Facewest Adventure Sports Blog

There are a few Suunto models that we have on special offer at the moment.

The Observer Black Steel Body and Strap is £50 off at £250. The Black versions of the observers are generally £50 more than the standard stainless steel versions but we have this watch at the same price as it’s silver counter part.

The Suunto Lumi Terra and Sportif models are also on special offer, £149.99 instead of £199. A great price for a combined altimeter and barometer that can be worn as a watch or a pendant.

In Steve’s words:

As the bus pulled into Brodick, we could see ominous looking clouds coming in from the east. They were still high, but dangerously grey and they stretched back over Ardrossan and Glasgow past the horizon. After grabbing a few supplies from the local Co-op we set off for Glen Rosa to find a decent site to wildcamp, hoping every step of the way that the cool off-shore breeze would somehow wend its way into the glen to keep the midges off us.

Approaching Arran by ferry

Three miles later, as we passed the midge-infested Glen Rosa campsite, the air was as dead as it had been on Sunday. Curses were muttered.  Nevertheless we soldiered on and eventually, close to the head of the Glen Rosa where Goatfell and Beinn a’Chliabhain sweep down to meet the burn, and with Cir Mhor brooding over, we found the ideal wildcamping spot. There was even an occasional puff of wind as the sea breeze struggled over the peaks and passes to fill the northern bowl of Glen Rosa. Splendid!  We chucked our tents up, got the stoves going and planned the next day’s hiking over hot brews and camp food.

Back to camp in Glen Rosa

Come morning, Arran once again proved that all plans were futile here. Low, black cloud drifted in from the east, roiling around the peaks of Goatfell and Cir Mhor, even obscuring the Witch’s Step whose rocky divide had been easily visible over the Saddle on the previous evening. Worse still, from our camp we had no eastward view to see if the cloud was settling in for the day. We decided to give it an hour and then set off into the Saddle at the head of Glen Rosa to see if we could see what the weather was going to do by attaining a vantage along Glen Sannox. As it turned out, the cloud lifted within the hour.

Glen Rosa from the summit of Cir Mhor

So, off we set. We decided to have a bash at Cir Mhor first and then drop down its eastern slope into the Saddle and then up Goatfell, which had been a main objective of the trip. The footpath splits off at the head of Glen Rosa, with one fork heading up into the Saddle and the other, the one we were taking, leading westward into Fionn Choire, the corrie below Cir Mhor. By the time we made it up into the corrie the cloud had just about lifted and the sun was in full effect and, as we followed the steepening path out of the corrie and up onto the ridge, the wind was getting ever stronger.

Glen Rosa Water to A'Chir & Cir Mhor

We hit the ridge, where the western slope of Cir Mhor narrows to join the dramatic crags of A’Chir to the south, and the wind had become intense. Deciding the best course of action was a cup of tea, we dropped behind the ridge and brewed up.

Goatfell, the highpoint of Arran

We decided to contour round Cir Mhor and take the leeward path up, as the steeper, more direct path was right in the wind. It turned out to be a good choice, as while we circled around not only did we avoid the worst of the wind (which snapped like whipping plastic over the ridges) but we were treated to breathtaking views of Caisteal Abhail, the Witch’s Step and Glen Sannox far below.

Casteil Abhail

After maybe 20 minutes of scrambling and cursing (I was wearing the kind of combat-style shorts that Spike Milligan would’ve called Bombay Bloomers and bare legs and Arran granite don’t mix) we reached the summit, and my God what a summit it is.

An example of Steve's fashion sense

Even from the ground Cir Mhor appears pointy, but when you’re up there its very pinnacle is not much bigger than a fairly generous sofa. Except rockier, windier and covered in granite gravel. The view, though, is just amazing. Glen Rosa to the south, Glen Sannox to the north-east, westward you can see the head of Glen Iorsa and the slopes of Beinn Bhreac from which we’d watched the bad weather break to good over Beinn Tarsuinn and A’Chir just two days before. Further south you can see Brodick clinging to the coastline and, further still, Holy Island rears up out of Lamlash Bay with its peak basking in distant sunshine.  Goatfell and Caisteal Abhail, the highest peaks on Arran, come only to your shoulders.

Steve atop Cir Mhor

The entry form for the 3 peaks cyclo cross is available today. It’s on the race website here. Got mine in the post today, enter quick to avoid disappointment as they say.

I was 1 hour behind Jebby in the 3 peaks fell race (2.54 & 3.54) and would be very pleased to do the same at the cyclo cross race. I’m not really sure how realistic this is, as it’s my first cross race and Jebby did 2.52 in 2008, but will be happy to do the 3 peaks double in the same year whatever happens.

Recently I have been taking part in some altitude tests at Leeds Met Carnegie. The purpose of the study is to test wether using a PowerBreathe device can improve your physical performance at altitude. The long term goal of the department is to find ways of reducing the acclimatisation period when travelling to altitude either by prior preparation or by your actions at base camp. Leeds MET Carnegie have a new barometric chamber that can simulate any environment on earth from plus to minus 40 degress, sea level to 10,000m altitude and any humidity.

The Lab Rat.

The test involves a 40 minute walk on a treadmill wearing a 12Kg pack, during which first the speed and then the gradient of the treadmill increase.

 Then a 15 minute rest followed by running to exhaustion on the treadmill but without the pack. The treadmill speed is constant at 11kph but the gradient increases 1% every minute.

It’s absolutely brutal towards the end even at sea level but some of the tests are done at 3000m! Reaction times, oxygen levels and blood sampling are monitored throughout.

The 2 tests (altitude and sea level) are completed 3 times with 2, 4 week blocks of Power Breathe training inbetween. I have only done the initial tests and 1 week of training so far but will keep you posted when I find out any information, apart from the obvious that running up a 10% hill at 3000m is a very short lived activity.

I am recce-ing the Bob Graham Round for an attemp next May. I always run with a map in my left hand and compass in the right. I have each leg of the round as a route in my GPS as a back up. I want to be able to consult my GPS quickly with no zips or messing around and for it to be secure and not bouncing when I am running. After testing a few bad ideas, 2 good shoulder pockets come along at once!

Last week Exped revised their range of crush dry bags and added the XXXS Size with velcro straps to attach to a pack shoulder strap. This dry bag also has an inner foam liner which keeps everything snug and padded. In it’s original form this is a roll top drybag for water tight storage, however with some minor work with scissors and duck tape I had the perfect strap pocket.

Not 3 days later we received our first delivery from Inov 8 and inside was their spare pocket accessory. No padding in this pocket but you could easily add some. The pocket is zipped so you can choose to leave the zip open or have it partially closed depending on the size of your item or how often you wanted to access it. The Inov 8 pocket also has velcro straps that allow it to be mounted horizontally on a waist belt, which would be very useful if using a bum bag rather than a back pack. Another top solution to my problem.

Both these pockets work equally well for GPS, Phones, Cameras or food.

The Exped SIM Lights are comfy, durable and slip resistant sleeping mats. SIM stands for self inflating mat as they are filled with air chanelled foam which sucks air into the mat as the foam expands. The SIM Lights are the closest thing in the Exped range to a Thermarest mat. They offer a firm mat to sleep on with mid level insulation. The top of the mat is brushed polyester to stop you sliding off your mat during the night.

The SIM Lights are available in 4 versions.
The 2.5cm thick SIM Lights are 3 season mats for those looking to keep weight and volume to a minimum.
2.5cm Standard length – 2.5 x 182 x 50cm. 698g.
2.5cm ¾ length – 2.5 x 120 x 50cm. 462g. (for minimalists and children)

The 3.8cm thick SIM Lights are 3 season mats for the regular user who wants a bit more comfort and warmth.
3.8cm Standard length – 3.8 x 182 x 50cm. 808g.
3.8cm DLX – 3.8 x 193 x 65cm. 1150g.

We know the myriad of sleeping mats can be confusing so please check out our Roll Mat comparison chart and our How to Choose a Sleeping Mat article.

I’m just back from three weeks in climbing in the Alps. The first two weeks the weather was pretty stable, the last week bad weather hit the mountains so we escaped to the Calanque just near Marseille for sunny sport climbing next to the Mediterranean.

Climbing in the Mello Valley

The highlights of the trip were the South Face of the Amedeo, the North Face of the Piz Palu, and the North-East face of Piz Bernina, as well as several brilliant rock climbs in the Mello Valley.

North Face of Piz Palu

The South Face of the Amedeo is a 400m high VIII+ and I climbed it on my birthday, a great present! Unfortunately the first crux pitch was wet so we ended up using several points of aid, and used a couple more higher up. The face itself overhangs the whole way but the route followed a series of chimneys and corners meaning the climbing was reasonable straightforward and not actually too steep. At half height there is a large band of overhangs which once climbed made retreat from the route almost impossible, so it felt quite committing. We reached the top in about 10 hours which we felt was rather slow but were please to have climbed such a high quality route.

Lower Slopes on the Piz Palu

The North Face of Piz Palu and the North East Face of the Piz Bernina were of a quite different style – being icy mixed climbs. We climbed the Central spur on the North Face of Piz Palu it was 750m long and took us 15 hours from our snowhole. The first third of the route was a pretty straightforward snow slope with one ice pitch through a Serac; the second third was the meat of the route involving climbing up to about Scottish IV and quite snowy HS/VS type climbing. The top of the route is capped by a large Serac which is outflanked by a quite intricate traverse around leading to the summit snow slope. The descent seemed to go on for ever, and was slightly confusing as it was a white out by this point. We climbed the North East face on the Piz Bernina a couple of days later. The Piz Bernina is the highest mountain in the central Alps and the North East face is pretty much the biggest face (1200m) in the central Alps; however the climbing on it is pretty straight forward, and we simlu climbed the whole route. The main difficulty was just keeping going for the 14 hour round trip. Altogether it was a great trip.

It seems that the cyclists of Facewest have been a bit of a curse this weekend, three of us got out riding and all three ended with injuries.

James's victim, Will

James played the most active role in causing the downfall of one of his co-riders. A few miles in to a tour of the western Pennines he clipped a wheel leaving his friend sprawling on the road with an injured shoulder. A quick trip to A&E had him patched up, luckily no bones were broken – the most serious casualty may have been his new iPhone.

Not to be outdone, Stu’s ride also ended up in casualty when someone misjudged the descent of Kidstones Pass in the Dales and ended up in a very nasty spill.  Another badly damaged shoulder resulted, this time complete with broken bones and a very mangled bike.

For my part I was mountain biking around Peebles in southern Scotland on a trip largely characterised by mechanical malfunctions and unfortunately a friend went over the bars and caught a face full of grit resulting in a few wobbly teeth and a trip to the dentist.

Everyone here is hoping that all the above make full recoveries and get back on their bikes as soon as possible.

Read the rest of this entry »

Facewest  is pleased to bring you a Leathermans Exclusive.
For a limited time, Camo/Black versions of the Leatherman Charge Tti, Leatherman Blast and Leatherman Surge are available only from Facewest.

We expect stock to be available from about the 19th June and orders to be brisk. You can order one now to reserve one of the initial delivery, just follow the links below.

Leatherman Charge Tti Camo

Leatherman Surge Black/Camo

Leatherman Blast Black/Camo

We are pleased to announce that we will shortly be stocking packs and accessories from Inov 8. We will sell the full Race Pro and Race Elite pack range plus bladders, extra pockets, bottles and the Mistlite Clothing.

Everything should be in stock and the pages ready by the end of next week. Inov 8 compliments our lightweight pack offering from GoLite and Deuter and adds more depth to our adventure racing product selection. We will shortly be adding some new navigation to make it easier to see all the products suitable for adventure racing in one place.