Winter climbing conditions are quite tricky at the moment, with a fairly high freezing level and thin snow cover. Today's forecast didn't help an awful lot, with high winds due to come in at about lunchtime. With all this in mind, Corey and I had an earlyish start and made our way up to Coire nan Lochan, with an ascent of Dorsal Arete (and descent of Broad Gully) as our plan A. The beauty of Coire nan Lochan is that it is fantastically sheltered from the worst of the prevailing winds, although care is required on topping out.

The approach slopes to Broad Gully/Dorsal Arete are still quite awkward, with quite a bit of rock still exposed, but Broad Gully itself is well filled in. We didn't hang around on Dorsal Arete, but made sure we took in the crux fin and a fun, steeper finish, to the left of the normal finish.

On topping out, as expected, the winds made themselves known with the odd, strong gust, so we didn't hang around and descended Broad Gully. We should see quite a bit of snow over the next 24 hours, so fingers crossed, as it's exactly what we need right now!

Outdoor Research
Proagencies

For the past couple of days, I've been out winter mountaineering with Will and Amanda. There's no hiding the fact that things have been rather lean recently, but there is snow in the highest corries and summits.

Yesterday, we made our way up into Coire na Ciste on Ben Nevis to find quite a bit of well-frozen snow (and far more than this time last year I should add). This meant putting on crampons fairly low down and making our way up to No. 3 Gully, from where the pair led themselves up. We then popped over to No. 4 Gully, which we then descended. A few other teams making the most of the colder conditions.

As yesterday drew to a close, there was quite a bit of fresh snow coming down and despite a slight rise in temperatures this morning, there was still a good bit of snow hanging on to Golden Oldie on Aonach Mor today. We looked at moving together and keeping the ropework simple yet safe. It was a pretty wet day, so not one for hanging about! We didn't need crampons today, but an axe was useful.

It looks like we should see wintry conditions from the middle of next week onwards, keep those fingers crossed!

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Proagencies
Outdoor Research

It's been a busy old week, as we kicked off our winter courses this week. I was out with our Winter Mountaineering Course and on Wednesday, we made an ascent of the East Ridge of Beinn a'Chaorainn, which after the dump of snow on Monday night, was in good condition.

On Thursday, the team led themselves up School House Ridge on Sgurr Bhan, above Ballachulish, yesterday, we made an ascent of Ben Nevis via Ledge route and after the obligatory visit to the summit, we descended No. 4 Gully, just as the clouds cleared, giving us some impressive views of the greatest mountain in the world.

Today, I was out with Ezra and we tackled the East Ridge of the North Buttress on Stob Ban. The route was fantastically snowy for this early in the season and gave an atmospheric outing. As the winds picked up, we descended the North Ridge.

It's been a brilliant week and the wintry weather looks to stay with us for a while yet. Keep those fingers crossed!

Proagencies

Steven and I were out on Ledge Route on Ben Nevis today and despite the warmer temperatures of yesterday, there was still a fair bit of water ice on the upper reaches of Ledge Route and once on the plateau, there was plenty of ice and rime ice above 1200m. Indicator Wall is icing up well!

Although we took crampons, we didn't need to use them, although the snow on the mountain path did have an icy crust to it, which will require crampons if the temperatures drop at all.

It was remarkably still on the summit, but the winds did pick up as we were descending the mountain path. The clouds also cleared, giving us some excellent views out west.

Looks like we're due some stormy weather tomorrow…

Proagencies
Outdoor Research

After considering conditions quite carefully, I was happy that Ed and I could enjoy an adventurous yet safe day on the In Pinn and Sgurr Mhic Choinnich in the Black Cuillins on Skye today.

We ascended the West Ridge of Sgurr Dearg, which was largely snow-free, however, from there on, we had to be fairly careful, as there was quite a bit of soft snow sitting on the ledges. The East Ridge of the In Pinn was fine, with just a bit of additional care required from time to time. We then took Murray's By-Pass, to avoid the upper section of the Brown Ramp that cuts beneath An Stac and made our way over to Sgurr Mhic Choinnich.

The ascent of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich was largely as per usual, but the final slabs and ridge required a bit more care than usual. As we descended into Coire Lagan, the sun came out and gave us a nice end to a productive day.

Proagencies