Ben Nevis 12-01-12

Today gave a great day on the Ben with much colder temperatures and clearer skies coming in this morning after a wet and wild night.

We did Tower Ridge which was in great condition, dry rock gave fast gear and the crest and all the ledges were covered in hard snow or ice.  We also had the route to ourselves as a bonus!

 Looking over Carn Dearg

Tower Ridge

Smiths Route

Whilst there was not loads of routes in, there was some looking good and getting climbed.  Today Smiths Route, Indicator Wall, Ledge Route, Right Central and Tower Scoop were all climbed and looking good.  Also Cascade, Comb Gully, Thompsons Route, Green Gully and possibly Two Step Corner will all have been climbable.  As well as these all the easy gullies were good with hard snow.

Another cold day coming should hopefully dry up any of the dripping ice and make whats there really good.  Routes such as Hadrians Wall were looking too thin, and Point 5 has a big section missing with some water still running down it.

Ice Factor 11-01-12

Today we went to do a bit of coaching at the Ice Factor.  This is a great way to provide some close up movement coaching and gives people the chance to explore the limits on ice in a safe environment.

The weather today got worse as the day went on, whilst it was not too wet, it was the wind up high that was going to be the biggest problem.  With 2 much better days forecast to come we decided to split the 5 day course with a semi rest day whilst still getting some great additional training/coaching covered.

 Coaching in the Freezer

Followed by some dry tooling 

Scottish Conditions 10-01-12

So far its been a very mild and wild start to the year.  The Lakes has had a wide spread strip of snow and now Scotland is following.  Last Friday gave heavy rain on the summits in the evening, the last few days have also been warm with some rain on the summits, today there was light rain on top of the Ben.  However, some easy angled mixed routes and ice routes that were well formed have just about survived, and with much colder temperatures set to return for Thursday things could come good again.

I've been working on the west coast recently and we've managed to get routes done everyday.  We've climbed on the Buachaille one day, then Dorsal Arete in Lochan has been the aim on more than one day.  Today we went high onto the Ben, we climbed Green Gully which was actually really good, with just enough to make the climbing good.  The ice wasn't right to take screws where you would want them though so a bold approach was useful.  Other routes climbed today and yesterday were Ledge Route, Tower Ridge, Comb Gully, Thompsons Route and some of the easier gullies.  There will be other routes to climb I'd think with a bit of a hunt about as there is still some good ice about, though a freeze will do things a lot of good and make the ice more secure.  In Glen Coe Twisting Gully, Broad Gully, Forked Gully, NC Gully, Dorsal and the other easier gullies were all climbed yesterday.  Curved Ridge still has some snow on higher up as well.

So some routes hanging in for Thursdays freeze...

Lochan, Glen Coe, 09-01-12

 A black looking Lochan

 Still good on Dorsal Arete

 Dry rock on the Dorsal

 Climbers in Forked Gully

Ben Nevis, 10-01-12

Top out on Green Gully, good ice!

Bowfell Area Conditions and First Ascents 18-12-11

Great weather and conditions today on Bowfell.  Lots of teams on Bowfell Buttress, Steve Ashworth and Brian Davison climbed a new line to the right of the classic route whilst Rich Cross tried something new to the left (not sure how it went as we were off, lots of head torches out on the Buttress though...)

 The Langdale Pikes

Langdale at its best

Many routes were in great condition again today.  The forecast thaw is due to arrive tomorrow so its hard to say what it will do on the crags, but it looks like it might rain on the summits.  This will be good on the long run to help the snow firm up but won't do the mixed climbing conditions any good.

Flat Crags

Tom Greenwood and myself made the first winter ascent of the summer E1 5b Moon Shadow on Flat Crags.  This route gave one hard pitch at a strenuous VII/8, if it were just a bit more sustained it would probably go up a grade.  The 2nd pitch to the top was about III/4.  The route involves pulling up onto a hanging arete to gain a crack, at first the crack is thin but it improves with height.  Then you pull through a roof and climb some balancy slabs with a bit of a run out.  The 2nd pitch climbs a stepped groove with some awkward moves.  A great route that packs a bit of a punch!

 Tom having a good go at the crux pitch which ended when a tool ripped

 Me having a go, and keeping my face away from the axe which was ready to rip again but didn't!

 Crux pitch on the arete 

Preparing to pull through the roof out onto the start of the slab section

Some great shots from today on the Epicentre Facebook Page.

Helvellyn Conditions 17-12-11

Was working on Helvellyn today for www.mountainguides.co.uk with Matt and Simon who were out to try the Helvellyn classic V-Corner.

The Red Tarn area was very quiet for a Saturday, there was a team on Viking Buttress, didn't seem to be many others climbing at all.  The conditions were great, there was still plenty of soft snow about but it felt a lot more stable than earlier in the week.  That said, some caution is definitely still needed, there is still wind slab up high and some of the largest cornices I've seen on Helvellyn due to the prolonged west winds we've been getting.  Also a lot of debris below the headwall that looked like cornice collapse debris...

After a look at the cornice at the top of V-Corner we traversed out right to a small buttress were there was a break to top out.  The already drooping cornice is definitely going to need some respect when things start to warm up, especially above Gully 2.

Once again it was a great winter day, the ridges were in good condition and V-Corner was in about the best condition I've climbed it in despite the soft snow.  It had good ice, solid turf and snow ice with some mixed moves thrown in.

 Making for some good ice, V-Corner area

 Matt on his 2nd route ever!

Lots of good ice variations to V-Corner

Well done to Matt and Simon, cheers for a great day!

Great Gable 16-12-11

Engineers Slab was in great condition today for mixed routes.  Frozen turf and snowed up well frosted rock.  Engineers Chimney looked great with a line of icy neve down the back, don't see that often!

 Ennerdale looking snowy

Engineers Slab looking great!

Jabberwock was climbed and we made the first winter ascent of Angel of Mercy, it went at about VIII/9.  Routes were also climbed on Green Gable and it looked good.  Still plenty of soft snow about but not on the steeper routes.

Some air miles being clocked up on Jabberwock (sorry, couldn't flip video)

 Steve Ashworth on the first pitch, as for Troll

 Great climbing up typical Gable cracks on the first pitch

Me on the first pitch, Tom Greenwood below (we were 3 today)

 Gaining the hanging slab, this provides the crux of the route as you move right

Moving rightwards along the slab with the undercut overlap above,

some technical moves across here

 The slab section

Through the overlap to gain the crack system

So plenty to go at on Gable, all the steep mixed lines being in and will be climbable tomorrow.

Check out the Epicentre Facebook page for more info.

Blea Tarn and Highstreet 15-12-11

Today I was out in the High Street area with photographer Dave Willis taking some shots.  There was a lot less snow in this area than over at Helvellyn, that said there was still some big accumulations of freshly blown snow up high and signs of cornice collapse in many places.  The day was perfect for a winter walk and not too much heavy breaking trail was required up Riggendale.  We returned under the ice falls and whilst there were signs of ice forming in many places there wasn't anything significant to climb, water was running down the main ice lines.  Today felt warmer and with the slightly lower altitude of these ice falls some colder weather is needed to bring them fully in.

 Riggendale

 Blea Tarn

 Main ice fall area, a bit buried 

Snow lower down felt stable, higher up though still had large areas of wind slab

Great winter walking conditions on High Street but no complete ice climbs yet.  Much less snow though for those wanting to avoid breaking trail in the central Lakes.

Routes were climbed on Helvellyn today and conditions were meant to be good, with a bit of swimming about  (exit slopes will still need careful consideration!)

Also, routes were climbed on Cambridge Crags today, it looked good on there in the photos.  Bowfell Buttress looked good... no idea about turf etc though, so would need to go and have a look.

See the Epicentre Facebook page for photos of that area.

Helvellyn Conditions 14-12-11

Went up to Helvellyn today to see how things were looking.  Today was another wild day out, lots of fresh snow blowing about and breaking trail all the way, the main track to Red Tarn was buried and the snow was about 14 inches or so with some much deeper drifts.  Skis would have been great with a descent possible all the way back down afterwards!  The old snow that had just started to freeze now has a big load of wind blown snow on top, so route choice is crucial and there was a lot of spooky snow on the headwall area and the approach.  There was numerous crown walls around the headwall and across the gullies...

 Deep drifts above Red Tarn, that poles fully extended...

 Viking Buttress and No.1 Gully, the rock was well snowed up 

Viking Buttress, looking white with ledges buried

I climbed Gully 1 Buttress and some of V-Corner, with both routes I descended the face afterwards rather than top out as the exit slopes were showing the warning signs, big cracks appeared either side of me when having probe at it!  Lots of stuff slabbing away under foot also...  The routes are very buried now as the snow has been dumping down the face, some of the ledges on Viking Buttress are turning into snow slopes, if they'd freeze it will soon be Grade 2!  The V-Corner area had some great ice formed and some perfect snow ice where it wasn't buried.

 A bit damp with swimming about...

Great snow ice showing through at the base of V-Corner

Great ice in the V-Corner area, the central fall giving a short steep pillar 

So its another dose of full winter up there, with route choice important, on many aspects, especially NE-E-SE were there is deep snow accumulation.  Anyone who skis will find awesome conditions tomorrow I'd think.  Climbing wise, today the ice was good, the turf I could see was good and there was good snow ice in places, but all with some swimming about thrown in.  Steep routes that aren't buried and without exposed exit slopes could be the way forward.

Running Helvellyn Area 12-12-11

There is still plenty of snow cover around the Helvellyn area, the old snow that had a thaw is starting to freeze again and firm up on the surface.  There was a little new snow blowing about from last night with some pockets a bit deeper in places.  The turf up high was also showing the early signs of a freeze and there is some ice coating the exposed rocks up high.

The effects of the rapid thaw were clear to see with a number of large full depth avalanches, one into Brown Cove from the headwall between Helvellyn and Lower Man in particular had left a massive amount of debris all the way into the Cove.  There was also a fairly large one into Keppel Cove with a crown wall of about 2 metre (see photo below).

 Piles of wet snow and grit washed across the path from the stream

Large full depth avalanche in Keppel Cove

The Helvellyn Ridges are still really good, the rock now has a thin layer of ice coating it meaning a bit of care was needed without crampons.

Running down Swirl Edge

See also Steve Ashworths report from today at - https://www.facebook.com/EpicentreAmbleside?ref=ts