10 days at our Mountain House in Spain's Sierra Nevada, saw us clearing and planting trees around the house.  Last autumn we made 5 litres of wine from our grapes, which had been maturing in the cool of our old house.  However we discovered that a mouse had become trapped inside the house, and nibbled the plastic of the container; all the wine had seeped out - or been drunk by the mouse!

We also had a few days walking, including a lovely walk around Trevenque, however during the afternoon, the storm clouds gathered, resulting in us getting well and truly soaked during quite a violent a thunderstorm over the western peaks of the mountain range.  Not to be daunted, however we managed to walk to the Poqueira Refuge across some serious snow pathches, then climbed Caballo with Martin, by the western ridge, a first for us, and again crossing some serious snow.

The early summer flowers were at their peak this year, following all the rain of earlier months, and produced a stunning array.  Technorati Tags: Mountain Walking, Sierra Nevada, Caballo, Trevenque

Once again, the Mountain House team were in action supporting the Peak District Walking Festival. We began the 10 day festival with an introduction to navigation course, then hosted a range of walks from Foolow, exploring the Kinder Plateau aircraft wrecks, and limestone dales. Our walks were in the main very well supported, and appreciated, as the following message from John and Clare suggests: "Just to say thank you to you both for a most enjoyable and informative walk yesterday".

The Mountain House Team have spent the last 2 weeks in the French Alps, snowshoeing, practising winter micro navigation and generally getting a better understanding of the snow conditions.  All this has been in preparation for the final hurdle of Mike's International Mountain Leader Award.  All the hard work (and dieting!) has paid off, and Mike now proudly boasts that he is a 'proper' IML, as the current scheme has involved an extra 2 weeks of training and assessment.

After a 'washout' Christmas, we returned to the Sierra Nevada last week for some winter snow.  We were not disappointed, as the snow had been falling for the previous 2 weeks!  We managed 3 great days in the mountains, including one at the Ragua pass on the eastern side of the range, with Martin Riley.  Although we had mixed weather, this proved to be real 'back country' terrain, and we will definitely be back next year.

Off to Spain on Sunday 20th; hopefully for some snowshoe and snow hole digging, in preparation for the last part of Mike's IML - and Christmas celebrations of course.

Next years Mountain and Moorland Navigation courses in the Derbyshire Peak District start early in the New Year, so book your place now!
Technorati Tags: navgation course, learn navigation, Peak District, Derbyshire