Tuesday 29 March 2011

Avalanche forecasting

A nice day on the hill today!

Monday 28 March 2011

Ice Climbing, Cairngorms.

Guiding again today in the Cairngorms, we did Alladins Mirror direct which was in good condition but there was quite a bit of water running down the back and also there is a gap at the top where the main ice pillar joins the main crag! Sandy
Kathy climbed next
and then Colin, his second day of ice climbing.For the afternoon we went and did the Runnell which was in good condition and well frozen.

Sunday 27 March 2011

Northern Cairngorms

While I loved and still miss the buzz of working in Norway with Remote Trauma and Fever Media, its so ace to be back home. Today I was guiding in the Grampians, better known by us locals as the Cairngorms. Colin on Spiral Gully
Colin further up our climb.
At 4.00 pm the Cairngorm Mountain car park was still busy and there is plenty good skiing to be had!

Friday 25 March 2011

Northern Lights

My pal Jonny took this photo!

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Hell drop!

With the assistance of my good buddies Aldo and Johnny of our safety team I trialed this descent today where we boom ourselves out from the cliff top on a "Larkin Frame" then climb down a 10 metre caving ladder only to climb up again, it worked. Good arm and core strength training!

Monday 21 March 2011

Into the wilds.

Aldo, get out of the trailer!
Alta canyon, wow!


Route finding our way today, I hope it does not go whiteout!

Saturday 19 March 2011

Wonderful day in Alta canyon.

Dog races, ice climbing and skidoo trips down the river! No wonder some people try to tell me that its time I got a real job. Wow!

Chris Marlow having a nice time at work!

Friday 18 March 2011

Alta - Gorge crossing

Daz, Chris and Aldo after a good days work!

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Alta, cliff hanger

Have had busy day on a new challenge.



Tuesday 15 March 2011

Ice yesterday and rock today

Aldo working on some portaledges
.
Angellica abseiling down the waterfall.

Charlie, time out from her garden!


Sunday 13 March 2011

Alta - Reisa Road Trip

Been up in Alta for a few days rigging two new challenges for this TV production... Much clearer weather up north!

Saturday 12 March 2011

Pull testing bolts and Portaledges

This morning we pull tested the resin anchors which we installed yesterday, 100% pass rate!!!

Aldo setting up a single portaledge. Back Diamond ones seem pretty easy to assemble compared to the older A5 ones I have used in the past!

Friday 11 March 2011

Searching for an ideal location! Alta, Norway.

Sunny weather here near Alta, minus 6 degrees this morning but we enjoyed a wonderful windless day! Below, Aldo Kaine setting up to drill for bolting.


Daz Phillips abseiling down one of our potential locations.

Thursday 10 March 2011

Northern lights, Alta, Norway


Aldo, Daz, Dex, Scott and I had a spectacular drive to Alta tonight.

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Good weather day at Reisa

Darrell , Dr Ross Anderson and Jonny Yuill rigging for filming today.

The blue team discussing tactics.

Monday 7 March 2011

Back here in Reisa, Norway

The guys riding along on their skidoo!

An ace day, skidoo driving then lots of snow shoeing with pulks and big loads of ropes and rigging gear, but have the challenge set up for tomorrow, so all is well. Expecting a busy day filming and looking after safety!
Jonny resting after digging out the bolts we place a few days ago!

Sunday 6 March 2011

Fjord Swim

Had a busy and exciting day yesterday with the fjord swim. Some really strong winds in the morning with lots of fresh snow fall, but it cleared up in the afternoon to give a good settled conditions for the challenge. Jonny, one of our safety team trialed the swim and exceeded all expectations by swimming out to the buoy in a very good time.
Aldo posing with shovels!

Friday 4 March 2011

Mean while in Norway

Stormy weather with a high avalanche risk, reviewed contingency plans and closed roads is making our teams safety work rather interesting, but still the cameras roll! Its hard work but also fun!
An off camera moment with Brooke, check out http://www.benkinsella.org.uk/ and get involved now.

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Tent Platforms

Camping in Norway requires a lot of digging to find a solid platform for ones tent. Here are some of our safety team preparing a tent platform so that our celebs can see how its all done...
Left to right, SA, Jonny Yuill, Aldo Kaine, Jay Edwards and Scott Hardiment!