Photos at last.....

Have a look at some of our photos here: www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90692&id=504948574&l=a174eda2f9

Back from the glacier!

After several days of waiting out bad weather in our tent, we got flown off of the Kahiltna Glacier after a late night weather break. When we first arrived, conditions on the mountain were good (consistently cold and frozen with clear and sunny skies although a storm was consistently forecast as imminent!) and so we got straight onto the West Buttress route of Denali the next day. We hauled sleds and big packs on skis (rather hard work!) and were really pleased to see that we were making good time on each leg (at least an hour under guidebook time - something that earnt us the nickname of the "Bad Ass British Girls"!!). We rocked into Basin Camp at 14,000ft after several days of single carrying: we both felt strong, fit and seemed to be acclimatising well at 11,000ft camp and so made the most of the weather to make the long day to 14,000ft camp around Windy Corner, a notorious spot to cross if there is any wind at all (and laced with some rather large and sneaky crevasses!).

We then spent 6 days at 14,000ft camp. The first day we had as a rest day but keeping active all the time...with reports of the 'storm' still coming up we spent a long time digging out and building 2m high walls and generally reinforcing the tent. We both felt the altitude here for the first time and had trouble sleeping for all of the nights that we were there. Cat also had a blinding headache for the whole 6 days and the symptoms seemed to intensify quite acutely when we headed up onto the ridge at 16,200ft for acclimatisation/caching purposes. This section of the route included use of the fixed lines maintained by various guiding companies up steeper, icier ground which culminated in a ridge which was often windy and very cold, brrr. Temperatures at basin camp were an average of -18C with several nights of temperatures dipping to -30C and beyond. We both got quite a good lesson in living at those altitudes and temperatures...unsurprisingly EVERYTHING freezes solid: your toothpaste, water, hair, suncream, clothes (sometimes while wearing them...) and most unfortunately...bagels and chocolate M&Ms :(

After a week at 14 000ft with the skies promising the storm that we had been long awaiting, we decided to descend. Cat was not acclimatising any better and was in fact feeling worse the more we stayed. We descended to 11,000ft camp in deteriorating weather although were lucky enough to sneak around Windy Corner before the wind hit. This was our first experience of pulling sledges downhill and was not altogether successful or speedy!! In the end we realised that there was no easy way of taking a sledge downhill (apart from taking your knife and chopping the rope between yourself and the sledge while uphill from a very large crevasse!! NB: We do not condone littering in the mountains) and let the sledges do their own thing back to 11,000ft camp. We spent two days here in bad weather, trying to amuse ourselves while sitting out the storm, getting up regularly to melt water, dig the tent out (an hourly event day and night at some points, 11,000ft gets a LOT of snow!!), or to see if a clearer weather window had opened up. We got a little break in the weather at about 15:30 on day 3 and so sprung into action. We dug up our cache including our skis that had been left here and rigged up the sledges. Big packs, a sledge, skis, tons of snow (which would have been amazing powder skiing down if it wasn't for the darn sledges...grrr!) and no visibility. With compass at the ready we headed down from 11,000ft, following wands that had been left to mark the way by various parties (very useful as their trails were blown away in a matter of minutes). Even though these were reguarly spaced we often had to wait for a break in the mist and snow to see the next or resorted to travelling on a bearing. Progress was slow with the visibility and the weight of the sledges in the deep powder that we were breaking trail in, I was sure that we should have been skiing downhill not putting skins on to get down!!

Several hours later saw us cross the crevasse-ridden expanse of the Kahiltna and turn the fork up Heartbreak Hill back to base camp, arriving at 10.30pm, yet still in the daylight. Cat's headache was gone for the first time in over a week and after digging up our cache we could enjoy a gin and tonic or two.

We chilled out at base camp for a few days feeling good in our acclimatisation and seeing what the weather would bring us. After several more days of tent dwelling while it snowed (including getting to know the others waiting at base camp and doing a bit of skiing - great fun!) it became clear that our intended objective of Sultana Ridge would not be manageable under it's current condition of lots of snow, built up cornices, incoming weather and the time that we had left. With a continuous forecast of more snow and increasing winds over the next week we decided to take a short break in the weather where flights could get in, in between two frontal systems and bail back to Talkeetna. With the spell of bad weather a queue of around 80 people had built up for the airline companies...quite a backlog to clear when little planes of up to 6/7 people are used! After putting our name on the list and being told it may be some days before we got out as the backlog would take a long time to clear, we had a mad dash to break camp and get all of our things into the plane at 15 minutes notice!!

We are back in Talkeetna now, relaxing, washing kit and recovering from a slight headache after experiencing an Ice Axe Ale or two at the Fairview...we didn't get back to the airstrip until 23:30 and so the only thing to do was head straight to the pub!

We have just under a week before we fly home and so our aim is to meet up with as many of the lovely people we met on the glacier as possible - many of whom were kind enough to invite us to stay. In fact we are borrowing a car off Jeff, who we camped next to at 14 000ft, and going to head down to the Kenai Peninsula to see a little bit more of the state. It's definitely fair to say that we have met some amazing people while being here.

Pictures to follow shortly....!

Flying to Kahiltna glacier in 30min!

We arrived in Talkeetna last night and as the weather's so good, we're able to fly out earlier than planned. So we'll be on the glacier this evening, which means we should start up the West Buttress of Denali early on sunday morning......... weather permitting of course!

We had our 2hr meeting with the Park Ranger this morning and were able to get more information and ask any questions. So we're all set and very excited about the next five weeks. Will be in touch when we get back!

Arrival in Alaska

We've arrived in Anchorage after a long journey! Unfortunately our plane was delayed leaving Heathrow so we missed our connection to Houston. However, it all turned out for the best in the end as we got a flight to Seattle yesterday evening, they put us up in a nice hotel for the night (so we got some proper sleep!) and then flew to Anchorage early this morning - in the end we only got here a couple of hours later which wasn't a problem and had some sleep, bonus!! It's really sunny here, apparently Anchorage is having a lovely spring so far, a lot warmer than we had expected We've been 'downtown' to buy some supplies - turns out Alaska is the most expensive American State! Earth B&B where we're staying is lovely and friendly. It's run by two women, one of whom works for the Alaskan Democrats, so it was interesting talking to her about her battle against Sarah Palin last year!

We're here for another two days then head to Talkeetna, where we will have our briefing with the Denali Park Ranger - and our final shower for 5 weeks - before getting the plane to the kahiltna glacier!

Thank you everyone!

Only two days now until our departure date of May 11th. We're feeling about as ready as we can: all the new kit has arrived, we've experimented with packing and weighing all the kit, we've said many goodbyes and just want to get out there now!

Thanks to all of you who have supported us in so many ways; financially, with advice and with encouragement. It really makes a difference.

We will continue to update this blog whilst in Alaska. However, it will of course be virtually impossible from May 17 til June 23 when we're on the glacier......!

Summer's here...valley cragging in the sun

Taking advantage of the recent lovely weather and the snow melt in the valley, there have been some great days of cragging to be had. I've never rock climbed that much around Chamonix or the surrounding valleys and have had my first taste over the past week or two. After a winter spent in big boots and skis it's taken a little longer than last year to start finding my feet again and also to realise that my rock shoes haven't in fact shrunk since last November!! After cragging at several single pitch locations I headed up to Montenvers with Martin yesterday and we dropped down to a four pitch route that started near to the lower part of the Mer de Glace, at Les Mottets. An hour of snow wading (we must have been keen!!) was followed by four abseils and then four long pitches of climbing out again. While the lower two pitches were a little dusty and scrappy in places, the upper two pitches were great and I would like to head back up and have a look at the other two routes that have been bolted here as well as further new route potential. After a short scramble we joined the walking path down from Montenvers and had a lovely walk in the sun back down to Chamonix for a cold pint. Great!

Suffer practice!

Last week saw Emily and I head out for another night of bivvying up high for some sleeping at altitude and general suffering in the name of training! We picked a good night for the latter...unfortunately our first choice of the Aiguille du Midi was shut due to high winds and so we headed to Grand Montets armed with big rucksacks, skis and a very lightweight tent. Unfortunately again, the top Grand Montets lift was shut and so we were left with taking the last chair lift of the day up the Hearse run. From the top of the Hearse we traversed and found a place to set up our 'camp' for the night. The cable car stopping winds were soon apparent when we tried to put up the tent and once up it looked pretty deformed with each gust of wind that buffeted it. There was only one thing for a good nights sleep...wall building. I think Em may have missed her true vocation as a dry stone waller: I was happy cutting out blocks and she arranged them into a very neat, strudy wall. This made for a very nice nights sleep, followed by unearthing the tent from under fresh snow when we crawled out in the morning and a ski down to the bottom to start work.

More altitude training...

Cat and I took the oportunity to shoot straight up the Aiguille du Midi last week after work. We had a couple of hours to practice some ice climbing, and even to try out some of our gym programme at 3700m! As night fell, we headed back up to the lift station to bivi for the night. It seems to be getting a bit easier each time to sleep at altitude, so our plan to sleep high at least once a week is giving us rewards already.

Emily now a fully qualified International Mountain Leader

A Big congratulations to Em for passing the final winter assessment of the International Mountain Leader qualification yesterday. This qualification allows you to lead groups anywhere in the world on non-glaciated terrain. The qualification is split into four parts: summer training in North Wales, summer assessment in the Swiss Alps and then winter training and assessment in the French Alps. The training and assessments cover summer walking (including hut to hut tours along high level mountain paths), snow shoeing, safeguarding groups with the use of a rope both on rock and snow, avalanche awareness and transceiver training. In addition, there is a strong focus on being able to identify and talk about mountain flora, fauna and geology. Well done Em!

For more information on the International Mountain Leader qualification see: http://www.baiml.org/

Girls in Alaska awarded 2009 BMC Grant

We are really happy to announce that the British Mountaineering Council's International Committee have approved our plans for Alaska and agreed to support us with a grant of £400. We are particularly pleased with this award as only 10 trips were awarded grants this year. The BMC works for hillwalkers, climbers and mountaineers in England and Wales and provides invaluable support with access and conservation, climbing walls, clubs and huts, competitions, equipment advice, guidebooks, international and safety and skills. They also provide comprehensive insurance for anyone venturing into the outdoors. Their work is invaluable for all hillwalkers, climbers and mountaineers in the UK so if anyone isn't a member by joining you can show your support for their efforts.

Altitude Training

With six weeks to go before departure date, Cat and I are putting more emphasis on altitude acclimatisation. At 6194m, Denali will be the highest of the two mountains we will climb. After this, we should be well acclimatised for the harder route on Mt Foraker. However, due to the high latitude of Denali national park (just below the arctic circle) the barometric pressure is lower than on a mountain of the same height closer to the equator, therefore the altitude will feel more like 7000m.

With this in mind, Cat and I headed up the Aiguille du Midi lift straight after work last sunday. This took us from Chamonix (1030m) to 3842m. Due to the lower barometric pressure, at this height, you are receiving at least 40% less oxygen than at sea level. In order for your body to cope with this, your breathing rate increases, blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries increases and more red blood cells are produced to carry oxygen.

We stayed the night in the Cosmiques refuge (3615m) and could certainly feel the shortness of breath! In order to get the most out of being at this altitude we decided to climb back up to the top of the Midi via 'Cosmiques Arete', a mixed route (ie. snow and rock) graded AD. This also provided some more training in moving together over snow and ice and general ropework. The route was in pretty good condition and we had a beautiful sunny day for it.

We started the up the Arete at 6am and didn't see a single person until we climbed over the viewing platform at the Aiguille de Midi where we got the lift back down to Chamonix. Well done Cat for going straight to a 3 hr off-piste ski lesson afterwards!

Up and coming film stars

Emily: Here is a sample from the Skiing Glaciers Safely film I took part in on the Vallee Blanche.  I'm wearing the blue boots and blue jacket!  We await the complete version......

Adventure touring...

Last Saturday Em and I decided that we would head up and do the Col du Beaugeant tour and return to Le Buet via the Col de L'Encrenaz. Unfortunately winds were pretty strong and the final pommer at Flegere was closed. Undeterred we decided that heading up to the Col de la Floria would provide good training. Conditions were very windblown and we soon exchanged skinning for bootpacking and made good progress up to the col. The views from here were stunning and tucking ourselves over the col, everything was still and very sunny...beautiful! Conditions on the other side of the col were pretty steep and icy and so we decided to 'freestyle' our way back to the Lachenal Bowl and the Lachenal piste at Flegere. From the map this would follow a ridge line and so we decided to forego our chances of any good snow for a bit of an adventure. We stayed just below the ridge line and traversed below the Aiguille de la Floria and headed down and round from there, at first crossing an exposed traverse on foot (more like thigh-deep wading for a while!) and then continuing on skis. The snow was far from great but it was a really great day out, ending with a cold beer at apres in Les Pras, perfect!

The fabulous Col du Belvedere!

Yesterday was a particularly sunny Saturday and so Ru and I set out in search of fresh tracks and a bit of an adventure. After what seemed like a million lifts in a very short space of time, we made our way from Brevent to Flegere and then to the top of the Index lift and the pommer above. From there we traversed around (particularly difficult for Ru on a snowboard) quite a way and began a skin up via Lac Blanc to the Col du Belvedere. It was a totally stunning day and the views across the Mont Blanc Massif were incredible...I took a lot of photos! On reaching the col we brought out the 2 60m ropes that we'd carried up (good training in itself!!) and made two abseils down the steepest part of the col. We were definitely rewarded for our hard work on the way up - there were very few tracks and the powder was amazing - there were many shouts of delight!! The descent took us down to join the Berard Valley under the shadow of Mont Buet (the 'lady's Mont Blanc'!) and down to Le Buet to catch the train back to Les Praz for a well-deserved apres beer with a big smile!

What we get up to in the gym...

As well as getting out and training on the mountain, Cat and I are doing three gym sessions a week in the Chamonix 'Salle de Musculation'. We're very grateful to Rachael Woolston, who is a personal fitness trainer (www.bodybalancefitness.co.uk) for forming a specific training schedule for us.  The gym sessions focus on building strength, particularly in the shoulders, arms, legs and core.  In each of the three sessions we work on just one area to fatigue our muscles faster and give quicker results (it also means we can spend less time each session in the gym!)  So we work on one of the following at a time: Back and shoulders; Core and chest; Legs and bum.

Each session starts with 5 min warm up on the cross-trainer/bike and then for each exercise we do 3 sets of 12 repetitions.  In order to get the right weight/resistance, Rachael told us the last 2 reps of every set should be very difficult....... so it's just down to our own judgement to make sure we're not slacking on the weights! The exercises are very varied, ranging from familiar ones such as push ups to completely new ideas which took a bit of practice at first, for example the Swiss ball.  Having previously only played with a Swiss ball to see if I can kneel on it, I've been really impressed by how easily you can target specific muscle groups if you know what you're doing.  In the photo above I'm working on the hamstrings by rolling the ball away and towards me whilst keeping my hips raised.  Another favourite of mine is the 'kneel to standing' exercise.  Pretty simple: kneeling down, holding dumbells, you stand up and then kneel back down.  After a few reps this soon becomes surprisingly hard and you can feel the strain in all the leg muscles - a great exercise for simulating the sort of horrendous muscle fatigue we'll encounter in Alaska!   Rachael has updated our schedule each month to make sure we are progressing. But with only 7 weeks left before we go, as I had expected, I can't help wishing we had more time to train.....!

Springtime!

It definitely feels like Spring has arrived in Chamonix this week. We've had a couple of days of snow showers followed by beautiful blue skies and some great snow and so we have been taking the opportunity to make the most of the conditions. Yesterday, after spending the morning at Brevent and Flegere trying to improve my off piste technique, I caught the cable car up the Aiguille du Midi with Neil and Garth and we headed down the Vallee Blanche via the Grand Envers. The snow at the top was great powder and pretty deep - the cold temperatures up there after a couple of clear days and nights had kept the snow in great condition. There had obviously been a lot of wind and movement of snow too. Lower down the snow was a little heavier with a bit of a crust that I found harder going. However, the sun was shining, there weren't very many people about and Neil managed to make the run in between driving two airport transfers to Geneva airport...not a bad 'lunch break'!!

Training, training, training!

An integral part of our training schedule has been a 'mountain phase' which involves replicating some of the work that we will have to do in order to climb Denali and Foraker in Alaska. Therefore we have been hard at work skinning and snowshoeing uphill several times a week. The most easy and accessible areas are the home runs of the pistes around Chamonix and it means that we can do this before work. They generally take between an hour/hour and a half, depending on where we go and how much we are carrying. A few days ago we decided to snowshoe and take our snowboards up the Flegere home run. It was a warm day but really poor visability and there was a constant drizzle (reminiscent of UK weather!!). This morning we again snowshoed and took boards but this time up the Grand Montets home run which is a little longer. About an hour and twenty minutes of snowshoeing through new snow (it was still snowing when we got to the top!) ensured a good workout and also a pretty cool descent back down again!

Yellow Berghaus rucksack still going strong!

Last summer I undertook a trip to Canada with the aim of climbing the remote and beautiful Lotus Flower Tower and paddling the Nahanni River back to civilisation. When I say remote, it truly was: three long days of driving North from Vancouver, a short ferry ride, a 2.5 hour float plane ride from Fort Simpson and then a 14 hour walk-in from hell left brought us and our climbing gear to the Cirque of the Unclimbables and the base of the Lotus Flower Tower. After 11 days in the Cirque 10 days of paddling with all of our kit saw us back in Fort Simpson, tired but very happy! The kit that we took determined not only our comfort during nearly 4 weeks out of civilisation but also our success. We were lucky enough to be supported with kit by Berghaus. The Phantom 37 rucksack (pictured in use) proved to be my favourite piece of kit on the trip. After chopping off a few bits that I didn't need, it proved to be comfortable when worn on long multi-pitch ascents, was incredibly light and even made a good foot warmer for Pete and I when we bivvied on a ledge with minimal gear! I have had some comments about the colour...all I can say is that you'll never lose me on the hill (you decide whether that's a good or bad thing!!).

Emily and Cat featured in February Trail Magazine

After hearing about our plans for Alaska and training schedule over the winter in Chamonix, Trail magazine interviewed us for their 'Fit for Adventure' column. The article is on Page 41 of the February edition and gives some information on our training and preparation in the Alps this winter.

Ski Touring!

Today has been an amazingly sunny and beautiful day in the Chamonix Valley and we took full advantage of it by heading out for a tour. We caught the lift up Flegere and then the pommer to the top of the Index before skinning up (500m ascent) and over the col next to the Aiguille de la Floria. A descending traverse took us beneath the Aiguille du Belvedere and we then bootpacked (350m ascent) up the narrowing couloir which had a pretty steep section just before the top. I wasn't expecting it to be quite so sunny and warm...after using lots of suncream on my face I felt like it was more like summer in the Alps than February - awesome!! After a quick bit to eat we headed down to a small col and on to the top of the Mort Glacier (great name...hmmm!) for an amazing powder descent down the Berard Valley that just seemed to go on and on - a glorious 1550m of it! There were many, many smiles as we arrived in Le Buet and caught the train home to Chamonix with a glass of vin chaude - I'm not sure that days get much better than that!!

Winter Ice

Since being in Chamonix I've had the chance to get out ice climbing a bit, most recently over the border in Switzerland at Trient. On a day that turned out to be lovely and sunny we found better ice than we had expected and the walk-in gave us a good warm-up. We climbed three pitches (the first pitch being a lot steeper than it looked!) before abseiling back to the ground via our own Abolokov anchors: these are made by placing two ice screws into the ice in a V-shape, removing the screws to leave a V-shape hole and then passing some cord through the V-shape using a special threader (or a bit of coat hanger if you don't have one!) that you can tie an overhand in to leave a loop of rope through the ice to abseil off. It is always important that these are tested with the back-up of an ice screw when the first person goes down. This day of climbing was the second outing of a new set of Black Diamond Turbo Express ice screws that I had purchased back in November. I can honestly say that they did not fail to disappoint in any way when I was on lead and it was nice to know that I had ice screws that were sharp and easy to use to hand...see this http://www.ukclimbing.com/ review for more details: http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=860

Cat and I took to the Grands Montets glacier to practice rope work a few weeks ago. We were lucky enough to have some Alaskan-style weather too with the cold westerlies that day. We looked at Crevasse rescue and also spent some time analysing the snow pack. It's good to dig a snow pit whenever we have the chance to get an idea of what the snow's doing and keep learning how the snow transforms depending on the weather.

Although we will be travelling on snow shoes in Alaska, we plan to take skis in case of any spare days when we could put them to use. As well as snow shoeing up hills as part of our training programme, we're ski touring as much as possible at the moment. Even if it's just skinning up the home run when we get a couple of spare hours in the evening, it's a very enjoyable way to train!

Avalanche Awareness

On Monday 9th Feb I undertook some avalanche training with Icicie Guides based in Chamonix. We used snowshoes to access areas above Vallorcine and took plenty of opportunities to assess the snowpack in different locations and practise using transceivers for both single and multiple burials. My experience of evaluating snowpacks has largely been based in Scotland and the Alps in Summer and so it was interesting to compare things to the Winter Alpine environment. A Ruschblock test showed that the slopes were pretty stable in the second area that we used although just around the corner in the first area there was evidence of recent avalanche activity and while in the area we witnessed a powder slough from a band of rock up high which then triggered more debris from a fairly steep snow slope below - a good reminder that while slopes may be stable in one area, local factors may make things very hazardous closeby.

How to ski glaciers safely!

Emily: A few weeks ago I got the chance to feature in a film advising people how to ski glaciers safely. The filming took place on the Aiguille du Midi and the Petit Envers route of the Vallee Blanche. Simon Christy was filming and Simon Abrahams and Andy Perkins, both IFMGA Guides, were co-ordinating and looking after safety aspects. Tom Wilson-North was there as token boarder and managed to take these some nice photos, including the one above, on his Iphone! It was a great day and I learnt a lot of information relevant for Alaska, where we will spend several weeks travelling and camping on glaciers. We look forward to seeing the film soon - there will be a link here to see it on YouTube as soon as it's ready.