Dorsal Arete

Today was Emma's second day out in the winter and she was super keen for some more climbing. We went and climbed Dorsal Arête (II) in Stob Coire nan Lochain in Glencoe. Again the weather was perfect and the mountain was near to empty. Al Halewood was on Twisting Gully which looked to be in good condition. Dorsal was in excellent condition with really good firm neve all the way.

Ledge Route

Today was Emma's first winter climb. Infact it was her first winter day out in the mountains. I chose Ledge Route (II) on Ben Nevis as it is a really quality day out and never too difficult and exposed. The weather was perfect today, hardly any wind, no cloud and wall to wall blue skies. We went onto the summit as Emma had never been up there in winter. To say she was impressed would be an understatement! We saw teams on Tower Ridge, Gargoyle Wall and a team climbed up number 4 gully.

Launchy Gill

Today Izzi and I made our way over to Thirlmere and went for a look at Launchy Gill (III). On arrival it was clear the lower pitches were not in condition but the 20m steepening was good sport. We spent quite a while there looking at ice climbing techniques, this was Izzi's 2nd winter climb. When we stuck to the right of the Ice fall it was grade III, but further left it felt good at grade IV. Several other teams climbed on by and some carried on up for the upper pitches.