George Cave

Trolltunga

Adam and I returned for our third weekend adventure in Norway to backpack a lap of the Ringedalsvatnet lake to Trolltunga. As in previous years, we packed no winter gear and were then surprised with how ridiculously snowy it still is up high. Rather than take the usual tourist approach we headed up from Odda and hiked in isolation from the south side of the lake, breaking trail through the snow for up to 9 hours a day. On our last morning the rain cleared and we finally arrived at the crazy rock of Trolltunga, looking out across the stunning Norwegian landscape.

Espolón de los Franceses

Relocating to the Fuente De end of the Picos de Europa, we thought that an ascent of Espolón de los Franceses on Penya Vieja would make a great end to our week in Spain. After some early route finding issues on the complex SE face of the mountain we eventually hit the ridgeline and the route got better and better as we cruised towards the top.

With seven hours of climbing gone we could have been forgiven for thinking we were nearly finished, but the route ends with a further two hours of complicated, exposed and occasionally terrifying ridgeline including three abseils and a number of wet snow patches. Running out of time we soloed across the rocky mess to summit at 9:30pm and dashed down the avalanche prone slopes to the bottom, finishing the 2km vertical of descent shortly after midnight.

Naranjo de Bulnes

Starting early from the carpark at the top of the track from Sotres, Ross and I hiked in the 3 hour approach to the base of our route La Cepeda. Switching from crampons and winter boots to rock shoes we set off up the stunning face of Naranjo de Bulnes with crazy limestone features and the occasional piece of fixed gear to point the way. The route culminates in two brilliant final pitches up a steep chimney to the top and easily ranks as one of my favourite ever rock routes. With the mountain to ourselves we struggled for a while to locate the abseil descent but eventually made it back to the car after a round trip of almost 15 hours.

Pena de Fresnidiello

Another sunny day in Picos and we headed to the huge sweeping face of Pena de Fresnidiello to climb the 6 pitch route Los capitanes (Pérez Navas-Hidalgo). The route took a particularly adventurous approach to bolting - i.e. a rack was very helpful on the harder sections! The abseil back to the ground was a good chance to hone our technique for the big mountain routes ahead.

Trying to climb Naranjo de Bulnes

Our first attempt at this much coveted Spanish summit didn't go so well as we hadn't factored in that the Picos de Europa in May was still in condition for ski touring. Ross and I spent a night in the hut then tried (and failed) to cross the frozen slopes to Naranjo de Bulnes in our approach shoes. We did manage to reach one face of the peak (with difficulty) and climbed a single, difficult, chossy pitch before abbing off and agreeing to return better prepared! As a consolation prize Ross also ticked two boulder problems on the walk down, for which he was very proud.

Afternoon at Symond's Yat

Becky and I were delayed getting here, first by all of the red wine we drank on Saturday night, and secondly by the huge signs directly us to the "Hedge Puzzle" on our way there. Consequently we only managed a couple of routes with the steep limestone walls providing a good contrast to the huge runout slab of the previous weekend.