Indoor Ice Climbing

Paul, Jim and I spent the day at the Ice Factor today as the weather has been perfect for being indoors. We did some climbing this morning, had a nice lunch in the cafe and then spent the afternoon on the Ice Wall coaching technique and giving the arms a good work out. All we need now is a good freeze tonight and we can put it all into practice tomorrow. 

Curved Ridge, Buachaille Etive Mor

I have been joined for 3 days of climbing by Paul and Jim  and today we headed down Glen Coe to Buachaille Etive Mor. We ended up climbing Curved Ridge (III) which had not been our intended route but as we went in the snow conditions were pretty naff low down and so we changed our plans. The fresh snow that has fallen over the last couple of days has not consolidated and the turf was not frozen. We did the chimney start on Curved Ridge and then got about 2/3 of the way up the ridge. At that point we turned around as I was concerned about the volume and stability of the snow in the basin. We were joined by Sam Leary and her client and we down climbed and then abseiled the lower section of the route with Jim, Paul and Sam's client Lawrence sorting out the abseils each time. The temperature rose as the day went on but the afternoon light was stunning and we had some great views over towards the Ben and the Grey Corries. A great day out.

Friends Dave and Andy also headed into the Buachaille and climbed North Buttress (IV,4) which they described as "nails" in the current conditions.

Winter Skills Weekend

I have been joined for the weekend by Caroline, Claire, Julie, Barry and Ian for a winter skills weekend. We have also had Kate with us today who is on my instructor mentor scheme. We used the uplift at the Nevis Range to gain access to the snow line and spent the day below Aonach Nid looking at axe and crampon skills and avalanche avoidance. There was some pretty impressive debris from the last couple of days as you can see from the middle photo which shows where the cornice has collapsed, the crown wall and the car size blocks. It was great to be out in the sunshine once again and the winds were manageable too!

Nice day for a walk

Looking at the weather forecast this morning we decided it was a perfect day to walk upto the CIC hut below the Ben, take in the impressive scenery of the North Face and then walk back down again. It has been very wet with the temperature rising as the day went on and extremely windy (hurricane force winds according to the Met Office). After a wild week the boys were glad of a slightly shorter last day and left with a new found appreciation for the weather in the mountains of the UK!

Stob Coire Nan Lochain

The team and I headed up Stob Coire nan Lochain today. As we left the car the sun was shining, there was a good frost on the ground and fresh snow on the mountains making for a beautiful morning. We made our way up into the Coire and explored the reasons for a High avalanche forecast before making our way up the West ridge. We then looked at use of the rope for navigating near an edge and for checking out the stability of a slope to be used for descent. We turned around and headed down as high winds were forecast and got nailed as we hit the base of the Coire. The world went white and we managed about 3 steps between each blast that dropped us to our knees. We were exhilarated to drop back into the valley with cheeks glowing but felt sorry for the climbers we saw on Ordinary Route who would have been having a rough time in the wind. There was a massive amount of fresh snow, strong cross winds and lots of windslab about so take care over the next few days in route choice, especially as temperatures are set to rise tomorrow afternoon. 

Still wild in the West

Today the guys and I headed down Glen Coe to climb Buachaille Etive Beag. We were not expecting to reach the summit as the forecast predicted very high winds. As we climbed we were pleasantly surprised to find very little wind. The guys lead the day putting into practice the skills learnt over the last couple of days, deciding when to use axe or crampons and doing the route finding to the summit. There were no views but you can't have it all! We also learnt to glissade on the way down. It got a lot colder this afternoon and there was a fresh dusting of snow on the tops. 

Escape from the Wild West

Julian, james and I were joined by Simon today on the second day of our winter skills five day course. The forecast was pretty wild for the West so we headed East to the Cairngorms and were rewarded by blue skies and sunshine for the morning. It was still pretty windy though so we had to avoid the tops. We went into Sneachda and did some winter skills, had lunch in the group shelter in a full on blizzard and got loads of good crampon practice on the bullet hard neve. It snowed heavily for an hour or so putting down about an inch of fresh snow that was getting blown around in all directions! A very Scottish day with some red cheeks to show for it!

Winter Skills 5 day course

I have been joined by repeat clients Julian and James for a five day winter skills course here in Scotland. Today the weather has been ideal for testing kit with strong winds and heavy rain. We headed up to Aonach Mor and looked at axe and crampon skills and introduced avalanche avoidance skills. The Gondola closed mid morning so we had to walk down but still had a fun day out. 

Avalanche Rescue & Transceiver Training

I have been on a course today at Glenmore Lodge looking at the use of transceivers and companion rescue in an avalanche. We spent the morning looking at the transceivers and how they work and made the most of the excellent new transceiver park that is available for use all year round for transceiver training. The park consists of some permanently buried transceivers that can be found and then felt under the probes through wood chips. This simulates searching and probing snow. After lunch we then headed up the hill and repeated the exercise in real snow looking at how to dig out an avalanche victim. A great day with lots of new skills that I hope never to need!

Climbing in the Cairngorms

I am in Aviemore this weekend for the Association of Mountaineering Instructors AGM. Bryn and I drove up from Wales together yesterday and had a day climbing in the Cairngorms today. This morning we headed to Hells Lum (III) which we climbed in bright sunshine on good neve and topped out for a lunch and a sun bathe with stunning views over the Cairngorms and a cloud inversion over Aviemore. We then dropped down into Sneachda and climbed Fingers Ridge (IV,4)  in more normal weather as the cloud swept in and the wind picked up. Nevertheless the climbing was brilliant with good placements, good gear and of course plenty of banter. A very nice day in the mountains.   

No snow here in Wales

The lack of snow here in Wales has meant that I have had to cancel 6 days of winter climbing work and a day of winter skills work since I got back from Scotland on Tuesday which is a real shame. I've made the most of the unexpected time off though and have been on some lovely walks with the dog and the kids, done some Search Dog Training and a Mountain Rescue First Aid assessment today. The weather is pretty with blue skies, sunshine and cold temperatures its just a shame theres no ice or snow! Back to Scotland on Thursday for some climbing, the AMI AGM and a couple of weeks work. 

Dorsal Arete, Glen Coe

Naomi, Will and I headed up into Stob Coire nan Lochain today and climbed Dorsal Arete. It was snowing heavily over about 800m most of the day and we had some significant snowfall as we climbed. There was also a fairly strong Westerly wind so there will be some fairly sizeable accumulations of windslab over the next day or so. We had some lovely climbing conditions with the snow re-frozen to give nice neve on the route, the spindrift effect as we climbed the fin and the entire Coire to ourselves. A brilliant last day of the course.

Cor Blimey

Its been pretty wild again here in Scotland and so Will, Naomi and I decided to enjoy the steep ice and warm rock of the Ice Factor in Kinlochleven. The centre has the worlds biggest Ice Climbing indoor wall and is great for coaching technique. We looked at some rope skills in the rock wall this morning, climbed some steep ice for a couple of hours and got Will & Naomi climbing very well and then after a spot of lunch we did some movement coaching and abseiling on the climbing wall. A good use of a warm, wet and windy day. Its all looking much better from tomorrow onwards though, the winds and temperature are dropping and there's some more snow due for the summits.

Winter Mountaineering Course

I have been joined by repeat clients Naomi and Will for a three day winter mountaineering course in Scotland. The weather forecast was predicting heavy persistent rain, winds gusting 90mph on the summits and temperatures of 4 degrees c at 900m and was pretty accurate! We headed down to Glencoe and sought shelter under the cliffs of Stob Coire nan Lochain and Stob Coire nam Beith where we looked at avalanche avoidance, swollen stream crossings(!), tieing into the rope, body belays, rock anchors in winter and abseiling off the route. We were glad to join the throngs of other people by the fire in the Clachaig at the end of the day to dry out and recover from our thrashing! Once the temperature drops again we will have some fine neve to play on so roll on Monday!

Beinn Udlaidh

Alec, Dave, Bryn and I headed to Beinn Udlaidh today to get some climbing done. The forecast promised rising temperatures as the day went on but we enjoyed a couple of pitches of sticky ice on Tinkerbell (III, 4) on the right hand side of the Corrie. The classic routes like Peter Pan Direct and Cut-throat had not touched down or perhaps had melted back over the last couple of days. We could not see Quartz Vein Scoop as the clag was in and we were keen to avoid any cornices that might have formed at the top of the route. It was very wet and warm all day but good fun nonetheless!

Another beautiful day

Bryn and I headed into Glen Nevis this morning to see if Steall Falls were in condition for climbing, they weren't! It was however a very beautiful morning for a walk and left us the option of an afternoon of skiing back at Nevis Range. We joined up with friends Dave, Andy and Alec and the snow was still incredible so we weren't too disappointed! The clear skies and clarity of the light meant that the views were stunning as you can see from the photos that were only taken on my phone.

Fresh powder day

I have got a few days off now to do some climbing with friends Dave, Bryn, Alec and Andy. This morning we woke up to lots of fresh snow and the avalanche forecast was High on most aspects so skiing rather than climbing was the order of the day. After a morning catching up on admin Bryn and I headed to Nevis Range and were glad of four wheel drive and snow tyres once more to get to the car park! The skiing was incredible with just under knee deep fresh powder across the whole mountain which gave really nice soft landings every time I fell over!

Winter Skills Weekend in the sunshine

When I woke up this morning I could hear rain hammering against the window, it was still very dark but the prospects of another sunny day looked unlikely. Having looked at the weather and avalanche forecasts together the team and I decided that Glen Coe offered the best bet and so we went up Buachaille Etive Beag. There was fresh snow on the road through the Coe and the whole mountain had a nice fresh layer of powder. We used the skills that we had covered yesterday to complete our journey to the summit and along the way refreshed our memories on the key skills including avalanche avoidance. We had some stunning panoramic views and the temperature dropped as the day went on, the skies were once again blue and the sun was shining. A great weekend. There are several weakly bonded layers within some fairly significant areas of windslab across the mountains at the moment and so care is required. Be sure to visit the SAIS website and take care.