Winter Skills Course Day 3

Yesterday my clients headed up Stob Ban with friend and fellow instructor Dave Holmego whilst I was in the Cairngorms. Today I took them back onto Aonach Mor to utilise the gondola and tired legs and we did some good crampon work on the bomber neve and looked at emergency use of the rope and snow anchors. It was a very cold day as forecast with temperatures well below freezing and a good coating of ice on the summit plateau and great neve everywhere. There were some very slight snow showers but no real quantity of snow where we were. It sounds like its all in England!!

Alec headed up onto the Ben today and soloed Hadrians Wall Direct (V), Comb Gully (IV) and West Gully on the Douglas boulder. He reported hard ice and some spindrift but generally very good conditions.

Climbing in the Cairngorms

I was out with Alec today climbing in the Lochain in the Northern Corries. The overnight freeze has hardened the snow pack up nicely although there are still some cruddy patches about it was generally great on really nice neve. We climbed Astroturfer (III) in the shelter from the wind and with varying levels of visibility. There is lots of ice about and the plateau was bare of snow but plastered with ice.

Winter Skills Weekend

I have been working on the West coast today on a winter skills course. The snow was great having had a good freeze overnight, much better than expected. We headed up onto Aonach Mor and did some basic skills in sunshine and strong Southerly gusts. I then headed over to the Cairngorms for the AMI AGM.

Hill Skills & Navigation Course

Today I have been joined by Jason, Steve & Neil. They were out yesterday looking at micro navigation with Bryn whilst today we undertook a mountain journey to put the skills into context. It was ideal navigation weather with the cloud down to about 400m, strong winds and constant rain all day. There are some good quantities of snow about as the photo of Cwm Tryfan shows. We headed up into the Cwn and onto Y Foel Goch and then down into Capel Curig. The snow was slushy underfoot due to the rain but we did not get higher than about 800m so I would expect it to still be hard higher up on North facing slopes.

Rescue on Snowdon

We were called out last night just after tea to two people stuck on Snowdon. There is still lots of snow and ice about and crampons and axe, plus the skills to use them, are essential. The two casualties were brought down safe and well and I even got my first flight in the chopper.

Teaching Winter Climbing

We headed out this morning in wild conditions, strong winds and snow to look at teaching winter climbing. During the morning the freezing level rose which meant that the snow pack was beginning to be effected by the rain. We escaped off the hill early and made the most of the dry tooling towers at Glenmore Lodge to look at teaching movement.

Northern Corries, Cairngorms

I am in the Cairngorms for this weekend on an AMI workshop for MIC trainees. It has been a cold crisp day with blue skies and sunshine and some nice fresh snow about. There were literally hundreds of people trailing into Sneachda but Lochain was much quieter. All of the butresses were white and there is ice about but it seems to be buried under the fresh snowfall - sorry no photos today as the camera battery went flat! We spent the day looking at mountaineering type ground, short roping, short pitches, snow belays and descent and had a great day.

Snow in Snowdonia

I am back home in Wales for a few days now and we have had a good dump of snow over the last 24 hours. This morning I headed up onto Crib Goch but it was quite a bit breezier than forecast so I didn't cross it. I headed down to Llyn Lydaw instead and enjoyed some beautiful shafts of winter sunshine and knee deep drifts of fresh snow. The ground is not frozen underneath so its no good for climbing at the moment but with a bit of freeze thaw could come good. It certainly looks pretty and it was really nice to be out.

Mirror Direct, Cairngorms

Dave, Andy, Joe and I headed back into the Northern Corries today to escape the worst of the weather in the West. Dave and I climbed Mirror Direct (IV,4) which was very thin and wet! Nonetheless it gave a good pitch of ice followed by some easy snow and then a descent of Aladdins Couloir. Andy and Joe climbed the Haston Line on the Mess of Pottage. The freezing level was hovering around the summits and the buttresses were dripping but the ground is still frozen and there is hard snow under the surface mush! A good freeze would yield excellent conditions.

MIC Best Practice - Cairngorms

I have been in the Cairngorms today at Glenmore Lodge taking part in a best practice workshop for MICs and trainee MIC's. We spent the day looking at best practice for teaching winter climbing in some pretty harsh conditions. The winds were gusting with enough force to knock us about and it was sleeting all day. Nonetheless a great exchange of information and a very valuable day out.

Ben Nevis - The Gutter

Dave, Andy and I headed up onto the Ben again today under stunning blue skies and with no wind. We climbed The Gutter (IV, 4) that starts in Glovers Chimney and then takes a line out right to follow a great ice pitch and some easier snow slopes onto the top of Tower Ridge and then onto the summit plateau. As the day progressed the clouds came in and it started snowing. The wind also picked up. The mountain was very quiet and we only saw 4 other people all day. The conditions right now are great for this early in the season and with the current cycles of melt, freeze and snowfall they will continue to get better.

Tower Scoop, Exploration and North Gully - Ben Nevis

I have been out with friends Dave and Andy today on the Ben. We headed up Observatory Gully and started off with Tower Scoop (III) where the ice was nice and squidgy after a couple of days of thaw and a freeze last night. There was also plenty of fresh snow about. We had been planning on heading onto Good Friday climb afterwards but were put off by large accumulations of wind slab between us and the route so headed into the bottom of Tower Gully (I). Half way up on the right hand side we spotted a great little icefall that we followed to the top. I am sure it has been climbed many times before but is not mentioned in the guidebook. It gave a nice pitch of grade III ice and then easier ground above. We descended number 4 gully which was a very friendly shallow angle and then quickly soloed North Gully (II) before coming back down number 4. A great day out.

Last minute availability

I have some last minute availability in Scotland if you want to make the most of the winter conditions. This photo was taken this week and the early season conditions are great. I have a couple of days over the next week and days free in February and March so drop me an email: rob@expeditionguide.com

Coire na Ciste, Ben Nevis

We headed up below the North face of the Ben today into Coire na Ciste. It was a beautiful morning with blue skies. The cloud built up and wind increased as the day went on. The temperatures stayed low and there were folks climbing Green Gully, Glovers Chimney and Tower Ridge. We looked at emergency ropework, snow belays and enjoyed cramponing on hard neve.

Snow Shelter Building Day

We headed up onto Aonach Mor today to look at emergency and planned snow shelters. We built a range of emergency shelters and a group snowhole in 2 metre drifts. The freezing level was higher than yesterday and we were below it all day with temperatures above freezing all day. A great day of digging!

Stob Coire Nan Lochain & Bidean nam Bian

As we drive down Glen Coe this morning it seemed as though we would be spending the day in the cloud and waterproofs, the weather forecast seemed to back that up. We made our way up Stob Coire nan Lochan and once we reached about 700m pulled up above the clouds to fantastic snow clad peaks and blue skies peeking out of a sea of clouds. It was a glorious day so we made the most of it and nabbed Bidean as well. The freezing level rose as the day went on but the crags were nicely rimed and the gully lines full.

Buachaille Etive Beag

We headed down into Glen Coe today to avoid the rain and snow falling over Lochaber. We went up Buachaille Etive Beag which is a very pleasant Munro at the Southern end of the valley. The ground was still frozen and we had some great crampon practise on the frozen streams on the way up. The freezing level rose as the day went on and it snowed gently on and off over about 750m.

Winter Skills 5 day course

I have been joined for the week by Simon, Andy, Sam, Matt, Chris and Dan for a five day winter skills course. For the first day today we headed up on the Gondola onto Aonach Nid after a kit check and weather chat back at the cottage. We looked at ice axe, crampon and self arrest skills and talked about avalanche avoidance as we travelled. It has been a glorious sunny day with temperatures of -4 at 750m and some fresh snow on the ground after a flurry last night. Friends of mine climbed Forgotten Twin on the East Face of Aonach Mor which is normally grade II. They reported reasonable ice that would allow ice screws and steep climbing at about grade III. People were also climbing Right Twin and Left Twin reportedly looked good.

Stob Coire Nan Lochain

We headed to Glencoe today to enjoy a mountain journey with the skills we looked at yesterday. It snowed gently all morning but then the freezing level rose to about 1000m this afternoon and a lot of the lower ice melted out. There were folks climbing some of the easier snow gullies but there is not generally a lot of snow about. Friends headed to Aonach Mor but the gondola was not running so they aborted to the cafe!

Scotland - Winter Skills Weekend

I am in Fort William for a while now and have been joined for the weekend by Luke, Amy, Suzie and Paul for a winter skills weekend. Today we headed up onto Aonach Mor where there are some hard patches of old neve and loads of ice. We had a great day looking at ice axe and crampon skills and enjoyed fine views. 

Aber Falls

I took the kids for a walk this morning just to answer that nagging doubt, are Aber Falls freezing? The temperature has been below freezing here in Llanfairfechan for the last few days but as you can see in the photo they are not! There is some ice either side but it needs to get a lot colder yet. Ah well! 

Snowdonia Conditions

The ice is building nicely with ice down to the road now. It is still all a bit thin for climbing but with the temperatures due to stay cold for the next few days, perhaps even into the middle of next week, it looks as though things could be good for the weekend. I was out on another rescue on Snowdon last night as a direct result of people not being properly equipped so would recommend carrying full winter kit including crampons and axe. Have fun!

Just as an add on to this post I walked up into Cwm Idwal this afternoon and the Idwal Stream is frozen. Friends had climbed it today but reported it as being very thin. The appendix and others have not yet formed but are getting bigger. Llyn Idwal was partially frozen. It looks like we have a classic high pressure temperature inversion with summit temperatures consistently higher than the valley temperatures. 

Bouldering on the Orme

It has been a beautiful few days here in Snowdonia with consistently cold weather, blue skies and sunshine. Last night we had two rescues on Snowdon and the water courses were all frozen. It was below freezing as a I drove home at about 10:00pm. Yesterday afternoon I took the boys to the Orme and we enjoyed a spot of bouldering and a cliff top walk in the beautiful weather. 

Christmas Day Rescue on Crib Goch

Christmas for me is always a great time as we have 3 kids (plus another on the way!) and this year we had a lovely day at home. The little boys got new bikes for Christmas so we were on the seafront first thing in the morning before I prepared the Christmas lunch. Just as we had finished and I was about to load the dishwasher the pager went off, perfect timing! Five men were crag fast on Crib Goch so the team were deployed to help. We walked two off that had turned round of their own accord and the chopper lifted the remaining 3. It was a beautiful afternoon to be out and plenty of folk were enjoying a walk on the mountain. You can just make out the helicopter if you look carefully in the top of the photo. We were back in time for tea and the Doctor Who special! 

Carneddau

Erik, Kirsten and I headed over the Carneddua today. We started on Pen-yr Ole Wen and went over Carnedd Dafydd and Llewelyn in thick cloud and warm drizzle all day - not very wintery! We did however manage to look at the fitting and use of crampons, do some scrambling and all in excellent navigation conditions! 

Welsh Winter Skills Course

I have been joined for two days by Eric and Kirsten for a Welsh winter skills course. Its a bit of shame that they were not here last weekend as we could have had some snow and ice to play on but would it then have been a Welsh winter weekend? We did find the only snow in Wales I think by heading into the back of Cwm Cneifion and getting up high but it was 7c above and the snow was completely sodden. Nonetheless we valiantly looked at the various uses of an ice axe and destroyed the small patch of snow we found. We also looked at some scrambling and navigation skills and had a very enjoyable day, especially as the Warden and the tea shack staff at Idwal Cottage car park were all handing out festive chocolates!  

Wet & warm in Snowdonia

The temperature has risen overnight and it was 10c in the Idwal Cottage car park this morning and raining heavily. I walked up into Cwm Cneifion where it was looking very washed out. The main gully lines remained but the buttresses are looking black and the ice was running with water. Imagine what a good freeze could do though! 

Mountain Rescue Training

I am back in Snowdonia today and have spent the day on a Mountain Rescue training exercise. Several years ago I ran an off road driving school and so my rusty services were pressed into action today to provide a day of driver training for my colleagues in the Llanberis team. We spent the day looking at the skills that we require to get the most from our vehicles with sympathy for the environment we all love whilst assisting stricken walkers and climbers. 

We had a dump of snow in the night and the snow line has dropped again as you can see in the photo of Snowdon that I took this afternoon. Tomorrow looks like it will be a nice day but then it is going to get warm in the middle of the week so it is unlikely there will be much snow left for the weekend.