Photos from last week

Paddy leading off on the second pitch.

Paddy topping out on the first pitch of Red Gully.

Sneachda from the roadside. As you can see there is not much snow about!

Ice!

Yesterday was naff. It was wet, warm and everything was dripping so we didn't get anything done other than an afternoon at Scott Muirs new wall in Aviemore. I can recommend it as a wet weather alternative, there are lots of routes at lots of grades to suit all abilities.

Today was glorious and made the drive worthwhile. Pictures will go up on Monday but we had blue skies, cold weather and sunshine. Paddy and I climbed Red Gully in Sneachda II/III which was thin but doable and enjoyable! Belays were great and the ice was complete with the first pitch meriting the III. Paddy had to get off early so we had an enjoyable stroll down in the sunshine and an early finish.

Looking warm again tomorrow so off home!

Rob

Back in Scotland

I spent last weekend and the latter part of last week up in North Wales doing a bit of rock climbing in the rain.

I am now in Scotland again for a few days winter climbing. I am over on the East Coast and there is fresh snow down to the roads but the hills still look a little bare. Category 4 avalanche report is predicted because of a rise in temperatures and the heavy winds we have had over the last few days. Oh well, we'll just have to go and see!

Rob

Winter Skills

Last week was spent running a winter skills course with Ben, Simon and Claire. We had excellent weather on Monday with bright blue skies, sunshine and no wind. We headed into the White Corries and spent the day getting used to axe and crampons, looking at snow pit analysis and avalanche avoidance and also managed to get a summit bagged.

On Tuesday we went up Buichaille Etive Beag in heavy snow and with little visibilty. It was an excellent day for practicing navigation and getting used to operating in more typical Scottish weather conditions.

Wednesday saw us head up to Creag Meghaidh in more strong winds and heavy rain and snow. We gained the snowline below the Window and managed to seek shelter from the winds whilst practising buried axe belays and self arrest.

On Thursday we used the Nevis Range gondola to gain some uplift before walking over Aonach Mor and down to the col below Aonach Beag. We spent 4 hours building a shovel up snow shelter and spent the night in it. An early start on Friday saw us on the summit of Aonach Beag by 8:00am and then back to the cottage in Fort William for lunch.

On Saturday I went climbing with my Dad and we climbed Sron na Larig, an excellent grade II Alpine style ridge in Glen Coe. The conditions were not great, lots of new powder sat on rock but we had a great day.