"A word on the spot is worth a cartload of recollections"
James Maggs, Southwold diarist 1797-1890

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Brown Smear, and a reccie for ice

The moose hash was very tasty indeed. Moose meat tastes like slightly gamey beef. We had moose and cheese sandwiches too, and Toby made salad on the side. Normally I eat healthily but I'm afraid this was probably the first salad I've ever eaten on a climbing trip.

Today we drove south towards Hatteng and parked by the side of the fjord where we'd seen a yellowy-brown ice pillar. It turned out to be a 32m WI4. Nick despatched it in short order.

We then joined Toby, Jody and Earendel to play on a wide, fat 40m WI3 a few hundred metres south. Climbing equipment manufacturers send Toby samples of their gear to test and review. Here's Toby giving some new ropes a good testing!
It seemed strange being at a crag with other people. One of the striking things about this trip is that we have seen no other climbers at all, not a single one in 10 days of climbing on great ice in fantastic surroundings.


We then decided to explore Kitdalen and Signaldalen valleys, accessed from Hatteng at the south end of the fjord. We found a good-looking multipitch ?WI4 at the end of Kitdalen valley, and so many icefalls in Signaldalen valley that we lost count. Signaldalen is higher and feels remote, with impressive mountains at each end.

The sun came out today and the skies are clear now. We may see the Northern Lights yet.

No comments:

Post a Comment