NW and Cairngorms conditions.

We've had quite a lot of new snow this past week in the NW and the Cairngorms. Ski touring on the tops in the Gorms and places like Ben Wyvis are again now pretty good.

Ive been working in various places in the NW, many of the easy gullies whilst full of snow are a bit of a wade at the moment. The brief sudden thaw event coming Wednesday will give a significant avalanche danger increase but when it freezes again after that conditions should be excellent with firm consolidated snow abound.

The turf is still not great mind, the larger pieces are not fully frozen, but may be better above 900m.

NW and Cairngorm conditions

Ive been at various locations in the NW this past few days and am enjoying a rest day after 10 days on the trot before i start up again. We have suffered warm and wet conditions these past 2 weeks in the Highlands, but last night we had fresh snow down to 200m and it is much colder. I would think that the turf under the new snow will still be soggy mind.
I was in the Northern Corries on Monday and noted that the freezing level was above the top of the crag (the forecast was wrong) and the turf wasn't frozen. Careful route choice is important.

Ben Nevis

The predicted heavy and persistant rain at all levels today was only partly accurate. The rain only started in earnest at about 10am and could have been heavier. It was however raining at the summit and was several deggrees above freezing on the top.

Chris was hoping for some steep ice but as every thing wasstreaming with water we opted for the safety of Thompson's Route on No3 gully buttress. I thought it good training for the waterfall pitch on the Eiger!

Indicator wall was climbed yeaterday but was very thin. I was told (but didn't see for myself as it was misty all day) that Point 5 has a couple of holes in the first pitch. Tower ridge was climbed today also.

No one was on anything hard today and the hill was generally quite quiet.

I'm in the N.W. for the next couple of days but may move about depending upon the conditions.

NW conditions

Ive been on the North side of Glen Sheil and into Glen Afric for the past couple of days. The corries that face North are holding snow and the easy gullies are mostly complete.

The freezing level came down last night to summit level and fresh snow fell to 800m last night and today. The ground is still deep frozen up high but its outer layer is soggy.

I'm in the NW and on the Ben for the next few days so will post updates when i'm home.

NW and Cairngorms

Ive been working in the NW and Cairgorms recently, the conditions are pretty poor with major snow loss in all area. The N.w is still holding patches and several easy gully lines but all the ice on liatach etc will be gone.
All the major gully lines in the norther corries are complete and saw traffic today from the International meet at glemmore lodge. I'm sure they will drink the place dry this week , but we may get a freeze and snow at the end of the week and some snow, so a similar pattern to 2 years ago at the meet.
I'm in the NW for the next few days and will be away from the PC probably but will hopefully get an update at the weekend and report what the latest weather event has resulted in.
The only pictures i have are of cloud and mist and soggy snow, so I'm not going to bother uploading just now!

NW conditions update

The ice lines on Liatach such as Poachers and Umbrella falls etc have had ascents recently and the conditions are retorted as good.
There is a healthy amount of snow in the NW but no where near as much as in the Cairngorms where a party trying to get into the Dubh Loch (near Lochnagar) a few days ago gave up les than a km from the car park.
I was again on An teallach yesterday. We left the car park just after 6am where it was -3 and snowing. By 9am at 950m it was above freezing and raining heavily. The snow was /is undergoing a period of consolidation (which is needed) and instability at the moment. We witnessed several spontaneous avalanches release, one going right past the spur we were on. We turned around and walked back to the road, noting a loss of snow at valley level in the 6 hours since we left the car.
Instead we went for a look at the 'Corrie Shealach gorge' (Sorry Donald i don't know how to spell this!). This is a low level ice fall venue, have a look at the video.
The thaw will continue for a few days, the snow loss will be more in the NW and West so for the next few days the Cairngorms will be the best option where it will be cooler. The ice should be uber fat when the freeze comes (if it doesn't wait too long).

N W conditions

With the turf frozen before the snow came conditions up in the North West have been excellent this week.
We had snow fall down to sea level yesterday and there is a very healthy covering all the way up the mountains.
The usual ice falls are starting to form up (poachers etc) but are still a bit thin for the guidebook grade.
Here is a short video of An Teallach where i was yesterday.

Skiing in the Alps

I've spent the last week or so using my Alpine Ski Leader qualification to guide groups of skiers in the 3 valleys; Courcheval, Meribel and Val Thorens.

We didn't do every run in the 3 valleys but came quite close! The weather was fantastic with a large dump of fresh snow just before i got out and blue skies all week. There is substantially more snow than the seasonal average out there and they are predicting a long season ahead.

Back in the Highlands I've just seen snow flakes falling outside my window and it is looking like it will be a great week of climbing ahead.

Due to a last minute cancellation i have good availability this week and the weekend for last minute bookings. Get in touch for more info.

North West on Monday

Mark and i tried to go back into the Northern Corries on Monday but the ski road was shut and we were told that it was unlikly to open on Monday.

So we drove north to the North West and after a second breakfast we had a very late start on Sgorr Ruadh. We started climbing at about 2.30 and changed the focus of the day to night navigation! Mark and i climbed a probable new route 'To late to Tango' at about IV, 5. The turf wasn't great as it was buried by heavy snow but it improved the higher up the mountain we went.

Cairngorms on Sunday

I went to the Cairngorms again on Sunday intend on more performance mixed climbing coaching. The ski road was closed in the morning but opened after 9.

We went in Sneachda and found the buttress climbs to be very buried and concerned about avalanches we opted for a route on Mess o Pottage. We did Honeypot and noted another team on Messenger. A team was on Doctors Choice area but otherwise many teams turned back and it was a quiet day.

A new website

Well, in celebration of the fact that http://www.highmountaineering.com/ version 1.0 is up and running now it seems that I'm rewarded with a temperature rise of 9deg C this morning! I've been working on this for the past few weeks to launch in time with the publishing of my latest article in CLIMB magazine about Performance Winter Climbing. There is a section in the site about the Coaching i offer in regards to improving performance http://www.highmountaineering.com/index.php?id=125

There is also an articles section on the site which i will update every week or so with a new piece. http://www.highmountaineering.com/index.php?id=93

Update your book marks!

There was significant snow up high above about 600m 24 hrs ago in the North West, but some warm rain fell in the night and with high winds and pretty solid cloud cover i wouldn't expect the lapse rate to be too significant and would expect the snow to have gone soggy.

However, it is due to get colder on Friday and with stormy weather and rapid thaw freezes then North West ice should grow in the drainage lines up high.

I'm out this weekend doing more performance mixed climbing coaching and will report back. I have availability next week till Saturday for short term bookings but am not available the week after.

In the mean time have a look at the new site, if there are any glaring mistakes please email me and tell me! I know that in many places an apostrophe has been replaced by a question mark and am trying to hunt these gremlins down!

Lastly, a HUGE thank you must go to Geoff Neill for the design and building of the site. If you want a site built, get in touch and I'll pass your details on, he is fantastic and even managed to get a Luddite like me to get stuck in.

Mixed climbing coaching in the Northern Corries

Ive been spending far too much time staring at a PC developing the new website ready for next week (hopefully!) so was relieved to get out for a day today.

Today Phil and I went into Sneachda with a focus on coaching for advanced mixed climbing. We chose the line of Stirling bomber for this and found excellent turf and great winter conditions. The corrie was quiet with a party on Messenger, several mooching about Red gully area and other easy gullies and a party on Fluted Buttress direct i think. Several cannon balls of rock came from the fluted buttress area that were incredibly close to a winter skills party below.

There is some slab build up in the corrie high on the slopes and is resting on an old icy layer of snow. There will probably be an instability period tomorrow with the rising temp and then hopefully some consolidation.

Strathconon Ice

Sam, Myles and i went up Strathconon today to try some more of the low level ice. We didn't get up the intended new line as there wasn't as much ice as i was hoping for (the hills were quite dry before the freeze came) and at an altitude of 400m or so was significantly warmer. I was a few metres shy of easier ground when i bottled it and reversed the climb as the ice wasn't good enough to lower off.

Instead in the late afternoon we went to climb "the Strathconon experience" which is a rarely formed ice line in a big stream coming off the hillside It faces NW and at an altitude of about 150m it was a perfect choice for the temp inversion (NH 274 510 and page 383 in the Northern Highlands Central guide. This still has a lot of water running on each of the steep sections but was very good to climb. It had 4 steep sections with sections of walking inbetween on top of the frozen stream bed hoping not to fall into the deep pools! Picture above is of the first pitch, video below is of the last pitch.

It was only -4c last night in Conon Bridge as the cloud rolled in and prevented the temp dipping. It should be another cold one tonight though. I'm planning on a nice we walk tomorrow until the bad man who will be banging on the inside of my skull goes away.

NW update

Ive been poking about looking at some low level places these past few days, with overnight temps of -7c this past two nights and -4c on Saturday night the more unusual low level venues are worth a look.

I went for a walk up Ben Wyvis today with family and friends. The temp inversion is present but it isn't super strong as it is totally frozen up top. However there is no snow and only patchy old cover on ridges and shaded slopes in the NW. Have a look at the video and photo which shows the hills from the Fannachs to An Teallach.

Christmas and NY conditions

Season greetings to you all!

I hope Santa brought you some nice shinny axes to play in the snow with. The temperature inversion began last night, although i suspect it is not yet very strong. There is snow in the easy gullies is the Cairngorms and conditions in them are great. The buttress climbs are still quite dry though and that situation is matched in the NW.

I'm working hard on the new website at the moment and hope to get it launched within 2 weeks. I am quite challenged with the technology, but Geoff is doing amazing job at talking me through it. If you need to get in touch to discuss some dates for guiding or instruction before it goes live, give me an email on highmountaineering@gmail.com

Northern Corries report

Had a day out with Martin today in Lochain. Sneachda was totally black of the bits we saw. Lochain was a bit better but there is nothing on No1, No2 was better with a party on one of the IV's there and only bits of No3 and 4 were ok. We climbed bulgy which was very verglassed and choaked in the off width with unhelpful snow and ice which needed to be cleared to get round the roofs. All the cracks were verglassed but there was no rime to speak off. It doesn't look like this will change for the next few days.

A Kinlochleven party climbed y gully right hand and the snow in the gullies was a joy to climb. We walked down the coliour which has filled in nicely and didn't find any slab in the corrie that could cause concern.

Loch Avon conditions and a New Route

Phil Ashby and I went in to the Loch Avon basin yesterday hoping to climb ice. I thought that Cascade right and left would be fat but they proved not to be. It looks like they were fatter a couple of days ago but have been eaten by the sun. There was water running behind the falls. They may improve over the next few days though with cold temperatures and cloudy days.

Instead we climbed a probable new line on Stag Rocks, an as yet unnamed IV,6 120m line. It had 3 steep sections, two of which were vertical for short sections (see pictures above).

There wasn't much ice in Sneachda, but Alladin's Mirror direct is forming up and could probably be climbed by the brave. It should continue to grow in the next few days. We didn't see any ice on Sticil face unfortunately and after a pleasant lunch climbed the best but of ice on Hell's Lum based on Brimstone grooves but it was a bit more V than IV at the moment as it wasn't very thick in a few places but should get thicker in the next few days also. The Chancer isn't there yet.

Another party of 3 climbed the grade III Hells Lum and did very well to swim the cornice by the looks of things.

Have a look at the videos below.

Still lots to do in the NW

I went with Roger today to a crag on the side of Slioch just over loch Marie. It was 1 degree at the car park and a gentle thaw occured today but it then began to freeze hard again as the sun went down. We climbed a new route, grade unsure could be a contender for a III,6.

The good conditions look to be lasting well into the weekend.

Strathconon Conditions

Went for a walk yesterday up one of my local glens to check out the conditions. Picture is of the hills above Strathconon. There is snow down to valley level, exposed turf is great but buried isn't. No surprise there really. More snow fell today. The low level ice falls weren't there yet, it is predicted to be -8 here tonight so they could be good on Wednesday.

8 inches of snow at Achnasheen today made getting about a bit of an issue. Friends are heading into the NW hills tomorrow, I'm heading out on Thursday hopefully into a trail that they have waded for me!

NW is best (as usual)

James Gordon, Gareth Hughes and I braved the 4 hr walk into Atlantic wall on Slioch. It was -6 when we left the car park at 6am and +1 when we got back (much later).

We swithered around the crag for quite a while deciding what to climb and in the end plumped for Skyline Highway. This is based on a summer HVS and was spicy in places for VI,7. We found that the difficulties depended upon what brand of ice axe you had; I longed for my old Simond Piranhas that could have torqued with the hammer and the adze through the crux no bother!

It snowed heavily for several hours so we missed out on seeing the fantastic views. The turf was pretty good. We opted to abb into the gully on the right side of the crag from the top of Skyline Highway but had to leave the ropes behind when they unaccountably wouldn't pull. If anyone finds them before we go back we'd appreciate them back!

It looks like the conditions will stay good for several days with frozen ground and snow down to 200m lots of things will get done.

NW weather

The cold front arrived late last night and snow fell down to a couple of hundred metres. It was -2 this morning and is +2 just now at sea level.
Friends are climbing on the Eastern Ramparts of Beinn Eighe today (they rang at 9.30 as they got to the corrie and realised that they had forgotten to pack the guidebook!) so i should get a fair idea of what's what from them this evening.
I'm free from Sunday onwards at the moment and it is looking like the cold spell will last till at least Thursday. Get in touch for some last minute guiding, it's looking like the best start to the winter in several years.

***Stop Press***
Further to the Beinn Eighe two story! It seems they are on a new route and are one pitch from the top but not sure where to go! They rang my friend Roger as they were probably too embarassed to ring me back, but Roger rang me anyway. I feel a micky taking text building...

Tuesday in the Cairngorms

Went out today hoping to get into the Loch Avon Basin but Pete's sore knee meant that we opted for an easier day In Sneachda. The corrie had a few parties in it looking into the gloom for routes such ad Fingers Ridge and Pygmy Ridge but the cloud was down all day adding to the rime on the cliffs.

We started up a route on Fiachaell Buttress but found really really thick riming which meant the line we wanted might have been too dangerous as the gear cracks were very verglassed and buried under a foot of rime.

We backed off and did the route Fiachaell Buttress and then the Escapologist (and discovered that the final corner really does need ice if it is to be climbed at the guidebook grade)

The thaw that was heading over from the west came at about 2pm and a fine drizzle fell as we walked home.

If the thaw is not accompanied by rain then there should be lots of ice on the crags when it freezes again. This will make some lines really scary and some really easy. The crux is to find out which line is in which category!

Saturday on the Shelter Stone

We went over to the Loch Avon and found snow down to the loch. The descent down Corie Dohain was fine, the North wind had transported a lot of snow over to it but it was easy to pick out a line down it to avoid the wind slab.

Carn Etchecan was well rimed up and in great condition, Shelter stone less so. The Needle etc wasn't there yet on Saturday. The turf was excellent, it had been very saturated before the big freeze came. Nick, Sam and i opted for a short day and combined Postern with the finish of Clach Dian Chimney so we could get back in time for a dinner party. On Sunday we all recovered with a walk in the snow which fell down to sea level here in Conon Bridge. Reports today from the Cairngorms spoke of a wild minging day! I enjoyed my lie in bed this morning.

It's looking good for the next few days, i hope to get out in the N.W at some stage (if i finish the underfloor heating!)

Northern Corries report

Well, the Cairngorm summit temp data wasn't that promising yesterday with the temp hovering around zero. Unfortunately it stopped transmititng for some unknown reason last night (it still seems to be off line) so as i'm generally an optimist Roger and i went for a look. He wasn't as optimistic as i was (more realist!) and we weren't really in a rush. It was 6 deg when we left the ski car park at 11.15 this morning and it was either as warm or warmer in the corrie which was shrouded in damp mist, thus preventing any real temp gradient with height.

There is snow in many of the gullies and when it re-freezes they should provide good sport on neve. There is some ice growing and if the thaw is short and not accompanied by heavy rain several routes should have ice in the corners which the old school will love and the new school hate!

We didn't do any climbing and went for a coffee. Note that when we looked back to the corries on the walk out they looked significantly blacker an hour later (we had lunch behind a boulder) as a fine drizzle was falling.

Sunday may be OK for the easy gullies and selected mixed climbs but i'm not sure how much riming on the steep routes will occur on Saturday.

3rd ascent of 'The Secret' Ben Nevis

Just heard from one of the first ascensionists that 'The Secret' high up in Corie Na Cieste on Ben Nevis has received its 3rd ascent from Blair Fyffe and Tony Stone, with Tony cruising the big pitch.
What an awesome start to the winter!

Northern Corries Report

Well, i couldn't pesuade Martin Hind (Harpic) to get out of bed early and so left the ski car park at 10am and walked into Sneachda. Heavy deep snow on the walk in but ok in the well established trail.

We thought about doing a few things but the crags were very buried and so just chose to do Belhaven on Fiechale Buttress. Many other routes were done such as the Seam, Invernookie, lots of parties on Fingers ridge and Pygmy ridge, the haston line and the Message. Basically you can see the dots in the images and the Movie bellow. Savage slit had an ascent and was freshly 'hoovered' as was Deep Throat. No sign of an ascent of Fall out Corner though. One brave party was making a mixed ascent of the ice line Patey's route.

Special mention must go to Dave Kerr and partner who left the crowds behind and headed over to an excellent looking Carn Etchechan to make a fast ascent of Guillotine.

The temp went up and then down today. The deep turf on ledges is poor but exposed turf is great. Sunday should be good, then it will be a case of watch the forecast (summit data from the Cairngorm weather station is worth watching). I'm off to North Wales for a few days unfortunately

First report of the winter

Time for this blog to come out of Estivation.

Ok, winter is here in Scotland. This is the best early spell for many years with many areas in good condition, although good route and venue choice are still key.

Lots of reports from the Usual Suspects in the Northern Cairngorms, so I'll gloss over these and talk about the N.W.

Roger Webb and i went into the Flowerdale Forest area south of Loch Maree to an un-named crag about 3.5hrs from the road.

We climbed two new routes, a 130m IV,5 and a more spicy 140m V,6, both as yet un-named.

As Roger said from the top we were able to 'see some of the more remote crags' (!!?) and assess the conditions. Slioch looked good, the Triple Buttress area and Far East Wall on Beinn Eighe didn't look as good. This was confirmed by Viv Scott and Steve Ashworth who climbed a new and as yet un-named VII,8 on the pillar right of Pension Plan on the Fuselage Wall of Beinn Eighe which was the best wintry bit of the crag and was well hored up.

The good conditions may last in some places till the weekend and i may get out on Saturday if i can convince someone to get up at 4am!

Although this blog is dormant at the moment till i finish the web site later this year, i'll make use of it just now to show the pictures of the rock fall from Thursday evening the 5th June. The rock fall was in the vicinity of Terms of enderment and other routes to the right of Paty's Route in Corie an Sneachda in the norther corries.

On the whole i'd say that the area is probably a tad safer now. We both shivered at the thought of some eary season young winter guns jumping on when it wasn't properly frozen as it went last night with barely a touch.

Apologies and Estivation

First of all, sorry for seeming to abandon the posts. I thought that i had put this message up in late April, but although it appeared on my computer it never made it to the blog. Thanks for the email Dave.

Posts will start up again in October with a report on a Himalayan trip and preporation for the winter. In the meantime enjoy the summer; this blog will estivate till it gets cold again.