Aonach Eagach

Wow, what a day! We headed down Glen Coe today and traversed the Aonach Eagach ridge on our winter mountaineering course. I teamed up with Martin & Charlie whilst Huw took Neal and Tim. It has been a real stunner although trail breaking through deep unconsolidated snow was fairly hard work! 

Winter Mountaineering

I have been joined for 3 days by Charlie, Tim, Neil and Martin for a winter mountaineering course here in Scotland. Today was run at a 1:4 ratio before we are joined by fellow instructor Huw for the next two days. We spent the day looking at the skills required to tackle grade 1 routes including snow anchors, body belays, abseiling and also refreshed some winter skills. There has been more fresh snow overnight and through the day and it has been a beautiful day between the snow showers. 

Pot of Gold

I headed out with Martin today into the Northern Corries in the Cairngorms. We climbed Pot of Gold (V,6) on the Mess of Pottage. It was snowing heavily as we made the drive across from the Fort and the fresh snow combined with the icey cracks from the last few days made for a good sporting route with lots of fun! My friend Alec has been on the Ben today and reports knee deep fresh snow above the CIC hut. It has snowed down to road level across much of the Highlands so a welcome return to whiteness! 

Climbing

For the last day of our winter skills course the boys were all keen to try some ice climbing. Unusually for a winter skills course all of them were climbers and were using the skills as a progression onto winter climbing and mountaineering. We headed to the Ice Factor which went down well with the tired legs all round and had a great final day to a great week. It has got wonderfully cold here and has been snowing on and off with a fair bit forecast for tomorrow meaning winter is definitely back. 

Cold and sunny!

The boys were rewarded today having had some moist weather over the last few days we had a day of cold crisp sunshine today - woo hoo! We spent the day looking at crampon skills on the crisp neve, snow anchors and emergency shelters and revelling in the sun! It was 1c in Fort William as we arrived back at the end of the day and the ground was frozen above about 800m. 

Ben Nevis

The boys and I headed up the Ben today to make sure we could have some snow to play in. There has been a small amount of fresh snow overnight and the freezing level was down to about 1000m so it was good to feel wintery! The poor visibility might not be great for photos but was ideal for practising winter navigation so we made the most of that. A great day out with no rain!

Bidean nam Bian

The boys and I headed up onto Bidean today for the second day of our winter skills course. There were some good patches of snow leading up onto the col from Church Door Buttress which gave an opportunity to practise some of the skills we covered yesterday. We then did a spot of abseiling to gain access into the Lost Valley to complete a lovely circuit. The day was a day of two halves, wet and warm this morning and then getting colder and brighter this afternoon as forecast. 

Winter Skills

I have been joined for the week by Steve, James, Keith, Rich and Al for a winter skills course here in Scotland. Whilst today continued with the warm and wet weather we found enough snow to play on at Aonach Nid and tomorrow looks due to get colder, fingers crossed!

Stob Coire nan Lochain

#scotwinter I have been up into Stob Coire nan Lochain today. As you can see from the photo below there is still snow! The two Gary's, Steve and James and I made the most of what we found for the second day of our winter skills weekend and refreshed the skills we taught yesterday as well as introducing some new ones. The bottom top photos show James using a rope to check out a descent route which gave some added fun! The forecasts look as though we should get some much needed cold weather on Tuesday - fingers crossed! 

Scottish Winter Skills Weekend

I am in Scotland now for a couple of weeks and kicked off the start of my season with Steve, James, Gary and Gary for a winter skills weekend. We have arrived in the middle of a thaw cycle, with the next freeze due on Tuesday. Nonetheless the snow was good for what we wanted, giving firm cramponing and a nice safe snowpack for playing on. We had a good day covering the essential skills, enjoyed some blue sky and stayed dry all day - result! 

Cwm Idwal

Mark, Emily and I headed into Cwm Idwal today to escape the battering the wind was giving the tops. There was some fresh snow on the summits although its purely cosmetic at the moment, it was certainly cold all day though. We climbed NW Face Route with Mark on the sharp end of the rope, descended the Idwal Slabs descent route and then climbed Seniors Gully for a blast. A great day out again, thanks both. 

Winter Conditions

As the rain continues to fall I am making preparations for my annual journey North to Scotland. One of the most persistent of weather patterns each winter period is a mild and stormy Christmas holiday and this year is no exception! It is worth remembering in this darkest hour that January often brings a shift from tropical maritime to polar air, bringing heavy snow to the Scottish mountains even if not sunshine! The first half of next week looks cold with freezing levels down to 400m and fresh snow on the hills. A thaw later in the week will serve us well to stabilise the snow pack ready for the next fresh dump. I will keep you informed!

Crib Llem Spur

I have been out with Mark and Emily today who have become regulars at this time of year. Whilst we hoped for blue skies, sunshine and crisp neve we made the most of what we were given and had a great day out on the Crib Llem Spur on the Northern end of the Carneddau. This grade 1 scramble was nicely sheltered from the wind, stayed dry most of the day and gave us a bit of fresh snow on the tops. Thanks both for a great day out, blowing away the cobwebs and burning off the excess of Christmas! 

Have some fun this winter

Still some snow on the mountains

I took the dog for a walk up onto Lliwedd this morning to make the most of the beautiful winter sunshine. There is still some snow about as you can see from the photos but it looks pretty wet and warm tomorrow. A beautiful morning this morning though! 

A great week in Chamonix

I am home now after a great couple of weeks, the first in Morocco working and the second in Chamonix skiing with friends. It has been dumping with snow all week in Chamonix and we had an incredible 6 days of skiing fresh powder. Not many lifts were open so we did a mixture of touring and off piste leaving my legs completely knackered now!