30/05/06 Back in Norwich

I'm back now after a few days in Suffolk. Spent the first day sorting out all the new climbing gear that had arrived, sharpening the picks of the ice axes, and rebuilding my old set of spikes to function as climbing crampons for James. It's unlikely that we'll need most of the new equipment until next year, but I'm glad I've saved such a significant amount of money by buying it now.

More preparations have been made for the upcoming trips to the hills. I have my train tickets for both the Lakes next week (woop!) and Glen Torridon next month, which will involve a very long and logistically challenging journey, changing at Peterborough, Stirling, Inverness, Dingwall (where I stay overnight), and Strathcarron, where I catch the final bus to Torridon. I'll only be there for three or four days, but I hope it'll be worth it! Liathach is going to be a real challenge and the full traverse of the ridge is one of the best mountain routes of Britain.

I've also modified the plan for next week slightly. Originally I'd intended to climb Blisco, Crinkles, Bowfell and Esk Pike on the first day, but it occurred to me this morning that (other than doing them all in one go) I wouldn't actually be climbing anything new. For example I've already climbed Bowfell three times, and great as it is I feel like doing something different this time. I've come up with the possibly crazy idea of climbing the Scafells from Langdale ... via the north face of Great End. This massive cliff is at just the right angle for scrambling, so I will find a line up the face, then continue along the ridge towards Scafell Pike and maybe even Scafell if the daylight holds out. This will be one hell of a brutal day, but it'll be good practice for Scotland next month!

I have posted a few new formatted pictures in the Desktop wallpapers section of the site, so take a look!

Posted by Alex at 5.15 PM

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26/05/06 And the end draws near!

Haven't ended up doing much revision yet today ... I'm getting the old mental block again. I think I'll probably stay up for most of the night reading through the tough parts (ie. systems architecture, which is very complex). This is quite an ordeal, and I always feel utterly drained by the end of the day, but it's a tactic that has worked in the past. All I need are copious supplies of Lucozade and red bull to keep me ticking over.

In case you haven't noticed I've started to slip into the weather-paranoia stage that I always go through starting roughly two weeks before a planned trip to the mountains. I get this dreadful sense that it's going to be a nightmarish washout, or that everything's going to be clagged down to a thousand feet and I'll be stumbling around in thick cloud again. In four out of five cases, the weather turns out fine and I feel silly for getting so worked up about it. But the fact is that I've experienced some God-awful mountain weather in my time and I really can't be doing with it on this occasion, not with a Grade 3 and a couple of Grade 2s on my game plan.

Ah well. There's nothing I can do to control the weather. I'm just hoping for sunny conditions and low winds. To be honest I've done almost everything in Langdale that can be done in poor weather and the thought of repeating blind ascents up endless scree to reach a featureless summit in a greyout is unappealing. Clean rock and blue skies would be nice, please, if any sympathetic gods are listening!

Heading home straight after my exam tomorrow to do a massive gear overhaul, get all the new kit marked up and stashed etc. Also want to get some tree climbing in. Another go at Friction Pillar--roped up this time, to prevent painful falls--will be interesting. I'm thinking that maybe if I wear trainers I can get a better hold on the bark. Massive mountain boots are probably too clunky for something that hard.

I'll be back in Norwich on Tuesday, but may not post until then. Please wish me luck for my final exam tomorrow afternoon!

Posted by Alex at 6.15 PM

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Earlier Insomnia returns

Can't sleep again. I know it's only early in the night but I've been lying awake for an hour now--just can't seem to drift off. The only thing I can think might be causing it is the fact that I've become accustomed to much later hours than I was used to previously ... these days it isn't unusual for me to go to bed at 3 or 4 AM.

Ah well. I'll break out of that cycle once my last exam is out of the way. I'm spending a fair amount of time revising for this one, and I can tell it's going to be pretty brutal. However I also have a sense that it's at least knowledge that can be learned by normal people such as myself, instead of some arcane, mysterious black art such as Maths. So I'm already feeling more confident about this one.

Apart from the fact that the weather was slightly better yesterday, nothing exciting happened. Revision (or, more often, attempted revision) is dominating my life at the moment.

Posted by Alex at 12.50 AM

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24/05/06 A nice relaxing day

Woke up fairly early after going to bed at 12:30 last night, instead of 3 or 4 AM as I've been doing for the past few days. Looks like I'm getting over the insomnia that started off Sunday before last. Huzzah!

I took the bus into town and spent a while looking around the bookshop. Didn't see any books that caught my eye--I'm still slightly dazzled and stunned by The Beckoning Silence--but I got myself a 50K map of the Cairngorm area. I already have a 25K scale version of the same map but it folds infuriatingly at just the wrong point. This one will be better.

At Frankie's recommendation, I also bought the first two X-Men movies on DVD ... they were on offer for £10 for the both of them! Just saw the first one and was extremely impressed. I'm not generally a fan of movies made from comics but they seem to get better every time. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one to anyone, and am very much looking forward to watching the second instalment!

Weather is still very worrying. Continuous rain showers mixed in with patchy cloud down to about a thousand feet (at a guess). Has been like this for a week now--I really really hope it won't still be like this when I head up to Langdale on the 4th. I am going to be soloing my first ever Grade 3 climb (The Groove, Tarn Crag) and I can't do that if the weather is bad in any way. I'll need dry rock and light winds if I'm to make a go of it. Since I'm now going to be there for three days, I thought I'd do Harrison Stickle Main Face while I'm at it, and also the southern Langdale half-circuit (Blisco, Crinkles, Bowfell, Esk Pike ... all the big'uns in one loooong day). The thought of such a tough day no longer scares me as it would have done six months ago. I feel I know Langdale pretty well by now.

It's strange to think that it'll only have been two months since my last visit there, but I really miss the place! It's funny the way I don't miss Coniston or Wasdale or Ogwen in quite the same way. Langdale has something special. Can't wait to be back there!

Below is a photo of the valley taken from the Crinkles, photoshopped by James for use as a desktop background (I may be including the full-size version in the Desktops section soon).

Posted by Alex at 9.10 PM

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23/05/06 The exam aftermath

Strange exam. The first question was brutal and I began to get an awful feeling that I wouldn't be able to do any of it. Curse my non-mathematical brain! However later questions were better and I actually felt they were capable of being understood by a mere mortal like myself.

The final question was easy--suspiciously easy. I strongly suspect it was a very clever trick question. The first two parts asked me to work out the distances between two different sets of points using Pythagoras (didn't we do that six years ago?), and then the next part basically said "What do you conclude, based on your findings above?" I thought about this for a while, then wrote something along the lines of "That the distance between these two points is bigger than the distance between these two points ... duh." (just padded out a bit and phrased differently, obviously!) It was such a stupid question that it must have been a trick.

Ah well. I reckon I probably passed, so I'm not too worried. Now I have three days to prepare for my final exam, C22! This will be challenging, but it doesn't have quite the sense of doom and dread that Maths does.

Posted by Alex at 7.25 PM

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Earlier Happy Birthday James!

Please wish a happy 17th birthday to my brother James. Hope you have a great day!

The third, and most feared, of my four exams is now approaching fast; in fact it's in thirteen hours. The subject is Maths and the very idea of a three hour maths exam makes my blood run cold. Still, despite having done little revision as usual, I'm feeling totally okay about it. I got good marks in the first course text and reasonable marks in the second, so I only need to get about 40% in this one. And to be quite honest there's just no point in stressing myself trying to get more.

So I am going to actually get some sleep tonight. I'm going to try to get a good eight hours. This may be heresy the night before an exam but I'm starting to get a little sleepy after only four hours of sleep in the last two days.

*snores*

Posted by Alex at 1.10 AM

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22/05/06 PWNED!! (sort of)

Exam went ... okay. Neither good nor bad really. As usual things went better than expected in that I actually had a damn good try at all of the questions, and felt reasonably confident about what I was doing. I was however a bit thrown by the fact that they didn't cover Data Flow Diagrams at all, except in a sort of vague way in the fourth question. And they brought up Entity Life Histories which I don't know that much about. Ah well. I had a damned good go, and I'm pretty sure I passed!

In other news, there's been some fresh snowfall in the 'Gorms. Guess the winter mountaineering season isn't quite ready to go just yet.

Posted by Alex at 5.30 PM

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Earlier Tired!

Okay so I actually got four hours of sleep in the end, but I'm thinking that maybe that isn't such a good idea ... I'm actually feeling much more tired than I was this time last week. I need glucose and caffeine soon. Visit to the UFO / paper shop where Boost bars allegedly exist is imminent I think.

Exam isn't until after three anyway. Got pleeeenty of time for last-minute revision!

Posted by Alex at 10.05 AM

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The wee hours gleeeeeeb

I sense an all-nighter ahead. Have done a ridiculously small amount of work so far. However, whereas this time last week I was already a haggard, panicky wreck through worrying about various things, I feel totally relaxed at the moment and secure in the knowledge that I have plenty of time.

There is one piece of terrible news, though. All of the Boost Bars in the UFO had gone when I'd got there. Some cruel and merciless person had bought them all. Grace, we all know it was you.

Might trek down to the vendors in a bit. If any of you fellow insomniacs see me please say hi.

Posted by Alex at 1.15 AM

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21/05/06 mow!

Thus begins the Second Great Revision Marathon. There's a lot of stuff to cover, but I have the case study now. And I'm less likely to be tempted to wander off outside due to the fact that the weather is foul. Plus Boost Bars are now on offer at the UFO (I will need these for sustainance in the dead hours of the morning). So let it begin!

Music currently playing includes Schubert's 9th Symphony (again), which conjurs up heroic images from the golden age of Alpine exploration, and Lordi's winning track from Eurovision, which utterly rocks. Glad they won. I think I shall require the Beatles later on as well, after the point where my mind starts turning to jelly.

Regulars, please wish me luck!

Posted by Alex at 3.00 PM

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20/05/06 So

Exams approach once again, and like last time, I'm finding it very difficult to focus on revision. A big reason this time is because, for the second exam at least, I hate the subject matter with a passion and can't make sense of it. It's maths. Can't abide maths. However I suspect I probably know more of the material than I think, so I'm sure things will turn out okay!

The other module is B23, a mixture of systems analysis and various other topics. I enjoyed that module and understood most things, so I'm not too worried there. Plus the scenario for the case study that will feature in the exam has been released. Haven't looked at it yet but I'm going to tonight.

As far as the Great Site Update is going, I'm compiling a list of everything that needs updating and all the additions I need to make. The list is massive. Virtually all of the Lakeland mountain files need updating, to include more pictures, detailed descriptions, and better information. I have seven scrambling guides to write before I even go on my next Lakes trip (when I come back, there will be at least two or three more that need doing, on top of the trip report, more mountain updates, and everything else that happens when I get back from a trip). I am keenly aware that even after seven months there's still nothing in the Mid Wales section. Fact is I just don't have time. It's on the list, but it's right at the bottom.

I am also writing a fairly in-depth article about Mountain Rescue and accident prevention (called Accidents Will Happen), and this should be online within a couple of days, all being well. I've been investigating MR statistics and it doesn't make happy reading. For example I didn't know that 15% of all reported injuries are fatal. The big concern at the moment is abuse of MR services, and in a small way I'd like to make some progress towards reducing this.

Here's an article on PlanetFear that quite moved me: Mallory's Watch. It is a subtle and poignant expression of anger at the mountaineers who plundered and desecrated George Mallory's corpse on Everest. His body was later dug up again from the grave for further investigation. I hadn't appreciated the full story of what happened, but I do know that some disgraceful things happen above 8000 metres.

In particular I can't get this quote out of my head: "Until they disturbed me, and woke me from my dream, I did not know that I merely slept in ice." It sounds like something Mallory himself would have said ... it sums up the essence of the man, who loved the mountains in a selfless way that went beyond desire for personal glory and gain.

Posted by Alex at 9.25 PM

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19/05/06 Bristly Ridge scrambling guide posted

Read it here, the second in my series of scrambling guides for Wales and the Lakes. This one covers Bristly Ridge, a classic route beginning at Bwlch Tryfan and topping out on the summit plateau of Glyder Fach. I've made the controversial step of upping its grade from a basic Grade 1 to a 1/2 ... some will disagree with this, but the Upper Chimney of Sinister Gully isn't a happy place and is certainly more serious than a simple scramble.

Anyway I just bought a set of ten wired nuts on Ebay for about £30. Bought from a gear shop this would have cost me somewhere in the order of £70 - £80, so I'm pretty pleased with this. We won't need them all for the majority of routes we're likely to do anytime soon (I now have fifteen in total, including several replications of certain sizes), but I think it's a good idea to look ahead towards what we might want to do at a later time. And more nuts equals more flexibility, especially on Welsh rock. I just wouldn't be happy leading a multi-pitch Grade 3 climb with only a few slings and four or five nuts for protection.

I've started to plan some of the routes we're likely to be doing this summer when we go to Ogwen. The Bochlwyd Horseshoe is a must, of course--I don't think I'll ever tire of that route--and there are also a couple of lines I'd like to check out on the East Face of Tryfan. Main Gully on Glyder Fach, or even the more difficult ridge to its right (a Grade 2), is also a possibility, as is the East Ridge of Y Garn, which I've been hankering after doing for some time now.

The ultimate big mountain route I have in mind is the Direct Approach, which climbs the north face of Glyder Fawr. This is a long route and visits many classic locations such as the Idwal Slabs, the Suicide Wall, and an exposed traverse above this wall unofficially known as the Traverse of the Gods (after the famous traverse beneath the White Spider on the Eigerwand). This vast face has tremendous presence and I've always wanted to climb it. It has something of a fearsome reputation but this will only add to the satisfaction.

Posted by Alex at 6.45 PM

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18/05/06 Morbid, or simply realistic?

I just finished Joe Simpson's amazing book The Beckoning Silence. As he turns forty, Joe begins to feel a growing sense of cynicism towards the mountains he once loved so much, fuelled by the deaths of countless friends. He starts to wonder if it is really worth the risk. Climbers tend to live for the buzz that comes from existence right on the edge, but with a climbing record as comprehensive as Joe's, he begins to think that maybe it's just not worth it anymore. Several close brushes with death by avalanche and rockfall compound this belief.

So he plans a last great climb, the notorious Eigerwand. His partner almost bails out of the climb, intimidated by the fearsome reputation of the "Death Wall" on which so many countless climbers have lost their lives over the decades. They are forced to retreat from the face after a storm kills at least two climbers on the Second Ice Field; a soloist climber who had overtaken them earlier vanished above the Traverse of the Gods and is never seen again.

The fall of the two roped climbers had been recorded on film and this profoundly affected Joe, realising that it could so easily have been him. The mistake that led to the death of these climbers was a silly one: they were moving together on steep ice but had neglected to place protection. It was nothing major or epic. One moment they were tiredly cutting steps across the icefield, next moment they had plunged 3,000 feet to their deaths.

This book is so vividly and honestly written that it made me look long and hard at my own experiences. Risk is, of course, part of the game. You accept the risk, embrace it even; it makes you feel alive. But there is one thing I remember which affected me quite strongly.

Last November, when I climbed Bristly Ridge with the Fell Club, we had to tackle a particularly gnarly and scary-looking gully known as Sinister Gully. The guidebook recommended that climbers traverse left when the gully steepened, to reach easier ground, but I continued up the vertical pitch at the gully head while the others took the easier line. It was exciting and hard, but also highly unnerving due to the verglas on the rocks.

Less than one hour later, an experienced climber died on that same pitch. He hadn't been stupid, poorly equipped or inexperienced. He'd just been unlucky. It is a steep, exposed pitch of climbing and his foot had slipped on the ice, plunging him to his death on the broken boulders at the halfway ledge. The shocking simplicity of this scared me deeply. I knew all too well that it could have happened to me. There aren't any rules. It just seems random.

Why do we climb when we know what the risks are? Why do we climb when we have to rely on luck so much of the time? I don't have an answer to that, and I suspect I never will. But I do know that it isn't a good idea to dwell on these questions. I still accept the risks because I love the mountains ... but for Joe, that was no longer enough.

Posted by Alex at 12.30 PM

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17/05/06 The winter kit list

Following a discussion with my brother yesterday, we've decided on a pretty ambitious pair of expeditions for the next winter season. The first will take place during the Christmas hols, and we'll be doing some winter mountaineering and climbing in the Cairngorms above Aviemore. The plan is to gain more experience in basic winter walking, and also ice climbing at Grade I and easy Grade II (if the conditions are good enough that early in the season). Bearing in mind we'll already have experience at a number of Grade 2 and 3 summer rock routes by this time, we should be up to the task.

The second expedition, which I've already been planning for a while, will be based at Glencoe during April 2007. This will hopefully feature some more easy snow climbs, and also one or two low-end Grade IIIs, in order to prepare for our ultimate objective: a winter traverse of the Aonach Eagach in a single day. This is quite an ambitious plan, but I'm confident we can do it. I'm doing Liathach this July which will give me a good overview of the kind of terrain we can expect.

At the moment my main concern is getting our winter kit in order. Most things are at reduced price at the moment so this is the best time to buy. A new pair of climbing axes has recently arrived, and various other things such as my new crampons are on their way. James is going to inherit my old pair of G10 crampons. I'm currently in the process of upgrading them to proper climbing crampons, by sharpening the points and installing a stiffer extension bar.

I also ordered a small selection of pitons, which will be especially useful if conditions are lean on the mixed routes. I already have a half-set of nuts and a range of slings. That's pretty much all we should need in terms of protection ... particularly in view of the fact that I'm keen to keep the rack small and light!

In any case, it's a grand plan to work towards and a noble objective to look forward to. The Aonach Eagach is one of the "big three" hard ridges of mainland Britain, together with Liathach and An Teallach. I have no doubt that it will be hard and an extremely draining day, but if we can do it, we can do pretty much anything! =D

Posted by Alex at 10.30 AM

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16/05/06 Gone back to Suffolk for the day

Just heading back to pick up some things I forgot and some books/parcels which have arrived. Will be back by late Wednesday morning. If people need to get in touch with me before then, email is probably the best bet.

Posted by Alex at 8.45 AM

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15/05/06 W00T!! RODDERS FTW!!1!11!!!1

So despite all the sense of futility and doom, despite the exhaustion from lack of sleep, I went into that exam hall and comprehensively demolished the exam paper. Apart from about three questions that registered total blanks, the rest of the material was bewilderingly easy. I wrote some of the best essay-grade answers I've produced in years. By my reckoning I can't possibly have got less than 50%, and it's more likely somewhere in the order of 60% to 70%, which is an unqualified achievement considering how miserably I was expecting to fail.

This strategy works. Break yourself through guilt from procrastination, get yourself worried over something so you can't sleep or concentrate, wander down to the vendors in the grey hours and watch the rabbits playing around in the empty Square. Then, as the fatigue starts to hit you, walk down to Tesco's as briskly as you can and buy yourself three bottles of Lucozade and a massive baguette. Hike back, devour baguette and one bottle of Lucozade to keep the old lifesigns ticking over, and spend the final twenty minutes before the exam cramming like crazy. Then close your eyes and down the rest of the Lucozade seconds before heading into the exam hall.

It's one hell of a scary method, but it works! I no longer feel tired or stressed ... just happy that the ordeal is over. I've suffered more on occasion, but not, I think, on as many different levels at once (mentally, physically, emotionally, other things ending with -ly). It's paid off. The release that I felt when I left that exam hall was worth the pain it took to earn it. And the thing is, until that moment I hadn't even admitted to myself that I was worried about the exam.

I have no doubt that, had I revised steadily over the past few weeks, I would have burned myself out and done a lot worse. Guess there's value in procrastination after all.

And at 4:30 I'm seeing Frankie to hopefully solve the other problems, so all would so far appear to be shiny today!

Posted by Alex at 2.50 PM

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In the dead hours Dawn

I can't sleep, no matter how hard I try. About an hour ago I gave up altogether; for whatever reason, it seems I'm not going to get any sleep tonight. The sun has just risen and I popped down to the vending machines for a bottle of Coke and some high-sugar sustainance to see me through the period of intense cramming ahead. The exam is in seven hours.

This is a bad, bad way to prepare for an exam, but I have little choice--there's too much on my mind at the moment to sleep, and I didn't do as much revision yesterday as I'd hoped. Just can't keep my mind on dull old Java. And although at the moment I feel as if I understand nothing, I'm sure it'll turn out okay in the end. Stuff generally does.

I have a powerful sense that today is going to be very tough. Not only do I have a challenging programming exam, I've also had no sleep, and this evening I'm meeting Frankie in the bar. I would've seen her earlier--I'm worried about her--but she was away for the whole of yesterday, so no luck there. We need to figure out what to do about a number of things. Not least the situation with our house for next year ... her parents are being unreasonable about providing a £10 guarantor fee. Meh. We'll sort it out.

I'm in a sort of reflective mood this morning, so checked my horoscope for the coming week. I don't believe in horoscopes in any specific way, but find them handy sometimes. In this case, it confirmed pretty much everything that I thought: today is going to be difficult, but tomorrow things will suddenly improve. Sounds like exactly what happens when a dreaded exam is over and done with.

At the moment the only things holding me together are caffeine, chocolate, and Schubert's 9th Symphony. I'll be more coherent (and no doubt back to my cheerful self) later.

Posted by Alex at 5.10 AM

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14/05/06 Awesome.

Okay so I just found out that there is actually a Tree Climbing International organisation, a body which has formalised the sport of climbing trees. I tend to do a fair bit of tree climbing back in Suffolk to keep myself acclimitised to exposure and to maintain the old finger strength. The fact that there is actually an accepted system for grading tree climbs--instead of the bodged rock-based scale I was using--makes me very happy.

By the TCI's grading system, the hardest tree I've climbed to date is a Class2.I ... fairly easy, but then again I haven't been able to con my brother into joining me to enable roped pitching yet. Just like regular climbers get to name their first ascents of rock, the sport of tree climbing allows the pioneer of a particular route (or tree, I guess) to give it a name. So, up until now, I have climbed the following:

The Bivvy Beech Class1.I (First tree I ever climbed ... now I can do it with my eyes shut!)
The Bivvy Beech, left-hand start Class1.I (Variation on the classic route up Bivvy Beech.)
The Black Tripod Class2.I (A gnarly birch tree which requires some thought and finesse in the final section.)
Hurricane Traverse and Continuation Class 2.I (This route actually moves between several different trees!)
Maple Ladder Class 1.I (A top-up climb of a maple tree to pretty much the highest branch.)
Old Henry, the traverse Class 2.I (An old oak, luckily hurricane-flattened, which eases the grade.)

In addition, there are a number of other trees I have attempted but failed to climb. These are all ancient oaks totally devoid of lower branches, making them very difficult challenges indeed ... at least V.Diff in terms of rock grading. I need to try these with proper protection.

The Bug Bowl Class3.I (A beast of a hollow oak, right next to Old Henry.)
Friction Pillar Class4.I (Very tough ... I lost a lot of skin on my attempt.)
Ogre Class3/4.I (No holds, bad runners, branches that snap. This monster has it all. After two attempts I haven't got any closer to climbing this higher than about a metre.)
The Goblin Oak Class3.I (This tree is awesome, almost Tolkein-esque in appearance, and hard to match.)
Cernunos Class4.I (This ancient oak actually overhangs. Way past my climbing ability!)

So anyway ... I can now formally classify another crazy hobby. And naming and grading these challenges actually makes me want to complete the hard ones even more.

Posted by Alex at 10.00 PM

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Earlier Talk to me!

For some reason this site has seen an explosion in activity over the past week. Visitor counts are rocketing up to two or three hundred hits on some days, and the average is now over a hundred--up from thirty or forty only a few weeks ago. Analysing the pageload logs, I can see that many of you are friends or aquaintances from UEA, people who've stumbled across the site from the Underground Forums, or people following links from websites such as Striding Edge, Trekking Britain, and V.G. There are also a high proportion of visits from Google and MSN search. There are several regulars who have made dozens of return visits.

As a response to this sudden increase in popularity, I'm now featuring a more prominent "Talk to me!" section on the front page, and a "Latest Email Quotes" bit directly under it. If you email me with a question or suggestion I can in most cases guarantee a response within a day or two. If I'm not available this should be apparent from the latest blog post.

It's also clear to me that an increasing number of people are using this site for serious research purposes, looking up information to help plan their own expeditions and trips. Up until now I haven't spent that much time keeping content current and fully updated, but that's going to change. More people are now relying on this information and I have a responsibility to provide the highest quality content that I can.

So I'm going to set aside an hour every day for site maintenance and writing new articles. It's a new era for alexfellwalker.co.uk!

Posted by Alex at 4:25 PM

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Earlier Didn't sleep too well last night

Went to bed at about 1 AM, but didn't end up going to sleep until nearly four ... then I woke up several times during the course of the night before finally waking up for good about half an hour ago. I recall having strange and unpleasant dreams but I don't remember what they were about. Whatever they were, it's making me feel none too good this morning. There's a background sense of worry, but it's vague, non-specific.

Anyway I have a lot of work ahead of me today in terms of revision. Am going to try and put in at least seven hours in total, maybe more. But first I need to head down to the UFO to stock up on Lucozade and Boost bars ... I shall need energy to complete this mammoth task!

Posted by Alex at 11:40 AM

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13/05/06 Stuff

Less than two days until my first exam, CMPS1A22, Software Construction. I've done some work today, but to be honest not very much. The revision is deadly boring and it's very hard to motivate myself. I suspect I'll be better off cramming this one to be honest: I'll put in another hour or so this evening, then really get to work tomorrow. Will probably be better that way. And I'm not too worried about the next exam, because that's the unit I'm good at.

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12/05/06 Good and bad news

Good news

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11/05/06 A good day!

Went down to the lake this afternoon. The weather continues improbably good: blue skies, crystal-clear vis, temperatures touching 23 Celsius. And the students were out in force! It would appear that the good weather has dragged them all out of their caves and into the fresh air. The Square was packed, of course, and so was the broad meadow stretching down towards the lake.

The UEA Broad

Looking southwest from the summit of Waveney Mountain, a
spectacular panoramic view of ... *cough* well, trees and fings.

Posted by Alex at 10:15 PM

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Earlier I've gotta get on that trip!

Despite the obstacles towards actually getting on the final list for the June Glencoe trip (ie. getting to the signup on time, and being lucky enough to get on the list above about a hundred other people), I will be pretty gutted if I don't. Not only will I have the chance to do "practice ascents" of some of the mountains I plan to climb properly in winter conditions at a later time, I will also be staying at Lagangarbh, which is quite possibly the most finely-situated BMC hut in the world ...

It's at the foot of Stob Dearg, highest summit of the Buachaille Etive Mòr. This is a mountain I've always wanted to climb: it's the icon of Glencoe and one of the most recognisable mountains in Britain. It also has one hell of a north face.

Fingers will be kept permanently crossed until well after the signup.

Posted by Alex at 11:50 AM

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10/05/06 *rant*

So just now I find out that May the 29th--the exact day that I'm planning to head up to the Lakes for some climbing--is a bank holiday. There's no way I'm going back to Langdale on a bank holiday again ... the place will be crammed. I'm having to put the trip back a week. It will now start on June the 5th and I'll be coming back on June the 8th, the day before the Glencoe trip starts.

That's a tight squeeze, but there are two reasons I think this will actually play out better. Firstly, there's a higher chance I'll actually be in Norwich for the trip signup. And secondly, two days of walking and scrambling will be perfect training for the far higher and more serious mountains of Glencoe.

I may be pretty knackered by the end of it, but it promises to be one hell of a week!

Posted by Alex at 8:35 PM

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Earlier New site features!

Just spent the past couple of hours building some new features for the website. The first is a simple Google-powered search engine on the main page, which can be used to find any search string within the site as a whole. Now that the site is growing ever-larger, it may be beneficial to be able to search for stuff without having to trawl through all the index pages.

The second feature is a replacement for the old manually-updated weather service. A banner on the main page links to a current weather page, featuring a number of sources of quality weather information including current weather conditions and forecasts for the British mountains. I have also selected eight mountain webcams which show the weather right now in that location. Hopefully this feature will be useful!

I also uploaded the first scrambling guide yesterday: Tryfan North Ridge 1***.

Weather's still good here in Norwich, warm but not hot, and not a cloud in the sky. I went into town yesterday and bought a few bits and bobs in the sale at Venturesport: a Berghaus windshirt for £30 which will be excellent for climbing and summer mountaineering, a map of Glencoe, a Number 5 Rock on Wire (which means I now have a half-set ... shouldn't need any more now), a folding plastic spoon to replace my manky wooden spoon, and some lightweight angle tent pegs.

I'm going to concentrate on revision today. Haven't got as much done this week so far as I'd hoped.

Posted by Alex at 3:35 PM

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09/05/06 Gnarly!

It's the wee hours of the morning and I'm researching Glencoe (heck, I've decided to get this one planned early!) First item on the list is to determine whether or not the Aonach Eagach--fearsome Notched Ridge of Glencoe--is a realistic proposition, given our estimated level of experience next Easter.

It's a tough ascent, that's for sure. Consensus seems to put the traverse at Grade I/II Summer or Grade II/III Winter. Add that technicality to an inescapable, exposed ridge, a brutal walk-in, and high risk of death by avalanche on the descent, and you have a mountain that demands higher than average respect.

By that time James and I will both be comfortable with Grade II Summer stuff, of that I'm sure ... there's even the chance we might do an easy Grade III in Oggie this August. So rope and belaying techniques won't be a problem, and we've both already experienced some fairly hairy Grade I Winter terrain. Thing I'm a little more concerned about is the ice climbing. Grade III Winter is about similar to an easy Grade II Summer, and that means steep, intricate mixed ground which may not be too easy to protect. It also means B:2 boots, new crampons for me (James will do fine with my G10s), and two ice axes each. And there is no way I'm dragging a full climbing rack up there ... not on top of the regular winter gear.

It's a gnarly one, there's no denying it. Conditions would have to be bomber for me to even consider leading up there. And I'm fairly sure it would be the final challenge of the expedition ... there are easier mountains nearby to practice climbing in less dangerous situations. Stob Coire nan Lochan and Aonach Dubh both look promising. Unfortunately the Buachaille is a little far away from the campsite I have in mind.

Still, I think it'll be worth it ... just look at this picture of the Aonach Eagach I dug up (not too sure where from; all image rights belong to the owner).

Posted by Alex at 2:55 AM

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08/05/06 The original Goon Show ... accept no substitutes!

Recently found a site on the Internet which is undergoing an effort to "recreate" the Goon Show. They're keeping all the original characters (Seagoon, Bluebottle, Eccles, Moriarty, Crun etc.) but to be honest the acting is pretty poor and the voices just don't cut it ... it lacks the exuberance and sheer craziness of the original. The jokes are also pretty cheesy. Strange, that, because the jokes are actually in the spirit of the original, only the actors seem to realise that the comedy is old-fashioned and this shows up in their performance.

The episode I listened to was "The Mad Axeman of Basingstoke" and it starts off with Neddie Seagon (who has aquired a strange squeaky Welsh-type voice) investigating the murders of some 54 garden gnomes belonging to Henry Crun and Minnie Bannister (who only sound vaguely like they should). It sounded exactly as if the actors are simply reciting lines without any enthusiasm ... it wasn't written by Spike Milligan, and it shows!

It lacks lines such as "Who is this little cardboard-clad frogman?" and "Here is a photograph of three shillings" and "Ceasar ruled with an iron fist, then with a wooden foot, and finally with a piece of string". =D The original series has so much imagination in terms of the ridiculous situations ... never fails to make me laugh!

Here is the link to the remake.

Posted by Alex at 8:00 PM

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07/05/06 Back in Norwich

Back in Norwich now for the exam period. My first is next Monday, which means I'll be revising for much of this week, given the sparse amount of revision I've done up until now! I'm not too worried about these exams though. I have enough time to prepare adequately. There will be no stupid procrastination this time.

To commemorate today's date--one year since my first Langdale ascent, Pike of Blisco--I've created a special desktop graphic, which I think sums up my enthusiasm for winter mountaineering, and the hills in general, pretty well. I am adding it, and a number of other photos, to the desktop wallpapers section. Work is also well underway on the scrambling files for Tryfan's North Ridge and Bristly Ridge.

Posted by Alex at 10:30 PM

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06/05/06 F R E E D O M

I have now endured my last day of Wyevale servitude for six or seven weeks. Today I established and proved the Roddie Theorem of Advanced Customer/Cash Dynamics, which basically claims that customers do not exist in normal space, but phase in and out of our reality as and when they are least welcome. The same applies to the change in my till. If I need a particular kind of change (eg. £5 notes), no customers will give them to me until I get some in change from the office. After that I will receive dozens of them from customers. This happens every single time.

The good news is that my friend Emily now has an unconditional place at the Norwich School of Art and Design, so will be living in Norwich from late September onwards. Huzzah!

Looking rather further ahead, James and I are starting to look into the possibility of a winter mountaineering expedition to Glencoe next Easter, possibly tackling the Three Sisters and the Aonach Eagach, both of which are Grade II winter climbs and quite a bit more difficult than anything I've done so far. Liathach this July should prepare me fairly well in terms of the terrain itself--it is after all the hardest mountain in mainland Britain--but full-on winter conditions will make such an undertaking far more perilous.

We will both need new boots and crampons (my current set are unsuitable for even easy ice climbing), which will set us back a fair bit! Something to save up for. I will also need some special items of protection such as deadmen, bulldogs etc, and also a Blizzard aluminium sleeping bag apiece. I have decided to take emergency and survival gear very seriously this time. Howard's warning that winter in Scotland is "more dangerous than the Alps" is very much at the forefront of my mind.

There is still a possibility that I'll get on the Fell trip to Glencoe this June, which will give me invaluable prior experience of these mountains, but it's very likely that the signup for the trip will occur while I'm in Langdale. Not too bothered to be honest. I'm going to train to be a groupleader next year so I'll be guaranteed to get on more trips. =D

Posted by Alex at 10:30 PM

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03/05/06 One year ago today

One year ago from this exact moment I was sitting in a train bound from Peterborough to Windermere. I had embarked on the great May 2005 Lake District expedition--a trip that would change my life. I climbed twenty mountains, walked a hundred and sixty miles, and made a total ascent that was significantly higher than Everest. It was an experience so different from anything I had done before that it defined a new me.

I now see May 2005 as the time when I truly grew up. For the first time in my life, I was facing situations where I had to be entirely self-reliant, planning routes and escape strategies and figuring out what to do if the food supply ran out. I faced potentially life-threatening situations, such as the killer weather on Coniston Old Man. As my experience grew I adapted my gear to cope with the conditions, and some of my most trusted items of kit were bought at that time, including the legendary Sigg bottle. It was the experience of a lifetime. In my opinion everyone should do something like this: cut yourself loose from the world for a few weeks and experience life at the sharp end. It changes you in deep and complex ways that I'm only just beginning to understand.

It's been a great year since then, with another five trips, fifteen extra ascents, and a further 150+ miles of walking. But the great thing is that this is only the beginning. On each expedition, I try to cover new ground and progress to higher or harder climbs ... Glen Torridon this July will test the limits of what I've learned so far. The traverse of Liathach has been described as "punishing". And I fully intend to make an attempt on the Black Cuillin some time within the next couple of years. Whether or not I'll succeed, of course, is another matter!

Posted by Alex at 5:30 PM

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02/05/06 Some thoughts on pointless arguments--please read

Sometimes, arguments can escalate to the point where nobody can remember what started it, or who started it, or why. They transcend the boundaries of mere disputes and become personal feuds. The friends of people on either side become involved, and soon enough you have a gigantic mess where nobody can tell what is going on. A few individuals become so blind and single-minded that it becomes impossible to reason with them.

Others are affected badly by the feud. If they're going through a rough patch anyway, the smallest snide comment or cutting remark can bite deeply. And when it comes to writing malicious articles on the Internet about them, or defacing other articles, or aiming pointlessly childish insults against their friends, it has simply gone too far.

And this is the silly thing: such arguments are almost always caused by a simple mistake, or lack of communication, or someone failing to keep a promise then being unable to apologise or explain. I think it reflects very badly indeed on some people that they have pushed this feud to the extent where Frankie is feeling depressed and considering once again not returning to Norwich.

Now I know neither she nor I are blameless in this; after all it takes two (or more) to argue. But we have not made childish attacks against others or tried to perpetuate this. I have twice now put considerable effort into trying to resolve differences and bring this thing to a close, without success.

I know that some of the people on the 'other side' read this blog regularly, so I'm going to post a message to them here, without pointing fingers or naming names. Please can everyone forget the past and make an effort to move on. Nobody can remember what started the damn thing off anyway, so I think everyone will be much happier if we put it behind us and try to get on with our lives.

At this stage it's bullying, pure and simple. I'm willing to forgive and forget if it stops, and I'm sure Frankie is too. After over two months, it's time to put an end to this.

Posted by Alex at 5:30 PM

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