Next Chapter

It's been a busy week, I'm writing this on the eve of my imminent trip to the French Alps for my first big Alpine experience, and extended test at photography in a big outdoor arena.

The big news today is I finished my last day with the Deansgate branch of Cotswold Outdoor in Manchester. I've learnt volumes working there, as well as acquiring plenty of new gear and gaining great new friends that has ultimately culminated in the trip I'm about to embark on tomorrow. Anyone in the Manchester area in need of decent knowledgeable advice on any gear should really pay them a visit, unlike other big outdoors stores I've been unfortunate enough to buy from in the past, they really do have a big drive to provide sound experiential advice!


On the Photography front, this week I bought a Canon S95 and have so far been really impressed with its speed and quality, having a compact that shoots in RAW will be brilliant for those days when weight and bulk are a big downfall for the DSLR. I'm still debating whether to take my laptop or not so I can do some processing while I'm away, the though of coming home to thousands of images to develops isn't amazing. Then again, I will have no job to come back to, so it might well be a blessing keeping me occupied! Also I've decided I'm going to take 30m of some static rope, a jumar and gri-gri-2 for playing around abseiling and taking photos of mates on some big bolted crags, should produce some nice results I hope..


In other trip news, I finally sorted my travel insurance with the BMC, great quote and covers everything from touristy walks about to Alpine climbs. Really worth the investment in case I have to be plucked from a ledge by a French helicopter :)

That's all for now, I've yet to finish packing and we plan to leave for Dover around midday tomorrow. So far, despite a few attempts and outbursts, I've got a full 100L kit bag, an almost full 70L duffel, a half full 45L rucksack, and an empty 33L daybag to cram into a 3 seater Vauxhall Corsa - Along with that we have bags of food (more tins of beans than a cornershop) and all my climbing partners gear including bouldering matt, chairs, more food, tents, and so on. Still very anxious yet excited and very worried I will forget something essential. Worst case scenario we kill the car, can't fit it all in, or we miss the ferry. Not to worry. It's not an adventure until something goes wrong, I think Yvon Chouinard said that....

1 Week to go

One week today until the big trip, still lots left to sort out over the next few days. Finally made a start on packing and organizing gear, here's a quick idea of how much stuff I'll be trying to fit in my mate's car along with all of his stuff!... (Gear names included for geek value, and to help me remember everything by typing this epic..)

Climbing Gear

• Cams x 7 (BD Camalots size 0.3 - 3)
• Nuts (Mix of DMM Wallnuts and Offsets)
• Quickdraws x 10 (DMM Phantoms/Spectre 2s/Petzl Ange S)
• Rock Harness (WC Vision for now unless I buy a new one finally)
• Winter Harness (Dmm Super Couloir)
• Petzl Mini Traxion
• Petzl Oval Carabiners, Pulley and Tibloc
• Prussik loops
• Petzl Gri-Gri2
• Petzl Jumar
• WC Nut Key
• Screw Gates +  HMS Carabiners (Mix of WC's and DMM)
• Daisey chain, and slings (Mix of DMM + Grivel)
• Grivel Airtech Walking Axe 53cm
• Petzl Quark axes +  Grivel spring leash
• Grivel G12 Crampons
• Scarpa Charmoz Boots
• WC Alpine Shield Helmet
• La Sportiva Boulder X Approach shoes
• Grivel Himalaya Walking Poles
• 2 pairs of rock shoes (WC Spirits and Spirit VCR's in different sizes)
• Prana chalkbag and Metolius finger tape

and then.....

Clothing

• Marmot Stretchman Waterproof Jacket
• Mountain Hardwear Nitrous Down Jacket
• Marmot Tempo Softshell Jacket
• MH Monkey Man Fleece
• Rab Generator Vest
• Various Icebreaker 200 Tops + bottoms
• Helly Hensen baselayers
• Julbo Bivouak Sunglasses Cat 3 - 4 Lens
• Lots and Lots of different Bridgedale/Icebreaker socks + liners
• Icebreaker Boxers
• Mountain Equipment rainfall pants
• Prana Stretchy Jeans and Bouldering Shorts
• Rab Cirrus Windtop
• Salomon XT Wings running shoes + Salomon shorts
• Mix of Softshell Trousers (ME Gabbro, Arc'Teryx Gamma LT, Rab Fusion)
• Random T-Shirts
• Merino Buff and Beanie

annnd thennn....

Sleeping

• Hilleberg Nallo 2 GT Tent (Climbing partner also taking a MH Trango 2)
• Rab Alpine 400 Down Sleeping bag
• Thermarest Prolite
• Foam Sleeping mat
• Silk liner
• Primus Pots
• Jetboil Sol Ti (yet to be purchased!)
• Primus Omnifuel + Gas
• Cup, Spork, Bowl
• Headtorch and backup emergency headtorch
• First Aid Kit
• Bothy Bag
• Bivi Bag
• Earplugs!

And to carry all this stuff in different ways...

• Mountain Equipment 100L Kit bag
• Exped 70L duffel
• Grivel Alpine 45+10
• Osprey Talon 33
• Exped Cloudburst 15

Then there's toiletries, tools, and food - hopefully be going to a Makro in Manchester luckily to grab some bulk bug bargains. I wonder how long I can live on Heinz Beans for....

More importantly:

Cameras.

• Canon 550d with 18-55 and 55-250 lenses
• Canon S95 (yet to purchase too, as well as insurance cover)

Lots of spare batteries, memory card and etc etc.

Once all this is cleared up, I've still yet to sort BMC Insurance, Post Office travel card, Euro's in cash, buying last bits of gear/food/electronics, and the long needed haircut!

I have to cram all this into the next 7 days, when I'll be working for 4 of them and have pretty much used most of today sorting gear out and recovering from a 13 mile run/hike I got dragged along on last night :)

Well done reading all this, now you have a tiny idea of all the crap floating around my head without the looming prospect of first ever Alpine Climb fear and inevitable joblessness on my return to the UK...

DOVER to DUNKERQUE 01/08/11 22:00

Ferry tickets booked. All prepared? No.

I'm never going to be ready or prepared enough for this trip it seems, so I just have to forget that and go. Learning is a series of mistakes. Worst case scenario I end up back in England after a week or two with no job. (Actually, worst case scenario I fall down a crevasse/hit by rockfall or avalanche/fall off something due to my own stupidity)

For now the plan is head to Chamonix and get used to the surroundings, first week will be high level hikes mixed with some easier rock climbs or bouldering. Hopefully this will help slowly build up the altitude acclimatization. Second week when some extra more experienced friends arrive we will head onto a glacier and get some good ropework and crevasse rescue practice in, and if I'm not too daunted head up the Aguille du midi for my first Alpine Route.

The most mind blowing or nerve wracking part seems to be the exit from the Midi station to the Valle Blanche - a steep, 1ft wide snow ridge, with massive drops on either side. Once we've done this my friends assure me it's an easy plod to begin the Arete des Cosmiques - an easy difficulty alpine ridge climb with some abseils and rock climbs here and there (which will be done in boots + crampons, something I've never done). The climb actually ends back on the lift station in front of the tonnes of snap-happy tourists, but hopefully I'll be getting lots of shots along the way too.

For someone who is a semi-competent climber, average fitness, but no real winter or alpine experience, this should be interesting! Here's a video for a taste of what's ahead...it's a little cheesey, and a bit French...

Two Week Countdown

After a weird few days it seems my mind is finally settling down a bit. I didn't get a job I'd applied for and I've already decided to leave my current job - which means I have an unspecified amount of time to spend in the Alps with friends and just see where the adventure takes me.

It's been a big worry about money and what to do when I come back, having no steady career, degree or long term goals. Short term goals aren't even a big part of the picture, I plan on going to Chamonix and doing what I can without feeling too daunted or out of my depth!

Thankfully it just takes good friends, of which I have more than I deserve, to show me how to look at thinks with a different set of eyes. I have a blank canvas before me, with no bonds or ties or debts or troubles to tie me down to the sometimes grim northern English existence...

Preperations remaining:

• Ferry Tickets
• Insurance
• Few more bits of gear
• Food/Camping supplies!
• Buying a new compact camera to counter my DSLR

I'm possibly going to start writing some gear reviews too, all the accumulated knowledge from aspiration purchasing and working in a gear shop might as well come to some creative use!

First post

First post on this new blog, hoping to get into this as a regular thing.

So, things going on at the moment:-

• Leaving my current job working at Cotswold Outdoor by the end of July.
• Should be (90% sure) heading to Chamonix for an unknown amount of time in August.
• No other job lined up as yet....

This might have some scary implications, but also there's finally some big changes happening to make me get off my arse and out of this comfortable little rut I've been in.

On the photo front:-

I'll be taking my Canon 550d + 2 basic lenses to the Alps, but I'm also looking at investing in a neat little compact like the Canon S95, if all goes to plan this new blog should help keep a record of the trip and any interesting photos or events :)

That's it for now!