This year, I’ve spent around 3 months in the mountains: there have been some excellent days, some crappy days, some cold and wet days and days so hot it’s hard to breathe. I thought it would be a nice idea to do a bit of a roundup of some of my favourite days, camps, and trips this year.
Favourite Camps
It’s interesting to see which camps stay with you. Some spots, despite being beautiful don’t linger long in the memory, whilst others I think about each night as I go off to sleep, dreaming of the comfort and relaxation that comes from sleeping high in the mountains, deadlines and city life a million miles away.
A Slopey Night
There are some things which are useful to know for alpine climbing. One of which is the lack of large flat places to pitch a tent. We decided to ignore this wisdom: surely we could find a spot for Joe’s beautiful freestanding tent, we could even dig into the snow if needed to create a flat spot. Alas, it was our luck that the snow was not deep enough and there was no grass spot flat enough so the very best place was on top of this boulder. We piled rocks onto the snow skirt to secure the tent to the ground and relished a good but cramped nights sleep: three people in a two man tent would be tight at the best of times, let alone when your continiously sliding into one another.
The views outside the tent were spectacular, and this was a night were good memories were shared, and new friendships were formed.
The Midi Camp
This is a camp that brings a great amount of retrospective pleasure. The views were stunning and the air was cold and crisp in a way that you rarely get in the UK. We did forget a lighter (a classic move for me at this point), but luckily some kind frenchmen gave us one and I had an excellent evening melting snow. Joe also introduced me to advanced washing-line strategies, including microtrax based tensioning. A fine evening on the hill with a good friend!
A 5* Bivvy
What makes a bivvy 5*? A roof, a view, and tea. This night just below Rifugio Tuckett in the Brenta had all three. Noah and I enjoyed a wonderful evening, talking about life, tea, and tortellini before doing the Alimonta Vidi the next day. The cave provided complete protection from the short but intense rainstorm and the views across to Presanella were simply unmatched.
A Night by Gnutti
I think this was by a mile the most enjoyable camp I’ve had. The temperature was perfect, the food was good, lots of tea was drunk and I even had a nice dip in the cold lake. The views up the valley as the sun was setting were beautiful in a way that is difficult to put into words – it was a fine night to be on the hill and one that I find myself thinking back to every day.
Where Dinosaurs Roam
The best camp I’ve had in the UK was at the Northern end of the Trotternish ridge. Despite by tent door breaking, the views across the rest of Skye and the sea beyond were stunning, combined with the comforting knowledge that I had just a short 20km day tomorrow to reach the finish. What a spot, and what an excellent place to spend a night.
Favourite Routes
The Pause
A route with a reputation for being serious and dangerous, I was slightly nervous as we drove in to Glen Etive. My nerves were calmed by the knowlege that we had been trained well in the ways of Granite Slab in the Adamello, and this training did not let us down. The climbing proved inspiring, joyus, and technical but never excessively difficult. The gear as well was better than expected. Generally, the consequence only being a long but safe fall down the slab. There was a notable exception on the third (guidebook fourth) pitch, where a top end 5a/low end 5b section on a slab would factor two the belay, but convienintly a well placed granite edge would cut the rope first! Not a place for a nervous lead (but it isn’t as bad as it sounds on paper but it does require a confident approach to avoid issues!).
The Corner of Friendship
A fine day out with the best pitch of climbing I’ve done this year: a beautiful, extremely technical corner masterfully led by Smith! The summit had this awesome chimney section which was exhilarating, and we enjoyed a fanta each once we made it down at Rifugio Corinisello. A fine day out!
The Ferhman-Smith
A line so obvious only an idiot wouldn’t want to climb it. Excellent if traditional climbing, which paled in comparison to the good chat and adventurous nature of the day. A real treat, only slightly spoiled by the price of the taxi home at the end of the day!
Guiffra-Monaci
Beautiful golden granite, climbing so good it made my heart hurt and in a place so stunning it’s hard to describe. What a fantastic day!
The Message
I have a hard time with talking myself out of doing harder routes, and I nearly did this with the Message. Surely it was too hard for a warm up? Surely I would have a bad time? Alas, I pushed through the fear and had a beautiful time on the route, even thinking back to it as I write this, the quality of some of the climbing makes me grin from ear to ear. A brilliant day out!
The Backpacking Revolution
For the past two years, my trips were defined by climbing, but this year, some time without a climbing partner made me revisit my routes and go long-distance backpacking once again, and my-oh-my, I forgot how much I enjoyed it! I will always love climbing, but there is something uniquely special about the simplicity of a long walk in the mountains and the serenity that comes from spending night after night away from civilisation. In climbing, as in life, you have so many choices to make, and with making choices always comes an element of stress. On a long distance trail, life is made simple, and small pleasures like a cup of tea or a bar of chocolate bring more joy than can be described. The week I had around the Adamello, and the peace I found in the last few days (particularly around Val di San Valentino and Val di Fumo) is something I think back to without fail every day.
What’s next? I’ve got some long walks planned in 2025, the Cape Wrath Trail, and perhaps a circuit of the Ortler range in the Alps. I’ve got many routes I wish to climb in Scotland and especially the Brenta, and so many places I want to camp. Above all else, I’ll need to start doing some saving: I’ve got some extremely long walks planned after I graduate, which I’m looking forward to immensely.
Oscar Outdoors 