1. You can make a difference to your world no matter how small it seems!

Mule, Muleteers and Mountaineers

One day in August a small team of like minded enthusiasts (a mule, 2 Muleteers and 3 Mountaineers) took tools and materials up to 3000m. They did some voluntary work, cleaning, painting and restoring an old mountain hut in the Sierra Nevada. They did it because it needed doing. Nothing more. Little did we realise at the time that from this small seed how things would grow and develop.

Now Accion Sierra Nevada has been born. It has had much support from the mountaineering community and the national park. Funds are becoming available to continue the restoration work on other mountain refuges.

Sometimes the red tape has to be cut through and by-passed. In this case the Sierra Nevada will be the winner! A few like minded individuals acting together can make a difference.

2. If at first you don’t suceed try and try again. No pain, no gain!

First view on attaining the Icecap

The Patagonian Icecap is a tough place. Our second visit here in 2010 was a difficult experience. We got our asses kicked big time! As I lay exhausted with the wind violently lashing the sides of the tent walls, I remember thinking this would be my last visit to this wild but savage land. No more.

But ….. 12 months later I was back!

This time Patagonia relented. Evidently there are only two short spells a year when there is no wind on the Icecap. We hit one of these. No wind and bright sunshine. This enabled some of the most superb views I have ever seen in my life. Cerro Torre, Fitzroy, Gorra Blanca, the Cordon Adela and Cerro Morena. Wonderful.

3. The biggest thrill in mountain guiding is seeing people enjoy it!

Pepe on Tajos de la Virgen ridge

This year I have been particularly fortunate in having some good spanish friends join our mountaineering community and activities. For a mountain guide on his day off, it would seem like a “busman’s holiday” to go up into the mountains. For me, that hasn’t been the case.

For people who are not used to the mountains, but have only been told about them from parents and grandparents, visiting the high Sierras is like travelling to a mystical “shangri-la”.

I have received so much satisfaction from seeing the astonished faces of people who have suddenly realised that another, predominantly vertically based, world exists. Money can’t buy that!

4. I’m not as young as I used to be!

Exhausted on Paso Marconi, Patagonia

I am now 56 and have been walking and mountaineering since I was 15. This year has been life changing as I have suddenly realised that my legs don’t go as far or as fast as they used to. Sure, this is natural, but for a mountain guide it is initially difficult to come to terms with.

Do I continue to go on as I have done and over the years, becoming slower and slower, until eventually I start to become a liability to other group members?

No. Some thought must be given to a gradual retraction from the harder stuff and an acceptance of the limitations of advancing age.

I will always want to be in the mountains. They have been my life, my love. This will not change, but from now on I may just pick and choose what trips I go on.

The half buried Cebollar hut

The group of Spanish Highs clients avoided the deep snow in the forests leading up from Puente Palo and approached the hut via the firebreaks leading up to the Loma de Matanza ridge, dropping down from there just short of the Pico de Las Alegas. Around the hut the snow was very deep and since one door was missing a lot of it had in fact blown inside.

Luckily there was a little gap on top of the door to crawl in, the only way in as the other door was blocked by iced up snow from the inside. We could then free that other door by simultaneously digging from both sides. The good thing about having a large pile of snow inside the refugio was that we didn’t have to go outside to fetch snow for our morning tea!

Fire in the snow

And a bit of digging around offered another surprise: a nice pile of wood that we only had to replenish with a bit of kindling found in the pine forests nearby – the great thing is that the tree line around here comes all the way up 2500m where the hut is sited. So after a little late afternoon excursion to the top of Las Alegas (2700m), which offers one of the most dramatic views of the High Sierra, we came back to the hut and made a large fire: so instead of the normal winter bivvy routine of crawling into your sleeping bag as soon as it gets dark we managed to stay outside and warm until well after 9‘o clock, enjoying the glow of the fire being reflected by the snow as well as a clear sky full of stars.

High in the Sierra Nevada mountains

The next day was yet another beautiful day and we climbed the dramatic ridge up to the Tajo de los Machos (3085m), stepping very carefully on account of the current high avalanche risk. From there we followed the very icy summit ridge that includes the Cerillo Redondo (3055m) south to the summit marker at its end.

We finished off with a very quick and fun descent glissading down the steep slopes covered in soft snow towards the forests above Puente Palo. Yet another wonderful trip through beautiful surroundings where we encountered literally nobody else – so don’t tell anyone, keep it quiet, we don’t want to read about this on the internet.

Inside the hut, and the way out!

A new website has been launched for climbers and mountaineers  giving details of the winter climbing potential in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Spain. This free online resource can be found at www.guidebook-sierra-nevada.co.uk. The area is virtually unknown except to local spanish climbers, and  before the launch of the new website, no winter climbing guidebook  was in existence, in any language.  

For those climbers and mountaineers seeking quiet, remote locations with climbing of an exploratory nature then the Sierra Nevada fit the bill perfectly. There is also guaranteed snow from December until well into May. In addition, with over 320 sunny days per year, that magical combination of sun and snow is almost certain to be met. The online guidebook details climbs of all grades, difficulties and situations. Each climb is explained using photos to explain the approach and route to follow. There are also pages on the access, approaches, maps, weather, avalanche risk  and other useful online resources.

The guidebook has been produced by Spanish Highs Mountain Guides, who work in the Sierra Nevada mountains, near Granada. Richard Hartley, owner of the company gave his reasons for producing the guidebook, “We realised over the course of the last 7 years, our guides had climbed many routes,  taken hundreds of photos and knew the mountains intimately. We knew no current guidebook existed so decided to consolidate the knowledge into an online guide. We took what we knew, gathered bits of information from spanish sources  and talked to local climbers. The online guide is the result.  Hopefully many more climbers and mountaineers will be attracted to these wonderful mountains!”

However, the guidebook is far from finished. As the homepage explains, “this is ongoing an ongoing project”. It is hoped that climbers will report back on their findings this coming winter so more detail can be included. The guidebook is set to become the definitive resource for the Sierra Nevada mountains in winter.

Spanish Highs Mountain Guides are based in Lanjaron, Granada, Spain. They offer mountaineering, trekking, climbing, walking and hiking  in the Sierra Nevada and Alpujarra mountains of southern Spain. In addition they run expeditions to Patagonia. They can be found online at www.spanishhighs.co.uk.