Montane Prism Gloves

Over the last 18 months or so I have really been considering the weight to usefulness ratio of all of my gear, especially as I have gravitated towards graded scrambling and climbing so weight really does become an important consideration, in my opinion, when you have to carry a rack, helmet and rope etc.

I recently saw the Montane Prism gloves in an outdoor shop and had originally thought they felt pretty flimsy, but I was attracted to the weight of them.  The blurb in the shop stated that the gloves where 100% windproof, but I've learnt over the years that 100% anything is pretty much not going to happen.  Although they felt flimsy, once I put them on in the shop I immediately thought they felt cosy, but I still had a little doubt niggling away in my head.  It took me two days to make the decision to go with a pair and this was helped by the decent price tag of £35 (I've since saw them down to £31 on the Internet).

Courtesy of Google

So I threw them in my sack and yesterday I had the chance to try them out on a walk in the Lmmermuir's (see blog).  I started the walk with no gloves on but once we made the ridge line it was very cold with a wind chill certainly in the zero degrees range so I got the Montane Prism's on.  It took no time at all for my fingers to start warming up and from that point on my hands remained warm and comfortable throughout the walk so I can vouch for that side of the gloves.  A friend who was walking with me and who suffers from very cold hands also said her gloves had kept her hands warm and that she had no need to use her hand warmers.

Courtesy of Google

The gloves are pertex microlight with permaloft. They are very, very light and come with their own stuff sac. The lightness of the gloves means that even a fairly reasonable wind would have them away in no time so you would need to be aware of that if on the side of say a Scottish mountain, but they do have loops so in theory you could use a small krab to keep them attached when oor if you take them off.  They pack down really small so are ideal, in my opinion, for folk who want small and light, but efficient and effective gloves.

Would I use these gloves on graded winter work?  Probably not, but I would have them in my pack as the go to pair for walking in and out off routes.  I would though, use them for full on winter walking (always having a spare set on standby) and they are, in my opinion, a great cost effective (£35) choice for folk who want to get out in the winter but who might not want to spend money on full blown winter gloves.  Incidentally, these gloves are now carried with me when I go out on training runs.

So in summary, a really good pair of gloves that pack down to a tiny size and are effective and efficient at keeping your pinkies nice and cosy.

Not a belay in sight!!

Yesterday saw me and a couple of friends venture out into the Lammermuir's just outside of Edinburgh for what should have been a couple of hours walk.  Being a short walk we decided to have a late start so left Edinburgh at 10am, which was a really nice change from our usual 6am departure heading for the bigger ranges.

I'd done this particular route a good few time but have not been near it for about 5 years so I had the route firmly in my head (I still had a map and compass etc though).  Off we set and within the first kilometer it fast became obvious that the farmer had changed things so a field that once had a path through it was now bearing crops so had to be avoided.  Not to worry though as this provided me the opportunity to teach Joan a bit more navigation - on this occasion about doglegs around obstacles etc. We cleared this first change to the route and headed for the top of Lylestone Hill (389m).  From hear we shout have been able to head north and just hit the path for the remainder of our journey - but the terrain had again changed and the farmer/landowner had put a number of fences up which again meant we had to swing round these obstacles.

We eventually got back onto the original route and things settled down and we where able to get into our stride.  It was, though, very wet underfoot so we had to do a fair bit of jumping from tuft to tuft.  But, the sun was out and we got some great views.  This year has seen me spend a lot of time improving my skills and knowledge around graded scrambling and climbing so it was really nice to just be walking along chatting and not having to think about the next anchor and belay.  Oddly I only took two pictures all day. The contrast in colour from hillside to agricultural land was stark and really beautiful to see.  Although the sun was out it was very cold on the ridge line as we walked over Peat Law (414m) and Hogs Law (448m), but this gave me a good opportunity to test out the Montane gloves I recently bought (see review).

So a route that should have taken about 2.5 hours ended us being 3 hours 45 minutes, but during that time I was able to do some decent navigation training with both Joan and Stephanie and there was not a single belay to be had!  Oh yes, and we found a brilliant new cafe that does the best fruit cake so another bonus.

Montane Cobra 25

Here is my review of the Montane Cobra 25 backpack.  The pack comes in at a decent 819g but is robust enough for just about any use on the mountains.  I have used mine during the summer months and it has never let me down.  I've used it for straight forward hiking and trekking and have also used it for climbing and scrambling and it has proved to be an excellent bit of gear.

Initially I felt it moving about when I was scrambling at the higher grades, however, cinching the chest strap as tight as possible solved this issue.I have comfortably carried first aid kit, survival bag, spare hat and gloves, spare layer, wetproofs, food, 2lt bladder, harness, climbing rack and helmet and the pack has dealt with it all, although on one occasion I had to put my helmet on the outside after a day on the crags - this was mainly due to me cramming everything into the pack at the end of the day, instead of packing carefully.  If I was carrying a rope then it would have to go on the outside, although I have carried one in the pack when I was carrying a much cut down rack that I use for scrambling.

I find the pack very comfortable indeed.  It sits on my back well and there is very little movement.  It has one zipped pocket on the right side of the hip belt which I use to stash a couple of snacks.  On the left of the hip belt there is a gear loop which I've never used for that.  The pack has a small pocket on the top of the lid which I use sparingly.  Initially I found the main opening a bit awkward as it flops open, as opposed to opening out into a standard "hole". This just needs getting used to and I have not found it to be a major issue.  The pack has a good profile and does not get in the way when scrambling or climbing - in fact, I forget I've even got it on.  I've used it on 5+ hour hills walks only taking it off to get my lunch or gear and its felt great throughout.  The build quality is very good, as you might expect from a company like Montane and again, mine has been thrown about a fair bit of the last few months.  I will certainly be using it for winter walking, although I suspect I will have to go up in size for winter mountaineering - but you never know.

So in summary, the Montane Cobra is a great piece of kit, which I have found sits very comfortably on your back and does not move about when your scrambling or climbing.  I would certainly recommend it.

Wet & windy in the Lakes....

For one reason or another it's been a wee while since I last updated my blog, but hopefully normal service has now been resumed.

Caroline, Joan and me traveled down to the Lake District this weekend and enjoyed a, despite the weather, enjoyed a couple of good walks.  First though I'd like to mention the bunk house accommodation at the White Horse Inn - it was great and we would all highly recommend it.  The rooms are warm and, perhaps more importantly, the showers are excellent.  The pub itself is good for food and a pint after a good day on the fells.

Saturday

Having discussed options for Saturday we decided to give Scafell Pike a go from the Seathwaite side. As the weather forecast was showing a deterioration in the afternoon, we decided to make an early start (this would also allow us to get back into Keswick for some retail therapy!).  Despite making an early start is soon became obvious that the wind was going to make life difficult from the get go. Despite the wind we made fairly good going up to the MRT stretcher box at Styhead.  At this point we took a snack break and discussed our options.  The wind now was pretty much gale force and the Scafell massive was clagged in pretty badly, so we decided to forego the Pike but to head towards Great End and to recce the band and see if it might be worth having a go at that.  But, this also looked pretty poor so we decided to head over to Allen Crags (785m) instead.  On the top of the crag it became clear that we had probably made the correct decision as the wind was wild and the rain had come on.  We grabbed some lunch and then decided to make a sharp exit via Grains Gill.  Despite the weather we had a great day out and the Lakes still managed to give us some good views.

Sunday

Following a good meal and a couple of pints in the pub on Saturday evening, we decided to either go and have a look at Jackdaw Ridge, Shepherd's Crag (Grade 2) or to do Skiddaw - we would let the weather make the decision for us.  The morning brought some calmness but it was pretty damp so we discounted Jackdaw Ridge and opted for Skiddaw via Jenkins.  The view from Skiddaw from the ascent where great and we could see pretty much the whole of the Lake District albeit through a haze. The wind was cold though and it got progressively stronger as we gained altitude.  It was gale force on the final wee push to the summit and the wind chill was round the zero mark - in fact it snowed later in the day.  Once again, this was a great 3+ hours on the hill.

So a great weekend was had by all.

Happy birthday to me......

Celebrating a certain age over this weekend I thought it would be a good idea to get out on the hills, so I headed up to Fort William on Thursday afternoon to meet Steve Holmes from Vertical Fever .  After a quick meeting that evening the decision was made to celebrate my birthday on Friday with a ascent of Castle Ridge (Grade 3S) on Ben Nevis before coming back down Ledge Route.  So an early start on Friday saw us heading towards the north face of the Ben.  It didn't take long before we where at the base of Castle Ridge and gearing up. Steve led off and it was a fine ascent up a classic Scottish ridge - and the midges even stayed away.

At the top of the ridge Steve and I had a quick council of war and decided that we should actually summit the Ben and then head down the CT Arete - this was good news for me because I will be leading a party up the arete in August and had never done it.  So Friday turned into a very long, but excellent day on the mountain.

Sunday morning saw us heading into Glencoe to have a crack at North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor, which is another Scottish classic at Grade 3S.  This ridge is certainly longer and more sustained but it was another cracker of a day and I felt comfortable and confident throughout the ascent.  Once again, at the top we had a council of war - a ropey walk over scree to get off, or Curved Ridge (Grade 2/3).  No contest, Curved Ridge was always going to win and it gave me some much needed practice and experience at down climbing on scrambles.

So an outstanding weekend to celebrate my birthday.  Massive thanks must go to Steve Homes of Vertical Fever .

Nice short video clip....

During my trip out in Glencoe on Saturday, I met Ian and Fergus on the summit of Stob Coire nan Lochan and we hung around chatting.

Fergus was using a contraption that allows him to send his GoPro into the sky to take aerial video of the surrounding areas and you can see the results here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGrHPKyArLo&feature=youtu.be

I must admit it has tempted me to consider buying a GoPro, but so far I have resisted because there are other things to spend my money on just now but I have a feeling that I might eventually end up with one at some point.

Getting hot & high in Glencoe.....

Saturday saw Caroline and me making an early morning dash from Edinburgh to Glencoe to have a crack at the Zigzags (Grade 1 scramble) onto Gearr Aonach before heading off along the ridge and climbing Stob Coire nan Lochan.  This was my second lead on a scramble as I build my confidence but to be honest, Caroline is very confident, so we ended up just having great fun on the Zigzags and then a great day out on the very rocky ridge.

We had discussed moving on and bagging Bidean nam Bian but the route out going that way was still carrying a fair amount of snow and from where I was standing it looked ropey at best and neither of use had any winter mountaineering kit with us, so we decided early doors that we would leave that route for another day.

We where on our way at 9.15am heading off into the Lost Valley before breaking right and heading up to our scrambling objective.  The rock was really dry and both of us really enjoyed the scrambling even if I did take us a bit to far to the right so we ended up on less sure ground - note to self, learn more about route finding on scrambles.  The sun was high as we moved up the Zigzags and along the ridge - in fact it was very warm indeed and both of us applied factor 50 more than once. 

The push up towards the summit of Sob Coire nan Lochan presented us with a bit more easy scrambling and a weee bit of exposure but soon enough we had made the summit.  We enjoyed fabulous views in all directions and even Ben Nevis was cloud free and making an appearance.  We lingered on the summit for a good 20 minutes chatting to a couple of other folk on the summit before deciding to head off towards Aonach Dubh to look for our route down into Coire nan Lochan. 

Thankfully it was a bit cooler on he tops and the clouds had come in to make it a bit more comfortable.  We enjoyed the trip around looking at some of the amazing rock formations and gullies - none of which you would want to wonder into by mistake.  I imagine your navigation would need to be spot on if you lost visibility up there.

We meandered down the valley enjoying the view of the surrounding mountains and waterfalls - and stood watching a climbing team on one of the walls for a wee while.  After a great 7 hours on the hill we arrived back at the car feeling tired but in high spirits.  A stop at the Good Food Café for some much needed sustenance before heading back to Edinburgh.  A long day but one which has left great memories and wetted the appetite for more of the same.

Scrambling about....

Just back from a great weekend in the Lake District which say us go after Helvellyn via Striding Edge on Saturday.  This was going to be my first ever lead on a planned scramble and I'm pleased to say that everything went according to plan.  The weather was just about right - in other words not to warm, in fact on the tops it was pretty cold.  One we got onto Striding Edge proper the fun started.  We where moving along petty well but then one of the team started to lose her head for heights, so I resorted to some of the skills that Steve Holmes had taught me the previous weekend and in particular the sling trick.  After that we worked well as a team and before we knew it we had made the summit.

I'm pleased to say that I felt comfortable throughout the whole scramble despite there being dozens of people on the ridge and, it has to be said, some of them had no clue whatsoever especially the guy at the end who insisted on pushing past people - not the brightest idea in the world considering were we all where!!

Once we had grabbed a snack on the summit we moved onto Swirral Edge and made short work of that scramble.  We then joined the rest of the group who had opted not to attempt the scramble but to walk into Red Tarn instead.

So feeling pleased with myself.  Roll on 25 May when I'm taking some folk on the Zig Zags in Glencoe - another Grade 1 Scramble. 

For accommodation we stayed at a brilliant bunkhouse which I would highly recommend.