Anyway, I had a final jaunt up the mountain with Charlie and Tom the other week to tick off my ski ambition for the winter – the Couloir des Cosmiques off the Aiguille du Midi. I’m no extreme skier, in fact, in comparison to climbing, I am a beginner at skiing, so it was fantastic to ski this line. For the rock climbers out there – I guess it’s about equivalent to doing your first E5 (it’s a grade 5.1 ski line) and although I had the opportunity to ski it earlier in the season, I was really glad I waited, as by the end of the season I was confident and able enough to shred, and we enjoyed fantastic snow conditions, perfect weather and great company. A top day, as good as they get in the mountains.

To quote Charlie:

“Another shit day in my shit life.”

Charlie and Tom in the lift queue at 10am, a nice leisurely start to what was a brilliant day.

Jack Geldard skiing the Couloir des Cosmiques (Photo: Charlie Boscoe)

After that I was due to go to Switzerland with my climbing hero James McHaffie to try a nine pitch granite trad route. But illness and weather and a partially broken van meant that we stayed local to Chamonix and I got dragged round all the crags that I thought I had wired, and got reminded what it is like to climb with a world class athlete.

My arms have just recovered enough to write this blog post, but I’m too pumped to add any more words, so here are some photos:

A crag with a view. We did a few routes at Foron, but unfortunately it wasn’t hard enough for James, so we had to go to another crag later that day…

Jack Geldard following high above the van on the ace limestone wall of Balme. This was a bit of a tough route, with multiple 7c+ pitches in the full sunshine. My feet were a little sore at the end of these technical pitches… But the route had some funky moves and some small holds – lovely! (We thought more like 8a…)

James McHaffie hanging out on Balme. We used a nice system with a super thin sport rope and a tag line and small haulbag, which meant that lunch was pretty massive – NICE!

After three days of climbing, multiple grade 8 pitches, hot sun and quite a bit of red wine, James McHaffie got tired. Here he is on the final route of his trip, a quality 7c at Superbalmette (Second crag of the day). And here I quote: James: “It’s a 6b move.” … Jack: “Is it nowt. Your arms are tired.”

All in all, a top winter, and a top week!

Jack Geldard hoovering what is perhaps the last of the lift accessible powder of the year on the Grands Montets, Chamonix. However with the huge amounts of snow around, spring touring will certainly be excellent. Photo: Charlie Boscoe

Well, March brought about spring temperatures, talk of BBQ’s and the hanging up of winter gear. But it didn’t last long.

April hit and winter in Chamonix came back with a vengeance and there has been a lot of snow in the past few weeks. Temperatures have just now rocketed, so care is needed out there, but before everything went nuclear, there was some amazing skiing to be had.

I have been focusing on rock climbing really, so haven’t made the most of it, but after an abortive session floundering in some heavy snow with Dougal Taverner (I can ski really Dougal, honestly!),  I did have an excellent day out with Charlie Boscoe recently, where we were skiing boot deep powder from the lifts on the Grands Montets, not bad for late April!

With these warmer temperatures meaning things are either very heavy or a bit dodgy on the slide-front, my brief return to skiing has thankfully been put to one side and it’s time to fully focus on the rock. I’m really looking forward to a flying visit from the ever talkative Cumbrian James McHaffie in just over a week or so, and we are going to find some granite cracks over in Ticino, Switzerland. Watch this space!

Here’s a shot from the other day of me skiing. Got the new Zion Jacket from Marmot on – looking shreddy!

Interestingly, after a couple of sessions out on the local limestone here I have to say I can 100% confirm a 2 grade difference between esoteric France grades and Catalunya grades. Ouch! And I thought I was a hero. Oh well.

But not to fear, been checking out some of the harder sport routes of the area and looking forward to getting stuck in.

Jack Geldard climbing at the fantastic Bionassy, close to Chamonix. Photo by Charlotte Davies. This overhanging limestone cliff sports routes from 5 to 9a and also has a number of unclimbed bolted projects. It is in the sun from 1pm onwards.

Although she always says that she prefers rock climbing, Betty seems to be clinging on to the last remnants of the ski season. Photo by Dave Pickford.

Anyway, to kick off the year I took a trip to Catalunya to try and get fit on the world class limestone they have there. It seems to work, as I went from being pretty pumped at the start of the trip to being able to flash an 8a at Terradets after just over a week of climbing.

It has been a superb trip, great training for future goals in the year, but also a lot of fun and excellent climbing. I was lucky enough to come with a top team of really psyched and inspirational climbers, and I also feel like I have learnt a lot both about my own body and about sport climbing in general.

Also great was to meet up with friends from Chamonix who are wintering in Spain in their vans. They are all climbing like machines! Great to see.

More photos to come, but here’s a quick selection:

I drove down from Chamonix with fellow ex-North Wales expat Jude Spancken, seen here sporting her perma-suntan and warming up on a great 7b at Terradets. Jude went from saying she was unfit to cruising a 7c/+ and looking really good on an 8a+. She was only in Spain for 5 climbing days!

Some of the rest of team 'Smash-Fest' including Dr Schweikart, Mac, Holly, Edgar, Ginger Jonny, Heather, Mawsonator, Me, Hazel 'The Pro' and Mayan. Lots of high grade crankers in that bunch. I think I brought the average grade down by about 10!

From this photograph you can see how Dr Schweikart the Frankenjura 8b+ climber manages to climb so hard. She's hanging off the back of my harness! Alex, that's cheating! Photo by Neil Mawson.

Neil Mawson attempting to redpoint an 8c+ on the right side of Terradets. Neil unfortunately had to go home before getting this one ticked, as he was struggling with a really hard first move. On his last day at the crag he realised that he could actually just reach past this move - jug to jug - BUMMER! Neil - you would have done it easy. Next time.

This is me on (I think) a 7c+. I was really pleased to find myself fit enough to onsight 7c+ and flash 8a on this trip. Sometimes a prolonged rest for the body can be really healthy. Photo by Neil Mawson.

James McHaffie, Hazel Findlay and I are running a coaching/instructing/teaching weekend in Wales this coming June.

The cost of the weekend is £200 per person and over the course of the weekend we will be looking at all aspects of climbing, with a focus on Trad Climbing.

If you want to improve your climbing, get expert advice and a detailed evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses, and have a really good weekend, why not join us?

• Contact me for full details and to book: Jack Geldard

What we are offering:

Saturday and Sunday of climbing instruction and coaching, with a lecture and slideshow by Jack, Hazel and James on the Saturday night.

The weekend course is split in to different topics, and the group will move between the three coaches engaging in multiple different sessions per day.

Topics covered include:

Gear for trad and gear for harder trad. Looking at individual’s gear/rock shoes, double ropes, rack choice, general gear placement. More advanced coaching on specialist kit, racking systems, pre-placing, advanced techniques.

Intro to self rescue. Escaping the system. Assisted hoists. Basic rescue techniques. The essential skills that every climber should have, but who actually practices them?

Crack Climbing Masterclass. Hand, foot and finger jamming. Offwidths, chimneys and other horror-shows. Trad climbing often involves a lot of these techniques, which are often overlooked.

Mental Aspects of General Climbing and of Trad. Falling off, when and how to do it, and when not to do it! Real danger vs perceived danger.

Physical training for climbing and specifically for trad. How to use walls, sport climbing, bouldering and trad routes to improve your climbing. How to set realistic and useful goals, asses your performance and write your own training schedule.

Final De-Brief. Discussion with one of the coaches on your own individual goals and areas to work on. Formulate a tailored plan to advance your climbing after the weekend.

NB: Food and accommodation (and if required an entrance fee to a local climbing wall), are not included in the weekend. The climbers and coaches will meet in Llanberis, North Wales in the morning, travel to local climbing venues for the day’s sessions, and return to Llanberis in the evenings. The slideshow on the Saturday night will be held locally to Llanberis, and it is most likely that the coaches will be going for a local pub dinner if you would care to join us!

A shoulder injury has kept me on the bench since last October, and I am hoping to come back to climbing next week in Catalunya, Spain. I have had a few days out on the rock (literally just a few) in the last couple of weeks and have managed to get back up to a reasonable standard pretty quick, so here’s to some 8th grade routes in Spain.

However the last few weeks have been really great in the mountains too, with a work trip to Cogne to hook up with Tim Emmett for some ice climbing being a lot of fun, ending in us simul-climbing a classic icefall after the photos and general work stuff had finished.

“I promise I won’t fall off mate!”

It was really motivating to hang out with Tim, and also the group of Guides working on this event, and gain some psyche for big projects.

Here’s a video I made of Tim whilst on the event:

Also resident in Chamonix was Hazel ‘The Pro’ Findlay. Hazel, being a professional climber, has some alpine ambitions and took it upon herself to improve her skiing so that she can access some mountain lines more easily. Needless to say within just a few days she was ‘totally killing it’ and could only be described as ‘the best skier on the mountain’.

Hazel Findlay Shredding the VB

Hazel and I did do some ski/ice combinations, but work, weather and psyche prevented us from getting a high mountain route done this time round. Perhaps later in the season.

Also on the ice front, I had a photo-shoot to do with legendary photographer Jon Griffith, which was done in minus 20 conditions, but still a lot of fun. Actually it was the first time I had put a rope on for about 4 months due to the shoulder, so I was bricking it!

Photos from the Ice Shoot:

Jack Geldard on a WI5+, Argentierre. Photo: Jon Griffith/Alpine Exposures

Jack Geldard on a WI5+, Argentierre. Photo: Jon Griffith/Alpine Exposures

And a couple of rock climbing photos from the recent warmer weather:

Mayan Smith-Gobat smashing in a few more routes at some crag in France that we were showed by a local climber. Pumpy!

Wish me luck in Spain, can I climb an 8b after only 6 days back on the rock? We shall see!!

Here are a couple of photos from the Pas de Chevre which runs underneath the Dru North Face. I don’t usually take the ‘big camera’ out skiing, and have never done any ski photography as such, but today I had the heavy beast with me as I wanted to photograph a mountain face for a future book project ( I like photographing mountains and rocks. They don’t move as fast as skiers!)

However, whilst I was there I snapped a couple of shots of powder gangsters Charlie Boscoe and Ben O’Connor Croft.

Skiing conditions are still very good in Chamonix right now, and we have blue skies too. What are you waiting for?!

PS: Parts 2 and 3 of my training plan blog will be published soon.

Hope you enjoy these shots.

Ben dropping in hot and blowing shit up like a powder gangster...

Charlie shreds the gnar without even trying.

Some people take a while to get shready. Ben, on the other hand, was born shready...

• For more info on Chamonix conditions for both skiing and climbing, follow Charlie’s blog: chamconditions.blogspot.com

A couple of days ago a friend of mine asked me about my climbing for next year, and I told her my training was due to start on the 22nd of January (right now I am having a break from climbing). She was surprised that I had planned my climbing that far ahead and that specifically, and, after a few minutes thought, she asked me if I could design a similar specifically tailored training programme for her climbing. I said yes I could, and I will.

But first I think I will need to make a few suggestions as to how she will need to build up self-discipline for climbing training, given that right now her life is pretty hectic, and she doesn’t train for climbing at all.

Training for anything requires a huge amount of self-discipline. Training eats in to your schedule, training makes you tired, training can sometimes be boring and training can sometimes be pretty solitary. Self-discipline is what you need to surmount those obstacles, but perhaps before you start training for climbing, you need to train your self-discipline?

Stick to the plan and one day you may have arms like Jimmy Big Guns here. After several years of unsuccessful attempts on a desperate 8b in North Wales (Melancholie) Jim committed to the route properly, dropped his weight and got it done. Well done Jim! See photo below.

Being realistic:

When one decides to start training, it is sometimes done with a rush of enthusiasm or psyche. This psyche is not self-discipline, and a distinction must be made between the two things. Your psyches tells you that you can train 6 days per week. Your psyche tells you that getting up at 6am and going for a run in the cold and dark mornings of January is totally within your capability. Basically, your psyche is full of shit. Even if that psyche can last for a couple of weeks, it most probably can’t last for long enough for you to finish a real training programme for climbing.

In order to determine what constitutes a reasonable level of training that you will be able to commit to (right now), it is essential that you look at your lifestyle now, and see how much climbing you already do. If you currently climb for one afternoon every two weeks, is it realistic that you will switch that to climbing/training 5 days per week for 5 hours per day? No. (Unless of course you are swapping another serious sport for climbing – say you were a competitive runner or similar).

Take a look at your current daily schedule. What do you do? How do you spend your time? Where are you going to find this time for climbing training?

Time is very much like money. It disappears very easily, but is very hard to save up. Saying you will find an extra 2 hours per day, but not thinking where you will get these two hours from is like saying you will find an extra £200 per day, but not earning any more money.

Your psyche may tell you that you can not spend so much time with your husband/wife, or that you can manage on just 6 hours sleep when you are more used to 8 hours, that you will skip that session in the pub with your mates, but realism tells me that you will fail in your training plan.

Before writing your training schedule, write out your current schedule, and then decide how much you can tweak it to accommodate your new climbing training. Base your new realistic training plan on how much time you can afford.

Getting up 30mins earlier than you are used to twice per week to do a finger board session is way more realistic than getting up 1 hour earlier 5 times per week. Depending on your current level of self discipline this may be a reasonable suggestion. (Are you lazy? Do you get stuff done? Asses your level of self discipline and tailor your initial climbing plan to suit. Go easy on yourself at first if you are not used to being self disciplined.)

Taking an extra hour at lunchtime on a Wednesday to go to your local wall, then working that extra hour that evening, may well be a more realistic long-term plan than skipping your Friday night dinner date with your gorgeous girlfriend… You get the idea.

Tactics:

There are lots of time saving tricks and longevity helping tricks that you can do to help you kick start your training plan. This is where your initial psyche can actually help you. You will probably need to buy a finger board, and put it up. If your training plan involves a change in diet, then you may need to un-stock (yum yum) your kitchen of unhealthy foods, and stock up on recovery drinks / dried fruit / whatever you have written in to your plan. If you are going to be using a climbing wall regularly, this might also be the time to buy that season pass. If you are aiming to lose weight, then this is the time to do your calorie planning etc.

This post isn’t suggesting any of those things specifically, it is just suggesting that whatever is in your plan, you should use your new-found and most likely temporary psyche to make your training as easy as possible for the next six weeks/months/whatever. Buy that thera-band, chuck out those bars of dairy milk, put up that fingerboard… get ready.

Building Up:

Self discipline is like any sport. You build up and get better. You may find that you have made some choices, chopped out some crap food, done your finger board exercises and increased your climbing grade, and after 6 weeks / 12 weeks /whatever, you feel good and have got in to a routine. It all seems normal and you feel you could even up your training slightly. In effect you have trained your self discipline. After 6 weeks of getting up at 7:00 instead of 7:30, you may find you can get your ass out of the sack at 6:45, giving you an extra 15 minutes of punishment on your fingerboard.

But don’t push too hard too fast. Make a plan. Stick to it. Reap the rewards.

Training is about pushing yourself to increase ability. If the weight is too heavy to push, then it’s not going to work. Don’t make your initial training plan a 250kg bench press. Even Jimmy Big Guns can’t press that much!

Jimmy Big Guns on Melancholie, 8b, Lower Pen Trwyn

Eiger article published in Marmot Life Magazine

Marmot publishes a Marmot Life Magazine every six months and the new one is out now. The magazine is a really well put together publication, which obviously has a commercial angle, being a brand magazine, but in the main focusses on high quality editorial content.

The last issue had a great piece by Britain’s most accomplished sport climber; Steve McClure, and this issue has a large profile of German climbing legend Stefan Glowacz, as well as a brilliant piece on the first free ascent of the Harlin Direct route on the north face of the Eiger by Robert Jasper. I also contributed to this section of the magazine with a short piece on the history of the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, with a few photos from my ascent last spring.

• You can read the whole magazine online here: Marmot Magazine

Robert Jasper is an amazing climber, who I had the fortune to climb with briefly in North Wales earlier this year. At home in the mountains, icefalls and of course on rock, Robert has made many first ascents and hard repeats in the Alps, including the first free ascent of No Siesta on the Grandes Jorasses about ten years ago.

Here’s a nice video of Robert knocking out an 8c sport route in the Basler Jura. Not bad for a mountaineer!

And it is with this in mind I look to the next 12 months and to some very exciting plans.

The last year has seen me based in Chamonix in the French Alps, which has been truly fantastic. World class climbing of all disciplines has been on my doorstep, and this is a luxury I am not going to give up quite yet.

My two most memorable routes from 2011 were certainly the North Face of the Eiger (check out my UKC article) in the spring and the North Face of the Matterhorn (check out my writing) in the autumn.

In between these two routes I did a whole host of rock climbing, including ticking a line I had been after for a while in Wales (UKC News). However I didn’t achieve my main rock climbing ambition of the year, which was to climb 8c. You can’t win them all.

I am now looking forward to next year, with some plans to climb with some really exciting people. Nick Bullock and I are hoping for some major sea cliff action in the summer, and Rob Greenwood and I are hoping for some big mountain action in the autumn.

Squeezed in between that will be more attempts at becoming a sport climber.

But until the climbing season starts – I just would like to say… it’s snowing in Chamonix and that means… POWDER SKIING!!!!