Auchinstarry Quarry

Today is the big day Graham is going to propose to Anna, so the best thing for us to do to keep calm is go climbing. So the nearest place to where we were staying was the mighty Auchinstarry Quarry. So Graham, Lee and I headed to butty van to get started and then jumped on Promontory Direct (HVS 5a) which is a great, clean-ish route with good gear. Graham made quick work of this. The I led up Knock Back (E1 5b) which would be great if you had a dust mask and goggle's! Maybe keep away from this face for a while! We then headed over to the Main Amphitheatre and climber Cracked Arête (VS 4c) and then over to trundle slab to climb Walk on the Wild Side (HVS 5a), Trundle (VS 4c) and finished on the Gold Bug (E3 5c). A great little crag with some surprisingly good routes. If I'm in the area I would pay a visit again and tick off some of the harder routes. No photo's today I'm afraid!

Dumbarton Rock

Today Graham and I swapped the rural scenery for the urban jungle and headed down to Dumbarton as we needed to be in Glasgow that afternoon. I had never been there and on arrival I was impressed by the imposing wall of where Rhapsody goes and also by the extensive bouldering there is there. If you phase out all the rubbish and graffiti then it is quite a cool place. So to get cracking I led us up a horrible looking E1 5b called Longbow, it actually turned out to be really fantastic climbing and reasonably tricky. A great little warm up. After a false start by Graham on Windjammer (HVS 5a) I took over and led this, again no pushover, I would say a sandbag at HVS but maybe I'm just being weak. Anyway we decided on some sport routes and after putting in the clips in I made a clean lead on Persistence of Vision (7a+) which I was well chuffed with. Graham had a few hits on the top rope before we bailed into Glasgow to get Graham ready to ask his girlfriend to marry him!

Glen Nevis

Today after arriving back home from Skye, I met up with Kenny and we headed down the glen for a few hours bouldering. We started off at Heather Hat boulder where I surprised myself with what I could pull on. All this training in the bouldering wall has been paying off over the winter! We then went up to Sky Pilot and had a sesh on some of the cool problems there. Unfortunately I found out that I am still a weak as a kitten! Must get stronger!!

Neist

Today Katy and I were keen to get a few routes in despite feeling a little tired after our ridge traverse over the last two days. We headed out to the neat little sea cliffs at Neist point. On arrival to the Finantial Sector, it reminded me of Fairhead but only alot smaller. Once we got on the route's it still reminded me of a mini Fairhead! We started off on Venture Capital and Power Broker (HVS 5a and E1 5b) We then went up Shocks and Stares (VS 4b) before retreating over to the Upper Crag South Sector for Katy to lead up Sonamara (VS 4c).

Skye Ridge Traverse

I have just spent the last two days on the Skye Ridge with Katy. We had fantastic weather, couldn't ask for anything better. It took us 9 hours from the car to the bivi and another 9 hours from the bivi back to the other car. All the climbing was bone dry and really great fun. We had a fantastic bivi below the 3 teeth of Sgurr Thormaid where we had front row seats of a beautiful sunset and sunrise. We summited all of the 11 munros on the ridge as well as doing all the tricky climbing sections, TD gap, Kings chimney, Bhastier Tooth etc. There are many great options for ticking off all the munros and getting a taste of mountaineering on Skye but doing it over two days is a great achievement and experience.

Glen Nevis classic

Today Johann and I headed up into a warm, midge free and dry Glen Nevis for some classic rock ticks. I have wanted to do Edgehog for quite a while now so we headed upto Wave Buttress to get warmed up. We started off on Bewsey Crack (HVS 5a), which is a great tricky HVS. I then went up EdgeHog (E3 5c) which was brilliant. Immaculate climbing and some nice gear where you want it! After this we headed over to Speadeagle Buttress where Johann wanted to try Slip Away (E3 6a) but unfortunately, after several attempts, couldn't break the crux. We then headed up to Blade Buttress which has a fantastic feature of rock, well worth a visit! I jumped on Sabre (E3 5c) then jumped off as I got really pumper in the overhanging finger crack. After a little rest and some cunning, I managed to work my way up and out to the top. A great route which could do with some more traffic!

Spartan Slab

Today Izzi was keen for more mountain cragging so we took a gamble and headed down into Glen Etive to the mighty slabs. On approach there were several wet streaks running down the cliff but on arrival it was clear that Spartan Slab (VS) was dry. So we headed off with me leading the first, Izzi took the second and I took the crux. Didn't even draw blood this time! I led off on the next but unfortunately we got hit by a rain shower which turned the slabs into glass. After a wee break getting wet we decided that we would just bail off while we could. If we had hung around on our ledge for an hour we might have been able to carry on after if had dries off. Still plenty of substantial wet streaks on the crag and for other route I think it could do with a few more dry days.

Agag's Groove

Today I took Izzi for a bit of mountain cragging. We headed up on to Rannoch wall on Buachaille Etive Mor. We climbed the 4 star classic Agag's Groove (VD). This steep and exposed route was nice and dry and also other routes such as January Jigsaw, Satan's Slit and Grooved Arete were also dry. Several other teams on Curved Ridge which was a great way for us to descend back to our bags. A great day in perfect Scottish rock climbing conditions.

Glen Nevis

Well after a couple of wet days here in Fort William with the only option to do some training at the Ice Factor and Kimber's bouldering wall, I got back out today in Glen Nevis. Today I was climbing with returning client Izzi. Izzi is happy to leave the ice axes at home, forget about the hot aches, not worry about ripping gore tex and kick start her rock climbing season. Today we went for a shake down day in Glen Nevis, going over some of the classic routes and getting a wee bit of mileage. We started on Two Pines (Severe) on Repton Buttress which I led up, then Izzi led up Pandora (Severe) for two pitches and then I took over and led up Phantom Slab (VS 4c). After a wee lunch break we headed over to the Alp and Izzi led up Pine wall (Hard Severe) where we then abbseiled of the pine tree. To finish off the day I led up the Polldubh classic Resurrection (VS 4c) which was a little damp in places. So 9 pitches and 2 abseils saw us back at the car and we didnt even reach for our waterproofs once!

Dunkeld

So day two of our little mini break over east. Again we found some nice dry rock at Dunkeld. We headed up to Upper Cave Crag, somewhere I haven't climbed before. Ben and I started on Squirm (E1 5c) which was a great route but Ben got a little psyched out so I lowered him and Graham came up instead. We then went on to climb Coffin Corner (HVS 5a) which was great fun and more good jamming, following this we climbed Lilly Langtry (E2 5b) which felt spooky at the top and very flaky and then we finished off on Corpse (E2 5c) which was brilliant. A great couple of days to kick off the summer rock climbing season! Just need lots of sunshine!

Duntelchaig

Today Graham, Johann and I headed over East in search of sunshine and dry rock. And we found it. Big Ben also made a guest appearance after just getting back from leading an expedition up Kilimanjaro. We started off over on Seventy Foot Wall ticking off Razor Flake (Direct Start HVS 5b) then onto Bent Peg (HVS 5c), Slings (E1 5b) and Seventy Foot Wall (HVS 5b). Then Ben and I headed over to The Main Crag and climbed Monolith Recess (E2 5b) which has a fantastic slightly overhanging jamming pitch. Brilliant route. Unfortunately Dracula was wet so none of us got on it again. A good day with the old crew.

MIC Assessment

Phew, I have just got back from my MIC Assessment with Plas Y Brenin and I happy to report that I passed all areas of the course. So this now means that I hold the highest mountaineering qualification recognised for the UK. Not bad for a 25 year old! :-) It was a great week with a strong team and some great skillson display. The 7 candidate's all worked really hard and covered pretty much all the routes that were in condition on Ben Nevis. Over the 4 days I climbed Number 2 Gully, North Gully, Number 4 Gully, Ledge Route and Good Friday climb

Aonach Eagach

Today I was working for Tarmachan Mountaineering and took Rafaella across the Aonach Eagach (Notched Ridge) in Glencoe. We had it all today, very little visibility, slimy rock, wet underwear and soggy sandwidches. Rafaella did fantastic today coping with the summer conditions. There was no snow on the ridge, we didnt even take crampons or an axe. Two new Munros for Rafaella and back in good time (7 hours car to car) so she could get back to Edinburgh.

Good Friday Climb

Today John and I went for a quick look up Ben Nevis to see what was in. Unfortunately we couldn't see a thing. Finding routes was not an easy task. Good Friday Climb (III) was fantastic, great ice and great climbing. Probably the best grade 3 I have done on Ben Nevis. Kenny was out on Smiths with strong Andy and Callum. Other teams on Tower Scoop and Indicator Wall. We came down number 4 gully, noticing teams in North Gully. I'm sure there were more people around but we couldn't see them. No photos today as there wasn't anything worth taking a shot of.

Summer Mountain Leader Assesment

Over the last couple of days I have been working in Wales assessing some candidates for the Summer Mountain Leader. An interesting transition from lots of winter climbing to walking around with the sun above us and talking alot about flowers and rocks. We camped out 2 nights around Snowdon, did two sessions of night nav and back down to the cafe for a bacon sandwich. Well done to all the candidates who all passed. It was good to be back in Wales working for Plas Y Brenin but now heading back up to Scotland to have someone assessing me!

Clogwyn y Grochan

Today we had blue skies and chilly winds. We headed up to 'the Grochan' for a little bit of mileage. We started on Brant Direct (HVS 5a), Kaisergebirger Wall (HVS 5a), SS Special (E2 5c), Mural (E4 6a) and did Brant direct again when Dan turned up at the crag. It was very cold today, fortunately none of us were hanging around, quickly up a route then down for the next one. Eventually the wind picked up and we retreated back for warm drinks and toast. After a while we heading back up Llanberis Pass and bouldered for an hour before getting rained/wind'ed/cold'ed off! Great to be back on the rock again. The next 3 days I'm off on a mini-break assessing a Mountain Leader Assessment for Plas Y Brenin.

Malham

Today John, Blair and I left Scotland early doors for a mini-break down south. Our final destination was Llanberis but only after a hit at Malham Cove. It was fantastic to be climbing in only a t-shirt but not so fantastic to have weak arms and fingers after a season of winter climbing. After falling off on a few routes it was just getting too cold to climb anything else so we headed back to the car and on the Wales.

Number 4 Gully

Today I took Callum into the depths of Ben Nevis for him to develop his skills and confidence on steeper ground. Callum didn't want to do a route as such so we had a little tour around the crags and see what routes were in after the thaw. It turned out not very much. We started our journey at Number 5 Gully, headed up to the base of Glovers over some steep snow, traversed over to the Cascade and to number 2 Gully, down over to Comb Gully, up below Number 3 Gully, traversed below the Ciste and up and out of Number 4 gully. We abseiled back in off a snow bollard then dug several different snow anchors on the way back down. Lots of rock and ice had fallen into the coire. Very few routes were left after the thaw, as a result my MIC assessment was cancelled so I'm going down to Wales for a week of rock climbing in the sun! Hopefully it will be colder when I'm back.