Glencoe Scrambling

Today Campbell and I decided that a scramble followed by a walk would be a good idea as the weather forecast patchy rain most of the morning and into the early afternoon. It turns out we made a good choice as it did become very wild with strong winds and patches of driving rain. We scrambled up Great Gully Buttress on the Buachaille and then walked over the top passing Stob na Doire (1011m), Stob Coire Altrum (941m) and Stob na Broige (956m). These peaks follow a nice ridge like feature and I think would be a great day out in the winter as well. We back tracked a wee bit from Stob na broige, then headed down to Lairig Gartain just after Stob Coire Altrum and headed back to the car.

Monday 23rd June - Glen Etive

Today I went walking with a group of friends down in Glen Etive. The aim of the day was for Lorenzo to take the lead as he has recently completed his Summer Mountain Leader Training. He wanted to pass on all the new skills he had learnt to the rest of the group, demonstrating good navigation, different leadership styles, group management and he also gave us a good insight into all the flora and fauna that we came across. Kat is also an experienced hill walker and also a member of the mountain rescue team so she didn't need a great deal of care and attention when serious ground was approached. Judith on the other hand hasn't spent quite as much time in the hills as the rest of the group, so sometimes needed some assistance crossing rivers and tackling steep ground. We summited only one peak, Stob Coir an Albannaich (1044) as the pace wasn't fast and the late start didn't help either. The walk in was quite easy, but on the way back down, Lorenzo chose a suitable route which needed some careful management and risk assessment. A good quality hill day for Lorenzo and the rest of the group.

3 Peaks - 7/6/08

Today I was working for Snowgoose Mountain Centre, and guided six students and two teachers to the summit of Ben Nevis. They crew had 2 days to complete the challenge so there was no great hurry to walk to the top of the Ben (their first peak). We set off at 4am which is a perfect time to start as it is nice and cool and there aren't quite as many people around. We arrived at the summit at 8am and spent half an hour eating, taking photo's and more eating. We headed down passing hundreds of walkers, arriving back at the car at midday. Considering this challenge was really the groups real first taste of hill walking, they were all very fit and also very capable of completing the challenge. Best of luck for Scafell and Snowdon! Most of the day cloud was present but the sun was gleaming most of the day. It was very hot after around 11am and lots of water got drank throughout the day. Lets hope it lasts!

Climbing on the Ben

Today Jamie B and I headed up to climb Raeburn's Arete (Severe ***). We swapped leads and climbed the route in 5 pitches. Once we got onto The First Platform we put out boots on and moved together on North-east Buttress. We pitched a couple of harder sections such as the Mantrap, that section was ace in big boots. We finished on the top in nice sunny weather before wandering down to the Half-way Lochain and back to the car. We saw other parties on Tower ridge, CMD Arete and the boys grafting at the CIC hut. Tomorrow I'm heading back up the Ben via the tourist route with a group of 8 13 year old '3 peak challengers' at 4 am! Better get some sleep. Night Night!

Mountain Biking 4/06/08

Today I headed up to Nevis Range and blew away the cobwebs on my bike. It was ace to get back out on the tracks. All the routes, for the World Cup this weekend, have been set up so I had a ride on most of the sections (left the harder parts for another day) and managed to fill a good 5 hours of riding.