Graham Hoey's Stomping Grounds -Froggatt
My third day's climbing ever was with Mark Scott at Froggatt Edge, courtesy of Andrew 'Sam' Sansom and Chris 'Shilling Rabbit' Astill who we quickly recognised as 'hard men' since they could lead VS. They treated us to a selection of the best the edge had to offer. Classic after classic went by until, like the end of a banquet, we lay back replete with wasted arms and stinging pink fingertips.
Birchen and Gardom's had been good, but this crag was incredible. Our heroes had climbed here, we'd even done some of their routes and we wanted to do more. Mark and I returned shortly afterwards with gear and a rope and began a voyage of discovery of our own. Mark's first fall (a veritable monster of six inches on Hawk's Nest Crack), my first HVS, our first climbing 'tiff', my first failure, Mark's first, second and third top-rope rescues (on the same route!), our first bivi, and the classic abseil from the drilled hole on the pinnacle (have you found it?). Of such moments friendships are forged and 30 plus years on, whenever Mark visits me, Froggatt Edge draws us there to replay those halcyon days.
Here are just a few routes at Froggatt Edge that are special to me. It's difficult to do the crag justice; there are just so many superb climbs of all grades packed into such a short space. And, if it's solitude you are after, go exploring a bit and unlock the secrets of the northern buttresses: you won't be disappointed.
The Pleasures of Para-Alpinism by Tim Emmett
A couple of cool things going on at the moment are the 'Mountain Hardwear Academy' and also the 'TRAD' film competition.
The Mountain Hardwear Academy involves eight lucky winners who are taken on a series of trips across Europe over a 18 month period. The aim, (apart from doing some wicked climbing and getting to know each other!) is to assist them in the art of alpinism, showing them a broad range of technical skills and tactics to enable them to pursue safe passage through the mountains.
With three trips already under their belt this one was to find out more about the art of ice and mixed climbing, in Fressiniere, Southern French Alps.
TRAD is another competition that was set up as part of the Outdoor Show by X1Sports, to assist amateur filmmakers in making a short film with a sports personality. There are five teams, and all the films were premiered at The Outdoor Show on 28th-29th March. They will also be entered into the top international mountain film festivals including Banff, Telluride and Kendal.
I was teamed up with Cornish surfer/film-maker Charlie Chambers, and it seemed like a good idea to combine the MHW academy with TRAD and head out to Fressiniere in France.
We hung out with the MHW academy for a few days helping the team with top tips for scaling icicles and steep mixed ground, and then set off on an adventure of our own with a good French friend, Jerome Blanc Gras.
Jerome was brought up in a small village near Fressiniere and knew the area particularly well.
Training For the Frankenjura
Different rock types often have a specific type of hold and demand specific climbing styles. Often whole areas or even whole countries will have a specific style. Britain has a huge variety of rock types but overall there are a few types of holds that we don't have much of. Cracks for example, those soaring lines that must be jammed the whole way up: there are a few splitters around but hardly enough to produce the crack climbing masters found in the States. Tufas and stalactites are pretty rare too which is why we struggle so much on the foreign limestone. But one important hold style that is really rare is the 'pocket', little holes big enough for just a hand, or a few fingers, or even just one finger! Britain is far more 'edgy', producing a nation of crimpers. Indoor climbing has helped us a lot with our pocket strength, with most of the holds held 'open handed' to avoid crimping injuries, but the British past masters in particular, before climbing walls became common, generally favoured the full crimp, boning down hard on those little edges. This is an essential strength for sure, however, the open hand strength is far more useful on pockets, especially shallow ones, and is critical where two or even one finger can only fit in.
TOM RICHARDSON Gear - Fast & Light in the Alps
Well, in the Alps and Greater Ranges, it doesn't really matter how good we are or even the type of route we aspire to climb, we all have one thing in common I guess, we'd all like to be able to climb faster and with a lighter load. I don't mean necessarily racing up things like Ueli Steck up the North Face of the Eiger in three hours or so; it's more about getting up and down in good style and in safety without too many epics or enforced nights out!
What is Alpine Fast and Light you might ask? Now is the time to start thinking about summer plans; it is probably also a good time to give some thought as to how we can achieve them. Alpine 'fast and light' is more than just buying lighter stuff though. It is as much about an attitude, a state of mind, a philosophy even. To this end, there are lots of role models from whom we can glean some insights. We may not be in the same league as these guys, but it is a bit like the indirect improvements that you get to a Ford Fiesta from a Formula 1 racer. Here are four of my fast and light heroes.
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