Thompson’s Route, Ben Nevis

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Ken: One of the main objectives for today was to find Hazel a grade IV route, on Ben Nevis, that was away from the crowds. Fortunately, the clouds remained high enough to get a good look around Coire na Ciste on our approach, and it was quite clear that Comb and Green Gully were popular choices.

We continued past three teams queuing for Green Gully, and made our way up to Thompson’s Route, which was quiet. That might be because the ice was a bit variable, but it was certainly good for axes where it needed to be. The ice on the couple of steeper steps was a bit cruddy, but a bit of bridging solved those problems. This was Hazel’s first climb in a couple of years, but she showed no signs of rust as she climbed the route.

We were treated to a grandstand view of Ian Small and Murdo climbing the steep South Sea Bubble on Creag Coire na Ciste. You’ll have to see if you can spot them in the photos!

Plenty of teams making the most of this never ending winter!

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More great ice on the Ben

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Like many ice routes on Ben Nevis, Waterfall Gully is in great condition at the moment. Chewy ice, good screws and good rock belays. Ken recommended climbing the route in its entirety which I hadn’t done before. It’s very atmospheric with the huge big walls towering over the route. A perfect intro to winter climbing on Ben Nevis and Mick’s first Scottish winter route!

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The Twins: Aonach Mor

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Great ice on both Left Twin and Siamese Twin up at Aonach Mor. David needed a little bit of a confidence boost before heading for something bigger tomorrow and the East Face had just the ticket. Despite the amazing ice and weather I think we were the only team climbing on the face today – fine by us.

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Royal Pardon, Aonach Beag

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Ken: With winter climbing conditions still being excellent, and work quietening down a bit, Steve and I thought that we would make the most of it, and get some ice climbing done for ourselves. With the lure of a gondola assisted approach, we made our way to the North Face of Aonach Beag, where we climbed the brilliant Royal Pardon.

Stand and Deliver looked excellent as we passed beneath it (a team climbed it today). Steve led the first pitch of variable ice, up to a large block belay, to the left of the main ice smear. I then led the crux pitch, which was thick enough, and better on the steeper sections. I don’t think that the weather gods were looking down on me too favourably today, for I seemed to spend much of the pitch getting pummelled by spindrift, which then amazingly cleared as Steve led the final couple of pitches, which included an excellent pitch of good quality ice before the ground eased off.

Nice to get out and make the most of what is fast becoming a season to remember!

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The Ben in Great Condition

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Steve, Casper and Ken were all working on Ben Nevis today. Steve took Gary up Tower Ridge; which is one of the best journeys to the summit of Ben Nevis. It was a day Gary won’t forget having waited 20 odd years to climb the ridge, it was a dream come true with alpine weather and super conditions throughout.

Ken was out with Karl, Becky, and their German Shepherd; Storm. They made their way up and down Ben Nevis via the mountain track. The snow was quite firm this morning, but softened up nicely as the day progressed. It was a great day to be up there, with some stunning views.

Casper climbed Observatory Buttress with Jesper; a great choice given they had the route to themselves whilst others took their place in a the queue on Point Five, Hadrians and Orion Direct.

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Waterfall Gully & Ledge Route, Ben Nevis

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Ken: Today was my second and final day with Wesley, and with tired legs from yesterday, we thought we would have a slightly shorter day than yesterday. As it turned out, we ended up climbing a similar length, but just started a little lower on the mountain.

We found ourselves at the foot of Waterfall Gully, a route that neither of us had climbed before. The first pitch was good, if a little damp, and with curiosity getting the better of us, we found ourselves heading further up the gully, in amongst some of the finest rock architecture on Ben Nevis. Part the way up, we were distracted by a fine looking pitch of steeper ice on the left, that we took in, before returning back into the gully, and continuing up to the huge cul-de-sac at the head of the gully. From here, a thin, but climbable slab out to the right brought us onto the upper ridge, from where a couple of rope lengths brought us onto Ledge Route.

Amazingly, no one had been up Ledge Route by that point today, so we broke trail up the upper ridge and onto Carn Dearg. We picked up the stream bed which runs parallel to the Red Burn, which gave us a quick and easy descent to Halfway Lochan. What Waterfall Gully lacks in technical climbing, it more than makes up for in its journey through amazing scenery.

A busy day on the mountain, with teams on Zero Gully, Hadrian’s Wall, Observatory Buttress, Indicator Wall, Tower Ridge, The White Line, Comb Gully and Green Gully (and many others I’m sure).

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Orion Face Direct

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Ken: Yesterday, we had our final day of our Winter Mountaineering Course, and headed to Beinn a’Chaorainn, where we climbed the East Ridge, which still has an unbelievable quantity of snow on it.

Today, I was out with Wesley. Wes and I have been out at least once a season for the past few years, and it’s been great seeing his progress, from the first time we met, where we climbed North Gully and Ledge Route, through to today, where we climbed Orion Direct, which Wes enjoyed and found challenging in pretty much equal measure!

The route was a little on the thin side, but very much climbable, and this will only improve over the next few days, as winter continues. The day started off fairly settled, but the higher we climbed, the more the spindrift poured down the route, adding a little ‘atmosphere’ to the day!

Other teams on Minus One Gully, Hadrians Wall, Point 5 Gully (which will have been fairly full-on with spindrift), Morton’s Neuroma and Compression Cracks. Observatory Buttress also looked good.

Winter is set to stay with us, and with the clocks going forward tonight, the days will be longer, the ice will remain excellent, and the mountains are generally much quieter than mid-season, so if you fancy getting out this ‘winter’, get in touch: [email protected].

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Comb Gully and School House Ridge

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Ken: Fortunately, it was quite a dry day today, and so as a result, the thaw took far less of a toll on the snow than yesterday.

Caspar enjoyed a day of classic Ben Nevis ice climbing with Shaun today. they climbed Comb Gully, which whilst a bit damp, was in good condition.

I was back out with our Winter Mountaineering team. We climbed School House Ridge, above Ballachulish, with Giles and Dave taking turns on the sharp end. The ridge was almost split right down the middle, with the right hand (north) side offering a snowy winter ascent, and the left hand side offering a rocky summer ascent. We were treated to a brilliant and direct descent, on soft snow, down Coire Riabhach.

We’re due a welcome return to wintry conditions tomorrow, which looks to stay with us throughout next week, with things ramping up a notch on Tuesday. The never ending winter?

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First proper thaw of winter

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Ken: We’ve had a couple of temperature blips this season, but nothing so far that could be described as a proper thaw. That was until today.  The day started off dry and cold, but quickly deteriorated, with the freezing levels shooting up above the summits and plenty of rain. That said, it did nothing to knock our teams’ enthusiasm!

I was out with our Winter Mountaineering team, and we headed up to Stob Coire nan Lochan, where we spent some time developing Giles, Paul and Dave’s mountaineering toolboxes, with various snow anchors, a recap on ice axe arrests and abseiling down the steeper steps on the Zig-Zags of Gearr Aonach.

Steve was also in Glencoe, with Neil. They snatched an ascent of No. 6 Gully on Aonach Dubh. The ice was in good condition for axes and ice screws, if a little stepped out (unsurprisingly given the recent conditions). It gave Neil a great introduction to grade IV ice.

Despite the thaw, the more established ice climbs will last until the temperatures drop again as the weekend rolls in. The mid-range forecast is looking excellent, and there’s not really any sign of winter letting go of its grip just yet!

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Another tremendous day in the Highlands!

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Ken: It seems like days of good weather are like buses; you wait a while, then two come at once. Today was another stunning day in the Scottish Highlands, with similar conditions to yesterday, with maybe a little more wind on the summits. For day two of our Winter Mountaineering course, we headed to the West Face of Aonach Mor, where we climbed Golden Oldie. The crux today was probably the approach slopes, which were as icy as I’ve ever known them. The team certainly had a great introduction to front-pointing!

The route felt quite alpine today, with some sections almost completely bare of snow. Due to needing to pitch the approach slopes too, the route felt longer than usual, and gave the team plenty of time mountaineering on a variety of terrain.

On the summit plateau, we popped over to the East Face, to have a look a the crags. There’s a huge contrast between the dry rocks of the buttresses to the north of Easy Gully versus the rimed up and very wintry buttresses to the south.

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