Hiking, Scrambling, Mountaineering, and Climbing

Considering The San Gabriel’s, Santa Monica’s and the Los Padres NF are all so close to Los Angeles, it really is insane how wilderness-y it can feel. I believe the Santa Monica’s are the only mountain range within city limits anywhere in the world that has a big cat population, for example.

Edit: no, Mumbai does too.

The Sierra’s and Yosemite are a whole ‘nother ball game though. I actually have a permit to hike Whitney in July which is exciting. Logistically going to the Sierra’s can be challenging now due to permits - which is good - but it takes a lot of planning.

TBH I don’t know. It was a long time ago, we only did HVS / E1, and we did ok with a 50m rope. We probably used the guidebook you’ve just bought.

It's on. Going to spend almost the whole summer in Austria. ::Cackles to himself::

Ha yeah it’s nuts it’s just out of town for you!
Maybe I listen to too much true crime but I just imagine you’d be tripping over murder victims in the LA hills :/

I’ve got the 1994 edition of the CC Lundy guide which although out of date is the benchmark. I think the later versions just have more colour topos and a few new routes in the higher grades. I only climb up to hvs anyway so no issues there.

I’ll be taking regular twin 50m ropes but considering taking the plunge for a dedicated ab rope. Just seems to be a good idea to have an escape route. Have done multipitch abseils before but never into sea cliffs and would rather buy a long rope than call the coastguard lol.

Nice! What are the chances that you won’t stay on for the winter once you’re there?

Hahaha, it is the perfect place to dump a body, it has to be said.

Cool!

Nice! What are the chances that you won’t stay on for the winter once you’re there?

Almost zero sadly. The post-Brexit rules, post freedom of movement, mean you are capped to 90 days in any 180 day period.

I'm actually (probably) eligible for an Austrian passport as part of the Austrian's government WW2 reparations programme. My grandfather and great grandfather were officers in the Austrian army who fled the country (to fight against the Nazis) during Anschluss and apparently this is enough for me to claim citizenship. If our experiments of living in Austria go well, its an application I'll consider making.

I just received my German citizenship and passport for similar reasons. Although I already have a long term visa for Switzerland, having that purple passport back does give me an extra layer of security.
FWIW, the German application was quite smooth as long as you had birth certificates of the relevant people proving lineage.

Good to know, thanks. The Austrian embassy in London seem pretty confident about my eligibility but my worry is evidence. I've been pleasantly surprised by how helpful they've been so far though. They seem pretty confident that they will have enough evidence of the situation without us providing too much beyond the basics. Fingers crossed.

Hadfield to Hebden yesterday. Felt good throughout, the last 2 miles was tough with a brutal stair climb up a typical Calder Valley. Not many folks about from Wessenden Res onwards

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Spine recce?

Yup. I got some proper PW horizontal (if a bit light) rain into the night too which made it a decent session in terms of preparation.

Have you been out on the course much? You have more to recce overall I guess.

One more trip out for Marsden - Hebden should have me ready.

Vague plan to do Hebden -> the next decent railway station (Horton?) over a couple days later in the summer too.

Holy fuck.

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Fuck sake. Dicks.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-61308727.amp

£15,000 luxury ultramarathon? Jfc, just remove these people’s heads from their bodies and wallets already.

Crazy eh? Transit by speedboats to luxury accommodation at the end of the day. Fuck off! 🤣

That sort of shit really fucks me off.

There's a conservation campaign in the Alps that I do a little volunteering with and a potential ski resort developer has just wandered through an entire pristine valley, probably the last in the entire western alps with no human development at all, and rattle canned blue crosses on rocks to mark where they want to install lift pylons. Fuming!

Collapsible hiking poles! I need some.

Purpose: Hiking, snow shoeing, ski touring, trail running. So basically they need to be sturdy all rounders. Weight not a massive issue in return for sturdiness. Especially as they are for a 97kg lump. I'd need them to have proper wide snow baskets, or the option to buy as an extra.

My last pair, Fizan Compact 4, lasted about 28 weeks of actual use before finally crumbling beyond economical repair. To be fair, they got used as snow anchors for crevasse rescue a couple of time so they perhaps got more hammered than they should have.

I'm looking at Black Diamond and MSR but wondered if anybody on here had any personal recommendations for some sturdy work horse poles before comitting...

Edit: These are what I'm thinking of going ahead with https://www.elitemountainsupplies.co.uk/camping-trekking-c4/trekking-poles-c37/black-diamond-alpine-carbon-cork-trekking-poles-pair-p122

Have you been out on the course much? You have more to recce overall I guess.

(Sorry only just seen this reply)
I don't really have a chance to recce, living in the South it's a long way to go. I've done from Edale over to Snake Pass before and some of the Deadwater course followed the PW, albeit in the other direction. Hoping GPS, maps, and finger posts get me through the north section which I don't know at all.

I've found BD poles to be excellent. I just bought my mum some Carbon FLZ folding poles and they are also great. The metal locking mechanism is a nice touch, added to the fact you can get spare parts for it.
I think that a ~500g, three piece adjustable set might get a bit tiresome for trail running, but it depends on the distance you're going and how many times you collapse them or extend them during a run.

I've found BD poles to be excellent. I just bought my mum some Carbon FLZ folding poles and they are also great. The metal locking mechanism is a nice touch, added to the fact you can get spare parts for it.

I think that a ~500g, three piece adjustable set might get a bit tiresome for trail running, but it depends on the distance you're going and how many times you collapse them or extend them during a run.

Thanks mate, I appreciate this feedback. I've never actually seen any IRL before but they certainly look really well designed. I've generally found BD to be good for other stuff in the past but mostly carabiners and that sort of thing.

Think I'll take the plunge.

I'm buying all the things at the moment. I've somehow found myself in the siutation where a lot of my clothing and kit is end of life at the same time.

I received some RAB shorts and trousers in the post today. I'm really impressed with them for the money.

I also received a pair of these Terrex for hiking today. Initial impressions are awesome. I've been stubbornly wearing some old school La Sportiva winter mountain boots for almost all of my summer hikes recently and finally decided that I should do myself a favour and get something more suitable for the job.

They wear 800-ish grams for the pair...compared to 2.3kg for my Nepal Extremes!

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Speaking of new shoes, I wanted an Altra Lone Peak with some more cush. Tried on literally everything and the Altra Olympus 4 were the only trail runner that fit in the same way that has more cush and is zero drop. These Vibram Megagrip soles are absolutely superb. Highly recommended.