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During my brief spell as an alpinist, I’ve quickly learnt that the weather can clinically spoil plans, goals and ambitions no matter how much training you’ve put in. So when I was advised by the infamous Jon Griffith that conditions in Chamonix were relatively poor this August, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed that my specific alpine training had gone to waste. However, I’ve been fortunate enough to have also learnt, as an alpinist, that it’s important to remain flexible as there’s always ‘some’ climbing to be had.

After an arduous 20 hour drive, I found myself in Italy’s Dolomites with mixed emotions: I felt sad that I wouldn’t be using my shiny new axes and crampons, and even sadder that I’d only be climbing on dry rock (something which I’ve been doing far too long already); I also felt quietly excited when I caught a glimpse of the Tre Cima on my way into Cortina.

After a slow start getting used to rope systems, route finding (which is actually quite hard in the Dolomites) and long arduous descents, I finally started to get things done: the Comici route, Brandler-Hasse and the Fisch all on-site were obvious highlights.

As a result, I had the feeling that I was climbing confidently (which is imperative in a place like the Dolomites). However, this was where my problems began: on heading to the Dolomites, I quietly hoped to be able to make a fast ascent of the Brandler-Hasse in order to prepare myself for the forthcoming winter and my speed ambitions. So, after a very comfortable roped-ascent I couldn’t help but think that I’d found the Hasse quite easy, and that, perhaps, a speed solo was on the cards…

These thoughts continued over the next few days: I felt confident that I would get up it quickly, but didn’t fancy being on any of the three crux pitches without a rope. After some thought, I decided that I’d make a speed solo but use a rope on the three crux pitches (I threaded the rope through the belay anchor and tied into both ends; when arriving at the next anchor, I’d untie one end and pull the rope through). This would provide a marginal sense of security on the harder pitches, but would also cost me time both at the anchors and having to carry the rope with me – a necessary compromise, I thought to myself. On the other pitches I intended to climb unroped, but with the added security of a one meter piece of rope attached to my harness which I could clip into old pegs as I passed loose rock or tricky sections. My only other worry was having climbers above me dislodging rocks: I could have left very early, but didn’t fancy climbing solo in the dark; instead, I left late meaning that any other party would be a long way up the route and hopefully not directly above me. This, however, did have the downside that I’d have to be very fast, otherwise I’d face being stuck on the wall at night.

With a plan finally made, I found myself setting off up the wall at 3pm the next day. Fortunately, I climbed without any mishaps or worries throughout the entire route (although I was certain that I’d made the right decision to take the rope when finding myself a little pumped on the 7a+ stamina crack pitch). Approximately 1 hour 37 minutes later I arrived at the summit, having climbed the last five or six easy pitches in roughly twenty minutes. I must say I was surprised with just how fast I had climbed (I estimated it’d take me three hours if I moved very quickly), but it just felt perfect and all the moves/pitches linked beautifully for me. Another hour or so to descend the normal route on the south-face, I found myself back at my van feeling pretty relaxed and a bit disappointed that, thus far, my trip had lack any real physical test; I had no idea just how well I was climbing on rock, but definitely wanted to find out.

Wanting a bit more of a workout, I deiced to try a modern desperate on the north face of Cima Ovest: Pan Aroma, 8b+, which had seen a handful of ascents this year and had been climbed a day previously (I think) by the Spanish climbing legend (and fellow Action Directe ascentionist) Iker Pou. Setting off on the route, I didn’t really have any idea what I was letting myself in for: the first five pitches, though given relatively easy sport grades, were, for me at least, incredibly bold and tenuous regularly put me in a position where the consequences of a fall were unthinkable (perhaps it wasn’t too bad really, but I can be quite a wuss sometimes). Thankfully, I got these pitches on-site and then set about working the two hard pitches! Surprisingly, though also incredibly run out, these pitches linked well for me and I managed a clean redpoint of the second crux pitch as well as making good progress on the first hard pitch before rappelling back to the floor. A rest day later, I climbed quickly through the first easier pitches (which felt a lot better once I knew the sequences) and then quickly dispatched the first crux pitch. After a rest at the belay, I set about attempting to ‘re-redpoint’ the second crux pitch in order to make a clean ascent over one day. However, this was not to be and sadly, after three large falls, I gave up on the day ascent and decided to rappel off (which proved rather difficult) feeling rather defeated: although I had now freed every pitch, I hadn’t managed a day ascent, which, in my mind, was the only way that I wished to climb it; nor had climbed out up the easier pitches to the true summit, which left a bit of a sour taste in that I knew that I’d have to go though it all again.

Unfortunately, or fortunately perhaps, the weather changed and prevented me from getting back on Pan Aroma. In all honesty though, I must say that I wasn’t all too psyched to get straight back on the route given the demands it had already placed on me. I’d done what I came to do in my fast ascent of the Brandler-Hasse, and in attempting Pan Aroma, grew hugely as an Alpinist learning SO many new things; maybe next year I’ll head back and attempt to free all the pitches leading to the summit in one day. Or maybe not!

I’m now back in England, finalizing my place to start my degree at Cambridge in October. I’m also really looking forward to continuing my training and getting back out to try some north faces in winter conditions. In the meantime, I’ll be found scratching my way up some dry-tool routes in North Wales in order to improve in this discipline.

Over and out.

The volcanic ash has caused a tremendous amount of disruption, financial loss and difficulties amongst thousands of people Worldwide. As I sit here in Spain, stranded by the closure of Birmingham’s very own airport, I am fortunate enough to say that the volcanic ash has allowed me to sit back and reflect on my tremendously varied past few months. Months that have seen multi-pitching, alpinism, sport-climbing, soloing and tradding; not to mention running, boxing and studying. Whilst all of these were pleasant experiences in their own rights, I have to say that the most beneficial thing I have experienced in the past few months is learning from, and adapting to, the weaknesses that the above activities have exposed.

When I first decided to focus my attention on making fast ascents of some of the Alp´s most famous routes, I knew that I would have to take a step back in my climbing in order to work on certain aspects that I felt needed improving. However, little did I realise that I would have to transform my whole approach to climbing; to take such a large step back that I felt like a beginner again... M pride has never taken such a dent: six weeks ago, whilst sport climbing in Spain, I found myself taking upwards of six red points on routes graded between 7c and 8a (this may not sound like much, but bare in mind that I usually only need a couple of red points to climb routes in the 8C/8C+ range). “Must have been sandbags”, I hear you say; sadly not: they were just vertical, thin and incredibly technical... And this is the style of climbing that wish to improve if I am going to repeat routes like Ueli Steck´s ´Patencia´ on the Eiger North face; routes which are all about climbing ability, and little about physical fitness and strength.  So, that’s where most of my attention has been spent: attempting to onsite vertical, technical climbs thus improving my climbing in this alien arena. Needless to say, I feel I have shown a significant improvement: I may now be weak, static and fat, but my footwork is smooth, efficient and most importantly, reliable – are these the immortal words of a man who is past it; a has been, so to speak?! I do hope not!...

However, I am not a man that can cope with constant failing (dos any such man exist?), so I allowed myself the occasional ´success´ of attempting routes more suited to my style - steep and physically demanding – and at the same time, ticking off classics like Lourdes 8a, and unnamed 8c at La Murla, Spain (see pic), and falling from pretty much the last move (can you grab the chain on this one?) on Unjustified, 8B+, on my second try – i´ll hopefully get back soon to finish it off!

Away from the bolts and into the greater ranges, whilst getting tired, cold and miserable, I’ve also grown hugely as an Alpinist by climbing two North Faces in Alps. Although my ascents were not as quick as Ueli´s, I still consider them to be a positive step towards making attempts on his times in that they were pretty fast, climbed solo and pretty uneventful in that I returned home with all my fingers, toes and dignity in tact: by dignity, I mean that I didn’t require the services of mountain rescue or a guide to get me out of any sticky situations... I think it would be unfair on myself to disclose much more information about my ascents at this point in time; they are merely a stepping stone towards my ultimate ambitions. Nor were they ever going to challenge Ueli´s records – that was never my intention. Instead, a quick ascent with a comfortable margin of error (i.e. I didn’t rush any sections whereby I felt the consequences of making a mistake would be catastrophic) was the requirement, and that’s exactly what I did. Now I can take this confidence with me, along with my increased motivation, to continue to expand my climbing abilities within an Alpine environment over the summer, before continuing this ambition once the winter approaches again.

As for the forthcoming summer: I hope to get out trad climbing as much as possible between now and mid-July; preferably at places like Pembroke, Gogarth etc etc, ticking off the classics that I sacrificed whilst hanging off non-existent crimps at Raven Tor. Come mid-July, I will be out in the Alps hitting the Dolomites for routes like Brandler Hasse, then possibly to the Eiger for some rock routes on the North Face. Finally, I hope to head towards Chamonix in order to train on some big routes like the Walker, Freney Pillar, Tour Ronde etc. This, I hope, should allow me to increase my fitness, and prepare me mentally for climbing big routes, fast and un-roped.

Worthy of a final mention is the fact that I hope to be working with some of the country’s leading sports´ scientists, as well as the watchmaker, Suunto, in order to increase my lactic threshold and prepare myself physically for my alpine goals. I know that Ueli adopted a scientific approach to his climbing and it doesn’t take a genius to see why. I am very excited about the prospects of this opportunity, and as someone who responds very well to physical training, with the help of other experts, I do believe that I can get in fantastic condition for the forthcoming winter... I may also share some advice and training tips over this blog for budding winter climbers like myself...

Christmas is over. The big freeze has been and gone. North face training has just begun…

After spending a week scratching my new axes in the Ecrin over x-mas, I now have a better idea of what I need to work on before heading out for some north face action. I was hoping that my trip to the Ecrin would expose my previously unfound ‘superhuman’ alpine abilities, leaving me to be able to work solely on my tan in preparation for my goals.

Sadly not. I’m now aware that I have a HARD year’s training ahead of me. My all-round fitness is quite good and my climbing is ‘consistent’ in all styles, enabling me to move fast over most types of terrain. However, I do believe that I can improve a great deal from getting some more mileage on mixed/dry routes with my axes; this would allow me to move faster on mixed ground and resist the temptation to grip the rock with my hand as opposed to hooking it with my axes (it’s unlikely that I’d be able to remove my gloves for any period of time on a north face in winter).

Physically, I feel my aerobic fitness is probably good enough to be able to move very fast in steep ground over a period of two to three hours and my climbing specific strength is certainly good enough for anything up to M10/M11. That just leaves room for improvement in ‘axe specific fitness’ i.e. being able to hold onto my axes for a long period of time, whilst maintaining my other fitness levels. However, I’m not entirely sure how it’s best to approach this: there aren’t any dry-tooling crags round here and my local wall doesn’t allow the use of tools. However, the old age adage: ‘where there’s a will there’s a way’ has always been one of my favorites and I hope to re-erect my training board at home and set up some circuits that I can use my tools on. I also hope to get to the Foundry dry-tooling sessions occasionally which should be a big help!

More technically, I also need to spend some time getting used to my kit and practicing some techniques such as back roping. This will allow me to be very efficient when moving in the mountains, and also ensure that I have exactly the right kit with me. I hope to do this in the Welsh mountains over the next month or so - I know they’re not quite the Eiger, but I think they’re a perfect place to practice moving quickly on steep terrain. Furthermore, I hope to have a crack at the Snowdown horseshoe record (I think this is currently held by Es Tressider and is something that I’ve wanted to try for ages).

Back to the Ecrin: I had a great time, and although the conditions were far from good (very warm and not much ice) I managed to a fair few mixed/ice routes along the way (see photos). This helped my confidence in that I know I can move quickly, safely and without ropes up to grade 5 in complete confidence; which is perfect for a lot of the easier sections on the north faces. I also spent a few days skiing which was fantastic fun and something that I’d love to do more.

Away from the mountains, I secured a place to study Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, commencing in October 2010. This is a fantastic achievement for me and something that I’m very proud of given that I never really enjoyed school! Becoming a student again should increase my opportunities to get out to the mountains as much as possible (Cambridge is only three eight week terms each year!). As well as giving me some time to continue my boxing (boxing is a blue sport at Cambridge). I really feel happy that I now have a more structured life for the next few years at least!

In regards to my next climbing trip: I’ll have to keep you posted (provisionally, I hope to have a go at the Schmidt route on the Matterhorn mid February, but this will depend very much on conditions etc). In the meantime, I’ll keep you updated on my training and what I’ve learnt via this blog, so stay posted!

 Until next time, cheers!

Writing this first blog reminded me of a cross between a job interview and going speed-dating (not that I’ve ever been speed-dating, mind) largely because of the way I have to introduce myself – cringe worthy I know, but bear with me:

Hi, I’m Rich Simpson. I used to be a professional sport-climber, but for the past few years have been concentrating on my boxing/running career. Having completed my goals in running (sub 2:30 marathon and sub four minute mile), and achieving a respectable Boxing record (16 wins with no losses) I have decided to return to climbing to further pursue my ambitions.

Now that I’ve got that out of the way I can expand on what exactly these ‘climbing ambitions’ are.

Having already achieved in sport climb, bouldering and trad climbing, I now feel it’s time to pursue my ambitions in alpinism; I have always dreamt about climbing the six great north faces in the Alps: Eiger; Matterhorn; Grandes Jorasses; Cima Grand; Dru; Piz Badille. However, being a rather driven person I have further ambitions in climbing these faces: incorporating my running fitness and scientific approach to climbing, I hope to climb these faces using a lightweight approach based on speed. Ueli Steck recently climbed the Eiger, Matterhorn and Grandes Joraase each in under three hours. Whilst this is not only a striking achievement (the video of him ‘running’ up the Grandes Jorasse is simply breathtaking), these incredibly fast times also pose the question: what exactly does it take to ‘run’ up these north faces? Furthermore, it also offers an obvious challenge for any world-class athlete trying his hand at alpine climbing.

As a world class athlete, and someone who’s always up for a challenge, I hope to dedicate my time to finding out exactly how impressive these achievements of Ueli’s are?

Over the next couple of years, with the help of Scarpa, Grivel, Deuter and Outdoor Research I hope to find an answer to these questions! By using this blog, I will document my training for these walls, as well as providing detailed reports on any attempts made. Now I do not claim that I’ll be able to beat Ueli’s times – I have no idea what this will take. Rather, I’d like to find out exactly how impressive they are, and how much better Ueli is than every other alpine climber.

To begin with, I’ll spend the next month getting ‘climbing fit’ again, before heading out to Les Ecrins in France at x-mas to hone my ice-climbing skills! From there, I hope to get my teeth into Scottish winter climbing, aswell as a couple of a Spanish sport-climbing trips to keep fit. This, I hope, will get me into good shape before I head out for an extended trip to the Alps for some north face action…

Stay tuned!