Winter has returned to the Highlands, sort of. We had fresh snow yesterday and today, but the freezing levels have still remained quite high, so Michael and I headed up to one of the highest crags in Glencoe; Church Door Buttress on Bidean nam Bian. We didn't encounter the fresh snow until about 900m and at that level, it was saturated.

Fresh snow had been blown into Crypt Route, and crampons (and axes) were definitely useful, particularly after the tight exit and round onto the top of the great arch.

The route provided plenty of fun as always, although I sometimes forget how much of a wriggle some of it really is! On reaching the top of the arch, we made the sensational abseil through the hole and back down to the start.

The freezing level is to drop tonight and hopefully, we'll see some more fresh snow along with the cooler temps. Winter's not over yet!

I was on Ben Nevis today, with Daniel, who was on our Advanced Winter Climbing course last week. He's clear got the winter climbing bug, as he was keen to get some more climbing in this week.

We headed up Ben Nevis with a fairly open plan, but on seeing that Thompson's Route was free, we set about climbing it. Conditions on the route were fairly reasonable (if you forget that it's generally an ice route). The turf was frozen and the snow was sticky, helping with crampons placements. The crux was as bare as last week, so again, we by-passed it by an short corner on the right. We joined No. 3 Gully Buttress higher, and took the direct finish, before heading over to No. 4 Gully.

With time on our side, we decided to head up to No. 4 Gully Buttress, which sees very little traffic and climbed a route I've been meaning to climb for a while; Poseidon Groove. This esoteric mixed route is brilliant and well worth a star. The meat of the climbing is in the first two short pitches and takes in a couple of short, steep corners, on good hooks, interspersed with a bit of exposed ledge shuffling. The turf was again well frozen, which was essential. The final 50 meters of the route are very straight forward. It felt like a nice complimentary climb to Thompson's Route.

Other teams on No. 2 Gully, No.2 Gully Buttress, Green Gully (well footsteps leading up to it), the ice on the first pitch of Diana, No. 3 Gully Buttress, Central Gully Right Hand and footsteps leading over to Pinnacle Arete.

For our fourth day, Andrew and I found winter on Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis. We put crampons on at the foot of the Douglas Boulder and required them for the whole ascent. The East Gully of the Douglas Boulder was still complete, the steep pitch out was on bare rock and we were on a fair bit of snow thereafter. In fact, there was more snow on the ridge than a couple of weeks ago.

The Little Tower was still mostly banked out, as was the Eastern Traverse. The Leaning Block Chimney required climbing on the outside, as it was blocked with snow. If you were enthusiastic enough, you could tunnel through the soft snow!

The gangway to the gap was again, covered in snow, although the step into and back out of the gap was on dry rock. The final slopes still had the rain crust from the other day, which was protecting the snow somewhat and preventing it from becoming too saturated.

We popped to the summit before descending No. 4 Gully, at which point, the clouds lifted, revealing a rather spring looking Ben Nevis. Still, Scottish winter is a changeable beast and we should see some cooler conditions early next week.

We still have the following spaces on our courses in March:
*Winter Mountaineering Course 4-8 March -1 SPACE
*Introduction to Winter Climbing Course 11-15 March -1 SPACE
*Winter Mountaineering Course 18-22 March -1 SPACE

Today brought with it a rise in the temperatures, but at least the day started off dry. The great thing about turf is that whilst it can take some time to freeze, once it is frozen, it takes a little while to become soggy again once a thaw sets in. With that in mind, Andrew and I headed to Stob Coire nan Lochan, where we climbed Raeburn's Route. The first pitch takes a series of vegetated grooves and it's essential (for safe climbing, ethics and the environment) that the turf is fully frozen before climbing it.

After testing a few patches of turf low down, I was happy that the turf was still completely frozen, so we continued on up. After the first pitch, the route takes a short ridge that overlooks NC Gully, before disappearing behind a huge pinnacle and gaining a series of ledges to gain the second belay. By the time we were on the third and final pitch, the rain had set-in. A number of short, rocky steps brought us onto the plateau, where we didn't hang about!

Chucky was just behind us on day 2 of our Advance Winter Climbing Course, the only other team climbing up there went to Dorsal Arete. Few hillwalking and skills team on Gearr Aonach.

Just a reminder that we have one space left on our winter mountaineering course 4-8 March: http://51.38.64.114/…/winter-mounta…/

One of the great things about the job that I do is the opportunity to explore new places whilst working, today was one of those exploratory days. I was out with Nick, Allan and Andy for their final day. We've climbed many of the classics, so thought that it was about time to try somewhere different.

I've looked down onto Summit Buttress of Sron na Lairig a few times but it's quite hard to gauge the feasibility or quality of climbing from above, but having stumbled across a blog entry about it on Simon Richardson's Scottish Winter, I thought it would be worth a look.

The approach was a bit awkward as we stayed low and traversed right, above Eilde Canyon, before making our way up. In hindsight, starting up the main ridge of Sron na Lairig, then cutting off right after a little way would have been much easier.

The route itself takes a turfy slab for the first pitch, giving reasonable climbing, before gaining a right trending groove, with a number of steeper icy steps. After passing a final chockstone on the left, the route eases off up to the summit of Sron na Lairig. The rock in the area is very compact, so don't expect too much in the way of gear.

A great job by Nick, Andy and Allan, who all climbed the route well and enjoyed the adventure!