March 2004 Conditions Reports

8th March 2004

A stunning sunny day today with no wind. There are still lots of climbs at Aonach Mor, The Twins, Icicle Gully, Jet Stream, Tunnel Vision to name a few. Donald took his girls, Kate and Alison, up Tower Scoop and Good Friday Climb on Ben Nevis, Green and Comb Gullies, Point Five Gully, Waterfall Gully and many buttress routes are in great shape still along with many others. Very cold tonight, another warm sunny day tomorrow and we may well get some more snow towards the end of the week.

7th March 2004
The clouds cleared totally during today as the high pressure system took control. The Orion Face is plastered with snow, ready to turn into plastic ice and the rocks are rimed up. It was snowing down to 600m this morning and there is still some soft snow which has drifted on to scarp slopes and the tops of gullies. Donald, Leon and Josh went ice climbing today in Great Gully on Buachaille Etive Mor which, after a tricky start to get on to the ice, gave them some great climbing with just 30 minutes walking. We've two days of frost and sunshine to come, make the most of it.

5th March 2004

A nice day today, starting out warm but cooling down slowly and stabilising the fresh snow. Marie and I were first to Left Twin on Aonach Mor E Face which was still good, if a little hacked out at the crux bulge. Next we had a look at Hidden Gully (II) at the S end of the coire which turned out to be a pleasant steep snow climb in a nice gully with a steep cornice to escape from. Lastly Sideline (III), just beyond The Prow which gave two pitches of nice but very poorly protected climbing with some fabulous cornices at the top. The team ahead of us did a counter-balance abseil to escape from the top right side of the gully. Marie and I found a good but exciting exit up and left past a huge droopy fang of snow! High pressure is building again, frosty nights and sunny days again.

4th March 2004

More wet snow today down to 900m. Western Rib on Aonach Mor W face was well covered in fresh snow and there are still several long ice lines on this side of the hill. One looked like 400m of continuous grade II / III water ice climbing! Cooling off again soon.

3rd March 2004

Wet snow fell on the hills down to 800m last night before the temperature rose during today. It was still falling as snow above 1000m today and there were a couple of good size avalanches in the usual places - Number Five Gully and Easy Gully - due to the rise in temperature after fresh snowfall. Same again tonight, snow down low as it cools slightly but take care tomorrow as the temperature rises again. At least the big faces are getting plastered with snow that might stick to them and the ice is not melting away too fast. James and I climbed one of the Organ Pipes leading to Waterfall Gully which we climbed in its entirety. The first pitch of this route is often climbed and abseiled which is a shame - the gully goes past some very impressive scenery and there is a through cave at the top to escape out of the gully onto rocky slopes below Ledge Route. It's a great expedition!

2nd March 2004

There was some cloud around already this morning, signaling the end of high pressure for a couple of days. The cloud hung out west and never quite made it over Ben Nevis so James and I had a nice day on Aonach Mor. We managed to climb the direct finish to Jet Stream on the few patches of ice left followed by The Betrayal, which is also a bit chopped away now. This mixed weather has arrived in the nick of time, it could easily repair all the climbs that are getting a bit thin and release some water to complete some others. Let's hope so.

1st March 2004

A very cold night last night and sunny day today meant great ice climbing conditions yet again. It's now three weeks since I came home wet although this will change on Wednesday! Number Three Gully Buttress and North Gully on Creag Coire na Ciste for Marie and me today, a superb day. Waterfall Gully was climbed by Rich and all the organ pipes are well iced up. Sgurr Finnisg'aig ice fall has been climbed the last few days, seven pitches of ice up to grade IV. The thaw on Wednesday should only be temporary and might release enough water to freeze afterwards and complete The Curtain and a lot of other routes that are very close to being iced up. Quartzvein Scoop and one or two others at Beinn Udlaidh are formed but not much else.