South Wales Mountaineering Club

Clwb Dringo De Cymru

www.southwalesmountaineering.org.uk

Newsletter, March 2003

Notes from the Editor

I know that the March edition of the newsletter is eagerly awaited by all members of the SWMC because it's the issue that contains the meets list for the forthcoming year. You won't be disappointed, it's here again!

After Nigel's account of his trip to Kilimanjaro in the last edition we have another African tale Dave Locker's "The promise of Equatorial Ice ... Mt. Kenya" with (and I believe this is a first for the SWMC Newsletter) photos!

Also in this issue, you'll find some stuff about insurance, yes, I know (yawn) very boring, right up until the moment someone sues you that is, news about the hut (cosy and with water you can drink but take your own loo roll), news about access (a new climbing ban at Bacon Hole)

But first, news from the committee ?.

John Goodwin

Reports from the committee

The new committee met on 21st January. There was some discussion of continuing work on the hut in Deiniolen (see Kim's notes below) and continuing slow progress (but progress, none the less, we are assured) on the new guide book.

Our new treasurer, Gareth Smitham (gareth.smitham@ntlworld.com/ 01792 426757), would very much appreciate it if all members would pay their subscriptions at the current rate. This is a plea to all of you who pay by standing order. Can you please phone, log on to or, next time you're passing, just pop into your bank and check that your standing order is for the current rate of £11 per year or £5.50 if you are a student or junior (14 - 18), £16 if you are a family.

The main business of the meeting, however, was the devising of a meets list for 2003, which is how it should be. Details of the dates arranged can be found below.

The next committee meeting will be on 25th March. If there's anything you'd like the committee to discuss please let us know!

Letter from the Barn Warden

There is very little to report on this quarter. We have a new wheelie bin at the top of the track, which is slowly replacing the old grit-bin. The old bin will probably never get emptied and removed without some effort: our neighbours and passers-by seem to keep it constantly topped up. We should soon also have a replacement water tank, which will make the mains water suitable for drinking.

The management has stopped providing toilet roll free of charge, so please bring your own when you go up.

We are looking at replacing the gas fire in the living room. This room is actually bordering on being quite pleasant if you want to spend the evening in the hut instead of the delights of the Bull and the Wellington.

Kim Collis

Hut keys are available from Kim or, for members living at the Cardiff end, from John Goodwin, Nigel Lewis or Pete Bennett (contact details below).

Club Meetings

For the remaining few weeks of Winter there will continue to be slide show evenings in both Cardiff and Swansea.

In Cardiff these meetings are now on the second Wednesday in the month at the Channel View Leisure Centre. Although slide shows will start c. 9.00pm in the bar, people who want to use the climbing wall or fitness room get there any time from about 7.00pm on.

Club Meets List 2003

If you are interested in knowing further details of any of these events, contact the meet co-ordinator.

If you have any ideas for a day, weekend, week or longer climbing, at home or abroad and you'd like to open it up to other Club members, just let me know!

John Goodwin (jngoodwin@ntlworld.com/ 029 2030 9056)

You can find an up to date version of the Meets List on the Club's website at:

http://www.southwalesmountaineering.org.uk

BMC Dates and Information

Following their recent AGM a new Committee for Wales has been elected.

Area Committee meetings are open to all, go along and have your say!

New Climbing Restriction at Bacon Hole

Steve Lewis (BMC Access Rep for Gower) reports that there is a new restriction on climbing at Bacon Hole on Gower due to new nesting of Choughs. The ban will start from 1st March and run through to 1st August of this year and will then be reviewed. There will be signs to explain the exact geography of the restriction at the site. I'm not clear what routes if any are affected. Steve doesn't think there's any trad climbing there but it is near to some bolted routes. Details will appear on the BMC website's Regional Access Database in due course (not there yet last time I checked). The RAD is a useful source of information regarding climbing bans. You can find it at:

http://www.thebmc.co.uk/outdoor/rad/rad.asp

Reminder about Insurance

Please be aware that you need to report any incidences that may possibly lead to an insurance claim against the club or any of the individual members of the club. This should be done even if it does not seem in the first instance that legal action is likely. Incidents should be reported to Pete Bennett (Secretary) or to him via any member of the committee.

A member of the club was involved in an incident 2 years ago. It now seems that there is a potential claim against the individual for injuries incurred by a third party. The club has been criticised for not informing the insurers (the BMC) earlier. The officers of the club were not able to do so because they had not been informed of the incident at the time. This may impact on any eventual outcome.

It is important that the Club Secretary is informed of any such incidents or accidents as soon as possible.

E mail him at: Peterb@dolmans.co.uk

Or write to: 12, Heol Ynys Ddu, Castle View, Caerphilly, CF83 1SD.

The Promise of Equatorial Ice .... Mt. Kenya

Dave Locker

It's an average Thursday night in rainy England and we're at a loose end. It's six months since we've been hanging off the ice but far from being complacent the training has been going well. We had some serious Euro routes in mind for the 2002/3 season but after a few beers the brainwave finally arrived....what about Mt Kenya - didn't that have a couple of ice routes on it..??

Two days later the plane tickets were booked, always a sign of commitment following dreamy ideas of climbing trips to distant shores. We decided to take on the mountain in mid October, right at the end of the winter season, which coincides with the start of the wet season.....we were just going to have to hope for the best.

Don't be fooled, just getting to the foot of the first pitch is an adventure. Kenya is an unpredictable country where 'flexibility' is the right approach. Hanging around by dusty roads and towns waiting to get a little closer to the mountain is compensated for, by the disarming friendliness of the local Kenyans. It took an entire day to travel the 200km from Nairobi by taxi and to ascend to 3000m by off-roader, including an extended stop to rescue the 4x4!

Mt. Kenya is a big mountain, often underestimated, as we were to find out.
Acclimatisation is key. Unfortunately many of those walking up to Point
Lenana disregard all advice and push on, often resulting in AMS (acute mountain sickness). We intended to take a couple of nights to acclimatise, so the first night was spent at the Met station. Here there are a series of small huts where you take in the first sense of being in the rainforest. No sign of the mountain yet....just the local population of monkeys who seemed determined to steal our food.

Right at the start, we had decided to do this in style and carry everything
ourselves. The mixture of temperatures at 3000m meant everything had to be
taken and plans for 8 independent days on the mountain resulted in two 65lb sacks. The next day's 10km walk to camp 2 at 4300m would be tough.

Due to some unexpected stove problems, we got a late start - 10am, only
8hrs light left. We persevered through the rain, up past the infamous
'vertical bog', to enjoy the continuing tropical downpour. With us both
struggling, no sign of the next hut and darkness nearly upon us, at 6pm
we ditched some of the food to be collected the next day.

Waiting for us at the hut was Francis, the guardian, with what I can only describe as a very revitalising cup of tea and chocolate. Tried the stove and it
didn't work so we hit the sack to warm up - it was now 3 degrees and we had
been feeling the altitude all day. We had had our first taste of the effort
lying ahead, the short days and altitude.

The Ice Window route. The 16 pitches and 16 hours it took us to get to the top.

Another night at the hut saw us ready for the climb. The weather was stable
and the unmistakable streaks of ice ascending the couloir dividing the twin
summit of Bation and Nelion on the South face were beckoning. We knew we
had a chance. It was a quiet week, only 4 of us in the hut including the
guardian and a mountain guide. We were told that the couloir hadn't been
climbed since 1998 which just heightened the anticipation.

With as little as weight as possible we set off to the bivvy site at the bottom of Darwin Glacier. Getting nearer, the mountain showed us what a tremendous
expectation we had set ourselves. The walk up was tiring but the scenery
was amazing, between the mountain and ourselves we had everything that a
climber hopes to capture. The huge expanse of rock towering above us,
culminating in not just one but two peaks. A glacier dividing these and
an iced up couloir cascading down to the bottom and yet another glacier,
boulders and scree slopes, snow and ice, lakes and cliffs....it was all
here. After a hard scramble we came to the bivvy shelter. A perfect bivvy,
this would not only shelter us but protect us. There was a huge sloping granite slab to protect us from the elements above and a door and walls to protect us from all other elements from the sides. We felt good and hoped for clear skies when dawn came at 6am.

It was a cold and clear dawn, so with a grateful sip of water and a flapjack we
set off to climb The Ice Window. The guidebook tends to suggest that getting
to a sling/rope at the top of the glacier is a saunter. After a hard
trudge up the 60 degree glacier the ice began and two full 60m pitches later saw us at the sling. A steep traverse across the glacier brought us to
the rope belay.

Overnight snowfall had dumped a layer of fresh powder
everywhere so the going was slower than hoped, but the ice underneath was good and we were on our way up the 800m gully. Pitch after pitch of solid grade 3 ice, up to the headwall of the Diamond Glacier, made up the bottom section of the route. The ice was great - solid ice and some nice steeper
sections to get the blood flowing.

Ice pitch at 5000m. Dave is belaying near the top of the gully

We reached the top of the main gully and the thin section of the Diamond Couloir We would not be climbing the Diamond Couloir this year - thin and pounding with water ....at best grade 6 and an extreme commitment even if it forms. First climbed in the 70s in the days of immense ice formations, the route looked thin and very exposed just before the ice met the glacier at the top. This was talked of throughout the week and most guides doubted if the route would form again as the ice is retreating so quickly.

Once we had both got to the belay beneath the headwall it was decision
time. We had to traverse steep, committing and tricky mixed ground then up
a steep section to make it through to the Diamond Glacier and on to the
famous ice cave, which doubles as an emergency bivvy site. Now at 4800m, we were not sure how much further to the ice cave we had to go. The weather
was deteriorating and time was not on our side, so we decided to crack on to
the cave and bivvy for the night if the weather continued to worsen.

After the hardest pitch of the climb, by far the most exposed and steepest yet,
the hanging glacier had been surmounted. But where was the ice cave????
Gone, melted away was the only feasible conclusion. No option now, it was
dark and we had to push on to the next bivvy site - the summit!! The
weather continued to worsen as we made it to the 'Gate of the Mists', a
steep rift between the 2 summit towers, after a couple of bold moves from
Andy over an unprotectable rock / ice lip.

I watched as he hooked a 2 inch icicle with the left axe and pushed with his feet. A quick pull with the arm and slam in the right axe above the rock into the snow slope. Sparks!!! He had hit rocks and plopped back down into the snow. I urged him on, it's freezing now, about -10 degrees and windy ? push ? pull ? in it goes ? use that adrenaline ? heave up ? and he's over, no worries. But now's not the time to appreciate such moves and I follow him quickly.

After another treacherous, short traverse across the snow comes the good news. Now there is only scrambling left - Hurrah!! We had made it!! The rocks were coated in a film of verglas and snow, giving the scramble an air of
seriousness but the adrenaline was flowing now. After 3 hours of
climbing in the dark, we moved quickly to the summit of Nelion which at
that moment resembled Antarctica rather than the equator.

I was frozen and the wind wasn't helping. I had been wearing 4 layers of clothing all day including 2 fleeces and Gore-Tex but the teeth of the wind were gnawing at my tired limbs. We had to move to the bivvy site quickly. It should have been easy to find the bivvy hut but in a night-time blizzard and with the tiredness of our eyes, it would not show itself. Check over
there ? nope ? over this way ... no. Eventually after 30mins searching we
spotted Mr Howell's hut on the blind side of the summit, a welcome site at
5200m in a storm. The gear was dropped and inside we went, bags out, wet
clothes off and sleep came with the beauty of the climbed summit in our
minds.

The sun rise was spectacular. The morning began in characteristic style, clear with unbelievable views over the African plains. It was still cold, maybe minus 5 degrees. With sore feet it was hard to put the cold frozen
boots on.

We took a few pictures and decided to make a move. It was a
long trip back to easy ground. We had intended to abseil down Diamond
Couloir to check the route for a later ascent, but as this was clearly not
possible, we took the easier option of abseiling down the normal rock route
which was now covered in snow! It's a small summit so finding the abseil
point, the start of a series of abseil points, was easy. However, a
long and hard day was just beginning.

Jammed ropes, locked shunts below overhangs and difficult navigation were beginning to sap our strength. After 3 or 4 abseils we came to a ridge. Below us was the vertical South face which we had been advised not to abseil through. So, we followed arrows down the adjacent couloir, where there was a large amount of tat but no bolt and no arrows pointing the way. We had made our first big mistake. We continued down a full 60m abseil and the ropes became stuck, great. It's clear we cannot continue without them so Andy volunteered to ascend. Half way up, the snow moved in again and he hadn't got his Gore-Tex on. Once at the top, he decided to save a rope and do 30m abs down. We decided to stick with this to the bottom. Eventually, after another 7 or 8 abseils through deep snow, on made up tat, old dodgy tat, free abseils over and in half frozen waterfalls, where the falling water chilled us to the bone, we were at the bottom of the couloir. Which way now?

The map showed us home free over a ridge to the right where there was a boulder slope leading back to our starting point 2 days before. Once up
and over the ridge there was a scree slope as far as the eye could see.
Assuming this to be the slope next to the Lewis glacier on our left we
raced down enjoying the thicker air. The thick mist which had plagued us
all day began to lift, masking the fact that we were once again close to
darkness. We had little doubt that by night we would have a comfy mattress and some warm food. But, there to our left was a mountain and it should just be a slope with a glacier on it! Still, there was only one way to go now and that was down to find a suitable shelter and bivvy site.

A little further on we heard shouting from another ridge (this later turned out to be Simba col). After some incomprehensible dialogue we met our voice on the col of the 2 ridges. It was a park ranger, Patrick. He was on his way back to the Austrian Hut and offered us his help, which we gladly took. By now it was starting to get dark, he took a sack and a rope and proceeded to climb up the ridge. Some 5 hours later, after by-passing the Harris Tarn and scrambling 1000m back up to Point Lenana (4990m) in the dark, we were descending again, this time down the Lewis Glacier and to the Austrian Hut where waiting for us was the best hot sugary tea ever made.

In the morning after the guys pumped us full of hot tea and sunned all our
gear out, we descended down to the Mackinder Hut. Happy to be near
completing a full circuit we had started 4 days previously we took in the
indescribable views. It felt good to be going down to somewhere familiar. We also had a signal and could phone home and let everyone know that we had summited and descended safely.

At the hut Francis looked after us by cooking us a meal and hot drinks and, after a short sleep, some more fine stew and fresh fruit. We had been lucky - the ice had been in condition, we had summited in the most challenging conditions of my life and we had had the whole mountain to ourselves.

We made it back to Nairobi which was basking in heat - 30 degrees - and sampled some 'Ice Cold in Alex' style beers at a swanky hotel where we were once again welcomed, even though we looked awful and definitely stank, after 11 days without a proper wash. We decided to stay and try the steak and finish the crate. We must have tested their patience as we left trails of mud from our boots all over the carpet.

Then the culture shock of Nairobi - you quickly get immersed in a mix of mud and mayhem, which constantly reminds you that you're in Africa. Just watch out for the taxi drivers - they are fast and cheap but this comes at a price, which includes pot holes and taking the suicide lines through the rush hour traffic.

The summit was tough, I'd lost a stone in weight, but with effort comes reward. It was our first taste of high altitude mountaineering and we made some mistakes and the resulting hardship was a real challenge. But the predictable calm morning weather must make this one of the best summits in the world.  My advice would be to pack your ice axes and get to Mt. Kenya as soon as you can and sample some equatorial ice before it disappears never to return.

Postscript - since the trip in October, the political situation in Kenya
has obviously worsened so extra care required!

Dave Locker

N.B. If you'd like to see more photos of Dave and Andy's trip, you can check them out at: http://photos.yahoo.com/andy_humphrey

Coming Soon

The next newsletter will be published in June 2003. Please submit news items, letters, articles or pictures by 1^st June. See above for my contact details.

All submissions will be considered for publication and almost definitely printed.

Remember, the submission date means the date for inclusion in the next newsletter. An item can be sent to me at any time for future publication.