On the Up

Temperatures have risen through the night allowing a thaw of low lying snow which made for a muggy, wet walk into Stob Ban. Steve and Ken are working with a group of friends; Simon, Matt, David and Vicky all of which have great high altitude experience but with limited Scottish winter routes to their names. East Ridge North Top Stob Ban has been a great route to go to in heavy conditions and today it worked out really well. However this time we had a snow plough infront of us by the name of Jamie (+ partner) who kindly cleared the way to the base of the route, saving our legs for another big day tomorrow – thanks Jamie!

Hannah was out today with Dan and Tim on Buchaille Etive Beag. Having done a winter skills weekend a fair few years ago, they were after a bit of a refresher day with the main aim being safe route choice and travel in the mountains. Topics covered included; interpreting the avalanche forecast, route decisions once on the mountain, anticipation of when to get the axe out and crampons on, tackling steeper ground safely and walking along corniced ridges. The day helped them safely boost their confidence in the winter environment and prepare for a day out by themselves tomorrow.

Other West Coast Mountain Guides teams were out enjoying the winter weather. Mark, Helen and Maz did the classic round of East Ridge of SCNL and Dave, Mark and Michael climbed a combo of routes in the Fawlty Towers area on Ben Nevis.