Inspiring the Adventure

Ode to the Sierras from the sunburnt country

admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:05:52 +0000

Although this is southern Spain the Sierra Nevada should never be underestimated. We supported Australians Ryan and Emma as they did a self guided 5 day trip in the Sierra Nevada, intending starting at Guejar Sierra, crossing Mulhacén and dropping down to the Alpujarras. They sent us in this interesting report of their experiences. As Ryan states ...

The experience was big, but the mountain was bigger!

"I hadn't really left after a sixteen hour day-walk around Guejar Sierra’s (GS) extended into darkness of the short autumn days. Hardship, altitude nausea and unimaginable vistas of the main ridge had given me a feel for the mountain underfoot and a carrot of a beautiful ascent via the northern spur of GS heading up Picón de Jerez. Having a long-time trekking companion visit from the rather topographically-challenged landscape of Australia, we began talking about treks one day looking across towards the ‘Blue Mountains’ (El Escorial) from the pampered suburbs of Las Rozas, Madrid. We didn't really decide in the end, it was a fait accompli, with Emma visiting anyways, my unhealthy addiction for study of vast Earth’s topography by Google Maps, and above all my lifelong addiction to hardship in the wild. Sierra’s are the meanest mountains in Spain after all. We decided, rather autocratically [sorry Em] for entry via the northern GS spur (Loma de Maitena), with ambitions to cross over to Lanjarón via Mulhacén and the rest in 5-6 days. We organised gear, accounted for altitude and didn't worry about the weather too much, it was summer in Spain after all – it should be bloody hot.

Day 1

Following an impossibly winding road our bus reached GS by 1.30 pm. As we began to hike towards the Rio Maitena food was on Em’s mind. We finally began our 2-day ascent at 3.30 pm in glorious sunshine after a protein fix of the local A… dish. We started modestly following the acequia along the northern face of Loma de Maitena taking in the views along the Maitena valley. After an inevitable scramble up the foothills we began to ascend steeply through decadent cherry-almond orchards buoyed by our first footsteps, but slightly weighed down by the 20-something load. The mixed oak forest (robur-petrea) gave us a subtle calming aroma and something slowly began to stir inside as we crested the lower reaches at 1700 m, already beyond highs the vast Australia has to offer. The main ridge towered above us, snow capped peaks and shadows dancing beneath the clouds; an amiable grandeur slightly dishonest about the ferociousness within. We camped shortly after in a protected knoll sitting below a fire lookout, although our planned destination was further along by several k’s, already experiencing my first twinge of altitude giddiness at 1900.

Day2

Discussing our shortfall we decided to go hell for leather, aiming at 3000+, after my innocuous assessment of the northern ascent up Picón de Jerez. Starting late (10.30 am) we danced among the 4WD’s taking the highs of Loma de Maitena; Em internally voicing regret about our physicality, whereas I began to feel happy as the ancient rock-walls of the acequia ran dry. We refilled at a subterranean duct around the saddle of Papeles, and I lingered by the water momentarily escaping the sun, becoming daunted, rather suddenly as the innocuous turned into something else; my neck shifting through degrees to follow a bearing towards the highline. After vigilantly ignoring the day-walkers hut (Refugio Piedra Partida) we began the true ascent. Altitude was playing a mean hand at 2500, so I decided to skirt across Loma de los Cuartos. I consider us lucky to have battled the long northern spur purely because of the sight of the Basin de las Hoyas – only through a full ascent did it dawn on me that we were standing by a Source; the raging torrents of Rio Maitena (eventually short circuited by an ominously picturesque Dam de Canales) fed annually by a slow long trickle escaping deep winter ice. Forged by a ring of 3000+ mountains, marking the northernmost point of the main ridge, the basin was a sight to behold. I was washed over by an emotion in those backwaters that left one of those imprints of bodily memory, not easily forgotten. We climbed through the clouds into Source territory and energetically I altered, fleeing consciousness during our 13th hour on the trail. We rose steeply towards Los Cervatillos through mist and mind and behold the clouds shifted, and we entered the heavens, or so it seemed. A blanket of clouds lay before us, pierced by Mojón Alto, low angle sunshine yielding grand mountains all pinks and greys. Collectively we threw ourselves to the top, and reached the snowline by dusk, collapsing on crampons and descending steeply towards welcome ponds as the mist came in over Lagunas Juntillas.

Day 3

After climbing a steep snow hill out of the Lagunas, we both had only vague recollections of Day 3 due to cold temperatures overnight, altitude hangover, tough weather and sore feet. We I can offer from my patchy memory is some items advising residents of flat, sun-burnt countries hiking in the Sierras for the first time:

Choose wisely when purchasing a tent and carry a tarpaulin: Models such as Denali ‘Kakadu’ probably indicate they are not suited to subzero temperatures, frozen ground and unseasonal, driving arctic winds
Trust your compass: The shifting topography of the Sierra’s in fragmented light and nothingness is misleading even for experienced navigators
Do not attempt to climb steep, shifting ice walls to avoid going the long way around

We camped on a dry patch of ground near the sound of running water and ate quickly as snow began to fall and gain momentum.

Day4

Snowed in!

Day5

Clouds began to shift after the deep fog of early morning and we decide to leave our ‘Isla’ de Lagunas, optimistic about a first interview with northern Mulhacén. We both feel tuned this morning and the deepening black cloud-bands yielding their first rain-showers up the Rio Juntillas did not discourage us. Washing at the de las Calderetas refreshed my mind and there and then the wilds take a piece of me, and I take a piece of her. After a voracious argument about a safety issue on the steep, muddy descent beneath Alcazaba; the invisible cliff reveals its essence to Em alone and we each take our own route exploring a south-facing moonscape during a hairy climb up the back of Alcazaba. The first plateau reveals a stark contrast of whites and blacks at this hour, intersected by a timeless waterfall from the highs. We skirt along the Tajos spotting a clan of juvenile bucks as the visibility drops to nothing with a cold mist. Here and there we spot fragments of Alcazaba, although no sign of Mulhacén. Climbing into a headwind we reach a sea of nothingness; white upon white before us. Swallowing fear I take lead into acid territory, only the crunch of crampons imparting a measure of reality – photos mistake us for veteran snowgoers – this was indeed a foreign land we were no more at home than the disoriented insects in this ephemeral snowline of a series of false Spanish springs. When the rock knolls disappear we enter insane white-out, staying close together with fear rising. A trust in compass wavers when my right arm suddenly drops half-a-metre down invisible slopes. For a tense hour we climb steeply on a mindless white landscape shifting west towards a hypothetical southern shoulder of Loma de la Alcazaba. Then [Land Ahoy!] the disorganized boulders reveal themselves directly. We scrambled slowly into the afternoon along the endless shoulder on a sharpened north-west strike, the terrain below taking on altitude only imaginable through vertigo and breathlessness. Reaching the northern face and still no Mulhacén, we settle for lunch in a shifting breeze as I take question time on safety, Em says rather nonchalantly: “We can give it a crack if you want”, whereas I begin to right off the interview feeling preemptively fired. Just then, the peak of Mulhacén is momentarily revealed, and we sit in paralysis, breathless beyond the effects of altitude. I will remember that sight for long days to come, the northern spur poking through the clouds like a dinosaur’s backbone, rising impossibly towards the highs. Unanimously we decide to abort, having no sight of a ridge beneath us, and faced with riding a dinosaur in another hailstorm; a thought of not going home for supper far outweighed a lingering vigilance. Another day. Turning back along the shoulder, the rather ubiquitous cairns gave us a lead down to the Siete Lagunas [perhaps a very large and visible cairn worthy of note is located just east of the Puntal de la Cornisa]. Thereafter the intensity yielded and we crunched towards supper at Laguna Hordera across the plains, as the storms on Mulhacén gathered force in the dusk. Snow fell on our makeshift rock-shelter as we dined luxuriously on our last night - overlooking vertical clouds in the Trevélez valley – pondering the extremity of these lands. Then there was a fox, and a tug-of-war, but that’s another story. Sitting in the bus, following the very cheerful conversation of locals, I reflected on the raw and inhospitable power of ice, hail, wind and snow of the Sierra Nevada wilds; an essential service for mankind as only through the wilds does pure creation occur, not God-speak, far from it; Andalucian’s obtain their water from the annual retreat of these glaciers. And this year water it is, the price of Liquid Gold must be falling in Lanjarón."

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Spanish Highs joins Berghaus team to make ski descents in Kamchatka

admin — Mon, 13 May 2013 08:56:37 +0000

During April 2013, members of the Spanish Highs team joined a Berghaus sponsored expedition led Berghaus athlete, Julia Pickering, attempting to make the first ski and snowboard climb and descent of the highest active volcano in Kamchatka, Klyutchevskoy Sopka (4750m). Richard Hartley and Kiersten Rowland of Spanish Highs, Sierra Nevada were invited to join this Berghaus sponsored trip because of their vast mountaineering and expedition experience gained from many years in the UK, Alps and on the Patagonian Icecap. Team members met in Moscow on 7th April and headed east on the 9 hour flight to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy in Kamchatka. There we met up in the city of Yelizovo with Martha Madsen of Explore Kamchatka who were our in-country organisers Note re our gear and equipment - we were fully kitted out with top notch Berghaus clothing. As you would expect this worked superbly and kept us well protected from the savage elements. Many thanks to Berghaus and Julia Pickering for the opportunity to join the trip! Photographer Martin Hartley and Warwick Pickering made superb team mates and not forgetting the superb guiding of Igor Sesterov and the cooking/laughing skills of Elena Bulatova! Short summary

A tiring 11 hour 4WD drive followed through the taiga northwards to the town of Klyuchi on the banks of the Kamchatka river
An attempt to reach base camp via snowmobile was aborted due to poor visibility and high winds
Advance base camp established in bad weather on the high col (2700m) between Klyutchevskoy Sopka and Ushkovsy
Ski across the plateau in good weather to establish base camp at 2750m below the col between Klyutchevskoy Sopka and Kamen
Acclimatisation trip to 3300m to the col between Klyutchevskoy Sopka and Kamen. Weather worsening during the day
6 days bad weather. High winds at altitude. Very cold (-20+). Tent bound. Days spent reinforcing snow walls and clothing product shoots
Ferocious winds of over 120km/hr containing volcanic rock destroy a tent and damage others
In a short break from the bad weather we make an escape via ski and snowmobile back to Klyuchi

We returned to Yelizovo where we had a day on the local ski pistes followed by a 2 day ascent of Avachinsky volcano (2741m). A return to Moscow was made on 29th April. We were blighted by incredibly bad weather, high winds and very cold temperatures for the time of year. Having said that the whole trip was a marvellous and unforgettable experience in the Kamchatka wilderness. As Julia Pickering said on her Twitter account

Back in civilisation after 100 mph plus wind/snow/volcanic rock storm tore our camp apart. With more storms forecast ,we had no option but to take v small weather window and get out. V disappointed to have not achieved our objective but team safety was primary concern. We still had an epic adventure and she'll still be there next year and will hopefully be a bit less angry.

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Trying out Time Lapse Photography with a GoPro in the Alpujarras, Spain

admin — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:50:32 +0000

Theres a first time for everything and we decided to test out our new GoPro Hero 3 helmet cam using it's built in time lapse capture facility here at our base in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia. Our roof terrace overlooking the spa town of Lanjaron was an ideal spot to locate the camera. It faces west so that the prevailing weather is predominantly coming in towards the camera. We shot the following footage over a week at the end of March 2013. It does show the changeable nature of spring weather, even in southern Spain. 5 mb photos were taken at 5 second intervals over a period of 3 or 4 hours over a week long period. The free GoPro Cine Form Studio software was used to bring the thousands of photos together and the software proved easy and reliable. The output was in mp4 format. The finished mp4 files were then imported into our standard movie editor (Power Director 10) from which could bring the whole thing together, add music, add the panning effects etc. Hope you like our first effort. Hope to do more in the high mountains of the Sierra Nevada or on our forthcoming expedition to ski the volcanoes of Kamchatka.

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Thoughts from climbing Mulhacen, highest mountain in mainland Spain

admin — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:28:34 +0000

Mulhacen is a technically straightforward peak but high altitude (3482m) and bad weather sometimes catch people out. The fact that is the highest mountain in mainland Spain provides a big attraction. There have been accidents though especially in the changeable seasons of spring and autumn. If in doubt a mountain guide should always be taken, especially when the mountain is in winter condition. Spanish Highs Mountain Guides make ascents the mountain most weeks throughout the year. To date they have had over 270 ascents of the mountain, the majority in the winter. The following is a comment from a member of a party from last weeks ascent. Read more about climbing Mulhacen, the highest peak in mainland Spain

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Winter Skills Mountaineering Courses in Spain’s Sierra Nevada

admin — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 10:51:24 +0000

Join us on one of our winter skills mountaineering courses in the high, snow sure Sierra Nevada mountains of Spain. Learn ice axe, crampon, winter belaying and alpine skills in a superb mountain environment. We have been running these winter skills mountaineering courses here in Spain for over 12 years. In that time we have helped hundreds of hill walkers and scramblers to take their first steps in becoming winter mountaineers and budding alpinists. Last week was not typical of the weather we have here. Normally we can expect blue skies and sunshine but last week we had conditions more akin to the Cairngorms of Scotland. So how did the week go? Initial skills day In cold and cloudy weather we ascended in 4WD vehicles to our quiet and secluded training area above the spa town of Lanjarón in the Alpujarras. It is normal for course participants to feel a slight trepidation about the day to come, but with the help and expert instruction of our guides, clients soon feel happy throwing themselves head first down icy slopes, confident in their ability to brake. And that is mainly what the first day is about. Basic use of ice axe and crampons and self arrest. Avalanche awareness is also covered in detail. It is a day of confidence building combined with basic mountain skills. Include a snowshoe in and out via the pine forests and it makes for an excellent day enjoyed by all. "Thanks for such a great time & experience - lots of good learning too!" Angus Middleton The clients put together this video below. Snowshoeing and ice axe braking at speed. The big smiles tell the story! Mulhacen in a blizzard We normally might include an ascent of Mulhacen, the highest mountain in Spain in our winter skills itinerary. This gives clients chance to go to high altitude in a big mountain environment. We stay at the guarded Refugio Poqueira overnight and during the week in winter we are usually the only people staying at the hut. The ascent of Mulhacen is non technical but does give clients the chance to put into practice those initial skills learnt in the first days training. We consolidate their basic ice axe and crampon skills. Last weeks trip was in very poor weather. Blizzard conditions meant a change of plan so instead of the main summit of Mulhacen we climbed directly up from the refuge to the south summit via steep snow slopes. Gave us a chance to instruct on navigation techniques in whiteouts and full on winter conditions. A brief stop at the south summit before a plunging descent back to the hut via a long glissade and snowshoe. The party loved it. Proof that good weather is not always necessary to enjoy the high mountains. We came back out to Capileira via the Poqueira gorge. This is the recommended way (not only by us, but by the National Park and Refugio Poqueira!) for extraction in bad weather. The route via Alto de Chorrillo being too exposed to strong winds and the acequia route on angled and sometimes avalanche prone snow and ice. "Thanks for a terrific week" Dominic Carlyle Bad weather the following day gave us an unexpected rest day. 2 day mountaineering trip For clients this is often the highlight of the week. A 2 day mountaineering trip bivouacking overnight in a ruined refuge. This means of course taking full equipment along for the evening. We also start to introduce ropes and winter belaying techniques. The second day sees ascents of some simple winter climbs. For our party last week this was a very contrasting trip. The first day saw glorious weather conditions, but the warm weather made the snowpack very soft and unstable. We chose our route carefully to avoid avalanches. Great experience for the team. We made the refuge by lunchtime and then spent the remainder of the day on winter belays and how to rope up for winter mountaineering. We were treated to some amazing cloud formations as the strong winds whipped across the sky. An angry sunset brought the onset of bad weather as we settled down in our cosy shelter for a meal and early night. Next day was a whiteout with head high spindrift bringing "scottish" conditions to this part of Spain. We roped up and headed uphill to the crags. Due to the weather we chose a simpler objective. A steep but simple snow slope. Good practice in our winter belays and ropework. At the top we lowered some ropes so clients could have a more "full-on" experience. With the weather worsening we dropped down icy slopes to the forest edges where we put on snowshoes for a knee deep plunge through the pine forests back to the waiting vehicles. "Thank you again for our week of adventures. I had so much fun and have learnt a lot. Now, only a sore red nose is left, memories and the superb videos and photos" Ewa Chojnacka Below is a video from the 2 day trip. Thanks to Ian Tupman for this. Why Spanish Highs Mountain Guides for winter skills mountaineering courses? Spanish Highs are the only non-spanish local guides qualified and experienced enough to offer this type of specialised training throughout the winter months which range from December to May inclusive. The courses are run on demand with a maximum of 4 to a guide. They provide ice axe, crampons, helmets, harnesses and snowshoes if required. The courses have been developed and refined with the experience of 12 years of winter activities here in the Sierra Nevada. More information about the courses. Read what all our clients say! NEWS! In April 2013, Richard Hartley and Kiersten Rowland of Spanish Highs are to join a Berghaus sponsored team led by British snowboarder Julia Pickering, attempting to become the first people to climb and snowboard down the largest active volcano in Kamchatka in far eastern Russia. Richard and Kiersten have been chosen because of their wide mountaineering and expedition experience in the Alps and Patagonia. Read more GALLERY

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Pairing the Yellowbrick Tracker to its Smartphone App

admin — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:51:30 +0000

Pairing the Yellowbrick Tracker to it's Smartphone App would provide additional communications resources for us when away on expeditions. But how did we go on? We have been using the Yellowbrick Tracking system in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and Patagonia successfully for over 18 months. It provides a safe and secure alternative communication system over the variable mobile phone network. All our overnight trips into the mountains take the tracker, so that we always have communications with the group. Although we have never had an emergency situation, we regard it as vital in the case of unforeseen circumstances. Read our previous review from our 2011 Patagonian Icecap Expedition. With our forthcoming Berghaus sponsored expedition to Kamchatka looming round the corner we thought we would take a look at pairing the Yellowbrick unit with it's Smartphone App. As it turns out, the App works well and the route to connection and functionality is very easy. On the Yellowbrick Turn the Bluetooth option "on". Sending messages on the Smartphone

Download the App from the Google Play store
Turn on the Bluetooth option on your Smartphone and (important!), make it discoverable.
Open the App and go to Settings. Enter the login and password obtained from your Yellowbrick account admin screen. Press Connect
Enter an email address from your Smartphone, compose text message and send.

Receiving messages on the Smartphone Your Yellowbrick account will provide you with a unique email address that can be used to send messages to your Smartphone. They automatically come into the Apps inbox when a connection is made and established. Results We were able to send and receive emails from our HTC Smartphones using the Yellowbrick Tracker satellite system as a modem. As the tracker is based on the Iridium Satellite system they should work anywhere in the world (even Kamchatka!). The app is easy and simple to operate. Advantages over standard Yellowbrick messages With the standard unit, text messages can be received and you can program the unit with as many short preset messages as you want. The big advantage of pairing with a Smartphone is that you are not restricted to preset messages and thus any message can easily be constructed on the Smartphone, thus providing much greater flexibility. After all, you cannot always think of all possibilities when creating the preset messages.

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A land far, far away with fire breathing mountains waiting to be skied

admin — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:14:32 +0000

In April 2013, Richard Hartley and Kiersten Rowland of Spanish Highs Mountain Guides are to join a team led by British snowboarder/mountaineer Julia Pickering attempting to become the first people to climb and snowboard down the largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere, Kamchatka in far eastern Russia. The team's main sponsor is outdoor clothing and equipment manufacturer, Berghaus. Klyutchevskoy Sopka 4750m is a stratovolcano, the highest mountain on the Kamchatka peninsula and the highest active volcano in Eurasia and one of the largest volcanoes in the world. If the weather allows the team will also attempt snowboard descents of other nearby volcanos such as Ushkovsy. We fly to Petropavlovsk via Moscow and take 10 hour 6WD bus journey to Klyutchi. A Russian military base, Klyutchi was only opened up to foreigners in 2010. The following day we will travel by snowmobile to the northern foothills of Klyutchevskoy as far as the volcanologists hut at 1650m. Our biggest challenges are the weather and the volcanic activity. Julia Pickering Julia is an accomplished mountaineer and snowboarder, with numerous first descents including being the first woman to snowboard the three highest peaks above the Arctic Circle, and also Mt Bear in Alaska. She is sponsored by several major brands, including Berghaus, Prior Snowboards, and more. http://www.berghaus.com/en/athletes/athlete_profile_4480.html Film Funding The team are actively looking for finance for film funding. If you wish to help and contribute please visit the Kickstarter page at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/73979172/kamchatka-first-snowboard-descent-an-epic-adventur 2XS Films 2XS Films is a specialist adventure documentary film production company based in England, and they have produced a number of major ski and snowboard films in Europe and North America. Last year they went with Julia and her team to film them climb Mt Bear in Alaska, and the resulting film "Taming the Bear" is currently touring the international Mountain Film festival circuit. More on 2XS Films here: http://2xsfilms.com/mountain

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Skijoring in Spain or backcountry skiing with an excitable husky!

admin — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 09:54:01 +0000

Nothing beats ski touring up and down a mountain (skijoring) with man's best friend, in my case our husky, named "Khumbu"! Spain's Sierra Nevada mountains offer many opportunities for backcountry skiing with or without our four legged friends. The mountain side above Puente Palo looked bare. The thaw had devastated the snowpack. But we know a small valley (barrancillo) that holds snow well so set off to find it hoping for some good skijoring with Khumbu. Traversing into the upper forest area west of Puente Palo we came across the start of Barranco Prado Quinto. And it was full of snow! Short video of the day below that hopefully will inspire you to take your dog skijoring! We skinned up the initial wide snow slopes and it took some time to calm Khumbu down, as he preferred the rich animal smells of the lush vegetation rather than the boring (non-smelly) snow. He does respond well to "left" and "right" commands however and soon he realised that the snow was to be the way of ascent. The valley narrowed and so did our ribbon of skiable snow. At one point I had to take off skis for a short section of a few metres. This led onto the big, open snowfields above. We completed our ascent to the small sub peak on the south ridge of Cerrillo Redondo named on the map, "Piedras de Los Pajaros" (Rocks of the Birds). It certainly felt like it and we had good views over the southern Sierra Nevada and Alpujarras as we ate our lunch. At 2500m we had ascended 600m on skis. Now Khumbu, as I mentioned above, is a siberian husky. We don't normally let him loose as he has a tendency to chase things. Cats, mountain goats, anything that runs really. It was with great trepidation that I released him from his harness. I needn't have been worried. As soon as my skis started moving downhill he was away plunging through the softening snows. Great to see him enjoy it so much. After an ascent of over 2 hours we made it back down again in just 7 minutes. Exhilarating stuff, which has much to recommend it if you are a dog lover who enjoys his skiing. If you have a dog and want some tips on Skijoring in Spain please give us a call and we shall be pleased to help. Alternatively if you want to enjoy the backcountry ski touring delights of the Sierra Nevada, then we run day and multi day tours from December through to the end of May.

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Were we the first skiers ever to ski this Sierra Nevada valley?

admin — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:40:07 +0000

Snow affected access tracks meant we only had a thin ribbon of snow in the gully to ascend and descend the mountain but it turned out to be a superb ski tour in wild and quiet surroundings in a little known area of the Sierra Nevada. Not sure it has ever been skied before either? Our original plan had been to ski the Cerro de Caballo, Europe's most westerly 3,000m mountain peak. But, due to the access tracks to Cortijos de Echeverria and Rinconada being blocked by snow and ice, we had to come up with a different plan. The south side had little snow for skiing and was a long walk in to carry skis. On the SW side of the peak below the sub summit of Morra Alta, we found a gully named on the map as Barranco de Haza de Cardenas. From a distance this looked to have fairly continuous snow right up to the summit. Managing to park at the 2,000m level and about half a kilometre from the start of the valley, it was only a short walk to the start. The initial gully is quite steep and was full of hard snow/ice. Donning crampons we set off upwards carrying skis in "A" frame fashion on our packs. There are about 5 or 6 small dams crossing the gully. Each had to be surmounted and by passed (these are there to assist with the devastating effects of flash floods). The top of this initial section was short lived and the valley opened out giving some superb snowfields. We put on boots, skis and skins and began to climb. This is a delightful valley that twisted and turned as it made it's way upwards to the 2,500m summit ridge. There were no signs of any other human tracks and the valley provided a great way to climb the hillside. Always interesting and we were never quite sure what was round the corner. Breaking out onto the slopes of the summit ridge we had great views north to the reigning peak, Cerro de Caballo and southwards to the Mediterranean sea and the coastal hills of Morocco. A short break and then we took off the skins, tightened boots and bindings and headed down. The snow was in excellent condition as we skied silently down the valley sides always on the lookout for alternative routes. One of our party, Ed, was using a Telemarking setup which looks such an elegant way to ski. Lower down we had to make some tight turns to avoid some vegetation and rocks. We skied through narrow ribbons of snow and steep banking before swooping down to within a few hundred metres of the car. A short walk and then a drive down for a beer in the village of Nigüelas. I have checked the internet and it seems quite likely that we may have been the first ski tourers to have skied the Barranco de Haza de Cardenas? I hope so! Below a short video and photo gallery.

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A day combining ski touring and easy mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:37:46 +0000

It sounded good on paper. Approach using skis, climb some simple gullies and then ski out again. But a blocked road meant a longer ski in. Combined with the additional weight for mountaineering kit gave a very long hard day in the Sierra Nevada. We are always on the look out to do something different. After the heavy snows of the previous week we knew the snow level was low and we might be able to combine some nice ski touring terrain with the ascent and exploration of some easy gullies on some small crags we knew. Unfortunately our normal access to Refugio Forestal La Piuca on the western side of the Barranco de Poqueira, high above Capileira, was restricted due to a snowblocked road. This added another 4km each way to our daily distance. We started out carrying over 20kg in gear including, skis, skins, ski crampons, ski boots, mountaineering gear, ice axes, crampons, ice screws etc in addition to normal winter hill gear. After the first 300m of road walking we were able to change into our ski touring set ups and skin the rest of the route in. Skinning along a road is not as easy as it seems. Ski touring gear is generally made for going uphill, not for on the flat. Consequently boots started to rub and hot spots on the heels were developing. On entering the forested areas we took the second valley system to the left. As soon as we started the uphill proper things improved. Superb skinning on good snows up a tree clad valley. We made the only tracks as we silently moved up the snowfields. On breaking out above the treeline we had a further 30 minutes of skiing before the snows gave way to a windswept broad ridge. Here we left the skis and continued onto the Refugio Cebollar on the west side of the peak of Las Alegas. This is one of our favourite spots for lunch. A superb location with views across the Rio Chico valley to Cerrillo Redondo and Tajos de los Machos. We spied out the line of the barrancos of the Hondo and Cortes opposite, targets for future ski tours. After lunch we geared up for what we thought would be some good icy slopes behind the refuge. Unfortunately and unknown to us, the windy conditions of the past few days had cleared much of the snow from within the short gully lines, and only a few short pitches were completed. From the summit of Las Alegas we made a rapid running descent back to the skis, hoping to catch the run back before the sun had softened the snow too much. The descent down the valley was delightful but care had to be taken with the alternating icy and soft snow stretches. It is easy to adjust ones balance to changing conditions when skiing on the piste. Much less so with a heavy pack trying to unsettle you! Then it was a quick descent on narrow snow lines running alongside the road. Within 30 minutes of starting the descent we were back at the car, thirsty and dehydrated, but ready for a beer or two in Lanjarón! Moral of the story? Yes, you can combine the two mountain activities quite successfully BUT be prepared for a certain amount of hardship along the way especially if unforeseen circumstances arise. Below a video and photo gallery from the tour.

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