Time for a new blog...

Winter sunset over Fort William after a big day on the Ben

I started this blog on the 21st December 2009 to share my adventures as a mountain instructor and expedition guide. Nearly 600 posts later and with almost 100,000 views I've managed to upload 1GB worth of photos and writing which has taken me up to my Blogspot limit. So it's now time for a new blog.....

www.mountainzblog.blogspot.co.uk

I'll still keep this blog online as I hope it's a useful resource but please update your browser if you would like to continue to follow me.

Friday night film - Will Gadd

Final day of the season on Curved Ridge

The crux corner on Curved Ridge

Climbing through the cloud with the steep Rannoch Wall behind

Minimal snow left on the Buachaille

Aoncah Eagach

A grey & soggy day on the ridge

Tower Scoop & Gardyloo Gully

Thin ice on Tower Scoop (III)

Entering the tunnel under the chockstone in Gardyloo Gully (II)

The current exit from the Gardyloo Gully tunnel

Rime forming down as low as the exit to No 4 Gully

Good Friday Climb

Tower Ridge rising out of the cloud

A very similar forecast to yesterday meant there was only one option for today - back up the Ben looking for ice. We joined a long crocodile of folk heading up in to Observatory Gully including a large group on their MIC assessment, all looking for grade III ground. There was far less rock and ice fall today and as the teams headed for various options we found ourselves behind one other group at the foot of Good Friday Climb (III). We'd seen a team make an ascent yesterday from our viewpoint on Tower Ridge and today we found thin but good conditions on a great little climb that brings you out directly on the summit. Other climbers were on Gardyloo gully (II), Smith's Route (V), Tower Gully (I), Upper Tower Cascades (III), Tower Scoop (III) and Tower Ridge (IV) and amongst the walkers on the summit there were the usual jeans and trainers!

This week I'm working for Adventure Peaks on a guided winter climbing course

Simon enjoying good ice on Good Friday Climb (III)

Final few meters of Good Friday Climb and a group topping out on Tower Ridge

The top! - just a few meters from the trig point

Cloud inversion over Loch Linnhe

Cloud inversion on Tower Ridge

Indicator Wall with a wee bit of ice still hanging in there

This week I'm working for Adventure Peaks on a guided winter climbing course. With the promise of a cloud inversion we got the week off to a good start with an ascent of the classic Tower Ridge (IV 3). Winter arrived a the foot of the Great Tower where we put crampons on to enjoy the solid neve and dry rock which gave an alpine feel to the top half of the route. We'd climbed out of the cloud on the Little Tower and were able to enjoy a number of fog bows and brocken spectras before traipsing round to the summit in the sun. After a stunning sunset a quick descent down No 4 gully took us back into the gloom and the surprising sight of a gentleman with a monster rucksack walking into the CIC Hut in his big boots and boxer shorts!

A fog bow or white rainbow

A team on Good Friday Climb (III)

Climbing in to the sun on the Great Tower

A Glory, Brocken Spectra & Fog Bow from Tower Ridge

On top of the Great Tower

A team topping out on Comb Gully Buttress

The final gully on to the plateau

Pulling on to the Ben Nevis plateau

Cheesy summit photo!

Stunning cloud inversion

Aonach Mor & CMD framed by Tower Gully

Smiths Route

Smiths Route (V 5) in better conditions

For the final day of their Adventure Peaks course Patricia & Sheila were out with Paddy Cave and after a good overnight freeze were able to make a return to winter climbing with an impressive ascent of Smiths Route (V 5). In a week in which winter disappeared before our eyes they ticked an impressive haul of classic routes including No 3 Gully Buttress, Curved Ridge, the North Buttress of Stob Ban, the Aonach Eagach, Castle Ridge and Smiths Route.
On the Ben the high level ice of Tower Scoop (III) and Good Friday Climb (III) were also in good condition with new snow down to 900m

Castle & Ledge on the Ben

A dry & sunny Castle Ridge

The crux corner on Castle Ridge

The huge bergschrund in No 5 Gully

North Buttress East Ridge of Stob Ban

Enjoying the gloom!

The exposed 'snow' arete just below the exit slopes

Braving the cornice exit off Stob Ban!

Descending South Gully on Stob Ban

No gloves needed on Curved Ridge!

A moody looking Buchaille this morning

Stunning light on the walk in

Patricia enjoying the crux groove

Approaching Crowberry Gap on the only snow of the route!

Sneaking around the snow pack at the top of Coire Tullich

No 3 Gully Buttress

Approaching the 2nd belay on a very wet No 3 Gully Buttress (III)

This week I'm out climbing with Adventure Peaks regulars Patricia & Sheila on their annual visit from Ireland. Previous years have been blessed with amazing conditions and weather so this weeks fare is a bit of a shock to the system. In an attempt to find some ice we headed high on the Ben but with significant amounts of ice and rock fall in the corrie we opted for the safer option of No 3 Gully Buttress (III). The majority of the climb was still on snow but with copious amounts of water running down the crag it might not last much longer. There was plenty of avalanche debris from earlier in the week on the approach and we crossed a large crown wall in No 4 Gully during our descent.

The final exposed traverse at the top of No 3 Gully Buttress

Down climbing over a significant avalanche crown wall in No 4 Gully

A mixed Jacobs Ladder!

Enjoying the delights of a thin Jacobs Ladder

The final day of this weeks mountaineering course at Glenmore Lodge dawned clear and cold. We joined a string of teams heading for Jacobs ladder which was 50% snow & 50% rubble but gave a good finish to the week as we topped out to some stunning views over a very bare plateau.

The view out across the Cairngorm plateau

Friday night film - Hard Winter Climbing

The Gathering, VIII 9, Second Ascent from Jenny Crook on Vimeo.

The Haston Line

Campbell West on Honey Pot (IV 6) from earlier in the year - slightly less rime today but very similar conditions - forgot my camera :(

This weekend I've been working for Glenmore Lodge on an Introduction to Winter Climbing. After yesterdays windfest and the monsoon forecast for the next few days today was a quick glimpse of what winter should be. The cloud cleared ahead of us to reveal well rimed crags as we headed into Coire An t-Sneachda. Today was the perfect oppurtunity to introduce the team to the delights of mixed climbing. Plan A was Hidden Chimney (II/III), plan B was Left Edge (I/II) and plan C was The Haston Line (III 4). With a traffic jam forming at the foot of the Slant and more climbers arriving all the time we accepted the challenge and went for plan C. The Haston Line proved a pretty stern test for their first experience of mixed climbing but 4 pitches later we were pulling onto the plateau feeling very pleased with ourselves. The route was in great condition with 2 distinct cruxes and plenty of enjoyable climbing in between.
The corrie was very busy with teams on the Message (IV 6), The Slant (I), Hidden Chimney (II/III), Left Edge (I/II), Original route (IV 5), Invernookie (III 4) & Fiaciall Couloir (II/III).

Cairngorm tans!

Good ice in Aladdin's Couloir (I)

This weekend I'm working for Glenmore Lodge on an Introduction to Winter Climbing course. The weather forecast was particularly spectacular with snow, storm force winds and a risk of lightning to contend with. We headed into Coire An t-Sneachda where the crags were briefly illuminated in front of us by a burst of sunshine. However as we approached Aladdin's Couloir (I) the wind increased and the cloud dropped giving everyone a full taste of winter. The ice in the narrows is in great shape offering approximately 30' of grade II. We were blown up the rest of the gully by a very strong updraft which had stripped the snow back to the old neve. Topping out on to the plateau the wind was gusting around 70mph which made reaching the top of the Goat Track a good challenge. The descent in to the updraft coming from the corrie was completed blind due to iced goggles but things had eased significantly by the time we reached the MRT stretcher box for a spot of lunch. The walk out was almost pleasant as the wind died away and as we dropped out of the cloud we were greeted by a winter wonderland with a covering of snow down to Aviemore.
The new snow has been driven in on strong north westerlies and there's plenty of pockets of soft slab around with some cross loading on the Goat Track area. Drifts were knee deep on the walk out and there's a good couple of inches at the Lodge but any exposed areas are still scoured back to the old refrozen snow. Plenty of Cairngorm tans in the Lodge bar tonight!

The view as we dropped out of the cloud!

Friday night film - BMC International Meet

BMC INTERNATIONAL MEET 2012 from ReelTime Adventure on Vimeo.

Boomerang Gully

Harder variations on mixed ground in Boomerang Gully (II)

Today I'm working for Jagged Globe on a winter mountaineering course. The guys had been out on Monday on Aonach Mor looking at the huge variety of skills required to operate in the winter environment so today was all about putting it in context. With a windy but dry forecast and very stable snow we headed up to Stob Coire Nan Lochan to have an adventure in a gully. We opted for Boomerang Gully which gives a great grade II experience right to the summit with plenty of variation for getting on to harder mixed ground on the ribs either side. The wind died totally on the summit for a great lunch spot before we descended via an abseil into Broad Gully.

Enjoying mixed ground

An exposed spot for a break but lacking a view today

Another Jagged Globe team belayed in the depths of Boomerang Gully