OUTDOORSmagic First International Meet

OUTDOORSmagic First International Meet

You’ve met some fantastic people on the OM site, you’ve peered through the Helvellyn mist with them, climbed on Stanage (and realised everyone else had the same idea), motored up the Three Peaks side by side, awaited the Scotland winter season together (for years!) … and now you fancy something a bit further afield. Some sunshine would be nice. So would some guaranteed snow and a bit of alpine-style mountaineering. The trouble is, OM meets all take place in the UK. Well, they used to…

Not any more. New Year 2006 found the first ‘Team OM International’ raising their glasses in the village of Hoyos del Espino, in Spain’s Sierra de Gredos, 175km West of Madrid. The region is little known outside Spain, but with peaks of up to 2600m, the OM explorers found plenty to keep them entertained (sometimes a little more than they would have liked)!

Panoramic views of snowy mountain ranges, fantastic ridge walks, ice-axe playgrounds, and nights in secluded mountain huts were all a part of the experience. So were thigh-high snowdrifts, bombardments of marble-sized ice crystals and navigation problems in Madrid, never mind the mountains. Also, did you know that climbing slings are useful for towing snowed-in cars?!

For a full account of the trip, check out the team’s report …

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OUTDOORSmagic International – Part One

By: Jeremy Hadall (Jez),
(With contributions from: Frank Adams, Stephen Butler (Feral), Brenda Dawn, Cara-Lyn Reynolds (Stealth Sloth), Judith Sager & Shirley Worrall (Pee Wiglet)).

Photos: As credited – see the Gallery for more.

So, after almost a year of planning, OM’s first international meet has finished and we’re now nursing our aching limbs from a week of fantastic walking and mountaineering in Spain’s Sierra de Gredos.

Sunburst by Jeremy Hadall

The Sierra de Gredos is part of Spain’s Sistema Central and is little known outside of Spain. However, with mountains running to almost 2,600 metres high, with a rugged and Alpine feel, it was perfect for the seven intrepid OMers who left the UK full of Christmas spirit on the 27th December. Our base was to be the small village of Hoyos del Espino, approximately 175km west of Madrid and right on the doorstep of the mountain range.

Day One (27/12/05)
Team OM left the UK at various times, with some getting up very early to catch their flights, while others travelled halfway across the country to meet up with their travelling partners. Sam (Nearly Normal Polar Bear) was due to join us but unfortunately was unable to catch his flight and didn’t make it out to Spain.

Once in Spain, the next step was to negotiate our way out of the airport, onto Madrid’s ring road and the right Autopista. It’s fair to say that some of us managed this better than others, but eventually we all arrived and settled into Casa Tío Juan, tucked into the huge meal cooked by Cara and settled in front of the fire to discuss the coming week’s adventures…

Day Two (28/12/05)
We awoke to find that there had been a little snowfall higher up in the mountains, which had covered the road up to the La Plataforma road head in half an inch of snow and ice. However the skies overhead were cloudy and, coupled with the scenery, it reminded me of a Scottish landscape.

From here we split up into three groups with Cara and I heading off towards Laguna Grande. As we rounded the Los Barrerones pass the clouds cleared and the Circo de Gredos was revealed, giving some stunning Alpine views. Traversing around the side of the Laguna Grande to the Refugio Elola meant walking on the frozen lake in places but neither of us felt brave enough to venture too far out onto the ice!

Circo de Gredos by Shirley Worrall (Pee Wiglet)

Meanwhile Frank, Judith & Shirley headed off to tackle Morezón (2393 metres), stopping at the abandoned Refugio del Rey for a chilly but much-needed lunchtime snack and hot drink. Near the top they met a couple of friendly Spanish walkers and stopped at the summit cross to shake hands with them, take mutual photos and share hot chocolate and trail mix. They then descended via the Cuento Alto ridge by wading through deep snow.

During the summer months the Gredos mountains are covered in thick broom bushes with the footpaths being marked out by cairns. After a heavy covering of snow the tracks and broom disappear and you find yourself sinking into thigh high snow which slows your progress and becomes very frustrating! Frank, Judith & Shirl later warned us all about this, but we went and tried it for ourselves nevertheless!

That Sinking Feeling by Cara-lyn Reynolds

The final group, consisting of Stephen and Dawn, headed off for a walk around a few of the local refuges and tops, finishing at the abandoned Alpine Club hut near the Refugio de Reguero Llano.

Day Three (29/12/05)
Day Three saw the weather change to low cloud, reminding us of a typical UK winter and not the sunny, cold crisp days we had been hoping for. So, it was today that Dawn and Stephen decided to attempt Morezón by the same ascent route taken by the others on the previous day. Conditions worsened while they were crossing the glaciated bowl of Navasomera to the ridge, leading to a white out. Fortunately they found the ridge, but as they didn't know how far it was to the summit, or whether there were any unseen dangers ahead, they stopped a few metres short. Descending was equally tricky with an initial descent to the wrong side of the mountain range. Having realised their mistake they quickly reversed their path and made it safely down the valley, carefully avoiding a nasty drop over a cliff.

In these conditions, Judith, Frank & Shirl headed off to tackle a ridge walk along the Risco Joracao. The weather was dull to begin with, but around lunchtime the clouds cleared and once again the snowy mountains gleamed and sparkled in the sunshine, revealing distant plains and ridges and conveniently confirming the position of the Refugio del Rey, which had been pencilled in again for a late lunch stop.

Sun and Snow by Shirley Worrall (Pee Wiglet)

An hour or so later the weather closed in again, and although they knew they were nearing the Refuge it was nowhere to be seen. Only some particularly cunning close navigation by Judith and Frank managed to locate it, and eventually all three settled gratefully into its snowy embrace to take shelter from the developing blizzard outside. The rest of the descent was completed in white-out conditions, but it was exciting and simply added to the charms of the day!

Cara and I had heard of some icefalls in the area to practice on and, after visiting a local gear shop, ended up above the village of Candelario. Unfortunately the weather was deteriorating and there was already another party on the routes we wanted to climb. So after a quick play about with crampons and axes we headed back to the car. During the few hours away, the snow and ice had frozen solid leaving the car stuck on the side of the road. Fortunately, after some frantic chipping away at the ice with axes, we were towed off the ice using climbing slings as an improvised tow rope (hope no one at Hertz is reading this!)

Day Four (30/12/05)
Our fourth day in Spain started like the previous two days, with overcast skies and a chilly wind. However, the clouds soon broke and the sun shone through, leaving the mountain range bathed in warm sunshine and giving a real Alpine feel to the whole area. Unfortunately for Stephen, it was today that he chose to rest at the house.

Cara and I decided to lighten our load (and protect my injured shoulder for the coming days) and only take one rucksack between us as we headed up to Morezón by the some route that everyone else had taken. As we climbed up to the Refugio del Rey, the sun shone through and delivered a perfect cloud inversion.

Walking on Air by Cara-lyn Reynolds

By the time we gained the summit there were stunning views across the Circo de Gredos and to our main target of the week, Almanzor (2592 metres). During the descent we found out how frustrating the deep snow had been for the others, especially with a crust of hard névé on top. Whilst it looked pretty (as if someone had scattered diamonds across the surface) it was hard on the shins as you sank through. We too now had the bruised shins that everyone else was sporting!

Judith, Shirley and Frank headed off to Laguna Grande with Dawn setting off in the same direction. The weather was fantastic, and they were all rewarded with magnificent views of the Circo de Gredos. The descent down to the Refugio Elola at the lake took about 45 minutes and at the head of the lake Frank, Judith and Shirley had a most interesting time attempting to cross the stream without taking an icy bath!

As they sat eating their lunch outside the Refuge they watched several helicopters transporting climbing gear and supplies in and out of the valley. It was a timely reminder that these mountains are much more remote than those at home (the Refuge being at least 2.5 hours walk to the nearest road head and the nearest village being another 12km down this road)

Taxi! By Judith Sager

The walk back up the path from the Refuge was completed in bright, hot sunshine and it wasn’t long before the trio had stripped down to their base layers. They met up with Dawn again at the La Plataforma car park, and drove back to the house, happy and glowing.

OUTDOORSmagic International – Part Two

By: Jeremy Hadall (Jez),
(With contributions from: Frank Adams, Stephen Butler (Feral), Brenda Dawn, Cara-Lyn Reynolds (Stealth Sloth), Judith Sager & Shirley Worrall (Peewiglet).

Photos: As credited – see the Gallery for more.

Day Five (31/12/05)
By now, we were all starting to suffer from the long days of walking and the long evenings of socialising. So Cara and I decided to rest prior to heading off to tackle Almanzor the following day. This gave us the day to prepare a buffet to celebrate New Year. Dawn decided she needed the day to rest as well.

Meanwhile, Stephen retraced Judith, Shirl and Frank’s steps down to Laguna Grande but found that the weather had turned yet again and so did not get the views that the rest of us had enjoyed.

Today Frank, Shirley and Judith headed out for La Mira to the east of the range. Knowing it was going to be a challenging day they made an early start from La Plataforma, in clear skies with good early visibility, but the hoped-for sunshine didn’t ever really materialise.

A few hours in they arrived at Molederas, to excellent views of La Mira and the whole of the impressive ridge that descends from it. Unfortunately the weather chose that very moment to begin to close in, and within about 20 minutes the wind was blowing an absolute hooley, making it impossible to see where they were going. At one point they stopped briefly to consider their position, and Shirley nipped up the side of the hill to see whether she could spot the path. She couldn’t though, and it was only on the way back down a couple of hours later that they came across her footprints and realised that she’d jogged right past a couple of cairns on both the way up and the way down, without spotting them…

La Mira by Judith Sager

Fortunately they weren’t reliant on Shirley to find the way, and Frank and Judith’s navigational skills got them through again. Eventually they found themselves at the distinctive summit shelter on the top of La Mira, where they stopped for the briefest of breaks - just time for a quick hot drink, and to don some supplementary clothing - before turning and heading straight back down again.

This was a long and tiring walk for all three, and by the time they arrived back they were all absolutely exhausted. It was a very satisfying day, although it made staying awake later until midnight a real struggle!

Despite our various levels of lethargy, we all managed to make it to midnight to celebrate the New Year in the traditional Spanish way. This involves eating a grape for each chime of the church bell to receive good luck for the coming year. Another Spanish tradition that we weren’t aware of was for the locals to light a huge fire and try to burn down the village centre!

New Years Eve – 11pm by Cara-lyn Reynolds

Day Six (01/01/06)
The last full day in Spain dawned for Frank, Judith, Shirl and Dawn but found all of us lethargic from the previous day’s activities and the late night. Sometime mid morning, I headed back off to Laguna Grande with Cara to stay overnight at the Refuge. Our aim was to have an easy walk in, stay overnight and be fresh enough to tackle Almanzor the following day. The walk in took a lot less time than it had previously, despite the fact that we were carrying heavier packs. Hence we arrived very early and ended up huddled together trying to keep warm as there was very little heating inside the Refuge. I think a snow hole would have kept us warmer but we’d decided to leave the snow shovel and bivvy gear behind.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the remaining five OMers enjoyed a relaxed and leisurely breakfast before heading out around lunchtime to La Plataforma to look for a friendly snow slope to play on. They were hoping to find one near one of the lower bridges but it didn’t materialise, and so Frank, Judith, Dawn and Shirl decided to set off up the side of the hill to play in an enticing snowy gully near Las Paredes Negras, leaving Steve to check out the bottom-sledging possibilities lower down.

The Gully by Judith Sager

The gully turned out to be considerably steeper and rockier than it had appeared from below and, after a large slab of snow collapsed disconcertingly in front of her, Dawn decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and traversed across to the right in order to pick up the path to the top. Meanwhile Frank, Shirley and Judith continued undaunted, with Frank leading the way, kicking steps into the increasingly solid and icy snow. All three were leaning heavily not only on their ice-axes but also on the techniques learned from the Winter Skills courses they’d attended earlier in the year (grateful thanks to Iain Gallagher and Ewen Riddell at this stage!).

There were two bands of rock to be crossed before reaching the top, and by the time Judith reached the second of those there was virtually nothing left for her to stand on, as Frank and Shirl had kicked away most of the hidden snowy platforms as they made their way up. This created the most exciting few minutes of the week for the Intrepid Trio, as Judith, clinging to the rock with one hand, wriggled out of her rucksack. Shirl grabbed the pack with her ice-axe and pulled it up, and Frank then secured it on the top of the hill. Judith then shot up the remaining slope, and all three were reunited in exhilaration and a group hug at the top!

Dawn and Judith begin the ascent of Snowy Gully by Shirley Worrall (Peewiglet)

After the excitement, all four walked back down the path to meet Steve and, after a quick visit to the bar for a glass or two of the refreshing local beer, returned to the house for their last supper. Lentils, borlotti beans, Chorizo, tomatoes, peppers and garlic potatoes with mushrooms and cream have never tasted so good, washed down with a few bottles of the excellent local Rioja of course!

Day Seven (02/01/06)
Today Shirl, Frank, Judith and Dawn headed home, leaving Stephen behind to rest and recuperate, whilst Cara and I climbed Almanzor.

Summit of Morezón with Almanzor behind by Cara-lyn Reynolds

For us the day dawned early at the Refuge in overcast conditions. We set off towards Almanzor and were joined by a dog belonging to one of the other residents of the refuge. As the ground steepened our new friend left us alone to slog up the Portilla del Crampon. This route follows a gully on the east side of the mountain and is graded as PD (Peu Difficile – Moderately Difficult, equivalent to Scottish Winter Grade II) by Summitpost.org. However, as we headed up the initial slopes it became clear that the snow and ice were a lot steeper than the grade would suggest. Still we geared up and I led up the first 40 metres on 50 to 60 degree snow and ice. By now the wind was picking up and blowing icy spindrift straight up the gully into our faces chilling me rapidly as I brought Cara up to the stance.

Looking down the approach to Portilla del Crampon by Cara-lyn Reynolds

After a quick change over (which resulted in not all the gear being transferred to her harness), Cara headed up the last pitch of the gully. This is normally the hardest part of the route and gives it the PD grade.

For a route to be graded PD, the crux is considered to have “moderate steepness in snow/ice (significant sections of ice/snow up to 45 degrees)” and that “objective dangers are apparent but retreat is usually not too complicated”.

As Cara led up the last 40 metres it became apparent that the snow and ice conditions today were much steeper (about 60 to 70 degrees) and that retreat wasn’t going to be straight forward. By the time I was able to join Cara at the small col, the wind had strengthened so much that she was being bombarded with ice crystals the size of marbles from the summit. With time pressing on, and conscious that there was yet another section of climbing after a short traverse, we quickly weighed up our options.

Cara at our high point on Almanzor by Cara-lyn Reynolds

We knew we were tantalisingly close to the summit but couldn’t tell how long it would take to get there or what difficulties might lie ahead of us. We already knew that the last two pitches had taken longer to complete than we had planned, because of the conditions, and that we were both cold and suffering from hot aches in our hands. We also knew that retreating down the entire gully was not going to be simple or quick. We were so close and felt confident we could make it but not knowing what lay ahead, or how long it would take to summit or descend, we were unsure whether we should continue.

Finally, an icy gust of spindrift brought us to our senses and we gingerly headed back down the gully. After carefully completing the first two difficult pitches in the stinging wind (and abandoning a size 8 nut in the process) we reached a large ledge. Here we met up with three Spanish pairs from the refuge and after a quick discussion we all concluded it was safer to retreat. Only later did we discover that our high point was at 2538 metres, a mere 54 metres short and higher than anyone else had achieved that day.

Almanzor by Judith Sager

The next 90 minutes saw us move slowly down the gully using ice axe belays to protect ourselves. Communication was reduced to hand signals as the wind whipped our calls away and blew stinging spindrift into our faces. Finally, we reached easier ground and un-roped, annoyed at missing the summit but glad to have descended when we did as the clouds and a fierce wind now shrouded both the summit and our high point.

Having checked in at the refuge to pick up our sleeping bags, re-hydrate and let Steve know that we were safe, we began our long plod back to the car in the dark. On the way out we chatted about the experience and decided that we had done well to get as high as we did, given the conditions. With hindsight we felt that the PD grade was probably about right in good conditions but with the steeper snow and ice we experienced the route was a lot harder, making it about an AD (Assez Difficile - Quite Difficult, about Scottish Grade III). We both agreed that we were glad not to have gone through with our original plan of bivvying out high on the mountain and attempting the Norte Clasica route (which is AD in good conditions).

Day Eight (03/01/06)
So the last day of our adventure dawned, and after a final tidy of the house and packing, Steve, Cara and I headed home. But not before a quick trip up to the road head at La Plataforma where we came across a herd of Ibex feeding on the lower slopes of the mountains now that the snow had begun to melt. For us, it was a fitting way to end a magnificent week and we headed back to the airport tired but happy.

Ibex by Jeremy Hadall

So it was a great trip and one that will live on for a long time in our memories. As you can see from the various photo galleries that have been posted, the snow and scenery were fantastic and as ever the company was exceptional. I think we’ve all agreed that we will return at some stage as there is so much left to do in the area.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our little adventure. I’d like to thank Cara, Steve, Dawn, Frank, Judith and Shirl for helping me write this article. Unfortunately we’ve not had space to mention the amount spent in the local Spar, the gear shop that never opens, ‘mountain-ears’, chicken & jam, huge bonfires, the poker school, sheep bleating to ‘Jerusalem’, garlic germs, out of date passports, lost baggage, or Luton Airport. But ask us over a beer at the next meet and we’ll tell you more!

Thanks to everyone who went for making the trip so memorable and to Dave Mycroft for arranging the accommodation in the very beginning. As with all meets, the mountains are great but it’s the people who make the meet and this one was no exception.

Special thanks to Barbara and Adam at www.vivagredos.com for the use of their magnificent house.

The Sierra de Gredos from Hoyos del Espino by Jeremy Hadall

To see some more great companies offering to whisk you away to the four corners of the world, check out the OM travel offers section.