Hidden Chimney Direct

Well I made the long drive home to North Wales today which was hard leaving such nice weather and conditions in Scotland. I managed to persuade Paul to make the walk into Sneachda again this morning before we left. This meant an early start and a walk in by moonlight but there were still people ahead of us. We climbed Hidden Chimney Direct (IV, 5) and were down at the car by 10:30am. Conditions were great with hard snow, some ice and more stunning views. Nice to be home now and starting to think about Christmas with the kids!

Friday Night Safety Video from UKClimbing.com

The Runnell

Carlos & Paul lead The Runnell (II) in Sneachda today whilst I climbed alongside and offered advice on gear placements, belays and time saving tips. It has been a beautiful sunny day with stunning air clarity and bullet hard snow - hard to get any better at this time of year! It was -7c in Aviemore this morning but hovering around freezing in the Corrie. The overnight frost has meant that the ground is rock hard frozen giving great climbing conditions in the gullies.

We were overtaken by a death roping pair in the Runnell today. Death roping is where two people climb at the same time tied to either end of a rope. Its totally pointless as it means that if one person falls then both climbers fall - worse still in a busy gully it means they clothes line all the other climbers off on their way down. My top tip for all death ropers is this - solo. Its safer. If you don't want to solo then pitch. Moving together is something totally different and should not be necessary in the Runnell. Rant over!

A great day and Scotland has given my clients a wonderful intro to winter climbing.

Jacobs Right Hand

Carlos & Paul got on the sharp end of the rope today and lead their first winter climb. We headed to the Mess of Pottage and between them they lead Jacobs Right Hand (I) in alternate pitches. The snow was bullet hard after last nights freeze and we enjoyed Scotland at its best with squeaky neve, blue skies, sunshine and cold crisp temperatures. The route was great as there is still lots of snow covering the gear placements so the boys had to work hard digging to find gear and belays - the true winter experience.

Ewans Buttress

Today we headed into Coire An Lochain and climbed Ewans Buttress (III, 4). The temperatures had risen overnight and the freezing level was above the summits all day - but only just. The snow is now almost a uniform layer (apart from some of the gully tops) which with the forecast cold weather that should arrive tomorrow will mean some really nice climbing conditions for the weekend. The soft mushy snow today wasn't ideal but we had fun, some lovely views and got some nice photos.

Invernookie, Cairngorms

Paul, Carlos and I headed back into Sneachda today and climbed Invernookie (III,4). The route had plenty of fresh snow on it and some nice ice and patches of frozen turf. There was also a North Wales team on The Seam alongside us and several other teams out in the Corrie. We could also see across to Savage Slit which has been climbed every day for the last 3 days. It was a beautiful morning and the clouds came over and the wind picked up as the day went on. The freezing level was below the summits contrary to the forecast and it had been very cold overnight with a slight temperature inversion.

5 day learn to lead winter climbing course in the Cairngorms

I am up in Aviemore this week with regular clients Carlos and Paul for a 5 day learn to lead, winter climbing course. It has been great to be back out in the snow and we have enjoyed some good climbing in the Northern Corries today. We headed into Sneachda and climbed Hidden Chimney (II/III). The underlying snow has consolidated since the weekend but there was some fresh deposits overnight and some wind slab round and about. The crags were nice and white with a mixture of rime and powder snow which made the climbing tricky as there were still large patches of unconsolidated snow just where you wanted neve! Ice is beginning to form and the freezing level was probably around 900 - 1000m today. We abseiled down Jacobs Ladder and refreshed snowpack analysis and then headed back to the Mountain Cafe for tea and scones!

SARDA Day

I was out all day yesterday with Skye on a SARDA training day. We did well to avoid the worst of the weather and had a great day of training. We had a call out last night and I was out with Llanberis MRT rescuing 9 people on Snowdon in lashing rain and 60mph winds. They were pleased to see us!

I am driving upto Scotland today for a weeks work. Please email me if you want to get in touch as the phone signal will be dodgy on my mobile but we do have a wireless network.