Mountain Diary and Conditions

Dave: Today was my second day with James, unfortunately we were unable to rock climb due to damp conditions, but it didn’t stop us from having an adventure. The Aonach Eagach is always an adventure and the andesite (my least favourite rock) when wet is something to respect and be cautious with. No surprise that with today’s forecast of medium winds and heavy showers we didn’t see anyone until the last Murno.

James is a competent scrambler and very fit which meant our traverse was 4 hours and 27 min which included a lunch break and some slow rope work, I think this is fastest time I have had guiding the Aonach Eagach! I look forward to getting out with James this winter for more adventures.

Our 2023 dates for traversing the Aonach Eagach are live on the website, have a look and book now.

http://51.38.64.114/courses/aonach-eagach-guide/

Grivel

Dave: Yesterday Jack and I were guiding returning guests Greg and Ben on the Aonach Eagach with two new companions Eddie and Paul, we met Greg and Ben last year on Skye where we guided them and 2 others over all the Skye Munro’s.

This year the objectives are adventures and guest houses, the ridge yesterday was in amazing condition. With good visibility but some high cloud cover and wind to keep the temperatures down giving us perfectly dry rock and cool air to quickly move in. And after a good hill day we had a good meal and drinks in the Black Isle in Fort William.

We do have 2 open courses with spaces,

Skye Munros Fri 29/07/2022 Mon 01/08/2022 1 Space

Aonach Eagach Sat 17/09/2022

Www.westcoastmountainguides.co.uk

Grivel
2pure
@ami_professionals

Dave: Day 2 with Nick and he has successfully completed a traverse of the Black Cuillin, not bad for 82! I can only hope that when I’m 82 I can still enjoy the hills and climbing as much as Nick today.

We had a very nice moment on Sgurr nan Gillean when we could look back and see everything we had accomplished, understandably his knees hurt as does my back. 13 hours day 1 and 12 hours day 2 is not a bad time, I’ve been slower with younger.

More in store for tomorrow! And thanks to everyone who has encouraged us along the ridge, each interaction gives us some energy and drive.

Www.westcoastmountainguides.co.uk

Grivel
2pure

Dave: May and June are often the busiest months on the Cuillin, and this year hasn’t disappointed, we have had lots of team’s complete traverses in some damp conditions, 1 starting on Arrow Route and Integrity and lots of successful Munro trips where lots of teams summitted all 11 in 4 days. Instructors have also been in Glen Nevis and mountain cliffs of Glen Coe delivery a variety of learning objectives.

Our team have delivered some fantastic days for our guests this year and we have received lots of great feedback, and our team have really enjoyed being in the hills with you, reporting back with great stories and achievements from the day.

I’m looking forward to the rest of summer with lots of traverses and climbing days booked in, our team have availability this summer for Lochaber or Cuillin adventures so get in touch!

We do have 2 open courses with space, and I have had a cancellation for next week.

Lochaber 27th to 29th June Private Guiding Rock Climbing or Mountaineering
Aonach Eagach Sat 23/07/2022 1 Space
Skye Munros Fri 29/07/2022 Mon 01/08/2022

www.westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk

@grivel
@ami-professionals
@2pure

Dave: Ken, Myself and friends have just been way for a week climbing at Fairhead in Northern Ireland. I would like to give a massive thanks to Sean McBride for allowing camping and access to his land, and for making our stay so fantastic, we enjoyed the many interactions and chats all sharing similar values and views of the world today. If you want more luxury than camping, he does have a nice cottage recently converted for hire, ideal for climbers.

I would also like to thank the Dal Riada Climbing Club & Mountaineering Ireland for organising the meet, the atmosphere at the crag was brilliant, being able to chat to fellow lead climbers to your sides makes the venue feel a lot less intimidating and people to help you identify the tops of each crag makes for a more efficient day.

The climbing is like all the best coastal crags of Skye (Neist’s Financial Sector, Rubha Hunish, Staffin Slips and Kilt Rock) all packed into one even higher mega crag, I was impressed! I would recommend being happy climbing E2 or above on the Skye crags before a visit, we did some easier routes, but HVS felt like E2 and a few E1’s felt like E2. There is gear almost on demand if you have a big enough rack for the 40m pitches so none of routes felt bold, but they were all steep, long and some very sustained.

For me the route of the trip was An Bealach Rhunda, it wasn’t the hardest or steepest climb, but every pitch was outstanding adventure climbing, any route accessed via a 90m abseil is going to feel adventurous. The first pitch for me is what dreams of made of, 37m meters of jamming between volcanic columns whilst bridging between the cliff and a free-standing tower. Some large hexes or a big cam could have been useful but despite the sustained climbing it never felt insecure. The second pitch was sensational, climbing on top of the pillar and climbing steeply up to a mega party ledge to belay, the final pitch was the easiest but was a true adventure pitch weaving a way to the summit behind another pillar with a great crack in the head wall to finish.
Grivel
2pure

www.westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk