Ben Nevis

Today was a nice warm down day after the last two days on Skye with an ascent of Ben Nevis via the tourist route.  I was out with 6 ladies from Exmouth that are all members of a ladies gym called Curves.  Together they have raised over £3000 for their local Hospice and put in a great team effort in getting to the top.  And a team effort was needed, we had it all today....panic attacks, broken hydration systems, jammed walking poles, severe case of vertigo, sore knees, cold bodies, sweaty bodies, bad language, bad hair, good laughs, good humour, sunshine, rain, mist, snow, salmon sandwidges, fruit cakes, over use of Iphones, slips, slides and I had the privilidge of holding hands with the eldest member of the team for most of the descent (to help speed up progress).  So it was over 10 hours up and down so a great effort by everyone.  Andy was out climbing Observatory Ridge too and reported it to be pretty damp in places and with the last 100m under snow made for a steady ascent.

Mixed weather on the Skye Ridge

Over the last two days I made another successful traverse and this time I was accompanied by John.  We had very mixed conditions over the two days which made it very challenging and for many teams they would have called it a day.  I think the reason why we succeeded was down to the preparation we made together over the last 4 days.  We spent 2 days mountaineering in the rain on North Buttress and Tower Ridge, we spent a day inside working on rock climbing technique and a day getting mileage on the crag.  Put all this together and you have a recipe for success.  So we opted for a South to North traverse and started on Sgurr nan Eag at 10.30 am, with what looked like promising conditions.  There was plenty or rain throughout the night which left the TD Gap very wet so instead we opted for the bypass just to save time, climbing the TD Gap in anything other than dry conditions is very unpleasant   So from Sgurr Alasdair we descended down to the base of King Chimney's (VD) and climbed this to reach the summit of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich.  From here we made our way round to the Inn Pinn and made a very quick ascent and descent before heading onto Sgurr na Banachdich.  From here we went over Sgurr a Ghreadaidh and Sgurr a Mhadaidh and bivied at Bealach na Glaic Moire after arriving at 5pm.  At 5.30pm the rain came too!  It rained through the night and the cloud set in but fortunately a bottle of whiskey helped us sleep through it.  In the morning I thought I had gone blind with a hangover but actually it was just 10 metre visibility thanks to the cloud.  A challenging day ahead.  So we set of at 8am, made our way around Bidean Druim na Ramh, over An Caisteal and onto Bruach na Frithe.  As it was still, wet, cold and greasy I decided we wouldn't climb direct onto Am Bastier to so we traversed around the north side and climbed up the East ridge before retuning the same way to ascend Sgurr nan Gillian.  For the first time today the clouds cleared and we got a full view of the ridge.  We stood on the top at 11am which meant a traverse time (summit to summit) of 10.5 hours.  We descended down the South East ridge back to Sligachan for a feast, some beer and a limited edition Talisker.  What a fantastic week with a great finale!

Glen Nevis

So today John and I wanted to spend a short day cragging before we went shopping for our little mini break to Skye.  We wanted to put some of the techniques and skills we learnt in the climbing wall and bring them to the outdoor platform.  So we headed into Glen Nevis where we could get quite a few pitches in before we had to head north.  The vibe was good down the Glen with several teams out climbing and a few big groups from the College and Outward Bound.  We avoided all the youngsters and completed a journey through some of the crags linking up some classic routes.  We started of on Three Pines (Severe) which had a very damp and tricky start up a greasy arête/slab to a tree belay and then the awkward top pitch through the overhanging corner.  We then traversed and climbed the brilliant Flying Dutchman (Severe), the first pitch isn't great but the second is fantastic, traversing on footholds and minimal handholds over a nice undercut slab then finishing on the finger crack at the top.  You get your moneys worth on this severe!  We then continued up the hill and into the sun and climbed Secretaries Direct (Severe) which is just fantastic at the grade in a beautiful setting.  Well worth walking up to.  With a tight agenda, we had to call it a day and make our way upto Skye.  The forcast looks good!

First ice route of the season

....For both John and I.  Unfortunately it was only indoors but was still great fun.  Great to get the tools and crampons out after sitting dormant since the Alps.  So after a good Latte, we spent a good 3 hours in the ice wall refining technique, trying new challenges and finding ways of being more stable and relaxed on the ice.  John was showing massive improvement from his classic bloke 'all arms' technique to a more elegant and thoughtful ice master...!  After plenty of laps we moved out to the cafe for another Latte and a well filled Panini, just what we needed for an afternoon of bouldering so we could work on John's rock climbing technique.  With plenty of lactic acid in the arms we called it a day and headed back to a wet Fort William.  Tomorrow will be spent out cragging putting John's new found technique into practice.  Although I worked at the Ice Factor for 4 and a half years, I forgot how good it is as a training facility to get ready for some steep winter climbing or even to test out your new kit, worth going!  Good vibe down there as Alan was in working his magic as well.

Tower Ridge, Number 4 progress and Ledge Route

Today I was back out with John for the second of his 6 day mountaineering/climbing/getting wet course.  We decided to head onto Ben Nevis as John had never climbed the mighty North Face, only the CMD arête   So we headed up to the CIC hut through drizzle and light winds to be met by yet more drizzle and light winds.  Cloud was covering the summits but was high enough for us to scope out the other possibilities for the future and I showed John where some of the famous winter lines are.  I did wish for a moment, that everything was covered in snow.  We headed up around the Douglas Boulder and on to the ridge proper where we made quite a steady ascent.  Through out the whole walk in and ascent we didn't see a soul until we got onto the plateau.   My wish did come true, well maybe a little bit, as we were greeted by some snow from below the Great Tower.  After topping out we wandered over to the summit like two drunks kicked out of a pub as visibility was very poor and the rocks were very greasy.  This was perfect conditions as John wanted to brush up on his navigation.  So from the summit we put together strategies to make a safe and direct journey to the top of Ledge Route.  This gave John an opportunity to get his navigation in order before he heads out on his own for his solo days in the winter, a wise thing to do for all you hill goers.  Make sure you can navigate well in summer before you go out in winter!  We bumped into a nice chap who was building the new Number 4 Gully cairn, its looking great and is a vast improvement on the old post!  Still a bit more work to be done.  We made a slippy descent of Ledge Route and went to the pub for beers and food.  A great day out in less than optimal weather.

North Buttress

West coast of Scotland in October...Can only mean one thing! Quiet mountains!  John and I booted and suited for a great day of suffering in the wild weather.  With the forecast I chose North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor, a route John hadn't done.  I haven't done this for years and a great route to do in the rain!  It rained all the way to the base of the chimneys, we geared up and magically it stopped raining (this allowed the waterfall running down the route to stop).  It stayed clear whilst we climbed and started again once we took or harnesses off.  On the tops we got battered by strong winds and rain so we beasted of to Coire an Tulich to get out of the wind.  A great day out and good to be back in the wind and rain after all this time.  This is great training for winter and made me realise I need some new waterproof trousers!

Agag's Groove

Yesterday I was trying an 8a and fell off many times so it was nice to get up a route without falling.  Today I took Billy and Dave up Agag's Groove (VD) on Rannoch wall.  This was perfect for them as they requested an easy route with lots of exposure.  We had the whole face to ourselves with only a few teams on Curved Ridge including Alan who was out with Glenmore Lodge doing a MIA Assesment.  The great thing about Agag's is that it can be climbed even in the wet and as we were on the last pitch it did start to spit.  We then made a retreat down the crag via two abseils and scuttled down Curved Ridge in the rain.

Steall Hut Crag

Today Blair, Dan and I walked through Glen Nevis up towards Steall Falls in rain, wind and general miserableness!  Fortunately Steall Hut Crag is permanently dry.  Blair has been trying an 8a called Leopold and got back on that.  I wasn't feeling too strong today but thought I would give it a shot, just too see what an 8a is like.  I did quite surprise myself at how far I got on top rope.  The route is very sequency but Blair had all the beta.  I managed to get through the crux after falling off loads but it did seam possible for me to climb it in the future.  A new project I think.  As this is way harder than anything I have climbed before, it should take me quite a while to complete it but I am super psyched!

Quick Glen Nevis hit

Kenny and I headed into Glen Nevis, looked like the only dry place in the country!  Kenny was psyched for a route on Pandora's Buttress called Tomag (E4 5c).  Kenny went up for a wee look but couldn't quite get access so lowered off after a few goes.  I then jumped on and managed to find some holds and move out towards the arête.  The route follows 2 parallel cracks on an overhanging wall then goes round the arête on hand jams.  Unfortunately I fell off on the traverse due to an annoying foot pop.  I got back on and continued to find that the upper crag I was jamming in was very wet.  Not wanting to climb out on wet holds I just traversed back across removing the gear as I went and then went up Flying Dutchman (Severe).  We then went for a wee boulder instead of jumping on any more routes.

Inn Pinn plus more

I got a last minute call from Mike at Skye Guide's who knew I was up and asked me if I could take 3 up the Inn Pinn.  The guys were super keen to start early so I met them at 7.30 and we headed off in great conditions.  It was apparent right away that these guys dont hang around and we absolutely flew up the ridge to the base of the Inn Pinn.  They said that they only wanted help up the Inn Pinn and then I was free to go as they wanted to carry on to the other Munro's.  So my days work was done by 11am!  Great!  But it turned out the the guys were particularly good banter and a right laugh so I decided I would join them for the rest of their day.  As they were all super fit and with my knowledge of the ridge we bombed over Banachdich, Ghreadaidh and Mhadaidh and shot down An Dorus for lunch in Sligachan Hotel at 3pm.  Rapid day in some great weather.  Some amateur footage from the lads here!  Callum fortunately doesn't show us evidence of how he's feeling!

Single Day Ridge Traverse

Today I was back up on Skye and had been asked to help get Paddy and Mark around the Cuillin Ridge in one day.  Paddy and Mark both have plenty on mountain marathons under their belts and are quite used to being on the go all day.  So we opted for an early start of 4.30 and were under way with head torches lighting the path.  We left from Glen Brittle camp-site and headed straight onto Sgurr nan Eag for sunrise.  We then made good progress onto Sgurr Dubh Mor and back onto the ridge proper.  It was quite wet under foot as it had rained quite a bit on the walk in so we avoided the TD Gap and arrived on top of Sgurr Alasdair.  Time was on our side at this point but unfortunately we kept hitting many points of dampness on the ridge which did take its toll after a while.  From Sgurr Alasdair we made our way onto Collies Ledge and then onto the summit of Sgurr MhicChoinnich before heading up to the Inn Pinn.  Unfortunately we got there 2 minutes after a team of 5 so we joined the queue and made a chilly ascent.  Fortunately it was Bruce Poll who was ahead so he let us past and helped set up the guys as I abseiled.  Thanks Bruce!  We then proceeded onto Sgurr nan Banachdaich.  Then our problem struck us...  Marks boot fell apart!  The sole of his boot came off and was causing some concerns.  After a wee repair we carried onto Sgurr a Ghreadaidh but unfortunately Mark wasn't happy to continue scrambling with a faulty boot.  We headed into An Dorus after doing a more substantial repair.  Mark waited here as Paddy and I nipped up Sgurr a Mhadaidh and back down to walk out with Mark.  It was a great day out despite not completing the full traverse and the lesson learnt from the experience is ... Don't wear 15 year old boots on the ridge! ;-)  Brilliant weather and looking forward to doing a full one day traverse in the future!  Today I was working for Mountain Motion.

North Face Route and Link Up

Today John and I headed to Buachaille Etive Mor to see if we could escape the weather.  On arrival to John's favourite mountain the weather didn't look hopeful.  We wandered in with an open mind, a rack and a single rope.  On arrival to Great Gully it was raining so I decided we would head up North Buttress as John had already done Curved Ridge.  Whilst popping on waterproofs and gear it cleared up and blue sky appeared all around us.  A quick change of plan.  We traversed the mountain to get to the bottom of North Face Route (Severe).  I had never done this in summer but I did it 2 winters ago to give a sustained V,6 which was fantastic.  Climbing the route in summer brought back many great memories of the winter ascent, I bit my lip on some bits, asking myself how I climbed it with crampons and axes?!  We followed the exact winter line I took and it had some great pitches of rock in the upper sections.  After topping out we nipped over to Rannoch Wall psyched for another route.  With only one rope we were unable to abseil back down but fortunately Mike was just abseiling down after climbing Agag's Groove.  John had only climbed January Jigsaw on this face.  After a chat with Mike we all went to climb another route so we could team up on the abseil.  Mike went on January Jigsaw and we set off on Agag's Groove (VD).  We caught a team up on Agag's right where Jan Jig crosses, so we decided to shoot up in front of Mike.  As John had done these last two pitches we decided to have a go on a rather slippery and slimy Satans Slit (VS), a pitch I had never tried.  We topped out and abseiled down with Mike and His client.  Thanks Mike!  a great day finished by a wee descent down Curved Ridge.

January Jigsaw

Another great day out climbing on my favourite mountain in Glencoe.  This time I was joined by Kyle and Ben on Buachaille Etive Mor.  With only a little bit of sport climbing under their harnesses they wanted to climb a classic traditional route.  We headed up Curved Ridge to the base of the mighty Rannoch Wall.  The weather  wasn't great today but fortunately we were in the lee of it and sheltered from the wind and the rain.  The rock was pretty much dry all the way up.  We had company on the face, a team were on Agag's Groove so we climbed January Jigsaw (Severe) instead.  There were several teams on Curved Ridge too all making the most of the sheltered aspect.  From the top of our route we did two abseils back to our bags and descended curved ridge and wandered back to the car.

Project Complete

Today Kenny, Deziree and I took the drive back out to Dunkeld for try and finish Hamish Teddy's excellent Adventure (7b+).  I put the clips is and reminded myself of the moves.  Kenny and Deziree then had a play on it too as I got psyched up for my first red point attempt.  Up to the first rest went well where I was able to recover for the crux section, one little error saw me having to down climb but pressed on anyway and found the crux in my wake and shaking out at the heel hook rest.  I knew it was in the bag now, just wanted to make sure I didn't mess it up as there is one tricky section before the easy holds.  A good shake out and a visualisation of the moves set me up nicely to finish at the chains with a massive grin.  Well pleased to get it on my first red point.  I then had a look at Marlene (7c) which felt pretty hard....maybe my next project....

The Camel

Another quick drive away from the rain saw Kenny and I standing below this fantastic conglomerate crag. I have been here on a previous visit and climbed the classic Stone of Destiny (6c+) and it was a great place for us to warm up on.  I led up placing the clips and remembered how much fun it was.  I then went onto lead up Inverarnie Schwarzenegger (7a) on-sight which I was super pleased to get up without falling off.  After that we went onto the classic Paralysis by Analysis (7a+) which I fancied on-sighting but unfortunately I popped off near the top with my arms throbbing with lactic acid.  Its a fantastic route which is sustained and constantly overhanging.  Unfortunately the rain set in, this didnt affect the routes but affected the belayers moral so we agreed that we would bail.  More unfinished business to come back for.

New Project

Today Kenny and I headed back to Dunkeld as we were both keen to climb Hamish Teddy's Excellent Adventure, a fantastic sustained 7b+ which moves up the steep and technical wall of Dunkelds Upper Cave Crag.  Kenny and I both made good progress, on my first red point attempt I got a sequence wrong and got too pumped trying to correct it and on my 2nd attempt my foot popped off a smear and saw me barn dooring into thin air, unable to vice my fingers tight enough to stay on. Airtime!  Feeling really close so hopefully on my next attempt I will get it!

Mountaineeing on Skye

Today was Fabian and Erik's last day and they wanted to see what all the fuss was about with the Black Cuillin.  Unfortunately they couldn't see what it was all about but we did get a good feel of it!  We headed up to the Inn Pinn but I decided they should come back and do it another time as it was very wet and greasy but more alarmingly it was very windy.  So we missed out the Inn Pinn and headed south onto Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, along Collies Ledge, and up and over onto Sgurr Alasdair.  After leaving the car, we hit the cloud level at 300m, we were in the cloud all day and didnt get out of it until we got down to 200m above sea level.  So we didnt see much but had a great scramble along a great section of ridge and had a good scree run down the Great Stone Shoot.  A good wet finish to my 3 days with Fabian and Erik.