Beinn Udlaidh 22-01-13

Lots of good ice forming on Beinn Udlaidh.  Various routes in condition and others coming in.  Few others out today on Quartzvein Scoop and Green Eyes.  There was a reasonable amount of fresh powder blown about and some of the exits on the main crag had a bit of build up and a small cornice, not too much of a problem though.

Today we were looking to climb another 'Cold Climbs' route and so headed to Quartzvein Scoop IV / 4***. There was a fair bit of snow covering the ice but underneath there was some good ice, a little hollow in places but all good.  After this we dropped down to the single pitch routes on the lower tier and climbed a short steep route down there which gave a great little pitch and a bit steeper than what we have been on the last few days.

Its always great to climb the classic winter climbs of the UK and 'Cold Climbs' gives some great background info and history associated with a selection of routes and in looking to climb many of the listed routes you'll be taken off the beaten track.

'Cold Climbs' -   http://www.bmcshop.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=5427

Lower Tier Ice-falls

Quartzvein Scoop IV / 4***

 Main Crag

Ben Nevis 21-01-13

Was back on the Ben again today with Jill who is keen to work her way through some 'Cold Climbs' classics, a selection of some of the UK and Ireland's most sought after winter climbs.

The weather was due to be windy today but with heading up with a few options we were able to find some relative shelter on the mountain on Comb Gully IV / 4.  Comb did get its fair share of spindrift today but seemed much better than most parts of the mountain and was a good Scottish day out.  We had also considered Glover's Chimney but it seemed to be getting the brunt of an upward wind returning in the Coire and a constant stream of spindrift going up the route, there was a team trying Glover's though and the first ice-fall looked good.  We saw a few others on the Carn Dearg Cascades and that was about it.  Some friends took a trip up and down No.4 and lost a half loaded rucksack to a gust!

Comb Gully gave another great day and was in great condition.  Apart from a little fairly avoidable bit of wind-slab low down the whole route was on hard frozen snow and good ice.  Descent again down the Redburn was fast with a little bit of fresh slab about to watch out for, all avoidable though.

Mixed climbing conditions looked awesome high up, the front steep face of the Comb was frosted today and the routes around No.3 Gully Buttress looked to be in prime condition!

Video clip from Comb Gully

First Step

Second step before easy ground to top

Ben Nevis 20-01-13

Not many out on the Ben today, few on Ledge route and down around the Douglas Boulder and Carn Dearg Cascades.  There were some pockets of slab about, notably there was a layer of dry powder between the slab and old snow below creating a very unstable combination.  That said, we went into Coire Ciste and climbed Green Gully and were able to complete the whole day without leaving good well frozen hard snow.  Green Gully itself was thin but good for the first pitch and after that was in great condition with good ice and well frozen snow all the way, all 3 exits looked good, we finished up the left on good ice.  Exit slopes were fine.  We descended the Redburn which was fast with snow all the way but had some pockets of slab to watch out for.  No.4 Gully had been used in descent today and looked OK, can't say for sure though as we didn't use it...  No.3 Gully Buttress looked good also and looked to have been climbed probably yesterday.

So it seems a lot of routes have been blown clean of powder and are fine but no doubt there will be pockets of significant wind-slab about to watch out for.

Coire Ciste

Green Gully IV / 4 ***

Ben Nevis 18-01-13

The Ben took on a new look today altogether.  As there has been no thaw it would seem the very strong winds had literally blown the snow of the crag!  So its all ended up somewhere but who knows where?!  The Douglas Boulder and lower areas were a bit blacker, high mixed was looking great still.  The snow has stayed powdery and dry and was air-born most of the day, we were in Castle Coire at one point and there is mainly hard old snow in there and not much powder about at all.  The crags were a lot more stripped in there also than yesterday.  Ice is still building, especially lower down it seems, the icefalls below Carn Dearg are still getting some seepage so hopefully should improve further.  There were other teams out today but not sure what got climbed if anything as many were heading down fairly quickly most likely due to the winds up in the higher corries.

Rich was keen to go over some snow anchor options, climb some ice and have a look at ice threads.  So with a few skills to cover and high winds we headed for the icefalls and climbed Carn Dearg Cascade right hand.  The obvious steep fall behind in the photo isn't far off, not quite there yet though.  The closer one we climbed and was really good, the first 40m pitch was great but the ice quality varied a bit.  The 2nd pitch is easier but was very thin.  After this we had plenty of time to cover snow belays and threads etc with good old snow in Castle Coire.

 Icefalls below Carn Dearg

Looking at ice threads and retreat options...

Ben Nevis 17-01-13

Still great conditions on the Ben, ice is starting to form again in places and the mixed routes are still well frozen and white.  No.3 Gully buttress looked great but even mixed routes down on the Douglas Boulder were still in good condition.  More wind today has formed reasonable wind slab in places and there was a lot of snow moving about the mountain, teams were up and down No.4 Gully and Ledge route but it may change over night as the wind is set to continue...

Richard was keen for another days mixed action to build on the previous days routes and to do some more technique coaching so we headed for Cutlass VI / 7 *.  This was a brilliant route with 3 contrasting pitches before joining the SW ridge and I'd think worth more than 1 star?!  After that we looked over setting up abseils for retreat and using pegs etc before heading for home.  Another great day out.

 Coire Ciste

 NE Buttress and Douglas Boulder

 Richard on the crux of Cutlass

 Happy to be at the belay...

The chimney, pitch 3 on Cutlass

Aonach Mor 16-01-13

Another great day of conditions on the West.  A little cloud about today and after a clear start we ended up loosing the views with a little very light snow on Aonach Mor East face.  We abbed down Easy Gully which was fine with a fair bit of loose snow but nothing too serious.  We broke trail over to the Prow area also which was all good.  The crag was in great condition for mixed climbing looking white and with bomber turf.  There was also some good looking ice on Nausea and in that area.

I was out with Richard again today who I'm with for 5 days on a climbing 'Improvers' Course which he's taken to well.  He was keen to try something a little harder than yesterday so we went for Stirling Bridge VI / 7 ***.  This again was a great mixed route with some great climbing for Richard to experiment on and play around with axe torques and various mixed climbing technique.  The top out gave a bit of cornice related excitement but actually wasn't as bad as it looked from below, however many of the other routes in the area had large steep cornices at their tops.  Others were out on various routes to the right of Easy gully in the Twins area and were using an abb approach from the posts above.

 The main pitch on Stirling Bridge VI / 7 ***

 Richard loving it!

Chilly enough on the plateau when sat about...

Coire nan Lochan 15-01-13

Great mixed climbing conditions and perfect weather today in Lochan.  Most mixed route were in good condition looking white and well frozen.  The new snow is still dry and powdery and the routes required a fair bit of clearing.  Broad Gully was used as a descent and seemed to be safe enough.

Scrabble received an ascent which looked great and fairly exciting, great lead by Adam Hughes on the 1st pitch.

I was out with Richard again today who was keen to try a harder mixed route to get a feel for what steeper mixed is all about so we did Crest Route V/6 which was great and gave Richard the chance to experiment a bit with climbing leash-less and movement on steeper ground.

Coire nan Lochan

Richard getting familiar with belay duty!

 The brilliant corner pitch....

 Richard coming up the last hard pitch

 White hills as far as you could see in every direction made a nice finish to the day after topping out.

Ben Nevis, 14-01-13

There was a reasonable amount of fresh snow on the Ben today and things were looking fairly white even low down.  There were plenty of options for mixed climbing and some good looking ice still about.  Getting about wasn't too bad actually as the snow is fairly evenly spread and hasn't been pushed about by the wind too much.  There wasn't too many out climbing but teams were on Ledge route and there were a few heading around into the Coire Leis area.  We climbed the SW ridge on the Douglas Boulder which was in good condition and adding the direct start from the toe of the buttress made it good value.  Lots of harder mixed routes looking good, the No.3 Gully Buttress area was totally white but I'd guess there would be a good bit of snow clearing required on most routes.  No.4 Gully was used as a descent by various teams also.

 Looking good

 Coire na Ciste

Direct start on the SW ridge

 Abb back into the Douglas Gap

Cairngorms, Coire an t-Sneachda. 06-01-13

Yesterday we went over to the east to Sneachda.  There was very little humidity in the east and the snow condition was much better despite the high temperatures.  Whilst the snow was good for 'skills' courses etc there were only a few easy climbs looking complete.  The Runnel, Jacob's Ladder and Aladdin's Couloir were all OK and complete.  A few other routes may have been possible but were thin.

We decided to have a look at some leading yesterday looking at placing gear and making belays etc.  We climbed the Runnel which was good with a couple of icy mixed sections.

Northern Corries

Coire an t-Sneachda

 The Runnel

On returning to the west last night the drizzle had become much heavier rain and it was about 9 degrees at sea level so its hard to know how this will have effected the remaining ice up on the Ben.

Scotland - West Coast Update 04-01-13

The thaw that has set in across Scotland has stripped a lot of snow from the hills.  The West has been damper than the East meaning the snow conditions are better over East, however there are only limited steeper routes possible, its mainly the easy gullies.  Apart from some snow cover most of the regular West coast venues are very thin on ice and the rock is damp and black.  The main exception to this is on the Ben, the Observatory Gully ice routes in particular are holding out.  I am currently working on the West and today we climbed Tower Scoop and Tower Gully with a descent down No.4.  Various routes (that I could see through the clag) still looked complete.  Smiths Route, Tower Scoop, Tower Cascades right and left, and possibly Indicator Wall (or something near it) were all complete.  There is still ice in Point 5 and on Hadrians Wall, but there were also large holes/thin sections.  In the Ciste there didn't seem to be as much, left Central is complete, North Gully and possibly Green Gully also (?).  There is most likely other routes looking OK also but the visibility was poor so I'm not sure.  All  the routes will need a freeze to make them safe really, there was a lot of water running and it was very humid today.  Tower Scoop had good ice and was just passable without feeling too unstable, but I'd guess that most of the other routes I saw would be too wet/unstable currently to climb.  Looks as though a freeze might be a bit off yet so hopefully some of this will survive...

Tower Ridge and Ledge Route looked to still be holding reasonable snow cover also.

Tower Scoop