George Cave

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.

Point Five

Surely a route that is on every climber's ticklist in the world? Ross and I had seen it was in condition and I was feeling confident after the previous two days climbing. The route proved to be everything I had hoped and the two big middle pitches were superb. A brilliant way to end probably my best days of winter climbing ever.

Ice on the Ben

Our first objective was Hadrian's Wall Direct but we were beaten back by some pretty brutal spindrift and a huge slab of ice which seemed barely attached to the rock. Traversing around, we nipped up Tower Scoop and then headed for Indicator Wall to finish.

Climbing on the Ben in mid April is a very relaxed affair. You can do both the approach and return journey in the light, take your time picking a line and then retire for a well-earned game of chess in a hut all to yourself!

Tower Ridge

On Monday morning I flew to Glasgow and by nightfall Ross and I had hiked our way up to the CIC Hut. Unsure of what the late season conditions would bring we opted for Tower Ridge and stormed the route in around 4-5 hour, moving together for much of the ground. Neither of us had climbed the iconic ridgeline before and it was in great shape with a bonus little ice pitch thrown in early on that we weren't expecting.