Beinn Udlaidh

Carl and I headed up onto Beinn Udlaidh today in the hope that the cold spell we have had this week would be enough to bring the water ice into condition. It was snowing quite heavily was we walked in and the low cloud kept us in suspense until we bumped into the foot of the routes. We climbed the classic of the crag, Quartzvein Scoop (IV,4) and then South Gully of Black Wall (IV,4). Each route was thin in the lower pitch but generally the ice was nice quality where you could avoid the hollow sections! As you can see from the photos Carl even made an extra friend on the walk in!
It was pretty warm and raining as we walked out so I think we grabbed them just in time.

East Ridge Carn Dearg Meadhonach

Matt & Karolina did the East Ridge of Carn Dearg Meadhonach 4 years ago as seconds and wanted to head back this year to lead it for themselves. The route gives a great mountaineering expedition at grade II and the summit views of the Ben are lovely. They moved well and I was able to give input into efficiency on winter routes and get them thinking about the advanced skills of moving together safely on ridges. It was a tad warmer today and we had some snow showers throughout the afternoon but this was falling as rain back at the car - good news for the grass fires that are springing up across the Highlands due to the 3 weeks of dry weather.

The Pumpkin, Creag Meghaidh

I have been joined for 3 days by Matt & Karolina for some winter climbing. They have been out with me for the last 3 winters and so I felt we could give them something to get their teeth into on the first day, before Matt does some leading over the next couple of days. We climbed the Pumpkin (V,4) on Creag Meghaidh which gives 300m of great climbing with 3 decent ice pitches, the first two being brilliant, followed by another 3 pitches of great neve.

Boomers Requiem

I have had a day off today so headed up onto the Ben with Carl and Dave. We climbed Boomers Requiem (V,5) which gave a great route. The temperatures have dropped significantly overnight and it felt decidedly chilly on the belays. The ice was also a lot harder than of late and the crux pitch felt quite steep. We had some light snow flurries as we walked off and its snowing now in the Fort, another blue sky and soft shell day for us though. A great route in great weather with great company, what more can you ask?

Top Tips for staying alive!

Here is a useful article from UKC on staying alive whilst climbing, always good!
http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=4586

Breezy!

Yesterday was the final day of our 5 day winter skills course. The forecast was predicting 100mph winds on the summits and OS a big summit day was off the cards. We decided instead to go ice climbing at the Ice Factor which gave a great opportunity to move the skills towards the boys doing some winter climbing and mountaineering next year. Thanks all for a great week.

Summits & Shelters

We have had a bit of variety with the weather over the last two days of our winter skills course here in Scotland. Yesterday we headed to Glen Nevis and climbed Stob Ban on bullet hard neve with light winds and cold temperatures. Today the freezing level has temporarily risen to 1200m and the winds have picked up to gale force. We avoided the summit winds today by refreshing avalanche avoidance skills and looking at companion rescue before a session on emergency and planned snow shelters. It all felt a bit more Scottish today and the forecast snow and cold weather looks good for the weekend. 

Winter Skills - Ben Nevis

For the second day of our winter skills course the boys and I headed up Ben Nevis today. As we climbed we enjoyed some lovely views through wispy clouds with a slight inversion. As we got higher we lost all visibility which was great to experience what the summits are often like in Scotland in winter! The snow was well frozen all day which gave lots of good crampon mileage but meant the red burn bum slide was not really a goer! 

Winter Skills Week

I have been joined for the week by Al, Al, Al, Matt, Tyler and Ed (who I keep calling Al) for a 5 day winter skills course here in Scotland. We headed upto Aonach Nid today and enjoyed some bullet hard neve after a good overnight freeze. We covered the essential winter skills of axe and crampons and enjoyed a dry day with some patches of sunshine - a beautiful day in the mountains.

Stob Coire Nan Lochain

The boys and I headed to Glen Coe for the second day of our winter skills weekend. We had a great day traversing the mountain from East to West and there is good snow cover in the Coire. We put into practise the skills covered yesterday and learnt some new ones on our journey. Teams were climbing on each of the main gully lines and reported good, if soft conditions.

Scottish Winter Skills

I am back in Scotland now for 2 weeks and have been joined for this weekend by Adam, Declan, Paul, Colin, John and Mike for a winter skills weekend. We headed to Aonach Mor for our first day looking at axe and crampon skills as well as avalanche avoidance. The snow pack has softened over the last 2 days with a rise in temperatures whilst the buttresses are all black. Some fresh snow and a re-freeze would be nice but conditions are ideal for winter skills. 

Black Ladders

I headed out with Baggy today to the Black Ladders on the Carneddau. The icefalls at the foot of the crag are impressive and we had a good pitch each up the ice at the foot of Central Gully (IV, 4). After a couple of mixed pitches we broke off right and climbed some IV (5) ground to the top of the crag. A great, adventurous day out.