March 2009 Conditions Reports

22nd March 2009

After a drippy night in the snowhole with a little snow on the tops (rain down where we were!) we woke to a blustery and wet morning. Radek and I went around to Coire na Ciste to climb Glovers Chimney in fairly challenging weather. Ice was again melting and falling off quite fast. Water was running down the crags and gullies. So, after completing our criss-cross of Tower Ridge Radek and I packed up and went down. Winter is set to return next week with significant falls of snow possible at the end of the week after a few days of cold weather. There is plenty of climbing still to do this winter! The high gullies are all fat and there is plenty of ice on lots of routes. Orion Direct has a hole in the second pitch and Hadrian's Wall looks thin but ice will build again this week so these routes might well reform. I'm off to ski the Haute Route though so there will be a limited service in the conditions reports for a while.

21st March 2009

The cold front came in earlier than expected with drizzle and cloud thawing the ice rapidly. Many teams were on the way out by the time Radek and I walked up Ben Nevis. After checking Point Five Gully to see if the reports of falling ice were right (they were) we went for Tower Ridge instead. The clouds cleared perfectly for a quick ascent up to the Great Tower. Here we met many other teams tying themselves together to Tower Gap! We managed to sneek past and reach the top in the sunshine before descending Tower Gully. An hour later we had the kettle on in our snowhole at the foot of Observatory Gully!

20th March 2009

More fantastic conditions on Ben Nevis today. Observatory Gully was busy with several teams on Indicator Wall, Point Five Gully, Good Friday Climb, Smiths Route and Tower Scoop amongst others. Kenny and David climbed Indicator Wall and Thompson's Route in excellent ice conditions.

19th March 2009

Another perfect day in the Outdoor Capital. Kenny and David climbed The White Line today reporting great conditions. The third icefall isn't complete but can be avoided on the right. Apart from that it was first time placements all the way. A brilliant route.

18th March 2009

Paddy, Sue and I went up Tower Ridge today in perfect conditions. Someone must have gone up in the soft snow at the weekend because they left behind a set of very good steps all the way up! The rock is dry and protection is easy to find but the snow is firm and crunchy, a great combination. The Eastern Traverse and up that side of the Great Tower was running with water as the sun hit it at lunchtime. I imagine anything facing the sun (The Little Brenva Face and Aonach Mor East Face among many others) will be melting away fast.

Donald and David climbed NE Buttress in very fast time. The snow was either soft or very hard depending on whether it was in the sun or in the shade. The Mantrap is dry and the 40 Foot Corner is icy, again a good combination. Kenny climbed Orion Direct saying the exit from the basin is a bit thin and delicate but every where else it's first time placements all the way. On Point Five Gully the queues have been hacking away a bit and the top of the chimney is a bit soft now. It's cooler tonight than last night so the snow should freeze properly again ready for us all to do it again tomorrow!

17th March 2009

A good frost last night and very dry air made the snow icy hard today. Orion Direct, Zero Gully, Point Five Gully, Indicator Wall and Smiths Route were all climbed today and there were many other big classics to go for as well. There were six teams in Point Five Gully and no-one on Hadrians Wall Direct. Psychadelic Wall is covered in a thin layer of ice but I'm not sure it is thick enough for climbing on.

Paddy, Sue and I went up Observatory Gully and climbed Good Friday climb with the left hand finish onto Observatory Buttress. This is has a fantastic open feel to it but is quite easy climbing and a great intro to winter climbing for Paddy and Sue.

Kenny climbed Tower Ridge in great and amenable conditions with Allan and Iain. Donald climbed a combination of Central Gully and Joyful Chimneys in the Trident Buttresses with David. There's plenty of ice to go and climb, not as fat as last spring but pretty good. We have some availability over the next couple of weeks so if the weather holds and you want to experience Ben Nevis ice at its best get in touch.

16th March 2009

Another wet and warm day on Ben Nevis with snow and ice melting fast. Donald, Ed and Sam climbed Green Gully which was running with water and won't last much more of this thaw. Kenny found much the same in Comb Gully with Allan and Iain. There is also a big hazard of rockfall and cornice collapse when it is so wet. Donald heard a big fall of something near Number Four Gully today and chunks of ice were coming down Green Gully. It will be dry for the next few days however and it is cold tonight so hopefully the snow will refreeze.

15th March 2009

Yesterdays rain cleared North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor of much of its snow so Donald, Ed and Sam climbed it mostly on rock. It was dry and they had a very nice day. John took Ian and Chris on the second day of their Mont Blanc preparation to Aonach Mor where the corries are still full of snow. High up on Ben Nevis and Aonach Mor there is a very good cover of snow and plenty of ice in the gullies. With high pressure and dry conditions forecast later this week we will get a good spell of ice climbing and plenty of opportunity for winter action. The winter is not over until the daffodils have gone over and wilted!

14th March 2009

A windy and wet morning for the last day of the Mountain Festival. As the Nevis Range gondola was not running in the strong winds the Avalanche Awareness Workshop was reduced to a theory session over a good coffee. We talked over the whole process of snow transportation and accumulation and what can trigger slopes to avalanche. With some pictures on the laptop we looked at images of warning signs that can be observed in the hills and came up with our own avalanche forecast for the following day. The pictures are from the Avalanche Awareness Workshop run by Nigel Hooker last Sunday. Donald took Simon and Paul up to the CIC Hut where they decided they were not going to be able to get anything like as good as Point Five Gully yesterday so they went down to The Ice Factor for some crevasse rescue training. John, Ian and Chris did manage a day on Ben Nevis going over everything they will need to know when they go to Mont Blanc in the summer. Rain to the summits in the morning cleared to give a dry afternoon. Another good, wet thaw so long as we get cooler conditions afterwards.

13th March 2009

The mixed weather of the last week has built great icy snow over the Orion Face and in the major gullies out of Observatory Gully. The weather was far better than forecast today and Simon, Paul and I took advantage by climbing Point Five Gully in fantastic conditions! Another team made quick progress on Hadrian's Wall Direct and, although the ice is a but cruddy in places, it was first time placements most of the way. Kenny took Martin and Roland up Green Gully which is in great shape as well. The ice is still quite snowy and will get better with further thaw freeze cycles but it has been building on all the thin face routes. If it carries on like this we could get a fantastic spring of ice climbing on Ben Nevis.

11th March 2009
A wet and soggy day as forecast. Thawing above the tops with steady light rain this afternoon.

10th March 2009

A glorious day in the Outdoor Capital of the UK. Sunshine, light winds and great snow cover made today a brilliant day to be out in the hills and exactly the reason we celebrate the opportunities they present with the Mountain Festival. This week Centurian (VIII,8) had a very rare ascent and yesterday Andy and Tony made the first winter ascent of Sassenach. Dave MacLeod was out today as well ... watch this space!

9th March 2009

Snow showers on a cold and windy day for the Winter Walking Skills Workshop of the Mountain Festival. Paula, Elspeth, Audrey and Glen all got a taste for a realy wintry day on Aonach Mor. We covered an introduction to all the skills required to operate in the winter hills including how to stay warm and dry, how to walk on snow and icy ground, using an ice axe and crampons, plenty of avalanche awareness and route choice decisions plus a bit of navigation as well. Looks like we'll get another good, cold day tomorrow before a thaw freeze cycle on Wednesday and Thursday and several more there after.

8th March 2009

After one look at the wind in Coire na Ciste, Chris and I decided to change plans and go to Buachaille Etive Mor instead. Whereas yesterday gave us heavy rain to the summits, today gave us heavy snow down to sea level! Heavy snow and spindrift pouring down the gullies helped us to choose D Gully Buttress, left of Curved Ridge. With two contrasting crux pitches (one steep and positive, the other slabby and tenuous) this is a great climb that joins Curved Ridge below it's crux tower. It is often mistaken for Curved Ridge but is significantly harder. Progress of several teams on Curved Ridge was slow and we ended up at the front of the line digging a trail up this too. The old snow has not frozen yet and there is still plenty of it on the ridge making movement very hard work. Higher up a crust formed that was just too weak to hold your weight making it even harder work and very frustrating. Strong winds were forming a huge cornice at the top of Coire na Tullach and with lots of snow blowing over the edge we went down the west bounding ridge of the coire. The snow is crusty on Aonach Mor as well as Nigel and his Avalanche Awareness Workshop discovered! They also had category 4 avalanche hazards so it was a great day to look at the snow!

7th March 2009

With wet, windy and warm weather due to arrive during the day Chris and I wanted a quick hit on something high and get back before the heavens opened. The gondola on Aonach Mor was running so we took advantage and got to the top of the ski area in double quick time. We abseiled down Central Buttress and climbed Morwind which is in very somilar condition to last Wednesday but with better frozen turf. The rain was on when we arrived back on top so we headed down in heavy rain and were lucky that the gondola was still running. Gillian took the Mountain Festival Walking Skills Workshop around the Nid Ridge of Aonach Mor and Nigel took Angus and Gary to the Cairngorms where the rain held off the longest and the winds were light. It should be cold and snowy again tomorrow so with today's rain we should get brilliant, icy snow conditions. This is exactly the kind of thaw freeze cycle that will build ice on the Orion Face and others like it ... fingers crossed.

6th March 2009

Very little has been climbed on Ben Nevis over the last few days as it's been impossible to get anywhere with so much soft snow. So Donald and I teamed up to share the trail breaking to The Douglas Boulder. Donald was climbing with Alistair and Aiden and went for Left Hand Chimney while Alistair and I went for NW Face Route. I've always liked the look of these chimneys but we were all very impressed with quality of the lines on closer inspection. Unfortunately neither team made it to the top though! Soggy turf, lots of soft snow and no ice and neve made the routes very awkward and we both decided to bail off. You've got to try and sometimes it doesn't work out. A team on Centurian (VIII,8) was making very good progress today and Nigel and Chris made it up Dinnertime Buttress on Aonach Dubh. The temperature rose during the day making the snow wet at 900m but it was dry for most of the day before snow and rain came in this evening.

5th March 2009

After three days of wading through the snow Alistair and I decided to give the legs a rest today. We went dry tooling under Ballachulish Bridge which gave the arms and core muscles a serious workout! Directly under the bridge and next to the Ballachulish Hotel this wee crag, a cutting next to the road, has great anchors (the bridge) for setting up bottom ropes and some really nice routes. We did about six separate lines, a thin crack on the right being the best. Some of the rock is loose but it kept us busy for a long morning. Donald, Alistair and Aiden came along as well for a play before we all went to the bouldering wall at The Ice Factor for even more strenuous training! In the hills there were one or two periods of sunshine and more snow showers. Nigel and Simon made it in to Coire nan Lochan and up to the base of Dorsal Arete before turning to back stroke and swimming back down again. They looked at snow anchors and avalanche awareness, a hot topic at the moment. Looks like we'll get some freeze thaw action over the next few days which will consolidate the snow but at the moment getting anywhere is all but impossible.

4th March 2009

Another major fall of snow last night has buried the hills and made travel very arduous indeed. On Aonach Mor everyone was in a rush to get first tracks on a rare powder day while Alistair and I plugged our way to the top on foot. The ground had no snow on it on Saturday but now the fence posts only have 30cm showing at the top so something over a metre has collected on the plateau in three days! There were many avalanche trails and crown walls left from slab avalanches all round Coire an Lochain, below the cornice line and below the crags. We cleared the loose snow from the top of Central Buttress before abseiling down and climbing Morwind. The turf is more or less frozen and there is a little neve but mostly it is rock and turf covered in soft snow. In these conditions Morwind feels like a IV with a move or two of technical 5 but very well protected. Another team descended Easy Gully, walked under the crags and climbed White Shark ... in Category 4 avalanche hazard conditions (when triggering an avalanche is probable with small additional loads) this is certainly never something I would consider doing. Stick to the buttresses and ridges, even then a big dose of caution would be sensible just now and for the rest of the week.

3rd March 2009

We had a major fall of snow overnight and fairly continuous snowfall all day as well. It came down to about 150m above sea level and there was about 40cm depth on the way in to North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor. Alistair and I wanted to climb Shelf Route but as it starts from Crowberry Gully we decided to go nowhere near it! Instead we took the safe option of North Buttress which gave some brilliant climbing when you could find it under the snow! There were a couple of areas of windslab to negotiate on the upper, slabby section of the buttress and some spindrift poured down the route. Clearly Coire na Tulloch was very heavily loaded with soft snow so we descended the ridge bounding the west side of the coire. It was quite a wet day despite the colder temperatures and the snow was wet below around 600m. With so much snow around and more forecast, safe options for climbing are limited to ridges and buttresses with a safe approach and exit at the top.

2nd March 2009

Another very wet day today with rain to the summits in heavy showers saturating the fresh snow of yesterday. Alistair and I went to Stob Coire nan Lochan and climbed Central Buttress Ordinary Route. The turf is not at all frozen and the rocks are loose so it wasn't exactly classic climbing conditions. However it certainly felt wintry with 10 to 15cm of snow on the ledges and in the grooves. Dorsal Arete saw a few ascents but the gullies had sizeable point release avalanches going on all day as the snow got wet and heavy. This evening it is already cooling down rapidly as the refreeze starts to come in properly. All the wet snow will turn into good neve and the base underneath will be concrete hard after a couple of days. I think climbing conditions will be very good in a day or two, just in time for the Fort William Mountain Festival.

1st March 2009

March got off to a brilliant start with a return to winter conditions on the hills. 15cm of snow fell down to 600m overnight and there was more falling during the day. Radek and I were all set for an ice gully on Ben Nevis but the fresh snow put us off. Instead we had an adventure on South Trident Buttress. Pinnacle Arete is described as IV,4 snow and ice grooves which are more like V,5 when there is no solid snow or ice! A great day out though and very nice climbing. There are many loose blocks and flakes around after the sustained thaw. We had several on our route and Rich was dealing with some on Slab Climb around the corner. Andy and Leanne were climbing Strident Edge and there was a team on The Secret. The international superstars were out in force again proving that climbing on Ben Nevis is a much sought after experience.