Hiking, Scrambling, Mountaineering, and Climbing

Longer axes are just a bit easier to self arrest with and useful as a walking aid....that's it really. Oh, and much better for using as an anchor for crevasse rescue or rapells as they tend to stay buried in a trench more easily under load.

I use a petzl glacier for walking. It comes to around the top of my (pretty high) boots. I wouldn't stress about exact size too much. Anything longish, straightish and comfortable to hold and carry will be fine. Knowing how to use it in a self arrest is more important than the axe itself.

We found a ~90ish year old ice axe that had melted out of langtalferner in Austria in July. The handle was over three feet long!

Wise words. I'll take her to a shop maybe to try different lengths

One last tip...if you have a choice between an ice axe that is slightly long and feels a bit cumbersome and one that is shorter but fits on your pack nicely and is easier to handle, I'd choose shorter.

The long axe for walking rule is nowhere near as rigidly observed as it used to be. I was quite suprised at how easily I was able to practice self arrests with a 48cm Grivel Airtech Evo technical axe this summer.

Do check out the Petzl glacier if 60cm isn't too long. I'm really fond of mine. Its really light and agile. I climbed a reasonably steep bergshrund with mine (with two contact points) this summer and it handled the super hard ice really well for an axe that isnt designed for that.

Edit: Jana uses a 48cm Grivel Air Tech Evo as an all rounder as a lady of shorter stature. Beautiful axes for the money and great all rounders. https://grivel.com/collections/ice-axes/products/air-tech-evo

Petzl glacier

Oh nice one, hadn't seen that. Great price!

The Simond ice axes in Decathlon are very capable and good value for money.

My only criticism is that if you've ever used a high end ice axe they'll just feel a bit "cheap". Doesn't affect performance though.

Fun three days of hiking (not much snow to be found) in the Vercors and the first sunrise of 2023. Also nice to see the other side of the ridge after hiking through the Hauts Plateaux lying West of it last summer, awesome either way.

Happy new year!

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Awesome.

Thank you, to you as well. A French word for the German 'Föhn wetter' that is thawing the snow in the Alps right now?

I didn’t know that phenomenon, interesting. Though I’m not sure that’s what was happening here, the wind was steadily blowing in the same direction as the valley. It was just very warm. I didn’t use gloves at all over the three days.

The French speaking Swiss still call it foehn as far as I know. So many places in Switzerland are getting the rental bikes back out of storage. It must have been a massive hit to a lot of places having no snow for Christmas week.

My German speaking Swiss friends and Austrian friends call it Foehn too.

Bailed on Ben Challum on Monday. We got to 800m before it turned into a whiteout. The minor top joins to the Munro top via a ridge which wouldn't have been fun in about 15m visibility. Plus the snow was fresh and deep and knee high and beyond in places. Was a bit of a slog. Had we been an hour earlier we'd have made it no problem.

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Stunning pictures

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2023/jan/09/mountain-photo-of-the-year-2022-in-pictures

Off to Iceland for some ski touring and ice climbing in Feb. Peak winter storm season with 5 hours of daylight per day.

What could possibly go wrong?

You become afraid of the dark?

Amazing weekend in Cairngorms. Weather was appalling!

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Yosemite Valley from above and below. Snowshoed to the top location, drove back down to the bottom. Truly mind blowing in the winter.

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Do people here ever book organised trips? Trying to find something in Spain for March and feeling a bit overwhelmed by options. Mostly looking for someone to deal with booking all the accommodation and working out the schedule.

This is very vague. What type of trip? Hiking with a central base? Backpacking? Camping?
The last time I went hiking in Spain, I booked a place near the Picos in Potes and then just looked up 'best hikes in the Picos de Europa' or something. It was great and everything worked out. Highly recommend.

Edit: just checked my saved locations in Google Maps. The place was called HOSTERÍA LA ANTIGUA ALOJAMIENTO-POTES. The whole area was spectacularly cheap. Had some of the best food I've ever eaten there and a post-hike beer was 1 EUR.

Hmm for whatever reason I felt like I needed to do point to point, but I guess that just cranks up the price when I could do a base camp type thing.

Heard Picos is quite cold and wet so early in the season though?

Unsure tbh. But that seems very feasible. Base camp requires car rental etc, though, so I'd think backpacking would be cheaper if you're able to wild camp. Not sure on the rules in Spain though.

In march head south.

Nice day in the NW Highlands today. Did Beinn Liath Mhor from Glen Carron

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Climbing centre opening not far from here next month. Don't fancy hire stuff, although at first i guess it'll be in good condition.

Any recommendations for good "entry level" shoes (& harness) for bouldering (& auto-belay) messing around?

The Dolan Pre-Cursa of climbing I guess is what I'm after...

I bought a Simond harness from Decathlon when in the same boat - seems to be holding up fine after 18 months of weekly use. They do shoes as well, can't comment on them as I already had a pair of La Sportivas EDIT: this harness for £45 https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/climbing-and-mountaineering-harness-rock/_/R-p-143814?mc=8386026&c=BLACK