31/08/06 A BIG surprise

While browsing through the UKC forums earlier, looking up information on a remote bothy we might be visiting in upper Glen Nevis, I stumbled across something that came as a massive surprise ... and something of a shock. As it turns out, the route which I have planned for part of next week isn't just a random ridge walk between the Grey Corries and Ben Nevis. It's much more than that. It's an epic route with a fearsome reputation and a certain amount of notoriety.

It's the Lochaber Traverse.

It took a while for this to sink in. I'm about to embark on what could be the toughest mountaineering expedition I've ever planned. In terms of the technicality of the climbing it'll be a cakewalk: nothing on that ridge is harder than classic Grade 1. But we're talking about 10,500 feet of ascent and a distance of over thirty miles.

In practical terms, nothing has changed. I'm still looking at the same route, with the same problems and obstacles ... in its simplist terms it's just a set of challenges to be overcome, one after the other. But now that I know that my route is in fact the dreaded Lochaber Traverse, things start to feel different.

I've long known that the reputation of a climb can have a big impact on me, even to the extent of psyching me out altogether (which is what happened with the North Face of Glyder Fawr last month ... we didn't attempt it not because it was too hard, but because of its reputation). Maybe it should be called the 'Eiger Syndrome'.

There's no chance of me backing down on this one, but I find it hard to believe that at this stage in my life I am already looking at attempting the Lochaber Traverse. Only two years ago I was planning my first solo trip to the Lakes and reading with wonder and awe about those hardy souls who were brave enough to try the Lochaber Traverse. In one issue of TRAIL it was down there with completing the Wainwrights or the Munros as one of the biggest mountaineering challenges in Britain, and one of the best pub stories a hill-goer could hope to attain. It has serious mountain-cred.

So if all goes to plan, that'll be me, having completed one of the big, hard mountain routes of Britain, ranking right up there with the Black Cuillin and An Teallach. And it doesn't seem so long since I was walking along that lane near Hawkshead, looking out over an endless vista of mountains for the first time ... and realising that this was what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life.

It's been one hell of a journey since then, and now I'm up against the big one. Wow!

Posted by Alex at 12:30 AM

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30/08/06 Less than two days to go!

Can't believe Wednesday is almost over already. That means just this afternoon, and the whole of tomorrow, before the Glen Nevis trip begins.

The weather forecast is very iffy so I'm still wavering over some of the gear I'm intending to take. Lightweight fleece plus the usual array of wet-weather gear will be fine in terms of clothing, but the choice of sleeping bag is proving to be more difficult. If I take my lightweight, ultra-compact sleeping bag, it will obviously be easier to pack, but I'll probably freeze. There's no way I'll be comfortable in a sleeping bag rated at fifteen degrees. On the other hand, I could take my Berghaus sleeping bag, which works fine down to freezing ... but it weighs about twice as much and is about twice as bulky. Pack space is at a premium so this is a problem.

The classic solution would simply be to pack another thin fleece (which you can sleep in to keep warm and also wear on the hill), but I doubt if it'll be cold enough to need two fleeces during the day at this time of year. No, I'm not concerned about daytime air temperature. I'm more concerned about wind-chill, which may very well hit minus five or lower.

However we may be camping as high as 3,000 feet, or considerably higher if we decide to do a summit camp ... that could mean very low temperatures overnight.

I think I'm going to just try to repack the bag to take my thicker sleeping bag. Will mean more weight to carry, but a good proportion of that weight is food anyway ... which will go quickly enough!

Meh ... I just found out that there might be a rail strike the day I come back from Scotland. Never one thing, eh?

Posted by Alex at 5:00 PM

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28/08/06 We FAIL!!

Tonight was the night for our weekly pub quiz at the Mitre. This time we were joined by the legendary Mikey and his girlfriend, recently back in Norwich after many months in the trackless wilderness of Suffolk. Unfortunately, this week's quiz was poor ... 90% of questions were about sport, and the rest were either about obscure types of alcoholic drink, or things which I was convinced I knew the answer to but turned out to be completely and utterly wrong.

I still can't believe that the 'E' in E-numbers doesn't stand for 'Ester'. They ARE esters, for crying out loud!

So we didn't win anything this week despite having access to Mikey's wisdom and knowledge (the same as ours: "Who? Never heard of him!") Our team is called The Failing Losers, which always seemed to work in the past but this week has started to live up to its name. In any case, it was still a lot of fun ... and we had pizza.

Bagged myself a couple of strings of Himalayan prayer flags off Ebay for about £4 including postage. I'm not particularly Buddhist, but it's traditional to find strings of these brightly-coloured flags on the summits of mountains in Nepal and Tibet, and ever since we saw some on Tryfan in 2005 I've thought it might be cool to do the same. The location is very important; it's no good just dumping some on Lingmoor or Coniston Old Man. The mountain has to deserve this mark of Himalayan respect. Tryfan certainly deserves it, as does Snowdon, Bowfell, or Great Gable. I'm thinking Bidean nam Ban in Glencoe if we go there next March, or maybe Ben Nevis if we decide to go to the Nevis Range instead. But there has to be snow and ice around. Then you can get your gnarly summit photo complete with Tibetan prayer flags in the background.

I'm also kicking myself because a Stubai Führerpickel (a rare short-shafted model from the '30s) went on Ebay for only about twenty pounds today. I didn't bid because I was certain the price would go up and up. An Original Aschenbrenner is currently at around £70 and still has five days left to go; the only difference between it and my one is that the Aschenbrenner currently on sale still has its original strap and ring. Apparently this makes all the difference to collectors, which explains why I got mine for only £40.

At the moment I'm not rich enough to be a 'proper' Alpine collector!

Posted by Alex at 1:00 AM

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26/08/06 Stuff

Not much happening at the moment. My finger is healing very well; in fact I took the plaster off this morning because it was starting to itch. The stitch-strips are still in place and the lump of hacked flesh seems to have stuck itself back down quite well. I can tell that this is going to leave quite a scar, and in fact it'll probably end up slightly deformed, with a small 'dent' where the end of the flap doesn't quite meet its original position. Even so, it no longer hurts.

I have packed my 'sack for Scotland next week am delighted to see that everything I need fits exactly in the 45 litre pack. I'm perhaps taking my fate in my own hands taking a bivvy bag instead of a tent, considering the weather forecast. But as they say, once you go lightweight, you never go back. All the gear, clothing and food I need for a week of backpacking in one 45 litre pack is quite something.

Despite the fact that I know this is going to be a very hard trip, I'm really looking forward to it. I have the opportunity to do some real wilderness trekking, and to climb the majority of the Lochaber mountains, not to mention four in excess of 4,000 feet in height.

With luck, by the time I get back I'll have climbed my 60th mountain!

Oh and here's a couple of pictures you may find interesting. The first is a "White Spider-style" diagram of ascent for Tryfan's North Ridge. It includes all of the standard names for features, plus some of my own. The second is a collage of the dalehead of Great Langdale, as seen from the cattle grid at the Old Dungeon Ghyll. It was made up from three separate pictures taken in three different seasons!

Click for full-size versions.

Posted by Alex at 3:20 PM

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25/08/06 Resits over and done with!

Did the last of my resits (Maths) yesterday afternoon. As it turns out, the paper was almost identical to the one I took the first time round, complete with the stupid question at the end. However I think I did a great deal better this time, and considering the fact that I did well on the course tests, I think I stand a good chance of passing overall. I've also found out I only need to pass one of these resits to pass the year overall, too, so I think I'm doing well.

Now that I'm free of revision I am going to be concentrating on my backlog of website work this week. The July trip report is shamefully late, as usual, and there's loads of other material that I need to write and upload. Trust me, I haven't forgotten!

Went into town today and bought my rations for the Glen Nevis trip in a week. I'm going for the usual boring mix of Reiter dehydrated rations again, but have decided to be adventurous and am trying some different flavours this time.

Posted by Alex at 4:25 PM

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24/08/06 Another item to add to my collection

The day before yesterday, I was surprised to find out that I'd won an Ebay auction for a pair of what was advertised as "Antique Victorian crampons, very rare". From the photos they appeared to be the original 10-point hinged varieties, but because the photo was quite small I couldn't make out any details: they could have dated from any time within a 50-year period. I placed a bid anyway. Nobody ele bid and I got them for the rock-bottom price of £20.

They arrived this morning, slightly rusty but in otherwise excellent condition. I immediately set about trying to identify them. I was delighted to discover that these crampons are examples of the very first modern crampons ever manufactured. The English alpinist Oscar Eckenstein approached Henry Grivel, a blacksmith in Courmayer, with some new crampon designs in 1909. Where previously the science of crampon design had been extremely haphazard, resulting in devices similar to the instep crampons of today, Eckenstein brought his engineering expertise to the field and came up with a solid, reliable design.

This ten-point hinged crampon is the forerunner of the modern Grivel G10 that I've used and trusted my life to. They heralded the widespread adoption of crampons among alpinists and made possible many routes that would never have been dared before. Even though the 12-point crampon was introduced in the late '20s, some members of the 1938 team on the North Wall of the Eiger still preferred to use the original 10-point model.

I don't know the precise age of my pair, but judging by the way the hinge and edge posts are constructed (hand-forged instead of machined), I would place these crampons some time between 1910 and 1920. They make a great addition to my small collection of Alpine history items and are a perfect match with the Stubai Aschenbrenner. In fact, some day I would love to use them in the mountains ... they may not be as light as their modern counterparts, but there's something satisfying about these tools that modern gear seems to lack. Maybe it's the knowledge that they've served climbers for nearly a hundred years, and been used and abused some of the most legendary climbs in the history of Alpinism. Let's not forget that, when the 1938 Route was climbed on the Eiger, piolet traction hadn't even been invented!

I am in the process of removing excess rust and treating the crampons with a light coat of WD-40. Despite their age, all of the strap rings are in place and move freely in their bearings, and the heel wires still work perfectly. The only damage is a small amount of wear and one slightly bent point.

Here is a photo of two alpinists (Oscar Eckenstein himself lying down) relaxing on the Brenva glacier above Courmayer, during the first ever mountaineering competition in 1912. This was also the event when crampons proved their worth and the purists began to lose the battle against new technologies and techniques. You will also notice that these climbers are using Aschenbrenners.

Posted by Alex at 12:00 AM

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23/08/06 How was your day, honey?

So many things have happened today that I've lost count. First I woke up very early to take my programming resit at ten, which turned out reasonably okay. I lost a fair number of marks but I also gave some good answers. I think I made a good effort on that, so I'm happy with it.

After that we drove into town to get materials for building our 'pirate boat', basically a transom-end to stick on our stall at Socmart to make it look kind of like a boat. It's going to be called The Gnarly Snake (a very complex in-joke, that!)

When we got home, I set about cutting the wooden backboard into shape, only to discover that the saw was useless. Ended up using the ice axe to shape it roughly, which actually worked very well, and a penknife to achieve smooth edges. Here was where the fun began. I was working in the shed without a vice, and so the knife slipped, opening up a good chunk of my finger and splattering blood everywhere.

After waiting for the bleeding to initially stop I patched the finger up and didn't give it a second thought ... until twenty minutes later when Frankie demanded I took the bandage off so she could see the wound. It did look rather grim I must admit, with about 2cm of flesh hanging away from the finger. She insisted that I go to Accident and Emergency. I protested of course (this isn't the first time I've given myself a bad cut), but once she's made up her mind about something, there's not a lot you can do to change it.

I bled a great deal in the car, and accidentally sprayed blood all over the guy behind the reception desk in the hospital! However he told us to go to Norfolk and Norwich General Hospital instead, so off we drove again.

Arrived at Norfolk and Norwich A&E entrance, registered at the desk, got a new bandage, then waited for about an hour for my turn in the queue. As we waited, some idiot set fire to a litter bin outside by throwing a fag-end into it. Eventually I got to see the nurse. Yes, the line "Haven't we been in the wars??" was used.

My finger looked quite considerably wrong by this point, basically just a massive blob of red and black with a hole in the middle. A blood clot the size of a 50 pence piece was pulled out (the nurse called it 'chopped liver' ... meep!). After that, she applied a tourniquet and pulled the detached chunk of skin to one side to clean out the wound properly. I was treated to an inside view of my own finger. Very interesting!

As it turns out I didn't need any stitches. Once the blobs of flesh were pushed back in line, some 'stich-strips' were applied, followed by a heavy-duty plaster. Frankie's concern really was justified because I wouldn't have known how to keep the edges of the wound together, nor whether or not you're supposed to remove enormous blood clots. It would be easy for me to say that Frankie can be a bit like a fussy mother or sister on occasions, but she has my best interests in mind! And Richie's help tirelessly driving us from hospital to hospital is much appreciated too.

Anyway. After THAT we followed our original plan for the evening and went to watch Snakes on a Plane at the Riverside cinema. It's an awesome film, hilariously funny, bad yet good, and so wrong! Finally got back here at about midnight only to find this scene in our bathroom:

AARG!

Posted by Alex at 12:40 AM

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21/08/06 Shiny ... and not so shiny

Shiny

1. Went to the Mitre pub quiz last night, and came second place with 29 points! That's another 12 bottles of beer to share out between us.

2. The Council FINALLY emptied our bin, after a whole week, four complaints, and Frankie and me getting up at eight this morning to make sure we were there when the bin men came.

3. We are making an unbelievably awesome poster for piratesoc. It's based on the Pirates of the Caribbean poster, but has the faces of myself, Richie and Frankie photoshopped onto the faces of Orlando Bloom, Jonny Depp and Keira Knightly. The caption has also been modified to read "Pirates of the Committee" and instead of "Dead Man's Chest" it will say "Socmart 2006".

Not so shiny

1. I have a headache and was coughing all night, which means I've probably picked up Frankie's bug 'properly'. All of us are a bit ill in one way or another.

2. It's STILL raining. Torrentially. We had a big thunderstorm yesterday and it's done nothing but rain for about a week now.

3. Everyone has gone into town while I have to do revision for tomorrow's evil programming exam. I'll be going down campus to seclude myself in the library once it stops raining.

4. Overspawn is bringing up the stupid Feud / Argument on the Underground yet again. I'm at a loss for words ... the level of spite and malice that the guy displays defies belief. You'd think people could let things lie after four months, but apparently not. Now I'm getting critisized again for responding and defending my own position. His argument is that Frankie is somehow an evil person, but he never took the effort to get to know her so can't justify his opinion. With luck Fitz will close the UG down. That should solve the problem.

You can read the thread here (probably Not Safe For Work due to language): Underground Forums

Posted by Alex at 12:20 PM

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20/08/06 Trip finalised!

I went down campus today to meet Angelika, the girl who I'll be going to Scotland with at the start of September. She seems really nice and I think we'll get along together well! After discussing transport details etc. we started to talk about choices of route. The initial plan was to head into the Flowerdale Forest north of Loch Maree, but we agreed that Flowerdale was pretty much impossible to get to in a single day (you have to use about four trains, followed by the awful Postbus, to get there). We now intend to go to Glen Nevis and do some backpacking, wild camping and Munro-bagging in the mountain ranges of the Grey Corries, Nevis Range, and Mamores.

The weather forecast is currently pretty awful, but nevertheless to save weight I'm opting for a bivvy bag. Angelika is taking a 2/3-man tent to sleep in which I will also occupy if the weather is bad! I'm really hoping for no rain and clear skies but conditions over the Nevis range are currently awful.

In any case this is set to be a pretty epic trip, including at least 7 Munros (possibly as much as 15) and Ben Nevis from the Carn Mor Dearg Arete.

As far as my revision is going, I'm doing loads of work each day but the material just doesn't seem to be sinking in. Meh. The first exam is on Tuesday.

Posted by Alex at 3:20 PM

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18/08/06 SQUEE!! XD

We watched the Big Brother Finale tonight, and Pete (a Tourettes sufferer) won. I doubt I've ever laughed so hard in my entire life. The guy's just hilarious ... although I did feel kind of sorry for him because he was obviously terrified at the crowd and the fireworks. In any case I believe he deserved to win!

Anyway. We've done a lot of sorting out for the pirate society today, including some shopping around on eBay for some bits and bobs we'll need. Frankie got herself a new pirate hat and boots and we also managed to bag a rather nice treasure chest, which will be just the thing to use as a cash-box. It's a bit grey and rusty at the moment, but nothing that a bit of glasspaper and WD-40 won't fix.

I am also bidding on a pair of ancient 10-point crampons. From appearances I would say that the pair date from around 1912, and seem to correspond to the pattern of the very earliest Grivel G10 models. This was the forerunner of all modern crampons, and the same basic design that Heinrich Harrer wore on the first ascent of the Eigerwand. The current price is around £20! If nobody else muscles in before the auction ends, I could land myself an exceptional piece of Alpine history which will fit right in with my 1930's ice axe.

I've also been sorting out some more details for the possible trip to Scotland. I am obviously concerned about the prospect of flying to Glasgow what with the mess the airports are in at the moment, but according to the National Rail website, taking the train to Glasgow is astonishingly easy and quick. Tickets would also appear to be selling at a fraction of their usual price. So this remains a good fall-back position if we decide flying won't be viable, and Glasgow provides a good connection with Fort William.

We still haven't decided exactly where we want to go, but we're meeting up on Sunday morning to talk things through over a pile of maps ... I'm bringing Frankie and Richie along as well. At the moment the choice seems to be between Flowerdale Forest (the wilderness north of Torridon) or the upper wilds of Glen Nevis. Both offer exceptional challenges in the form of towering mountains, featureless, boggy wastes, and navigational nightmares.

There's no denying that Glen Nevis would be a great deal easier and cheaper to get to, but I still feel a little miffed at having missed Torridon in July and I'd love to go there someday!

Posted by Alex at 11:50 PM

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17/08/06 A possible change in plans

Something totally unexpected happened today. A member of the UEA Students Forum posted a message saying that one of their friends had bailed out on them on an upcoming trip to Scotland, and the poster was looking for someone else to go on the trip with them. Since I was thinking about heading up to the mountains at that approximate time anyway, naturally I was interested!

We've been exchanging emails and the plan seems to be to fly to Glasgow (or get a train), then to make our way either to the Torridon or Glen Nevis area for some backpacking / Munro bagging. We'll be meeting up sometime over the weekend to discuss details and to figure out what will and what won't be feasible.

If this works out, I'll have to change my dentist's appointment (no big loss!), but I'll have the chance to do some serious mountaineering and wild camping in Scotland. Much better than another trip to Langdale!

In other news, my two exams are next week. I have been doing a fair bit of revision every day, but I'm all too aware that over the next couple of days I'm going to have to do a great deal more. There's still so much material I don't understand, or have forgotten. I really want to pass these resits. Taking the entire first year again wouldn't be too much fun.

Posted by Alex at 10:45 PM

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16/08/06 Alpine dreamin'

A copy of Heinrich Harrer's legendary history of the Eigerwand, The White Spider, dropped on my doormat this morning. The cover artwork is inspiring: a rope trailing along the summit ridge of the Eiger towards an exhausted, down suit-clad climber. I bought the book simply because in re-reading Joe Simpson's phenominal The Beckoning Silence (also a book about the Eiger), Harrer's earlier work is referred to constantly and in fact this was the thing that first started Joe climbing.

I'm not far into the book yet, but it is quite simply amazing. The central theme is familiar: the fundamental paradox of mountain climbing. Why do we climb when the rewards are subtle and we stand to lose so much more than we could possibly gain? This is something that I've been struggling with in my own mind for well over a year now but I doubt I'll ever come up with a satisfactory answer. The closest I can come to an explanation is that in climbing mountains we learn more about ourselves and become better people in the presence of such humbling, timeless vastness.

Before I get too melodramatic (lol ) I'll cut to the idea I'm driving at. The Eiger, its history and tragedies, and the powerful names of features on its North Face, fascinates me. My brother and I have already worked out that we won't be able to go to the French Alps next year, but I want to see bigger mountains! Just because you're in the Alps doesn't mean you have to venture into glaciated terrain above 3,000m.

I'm certain I'll be free in late June next year, even if James isn't. I want to stay in Grindelwald--the village under the shadow of the Eigerwand--for a week and do some walking there. I won't venture alone into the high mountains because that is incredibly dangerous for someone inexperienced in alpinism. But there are miles of trails up to 2,000m or so around the valley of Alpiglen that I can make use of, and get some pretty stunning pictures for good measure.

The other advantage is that by the time we're ready to go to Vallorcine or wherever we end up going in 2008, for some proper mountaineering, I'll already have a 'feel' for the Alps and will have a better idea of what to expect (plus I can actually speak a little German!) The good news is that a trip to Grindelwald will actually turn out much cheaper than a trip to Scotland. Flights to Zürich start at about £65, and from there it's an easy matter to get on the train bound for Interlaken and Grindelwald. I can camp in the village and soak myself in the epic history of the Eiger.

It's a way ahead yet, but other than winter mountaineering next March I don't have a lot planned for next year. This will give me something wonderful to look forward to, and will give me something to keep me ticking over until I start climbing in the Alps 'properly'!

Posted by Alex at 12:15 AM

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15/08/06 Another pub quiz. Well, almost.

On the way back from shopping today we noticed that another pub, the Stores on Dereham Road, was hosting a pub quiz ... with a cash prize! So we popped down at 7:30 this evening, and waited for it to start. And waited. A few people wandered in and wandered out again. Compared to the packed and bustling atmosphere usual at pub quiz nights, the place was positively deserted.

There was only one girl behind the bar and most of the time she was doodling on a crossword pad. Eventually we got bored and left since they had obviously either cancelled the quiz or forgotten about it.

I doubt we'll be back there again ... the Mitre is infinitely better, and so was the Lillie. Norwich-based students in the Dereham Road area would do well to venture a bit further afield and find their way to the Mitre or Fat Cat.

Anyway just to keep the sharks at bay (lol) I'm going to make an effort to put the full July trip report up by next Monday, although considering the amount of revision I have at the moment I can't make any promises. My routine is currently as follows:

9:30 - Wake up when the post falls through my letterbox
9:55 - Watch Friends
10:30 - 12:00 - Mixture of on/off net browsing, textbook reading, and TV
1:40 - Watch Neighbours
2:30 - 6:00 - Revision
6:00 - 7:00 - The Simpsons followed by Hollyoaks
7:00 - Dinner
7:30 - 11:30 - Evening in or out, depending on the day
11:30 - 12:30 (varies) - bed

Hmm ... I seem to be watching a lot more television than I used to! Even so I will be upping the amount of revision I do over the next few days, because it's now only a week before my exams and I still have much work to do. I've made a positive impression on the maths, but since I've been concentrating on this so far I've been rather neglecting the programming side of things. Meep!

Oh and Frankie and me both applied for the job at Choices (a DVD store) on Dereham Road today, after filling in a very long application form. Tbh I hope she gets this job because she really wants and needs it, whereas I'll be okay without a job for a while yet. Anyway I've now run out of CVs to give in so I'll be making the trip into campus tomorrow to get some more printouts.

Posted by Alex at 1:00 AM

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14/08/06 Pub quiz night

It's Sunday evening, and that means pub quiz! Instead of the Mitre, this week Richie's friends invited us to the quiz at the Lillie Langtry (a pub off Unthank that I've been to once before). The pub was pretty crammed and as it turned out we split into two groups for the quiz.

However it wasn't the general knowledge-driven quiz that the Mitre excels in. The Lillie's pub quiz is entirely based on music questions, which most of us failed at. I knew and recognised plenty of songs but could only positively identify about four out of a hundred! Luckily they had a couple of obscure ones that nobody else could name off the top of their heads but which I knew quite well. And of course Mr Blue Sky which I recognised immediately.

All said I think we'll go back to the Mitre next week. We like the Mitre because we tend to win there.

Apart from revision (pretty much nailed Set Theory this afternoon), Facebook has been keeping me occupied today, hunting around for friends and aquaintances who have created profiles. Over the past week or so I've got back in contact with Greg Ball, who I've known since I was about three, and I have an MSN address for Simon Whitaker, my old best friend who I haven't seen since I left the Scouts six years ago.

We've also formed a piratesoc group on Facebook and I've managed to find a few people from the Fell Club, too. It's a bit like Myspace, only less chaotic and amateur, better organised, and generally not crap. Looks like a great way to keep in touch with people.

Oh yes and we tidied up the kitchen today! Turns out we actually have a WORKTOP! And cupboard space! All the burnt gunk has also been cleaned off the oven. Thanks for all the hard work cleaning up and cooking us dinner, Frankie--you're a star!

Posted by Alex at 12:45 AM

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13/08/06 So

I'm still here, honest. Not having much time for writing for the website due to a mixture of revision (urgh) and Real Life (yay!) Back when I was a writer the ol' RL used to be dreaded as an annoying disturbance to my routine, but now I wouldn't be without it. Took me long enough to realise it but real life is actually more fun.

Anyway I've been talking to James over MSN and we've figured out that the Alps will not be feasible for next year. The big issue is that he will have his A-level exams from May until July, and the time when we want to be in the Alps is slap bang in the middle of that. So the Alps have regretfully been relegated to June 2008, after I finish uni and James is on his gap year. In a way this is actually better: we'll be able to get two more seasons of Scottish/Lakes winter experience under our belt, and also if we choose a period without any committments we could take two or three weeks and really let ourselves rip.

Obviously this is still a long way in the future but I want to do some mountaineering in Vallorcine (Buet, Cheval Blanc, Pointe de la Terrasse), and also I just have to go to Grindelwald in Switzerland, to gaze upon the North Wall of the Eiger. Even if I never climb this face I can't justify never even seeing it.

Frankie's been ill for the past few days, which has been kind of miserable. Richie was at a gig last night and working today, so the Making Of Cheese On Toast duties fell to me. Watched Mean Girls and also the Big Brother eviction ... Pete is just too funny! Since no employers have called either of us back I'm hoping we'll be doing some more job-hunting next week, in between the cursed revision (which I am going to do some serious work on tomorrow). Not that long until the resits now.

Even so, I'm glad I'm in Norwich!

Posted by Alex at 1:00 AM

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10/08/06 Me? A responsible student?

Myself, Frankie and Richie headed down campus this afternoon for a chat with Francis, who has recently assumed his new job as Communications Officer for the Student Union. The reason for the meeting was to discuss the UEA Student Forums, which he has inherited from Andy, his predecessor ... basically he wanted to talk through a few current issues with some of the more regular users. That's us!

The good news is that the forums aren't going to be shut down (which nearly happened), and many of our suggestions are going to be implemented or have already been put into place. Andy made a bit of a botched job of it last year to be honest, although creating the forum in the first place was a good idea. Many of the shortcomings of the official forums led to the 'revolution' and subsequent creation, growth, decline and fall of the Underground, which I now see as a backlash response to Andy's rather schizophrenic approach to forum administration. Now that the Underground seems to have wilted and lost its sense of direction (no offence intended to Fitz whatsoever, but it's still true), and what with soon-to-be freshers flocking in, this is a crucial time.

Some new moderators have been appointed to deal with the spam, and to put out flamewars as and when they appear. This is far rarer than it used to be but only the other day an argument broke out due to a newish member completely misunderstanding the relationship between Frankie and myself, and then being apparently insensitive and rude about it for good measure. Turns out it was an attempt at humour but it's a classic example of how intentions can get mixed up over the internet. It's a lot harder to read between the lines ... or to put it another way, it's all too easy to read the wrong things into what someone has posted.

Anyway Frankie is planning a forum meet or two within the first couple of weeks of the new semester, which should be great. Am looking forward to meeting some people who have become regulars since the last bunch of socials stopped. We'll also be able to reel in lots of freshers and hopefully con them into joining Piratesoc for good measure!

Oh ... and we also got a free advance copy of the new student handbook (way earlier than everyone else). Again, it's nice to see that some of our suggestions have been heeded, such as putting all the information freshers will want to know immediately right at the front, eg. what to bring with you to uni, how to settle in to your new flat etc. Much better than last year's handbook!

Posted by Alex at 11:35 PM

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09/08/06 Trip planning ... on a grand scale!

Now that the internet is up and running, I've been able to both download all of my lecture notes (for revision) and order various things I need for future trips. Firstly I got myself a TNF Spire 38 rucksack in the Gear Zone sale for about £20 off the original price. I decided to get this because it is larger than my current pack, which is just a bit too small for winter mountaineering. The 38 litre size will be just big enough without being so large that it tempts me into adding gear I might not need. Light is right!

Also ordered a copy of Heinrich Harrer's classic The White Spider, an account of the first ascent of the 1938 Route on the Eigerwand. And--this is the important bit!--a map of the Chamonix valley and Mont Blanc massif.

I am really keen to start mountaineering in the Alps. After buying and reading a guidebook of the Chamonix area, I have come to the conclusion that the quiet(er) valley of Vallorcine would make the ideal base camp. We won't be venturing onto the very high mountains. This will be our first trip and so I've decided to make Mont Buet our ultimate objective at 3,100m ... which is a good 2,000m higher than anything I've climbed before! This is the traditional training peak for Mont Blanc and in fact it was also known as the "Ladies' Mont Blanc" during the 19th Century. It has glaciers, a cracking North Ridge with via ferrata for protection, a two-day ascent, and a respectable altitude. It's a challenge.

There are also many 2,000m+ peaks around the vicinity which look very enjoyable and will be great for acclimitisation. But perhaps the best thing of all is that I'm thinking of placing the trip in June 2007, which will mean SNOW, and lots of it. The Easter trip to Glencoe or the Cairngorms will be great for notching up our winter experience a bit more, but this will be the most ambitious and challenging trip yet! It's definitely something to look forward to!

Anyway just to update on how things are going here in Norwich (because all those posts were on the temporary blog), we won the Mitre pub quiz on Sunday night and received a crate of beer as a prize ... which is now almost entirely gone! The White Card Game has also been played and a new card has been added, courtesy of the Trawlermen series that was on last week. Started watching Trawlermen because we were bored and got strangely drawn into it. The new card reads "TRAWLERMEN! Ryan pukes on your face. Lose 500 points."

Posted by Alex at 15:00 PM

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08/08/06 Back on t'internet

It's been a busy day so far! I was woken up at about 8:30 by the NTL technician knocking on the front door--that's the front door that leads directly into MY bedroom. Watched groggily in dressing gown as the technician proceeded to drill a hole in the wall and install a white box despite the guys yesterday telling me it wouldn't be required, which annoyed me somewhat. Frankie offered to pay the damage deposit if Bush get uppity about it at the end of the year, however, so we decided to go ahead with it. Hopefully it won't come to that.

After the hardware was installed, it was time to do battle with the evils of NTL software registration. This process took hours of cursing and swearing before I managed to get the internet working on my machine. And then I had to set up the router, which was even more arcane. Ended up having to set all the IP addresses and other settings manually. :S

Even so, it works now, which means wireless 1MB unlimited broadband throughout the house! =D

I will be finishing off the trip report and posting it within the next few days.

Posted by Alex at 15:00 PM

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