stillmeant that Gill was getting a lot ofmileage in, and often lead up to E5herself. Her best achievement wasredpointing Indecent Exposure atRaven Tor, becoming the firstBritish woman to climb E6 (F7b+). So Josh�s mum was certainly noslouch and she�s still crafty, in a�Josh, come and try this one� Oh,it�s got a long reach, ah that�s ashame, keep trying� kind of way.

Josh�s dad is a talented climbertoo, and on their weekendstogether when they go climbingit�s usually in the company of sometop climbers like his dad�s friendsAndy Cave and Simon Nadin. So Joshhas climbing in his blood, but healso gets lots of opportunity toimprove on nature. Virtually everyfamily holiday is spent in aclimbing area somewhere. We go toFontainebleau at least once ayear, sometimes more, which suitsJosh as bouldering is his favouritetype of climbing. And there aremiles of lovely tracks through themagical forest, mainly flat orgently undulating, so we have alaugh cycling in the dappledsunlight to the crag. And there�san outdoor swimming pool nearbywith enormous diving boards tojump off, perfect apres-crag funin the summer. Josh is even in s

Top Left � Leah Crane C Jemma PowellTop Right � Neil Pearsons spotting Josh at Fontainebleau C Gill KentLeft � Climbing at Fontainebleau C Jemma Powell

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one of the guidebook photos,tearing up one of the childrens'circuits

Last year we went to the Statesfor six weeks, initially inspiredby the bouldering videoRampage. Josh�s idea and minewas to retrace Chris Sharma�sbouldering road trip but thiswas subverted into a houseswap in Oregon with an old ex-pat pal of Gill�s, but we still gota bit of climbing in. Therehappened to be a hillside ofgranite boulders above Ashland,

the �Home of Shakespeare� (that�s whatthey call it, and you thought it wasStratford Upon Avon!)

This turned out to be the scene of myfirst ever �headpoint�, (36 yearsancient and I�m still having new climbingexperiences - either I�ve lead asheltered life or this is the best sportin the world). We strolled up the path,Josh, Bethan and I throwing my climbingshoes to each other, American footballstyle, with many a forage into thebushes for their retrieval. I top-ropeda stunning arête whilst Josh, Bethan andJack shouted encouragement, advice andabuse in equal measure, the latter beingmore equal than the others. After hoursand hours of patient attention (or wasit five minutes of barely suppressedboredom) they demanded ice cream so weran down the hill like lunatics - onlyStawberry Smoothies could save us now.

I got up obscenely early the next morning to beat theheat, cycling through wonderfully stereotypicalAmerican cityscape - sprinklers irrigating immaculatelawns, mile wide roads with inch slow speed limits, brightred fire hydrants, The Fonz on his motorbike? singing�It�s a Family Affair.�

After about three secondswarming up excitement got thebetter of me, I soloed the arêteand flew back to the house in timeto take Josh to the skate parkfor his morning appointment ofwoodie thrashing.

In California we hit the X-Games inSan Francisco for a couple of days,watching young men and women docompletely impossible, (but onlyjust) things on Skateboards,motor bikes and BMX bikes. Thenwe hired a huge RV, a house onwheels basically, and headed forthe Valley. Yosemite is a climbingmecca, a fascinating, terrifying,jaw-droppingly gorgeous place,with more rock than you shake astick at. We hired bikes and cycledround for a bit, swam in the riverMerced to cool off and then wentbouldering.

Camp 4 is home to the most famousboulder problem in the world -Midnight Lightning. I had a briefgo one afternoon but we soonbailed and went swimming in theYosemite Lodge outdoor pool,where you can float aroundstaring up at the huge wallstowering around you, thinking ofthe epics they�ve seen or dreamingof the epics you�ll have. The nextday Josh and I returned and spenta very pleasant morning warming upon the innumerable brilliant boul-ders before trying the big one.Sadly it wasn�t to be and we leftunsuccessful (well I did). Nevermind, Josh has his whole life aheadof him, and when he returns toYosemite (as I�m sure he will) I

5 go MAD in Francethe Kent-Pearsons in Fontainebleau

Top � Jack �flashes�Midnight Lighting,YosemiteAbove � Josh climbingin FontainebleauC All photos, NeilPearsons & Gill Kent

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don�t doubt he�ll climb it with ease. Hislittle brother did it though, well, the light-ning bit anyway (see photo).

This Easter we went to the Ardeche,in the south of France. The Ardecheis a beautiful river running througha steep sided gorge, with cragseverywhere and easy rapids to

paddle and cool bouldering in thetrees. It was here that Josh burnt meoff for the first time, years ahead ofschedule, when I was still complacentlywilling him to succeed on a beautifulsunny morning on a splendid greencircuit of rounded limestone in acorner of some foreign boulder field. Ihad a couple of goes at this problem, abit much footwork and not enoughpulling on big holds for my liking. Joshcame along and seemed to climb it byintuition, using his feet in ways notinvented when I were a lad. Scramblingover the top, his flashed ascent wasannounced loudly and proudly and foundan echo in his sister.

Soon my humiliation was beingbroadcast in stereo to a wideraudience. Fortunately theimmediate population only spokeFrench. I managed it straightafter but that cut no ice, I hadbeen burnt off and was not allowedto forget it for the rest of theholiday. Three feet high and rising,how long will it be before Jackdelivers the same blow? I takesolace in Bethan, thank god she�smore into football than climbing.Back home Josh is embroiled inschool work again and the build upto his favourite part of climbing -the BRYCS. Although at the momenthe enjoys climbing indoors morethan outdoors, I don�t doubt theseearly experiences of climbing insome of the most beautiful parts ofthe world will stay with him and willinspire him to revisit them, andothers, under his own steam.

[Neil Pearsons and Gill Kent areeditors of On The Edge magazine]

• Coaching• Climbing• Expeditions• Team building

for young people

Tel: 0845 345 8850

For further information, contact

Adventureworks, The Foundry Studios, 45 Mowbray Street, Sheffield S3 8EN

Fax: 0114 276 3344 e-mail: [email protected]

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Navigation is a prime example of askill that often does not figuretoo highly in summer climbing �Malham, for example, does nothold many navigational nightmareson its approach � so if you comefrom a purely craggingbackground, consider gettingsome pretty radical practice innavigation across featurelessterritory with a good deal ofaccuracy. Finding yourself on theCairngorm plateau in the grip of ablizzard is no place to realisethat you have forgotten how towalk on a bearing!

Equipment needs to be a littledifferent to that used on thecrags. Clothing can often beadapted, with the addition of anumber of extra items. These willbe things such as fleeces,salopettes, hats and gloves withspares, etc. There is a lotwritten about clothing, so I�llleave you to find out a bit moreabout this for yourself. Onegolden rule though is that cottonis to be avoided at all costs as itgets wet quickly, retains mois-ture and is thermally veryinefficient.

Feet need protecting and warmsocks inside plastic or substan-tially soled and stiff leatherboots will be needed. The bootsole is important and, as a guide-line, if you can bend the sole ofthe boot easily by hand, then itis too soft for winter use. Also,the cut-away heels so in vogue afew years ago should be avoidedlike the plague, as they cancontribute to a slip when walkingon snowy or icy ground.

A major difference for a lot ofpeople (although it shouldn�t be)is that a helmet becomes essen-tial when moving on steep winterterrain. While some may choose toclimb in summer without one, inwinter the chance of head injuryis many times higher. Toparaphrase an old saying, �A fooland their head are soon parted�.Get a good quality helmet, andget it on!

Leaving aside any technicaldiscussion about axes, cramponsetc, what other differences willthere be in winter? Well, the daysare often remarkably short, andthe well prepared will not only

have a headtorch and sparebattery with them, but they willuse it for the walk-in. To startin the dark is far preferable tofinishing in it, and in the monthsof December and January a dingystart is almost obligatory shouldyou wish to get a full day in on amountain crag.

Food is also obviously important.Some of us tend to trough allday, summer or winter, butothers eat little during thesummer months on the crag.However, climbing in cold weatheris hard work, and the body burnsup a lot of fuel. A goodbreakfast, with the ability tomunch a slow release, high energyfood at frequent intervalsduring the day is important.Liquid, too, is vital. We tend tocarry a good deal more equipmentin the winter, with heavier ruck-sacks and more clothing, thus wenot only sweat more than normal,but we also lose a lot of moisturefrom breathing hard. This mountsup to a huge quantity of liquid,and it is important to not onlyslow the pace so that we are notlosing so much, but also to make

[Winter Skills advice from Pete Hill MIC]

There can be little doubt that winter climbing ormountaineering is one of the toughest disciplinesaround, relying as it does on all of your skills fromnavigation through to a working knowledge ofweather systems. Although stretching it out on a

desperate buttress route may seem like the meatypart of the day, a route that takes four hours tocomplete may have taken a couple of hours toapproach and longer to get back from, so a numberof other factors must be taken into consideration.

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sure that we take on boardenough water, juice or whateverto replace that which has beenlost. Dehydration is surprisinglycommon in winter, with themuscles being one of the firstareas of the body to feel theeffect.

Finally, carrying some form ofshelter is essential. Although alarge bright orange poly bag isbetter than nothing, a purposedesigned �group shelter� isinvaluable, not only to make wetand windy lunch breaks morepleasant, but also as anemergency shelter. It should beremembered that younger folk areparticularly susceptible to thecold, and in an emergency(including times of low morale),all measures should be taken toensure that the effects of cold,and in particular the wind, areremoved as far as possible.

Parents’ BitFor those whose younger familymembers may be venturing outnext season in the company of aqualified instructor, there are acouple of factors that areimportant to consider. Firstly,make sure that the person doingthe teaching is qualified. Thismay seem obvious, but there is nolegal requirement for people whocall themselves �instructors� or�guides� to hold any formal quali-fication at all. Those that do willusually be displaying the AMI(Association of MountaineeringInstructors) logo or the BMG(British Mountain Guide) logo.Ask about their qualifications,and pass on anyone who is notkeen to supply you with proof.

Secondly, it is now a criminaloffence to supply a range ofoutdoor activities to the under18s without being in possessionof an AALA (Adventure ActivitiesLicensing Authority) license.

There are a number of exceptionsto this rule, such as when thosetaking part are accompanied bytheir parents, but it is worthchecking. AALA can be contactedon 029 20755715 for furtherdetails about how the regulationswork.

Pete Hill is a fully qualifiedMountain Instructor, runningcourses in the CairngormMountains, and is currently theChairman of the Association ofMountaineering Instructors. Heis also co-author of the MountainSkills Training Handbook, which isreceiving rave reviews in thepress. Copies of the book areavailable to Gripped? readersdirect from Pete at a specialprice of £15.00 (rrp £18.99) plus£2.50 recorded postage. Fulldetails of the book and coursescan be found at www.highlander-mountaineering.co.uk

Llyn Llydaw, Snowdonia C BMC collection

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ACT will be bigger than previousmountain access funds, it willcover England, Wales, Scotlandand Ireland and have charitablestatus � enabling it to receivemore money. The money raised willbe spent in the areas that aremost in need, making it easier toprotect the environment and ourfreedom to enjoy it.

ACT was launched at the BMC andEntreprises Festival of Climbingin December and will focuses on acelebration of the natural envi-ronment.

Celebrate the mountain environ-ment - enter the ACT Art andPhotography Competition

If you didn�t make it to theFestival of Climbing send in yourart work, photographs andcomments on how you see theenvironment of England, Wales,Scotland and Ireland and theenjoyment you get from it.

The work that you send into theoffice will be entered into theACT Art and PhotographyCompetition, with gear and cashto be won, can you afford not toenter?

To enter the Junior competitionyou must be 16 or under on theclosing date 10 February 2002.The best of your work willfeature in a special ACT andUnited Nations International Yearof the Mountains 2002 book�Freedom Tomorrow�.

�Freedom Tomorrow� will highlightthe importance of protectingand enjoying the mountainenvironment.

Rules of Entry1. Entry is open to all members of the BMC,

the Mountaineering Council of Scotlandand the Mountaineering Council ofIreland. Only one entry to each categoryof the competition per member. An entryto a category comprises of one photo-graph or piece of art, art can be up to A2in size, photographs can be slides,prints, or digital images, but digitalimages must be entered on CD and accom-panied by a print out.

2. Entries must be posted to The BMC, Artand Photography Competition, 177-179Burton Road, Manchester, M20 2BB � no E-mail entries accepted.

3. Only entries with a stamp addressedenvelope will be returned. All entries(including slides) must be marked withyour name and postcode.

4. The BMC and ACT reserve the right to useentries in publications and on the www.Entrants to the junior competition mustbe 16 or under on the last day of entry.

5. Every care will be taken with entries,but the BMC and ACT cannot acceptliability for any loss or damage toentries.

6. Any entries received after the closingdate will not be accepted.

7. The prizes are as stated and no cash oralternative prizes can be offered.

8. The editor�s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

14

The BMC and the Mountaineering Councils of Scotland and Ireland are launching a new Access and Conservation Trust – ACT. The purpose of ACT is to provide a focus for access with out damage to cliffs, mountains and open countryside.

Access News

Great

Gea

r to

be w

on!

C © BMC collection

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• gripped? magazine All the news,information and gossip from the world ofyoung climbers including up and comingcompetitions, approximately 4 times peryear. gripped? magazine is supported byadventure works and Jagged globe, HB climbing equipment andwww.planetfear.com

• Exclusive gripped? members’ events -Last year saw gripped? members exploreSnowdonia, Fontainebleau, the Lakes andPeak District on youth meets. In 2002 UNInternational Year of the Mountains (IYM) wewill be running a series of BMC youth meetsin the UK and also an expedition furtherafield. Plas y Brenin and the Mountain TrainingTrust will be involved in hosting a series ofBMC gripped? short drop-in skills andmulti-activity sessions on a variety ofclimbing and mountaineering related topics.The Andy Fanshaw Memorial Trust aresupporting some of these events. All for only £9.75 !!!

How to Join…To become a member of gripped? you should be under 18 and have a keeninterest in climbing, mountaineering or hillwalking. Just fill in the slip below andsend a cheque, payable to British Mountaineering Council to this address s

British Mountaineering Council177-179 Burton Road, Manchester M20 2BB

About youName ................................................

Address ................................................

................................................

................................................

................................................

Post Code .........................

Telephone (.................) ............................

E-mail ................................................

Date of Bir th ....... / ....... / .......

Parent/Guardian’s PermissionI confirm that I am the parent/guardian of the namedperson and consent for them to become a juniormember of the British Mountaineering Council. I also confirm that I am aware that climbing andmountaineering are activities with a danger ofpersonal injury or death.

Signature: ................................................

Name: ................................................

Date of Bir th ....... / ....... / .......

BMC YouthMembership

What you get… • Discounts on BMC PublicationsDiscounts on BMC publications visit our newonline shop at www.thebmc.co.uk

• Discounts on BMC Events Including competitions like the 2002 URBANROCK British Regional Youth Competition ClimbingSeries and festivals.

• Insurance - Up to £10,000 personal accidentand up to £3,000,000 personal liabilityinsurance.

• Access to BMC information service andspecialist travel insurance cover. The mostcomprehensive travel and activity insurancearound - at the lowest prices. Check out theWeb site on www.thebmc.co.uk Usefulinformation on places for young people toclimb around the country, advice on training,buying climbing equipment and climbingoutside can all be found here.

• BMC Summit magazine Summit containscomprehensive quarterly coverage of climbingand mountain activities issues.

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H B CLI M B I NG EQU I PM E NT BA NGO R GWYN E DD WA LE S LL57 4YH

TE LE PHON E 01248 370813 FA X 01248 371150

E -M AI L: [email protected] I NTE R N E T: ht tp://www.hb.wales.com

A D R E N A L I N T E S T E D

T H E S P I R I T O F C L I M B I N G