Weekend warriors

Dave, Mara, Jose and Ben

Ice time

This weekend I was out with Jose, Mara and Dave for a couple of days of introduction's to the winter mountains.  They wanted a bit of everything so they could get a little taste of what winter is all about and then they could go away and decide what they want to focus their time on.  We started off with basic skills at Stob Coire Nan Lochan, introducing them to the multiple spikes that we carry, how to 'faff' with gloves, how to dig in the snow and much much more.  We finished the day with a traverse of the mountain and a descent of Broard Gully before heading back to the Clachaig for beers and dinner.  

Mara making winter climbing look glamorous

Day two we opted for Ben Nevis to continue where we left off and cover some aspect we hadn't got round too.  Starting off with a bit of ice craft, then followed an ascent of ledge route looking at rope work and rock protection followed by the summit via white out navigation.  Followed by an abseil descent into number 4 gully and finished off the weekend with some ice axe arresting.

Team London on Ledge Route

Down time