Mountain Diary and Conditions

Welcome to the West Coast Mountain Guides diary and conditions page, which we will update regularly throughout the year.  During the winter, there will be plenty of up-to-date information and reports regarding the latest mixed and ice climbing and mountaineering conditions in the Scottish Highlands, and in particular, on Ben Nevis, Aonach Mor and in Glencoe.  We’ll also be posting accounts of our latest trips, both work and play. 

If you have any up-to-date conditions reports and photos that we can include in our blog, please drop us an email:
info@77.104.174.8

Cuillin Munros Course

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Last week, Guy and I ran a Cuillin Munros Course on the Isle of Skye, something West Coast Mountain Guides have been delivering for a number of years on behalf of Steve Fallon.  The aims of the course are very straight forward: to summit the 11 Munros on the main Cuillin Ridge over 4 days.

With a near perfect weather forecast, and 7 enthusiastic and experienced hillgoers joining us for the course, it promised to be a great week.

We kicked things off with an ascent of the southern three Munros: Sgurr nan Eag, Sgurr Dubh Mor and the highest peak on the Isle of Skye, Sgurr Alisdair.  Whilst on the move, the group practised their scrambling skills, and made short work of the first couple of Munros.  With such good conditions, we also took in the summit of Sgurr Dubh na Da Bheinn en route to Sgurr Alisdair.  The descent of the Great Stone Shoot proved to be the trickiest part of the day, and so with a bit of coaching, everyone’s technique improved as they gained the confidence required to tackle loose and awkward scree, of which there is plenty of on the Cuillin.

On Wednesday, we tackled Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, The Inn Pinn and Sgurr na Banachdich.  There is a rather subtle line of reasonable sized rocks in amongst the loose An Stac screes that we snuck our way up, before we summited Sgurr Mhic Choinnich via it’s west ridge.  From here, we retraced our steps and ascended The Brown Ramp, which cuts beneath An Stac to gain the foot of one of the highlights of the ridge, The Inn Pinn.  The East Ridge of The Inn Pinn, an awesomely exposed but never difficult climb, was pleasantly quiet.  For many of the group, this was their first experience of pitched climbing, and what a great place for it!

Looking north along the Cuillin Ridge

Looking north along the Cuillin Ridge

With slightly tired legs, we opted for a shorter day on Thursday, well, it’s meant to be a shorter day, but with such good weather, basking in the sunshine on both the summits of Sgurr a’ Mhadaidh and Sgurr a’Ghreadaidh seemed to be of high priority, and so we still had a full day, although about half of it was spent stationary!

For our final day, there was nothing for it, but to finish off the Munros on the Cuillin, by heading into Choire a’Bhasteir to tackle Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir and Bruach na Frithe.  There was still quite a bit of snow lying in Choire a’Bhasteir, so having ice axes to hand proved reassuring.  From the Bealach, Guy and his team headed east to ascend the brilliant West Ridge of Sgurr nan Gillean, whilst I took my team up Am Basteir, before swapping routes.   Our final leg took us over to our final Munro, Bruach na Frithe and then back via Fionn Choire.

Everyone did fantastically well, and it was great to see everyone’s skills and confidence grow throughout the week. Make sure that you keep those developing mountaineering skills up!

Guy and I will be starting another Cuillin Munros Course tomorrow, fingers crossed for such good conditions!

Guiding on Skye

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Finally, it feels like summer has arrived!  On the Isle of Skye, it only really materialised this afternoon, but that was enough to get excited about!  I’ve been guiding on Skye this past week, the first half of the week for Moran Mountain, and today a day of private guiding with Les.  Actually, thinking back to Monday, we didn’t visit Skye at all, with a fairly cold and wild day, Mark, Sinclair, Nathan, Martin and myself decided to stay on the mainland and visit the brilliant Raven’s Crag, near Gairloch.

In amongst the squalls and fresh winds, we managed to get a couple of routes climbed and looked at personal abseiling and belays in preparation for the following day, where we ventured to Skye, and battled our way up through hail showers to the Inn Pinn, which was pleasantly sheltered from the worst of the SW winds, and despite there still being plenty of snow lying on the ridge, the East Ridge of the Inn Pinn was ok, I just had to clear a bit of graupel from some of the hand holds.

Wednesday saw us returning to Skye (from Lochcarron).  With another wild forecast and tired legs from the previous day, we decided to stay low, and climbed the easy, but sustained Spur on Sgurr an Fheadian.  This route finishes on the summit of Sgurr an Fheadian, and coupled with a quick descent down scree slopes into Coir a’Mheadaidh makes it a great choice for windy/wet/short days.  We finished the day off with a quick drink in the Sligachan Hotel, a must for any mountaineering trip to Skye!  Unsurprisingly, it was quite busy in there, with plenty of folk taking shelter from the rain.

I was back on Skye today, this time with Les, who has had the Inn Pinn on his radar for the past ten years.  We set off in amongst a few showers, but restrained from donning waterproofs, and sure enough, it paid off, as the rain soon cleared.  Quite a bit of snow had been washed away since Tuesday, and we were able to make our way to the Inn Pinn without the need for an axe.  The rock on the East Ridge was dry, and Les made quick work of the two pitches of moderate climbing, and we soon found ourselves back down again.  Another team were also enjoying the dry rock whilst making an ascent of South Crack.  The skies cleared on our descent to remind us both that Skye really is one of the best spots in the world.

I’m back in Lochaber this weekend for a couple of days of mountaineering, before heading back to Skye next week to run a Munros course.  The weather forecast is looking very promising!

 

 

 

Great conditions on Tower Ridge, Ben Nevis

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Today, Simon and I were treated to some great views of the north face of Ben Nevis this morning on our walk in, with views all the way to the summit.  Unfortunately, the views didn’t hang around all day, but the deteriorating weather did enable Simon to have a taste of more traditional Scottish conditions, for every time he had been up in the past, he had enjoyed good weather.  Lucky chap!

Simon had booked a second day on a 1:1 basis, so that he could push himself, and have a crack at Tower Ridge, one of the finest winter ridge climbs in the UK, so that’s exactly where we headed to.  On our approach, we could see teams on Minus 2 Gully, Orion Face Direct, Orion Directissima, Point 5 Gully and Match Point.  One team also possibly headed round to Zero Gully.

Tower Ridge is as snowy as it has been all winter, and much of that snow has consolidated into firm snow/ice, allowing for solid first time axe placements for much of the ridge. The weather closed in as we made steady progress, obscuring any views, but I did catch a brief glimpse of a team topping out of Tower Scoop.

We topped out into almost white-out conditions, with fresh snow falling, but as we made our way to the summit, the weather did clear just momentarily.  Plenty of wind-blown snow made for a nice descent of the Red Burn, well most the way, the lower reaches are quite bare now.  I was working for Atlas Mountaineering.

I’m off to Skye tomorrow to deliver some ‘summer’ mountaineering this coming week, I wonder if all the snow will have melted by then…

No shortage of snow! Golden Oldie, Aonach Mor

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Please excuse the lack of blogs recently.  Hannah and I were away ski touring in the Ortler Alps, in Italy for a good chunk of this month, so will blog about it when I get the chance.  Generally great conditions, although the weather did deteriorate as the trip progressed.  Still, it was very nice to get plenty of skiing and summits under the belt.

I’m sure that most of you are well aware that winter is not just holding on with the very tips of its fingers, but has its hand firmly clenched around The Highlands, including coastal regions and islands, at the moment.  We’ve had a number of snow showers recently, down to sea level at times.

Today, Simon, Peter and I made the most of the current conditions, and made an ascent of Golden Oldie on the West Face of Aonach Mor. Both Simon and Peter have ambitions to scale higher peaks in the Alps and The Greater Ranges later on this year, and felt that squeezing in a trip up to Scotland would be useful preparation, not to mention fun in its own right.  They both cruised their way up, whilst paying attention to belays and ropework along the way, all of which will prove useful for their future trips.

The recent easterly winds have deposited quite a bit of snow on the Summit Ribs, ensuring good cover throughout.  The turf, particularly where exposed was nicely frozen too.  The gullies running parallel to Golden Oldie are quite laden with snow, and would give great ski descents at the moment, it’s just a shame that the lifts beyond the gondola aren’t running.  The summit plateau of Aonach Mor currently has much more snow on it than it did for all of winter, with the summit cairn only just visible at the moment.  Not another soul beyond the Snowgoose restaurant at the top station.

Looks like quite a bit more snow up high in the pipeline…

Today I was working for Atlas Mountaineering.

Indicator Wall with Intermediate Start, Ben Nevis

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Today was my last scheduled day of winter work, which is rather convenient, as the weather is turning as of tomorrow.  I was working for Abacus Mountain Guides, and out with Peter, who was keen for a classic ice climb on Ben Nevis.  We walked in with an open plan, but knowing that there was a fair amount of awkward crust on a lot of the steeper ice, and on entering Observatory Gully, and seeing teams veer off to Hadrian’s Wall, Point 5, Tower Scoop and Smith’s Route, an ascent of Indicator Wall seemed to make perfect sense.

I did have in the back of my mind that having a look at one of the ice pitches directly below Indicator Wall (Lower Indicator Wall) would be a nice start, however, only the Intermediate Start (as per Godefroy Perroux’s excellent guidebook) was thick enough to climb.  It gave a nice, and quite steep, pitch of ice (a bit cruddy on the surface in places) for starters.

We then crossed the snow slopes to gain Indicator Wall itself, which was in reasonable condition, if again, a bit cruddy on the surface in places, and just required a bit more work to secure tools and feet.  It sounded like folk were experiencing similar conditions on Smith’s Route too.  One of the things I love about Indicator Wall is that it is the highest route in the UK, and tops out metres away from the summit cairn, which is then used as the final belay, much to the intrigue of folk who have walked up the mountain track.

Quite a few folk out making the most of the last good day for a while, with people on Smith’s Route, Tower Scoop, Hadrian’s Wall, Point 5 Gully (not sure what conditions it’s in), Tower Ridge and a fair few heading into Coire na Ciste too.

Do I think winter is over?  I doubt it, the upcoming milder air and rain will strip a lot of the loose snow, of which there is lots, and start to erode the ice,  but there are hints of cooler air sneaking in for the following weekend (http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/avnpanel1.html)…  Temperatures will still remain reasonably low, with the freezing levels hovering just above the summits, so the ice (where thicker) should survive until it cools down again… Time will tell!

Tower Ridge & SW Ridge, Ben Nevis

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Not both today I should add!  Yesterday, I was out with Malcolm and Gill on Tower Ridge.  Fresh overnight snows had transformed large sections of  the ridge into a beautifully sharp crest of snow, which whilst very pretty, was hard work, as much of the snow was unconsolidated.

For Malcolm and Gill, it was a step up from anything they had done on Ben Nevis previously, but they took it in their stride, and enjoyed the full winter experience up there.  Visibility was quite poor for much of the day, but we did spot tracks up and around Tower Scoop.  Voices also heard from around The White Line area.

Today, I was out with Justin, and having driven to look at Buachaille Etive Mor, which was black as the ace of spades (every other surrounding hill had plenty of snow), we hot footed back to Ben Nevis, where we climbed the SW Ridge of the Douglas Boulder, which was still holding a good amount of snow.  It was Justin’s first taste of using his tools in amongst rock, rather than ice, which took a bit of getting used to.  We saw a number of substantial sluffs cascading down Vanishing Gully and surrounding routes.

 

Hannah was also exploring Ben Nevis, with Harry.  They headed up towards Carn Dearg Meadhonach, before skiing into the corrie just north of the East Ridge, before climbing back up the East Ridge, which they reported to be excellent, and following the Carn Mor Dearg Arête round, dropping into Coire Leis, only finally taking their skis off at the CIC Hut.

Soft-shell day: Ledge Route & Carn Mor Dearg Arête

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Whilst southern England was getting battered by storm Katie, we enjoyed quite calm conditions up in The Highlands, so calm in fact that it was one of those rare ‘soft-shell days’, although we did get a few drops right at the end of the day.

I was out with Rob, who rather impressively, flew up last night from London, for a dose of winter mountaineering, before flying back this evening.  Talk about a quick hit!  Having not set foot on Ben Nevis before, he was keen to give the Carn Mor Dearg Arête a go, and with very little persuasion, we decided that to maximise the day we would head up Ledge Route, before taking in the summit of Ben Nevis, and descend via Carn Mor Dearg.

Not as quiet on the mountain today, with a number of teams venturing into both Coire na Ciste and Observatory Gully, however, only us and one other team on Ledge Route today.  The route generally had a good cover of snow, except of a thin patch above the Curtain.  It may be worth staying in No. 5 Gully for a bit longer at the moment, before traversing right to reach Ledge Route.  The rest of the route was very good.

The cloud, whilst thin, was enough to a) not give us too many views and b) trap heat in, so unfortunately, not many views from the summit, despite patches of blue sky.  We then continued round the Carn Mor Dearg Arête , which  had just enough snow on the crest to warrant crampons, although the snow was quite soft.  It did turn a bit wintry for a while during the afternoon, but didn’t last long.

It’s been an action packed 24hrs for Rob, who is now on his way to catch a delayed flight from Glasgow.  He’ll sleep well when he eventually gets home tonight!

Teams on Tower Ridge, SW Ridge, 1934 Route, The White Line and a soloist on Hadrian’s Wall amongst others.  Mixed reports as to how safe approaches were today, with at least one team backing away from routes on Goodeve’s Buttress…

 

Pays to start later! SW Ridge of the Douglas Boulder

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The day started with the rain lashing against the windows, and a thick blanket of cloud lying just a few metres above sea level, however, with a forecast suggesting a huge improvement from about 9ish, Andy, Hazel and I had a leisurely start, which was just as well, as they were therefore able to enjoy their cooked breakfast at the Lime Tree this morning.  By the time we were walking into Ben Nevis, the clouds had already lifted, revealing a very white mountain.

Plan A was the SW Ridge of the Douglas Boulder, which looked nice and white.  There was thin layer of windslab on the approach, but easily penetrable, down to the much older snow beneath.  The ridge was covered in fresh snow, so despite the lack of firm névé, was still very wintry. A bit of care was required with the odd loose block, but generally the climb relies on sinker hooks, and so didn’t require moves using loose blocks to make progress.

Andy and Hazel have mainly climbed ice when out in winter, so had to adapt some of their experiences to make the most of the cracks and tiny ledges for feet, as well as making the odd move with hands rather than axes.

It was eerily quiet on Ben Nevis today, with one team who headed round to NE Buttress, a set of tracks to and from the base of Hadrian’s Wall, one team who headed up to The Cascade and a couple of teams looking at skills in Coire na Ciste.  With the freezing level remaining at 800m or so for the next wee while, the snow will continue to consolidate, and should give good climbing conditions this week… Winter continues!

Another successful CIC Hut Week, Ben Nevis

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Over the past five days, Stu and I have been running our second CIC Hut Week of the season.  Being based in this alpine hut allows us unparalleled access to some of the finest winter climbs in the UK, and we certainly made the most of what turned out to be quite reasonable conditions and weather, even if visibility wasn’t great at times.  We were joined by Tom, Tim, Andy and Danny for the week.

On Monday, and to kick the week off, we all made an ascent of Tower Scoop, before Andy, Danny and myself climbed Indicator Wall, topping out on the very summit of Ben Nevis and using the summit cairn as the final belay.  The ice was in very good shape, if a little thin in a couple of patches on the first pitch, the second and third pitch were brilliant.  Stu, Tim and Tom climbed Good Friday Climb that afternoon, and also reported good conditions.

On Tuesday, we decided to go for a team ascent of Hadrian’s Wall Direct, which felt like a reasonable progression from the day before.  Tim had to disappear down to Edinburgh for the day, leaving Tom and I to climb the route as a pair, whilst Stu guided Andy and Danny.  The first couple of pitches were a bit damp, but conditions improved quickly with height.  Getting a sharp start ensured that we were ahead of the crowds, and found ourselves topping out in the sunshine, above thick cloud, before midday.  With plenty of time left, Tom and I abseiled into Tower Gully, and back into the murk, before finding our way to the base of Smith’s Route, which we then climbed.  Again, from about halfway up the second (main) pitch, we popped out above the clouds again.  The Icicle Variation was looking a little soft, however, the Original Route sported great ice throughout.  The summit was busy with plenty of climbers enjoying perhaps the only place in the Western Highlands to be in the sunshine.

Wednesday brought with it low lying cloud, so Tim, Tom and I headed into Coire na Ciste and up to a grade III lick of ice below and left of Raeburn’s Easy Route.  We climbed this, before making our way to the foot of the impressive icefall of The Cascade.  The ice on The Cascade was generally good, with a couple of more brittle patches low down, and some thinner patches towards the top.  Not sure why it gets the grade of IV,5 as it’s probably more sustained than the main pitch of Smith’s Route.  We then continued up the icy grooves of Expert’s Choice, of which the final pitch was particularly good.  We then descended back into Coire na Ciste via an abseil into No. 3 Gully.  Stu, Danny and Andy meanwhile, also enjoyed Smith’s Route and Good Friday Climb.

With a stormy start to Thursday, and with forecasts hinting at an improvement later in the morning, we opted for a 10.30am start, and made a team ascent of Green Gully.  Our late start paid off, with a marked decrease in both wind speed and precipitation.  The stormy weather had deposited a fair bit of fresh snow in the the corries, and particularly in the gullies, and so to avoid any avalanche hazards, we descended the Red Burn, and walked back via halfway Lochan and beneath the north wall of The Castle.  Nice to stretch the legs as well as the arms!

For our final day, with the wind speeds due to increase at midday, we started early, and again, stuck together, and made a swift team ascent of Tower Ridge, which was in great condition, with good snow cover throughout.   The winds started to increase as we topped out, and by the time we were enjoying lunch in Whetherspoons in Fort William, the weather had deteriorated quite a bit.

That’s it for our CIC Hut Week Courses this season, they’ve both been great fun, with good conditions and very enjoyable company.  Between the four teams over the two weeks, we’ve been able to climb plenty of brilliant routes, including: Cresta Direct/Moonwalk, Minus Two Gully, North East Buttress, The Curtain, Tower Ridge, Observatory Buttress, Orion Face Direct, Hadrian’s Wall Direct, Smith’s Route, Tower Scoop, Good Friday Climb, Indicator Wall, The Cascade, Expert’s Choice, Green Gully and Vanishing Gully.

Provisional dates for our CIC Hut Week long courses for next year are:

5-10 March 2017
19-24 March 2017

Don’t forget that we can also arrange private guided days based out of the CIC Hut too.  Please get in touch for further information.

Above the clouds on Tower Ridge, Ben Nevis

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If you were in Fort William today, you would have spent most of the day under a grey sky, however, it was a very different world up on Ben Nevis today.  The day did start off quite clear, but soon, the clouds rolled in, filling the glens, however, Ricky and I, along with almost everyone else on Ben Nevis today managed to remain above the clouds for much of the day and enjoyed yet another day of sunshine and views for miles around, although today very few peaks were poking through the thick band of cloud.

We climbed Tower Ridge in little more than softshells and a base layer.  The route has lost a lot of snow over the past week, but what is left, which is still significant, is bullet hard in places, and crampons were worn throughout.  The exit from Douglas Gap, most of the steeper steps on the Little Tower and Tower Gap were largely dry.

We had good views of climbers in Observatory Gully, Hadrian’s Wall, Smith’s and Tower Scoop were seeing a fair bit of traffic, Indicator Wall had one team on it, who were linking up the normal start with the second pitch of the R/H variation.  A team were on the second pitch of Point 5 Gully, but were seen retreating a little while later.  Tower Gully is steep at the top, but is being used in both ascent and descent, although care required, as a slip here would be bad news.

In Coire na Ciste, Tim was out with Martin.  They climbed Green Gully, and reported good conditions and no crowds either.  A team were in Glover’s Chimney, and seemed to be bombarded occasionally with falling ice.

Hannah and Steve were also enjoying being above the clouds with their group of 10 on the Carn Mor Dearg Arete. The crest is fairly bare of snow now, and the group didn’t need to use crampons until the final slopes up to the summit of Ben Nevis, which is now a meter higher, and stands at 1345m due to a recalculation carried out by Ordnance Survey.

Looking across from the CMD towards the north face of Ben Nevis

Looking across from the CMD towards the north face of Ben Nevis

Finally, Mark was out delivering a day of crevasse rescue and expedition skills to James and Rosy.  They were on Stob Coire nan Lochan today.

I’m off for our second CIC Hut Week tomorrow, fortunately things are looking to turn a bit more wintry, so it’s looking like a promising week ahead.  I’ll not blog through the week, but will post regular updates on our Facebook page.