Sheltered on The Spur, Sgurr an Fheadain, Skye

It's that time of year where winter is with us one minute and gone the next, but this is very typical for this time of year.

Today, I was out on Skye with Sophie and Stefan. They're on holiday on Skye, and were keen for a day of any-season mountaineering, and so with a rather windy day on the cards, we sought shelter in Coir' a' Mhadiadh, where we climbed The Spur on Sgurr an Fheadain. This is one of the longest scrambles on Skye (and the UK), and gives an excellent and fairly direct journey to the summit of Sgurr an Fheadain. It's also fantastically sheltered from the prevailing winds. As you can see from the photos, the weather did nothing to dampen Sophie and Stefan's spirits!

Rolling back to last weekend, when it was much more wintry, Guy was out guiding Oli up Deep Throat in Coire an Lochain in the Cairngorms. Oli is one of these super keen winter climbers, that is more than happy to make the drive from London for a single route. This sort of dedication has enabled him to climb plenty of brilliant winter routes over the years despite living down south.

Whilst Guy and Oli were climbing last weekend, I was down in Buxton, attending a workshop focusing on trekking and mountaineering at high altitude. It was run by the charismatic Dr Jon Dallimore, as part of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders' AGM. The photo, taken by Gary Hodgson, is of myself in a Portable Altitude Chamber, which due to the pressure, reduces the altitude inside the bag by at least 1000m. That said, that's the only time I hope to ever be in one of those things!

British Association of International Mountain Leaders