Mountain Diary and Conditions

Today brought with it a deterioration of the weather, with milder and wetter conditions than of late. I was out with Conrad, who was looking to climb something slightly trickier than Ledge Route, which we did a couple of seasons ago. He's also in training for Mont Blanc, which he'll be tackling later this year. With all this in mind, we decided to go high and so ventured round to the summit ribs on the West Face of Aonach Mor, which start at approximately 900m.

Golden Oldie had lost a fair bit of snow, but we still donned crampons quite early on, as the turf was still well frozen and there were still large patches of snow to cross. The rocky sections were devoid of snow. Conrad enjoyed the route and found it to be a fair bit trickier and more exposed than Ledge Route.

Meanwhile, on Ben Nevis, Hannah was out with Rob and Joe. They made an ascent of the highest mountain in the UK via the Carn Mor Dearg Arete. They encountered a fair bit of wet snow, which will turn solid once the temperatures drop. They didn't require the use of crampons up there today. The winds remained fairly steady, with little in the way of gust and didn't impede their progress at all.

I was back on Ben Nevis today, this time with Clay, who had an ascent of Ben Nevis via Tower Ridge on his tick list before heading back to the States.
With all the fresh snow we've had recently, an ascent of Tower Ridge was never going to be easy, but we followed a pair up to the approach of the Little Tower before taking the lead. The going was quite tough at times, but all this fresh snow has made some sections a little easier.

Some sections of the Little Tower and the Eastern Traverse were banked out with soft snow, and the Fallen Block Chimney was still a chimney, with some helpful snow in the back to aid progress. The traverse of Tower Gap was atmospheric as always! On topping out, we visited the summit. Not a bad introduction to Ben Nevis for Clay!

Unfortunately, the clouds descended whilst we were climbing, so we didn't get much in the way of views, but with light winds and plenty of snow, it's hard to complain!

Just a reminder that we have a space on a grade III/IV guided week 11-15 February £730, so please get in touch if you're interested!
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For James and Neil's second day, we decided that a classic route on Ben Nevis was in order, and so made an ascent of Castle Ridge.

The day started off quite cloudy and with a bit of drizzle low down it felt very different to yesterday. As we reached the start of the ridge, the drizzle had turned to snow, but the freezing level had clearly risen through the night, as the snow lower down was quite dense. This will be firming up well as I type, as the temperatures have already dropped back down. The snow higher up will still be soft and aerated, as it has remained below freezing above 1000m.

Neil and James led themselves up the lower part of the ridge, as we looked at being active with the rope and using the terrain to increase security. I then took over once we reached the first crux. We took in a couple of small variations on the way up to the second crux, which Neil and James both made short work of.

As we ascended, the weather improved, and we were again treated to some brilliant views during our descent.

It's been a great couple of days with two enthusiastic and motivated winter climbers.

For the fifth and final day of our Introduction to Winter Climbing Course, we decided to go for a classic route on Ben Nevis; Castle Ridge.

With absolutely no chance of any avalanches coming down from either of the Castle Gullies, we were able to take a direct approach, which is much easier than it appears from a distance. This makes Castle Ridge one of the most accessible routes on Ben Nevis.

There’s quite a bit of ice low down on the route, but of varying quality, however, the turf is well frozen. The snow is still quite soft throughout, making some sections, particularly higher up a little awkward underfoot. That said the climb was excellent as always and enjoyed by all.

That finishes five very varied days on the first Introduction to Winter Climbing Course of the season. No sign of this cold weather easing, and looks like we could see some more snow early next week.

Just a reminder that we have a space on our 5 Day Winter Mountaineering Course, 28 Jan – 1 Feb. If you fancy learning how to tackle grade I & II gullies and ridges safely, then get in touch.

http://51.38.64.114/courses/winter-mountaineering-course-scotland/

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, our Introduction to Winter Climbing Course team of John, Jim and myself made an autumnal ascent of Curved Ridge on Buachaille Etive Mor. Whilst enjoyable, there wasn't much to suggest it was winter.

Today was completely different, with plenty of fresh snow falling and being blown about. We made our way round to the Summit Ribs of Aonach Mor, where we climbed Golden Oldie, one of the best grade IIs in Scotland. The snow continued to fall whilst we were climbing and coupled with the wind, it all felt very wintry. There were some fairly substantial accumulations either side of the ridge, and we went over to have a look into the East Face, where the cornices were forming nicely.

Many north and east facing gullies will be hard work with all this fresh snow, and with quite cold and settled conditions over the next few days, it looks like very little will change.

We've still got one space on both our Introduction to Winter Climbing Course and Winter Mountaineering Course, both running 28 Jan – 1 Feb, so please get in touch if you would like to learn how to tackle graded Scottish winter climbs safely.