East Ridges of Beinn a’Chaorainn & Stob Ban

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Dave A was out with George again today. With some challenging weather and avalanche conditions, they headed to the sheltered East Ridge of Beinn a’Chaorainn. There’s a lot more snow lying next to the road along Glen Spean than in and around Fort William. They noted signs of avalanches in the corries next to the ridge, probably from yesterday and last night’s rain/thaw. They found it hard work to get through the saturated snow pack but George did really well, though the legs may be feeling it now!

Meanwhile on another east ridge, this time on the North Top of Stob Ban, Dave B was with his introductory winter climbing team or Gregor and Richard. They found the approach to be quite tricky, with the streams in spate and again, plenty of saturated snow to wade through. The ridge itself has suffered a bit with the current thaw, although fortunately, it can be climbed in almost any condition, and still give an enjoyable and productive climb. They had the opportunity to look at both pitched climbing lower down and moving together higher up.

A return to cooler conditions tomorrow, which will stay with us up until the weekend at least.

Pink Rib & School House Ridge, Glencoe

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For the past couple of days, I’ve been out on a winter mountaineering course with Alex, Tobias, Jimmy and Greg. With a rather wild forecast (and snow conditions) yesterday, we decided to play it safe, and made an ascent of the Pink Rib on Beinn a’ Chrulaiste in Glencoe. This gave the team a chance to practise cramponning up tricky rocky steps low down and equally tricky ice smears and bulges higher up. The descent down the western flank on the mountain was tough going, with plenty of hard packed snow to have to wade through!

Today, the team led themselves up School House Ridge, above Ballachulish. The current thaw has stripped back quite a bit of snow, particularly on the steeper rocky steps, but the shallower angled sections are still holding on to quite a bit of snow. The snow has firmed up above 850m, and so the final section to the summit of Sgorr Bhan was on the type of consolidated, firm snow that we’ve been longing for for sometime! It was remarkably pleasant on the summit, so much so, that we stopped for lunch up there!

For James and Neil’s final day with Steve yesterday the team took a wander towards Stob Ban in the hope of using the East Ridge of the lower North Top to coach some leading. It was soon obvious the wind had swept allot of the soft snow into the glen and consequently obscured the path. The volume of snow was significantly enough to be wading chest deep and getting nowhere fast. Plan A quickly became B and then even quicker became plan C – a trip to the Ice Factor where the guys enjoyed some steep ice training and plenty of classroom demonstrations on building belays.

Dave A was out with George today, they enjoyed a mountaineering day on the southern flanks of Meall Cumhann in Glen Nevis. Again, a good and safe option considering the recent conditions.

Dave B was also on School House Ridge today. He was running the first day of a winter climbing course with Gregor and Richard.

999, Gearr Aonach

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It was a team West Coast Mountain Guides adventure on the West Face of Gearr Aonach today, with both Ken and Steve taking their teams up the two variations of the atmospheric and often overlooked 999.

Ken and Cammy took the left-hand variation, which takes a direct line, straight up a steep chimney groove, and over a number of chock-stones. The lower pitch could do with a bit more consolidation, but the upper two pitches were much better, offering secure axe placements when needed.

For Cammy, whilst this was a step up in terms of difficulty to his previous climbs, he adapted well to the steeper and more technical climbing. For the record, 999 is probably closer to IV,5/6 rather than the III it’s given in most guidebooks.

Steve, Neil and James climbed the first pitch behind Ken and Cammy before breaking right up a nice grade III gully. The snow wasn’t quite bonded enough for good axes so a delicate and sometimes determined approach was needed to make upward progress. All in all a fine day to be out in the Highlands!

Snow Keeps on Coming!

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(Steve): I have just spent two days instructing Allan and Fergus. Yesterday we swam our way upto North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor which was a lesson in itself. I find there are times to work like a dog and others to stay calm and in control, even though I ploughed as hard as my legs would allow it still took nearly 3 hours to get to the foot of the chimneys. We then settled in for three great pitches of thoughtful climbing on old snow and neve before two long abseils back down again. A nice first grade IV for the pair and a proper winters day out.
Today we targeted a few holes in Fergus and Allans climbing experience by heading to the ice factor for some coaching. There were lots of opportunity to progress skills and improve climbing efficiency, hopefully it’ll stay with the pair for more winter adventures to come.

With so much snow getting to winter climbs is proving to be a bit tricky at the moment, and so Ken and Cammy opted to climb on Gearr Aonach in Glencoe, where they climbed a variation of the Zig-Zags Direct before descending a very snowy Zig-Zags. A couple of other teams were lower down on the Zig-Zags but with the sheer volume of snow they chose not to push on up onto the ridge of Gearr Aonach.

Www.WestCoast-MountainGuides.co.uk

East Ridge, North Top, Stob Ban

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Ken: Fortunately, last night’s snowfall didn’t quite reach the Highlands, as we certainly don’t need any more snow for the time being! Cammy and I waded our way up to the East Ridge of the North Top of Stob Ban, and as the lower buttress looked easier to reach, we started our climbing there. This gave a few short but interesting pitches of about grade III climbing, before gaining the main ridge above.

With the sheer volume of snow, some of the difficulties were completely buried, but at least the turf was completely frozen throughout. Cammy enjoyed the climbing, and on topping out, we decided to head up to the summit of Stob Ban, before descending the north ridge.

It turned out to be a pleasantly social day up there, as we were joined by Alan, Barry and David. They were a little late to the trail breaking party first thing this morning, but helped towards the end of the route, and put in a track down the north ridge.

Quartzvein Scoop, Beinn Udlaidh

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Ken: Today was my final day with Lukas, and with heavy overnight snow, we decided to head to Beinn Udlaidh, in search of some ice to climb. Things weren’t looking overly promising on our drive south, as heavy drifting snow was causing lorries to struggle on the A82, and the road along Glen Orchy looked impassable. Fortunately, we were able to access the glen from the A85 with no trouble.

Beinn Udlaidh has a fairly short and direct approach, and we were soon gearing up at the base of Quartzvein Scoop. The ice was quite varied in places, with by far and away the best stuff to be found on the left edge of the scoop.

Ice is forming quickly up there, with the majority of routes in the vicinity not far off being climbable. However, getting along Glen Orchy could be the biggest challenge, with the amount of snow falling, at the minute.

Don’t be too fooled by the blue skies in the picture below, the wind and visibility were constantly changing!

Twisting Gooves, Raeburns & Micro Rib

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(Steve): I met Matt and Dave in Glencoe this morning as the plan was to head upto Stob Coire nan Lochain. Matt wasn’t feeling too well and so we lowered the aspirations a little and climbing Raeburns Route which had good turf but plastered in unhelpful crusty snow on the initial pitch. The overnight rain had reached the summits so the crags were quite dark first thing, thankfully the temperatures dropped like a hammer through the day and by the top pitch the snow was beginning to firm up nicely.

Ken was also in the corrie with Lucas they climbed Twisting Grooves, which was in excellent condition, with solid turf all the way. After finishing that, they descended Broad Gully and climbed Micro Rib, which lies in the middle of Forked Gully. They took a fairly direct line, sticking as close to the crest as possible. This gave a fairly sustained and interesting climb of two pitches at grade IV,5, which culminated in a short and very narrow snow ridge.

North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

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Both Steve and I headed to North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor today. He was out with David, and I, again, with Lukas. Knowing that the weather at some point was going to turn, we had a fairly early start, with plan A to get the main pitches climbed and then to abseil back down the route.

As it transpired, the weather was remarkably calm during the climb, so much so, that we decided to push on to the summit of Stob Dearg. Even once on the summit, the winds were fairly calm, although a couple of healthy gusts on our descent to the rim of Coire na Tulaich reminded us not to drop our guard.

Back in the Fort now, and the rain and wind has definitely kicked up a notch or three.

Conditions on the route were ok, but the current thaw is starting to take its toll on the snow. That said, it’s still very wintry up high, and will cool back down early tomorrow morning, which will also bring with it plenty of fresh snow. This should bring with it some great climbing conditions later this week.

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Taxus Direct Finish and West Buttress, Beinn an Dothaidh

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Ken: I was out today with Lukas, who has made the journey (for the second winter running) all the way from Germany to get stuck into some Scottish winter climbing. Plan A was to base ourselves on Skye for a few days, but with strong winds on the cards (more so for there than around Fort William), we decided to base ourselves here, and make the most of what the West Highlands have to offer, given the rather turbulent weather forecasts!

To kick things off, we ventured south, to Beinn an Dothaidh, where we climbed Taxus, with it’s Direct Icefall Finish, and West Buttress. The first couple of pitches up Taxus were fine, but the ice on the direct finish was a bit on the cruddy side. Not enough to spoil the climbing though!

We then descended West Chimney and traversed over to West Buttress, which with its turfy climbing on an exposed rising traverse, made for a nice contrast to Taxus.

Very quiet in the corrie today, with only one other team who also climbed Taxus.

If you fancy being guided on a classic winter climb, such as Taxus, get in touch!
www.westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk

Intruder

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(Steve): Well it wasn’t the route Rich Parker, Iain Murray and I came for but Intruder (VI,7) was a superb plan B. Great climbing up the crux corner followed by a brilliant top pitch saved the day. Stob Coire nan Lochain is in prime condition, cracks clear of ice yet everything frozen in place. Others on Chimney Route, Dorsal Arete and Raeburns Ordinary.