Ken and Ryan headed south today to Beinn an Dothaidh. Without the pressure of other teams, they first decided to climb up the crest of the small cone shaped hillock, mentioned in the approach desription in the guidebook. This gave a surprisingly good 40m pitch of abut III,4. They then continued into the cloud and up to the main crag, where they climbed Cirrus. The ice on the first couple of ice falls wasn’t brilliant, but good enough to climb, but not without needing to throw a few shapes.

With a bit of coaching from Steve; Chris and Michael led themselves up East Ridge of North Top Stob Ban. They strung 5 pitches out swinging leads which resulted in a gradual progression to becoming an efficient team. Great weather overall with super views and very little snow and wind throughout the day.

Today marked the start of our March intro and advanced climbing courses. Steve was out with Michael and Chris, their aim to become competent and independent winter climbers. They kicked things off by climbing the zigzags on Gearr Aonach, taking time to look at rock anchors, moving together and abseiling; all foundation skills which will be used throughout the week.

Ken is running the advanced climbing course with Ryan. Over the years Ryan has climbed a number of classic and esoteric routes with Ken. With the very low temperatures over the past week due to come to an end, they made an ascent of No. 6 Gully on the West Face of Aonach Dubh; which when in condition, gives a great ice climb with a fantastic crux pitch. The surface of the ice was starting to show signs of the slow thaw, but the ice was still completely solid underneath. The climb should still be ok for the the next few days, as the freezing level looks to stay just below the base of the route, but with different forecasts predicting different freezing levels, a cautious approach is required.

Other West Coast Mountain Guides climbed Raeburns Easy Route and Deep Cut Chimney.

Above us, Niels took Meirion up Vanishing Gully. This was Meirion’s first grade V route, so a great way to finish his five days up here. We then followed Niels and Meirion, by also making an ascent of Vanishing Gully. The crux pitch, whilst steep, has great hooks and footholds all the way up the steepest section. The peg belay, however, is not so great, and definitely needs backing up with ice screws.

It’s been a great week up at the hut, and despite some rather windy conditions, we’ve managed to duck and dive and have climbed some interesting routes, both classic and esoteric, all over the mountain. A huge thanks to Graham, Ivo, Pete, Meirion and Niels for putting in heaps of effort and enthusiasm throughout the week!

Our two CIC Hut teams had another great day on Ben Nevis, with Niels and his team climbing Tower Ridge, which is currently in excellent condition, with icy variations possible.

I climbed Observatory Buttress with Pete and Ivo. The initial pitch was quite thin in places, but perfectly climbable, and the ice a bit brittle until after the crux steeping. There after, the ice was excellent. We were greeted with clear views from the summit, which were, as always, most welcome. Plenty of teams enjoying Point 5, Orion Direct, Zero Gully and one team on Rubicon Wall.