Powder on Curved Ridge

Today I climbed Curved Ridge with Al and his client. As i have just done my MIA training I was keeping a close eye on how he managed his client throughout the day and trying to admire the views at the same time. Conditions . . . . lots of snow! All in powder form, as there was very little wind as it fell yesterday it hasn't bonded and is very soft. Underneath the snow turf hasn't really frozen either. Felt extremely cold walking off the hill today and its going to be cold tonight however the snow pack will stay pretty much the same, what we need and a thaw and re-freeze to firm it all up. See http://alanhalewood.blogspot.com/ for more pics

MIA Training with PYB

The last 9 days I have been down in Wales doing my MIA Training with Plas y Brenin. We covered all aspects of the syllabus from multi-pitch rock climbing, problem solving, short roping, navigation, coasteering and so much more. Most evenings we attended lectures on relevant issues or climbed in the bouldering wall after dinner. The course content was excellent, the instructors were very good and the rest of the group were very friendly.

Ben Cruachan

Today Jamie and I underwent the 2.5 hour walk-in to the crags on Ben Cruachan. On the way in the conditions were not looking tip-top, however we persisted on for a look. As we reached the summit we then went for a closer inspection of Noe Buttress, which had a whole range of good looking routes, very few in condition though. Jamie picked a line which looked the most wintery and up we went. We then traversed into Summit Buttress which looked even more wintery but again most of the line were not in. I picked the most wintery line and we climbed it up to the summit. Not sure what the routes were called as they weren't in the guidebook of the SMC journal 04. Loads of really good short routes here when the conditions are right, if you can manage the walk-in! Cracking weather, looks like the next few days are going to warm up!

Hope its nice in Wales, I have my MIA training next week.