General conditions update

Thankfully the freezing level came down below the summits on Tuesday evening (Tuesday was a double water proof day on the hill and my boots took two days to dry!). It was hovering around Munro height when I was out last weekend in the northern cairngorms and the snow in the easy gullies was good and the snow under ski for touring was also but the visibility was terrible on Sunday and I had my fill of White out skiing.
The snow was firm on An Teallach on thursday but there had been significant snow loss since last Wednesday.
Last night it froze down to sea level and we had fresh snowfall in the Fannaichs and Strathconon bringing the mixed routes back in I would guess.
I'm in the cairngorms this weekend and possibly the nw next week so I will try and be more blog friendly as it is easy to slack off when busy.
Right, better go firewod doesn't chop itself to quote she who must be obeyed.

An Teallach and New Routes

The freezing level has been hovering about above and near to munro level till Tuesday where it finally lowered in the NW. Monday and Tuesday gave new snowfall to the hills and they now look wintery again. The snow is thicker and a bit lower over the Fannachs and Ben Wyvis than the west coast side of the NW.

The turf was frozen on the summits but had thawed out below that, however things are better now with the night time valley temperatures going below freezing. There is talk of a temperature inversion but i haven't seen it yet.

An Teallach has been quiet. A part was in before me at the weekend in Hayfork gully where the snow low down was soft and laborious but firm and good at the upper half of the gully. Conditions were better in Glas Tholl than Tholl and Lochain. The pictures show Martin Hind and Owen Samuals on a very nice looking new VI on Hayfork gully wall. Martin did tell me the name but i must apologise and say i have forgotten what he said (something to do with the feeding of horses?). I was on grade 1 ridges and gullies for most of the time but managed a short new III,5.

Ice Climbing on Beinn Bhan

Yesterday i was quite surprised when driving in the early morning to Beinn Bhan on the Aplecross peninsular to find 4 inches of fresh snow on the road. Quite a lot of new snow fell on Saturday night but walking in to the corries wasn't to bad at all. Plan A was to be Silver Tear, but it was not there yet, Plan B was to go into the Giants wall corrie but we had concerns about the upper slopes that were to the lee of the wind so we went for the fall back option of March Hare's Gully which topped straight out on the ridge. There was some windslab in the upper section of the gully and we exited rightwards up broken rocky ground just to be sure.

I hope to be out this week again before the big thaw comes at the end of the week. Fingers crossed for the re-freeze.

Northern Cairngorms Climbing

Today was a lovely, sunny if bitterly cold (-10c on top) day. The wind has moved round to the West / NW and continued to move lots of snow about, some more of which fell last night. One of the photos shows a slab being wind eroded from a North aspect but as there is still a lot of dodgy snow on the North aspects then this bad slab will be a problem for a while. It failed when i lightly touched it (the foot imprint at the side was gently pressed in for scale). The other picture shows the top of a due East facing slope that was loaded and ready to go. You should be able to make out the amount of snow blowing around in the picture. We did climb (a new line) on an East aspect but abbed down one side of a ridge and climbed back up the other. The snow on the crag apron was not as bad as the upper gullies and exits which were very nasty looking.

I saw dodgy snow on all aspects that i went on North, East and West (didn't go on anything south facing, but had a text from a very experienced pair who told me they backed off descending down a south facing slope into the Loch Avon basin). So in summary, careful route choice and travel are called for.

The climbing conditions were excellent though once on the crag, fantastic turf helpful ice in the corners and cracks (enough to climb on) and well rimed rocks. No pictures of the climbing though as i took my 'good' camera which isnt at all waterproof.

The weather people talk of a bit of a thaw coming which will be very good to help stabilise the pack i think.

I'm going to go on a low angled, lazy family ski tour on Saturday and it will involve lots of hot chocolate and cake i'm hoping.

Northern Cairngorms climbing and Avalanche conditions

Winter climbing conditons in the Loch Avon Basin (see pictures taken yeaterday) and the Northern Corries are pretty good at the moment. I have heard of people complaining about too much snow and icy cracks but hey, it's winter, so just adjust your objective to suit; there are lots of options.

I was on Carn etchachan yeaterday and found excellent conditions and useful ice in many places. However, the avalanche conditions are quite dangerous in specific locations. On Tuesday and Wednesday morning the wind had a southerly aspect to it loading the newly fallen snow onto anything that was vaugly North in aspect; i.e. most of the climbing venues. I triggered an avalanche on the Goat Track at 9.30am whilst ascending via its blunt spur on the (climber's) right and the avalanche propagated sideways and upwards. The old icy layer from the weekend that i have previously mentioned is acting as a very dangerous sliding layer and will probably be in the pack for some kind to come till we get a strong thaw to melt it.

We continued up the ridge and joked that we had now made the Goat track safer for everyone else! I noted whilst descending down to the bottom of Hells Lum that the snow had a good chance of avalanching here also even though it is on the windward side (probably due to snow accumulations coming down Hells Lum) and again the danger came from the hard icy layer at the top of the old snow pack. Whilst on the cliff i also saw the Grade 1 gully Castlegates Gully between Carn etchachan and Shelter Stone spontaneously avalanche at about 2pm from the top to the bottom.

We had the luxury of being able to do part of the walk back home in the daylight and i noted dangerous slopes on many different aspects. We walked over 1141 and down the ski area. Watch out for the tops of the easy gullies in the Northern Corries as they looked awe full when we walked passed them. The wind changed in the afternoon to a more westerly wind but this will still continue to load a lot of gully exits in the Corries.

Lochnagar

On the flight back north i tried to peek out of the windows to see how much snow had gone and help me where i should go for the next few days, but alas the thick cloud obscured the hills below. With reports of the thaw being worse in the west and a new front arriving from the west i went to Lochnagar. I haven't been there for a number of years and must say i really like the place and intend to make the long drive again this winter. Even the easy routes there still boast garden loads of turf and the contrast to the denuded Northern Corries is quite stark.

We tried a hard route on the Pinnacle area as that area appeared the most wintry (see photos) but found that the cracks were full of hard water ice, causing on one pitch a very thought provoking 15m runout of precarious climbing on what should have been a stitch-able crack. We abbed off and moved onto an easier buttress route.

There were about 7 or 8 teams in the corrie on routes up to V. A party on Grovel wall reported slow climbing and laborious digging for gear in the sugary snow on the crag. This was indicative i think of many of the routes at the moment. The snow on the approach and at the top is mostly hard packed and would be desperate without crampons; the ski touring conditions throughout the Cairngorms at the moment wouldn't be much fun until we get some more fresh snow, which may arrive in the next few days.

I'm hearing some good things about ice climbing in several locations and so hope to investigate this later this week.

It's good to be back home

A White Christmas

I hope that you have been enjoying this fantastic start the winter as much as I have. I'm currently on family duty and won't be in the hills again till the 2nd and so should probably catch up with the blog.
Last year we had an amazing start to the winter and many people were reminded of "How It Used To Be" back in the day when we had "Real Winters". Well, it looks like we may be in for a run off them if the weakened North Atlantic Ossilation has anything to do with it. Hopefully the news reports are not just a combination of wishful thinking by the winter sports fraternity in conjunction with bored journalists looking to fill column inches with speculation. Time will tell.
We have however seen a slew of interesting repeats and new routes being done. For instance on Beinn Bhan near Applecross Both the Godfather and The God Delusion have seen repeat ascents within a couple of weeks of each other rather than the more usual 10+ years of waiting for a successful ascent of the wall. It is probable that the Internet and the ease of access to quality information helps massively with this but the amount of strong climbers around now has mushroomed in the this new millennium. Winter mountaineering is probably no longer the weird esoteric pastime it once was (however when I was just explaining to my in-laws about mixed climbing then I did have a sudden epiphany that it is pretty weird and bizare!). The best website to get the real inside track on the more interesting ascents that I will be contributing to also is that run by Simon Richardson www.scottishwinter.com
The weather continues to be sub freezing but there is talk of a thaw in the next few days. This will be worth paying attention to and keeping an eye on the sais avalanche websites as I think that this will cause a significant increase in the avalanche risk. As you may know there isn't a fore sat for the NW but it is still worth looking at the west coast, meggy etc forecasts then looking at the weather and wind direction and using it as a guide. Generally the snow cover is still fantastic in the NW and places such as Sgurr fidhler have been in condition for several weeks now. Quinag and Sullivan are in great condition to for those who dislike even the thought of sharing their mountain with another climbing party!
When I can get to a computer (I can't load images via the iPhone) I'll put some pictures up taken from a recent first on the North side of Stac Pollaidh. This crag has excellent climbing with an even shorter walkin that Sneachda in the Northern Corries of the Cairngorms.

Skiing and Climbing in the Cairngorms

The snow pack has melted and refrozen and greatly stabilised in the Cairngorms. Melt- freeze grains characterize much of the pack, but an icy crust has formed that will present a very nasty sliding layer when the new snow comes in the next few days. Keep an eye on the SAIS forecasts which are beginning tomorrow i believe. www.sais.gov.uk/

The crags of the Northern Corries and the Loch Avon basin are extremely verglassed and the steeper sections of the crags were mostly black, but have begun to rime up a bit. The turf is excellent.

The ski touring was pretty hard work in that the very icy surface of the snow was a pain to skin on and required a lot of concentration to ski on (especially when your edges were needing sharpening!)

I have again been skiing into and out of routes and have really enjoyed the speed of access (and retreat!). It isn't too difficult to climb ice in ski boots, why i wonder do more folk not do this?

The picture shows the build up of ice on Hells Lum as of Tuesday afternoon.

A thaw and the promise of a freeze

It is currently warmer in the Highlands of Scotland than in the South of England. The snow that has been a foot or more thick at sea level is finally melting and this melt should go all the way up the hill and help consolidate the pack and hopefully destroy some of the dangerous layers that have built up, particularly the new snow that fell / blew onto a weak surface hore layer on due west aspects.
The forecasters predict that the cold will come again possibly starting Sunday evening or Monday morning. This will be fantastic news and should give a solid base of snow for the rest of the season. All too often in the last 10 years we have had big snow fall events followed by a thaw and warm rain for a week or more which often took us back to square one.
I have been out again since my last post, however the wee boy enjoying the sledge ride in the photo has erased my memory card on my waterproof camera so i only have a few shots taken on the 'good weather' camera and have lost all the climbing shots.
The snow in the NW should easily last the thaw. I'll probably be in the Gorms this weekend but hope to go for a very long walk to a very good route on the winter solstice which is my preferred way of celebrating it.

More ski touring and new routing

The stable cold weather continues. I have been combining the planks and the axes and ski toured into Choire Mor on Ben Wyvis and climbed a new route there. It wasn't too hard and was a good long mountaineering day. I chose to go in from the East as the East and NE wind has significantly loaded West facing slopes and we saw the debris from several spontaneous avalanches all on East facing slopes. The snow surface had significant surface (something to keep an eye on when the new snow comes) on it but the pack on East facing slopes was reasonay stable.
I will put some pictures on when I get near a computer this evening

New Routes and ski touring in the NW

Whilst there is less snow in the NW than in the Cairngorms (it has mostly come in on a NW -W wind) there is still snow down to the road and waist deep drifts in places.

I have been out and about ski touring on my local hills where i met a very friendly shire horse who seemed very curious as to what we were doing and followed us some distance up the hill! The snow was quite tricky to ski as the consitancy was quite variable as it has been blown around a lot. We avoided steep westerly aspect slopes as they had large areas of nasty windslab

With the low snow level and unuasal cold (-14c last night) some interesting places have come into condition. I was climbing with Roger (master of the mono) Webb on the South face of Stac Pollaidh where we made the first winter ascent of 'Enigma Variations' which was in turn very delicate and very hard and very fierce and very hard!

It looks like this weather will continue till at least the weekend and probably beyond.

Lots of Snow...

I can't get iphone 4 pictures onto the blog i'm afraid. Here is a picture taken at the bottom of the Shelter Stone on Wednesday; it was snowy then and i think that it will be snowier now. The roads in the NW and Cairngorms are still passable and the ski road was open today. A lot of new snow is falling now (on a strong due NE wind i think) and this will probably change the situation. There will be a higher avalanche risk this weekend as there is a lot of fresh snow falling and then being transported on this strong wind. Check the SAIS website as they are now doing weekend updates.

I'm not sure yet where i am heading i the next few days, probably west where walking will be easier but i may go and have a look at all the snow chaos for the fun of it! Interestingly i've already had several ski touring enquiries (even though slacker that i am i haven't fixed that section of the website yet). Here is hoping that it will be another snowy winter on the planks.

NW and Caingorms

The bare hills of the NW are now sporting a lovely new snowy coat and good conditions have returned to many mixed venues. It is currently snowing lightly down to sea level up here. The cairngorms however are bearing the brunt of this new snow with large accumations coming in the next couple of days.
Yesterday I was in the Loch Avon basin and found travel and climbing very slow and laborious in the unconsolodated snow but noted that the ski touring was looking good (right place wrong kit!). On the walk out we met up with a friend who was attempting to walk across the cairngorm platea without a map and compass, he very nearly made it but after he sent me a txt saying "I don't know where I am we found him only 200m from the top of the goat track! So close and yet so far!
I am experimenting with a new iPhone at the moment and am trying to type this blog with it (I will try and add a photo later). The gps and a loaded section of an os map bought in iPhone apps made navigating in a White out in blizzard in the dark almost child's play. I was very impressed and so was my friend when we found him!

Winter 2010 / 2011

Ok, time to brush off the keyboards and start the blog back up. I'll aim this winter for about 2 posts a week giving general conditions reports mainly for the NW but as i climb all over the Highlands there will be reports from the Cairngorms and the West Coast also.

It looks like this is the real start to the winter now, rather than just a single snow fall followed by rain the next week. On the whole things have started well with much of the NW frozen before the snow fell. There have been regular top ups of snow every few days above about 700 ish m and rocky mixed crags that don't get the sunshine up high have had great early season conditions.

I have been out on Beinn Eighe and various 'secret' locations in the NW doing new mixed routes. It is a great time at the moment in the hills; the light is fantastic and with the echoing sound of the stags engaging in their courtship rituals make the whole place very atmospheric.

The temperature today has briefly gone up to the top of the hills but will come back down and thus consolidate what we have so far.

It looks like we will have good conditions for the next week at least and i hope to be taking full advantages of these this weekend.

More (wet) Cullin Action

I fished out the oatcake from the camera and found a partially chewed battery that seemed to work so here are some damp pictures to look at from the confines of a warm armchair. It actually wasn't as bad as it was advertised in the weather forecast; the high winds were manageable if you stayed in the lee of the slope but great care was needed with areas of the lighter coloured fine grained rock and we were roped up on sections that we would usually saunter down 'hands in pockets' so to speak.

I'll be in North Wales till midweek next week and then i'm back home to the growing chill of Autumn. This is usually a quieter guiding time and a good time to catch up on the filing cabinet full of admin that has built up. I'm aiming to design a logo and re vamp the website but don't hold your breath; the technological wheels turn slowly in my household.

Skye peaks and thunder!

No pictures i'm afraid as whilst my camera is weather proof it isn't 3 year old proof. He and i have both learned that half an oatcake, whilst it fits nicely into the battery compartment isn't a real substitute for a battery.
The weather has been biblical on Skye this week with a few shifty looking animals lining up two by two... Today we were on the Northern End of the ridge and took it nice and steady on the wet slippy rock. The day had very nasty squally showers come through off the sea and in one hailstone shower a lightening strike struck the North end of the ridge. No where near us fortunately as we were timing our ascents in between the squalls.
We're at the Glen Brittle end tomorrow and hopefully things will be a little calmer. We will see.
I wonder if he preferred the taste of the battery rather than the oatcake? Hmmm, i better ring home and check.

North Wales

I'm currently hiding in Pete's Eats in Llanberiss watching the cars sail passed as the rain lashes down. The person oposite me is wearing a damp t-shirt which declares "Better a wet day on the hill than a sunny one in the office". However he does look thankfull to be drinking his tea in the warm fug of the busy cafe.

The weather in the pass has been very wet and showery for the last few days but as my mandate isn't extreme rock ticking on this trip so it hasn't been much of an issue (other than running out of dry footwear). We've been making use of the bad weather looking at scrambling, bad weather navigation and night navigation techniques big book climbing and crag rescues and rope tricks.

It looks like there is a break in the showers so back out we go....

Cullin ridge Traverse

Finally it has stopped raining and we made a successful traverse this week. The hills were very very quiet; we only met one other traverse party and 2 or 3 other people on the ridge.

We made very quick time on the second day and i was very impressed with Gordon's unflinching ascent of Naismith's route on the Basteir Tooth. This is usually my plan A to get up to the summit; it is the quickest and purest line to take but it is fantastically intimidating to a tired ridge traverser. I haven't made an ascent of it this year on my traverses but Gordon was made of sterner stuff and cruised it with ease.

I'm off to North Wales for a few days before coming back next week.

Lead Coaching and Ardverikie Wall

We were supposed to be doing the Skye Cullin ridge traverse this weekend, but as the weekend approached the forecast got progressively worse and finally promised gales and snow on the tops (is it really August?).

So we make an executive decision and decamped to the Mainland and gambled on the Roy Bridge area.

On Saturday with a poor forecast we stayed low and looked at multy pitch climbing organisation and multypitch absailing and covered lead coaching and belay construction and management. We finished the day (which was mostly in the rain top roping some dryish rock which was blooming hard (polished and damp) but apparently written up as vs 4b!

On Sunday with a slightly better forecast the four of us went into Binnein Shuas and climbed the 6 pitch route Ardverikie Wall. This was a guiding day and the team were quite relieved i think that i was the one leading. The new guidebook discourages the climb in the wet. I have climbed it several times and have once (before the new guide came out) previously climbed it in the rain. As it turned out we had a few showers but most of the pitches were dry, if a little cold, and only the top two 'easier' pitches were wet. We finished the day with a walk up to the windy top of Binnein Shuas where Paul amazed me with his iphone on which he has loaded multymap and using the in built gps showed us exactly where we were. I am feeling the need to get one, but at the rate i seem to break handsets i'm wondering how long it would last.