Rich Parker

Tower Ridge via the Douglas Boulder

2010-06-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

Working for the Ice Factor Al H and I took a group of four friends; Lisa, James, Pete and Iain to Ben Nevis for a days introductory rock climbing. Not being quite sure what the weather would do we had a couple of ideas up our sleeve and in the end decided on a route on the Douglas Boulder followed by finishing up Tower Ridge.
The routes on the Boulder are open to interpretation and the ground is such that it's possible to make it up as you go with a mix of different routes. We chose Douglas Boulder Direct (V Diff) with a pitch of something around 4b at the top. The rock was much more solid than I'd thought it might have been after the cold winter, so there wasn't too much in the way of looseness.
Six pitches later we abseiled in to the Douglas Gap and then made good time up Tower Ridge. A big day out for the guys first foray into mountaineering, so well done to all.

SPA assessment day 2

2010-06-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

Final day of the SPA assessment and we were at Polldubh in Glen Nevis. More group syllabus and simple problem solving today, with the guys taking everything in their stride and all passing. Well done.

Weather has been still and overcast, the midges out and about but bearable and importantly the crags as dry as I've seen them for a long while. Climbers were out on many of the buttresses, the picture above shows a pair on Flying Dutchman, Severe, Pandoras' Buttress.

SPA assement day 1

2010-06-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Out today with Al Halewood assisting on an SPA assessment this time. Back to a nice dry Kingussie Crag for the personal climbing section where the guys got stuck into some routes and dealt with simple problems that can come up.
Very busy at the crag with multiple groups who all managed to work around each other successfully. There were several teams over from the west, like us looking for dryer weather.

Looks like good weather tomorrow with maybe some more showers on Saturday.

MLTA workshop

2010-06-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Today I drove over over to the Cairngorms to meet Al Halewood and do some volunteer work with the Mountain Leader Training Association which supports and represents climbing, walking and mountain leaders.
The first thing noted was that it was much colder and the ground much damper in the East with a winter's only just gone feel. The delegates came from a range of backgrounds all pretty experienced in their areas and it was a great opportunity to share ideas and meet some new people. A couple of guys were either on the MIA scheme or looking to register in the future so 5 of us made a group ascent of Fingers Ridge in Coire an t Sneachda looking at rope work and stance management whilst being super careful not to wipe each other out with all the loose rock around. After a good day and lots of shivering we zoomed off down Fiacaill a choire Chais and back to the cars.
It is worth mentioning that loose rock again. Typically after such a cold winter with lots of ice expansion jacking going on there is now an abundance of friable and loose rock in the mountains even on well travelled ridges and Buttresses. On Fingers, especially near the top, much of the rock which you are obliged to move over and pull on is wobbly. It's a case of put the hand holds back when you're finished with them!

Here's some more pictures from Duncan Paterson.

Guttering

2010-06-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

Yet another brilliant summer day and I was working for the Ice factor running a crag session at Glen Nevis with Jamie B (newly out of plaster after the Bowden Incident). We had 7 highly capable students and two teachers. Jamie worked South West Buttress whilst I made repeated ascents of the Gutter with two at a time. Lots of good climbing was had.
That morning I'd foreseen an absolute mauling by midge; a breezy north wind meaning that we'd be sheltered being tucked behind the south of Ben Nevis and fully at their mercy. It was indeed almost still but thanks to the ace Silver Birch clearing of the Polldubh Climbing Club there is much less shelter for midges and we were hardly bothered all morning!
The West coast is bone dry at the moment meaning excellent rock climbing conditions as well as everything else.

Rock climbing on Ben Nevis

2010-06-10T10:59:00.001-07:00

Taking advantage of the good weather Al and I walked in to Carn Dearg buttress on Ben nevis. Despite the dry spring I wasn't sure how dry the crag would be. We decided on the classic Centurion HVS 5a which was first class. The two crux, (most difficult), pitches were damp in all the wrong places, but we had no problem and climbed the route in good time.
This can be the best time of year for big mountain rock routes as the latter half of the summer is often the wetter in the west highlands and the big crags and buttresses can be frustratingly wet for long periods of time.
John Sutherland, Simon Christy and their mate were also out on the Ben today - to Ski down Tower Gully the maniacs! They're all ace skiers so they probably had fun.

There's no business like show business.

2010-06-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

Back with the film crew today for more safety work in their river gorge location. For the actors and stunt department more swimming, jumping, shooting, chasing and shivering. For us more helping people up and down steep ground and providing an inflatable ferry service across the river.
Film shoots always involve long hours and sometimes very hard work, but I've enjoyed my short time with the crew who are, as always, a great bunch.

Ledge Route, Ben Nevis

2010-06-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

Out today for the Ice Factor with Joanne and Lorraine who'd recieved a mountaineering experience as a gift. So with that in mind we made for Ledge Route on Ben Nevis, a nice grade 1 scramble. No one else on the route and looking very quiet on Tower Ridge also; we enjoyed a bit of solitude and made very fast time on to the plateau and the crowds.
Thankfully the thunder that some forecasts suggested never materialised, although it is very humid and hazy with big Cumulonimbus clouds stacking up in the afternoon. Tomorrow however it seems more likely that there will be thunder as a cold front moves across from the atlantic.

Horror in the Highlands

2010-06-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

Working today for Mountain and Water Safety looking after a film crew shooting a feature film about a group of outdoor enthusiasts being chased by evil baddies through the wilderness. Actually the cast and producers pedigree suggest that it could be quite good!
Shooting in a steep river gorge provided some interesting access problems which gave for a satisfying days work. Had a bit of a savaging from bloodthirsty midges in the morning however.

I haven't done much film work for the last couple of years so it was nice to be involved again.
No pictures I'm afraid as this generally isn't permitted on film shoots.

Scrambling and rope skills workshop on Skye

2010-06-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

Back to the Cuillin again, this time to run a training session for some members of Hereford Mountain Club, which had taken advantage of the financial support available from the BMC in order to train members.
Mondays weather was absolutely glorious with high temperatures and clear skies, so I enjoyed a quick blast up to Sgurr Dearg. Today however was pretty murky and damp so we stayed low and maximised our time by using the outcrops in Coire na Banachdich to examine and review rope technique for scrambling and easier climbing. The group were keen to learn about selection and use of anchors so we spent time looking at the very simple to the more esoteric. Keeping things simple in scrambling however is a good thing in order to keep the flow going - important in the Cuillins! We spent a long day out and were a wet crew who returned to Glenbrittle in the evening.

P.S. the midges are now making up for lost time.

Accountants on The Ben

2010-05-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

Kenny, Andy, Earle and I working on behalf of Hebridean Pursuits took a group of students from Glasgow to the summit of Ben Nevis and back along the walkers path. It's that time of year again and the track is extremely busy so if solitude is your thing then go early on a weekday, otherwise it's very sociable! There is still snow on the plateau from 1200m upwards but this is reducing fast in the warmer conditions.

Rock in Glen Nevis

2010-05-26T04:53:00.000-07:00

Al and I nipped up for a quick route or two Polldubh. No sign of the forecast showers, just lots of sunshine and breeze. A few midges around though. We went to After Crag; a nice little outcrop, if a little overgrown just above the more popular Dundee Buttress. We took turns leading the excellent and strenuous Kraut E1 5b and then Afterthought HS which is very lichenous and heathery but otherwise reasonable.

Aonach Eagach

2010-05-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

Today I was working on behalf of the Ice Factor and went out with Peter and Andrew who have had a long held ambition to traverse the Aonach Eagach. The chaps took everything in their stride and we made good progress along the ridge, which allowed us time to look at using a rope and anchors in a scrambling context.
The forecast was predicting showers possibly falling as snow in the afternoon but fortunately this never materialised in Glencoe and we had a lovely day throughout. Not many people on the ridge, but we did see a pretty convincing canine performance.

Wet and dry in the Cairgorms!

2010-05-22T13:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday to Saturday working for Glenmore Lodge on their Summer Mountain Leader Training course. Great team and great weather, apart from the deluging electrical storm all afternoon and evening of day one of the expedition, where I got another thorough soaking.

Wet and dry in the Cuillins.

2010-05-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

Back to the sensational Cuillin Ridge for the the 3rd time this year so far. Working for Adventure Peaks, Mike and I set out from Glenbrittle on Tuesday in clear weather and made good progress along the ridge. The weather was great, sunny with a nice cooling breeze making for dry rock all day except the TD Gap which was somewhat greasy. We felt sure we would encounter rain over night and possibly the next day so pushed on until 8pm in order to get as much of the ridge done as possible. In wet conditions some sections are very slippery and so require much more time.
We bivouac'ed just before Bidein Druim nan Ramh having been on the go for 13 hours.

After a very wet night we battled on over the remainder of the complex central section of the ridge. I must admit with rain and wind it was hard going at times. We reached Sgurr Nan Gillian in the afternoon and arrived in Sligachan at 5.30. Well done Mike.

SPA day 2

2010-05-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

SPA stands for Single Pitch Award - a climbing instructor certificate, by the way. We didn't go for a jacuzzi. The final day related to group activities at the crag: rigging for top and bottom ropes, protected abseils as well as all aspects of group management. We went to a damp Glen Nevis, however still no midges!! Long periods of time over the winter where the ground was frozen has probably taken out many larvae. I'm sure it won't take them long to recover.

Kingussie Crag

2010-05-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

Working with Al Halewood on a Single Pitch Award training course run for Lochaber College UHI. Five students attended, day one starting with a session looking at simple climbing basics in the Ice factor climbing centre. Subsequently moving on to Kingussie Crag to escape the wet weather in the west. Much dryness was found and the students revised and tuned their personal climbing and rope work technique.

Cuillin Ridge

2010-05-10T03:10:00.000-07:00

...Kenny, John and I set out from Fort William at 6am to drive to Skye then traverse what we had time for along the Ridge.
I must admit I don't think any of were hugely motivated whilst driving towards Sligachan: the weather was pretty claggy and damp. But, we went for it anyway hoping for an improvement. Slogging across the moor to Sgurr nan Gillian we decided to include an ascent of Pinnacle Ridge which gave amazing scrambling and an abseil - a great day out in itself. By the time we had dropped down the Bhastair Tooth the skies had cleared, the sun was out and there was a good breeze to dry off the rock. Perfect conditions!
We made good time along the Ridge, reaching Bealach Coire na Banachdich by the afternoon where we dropped down into the corrie towards Glen Brittle. Kenny immediately managed to score a lift back to Sligachan to retrieve the van. Home by 9pm via the chippy in Kyle.

Ben Path again...

2010-05-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Received a last minute request from the Ice Factor to guide a party of 16 on Ben Nevis who are raising money for the Whizz Kidz charity. Kenny and I led off our group at 5.30pm and made good time through a beautiful evening, returning with the last group members at 11.15pm. A fairly quick trip.
Then off home for a few hours sleep, big day tomorrow...

Carn Mhic a Ghillie-Caim

2010-05-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Seven years of Gaelic in primary school, a hunt through a dictionary and I'm still none the wiser about the name of this hill. Individually the words have multiple meanings, but Caim can mean crooked amongst other things, which figures as the alternative name used is "Crooked Crag".
Anyway, this is where Al and I hiked into, a couple of miles east of Malliag to have a look at the climbing here which sounded like it could be quite good. These crags are rarely visited from what I can gather and no one I know has been so I was quite curious.
The rocks are fairly impressive from a distance and are much larger than the pictures would suggest, being 80 - 90m on the central pillar. The stone however is extremely lichenous and mossy, which after a dry spell wouldn't be too much of a problem but today was damp, greasy, slippery and horrible. So we did some bouldering (of which there's lots) and then retired to Mallaig for coffee and cream scones. To keep the energy levels up.

Not having sated my apetite for climbing and not being able to drum up a partner at such short notice I nipped up to Glen Nevis and used a self belay system to climb on Whale Rock, where there's a nice steep crack line that happened to be clean and dry.

The next generation of Lochaber climbers.

2010-05-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

Quick crag session this afternoon on behalf of the Ice Factor. Isi and I took 7 kids from schools around Fort William up to Glen Nevis for some climbing on real rock. We did routes up to grade Severe and a nice abseil with everyone managing really well, which I'm not surprised about as many of their dads are members of Lochaber Mountain rescue Team.

As you can see from the photograph the Polldubh Club and associates have been clearing Silver Birch from the area which will open up the crags to wind and sun, thereby reducing midge infestation and crag over growth.

Pony Track

2010-05-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

Working for the Ice factor today. Our task: to take 27 kids and parents from the American International School in London to the summit of The Ben and be back in time for tea and cakes. Brian, Gill, Isi and I divided our charges into groups and made the top before midday, just in time in fact for a bit of a view. The track, so called because it was built for pack animals to supply building materials and provisions to the observatory in the 1880's, is largely free of snow until about 1100 metres where after the plateau still has complete cover. All the large cornices loom around the rim of the north face requiring care past the gullies close to the summit. We were back down for tea in Cafe Beag - who do excellent clotted cream and jam scones.

Wheelin' free in the north east.

2010-04-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

Between light showers we nipped up to Sarclet, about 5 miles south of Wick to squeeze in a few more climbs before the forecast rain set in. Another extensive venue, this time a sandstone / conglomerate mix-up had Al and Gill raving enthusiastically about quality climbing. I couldn't climb, I had a strained toe. NO LAUGHING, it's sore.
Anyway after that we fancied some cross country mountain biking which we got at the excellent Highland Wildcat trails around Golspie. We rode part of the black run there which was absolutely superb, although I really should wear a helmet for that sort of carry-on; there's definite potential for high speed tree interaction.
Back at home it's time to get on with some admin, sit it out and wait for some more dry weather and generally prepare for summer climbing work.
Rock climbing courses and Cuillin Ridge traverses are on throughout the summer, so if you'd like training or a guide please drop me a line.

Freewheelin' in the north east

2010-04-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd had enough of north east sea cliff climbing for a while, having spent a lot of time exploring Aberdeenshires' extensive coastline. Not so today. Kat, Gill, Al and I drove over to Caithness to take advantage of drier conditions.
First stop: Latheronwheel, about an hour and a half north from Inverness. The climbing here is first class; steep layered sandstone with a friendly feel and only the occasional loose rock! Most areas are solid, giving confidence inspiring hand and footholds. However whilst exploring a small stack I did manage to pull off a chunk of rock I was using for a crucial pull. This resulted in some air time, but the protection is good so all was well.
A great venue, especially for those climbing around VS and above and like places such as Cummingston in Moray often dry when western parts are damp.
That night we stopped over in Dunbeath at a very cheap and very reasonable campsite in the village, which conveniently enough is 5 min's walk from The Bay Owl bar/restaurant which provides ace grub and beer.

Polldubh

2010-04-24T12:03:00.001-07:00

This is perhaps the best time of year for climbing in Glen Nevis. The midges have not yet hatched, the bracken is still dormant and the crags often dry. Much clearance of Silver Birch and other prolific tree species have been cleared from around the rocks making for a much more pleasant experience and saving the crags from becoming over grown. The late Ed Grindley and more recently the Polldubh Club have been instrumental in this and have worked closely with owners and land managers to reduce the number of Birch in favour of Oak, Ash and on the other side of the valley Scots Pine.
Kenny and I took advantage of a dry balmy afternoon to nip up to Double Buttress and then West End Crag. We climbed Oak wall HVS 5a, All's Fair E2 5c and the fingery Principle of Moments E3 6a, all of which are dry and on excellent rock. These crags see less traffic than many others and have a great selection of routes.
Higher up there's still winter condition for those that want it. Ben Nevis being the better option although even here the freezing level is forecast above the summit for the next few days. In Glencoe the big corries and gully lines still hold quite a bit of snow.

Lakes

2010-04-21T04:20:00.000-07:00

After Jamie's mishap yesterday he's unable to climb for a while so we drove over to Keswick last night and met up with Guy this morning for some cragging at Shepherd's in Borrowdale. After cream teas and bacon rolls at the farm cafe we had fun in the sun climbing routes from VS to E1 before it was back to the caff for ice cream and more bacon. Lots of people around, not surprising as the weather's lovely and the rock perfectly dry.
Haeding back home towards the Motherland tonight so JB can recuperate and I have plans in the north west, weather permitting.

Bowden Doors. Ouch!

2010-04-20T04:09:00.000-07:00

The radio news this morning stated that due to the volcanic ash cloud nothing south of Newcastle would take to the air today. This may have been true if it were not for Jamie and his short, hard flight to the ground; the picture above snapped before the fateful moment. It was a route that he'd soloed before but unfortunately he came off the holds near the top, falling about 5 metres onto grass. Luckily he landed well with no disastrous injuries other than soft tissue damage to heels and ankles confirmed after X-ray. Looks like he'll be off games for a while.

Northumberland

2010-04-19T03:57:00.000-07:00

The promise of good weather and dry rock tempted Jamie I for a short road trip around the north of England. First stop Kyloe in Northumberland and it's sculpted sandstone crags. A few spots of rain on a northerly wind threatened but thankfully came to nought and we had a good time climbing routes from Severe to VS. The sandstone is pretty hard and offers good protection which is nice as the climbing's pretty stiff for the grades.
Tomorrow off to Bowden Doors; a place that's cropped up in my climbing consciousness for some time but never been visited.

Final winter day out...... I think.

2010-04-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

o
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Allison's last day out and we went back to Ben Nevis, which as one of the last venues in the west of Scotland with winter condition, gave us a venue to tighten up on some rope techniques and go over retreat tactics.
More point release avalanche debris is evident than was 24 hours ago, especially emanating from the No. 2 Gully area. Conditions under foot were much softer than yesterday after the lack of a freeze last night. Folk were up and down the easy gullies, Tower Ridge, a team in Green Gully whooped for joy on topping out, so I think that's still good.
Bit of snow forecast over the weekend but I think it'll only be cosmetic. looking at rain fall radar there doesn't seem to be much in the way of moisture out above the Atlantic.

Icy in Geen Gully

2010-04-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

Day two with Allison on her Adventure Peaks winter climbing course and we plumped for Green Gully, grade III, on the basis that it's shady and not overly threatened by cornice - and great fun.

The route is still complete, although quite stepped and smashed up in places, giving firm front pointing all the way. The icy sections are great for placements and decent ice screw protection can be found with a little hunting around. Lots of loose rock around the belays and some of the in-situ pegs are a little loose so care required. All in all good nick and well worth a look, although as with most gully and face routes at the moment an early start is a good idea before the sun loosens everything up.

Other routes done... Three and Four gullies, N.E. Buttress, Psychedelic wall, Al and also Andy and Henry from JSMTC were out on Tower Ridge and report great conditions after a freeze last night.

Thanks to Douglas and Dave who were on the route behind us for sending me some more pictures and for keeping Alison company at the belays, which can be cold and lonely places!

Dorsal Arete Ice Breaker

2010-04-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Allison is on an Adventure Peaks course for three days in general preparation for an Everest attempt next year. Experienced in basic winter mountain craft she wanted to start learning the techniques of winter climbing. Winter feels like it's fading fast but routes like Dorsal Arete in Glencoe have a real alpine feel to them; with hard snowy ramps that are icy in places and dry, bare rock. A handy place to start getting to grips with climbing rope work.
The route is well worth a bash at the moment but carefully does it as after the cold winter there's a lot of loose rock around.

First rock of the year

2010-04-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

Glen Nevis today was roasting warm, bracken and midge free so it was a pleasure to be out rock climbing in tee shirts after a long winter. Kat, Jamie, Al and I visited Dundee, Cavalry Crack and Hangover Buttresses. The rock is largely dry, a few weeps on CC But's the top pitch of storm still being damp, but that can take a while to dry out. Strange thing - as I was taking the first photograph, a large shadow came over the ground. A partial eclipse maybe?

16 pints and the CMD

2010-04-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

Day 2 with Ian and Steve working for Adventure Peaks, we went to Ben Nevis to find ground a little bit more scrambly. We headed in towards the head wall of Coire Leis and picked our way up steepening snowy ramps, of about grade 1, on the north east to gain direct access to the arete of Carn Mor Dearg fame. The guys performed excellently on their second outing on snow. Especially as they had had 8 pints each the night before, which they confessed to me on the way down. No wonder they were sweating so much on the way in.
Reasonable snow cover exists and whilst nice and firm in the shade of the head wall, anything in the sun is very soft.
We continued on to the summit, past the little Brenva Face which was shedding much of it's load, and down the Red Burn which gave the best bum slide I have ever had. It's like a flume and we shed around 400 m in 5 minutes. Caution required here as time goes on though as the snow bridges over the stream will be on their way out soon.

21 Celcius in Glencoe

2010-04-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

....well that's what my car said anyway. It was pretty warm though.
Adventure Peaks clients Ian and Steve are preparing for a Mt Blanc ascent this summer so we went into Coire nan Lochan to find snow and some introductory exposure. We made a circuit of the N.E. and N.W. ridges working our way over soft wet snow, (firmer in the shade), and dry warm rock. There is still a lot of snow in the corries and gullies of the Coe, the buttresses are mostly bare and dry; in fact rock climbing would be possible on some of the routes on the East face of Aonach Mor.
Climbers were on Dorsal arete which looked alpine today and a few other walkers were about but other than that pretty quiet.
I think rock climbing at Ardnamurchan or Polldubh would be a very good prospect in this weather.

Spring time on Ben Nevis

2010-04-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Went for a look at the North Face area of the Ben today to see what's what for upcoming work. The snow line is much more spring like after the rain and change to mild conditions at the start of the week. The temperature is very summery however and due to get even milder with MWIS forecasting 11 Celsius at 900m on Sunday. With conditions like this ice routes are going to start to loose their grip on the mountain and cornices are going to get very saggy; I noticed blocky avalanche debris emanating from No 2 Gully area.
Tower Ridge still looks good higher up, Point 5, Zero, Green and Orion Direct look ok but I expect will be pretty soft. The top car park at the Allt a Mhuillinn was busy so people are certainly getting out and doing things.
I sought out the "antique" boiler that I came across buried earlier in the winter and it's now free of snow. It's situated just west of the burn right at the end of the fall line from Gardyloo Gully and has certainly come from the observatory on the summit. I think it might have been a water or oil tank with a feed at the top and a drain at the bottom.

In Glencoe conditions are similar, with lots of snow still in the corries and looking wintery enough high up, althought the crags look fairly black.

Sociable on the Ben

2010-04-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

It's a busy Easter weekend on the hills in Lochaber, despite the mixed weather. Al, Mark and I walked into Coire na Ciste on Ben Nevis and climbed the classic No 3 Gully Buttress, a nice varied route with good exposure near the top. Lots of people already about with even more piling into the corrie below us, many following behind. Other climbers were on Two Step Corner, Thompson's Route and we bumped into Heike and Brian who climbed Diana (which looked thin but good).

Walking up the Allt a Mhuilinn it was on the chilly side of mild but as we ascended in to the corrie there was a marked rise in temperature. High on the route there was the sound of thawing all around and descending the Red Burn our crampons balled up continuously indicating damp snow. With the rise in temperatures and rain forecast for Monday the snow pack and cornices will become unstable until (hopefully) a refreeze.

The last photo shows the damage inflicted upon a large boulder by rocks brought down from above in the huge avalanche a few weeks ago. It was a big slide and lots of stuff came with it!

Three on Stob Ban

2010-04-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

I gate-crashed Al's work day today, (thank you for that) and accompanied him and Gordon in order to get some more mileage for MIC consolidation. The East Ridge of Stob Ban gives a lovely mountaineering day out at about grade II; nice exposure with pleasant scrambling on generally good rock. We noted quickly that there were bits and pieces of ice surprisingly low down, so we took the opportunity to climb a reasonable pitch of grade III ice on the way to the base of the ridge.

Many aspects are quite scoured and where there are deep pockets of snow it continuous to the ground underneath i.e no layers. High in the corrie there is old snow evident and this also is mostly wind scoured.
Descent was by the North Ridge with it's short scrambly section. I think we were in the right place weather wise; good visibility, only a couple of hail showers yet further to the west the skies frequently looked very dark. Gordon performed admirably as always. All the best, hope to see you soon.

Pottering around

2010-03-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

Just finished four days walking around Glencoe and Glen Etive working for a film production company who required some stills shots for movie backdrops. Weather generally good, very spring like, the snow having diminished a lot recently (more forecast in the long term though). Lower level ice routes for example those on the west face of Aonach Dubh are falling apart, in fact The Screen which is visible in one of the pictures fell down completely the next day. Not quite time to dig out rock shoes as there's more winter coming!

Cairngorm ski touring

2010-03-11T11:49:00.001-08:00

Recently I was asked by Dougie, a rescue team colleague, if I was interested in a ski trip from Cairngorm to Ben Nevis. Why not I thought?
We had a go over the last two days but changed our itinerary to a circular route instead. The snow is very icy and highly featured making downhill hard going especially with big packs.
As a result I'm feeling quite tired. I am aware that I need to get much ski-fitter, because although we travelled around 50km carrying 20kg bags the whole trip weighs in at around 160km. So, we'll try again, hopefully soon if some friendlier skiing conditions come down and the lower sections get a bit more cover. Can't complain though - we really enjoyed ourselves.

The corrie bowls of the northern Cairngorms are still holding vasts amounts of snow with evidence of monster avalanches from the west facing slopes above the Lairig Ghru. Generally snow conditions are pretty stable, although with warmer temperatures around things are loosening up. Cornices are looking pretty droopy and as we passed the Devils Point last night a rock fall came down on the path behind us.

Up the Ben with the Greenockians

2010-03-06T05:24:00.000-08:00

Slim Jim and Big John are old mates from ages ago and along with new apprentice mountaineer Chris came up for a visit. Jim and Chris were raising money for the Prostate Cancer Charity their plan being to make a winter ascent of Ben nevis via Coire Leis. I tagged along, as did Kat who had to turn round at the CIC hut in order to go to work.
As usual there was a lot of giggling, falling over and fart jokes as well as the inauguration of the new sport of belly-sliding.

On the way we came across what looked like an old rivetted (pre-welding) boiler, possibly from the old observatory. It was buried in snow near the stream about 300m up from the hut. In all the years I've never noticed it before.

Snow conditions were pretty reasonable, Coire Leis being fairly scoured. A very busy day on the north face with teams out on many of the classics. North East Buttress had people turning round to go elsewhere it was so busy. A couple of guys had a look at the ice routes on the Little Brenva Face but decided they were falling apart, which certainly sounded like the case when we went past.
We heard of some traffic down Number Four Gully, but equally heard from one team who climbed Comb Gully that the approach slopes were suspect and had decided to descend via Coire Leis rather than Coire na Ciste.
After summiting we descended the way we had come, down the Allt a Mhuilinn to Fort William for light refreshments, which was nice.

Zig Zag Directissima

2010-03-05T05:05:00.000-08:00

After yesterday the guys are pretty tired (I'm not surprised) so opting for a shorter day we went to the nose of Gearr Aonach. Hanne had been before so we took a direct version of the Zig Zags, starting further round to the west to make things a little different.
The snow in Glencoe has been stripped back a great deal and is very wet and heavy, our crampons choking up despite anti-ball plates. There is still some ice left in the corner grooves but this is melting fast. Sounds of thawing ticked and skittered all around us and in places with bare heather and rock around it felt like a wet cold summer day. Despite this we had fun and got though our program of navigation and rope work including simple short pitches and retreat tactics (an essential mountaineering skill).

These conditions are in the long run really good news as with a subsequent freeze the snow pack will become much more stable. In the short term there is a risk of wet slab avalanches, cornice collapse and falling ice.

East Spur of Carn Dearg Meadhonach

2010-03-04T04:26:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot my camera today! Glorious weather and sensational views too. Oh well.

This route faces east and so was a candidate for a safe mountaineering day out at around Scottish grade I/II for Hanne, Rob and Steve. The only problem was going to be getting there as it's a long way up the Allt Daim between the Carn Deargs and Aonach Mor. Access is usually from the gondola station then dropping down into the valley from the west. Later I did see some tracks coming in from that direction but there was no way it was on our itinerary, as those west facing slopes are loaded with snow and there is evidence of avalanche activity.

We journeyed in from the north face car park at Torlundy, following the well broken trail which we left once past the forestry. Then cutting across to the west, taking turns at snowplough duty through knee deep snow, skirting the nose of Carn Beag Dearg and peering round the corner at the east facing slopes before us. We decided that we could hop between the abundant islands of safety to reach our route. Lots of rock and exposed ground are in evidence as well as hard scoured snow fields, however we still had to dog-leg around large patches of somewhat unstable slab cross loaded onto the slope.
The spur itself is straight forward, with moderate exposure and very enjoyable. We arrived on to the plateau just as some cloud came in and we lost visibility. Navigating off to the north we could feel the rise in temperature and where the snow on the way up had been dry and fluffy was now saturated with moisture in the same places.
Well done to the guys for today, which in these conditions was quite hard work.

Allt a Mhuillinn Expressway

2010-03-03T03:57:00.000-08:00

It's Wednesday and I joined day three of a five day Winter Mountaineering course with Adventure Peaks relieving their Instructor who was committed elsewhere.
Hanne, Rob, Steve and I travelled up the Allt a Mhuillinn to the north face of Ben Nevis on a brilliant entrenched path through what would otherwise be very soft, deep snow.
Finding venues for basic mountaineering days is tricky at the moment due to the avalanche risk and the huge volume of snow making travel to some areas almost impossible. Max tried to get into Curved Ridge in Glencoe yesterday and found metre deep snow making it unfeasible.
So, we found plenty of safe broken ground to operate on above the CIC hut.
Teams were on North East Buttress, Tower Ridge , Orion Direct and Green Gully amongst others. The approach to the Orion Face routes and Point Five are reported as scoured and so safe to reach. High in the Ciste however looked heavy with loose snow from a distance.

The Steall ice festival

2010-03-01T08:50:00.000-08:00

Blue skies and stable weather are back for a few days so I went up to Steall above Glen Nevis to look for bits of ice to play on, other than Steall Falls which contained 26 climbers when I visited.
Not surprising this, as the snow pack conditions are still very unstable and people are wisely choosing low level options. The weak layer formed of buried hoar frost crystals will mostly remain present as a bit of a ticking time bomb until the snow warms through or gets saturated and refrozen.
I decided to give the melee a miss and go for a nice walk instead. I did find some nice ice though, but I'm not saying where. Certainly people have been there already.

Evidence of avalanche activity is visible on the slopes above Coire Eoghainn of Ben Nevis, as well as lots of point release debris lower down in the valley. This being cause by snow and ice falling off warming rocks and initiating an accumulating slide down the slope.

In Glencoe the slopes above the west face of Aonach Dubh have avalanched and left a very long crown wall visible from the road.

Have a look at Alex Roddie's picture:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4344923&l=b799384d81&id=285400308
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4344924&l=7815fc22a3&id=285400308

Avalanches

2010-02-24T09:54:00.000-08:00

Al and I thought we may have enough time to climb Minus 2 Gully V,5 on Ben Nevis before wind and snow moved in from the north east. Wasn't to be. Walking in towards the CIC hut we could see snow drifting and slab starting to form at our feet. The wind was up and carrying lots of snow. So we started to think of a plan B, especially as a friend Paul who was walking out told us about a group who got away with being avalanched on the west facing slope leading up to Vanishing Gully.

From the CIC we decided to go for the steep cascade just across from the hut, which would mean that we wouldn't have to cross serious ground to get there, which was just as well because we got avalanched on the way (first couple of pictures).
The slab was about 25m x 5 and around 50 - 60cm deep and more than enough to shift us a short way down the slope, which was quite shallow, (maybe 25 degrees), for a slide.
This really isn't surprising as all the hoar frost crystals that have built up over the last week are being buried in sheltered areas by fresh wind blown snow, forming wind slab on top of a very weak layer.

We climbed the cascade, which was excellent, thoroughly recommended.
Unfortunately, unknown to us at the time a chap just to the north of us triggered a small pocket of wind slab which avalanched and was enough to take him off his feet and slide him down serious boulder strewn ground, were he sustained injuries. He was stabilised by a passing instructor and his clients and then lifted by RAF to hospital.

Unfortunately the day didn't end there. I arrived home to receive a rescue call out to Buchaille Etive Mor in Glencoe were a pair had been avalanched.
This party contained significant experience and had made a valued judgement about a safe route off the hill. Unfortunately despite that they triggered a small avalanche which sent them on a long fall down the hillside and as a result they lost their lives.

Today (Thursday) lots of wet snow is falling at sea level and dumping lots more on the hills. Any movement for the next few days up there will have to be highly tactical and require even more careful judgement than usual.
Good coffee drinking weather.

It should be noted that information about exact locations given in the media are incorrect. Many articles are stating that the incident occurred on Curved Ridge and my concern is that this may cause people to form an incorrect idea of what happened and make assumptions based on this.
The chaps involved were descending via the large spur that bounds the west side of Coire na Tullaich and leads down towards Creag a Bhancair - a recognised route if the normal route down the corrie is unsafe.

More ski fun

2010-02-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

Instead of knuckling down to some work, like finally finishing my website, I went to Aonach Mor to ski. With weather like this it seems a shame to stay in.
The ski hill was practically deserted, in fact I'm sure there were more pedestrians around the east face and Nid areas than there were skiers.
Weather looks great tomorrow, then some snow and wind likely for Wednesday and Thursday. Cold conditions look set to continue.

Sweating on Curved Ridge

2010-02-21T11:34:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've climbed Curved Ridge on Buchaille Etive Mor in winter that wasn't on a rescue call-out and in the dark. With that in mind Kat agreed to being short roped around the hill so I could refresh my memory for a guiding perspective.
Stunning weather and the best conditions anyone can remember for ages are helping to make this a really memorable winter! Snow on the route is generally helpful. There is lots of exposed rock so hands are useful as well as axes, (in fact the rock routes on Rannoch Wall would have been a pleasure to climb today).
The Coire na Tulaich descent involves a steep step or abseil down onto the headwall which had a few people waiting, so we opted to walk down above Creag Coire na Tulaich. This can be a good option if the snow in the corrie headwall is suspect.
As expected, lots of people out on the ridge, East Gully, North Buttress and Crowberry Gully.

A fantastic day. At no time did any posing take place.

Skiing the light fantastic

2010-02-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

After a very cold night camping at Fersit, during which time everything froze, Kat and I toured up to Chno Dearg... and down again. Conditions are perfect! Several centimetres of surface hoar, on top of soft snow on a firm base gave for fun skiing.
If these crystals are buried before thawing they will represent a very weak layer in the snow pack. They're also very easily lifted by wind, smashed up, transported and deposited as wind slab.

The Zig Zags

2010-02-17T15:29:00.000-08:00

The second day out with Fraser, Andy, Paul and Sam. We went to Gearr Aonach to polish up some moving together, lead climbing rope work as well as protected abseils and retreat tactics.
Several other teams all had the same idea which was not surprising given a large snowfall over night and an avalanche forecast predicting a High risk.
Lower down the snow is soft and a little damp, and although pretty discontinuous may well have formed wind slab higher up. With conditions like these ridges and/or a tactical approach are a good bet.

Congestion

2010-02-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

Who needs social networking websites? If you want to meet new friends, just go and hang out around the Eastern Traverse on Tower Ridge on a good day during half term week. You won't get lonely.
The ridge is in good shape, lots of powdery snow covering firmer old snow underneath. The going is about average in terms of difficulty, the snow being generally helpful but a bit hard work in places.
Today I was working for Fraser Coleman and climbing with Andy, Paul and Sam who fared brilliantly after only 3 days into their winter climbing careers. A great day.

MIC training

2010-02-13T04:51:00.001-08:00

Just finished a very enjoyable week over at Glenmore Lodge undertaking MIC training. It was a strong team full of good characters, so many laughs were had and overall the weather wasn't too unkind to us.

The Northern Corries are still holding lots of snow, ( the boulders, toblerone stone and rescue box in Sneachda are still well and truly buried), most of which is now very firm. There are however small pockets of soft to medium windslab on all aspects, mostly above 900m.
The crags are heavily rimed so protection generally requires a lot of digging. Strong climbers have been backing off medium grade routes in the event of such difficulty.

Ski touring looks awesome.

I'm off

2010-02-07T09:52:00.000-08:00

Going to Glenore lodge for MIC training, so no posts 'till next weekend. Here's some nice pictures from the beach at Inchree.

Moonshadow

2010-02-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

Jamie B and I met this morning with a view to Lost Valley Buttress in Glencoe. However things looked a little murky so we headed into Coire Nan Lochan instead.
I did wonder about the safety of the north facing approach slopes which I must admit felt a bit creepy. The snow pack is quite wet, the weak layers still very much in evidence but we got there.
In the end we climbed Moonshadow IV,5 which I've walked past many times and never been specifically excited by. But boy is it good, I think it's worth 3 stars in the guidebook. Varied steep climbing , turf, rock, snow, ice it has it all. Nice.
Visibility today was at about 20m most of the time, so the photos aren't up to much. Sorry.
The corrie was fairly quiet, a couple went up Dorsal Arete and Matt and Keith did Central Grooves.

Snow, ice and quartzite

2010-02-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

Mark and Eddies' last day, Stob Ban by the North Ridge. The morning started blue and clear and crunchy underfoot but by mid day a veil of high cloud had slid insidiously over head and the sky threatened from the west. By mid afternoon wind and dry snow was blowing in, but that was ok because by then we were walking down and had it all at our backs.
Pockets of soft slab were evident all round, more significantly on the north side of the Stob Ban - Sgurr an lubhair col where, whilst on benign ground, we were easily able to pop plaques of slab off.
Thanks boys. Happy Mountaineering!

Sun

2010-02-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

Day 2 with Eddie and Mark. Sometimes the pleasure of a Scottish mountaineering day is reflective, after the abrasion and thuggery of foul conditions. Today however was a day that smiled from the outset, and that's as good as it gets.
We journeyed a circuit above Stob Coire Nan Lochan via the summit, along with most of the United Kingdom it seemed. It was all very sociable.
Climbers were on Dorsal arete and Crest Route amongst others.
Spot the spooky orb in the third picture. An optical effect I assume.

The Irishmen

2010-02-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

Eddie and Mark have come over from Galway, looking to get out in the hills and winterise their knowledge. No problem, there's plenty of winter here at the moment.
After a quick dash to the shops it was off to Aonach Mor for a quick day 1 of movement skills and and some serious focus on safe travel in the mountains.
Luckily the guys are fabulous, and natural cramponeers and so we got a lot done.

There's lots of hard snow around the scoured areas of the Nid regions. Cross loading has produced pockets of soft slab on the surface, becoming more pronounced into the northerly and then easterly aspects. The slab is quite discontinuous and there are lots of rocky, grassy islands of safety to move between.
For interest we dug a pit to have a look at the snow profile and found a weak granular layer about 20cm down. The resulting block we isolated broke clean with a big hard jump from above.
This layer is well frozen at the moment, but if it gets warmer is going to get quite unstable.

Crispy on Aonach Mor

2010-01-30T11:33:00.001-08:00

A few days ago this was a soggy porridge-fest around here. Not today though. Everything's frozen up nicely making the going generally quite firm under foot.
I was out around about the Nid area of Aonach Mor, accompanying Cio, who was working for West Coast Mountain Guides and kind enough to let me tag along. She and her clients Danny, John and Olly were looking at basic winter mountaineering skills and the conditions today were great for going through the boot-axe-crampons progression. Also covered were simple but effective snow anchors, which the guys tried and failed to test to destruction. Fun.
Arrived back at the car just in time to receive a rescue call-out for Glencoe, however by the time I got there the Navy had flown in and done the business with no real nastiness in evidence. Result.
Good luck with the mountaineering and the Phds chaps!

Nav practice

2010-01-26T14:39:00.000-08:00

Slightly bleaker forecast today so Guy and I took the Gondola onto Aonach Mor for some navigation training below the east face.
I've always thought that presented with less than inspiring weather a bit of nav can turn a grim walk into something much more entertaining.
The snowpack was soaked through and with a fall in temperatures forecast should freeze up a bit and stabilise.

Axe Hunt Mission

2010-01-26T14:11:00.000-08:00

Found my axe! Which I'm very happy about as in the past I've bought a car for less than a climbing axe costs now.
Kat and I cramponed up a still very firm Red Burn today retracing my steps from last night. Some snow had blown in during the night filling in tracks but we found the axe anyway at about 1100 metres.
We then realised that despite climbing on the Ben before she'd never been on the summit in winter, so as it was a beautiful day we decided to rectify that.
On the way down we encountered a very relaxed looking group of red deer hinds between the half way lochan and windy corner right next to the path, somewhere that I've never seen them congregate before.

Observatory Ridge

2010-01-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

Out today with Guy and Henry for a "go and see" trip on The Ben. With the promise of good conditions all round we equipped ourselves with the Rack of the Gods and open minds and made fast progress into the Gardyloo area. After toying with the idea of Point Five we decided against, as it appeared to be holding quite a lot of snow and therefore would be a bit of a slog, we opted for Observatory Ridge.
A great route all round at IV,4, we each had at least one pitch each with real technical interest and just as the climbing gets easier the views get even more splendid!
Only a handful of people around surprisingly, with parties on Tower Ridge, Castle Ridge and Ledge route. The face routes appear quite thin yet, some more melt - freeze required, thin pockets of loosely bonded slab in evidence in sheltered areas.
A good day had by all.
There were however 2 glitches:
1) Whilst bum sliding the Red Burn I foolishly lost one of my axes.
2) It was Sunday and all the chip shops were closed. I fancied a battered sausage smothered in vinegar.

Menage a Trois

2010-01-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

Off to Beinn an Dothaidh with Guy with Menage a Trois V,6 in mind. This venue was popular today with 5 cars already parked up. Good weather and nice firm snow all round made the walk in a pleasure. The route appealed and glistened with thick verglas and iced up cracks so protection took a bit of work but the turf was solid.
The climbing was superbly technical and we didn't want it to end!
Other teams were on West Gully and Taxus, which given the 13 cars in the car park when we returned could have got a mention on Sally Traffic.

Stob coire Nam Beith

2010-01-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

Kat and I decided to go up into SCN Beith today and find some ice to play on for a short outing.
It felt much warmer and the west face of Aonach Dubh showed signs of depletion. The Screen is still complete, Elliots' Downfall hanging in there, but Number 6 has big holes in it! I'm sure it'll be back soon.
Inside the coire we had a look at the cascades on the Green Slab area which gave us a couple of good pitches of grade III / IV if you follow the steeper bits. The ice was great, nice and chewey and we abseiled from ice screw threads at the top, our 50m ropes getting us just down to the bottom.

AMI mountaineering workshop

2010-01-17T16:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend was organised by Alan Kimber for people on the Instructor or Guides schemes to look at using Ben Nevis and Aonach Mor as venues for working with clients.
Alan and James Thacker talked about getting the best out of the area in unfavourable weather and/or snow conditions and we practiced some moving together and short pitching by linking pieces of interesting grade I/II ground east of the Douglas Gap Gully.
On the Sunday we headed to Aonach Mor and looked at good terrain for skills progression and tactics for achieving this. Blair Fyffe (Dr Snow) in his capacity as SAIS observer gave an interesting talk on snow packs followed by more short roping and a look at safe means of access into the climbing areas. This was really useful as Aonach Mor is sometimes a serious place to get around. I think maybe some people see it as quite a benign venue but there are frequently snow slope, cornice and navigational issues to deal with.

Blue Riband

2010-01-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

A long standing ambition of mine has been to climb Blue Riband V,5 on the south flank of the Aonach Eagach ridge, which up until the last couple of years didn't come into condition very often.
Guy and I went up today and with a great forecast found the lower pitches to be in great nick. The central section was a bit of a slog and we found ourselves front pointing semi-frozen moss, sweating in the sunshine. The top pitch was a bit scanty but went at tech 6 we thought.
At the top we decided to go east along the ridge with blue sky views all around and got back to the car just as it was getting dark.
One of the most memorable climbing days I've had for a long time.

Pictures courtesy of Guy S.

Ice on the Ben

2010-01-05T17:30:00.000-08:00

Accompanied Alan Halewood with his client into the North Face of Ben Nevis today and in the teeth of increasing wind and burning spindrift did some great climbing.
First up was 2 pitches of grade IV ground on the CIC cascades followed by the first pitch of Waterfall Gully and an abseil off.
Thanks Al.

Pictures courtesy of Al H.

2010-01-03T05:35:00.000-08:00

Al, Gill, Scoob and I went for a look at two cascades above Caolsnacon in Gleann a Chaolais. We climbed The Posse and What's the Story, both around III/IV.
These are easily reached in around half an hour from the road and well worth a trip. The ice was wet but took axes and screws well. An awkward tree abseil got back to terra firma in 1 ropes length.

Water ice on New Years Day

2010-01-01T05:31:00.000-08:00

Looking for a quick hit Al and I went to climb Steall Falls, we'd both been waiting for this to freeze for a long time (along with everybody else)!
There was plenty of ice and also plenty of water charging through the middle, but that was ok, it was easily avoided. The one thing there wasn't plenty of was ice screws as Al had forgotten them. Oops. So we decided to solo, which was fine and liberating, abseiling back down from trees in two drops and a bit of a scramble.
Driving past the Lower Falls we noticed that they were pretty well frozen as well. What the heck, we dropped in and did that too. Daft but just a bit of fun. The tourists liked it.

Pictures courtesy of Al H and Scott.

Ben Udlaidh

2009-12-28T05:43:00.000-08:00

Very cold on the drive down to Bridge of Orchy, the car registering -15c! A few other teams were already there, some having slept in their vehicles (chilly)!
We did Quartzvein Scoop IV, 4 which near the top of the first pitch had water pouring off the cascade. Still, good for axes.
Next up was South Gully of the Black Wall IV,4. Similar to the other routes all was cold and brittle for most of the first pitch followed by wet from there on. Al got a real soaking, but I'm sure it was worth it as the second half gave some fantastic steep ice.
The walk in is well tracked, the slopes not too loaded at this stage and route exits firm enough.

Pictures courtesy of Al H.

Ski touring Beinn a Chruiliste

2009-12-28T04:32:00.000-08:00

Kat and I went touring in Glencoe for a quick easy half day. The hills looked well covered but proved to be fairly unconsolidated up to around 750m were there is a base of old snow. A strong south easterly was shifting snow around onto northerly aspects and as we expected there were pockets of shallow slab in sheltered areas.

Quickie on Green Gully

2009-12-18T05:04:00.000-08:00

Al and I went for a blast on to the Ben today, hard snow into Coire na Ciste, old avalanche debris in evidence around many of the major gully exits.
We went for a quiet Green Gully IV,3 which had good ice and firm snow so we decided on a 1 runner per pitch policy and really went for it. What fun. Car to car in just over 4.5 hours

Ballachulish Horseshoe

2009-12-13T04:50:00.000-08:00

Brian, Dave, Nigel and I started nice and late, left a frosty valley below and went for a round of Beinn a Bheithir. Temperatures were well below freezing in Ballachulish but rose markedly at around 500m, the inversion line of frost clearly visible on the ground below us.
The hills are well scoured of snow at the moment and that which remains is rock hard.
A very pleasant four hours saw us at Gleann a Chaolais just in time for Nigel and myself to get a rescue callout for Stob Coire nan Lochan. Luckily there was no real nasty business and all went well.

North Gully, Ben Nevis

2009-12-10T05:57:00.000-08:00

Brian and I went for a look on the Ben and decided to go for North Gully, a nice straight forward grade II in Coire na Ciste.
The freezing level was pretty high, ice and snow dripping all the way to the top, so it was a dig fest rather than climbing, but good nonetheless.

West Chimney

2009-11-30T13:24:00.000-08:00

Al and I started off for Coire nam Beith at dark o' clock today, Al being psyched for West Chimney and adventure.
The route was under light unconsolidated snow and going at solid V,6. What an absolute cracker!
The short subterranean section wasn't too tight, although we did have to remove our sacs and pull them up. All the pitches yielded interesting climbing and combined with friendly weather gave for a memorable day out.
A stellar performance from Al who laboured under a chest infection and a sprained ankle!

Pictures courtesy of Al H.

Espana

2009-11-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

Six days in Spain on warm dry rock. Bliss. This was good medicine indeed.
Teamed up with Al, Brian, Gill and Sally, rented a luxurious villa in Calpe for a very reasonable price and did a bunch of climbing. Bolts, trad, sea cliffs and the Bernia Ridge. Awesome.

Rope Access Canada

2009-11-01T17:09:00.000-08:00

Hopefully finished the last Rope Access work of the year and can spend a bit more time at home.
These pictures were taken in the North Atlantic near the Grand Banks, around 150Km east from Nova Scotia.
Sometimes life offshore can be quite bleak and isolated but occasionally, when the light is good, very beautiful.

Early Pygmy Ridge

2009-10-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

Al and I had been planning to go rock climbing over in Ardnamurchan today but on seeing snow and riming on the cairngorm webcam decided to go for a look at Pygmy Ridge IV,5.
Walking in there was plenty of snow. On the crag snow on ledges and even ice in cracks. Definitely winter condition and given there is no turf to destroy if unfrozen and moving carefully, we climbed it. The last time I did it, it was buried under snow, so this was a nice change.

Around 15 - 20m up the route steps left before going back right and at about this point there is a large detached flake that moves when pulled on. To avoid it is tricky. I now believe it's been like this for some time, probably keyed in , but one day it'll unlock. Go carefully.