31st December 2009 The easterly breeze has mixed up the air and we no longer have a temperature inversion. It was +1 celcius in Glen Coe when I met Donald this morning just as it got light at 7.30am. We'd both seen Blue Ribband, on the south flank of the Aonach Eagach, looking well formed a week ago and today we got the rare chance to climb it. Not having climbed steep cascade ice for a while we both looked at the water running behind the first pitch with suspicion. However, Donald soon climbed it with growing confidence. I got the second pitch which was no harder than the first and we swung leads up the numerous cascades above. The 10m overhanging icefall near the top gave us the crux today. It is avoidable but we had a go and it turned out to be fun. So, great ice where you need it and a fantastic day out. How long it will last is another matter but it should be around for a while yet. The Aonach Eagach was a joy to finish along with plenty of snow and dry rock. There are many pockets of windslab around which we avoided easily but elsewhere we'll need to be careful for a while.
29th December 2009 Slightly colder again today and with an easterly wind that started to blow snow around and make some spindrift pour down faces and gullies. Alex and I went back up Ben Nevis to climb the cascades under Carn Dearg Buttress. These are all around 60m high and there are at least nine different lines you can take between grade III and grade VII. As well as how to climb the ice we looked at placing ice screws, making belays, abseiling and v-threads. Donald, Neil and Richard joined the many teams on Dorsal Arete on Stob Coire nan Lochan but had a fun leading over the fine fin at the top. It's still fairly quiet in the hills generally and plenty of climbs to have a go at.
28th December 2009
Unfortunately I forgot my camera today which was a real shame because it was a nice day. The snow that fell last Sunday morning is still covering everything down to sea level and has changed little in the nine days it has been there. It is very soft and deep on generally eastern aspects but western aspects are scoured in some places. Alex and I climbed Tower Ridge today which, surprisingly, has not been climbed since before it snowed last. There were a couple of other teams on it today though and together we made a trail all the way up. There is plenty of ice and neve but it is difficult to find under the soft snow! There were a few people out swimming up the major gullies and at least one team on Ledge Route. Also, there was a team on Sickle which climbed at least the first pitch. Ice has been forming below the springs - Waterfall Gully, The Curtain, Compression Cracks and the cascades below Carn Dearg Buttress - and there is still some water dripping in these lines. We could do with a thaw and refreeze to settle all this soft snow and build ice on the faces but it looks like we will need to wait for another week before we get warmer temperatures! Happy wading! Beinn Udlaidh has plenty of ice and people climbing it. Have a look at Alan Halewood's blog for details.
23rd December 2009 The last two days have given us very good, dry, calm and cold weather. Lots and lots of snow covers the hills which is settling down slowly but very hard work to wade through! Andy, Kenny and Andy made the first winter ascent of Line Up on Rannoch Wall of Buachaille Etive Mor on Monday. Andy has had his eye on this Summer HVS for a long time and he says it gave a great climb at VII,8 with spice on each of the three pitches! Today the team went for Agag's Groove which was in perfect Alpine conditions, even with a bit of sunshine! It will be very cold in the glens for the next few days and low level cascades are already forming quickly.
22nd December 2009 The weekend turned out very snowy and quite breezy. Fort William woke to find 15cm of snow at sea level on Sunday and we've had a few more showers since then. The temperature has barely struggled above zero at sea level so it has been persistently sub-zero in the hills. Combined with a NW breeze and lots of fresh snow there is now a significant avalanche threat, many soft cornices and lots of hard work to be done just to get to the climbs! All the old ice and neve that was readily available last week is now mostly buried under snow. Stick to buttress routes for a while until the snow stabilises a bit and check out the new style Snow and Avalanche Forecast before you set out. Ridges such as Tower Ridge, Ledge Route and NE Buttress, Curved Ridge and The Aonach Eagach will all be reasonable objectives. Buttresses such as North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor, Central Buttress Ordinary Route on Stob Coire nan Lochain, anything on Stob Coire an Laoigh and routes on The Douglas Boulder, First Platform and Carn Dearg Buttress are all quite good ideas as well. Low level cascades will start to freeze up as well if this weather continues.
19th December 2009 Even colder today with some heavy snowfall for a couple of hours during the day. Our team from Welbeck College made use of the gondola at Nevis Range on its 20th anniversary to get around to the east side of Aonach an Nid. There is lots of ice in the grass and on the rock outcrops to play on although it was rapidly being covered by snow. With a steady NW wind many small areas of windslab were found to be bonded very poorly to the underlying smooth hard snow so we kept away from any larger open areas of deposited snow. More snow is forecast for tomorrow so expect lots of spindrift, gullies and slopes to fill up rapidly and cornices to form.
18th December 2009 A little fresh snow fell at sea level today in the late morning and again at dusk. In between it was very nice with a break in the cloud and light winds. Donald, Danny and I took our team from Welbeck College up Ledge Route on Ben Nevis. As their second ever day in the hills in winter it's fair to say the students had a big experience and they loved it! There is hard old snow from the screes below Number Five Gully all the way up the route. The awkward slab on the first ledge is well covered in neve and a bit of ice and is no problem at all. With the cloud, a little wind and freezing temperatures the crags are getting rimed up now. The steeper routes will be in great shape this weekend and I imagine there will be some big routes done. Number Three Gully Buttress, Creag Coire na Ciste, South Trident Buttress and parts of Carn Dearg Buttress are all looking suitably wintry. The major gullies have good snow in them and small cornices. Many ice routes are very close to being formed (but not quite there yet) including Vanishing Gully, Glover's Chimney, The Curtain and Italian Climb. Many others are in good shape including Green Gully, Comb Gully, Number Three Gully Buttress and Thompson's Route, Smith's Route, all the gullies on Creag Coire na Ciste and many others. It could be busy at the weekend so how about looking up climbs such as Fawlty Towers or Green Hollow Route to get away from the crowds.
17th December 2009 Another very nice, wintry day. We had an hour or so of snow fall this morning but this afternoon was bright with some sun and light winds. The temperature has certainly dropped with freezing conditions at just about all levels on the hills. Donald, Danny and I took a team from Welbeck College to Beinn a'Chaorainn for their first winter experience. We walked up through the forest and to the first coire on the east side of the hill. We went over core movement skills, ice axe use and crampons. We climbed a shallow gully which led directly to the south top where the view was brilliant. All the old snow was frozen solid and there were a few centimetres of fresh as well. The ground is very well frozen and ice is forming in places. The East Ridge of Beinn a'Chaorainn would make a fine mountaineering day out just now.
16th December 2009 Buachaille Etive Mor looked really quite black this morning so Mark and I went back down Glen Coe to Stob Coire nan Lochan. It was a warm and soggy walk in but it was cold last night and the ground and snow were frozen hard. We climbed SC Gully which had great neve apart from the booming noise it made when you hit it! The patches of snow must have thawed back a bit on Monday but they were well enough frozen in place to climb on today. In fact we didn't touch rock once on the whole route and that was only the second time I've been able to climb the route in ten years! We climbed the top half of Dorsal Arete on the way down as well to make it an eleven point day! The temperature dropped during the day and the clouds cleared. Looks like it will be persistently cold till Christmas!
15th December 2009 It was my turn to climb Thompson's Route today. After a good weekend and the wee thaw and refreeze yesterday there does appear to be more ice on Ben Nevis than on Friday. There was a little water dribbling down the bottom of the chimney which was freezing quite well. The first chimney was as awlward and run out as ever but the rest of the route was in brilliant shape. Mark and I had great fun climbing on first time placements in the neve. Unfortunately my crampon front bale broke after pitch two, however a short sling soon solved the problem for the last two easier pitches! There was very little new snowfall today and the freezing level was around 1000m. The cracks are now full of ice and the rocks verglased so the mixed climbing will be quite tough just now. Green Gully and Number Three Gully Buttress were climbed today and Comb Gully was climbed at the weekend.
13th December 2009 As expected it's been a stunning weekend with mist in the glens and gentle sunshine on the tops. While I was inside Glenmore Lodge on Saturday at the MLTS Seminar Jim was out on Ben Nevis. He climbed Thompson's Route saying 'although the route could never be described as plastered with ice, there was more than enough to climb on and it was nice and plastic. Going standard IV. In 15 years climbing on the Ben never have I seen such hard neve in December, twas a joy (relatively) climbing up to the base of the route'. There were other teams climbing routes such as South Gully on Creag Coire na Ciste. Kenny was out walking yesterday and saw a team on Smith's Route. Glencoe has been busy as well with a couple of ascents of SC Gully which is now chopped to bits and not really there any more! There was a fatal accident near the bridge over The Coe under The Lost Valley. There have been many accidents and a few fatalities here over the years and it is a spot to be very wary of. Vegetation overhangs the edge of the rocks and it is very easy to get caught out.
11th December 2009 A stunning day on Ben Nevis with good firm snow down to 900m. Kenny, Al and I went up Ben Nevis to see what all the white stuff was made of and ended up climbing Smith's Route (V,5) by the original line. There is quite a lot of ice on the crags and plenty of snow but we were worried that we might find cruddy snow half way up a route. However, Smith's Route turned out to be quite reasonable, the ice was certainly good for climbing although the ice screws were not the best. Thanks must go to Alan Halewood for some of the movie clips in the video.
Point Five Gully is fat, Tower Ridge is in great shape and there are many routes up to grade IV in good looking condition. However, I'm sure not all the routes are as icy as Smith's Route and you might find yourself trying to climb steep crud so go at it with a certain amount of caution! There is some rime high up but anything that gets some sunshine is black. The lower part of Number Three Gully Buttress (Sioux Wall etc.) is black but the top half is white with thick, icy rime. So the weekend probably isn't the best for the super hard mixed routes but there are many ice lines and easy to middle grade buttress routes looking good. Have fun!
9th December 2009
After my frustration of not getting out winter climbing last week during the good spell of weather, the legendary Allen Fyffe said to me "I would rather be keen in March than burned out before the long days and, hopefully, good conditions arrive". Good advice. This week so far has seen a couple more thaw freeze cycles but no more fresh snow. Today the freezing level went above the tops and we had a couple of showers of rain at all levels. Dry and calm weather is expected right through the weekend and into next week with frosts in the glens in the morning but summit temperatures at or just above freezing. We still have a very good coverage of now soggy snow which might well firm up if the air goes dry enough, helped along by overnight frosts. We won't get any rime on the rocks so steep mixed climbs will be black but snow gullies could be an excellent option and classic ridges will be in Alpine condition. There's a new look to the SAIS Snow and Avalanche Forecasts this winter. Have a look here to see the full description of the changes to a more pictorial description of the forecast. It looks like a fantastic improvement to what is a great service.
5th December 2009 A warmer night and soggy day for the second day of our expedition and the last day of the Summer ML Training Course. We've had a good week down here in the Trossocks but I can't help feeling that I've missed out on something back home! There is now a very good cover of snow down to 800m on the hills which has been through a few thaw freeze cycles and is firming up nicely. With very cold temperatures for much of last week there is also some ice begining to form and the rocks are begining to freeze in place. The couple of calm cold days during the week saw ascents of some very big climbs on Ben Nevis and many other hills, including Sioux Wall (VIII,8) and Sidewinder (VII,8). Stormy weather this coming week with slightly warmer temperatures but there is the chance of dry and cold easterly winds for the week after.
4th December 2009 The start of our overnight expedition was on another very frosty morning with sunshine and light winds. The views over the hills were spectacular and the Autumn colours brilliant. We walked over Ben A'an and up the west side of Glen Finglas. With darkness coming so early we walked into the night to practice our navigation before setting up camp with the first rain of the approaching warm front.
3rd December 2009 A wet start to today cleared and we had a dry day to go over emergency ropework for security on steep ground at Ben A'an above Loch Katrine. The ML syllabus insists on doing everything with just a rope, no slings, harnesses or karabiners. We started and finished with some abseiling with the sun setting behind Ben Venue.
2nd December 2009 Rain last night cleared to give us a dry and slightly warmer day in Aberfoyle. On the ML Training Course we discussed managing accidents and incidents, mountain rescue and route planning, practiced improvised carries and stream crossings. Less demanding physically but definitely plenty of thought required!
1st December 2009 Another hard frost this morning but cloud soon came over bringing snow to low levels very briefly. Currently we have persistent snow falling on the tops. Strong S winds will blow this snow into N facing gullies. Meanwhile, on day two of the ML training course we kept clear of the snow looking at leadership of groups and managing them in difficult terrain including steep ground. It will warm up a bit over the next couple of days with snowfall only on the highest tops and it will get cold again over the coming weekend.
