North East Buttress

Back on the Ben today and Johnny and myself climbed the classic North East Buttress IV,4 with the Slingsby’s Chimney start which proved a lot more tricky than expected. Once on the ridge proper we were moving well and arrived at the infamous Man Trap around 4:30. This route was certainly the highlight of my winter so far in a tremendously spectacular position looking down into the abyss

West Highlands Winter Skills

Over the weekend I have been running one of my West Highlands Winter Skills courses. Saturday saw us heading up into Stob Coire Nan Lochan which had been considerably striped of snow since I was up on Tuesday, never the less there was plenty enough to cover all of the required skills to travel safely in the mountains in winter. We then head up the east ridge which was a little icy in places. Sunday saw us heading over to the Mamores and head around the Devils Ridge  and Stob Ban in good sunshine.

Big thaw sets in!

With heavy rain at all levels,  temperatures of up to +7 at 900m, Winds gusting 70mph and a high avalanche forecast we decided its a day to stay at home and watch the TV. Its forecast to stay warm for the next few days but hopefully turning cold again the weekend and into next week which will hopefully bring things back into good shape for my last week up here.

Joining in with the crowds

Back up in Stob Coire Nan Lochan we joined the crowds on Dorsal Arete II. We moved together up the entire route which enabled us to move far faster than all of the other teams on the route which was very busy. We passed some 14 people on the route which were stacking up at the bottle necks on the route. Things were all melting rapidly with rain up on the summit.

Back on the Ben

We head up onto the North face of Ben Nevis today with the plan of climbing Castle Ridge although on closer inspection it was still looking very black so carried on up higher to Douglas Bolder to climb the South – West Ridge IV,5. The approach proved a little interesting with a lot of wind slab built up on the approach slopes but once on the route it provided some good mixed climbing. Back down at the CIC hut we decided to head up for a look at Right Hand Chimney IV,4 on Moonlight Gully Buttress. This provided far tougher climbing than expected on very dense rock.   

Cairngorm 2 day Winter Mountaineering Course

I have been working over in the Cairngorms over the weekend for GWC school from Edinburgh. Saturday saw us escaping up onto Meall a Bhuachaille as the road to the ski centre was closed and reported 100mph winds down at car park level. We had a day looking at the skills required to travel around safely in winter in preparation for Sunday.

With the winds still high on Sunday and a lot of snow moving around we had no option but to stay low. Arriving in the ski centre car park it was goggles on the second you climbed out of the bus. The lads did well and persevered up into Coire an t-sneachda where we were constantly blasted with spindrift carried on constant 50mph winds before heading back down to the cafe

Scabbard Chimney

With things starting to settle down we head up into Stob Coire Nan Lochan to climb Scabbard Chimney V,6. With a crystal clear morning things were looking good. The route provided some 3 pitches of technical mixed climbing followed by a few pitches of deep snow which could have done with being a little more consolidated.

Staying low

With the avalanche forecast still high and the going tough in the hills we decided we needed to stay low. We hatched a plan of heading up to Aonach Dubh Far East Buttress to have a look at Eastern Slant III,4. On arrival another team were on the route who also had the same idea although were moving well. We climbed the route which could have done with being a little more frozen although gave a good day out.

Deep Snow!!!

Following Sundays and last nights dump of snow it is very slow going out in the hills with dangerously loaded slopes as we found out today. Looking at the weather and avalanche forecasts we decided to head out for a look on West Face of Anoach Mor heading up on the first Gondola. Leaving the lift station we were breaking trail taking it in turns with a local guide out front putting a trench in. The strong headwind was blasting us constantly with spindrift which made the going tough. As we started to strike up to our chosen route we found an alarming amount of very unstable snow which was forming due to cross loading. We decided to call it a day at this point and headed back to the Gondola to find it had been closed due to the high winds.    

Another Mixed Day

With it being the weekend we head for a more out of the way crag Beinn An Dothaidh out at the Bridge of Orchy. We climbed Menage a Trois V,6 which was in fantastic condition with bomber turf. The route was three pitches long with pitch 2 providing some very long sustained technical climbing although very well protected.

Escaping East

With a poor weather forecast over west today John, Johnny and myself escaped over to the Cairngorms for abit of mixed climbing. Having done very little mixed climbing before I kept tightly below a rope today. We climbed Yukon Jack IV,5 which could have been in better shape. Johnny who took us up the first pitch had a brief lesson in flying although got straight back on and steadily climbed upwards. John then took us up onto the plate to be greeted by horizontal snow which had now cute us up.

Stella Day On The Ben

Another early start today saw Chris and myself trudging up the Ben with the aim of climbing Hadrian’s Wall V,5. On reaching Observatory Gully a few teams were already on route so we continued up to Indicator wall for a look. After a long trudge breaking trial trying our best to avoid the pockets of instability in the snowpack we arrived to find Indicator Wall Right Hand  V,5 in good shape. Chris set of on the first pitch which contained some steep sustained Ice in a stupendous position before running out of rope in a less than perfect position. Fashioning together some sort of a belay I followed up and led on with some amazing snow ice climbing followed by a few pitches to the summit of the Ben where we were greeted by a team of French climbers, sunshine and no wind are we in the alps????

First Grade 5 Lead

Iv been up on the Ben today with John to have a look at Vanishing Gully V,5 on the Secondary Tower Face. After a long trudge in we arrived at the base of Vanishing Gully to find it in good shape. I set of on the first pitch which was provided very long and sustained climbing throughout which left me wishing for some more arm strength. John made light work of the second pitch which provided more steep ice. From the top of the route it was already equipped for abbing back down to the ground in 2 long 60m rope lengths

Cairngorm Winter skills Course

Over the weekend I have been working in the Cairngorms on a 2 day winter skills course with a team of 5 Medical students from Newcastle University. With the weather conditions fairly extreme on Friday with high winds, heavy snow and a high avalanche forecast I though we were in for a tough weekend. Saturday morning saw far better conditions with the avalanche risk disappeared and most of the snow showers disappeared. We head up into the corries for a fairly static day covering all of the requierd skills to travel around in winter followed by a journey up onto the Cairngorm plato on Sunday.