South Wales
Final training and bivy in the Brecons
Well it has been a while since I managed to write something for the blog. Things have been slightly busy over the last two months. With work trips and weekends with friends. I’m currently writing this sat in my brothers flat in Tubingen, Germany, as it is only a couple of days now until we drive down to the Chamonix valley and see if the training has paid off!
Despite work being crazy busy this summer training for this years trip to the Alps has been going very well. Whilst mostly all I can do is run and try to keep the legs working, I have managed to get out into the hills to really try and test the fitness levels. Having
lived in Wales for the last 25 years I have experienced some wet weather, but I have not known anything like the conditions that I have found myself in whilst out in the Brecons this summer! It’s good to know that you have the right kit to keep you mostly dry when the weather does take a turn for the worse.
That said I have managed to experience at least 2 days of good weather whilst out in the Brecons. On that occasion things went rather the other way with temperatures soaring, I didn’t appreciate having to carry a 45lb pack up Pen-Fan over to Fan Y Big for my wild camp. It was completely worth it once I had set up camp to watch the stars come out and then in the morning t see the fog in the valley floor below with the peaks of the Brecons protruding through.
Finally, after a bit of a hiatus, spent a weekend sports climbing on some of the crags near to Cardiff. It had been a while since I have done any lead climbing outdoors. With my eye sight the way it is climbing outdoors is a somewhat tricky affair and so attempting to lead climb, albeit on a very easy grade, seriously tests the nerve. It was great to be back out on the cliffs though. Although we were only climbing up to 5C’s it’s amazing how different it is to climbing indoors where pushing your grade seems a much easier affair, especially when all of the holds for both your hands and feet are various shades of luminous colours. Outdoors that’s not the case, and so it can be very difficult at the best of times to find the best places to position your feet and your fingers to get up the climb. It is a great challenge though and very rewarding once you make it to the top, even if it can be stressful before you make it to the next bolt to clip yourself in!
Training for the Alps
Well it’s that time of year again, the annual migration to Chamonix for a spot of alpine climbing. Well, for some it’s that time anyway, for me this year the trip is coming later in the season in the hope that the weather will be somewhat more stable than it was last year.
Our trip last summer was a complete disaster. The weather and climbing conditions were so atrocious (and dangerous) many of the huts were closed for a prolonged period, including the week that we happened to be there. So our attempt to climb Mont Blanc had to be postponed until this year.
As this years trip will be in September I have the majority of the summer to get some serious training in. So far this year my “training” has been fairly casual, mainly just the odd walk out in the hills, the weekly climb at the local climbing centre and the rather rare run. These last few weeks though things have had to step up. With about 12 weeks to go until the attempt on Mont Blanc training has to take a significant step up!
This last weekend I managed to get some time to head out to the Brecon Beacons to give the legs a good work out and to test some new kit. The trip started in fantastic weather on the Friday evening, however that soon descended into intermittent heavy rain and strong winds on the Friday evening, thankfully clearing to give a relatively dry night and just an overcast Saturday morning. I hadn’t wild camped in the Pen y Fan area before, I’d been somewhat reluctant to camp in an area that is quite so heavily walked, but the need to get a lot of ascent in with out having to walk huge distances meant Pen y Fan was really the only decent place to go. The other perk to this area is that you can take public transport straight to the start of the walk. It is so frustrating to have to have a seriously long walk in from other public transport drop offs like Merthyr or Abergavenny. I realised on this trip that you can also use your bus pass (if you have one) which means that the trip is also free!
The three main peaks from the Story Arms car park going up Corn Du, Pen y Fan, Crybyn and Fan y Big makes for a really good training walk. In total the route comes in at around 1000m ascent which by my books is a good starting place for getting ready for the alps. The route provides no test of navigation but does burn the legs, especially if you decide to carry an expedition weight burgan. Was a good step change in the training regime for the summer though, and I think a few repetitions of Jacobs ladder would put anyone ion a good place ahead of a trip to the Alps.
So 12 weeks to go (ish) hopefully a lot more trips to the hills to come!
some pics from the trip below, these were shot just using my phone so not the best quality, but was the first time in a while that I’ve actually had a view from Pen y Fan, normally its covered in clouds when I’m up there!
Back on the Sugar Loaf
Had very good intentions today of completing the classic ridge loop of Corn Du, Pen yr Fan and Yr Crybyn. Sadly the weather had other ideas. Torrential rain and bizarre spring snow led to us putting a pause on the mornings walk. Thankfully that meant we could make a bit of a pit stop for bacon butties and coffee which was very much appreciated! Sadly though, as that was the morning gone, we didn’t have time to attempt our primary route so instead opted for a quick jaunt up Sugar Loaf.This route has been a bit of a staple walk for me over recent months. The limitation of not driving due to my eye sight means I can be a bit restricted as to which mountains I can get to without either depending on other people to drive me or having rather lengthy walk ins from wherever the public transport drops me off. Sugar loaf being not too far from Abergavenny train station is therefore an easy one to get to without too much of a slog through the town before you get to the hills. Although the walk itself is not too exciting it does provide some good views and opportunities to stretch the legs after a bit of a lazy winter. Thankfully today we had a car at our disposal as I was with my partner so our change of plans due to the weather wasn’t such a pain! In the end the weather improved and provided a good opportunity to take some moody photographs from the summit whilst we were having a bite to eat. Hopefully if the weather improves I’ll get out to other regions of the Brecon Beacons over the next few weeks. There is only so many times you can walk the same route!
Blurred Adventure 