There and Back - Kalytastic

We are back again and it was as easy as ever. Train to Manchester (£7) and 3.45hr flight to Kos, we booked into a small guesthouse at Mastichari. A beer at a beachfront bar sorted us out as the lights from Kalymnos glittered across the water.
Sunday we got the 11:00 ferry, collected the hire-car, booked into Babi Bar and popped out for a quick five routes.

We usually arrive around the start of October, but it normally hot and busy so we decided to leave it until the end of the month this year, especially with the Climbing Festival organised for the busiest week of the year. It turned out to be a good call and already the place is cooling down and emptying on a daily basis. Some of the shops/bars in Masouri have already closed as the season draws to a close.

The climbing is as good as ever of course - a gentle start is needed, to grow some finger skin and get fit - a steady 30 routes so far up to 6b has started the ball rolling nicely!

Mountain High

 The flights down cost £14:95 each - it would have been rude not to! Ariège has been the same as ever; peaceful and with great weather. I know we are never here in the high season, but the tranquility of the place is always quite remarkable.
We had one cold wet evening which dumped snow on the higher hills so we had a plodge around the Plateau de Beille before it all melted away. There will be loads more where that came from once we are back here at Christmas time.

Left: Autumn Crocus at the Col de Agnes- 5200'

We had news that the Ariège guide won a "Highly Commended" at the Outdoor Writers and Photographers annual bash - recognition is always nice.
The climbing has been excellent, everything is very dry and in good condition. I had a hope of getting up on the Dent d'Orlu and doing one of the longer routes there but Colin is still hors de combat - maybe next time?


Right: Plateau de Beille- 6500'

One more day then a quick visit back to the UK to repack before heading for our Autumn Break in Kalymnos. We will be arriving about 4 weeks late than normal; Octobers have always proved hot and crowded and with the Festival this year sounds worse than normal. Hopefully by next week they will all have gone home!

Say Hello - Wave Goodbye

Chamonix was great, and the journey home was very steady, the Zeebrugge to Hull crossing was calm and another complimentary upgrade came our way - which made it all the sweeter.

Then it was four days in the UK and off again. There was the usual rush round to do jobs, pay bills, sort stuff, see friends, pack the bags, book hotels, car-hire etc - and away.

Left: White Cat saying "Can I be your friend, please?" ("of course" is the answer)

A couple of days on the grit were as pleasant as ever, good company, great routes and even feeling like I was climbing moderately well - the 70+ last month in France/Switzerland must have done the trick.

So it is off the Ariége for 10 days, then home for a week then back to Kalymnos for the rest of the autumn.

Cats are waiting and they won't wait for ever!

The Road Goes On

The 10 days in Ponte Brolla were great, good weather (apart from one wet day), superb climbing and a really lovely part of the world. It amazes me that the area isn't better known to a UK audience, it has that great blend of easy accessibility, loads of routes across the grades, good weather and a fantastic ambiance.
Camping again after several years of the Good Life proved 'interesting' - or should that read 'hard-work' - especially the time between sundown and bed, a few hours to kill in the dark and the cold, though we managed well enough!  Eventually though we gave in and made the five hour drive back to Thorbjørn's superb pad in Chamonix. So far the weather has been fantastic and the climbing excellent. The season has already ended (when we were here in June it hadn't started) so everywhere is quiet though on the downside, most of the cable cars are shut.
Already we are already thinking about heading back to the UK so we can initiate the Autumn Regime - that will be Ariège and Kalymnos for starters then!

Mountain Weather

Swiss September

On the plus side - there are no crowds, it isn't too hot, the campsite and the towns are almost deserted.

On the minus side, and unlike other years when we have been here in the autumn - the weather is best described a bit mixed.

It has been one day on and one day off at the moment and the forecast doesn't look too sparking - come on or we will have to run away to the seaside!

Left: Sherri belayed halfway up Azalee Beach - on the only dry route on the crag

Update: An afternoon and evening of rain (just after we put the tent up) decided it for us, upsticks, over the Susten Pass, through the Gothard Tunnel and into sunny Ponte Brolla - brill!

Late Summer Dreaming

Right: Steve abseiling off Boulder Climb, Robin Hood's Stride, Derbyshire

Summer in the Peak - same as it ever was; half decent weather, days out with good mates, venues old and new and of course too many people around. The 1st signs of autumn are on the way, so it is time to think about heading off.

Work on Eastern Grit 3 has gone well, the photography has progressed (despite the heat and the neck-deep bracken), and although not finished it is pretty well on down the line. Certainly there is enough to keep me busy for several months where-ever we end up at.

Ferry booked for a week today, Hull > Zeebrugge - lets go!

Peak Puntering

Left: Colehill Quarry 

We have been back in the UK for about 10 weeks (well always excluding a quick flier back to the Ariege in June) and it has been OK - though we both have been getting ichy feet. The main aim was to photograph the Eastern Grit crags in preparation for a new guidebook due out sometime next year. The previous volume has been Rockfax's best selling guidebook of all time, but already it looks a little dated, a full refresh is in order.  Of course it was a rewrite of the book that really broke the mould - Peak Grit East. When it was 1st published way back in in 2001 the effect was electric and guidebook production was changed for ever, certainly in the UK and probably further afield too.
Most significantly it gave me the chance to pack in teaching and take up writing full-time - which also freed us up to travel as and when the urge took us and that has been fantastic - we have become a right pair of nomads.

Other than getting on with the photography there has been plenty of climbing with the usual team, and pleased to report Colin has been down a couple of times and he is climbing really well.

Right: one more day photographing at Rivelin

A ferry is booked for early September - Hull to Zeebrugge, so it is back to Swizerland for a bit of autumnal time in the mountains. Last time we locked the door and sailed away, we were gone for 8 months - I wonder how long we can last this time?