ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <title>Abacus Mountaineering, Climbing Instructor and Mountain Guide</title> <META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="instructor,pescod,abacus,mountain,walking,climbing,scrambling,winter,ben nevis,glen coe,glencoe,skye,mountain guide,guide,instruction,fort william,scotland,rock,mountaineering,ice,winter skills,scottish winter climbing,course,courses,private guiding"> <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Mountain Guide and Instructor Mike Pescod"> <META NAME="Author" CONTENT="mike@abacusmountaineering.com"> <META NAME="copyright" CONTENT="Abacus Mountaineering"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css"> <LINK REL="SHORTCUT ICON" HREF="favicon.ico"> </head> <body> <div class="container"> <div class="top"> <table border="0" width="796" height="106" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" margin="0"> <tr><td background="title.gif" alt="Mountain Guide and Instructor" align="right" valign="top"> <p><b><strong><script language="JavaScript"> <!-- Begin var months=new Array(13); 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</script> <p align="center"><a href="cards.html"><img src="cards.gif" border="0" width="120" height="23" alt="We accept payment by cards"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://www.outdoorcapital.co.uk" target="new"><img src="ocuklogo.jpg" border="0" width="120" height="119" alt="Outdoor Capital of the UK"></a></p> <img src="spacer.jpg" height=45 width=160 margin=0 border=0 padding=0 align="bottom"> <br clear=all> <p class="footer" align="center"><strong>Mike Pescod,<br>6 Hillview Drive,<br>Corpach,<br>Fort William,<br>PH33 7LS<br><br>01397 772466</strong><br><br><a class="one" href="mailto:mike@abacusmountaineering.com">Click here to email</a> </p> <p class="footer" align="center"><strong>Abacus Mountaineering<br>is a trading name of<br>Abacus Mountain<br>Guides Ltd<br>Registered in Scotland<br>SC378703</strong></p> <img src="leftbottom.jpg" height=15 width=160 margin=0 border=0 padding=0 align="bottom"> </div> <div class="main"> <table border="0" width="628" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" align="left" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <tr><td align="left"> <table border="0" width="600" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" align="left" bgcolor="#ffffff"><tr valign="top"> <td><p><font size="1">Remember to check these!<br> <a href="http://www.mwis.org.uk/areas.php" target="new"><font size="1">Mountain Weather Information Service</font></a><br> <a href="http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/loutdoor/mountainsafety/westhighland/westhighland_latest_pressure.html" target="new"><font size="1">Met Office West Highland Mountain Weather Forecast</font></a><br> <a href="http://www.bennevisweather.co.uk/weather.asp" target="new"><font size="1">Ben Nevis Weather</font></a><br> <a href="http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/maps/city?&IP=88.109.172.225&3&LANG=en&WMO=03041&PRG=detail&LEVEL=140" target="new"><font size="1">Weather reports from 1130m on Aonach Mor</font></a><br> <a href="http://www.sais.gov.uk/" target="new"><font size="1">Scottish Avalanche Information Service</font></a> and <a href="http://saislochaber.blogspot.com/" target="new"><font size="1">blog</font></a><br> </p></td> <td><p><font size="1">Some other conditions pages and blogs!<br> <a href="http://www.mwis.org.uk/blogs.php" target="new"><font size="1">Other blogs</font></a><br> <a href="http://www.scottishwinter.com/" target="new"><font size="1">Simon Richardson</font></a><br> <a href="http://blog.westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk" target="new"><font size="1">West Coast Mountain Guides</font></a> </p></td> <td> <p> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abacusmountaineering/sets/" target="new"><img src="flickr.gif" border="0"></a> <br><br> <iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=www.abacusmountaineering.com/currentconditions.html&amp;layout=button_count&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=50&amp;action=like&amp;font=tahoma&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=21" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:48px; height:21px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe> </p></td></tr></table> </td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="justify"><font size="1"><strong>Self reliance is a fundamental principle of mountaineering. By participating we accept this and take responsibility for the decisions we make. These Conditions Reports are intended to help you make good decisions. They do not remove the need for you to make your own judgements when out in the hills.</strong></font> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>27th January 2012</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/n3g27jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Busy on the big routes" width="600"> <br clear=all> It was a nice day on Ben Nevis and many people were out enjoying the good conditions. The BMC International Meet has brought many climbers from around the world to climb in Scotland and they were making the most of it today - Apache, Sioux Wall, Babylon, Stringfellow and Darth Vader were all climbed as well as an attempt on Don't Die of Ignorance. Abib and I went for a quick run up The White Line to make sure he got back to Glasgow for his flight. The ice was good and fat, less cruddy and better frozen than yesterday in the gentle north wind. Looks like it'll be a nice weekend so it could be busy up there. <img class="button" src="webpics3/wl27jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Abib climbing The White Line" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>26th January 2012</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/bn26jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Fresh snow on Ben Nevis" width="600"> <br clear=all> It snowed for a few hours last night so today Ben Nevis was quite well covered with soft snow. Abib and I wanted to climb Hadrian's Wall Direct but as we started up towards the route we saw a big airborne powder avalanche come down Point Five Gully. We changed plans rapidly and went round to Two Step Corner instead. The ice here was cruddy on the surface but thick enough for good pick placements. The main corner is just as steep as the guidebook says and with the ice being not perfect today it felt quite tough! Good rock protection though right below the crux and good belays. The cornice is not too bad just now. Twid climbed Smith's Route, The Cascade was climbed along with Green Gully, Number Three Gully Buttress, Good Friday Climb (where an avalanche took someone off their feet) and Kenny and Paul climbed Gutless. Hopefully the ice will freeze properly soon and the soft snow will settle down. <img class="button" src="webpics3/tsc26jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Steep soggy ice on Two Step Corner" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>25th January 2012</strong><br> Wet, warm and windy today. Donald, Ritchie and Konrad made the most of it on the North Buttress of Stob Ban, going over lead climbing techniques and tactics. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>24th January 2012</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/mick24jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Mick climbing Number Three Gully Buttress" width="600"> <br clear=all> Fresh snow last night was already soggy this morning as Mick and I walked in to Ben Nevis again. It rained for a while on the walk but it was mostly dry today. However, the snow was very wet and sticky making avalanches quite likely. We climbed Number Three Gully Buttress and there was enough snow on this to keep us on our toes so I was glad not to be in a gully today. Kenny climbed Thompson's Route and there was a team in Green Gully. Very wet and warm tomorrow, a big thaw after today's little thaw, then back to cold conditions on Thursday. <img class="button" src="webpics3/mx24jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Ice building on Mega Route X" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>23rd January 2012</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/lt23jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Climbing the Little Tower" width="600"> <br clear=all> More snow fell last night and the rocks rimed up well so Tower Ridge was properly wintry today. I climbed it with Mick and Mick who did a bit of leading heading up to the Little Tower. Tower Gap does seem to be quite reasonable to climb down on the Tower Gully side, using the block as a natural runner if belayed by someone in the gap. It was well rimed up, icy and snowy there today but the move was no harder than anything else on the ridge. There one or two snow showers during the day but it was quite calm and we even got a little sunshine. There were teams climbing Hadrian's Wall Direct, Smith's Route Icicle Variation (well done Klas and Guy), Indicator Wall, Tower Face of The Comb, Italian Climb and Ledge Route amongst others. Looks like we'll get more snow tomorrow before a quick but intense thaw on Wednesday. <img class="button" src="webpics3/mm23jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Mick and Mick heading for Tower Gap" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>22nd January 2012</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/og22jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Observatory Gully" width="600"> <br clear=all> Today was colder and calmer than yesterday thankfully. I spent the day with Saboohi and Nigel doing some preparation for Saboohi's trip to Aconcagua very soon. We went up to Coire Leis on Ben Nevis where we found some nice water ice on an easy angle to practice crampon skills. We then headed up the slope next to the abseil posts - the snow on this slope is boiler plate hard and very serious in the event of a fall. Your self arrest will not stop you on this snow! The temperature has been going up and down rapidly over the last few days so ice has been forming and the snow is very firm in places exposed to the NW wind. It's much the same coming down by the Red Burn and someone was rescued after taking a slide here a couple of days ago. Another team was rescued this morning after they climbed Good Friday Climb yesterday but couldn't find the way down without a map and compass. These are good reminders that crampons and good crampon technique as well as navigation skills, a map and compass are all absolutely essential. There's more to ice climbing than climbing ice! <img class="button" src="webpics3/top22jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Saboohi and Nigel on top of Ben Nevis" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>21st January 2012</strong><br> A very windy day and not too cold either. The wind was blowing up and down Curved Ridge and the rocks of Stob Coire nan Lochan were black and not frozen in. Not the best day for climbing. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>19th January 2012</strong><br> Over the last week the weather has been far more settled and there has been little change in the climbing conditions on Ben Nevis. We had great weather over the weekend then Tuesday was dry most of the day but warmer. It rained over night on the summits and cooled down again on Wednesday. It's been cold with snow showers down to about 500m since then. The current snow showers coming in off westerly winds are putting snow down into the gullies and some soft cornices are building. Rime is also growing on the rocks and the mixed climbing is looking good. Turf is frozen, there is ice and neve where we want it but the cracks might still be a bit choked with ice. Point Five Gully, Indicator Wall, Smith's Route and Two Step Corner are the pick of the grade V ice routes. There are a couple of routes formed on the Upper Cascades and Pinnacle Buttress Direct has ice on it. There are many easier grade ice lines to choose from as well. The great ridges don't have much snow on them since it's been so windy when the snow has been falling. Higher up there is snow where you want it on Tower Ridge and NE Buttress but the lower rocks are not filled in. So lots to do at the weekend but it's going to be another stormy one by the look of it! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>15th January 2012</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/gt15jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Tracy and Leslie on The Great Tower" width="600"> <br clear=all> Another brilliant day with a good frost, blue sky and solid snow. Leslie and Tracy were in Scotland on a long weekend away from their homes in USA. Their first experience of climbing in Scotland was on Tower Ridge in perfect conditions! The route is quite rocky, especially on the lower section and on the Little Tower. Around the Eastern Traverse and The Great Tower there is some ice that is good to use - using two ice axes makes the crux a bit easier just now. Tower Gap is tricky without the block in the gap if you don't want to use a hand on the ropes left around the block. There was a team making good progress up Point Five Gully, Smith's Route original was climbed and Two Step Corner was said to be very steep at the crux. Many grade III's and IV's were climbed as well. We should get another nice day tomorrow before mixed weather brings more snow during the week. <img class="button" src="webpics3/sr15jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="A team enjoying Smith's Route" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p align="left"><strong>14th January 2012</strong><br><img class="button" src="webpics3/wg14jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="West Gully of Douglas Gap" width="600"><br clear=all>I had a nice day today sharing trade secrets with some instructors. The idea was to share ideas of how to use Ben Nevis for our clients to get the best out of each day we have with them. As I tend to work on my own for most of the time it was great to be able to work with some other guys doing the same job. It was slightly warmer and more humid with cloud above 1100m.</p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p align="left"><strong>13th January 2012</strong><br><img class="button" src="webpics3/cascades13jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Perfect day on Ben Nevis" width="600"><br clear=all>Today was a great day on Ben Nevis. All the snow is solid and there is lots of ice. The sun was shining, the was very little wind and it felt more like March than January. This week has been mostly quite warm and we've lost a bit of snow again. Wednesday morning turned out colder than anticipated so the snow strted to firm up then but it rained on the summit on Wednesday night / Thursday morning. Yesterday it had started to cool down and today was cold all day so all the snow was frozen hard. There was a very slight fall of snow but nothing to whiten the rocks or cause any avalanche problems. The high level ice routes are in good shape. Indicator Wall, Smith's Route (Icicle Variation), The Cascade and Two Step Corner were all climbed today and reported as being very good. Green Gully and Comb Gully were climbed, I went up The White Line (first time placements all the way) and most of the grade III and IV ice routes are looking good. Nick went round to the Little Brenva Face and enjoyed Bobrun - many of the lines here are good, excellent ice climbing in the sunshine! The Upper cascades are forming well, The Pink Panther is not far off being formed and there are a couple of lines up there that are fully formed. Zero Gully, Orion Direct, The Minus Gullies, Hadrian's Wall Direct are not formed. Point Five Gully has a thin bit at the top of the first pitch but looks OK otherwise however nobody climbed it today. The rocks are quite black and with no wind, freezing temperatures and cloud to form rime they will stay black. Mixed climbing will be limited to the easier grade. Tower Ridge was climbed by a few teams and is very good. NE Buttress is quite dry at the bottom and could do with more snow. Good weather is forecast at the weekend so it is likely to be busy. With quite stable snow conditions it is possible to go to places you might not go to very often. Little Brenva Face is often quite quiet, Pinnacle Buttress Direct looks great, The Gutter is fat with ice as is Morton's Neuroma ... look them up in the guidebook, they're great climbs! For a good idea of the snow and ice on offer have a look at todays pictures on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abacusmountaineering/sets/" target="new"><img src="flickr.gif" border="0"></a>.<br clear=all><img class="button" src="webpics3/og13jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Observatory Gully" width="600"></p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>11th January 2012</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/aure11jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Aure enjoying her first winter experience" width="600"> <br clear=all> We didn't really expect it to be so nice today - it was a cold dry start and stayed dry until about 1pm. Scott took Daniel and Aure for a taste of winter walking and climbing on Aonach Mor. They went around the east side covering core movement skills as they went and finished by climbing up to the summit plateau from the Climbers Col. When they got there it was blowing hard and they battled back to the top gondola station to find it had closed due to the strong winds! The snow was very firm in the morning and softened up a bit as it warmed up a bit later on in the day. There is ice all the way down Hadrian's Wall Direct and coming out of the Basin on Orion Direct. If we don't lose much more tonight there could be some quite nice ice to climb on Friday and the weekend. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>10th January 2012</strong><br> The last few days have been generally a bit warm and damp. Monday was much nicer with some sunshine (a rare thing so far this winter) and slightly colder conditions. Today and tomorrow will be warmer and wetter again before it freezes again ready for the weekend. There is ice on Ben Nevis - have a look at the blogs of <a href="http://www.tarmachan.blogspot.com/" target="new">Gary</a> and <a href="http://www.maxhunter.co.uk/" target="new">Max</a> for some pictures. What will be left on Friday and the weekend we'll just have to wait and see. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>5th January 2012</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/db5jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Ice forming fast and gullies complete" width="600"> <br clear=all> Today was a rare dry day with just a couple of showers. It was cold as well and I came home dry tonight for once. Scott and co went up Ledge Route on Ben Nevis, a very fine and long grade II ridge on Ben Nevis, making best use of the best day this week on the winter mountaineering course. Angela, Barry and I went for the SW Ridge of Douglas Boulder which was also a popular choice. James and team climbed Jacknife, another team was in an icy looking Gutless and Rocio also climbed SW Ridge. Lots of snow fell over the last two days and despite a bit of a thaw yesterday, the snow over 1000m is deep and soft and the avalanche hazard is High. There are big avalanche debris trails under the Castle Gullies, Number Five Gully, Number Two Gully and Zero Gully which came down some time yesterday. The foot of Douglas Boulder is often scoured by the SW winds and today it was quite safe to get to the foot of the ridge. At grade III the route is quite tough with tricky steps but always good belay ledges and anchors. All the gullies are filling up well and ice has been forming quickly. It is interesting how quickly the ice has been forming after each thaw. However, the snow is crusty just now and much of the ice is cruddy - the gullies look great but might not live up to their appearance. Another warmer day tomorrow will help consolidate the snow as it cools down again on Saturday. These freeze thaw cycles look set to continue for a while accompanied by strong winds as usual! For a good idea of the snow and ice on offer have a look at todays pictures on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abacusmountaineering/sets/" target="new"><img src="flickr.gif" border="0"></a>. <br clear=all> <img class="button" src="webpics3/ab5jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Angela and Barry climbing Douglas Boulder SW Ridge" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>4th January 2012</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/zz4jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Wet snow on the Zig Zags" width="600"> <br clear=all> Yet another challenging day in the hills, this time warmer with continuous rain above 600m and strong winds. The Zig Zags was a popular choice with 80 to 100mph gusts forecast later on. Scott took the winter mountaineering course there to cover rock anchors, belaying and moving together while I went there with Barry and Angela to go over wire placements, belay set ups and pitched climbing. We did the direct version just right of the main corner which prove to be a mistake! Wet snow on top of soggy turf in the rain did not make a good combination for climbing! By the time we came down it felt more like canyoning! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>3rd January 2012</strong><br> Day two of our winter mountaineering course was set to be another very windy day - Scott and the team went to the foot of Douglas Boulder where they spent lots of time looking at snow anchors and belaying on snow, the skills you need for grade I gullies. It was quite windy but the central belt took the brunt of it and we got off lighter than we thought we would. There was lots of snowfall down to about 400m, another challenging day in the hills. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>2nd January 2012</strong><br> Scott is running a winter mountaineering five day course for us this week with Kasim, Kyle and Dave. Today the team went over Stob Ban in the Mamores for a refresher on movement skills. They also included plenty of avalanche awareness and navigation, useful in the snowy conditions with poor visibility! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>1st January 2012</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/snow1jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Fresh snow on Ben Nevis" width="600"> <br clear=all> Fresh snow was already down to the CIC Hut by the time Doug and I got there this morning. It was quite windy as well and it seemed like it had not been cold for long so we went for Castle Ridge as the crux sections of this are on rock and it doesn't have to be frozen for fun climbing. This worked out well, we climbed the ridge under several centimetres of fresh snow but none of the turf was frozen. We went above the freezing level at 1000m and the wet snow was freezing onto the rocks making everything very white. Colder temperatures tomorrow again and generally for the rest of this week will improve the climbing conditions. <br clear=all> <img class="button" src="webpics3/cr1jan12.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Doug leading the crux of Castle Ridge" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>31st December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/sr31dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Soggy Shelf Route" width="600"> <br clear=all> Two teams were walking back from Buachaille Etive Mor this morning when Doug and I walked in. They made very sensible decisions and we had a very soggy climb! It was fun though and there was plenty of snow on the easier angle bits, just lots of water cascading down the steep bits and black rock. Yesterday's fresh snow has not all been washed away and as it cools down tomorrow we will get some nice solid snow to climb hopefully. It looks like the New Year will start out a bit colder and with some snow ... let's hope it carries on like that. Happy New Year! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>30th December 2011</strong><br> Donald, Kerry and Mark went to Stob Coire nan Lochain today to cover some intro winter skills and have a go at a climb. The good cover of old snow in the coire was great for the coaching and they enjoyed Dorsal Arete in the steady snowfall. It warmed up during the day but a reasonable amount of fresh snow came down before it got too warm. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>29th December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/ad29dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Adewole enjoying the snow" width="600"> <br clear=all> Heavy rain showers last night in the cooler temperatures deposited snow down to 500m this morning and further showers gave us some more snow during the day. This made the walk up Ben Nevis quite a big challenge for Adewole who is from Ethiopia and had never seen or walked in fresh snow before! Having climbed Snowdon and Kilimanjaro he decided Ben Nevis was the next step, however doing it in the depths of winter proved to be too much in the end. We got to 1100m in strong winds with the snow being blown up the hill before turning back down. A fantastic effort! Rime has been growing fast on the rocks and ice has been forming. Lots of snow drifted over into the gullies and this soft snow is sitting on a very hard frozen base so climbing conditions in the gullies are not good. The temperature will go up tomorrow so expect some avalanches and make sure you're not in the way when they slide! <br clear=all> <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="300" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=edca124f86&photo_id=6595596979"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=edca124f86&photo_id=6595596979" height="300" width="400"></embed></object> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>28th December 2011</strong><br> It was rubbish weather today - very strong west winds again and rain (with a little snow on the highest tops) for much of the day. Peter, David and I spent the morning at Onich Slabs going over loads of technical stuff from linking anchors and setting up fixed lines, abseiling past knots and jumaring to crevasse rescue and dry tooling! We retreated to the very bust Ice Factor for some dry tooling and coffee! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>27th December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/bn27dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Ben Nevis from Aonach Mor" width="600"> <br clear=all> Christmas Day and Boxing Day were very warm and wet. Along with the rain filling the rivers the snow was melting fast. The river Lochy barely scraped under the bridge and the Nevis spilled out onto the road next to the Youth Hostel. Today the rivers were not much lower but it was dry, there was a frost and a slight dusting of snow on the tops. Peter and I went up to the East Face of Aonach Mor to try and find some snow and ice to climb, thinking there would be some in the gullies there at 1200m and facing away from the west winds that brought the snow. Unfortunately none of the gullies are complete apart from Easy Gully and there is no ice left. There is generally good snow cover in the corrie with patches down to 700m and this snow was frozen firm at the surface. With the dusting of fresh snow and colder temperatures some of the buttresses were looking white so we climbed Siamese Buttress. Bits of the turf were frozen and it was a fun climb but all in all the route was little consolation considering the depth of snow we had a week ago. <br clear=all> <img class="button" src="webpics3/pb27dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Peter climbing Siamese Buttress" width="600"> <br clear=all> Over on Ben Nevis it is a similar story. From what we could see only the grade I and some II gullies are complete with snow. The corries have good cover and ice was forming again quite quickly. It's only the steep sections of the gullies that are missing, the scarp slopes and crag aprons are well covered still. There are still a few cornices around too. We're not quite back to square one ... one and a half may be! Colder temperatures should bring fresh snow over the rest of this week and the routes should form again quite quickly. <br clear=all> <img class="button" src="webpics3/am27dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Crags on the East face of Aonach Mor" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>23rd December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/bn23dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Lots of snow left on Ben Nevis" width="600"> <br clear=all> After the thaw there was a little fresh snowfall down to about 500m on Aonach Mor and Ben Nevis this morning with a few showers during the day. The ice on the cascades, The Curtain, The Shroud, Mega Route X etc. has not survived the thaw but there is still lots of snow in the corries and gullies. Another thaw is on its way though over Sunday and Monday so we'll have to wait and see what is left behind. Plenty of turkey and mince pies to eat in the meantime! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>22nd December 2011</strong><br> Yesterday and today have been warm and wet. We're going through a proper thaw just now, saturating the snow pack right to the bottom hopefully - although in some places it is more than 4m deep so the rain will need to go a long way to get the bottom! Some paddler friends were out enjoying The Nevis yesterday in spate conditions caused by rain and snow melt. However, as there was a very good depth of snow it will not all melt away - we will be left with plenty of wet snow in the gullies and corries ready to refreeze. I saw good snow cover still in a NE facing corrie at 600m today. The refreeze should happen tomorrow (Friday) and carry on to Saturday morning. However, the next thaw comes in again on Saturday and will last until Monday - any Christmas day climbing might be quite soggy. I'm sure that the traditional gullies will benefit from this thaw as the snow transforms to ice. It's difficult to say whether the cascade ice on Vanishing Gully, The Curtain, Mega Route X and The Shroud will survive. We might get a glimpse tomorrow to give us an idea. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>19th December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/feet19dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Digging in the snow!" width="600"> <br clear=all> With fresh snow and rising temperatures the avalanche forecast was High for many areas today so Donald, Max and I stayed low and well out of the way. We took our group from Welbeck College up the gondola at Nevis Range and across to some slopes under Meall Beag, next to the Red bike trail! We dug emergency snow shelters and practiced snow anchors including buried axes and snow bollards. It warmed up during the day with wet snow turning to rain up to 1000m making the existing snow wet but not washing away too much. Thanks to Max for the picture and to the guys at Welbeck College for another great trip. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>18th December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/eridge18dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Sunshine on beinn a'Chaorainn" width="600"> <br clear=all> Beautiful weather this morning enticed us to go for a big day out with our group from Welbeck College. The East Ridge of Beinn a'Chaorainn is a superb grade I ridge rising straight to the summit of the Munro, involving steep mixed ground with turf, rock and snow. There are not very many grade I ridges and this one is a treat. The walk in was not very nice though - crusty deep snow in the forest made it very difficult going. Out of the forest the going was easier but the whole hill is buried in snow with big cornices along the edge of the plateau. By the time we got to the top the cloud was down and we had to do some careful navigation, pacing distances on a bearing to get off again without falling through the cornice. It was a great day out, properly Scottish and requiring a variety of mountaineering skills, just the kind of thing we get up to on our <a href="http://www.abacusmountaineering.com/wintermountaineering.htm">Winter Mountaineering Courses</a>. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>17th December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/bn17dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Evening light on Ben Nevis" width="600"> <br clear=all> Donald, Max and I were in the Cairngorms today with a group from Welbeck College. We've been working with these youngsters each year for many years now and they are always great to work with. We walked to the foot of the Fiachail Ridge and did a bit of self arrest and investigation of the avalanche hazard from the fresh snow blown in overnight. We then climbed up the ridge, descended the Goat Track and played on the easy angle ice in the corrie before heading out. It was a nice day, cold and breezy on top but calm in the corrie. The crags are very white with snow and rime, the ground frozen and ice is forming well. We were in the mist all day but it seems like Ben Nevis had some sunshine - the west is best! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>16th December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/rm16dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Snow on Rannoch Moor and Glen Coe" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>15th December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/shroud15dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Ice forming on The Shroud and Gemini" width="600"> <br clear=all> After the heavy snow of Tuesday we had a few further snow showers yesterday and today was a very nice day with quite light winds and cold crisp temperatures. The crags of Ben Nevis are beautifully white, well rimed up and frozen. Ice has been forming as well. The Shroud is half formed as is Gemini and the cascades under Carn Dearg Buttress are quite well formed. The Curtain and Vanishing Gully look complete but the quality of the ice is questionable! Generally, climbing conditions are great for snowed up rock routes and mixed lines, even those needing a little ice. Traditional gullies such as Green Gully and Point Five Gully are complete but probably full of snow rather than ice or even neve and will not be good at all. There has been very little thaw freeze for a week to settle the snow and transform it into ice. The big news is the volume of snow that has fallen in the past two weeks. To give you an idea, the chockstone in South Castle Gully is buried so it must be 8 metres deep there, the ice pitch at the foot of Garadh Gully is buried so it's 10m deep there, there is a crown wall of over a metre deep under the Minus Gullies where an avalanche broke away, all the gullies are full and the snow line is down at around 500m. It has been quite windy so there are scoured areas where the snow is not at all deep. It is quite easy to get to the foot of Douglas Boulder for Gutless and Cutlass, Fat Boy Slim has had a couple of ascents and Carn Dearg Buttress is well plastered and accessible. Higher up in Coire na Ciste and Observatory Gully it will take a big effort to wade in to the buttresses. Quite nice weather at the weekend and slowly warming up towards Christmas so this soft snow will settle down over the next week or two hopefully.<br clear=all> <img class="button" src="webpics3/db15dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Douglas Boulder and Orion and Minus Faces" width="600"> </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>13th December 2011</strong><br> It's been hammering down with snow all night and still going today. The snow line is a couple hundred metres above sea level. Hopefully <a href="http://www.nevisrange.co.uk/" target="new">Nevis Range</a> ski area will be open at the weekend so we can enjoy some fresh powder! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>12th December 2011</strong><br> Some very big climbs have been done already this winter - <a href="http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=65501" target="new">Greg Boswell</a> has hit the ground running with the first ever grade IX onsight and the first repeat of Knuckleduster on Ben Nevis with significant new ground climbed as well! The weekend was quite nice, cold and reasonably calm with good mixed climbing conditions. Exposed turf is freezing well and the crags are very white. Ice has been forming as well in the drainage lines. Vanishing Gully is looking complete and there is ice on Mega Route X and Gemini. It's pretty hard going getting any where though as there is a lot of soft snow in the gullies and sheltered corries. I spent today with Phil on Stob Ban in the Mamores running through core winter skills. There are some huge soft cornices over NE facing slopes and the big gullies are deep in soft snow. More stormy weather this week is forecast to bring us even more snow. It's great to get such a good fall of snow early in the winter to fill the gullies but it will need to settle down a lot before we can get to them! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>9th December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/bn9dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Snow and ice on Ben nevis" width="600"> <br clear=all> Apart from lots of clearing up to do from fallen trees and damaged houses, yesterday's storm named Hurricane Bawbag brought heavy rain to the summits. It saturated the existing snow rather than washing much of it away so there is still good snow cover in gullies and sheltered slopes above 600m. Today, there is fresh snow down to 600m and it is getting colder. It has just started snowing at sea level at 10am. This refreeze will consolidate the older snow, hopefully creating nice firm snow conditions for the weekend. Fresh snow will make the rocks a bit more white and there is cloud and some wind to build rime again on the exposed buttresses. With quite reasonable weather at the weekend, it could be a very good time to get out climbing. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>6th December 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/bn6dec11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Snow and ice on Ben nevis" width="600"> <br clear=all> It seems I was too pessimistic about the climbing conditions at the weekend. There was a team of some of Scotland's finest winter climbers including Greg Boswell and Simon Richardson climbing on Ben Nevis. They found good, icy mixed climbing conditions and ascents were made of Gutless, The Minge, The Groove Climb and Pinnacle Arete plus a new line on South Trident Buttress by <a href="http://www.scottishwinter.com/" target="new">Simon Richardson</a>. We had more snow yesterday and a little more this evening but today was a beautiful, calm, cold day with plenty of sunshine. Ice has been forming in the drainage lines and is visible on the Organ Pipes below Carn Dearg Buttress in the picture. There's very deep soft snow most places though. Ken and Scott took 2.5 hours to walk to the CIC Hut today and Andy found chest deep drifts on the Aonach Eagach! More snow tomorrow followed by a brief thaw when a storm goes through on Thursday will set things up well for a freeze on Friday. By the weekend we could have some consolidated snow and ice starting to build up. It was a bit late coming but it's all happening now! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>5th December 2011</strong><br> <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="300" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=ec12c6651b&photo_id=6458853507"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=ec12c6651b&photo_id=6458853507" height="300" width="400"></embed></object> <br clear=all> Heavy snowfall in Fort William down to sea level this morning! </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>3rd December 2011</strong><br> Over the last week snow has been falling periodically on the summits on the west coast. We now have considerable accumulations on east facing gullies and slopes and the snow line is down to about 600m. Very strong westerly winds have blown the snow off the ridges and exposed slopes, depositing it in sheltered gullies and coires. It seems like we might get another metre of snow falling over the next few days as well ... Ben Nevis is being buried! It's also quite cold on the tops just now however the ground underneath the snow (the turf and the rocks) is not cold and is far from frozen. After such a warm November my worry is that all this snow will not allow the ground to freeze properly now the temperature has dropped. Very high crags facing the westerly wind will freeze up first. The snow is very soft on the sheltered side so the gullies will not be fun or very safe, the ridges will be nice though. I'm going to finish my DIY and wait a little bit longer before heading out onto anything steep here on the west! There were a couple of teams climbing on Ben Nevis today though and there has been some climbing in the Cairngorms where there are more rocky winter climbs requiring no turf or ice to be frozen. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>25th November 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/synoptic25nov11.gif" border="0" align="left" alt="Wild weather this weekend" width="600"> <br clear=all> Winter is slowly starting to happen - fresh snow is on the hills down to 600m this morning on the west coast. We're in for a very wild and windy weekend with warmer temperatures again but the general trend is colder than the last few weeks. Have a look at the <a href="http://www.mwis.org.uk/synoptic.php" target="new">synoptic charts</a> on MWIS. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><strong>22nd November 2011</strong><br> <img class="button" src="webpics3/bn22nov11.jpg" border="0" align="left" alt="Fresh snow on Ben Nevis" width="600"> <br clear=all> The mist in the glens this morning slowly cleared to reveal a fresh cover of snow on the hills above 900m. The forecasts are suggesting lower temperatures generally and a good chance of snow accumulating over the next few weeks. Let's hope so. Meanwhile a new TV star is born ... Donald King in front of the camera for once. See it soon on the iplayer <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b017plnb/The_Adventure_Show_2011_2012_The_First_Great_Climb/" target="new">here</a>. </p></td></tr> <tr><td align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><br> <a href="summerconditions2011.html" target="new">Summer 2011 reports.</a><br> <a href="winterconditions2011.html">Winter 2010/2011 reports.</a><br> <a href="summerconditions2010.html" target="new">Summer 2010 reports.</a><br> <a href="winterconditions2010.html">Winter 2009/2010 reports.</a><br> <a href="summerconditions2009.html" target="new">Summer 2009 reports.</a><br> <a href="winterconditions2009.html">Winter 2008/2009 reports.</a><br> <a href="summerconditions2008.html" target="new">Summer 2008 reports.</a><br> <a href="winterconditions2008.html">Winter 2007/2008 reports.</a><br> <a href="summerconditions2007.html" target="new">Summer 2007 reports.</a><br> <a href="winterconditions2007.html">Winter 2006/2007 reports.</a><br> <a href="summerconditions2006.html" target="new">Summer 2006 reports.</a><br> <a href="winterconditions2006.html">Winter 2005/2006 reports.</a><br> <a href="summerconditions2005.html" target="new">Summer 2005 reports.</a><br> <a href="winterconditions2005.html">Winter 2004/2005 reports.</a><br> <a href="summerconditions2004.html" target="new">Summer 2004 reports.</a><br> <a href="winterconditions2004.html">Winter 2003/2004 reports.</a><br> <a href="summerconditions2003.html" target="new">Summer 2003 reports.</a><br> <a href="winterconditions2003.html">Winter 2002/2003 reports.</a><br> <a href="winterconditions.html" target="new">Winter 2001/2002 reports.</a><br><br><br> </p></td></tr> </table></div> <br clear=all> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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