It certainly feels like winter is trying to make a sneaky exit now, but it is hanging on, just. I was out with Paul today, and he was keen for an adventurous route and hadn’t climbed on Ben Nevis before, so we decided to go for NE Buttress, which had seen ascents over the weekend, […]
I’ve just finished three days of Winter Mountaineering with Mark and Sebastian, working for Peak Mountaineering. For the first two days, we were in the Cairngorms, where on day one we climbed up Fiacaill Ridge, looking at alpine ropework, before descending O.5 Gully, where we were able to look at snow anchors and axe belays. […]
After a couple of days off, I was back out on Ben Nevis today, with Ken & Glenn. Ken and I climbed the SW Ridge a number of years ago, and ever since then, we’ve tried to fit in a day on NE Buttress, but for one reason or another, the opportunity hasn’t materialised, until […]
With ferocious winds forecast for first thing this morning, Matt, Dave and I had a slightly later start, and despite the odd squally wind, had a fairly reasonable walk up to Coire na Ciste this morning. There had been some overnight snow, but only the lightest of dustings. The slopes leading up to Comb Gully […]
Normally, by this point in the winter, I would have worked on Tower Ridge a number of times, but for some reason, yesterday was my first time this season. Today was my second. I was out with Matt and Dave, who both have quite a bit of rock climbing experience, but were keen to climb […]
Today I as out with Michael, who has come up from London for a quick winter climbing fix. Fortunately, the weather forecasts were looking promising for an ascent of Tower Ridge, so that’s what we did. The approach to the East Gully was rather soggy, and the exit out of Douglas Gap was on wet […]
It seems to me that winter has been indecisive this season, with things looking promising one minute and then a substantial thaw setting in the next, quite often during the same day. Today was no exception to that pattern, with plenty of snow down to 500m overnight and cold conditions first thing this morning, before […]
This week, I’m running a five day climbing course, with Katie and Austin. Conditions since the weekend haven’t exactly been what I would describe as stellar, but we’ve had a productive three days so far. On Monday, we made an ascent of No. 3 Gully Buttress, which was as reliable as ever. The first pitch […]
Last week, Mark S and I ran one of our annual CIC Hut Weeks, based at the UK’s only true alpine hut, on Ben Nevis. The hut, which is well heated and makes for an extremely comfortable and convenient base, is situated at 650m above sea level, at the very foot of the north face […]
I was back out with Wes and Sean today. Our original plan was to head up to Stob Coire nan Lochan, but with a number of teams making their way up there, we decided to peel off the path and enjoy a bit of solitude on Far East Buttress on Aonach Dubh instead. The normal […]
