February 2006 Conditions Reports

28th February 2006

It sure is cold just now! David and I headed around to the W Face of Aonach Mor and located Golden Oldie (always hard to do in the mist) which gave us some superb ground for coaching leading, setting up anchors and belaying. The sun came out for a short while but we needed to do some proper navigation to get back to the ski area from the summit as the clouds had come down again. No where near as windy as forecast I'm glad to say but very cold with some more snow showers and the rocks are getting well rimed.

27th February 2006

You couldn't see a lot in the hills today! The cloud was down all day and it snowed for about half the day. Cornices and scarp slopes were building fast in some places and David and I slid off a few small areas of snow in Coire Dubh of Aonach Mor facing east. Some climbers were hit by some falling cornice on the E Face but carried on up Left Twin which was in great condition! Mal went to the W Face to climb a rib that finished at the top of the ski area and Kevin went to the E Ridge of Beinn a'Chaorainn which was in great shape.

26th February 2006

Another cold and slightly cloudy day but better than yesterday and with less wind. There are a couple of good ice climbs on the Little Brenva Face of Ben Nevis including Bob Run as well as the others mentioned yesterday. Also the rocks in Glen Coe are rimed up and Nick and Mike had good fun on Crest Route on Stob Coire nan Lochain where Scabard Chimney and Chimney Route were also climbed. Tomorrow will bring snow and strong winds and it will then be -6 celcius with more snow throughout the week. Wrap up warm!

25th February 2006

It was certainly colder today and windier giving Ben Nevis a more full on feel! Of the icy climbs, we saw - Compression Crack, Raeburn's Buttress, Boomers Requiem - very close to being well formed, Waterfall Gully, Gemini - complete and nearly fat enough, The Curtain - complete but still thin, Nasturtium, North Gully, Central Gullies (Creag Coire na Ciste) - patchy but feasible, South Gully, Three Gully Buttress, Green Gully, Comb Gully, Two Gully Buttress, White Line, Glover's Chimney, Garadh Gully, Vanishing Gully - thin but complete. There are many more feasible climbs on the buttresses and more ice climbs from Observatory Gully in good shape. Point Five Gully had many ascents today and at one point there were seven people in a 30m stretch of the gully - a little over crowded! Rose and I went for South Gully on Creag Coire na Ciste which needs some more consolidation but was perfectly well formed to climb. We then went for North Gully but, faced with three teams on the route and two more waiting, we called it a day at that!

24th February 2006

Starting out cloudy and windy today turned out nice in the end with a superb sunset and all the peaks out of the cloud again. Golden Oldie on the W Face of Aonach Mor was sheltered but we topped out too early for the view! The snow was still wet up to about 1100m and there was lots of rime on the rocks. The E Face was very well rimed and the buttresses looked great. We're going in search of ice tomorrow on Ben Nevis as the temperature is due to drop again markedly and stay cold for a few days.

23rd February 2006

It was warmer today and we had a little light rain and snow in the morning. The snow was very sticky on top of Stob Ban (999m) but it wasn't melting away at all. Rose and I climbed the E Ridge of the N Top of Stob Ban, a great 200m long grade II/III with tricky steps and very comfortable ledges in between. The wind got up in the afternoon but there is virtually no loose snow to blow around. When it cools down again, the gullies may well be in much better shape.

22nd February 2006

Lots of sunshine and less wind but just as cold today. I took Mum and Dad on their anual ice climb - Forgotten Twin on Aonach Mor E Face this time as the snow still hasn't turned to ice yet. There were parties on The Web, a couple of lines in the Ribbed Walls, Left Twin, Right Twin, Icicle Gully and the buttresses have some rime on them. The snow is slowly settling and if you go up something that has had some traffic it is really quite nice! Tomorrow and Friday will be slightly warmer so the snow will consolidate properly and maybe loosen some water to form some ice.

21st February 2006

Just the same weather and conditions as yesterday so Rose and I went to Garbh Bheinn to climb the Great Ridge. The snow on the lower slabs was great and the main bit of the ridge was icy and snowy on the shady right side with just one or two wee steps onto the left on dry, sunbaked rock. All in all a fantastic route in great condition!

20th February 2006

It felt more wintry today with a cold breeze blowing the snow around a bit on the North Buttress of Buachaille Etive Mor. Thankfully there is a trench in the snow up the route as it must have been very hard work going up first, clearing off all the snow! As it was, everyone had gone straight up at the top instead of stepping right, making it a bit harder. There were many folk out on Curved Ridge and D Gully Buttress and Slime Wall looked like it was white enough for an ascent of Guerdon Grooves ... don't all rush at once!

19th February 2006
Another great day but a little more breeze and a little more cloud. With sub-zero temperatures, cloud and 20mph N winds for a day or two expect some rime to build up on the crags making the steep mixed climbing routes come into good condition. The less steep routes have loads of snow on and are quite hard work clearing it all off. Stob Coire nan Lochain and Buachaille Etive Mor have been popular today along with Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis, the W Face of Aonach Mor and some buttress routes on the E Face of Aonach Mor.

18th February 2006

A brilliant day for the Film Festival Avalanche Workshop! Perfect weather, still, sunny and cold in the shade. There is a blanket of snow on all the hills down to 500m as you can see in the picture looking out over Moidart, west from Aonach Mor. This was great for us to look at all the evidence of wind transportation and loading of snow and to assess the avalanche hazard all over the hill. Meanwhile, Mike, Darren and Nuala went round to a rib on the west face of Aonach Mor and Andy, Alan and Alison climbed Dorsal Arete on Stob Coire nan Lochain. The buttresses are seeing lots of traffic with soft snow on the rocks but don't expect the steep gullies to be much fun until we get a thaw and refreeze. There is no sign of the current high pressure breaking down for the next week so this snow will not consolidate for quite a while!

17th February 2006

The hills are now fairly buried in snow and, now the clouds have cleared and the sun is shining, they look absolutely spectacular! Rob, Neil and I plugged our way round to the W Face of Aonach Mor and climbed Western Rib. There is now no ice on this side of the hill but the rib itself was brilliant fun with several feet of snow on it in the sunshine. In this condition it is the most wonderful place to climb with a truly alpine feel. We will have good, cold weather now for several days so get used to some serious plodding around in deep soft snow. The skiing is open and lots of folk were out on the slopes on Aonach Mor having fun.

16th February 2006

More heavy showers are putting snow down to 500m. Meanwhile at the Fort William Mountain Festival we built a 16m high column of ice for Dave MacLeod, Kevin and Fiona Murray to climb for a wee spectacle! It all worked extremely well and it just goes to show - we know how to put on a show here in Fort William!

15th February 2006

Very heavy and continuous showers have put down a lot of snow down to 500m above sea level as promissed. This is, at long last, the kind of snow we have been wanting for many weeks now. Even the skiing might be open at the weekend! In the meantime the Film Festival is going extremely well - Mountain Biking tonight and Extreme Alpine tomorrow with a 16m high ice column being climbed by Dave MacLeod in the middle of Fort William!

13th February 2006

We lost a lot of snow last night and today was another soggy day but not too much rain. The wind was far less strong than forecast again. I climbed Tower Ridge with Eric and Alistair being careful of the wet snow on the slabs and bits of ice. We put the crampons on for the Eastern Traverse and the rest of the ridge. Tower Ridge is always a grand day out, whatever the conditions, and for Eric and Alistair's first winter climb it certainly hit the mark! On Stob Coire nan Lochain Dorsal Arete, NC Gully and Boomerang Arete were all climbed and Broad Gully has more snow in it than last Friday. Cooling down over the next few days bringing snow down to 500m.

12th February 2006

It was no where near as windy as forecast, nor as wet but it certainly was warm! All the snow is soft and saturated causing many wet sluffs and many aspects. It looked like no-one went down Easy Gully on Aonach Mor - good decision making. Angus, George, Graham and I went to the W Face of Aonach Mor with the Film Festival Climbing Workshop to climb Western Rib. We stayed out of the gullies because, even though it's the west face, all the gullies were cross loaded from the south wind bringing the snow yesterday. The ridge gave us some great climbing on a pretty soggy day. Warm again tomorrow but lots of snow falling for the rest of the week and colder temperatures to refreeze the snow already here. The ground is cold and there is lots of ice around so expect great conditions to come in over the next few weeks.

11th February 2006
Heavy rain for most of the day was falling as snow above 700 to 800m. This fresh snow wasn't very well stuck in place and Andy and Mark triggered an avalanche aproaching Stirling Bridge on the E Face of Aonach Mor which swept them away but, thankfully, didn't hurt them too much. There was some more avalanche activity below Number Three Gully Buttress which Alan climbed. Another team turned back from below Green Gully having decided today was not the day for it. Tomorrow will see the temperature rise 5 degrees at 900m with further heavy rain and strong winds - a good recipe for more avalanches!

10th February 2006

Another fantastic day, clear, still and cold. Nick and Malcolm went to Stob Coire nan Lochain where there is a little more snow but the boulders in the coire are still far from covered. Jo climbed Stirling Bridge and found no sign of the loose block reported last year. Well done to Andy for the second ascent of Sioux Wall on Ben Nevis which he made yesterday. Another VIII,8 mixed masterpiece on the best hill in the country!

9th February 2006

The fresh snow has settled down quite quickly to a category 2 avalanche hazard but there are some large soft cornices now over many of the routes, especially on Aonach Mor. Mike, Rachel and Ian climbed Tower Scoop which was sporting enough for them to be happy to finish up Tower Gully. Nick and his team made their way up Ledge Route with a few other teams. The water ice that was here before the big wash out on Tuesday is still there and, with much more water in the hills and very cold temperatures, ice is forming fast. The weekend will give a wee thaw so when it refreezes and consolidates the fresh snow will be good to climb on setting us up well for the Film Festival here in Fort William. Have a look at what's happening here.

8th February 2006

There is snow on the hills down to 600m which looked great in the sunshine between the showers today. Nick went up the E Ridge of Beinn a'Chaorainn and did some navigation training over the tops and there were teams out on Ben Nevis and Aonach Mor wading through the fresh snow and being very careful in the gullies. Pressure is building for the next two days which will give crystal clear views of snow covered hills. It will be a little windy and a gentle thaw will consolidate the fresh snow over the weekend.

7th February 2006
Yesterday was quite wet and windy but Jonny and I managed a couple of great ice climbs on Aonach Mor E Face to the S of Easy Gully at about IV,5. It looked like there were only guides and instructors out climbing which is a shame because in the shelter of the coire it was perfectly comfortable and the ice was nice and soft. Today was extremely windy and wet however and just about everybody stayed down low! There was one team in North Gully and lots of folks on the snow looking at snow belays including Nick and his team. By early afternoon the rain had turned to snow down to 900m and, as it has carried on raining steadily, there will be lots of snow on the hills by tomorrow. Thursday and Friday of this week will be brilliant, cold and clear days setting us up for a good weekend to start the Mountain Film Festival here in Fort William.

5th February 2006

Today was very cloudy but the rain held off and it was actually quite dry. Jonny and I climbed 200m of water ice on Ben Nevis today! Most of it was around grade II but there were many grade III and IV steps and the last bit was vertical for 5 or 6 metres. Great fun and we didn't even top out into the wind. The ice wasn't melting but it wasn't forming either. Tomorrow will be quite windy but we may well stay dry again and we are promised some fresh snow before the weekend. Let's hope so.

4th February 2006

The temperature gradient is back to the usual warm in the glen and cooler the higher you go. The snow started out quite crispy in Coire na Ciste on Ben Nevis and the ice on Number Three Gully Buttress was superb. We have lost some snow though and the traverse is now more on rock than on snow. There are lots of people now trying to climb the same routes and some loose blocks due to the slow thaw so be careful out there!

3rd February 2006

There is more cloud around, the snow has softened and the ice is melting slowly. When it cools down again it will help the snow turn to good neve for climbing. Andy, Paul and I wrapped up a good week of climbing with Forgotten Twin with the icefall start and The Web. Left Twin, Right Twin, Tunnel Vision and many lines S of Easy Gully were climbed today. Tomorrow will be nice again but it will be windier and wetter for a few days before getting colder and perhaps snowier by the end of next week.

2nd February 2006

We lost the temperature inversion today as a thin layer of cloud covered the west coast. The forecast light rain didn't come about though as the high pressure is still dominant. There was a very gentle thaw however and small bits of ice were falling off Two Step Corner as Andy and I climbed Number Three Gully Buttress. The ice at the bottom of this is really fat but there is little snow on the diagonal traverse in the upper part. Green Gully was climbed by a team who appeared to have little problems with it and Jaimie B went up South Gully on Creag Coire na Ciste.

1st February 2006

As the temperature inversion strengthens we now have a brilliant layer of cloud between 500m and 700m making it grey in the glen but brilliant sunshine on the tops. We bounced along over the blanket of clouds looking at loads of climbing anchors and skills on Aonach Mor. There are many very good ice climbs between grade II and IV to do here - Tim climbed Left Twin and said it was great!