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!