The access via the Poqueira gorge and Cortijo Tomas, to the Poqueira hut has been affected by landslips and flooding. Several sections of the normally good path have fallen away. The river has burst it’s banks in many places and some bridges have been washed away. Until a new path re-establishes itself then be prepared for detours.
The rescue services of the Guardia Civil rescued 2 mountaineers who had been stranded since Sunday at the Cariguela hut. With no food and only snow melt to drink they eventually rang 112 and alerted the rescue services.
Very little rock shows through in this shot. Deep snow although high temperatures mean that snow consolidation is well underway and some very icy stretches exist.
Dec 272009
The rains that have bombarded the Granada area in the past week have finally stopped. We ventured out today onto rural tracks between Pinos de Valle and Guajar Alta to get a view of the mountains from the south west. The white clad peaks of Cerro de Caballo, Tajos Alta and Cerrillo Redondo dominate the view with Lanjaron nestling at the base. Snow level is about 2300m.
The predicted unsettled weather has arrived and it has been steadily pouring down now for the past two days. The forecast for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day in the high mountains shows no improvement. The snow will be accompanied by high winds, some of between 150km and 190km per hour are predicted over the festive period.
Dec 202009
The crests of ridges have much transparent ice around. Ice axe and crampons are essential. You can see the amount of snow from this photo taken today from the summit of the Cerro de Caballo and looking into the Rio Lanjaron towards Veleta. Much better than we had anticipated.
Dec 152009
An ambitious winter traverse of the Sierra Nevada, the Los Tres Miles, 3000m peaks challenge, ran into difficulties last week when a series of fox related incidents left the group with little food and ripped tents. All had started well. First night spent at the refugio de Caballo, followed by a traverse of Tajos Altos and the [...]
Dec 152009
At long last we have an unsettled spell this week. Low temperatures and a deep low have brought snow above 1700m. More is set to come tomorrow (Wednesday 15th) and over the forthcoming weekend. A much improved situation will result. Good news for skiers and mountaineers. In Lanjaron last night temperatures plummeted to a chilly -1. The [...]
Dec 132009
After a day spent just offshore from the Falklands taking on fuel for the whole month’s journey we endured the rite of passage now known as the Drake Shake (the Drake Pasage). It’s notorious as one of the roughest crossings on the planet, and on our crossing, gave us Force 9 gales and 6m waves. Sadly, this blew us [...]
Dec 122009
Great video taken by spanish climbers on the Chorreras de la Mosca below the Laguna de la Mosca, north side of Mulhacen. Shows the potential on the north side for ice climbing. long approach and bivvy required at Cueva Secreta.
