A Week Away

I will be away from the hills for a weekish catching up with Em and attending a wedding in Arbroath.  Before I left, the warm weather had stripped a fair bit of snow, but had not stopped folks from getting things done.  I know that there were a few route climbed on meggie, Pumpkin and South Post Direct the better of the bunch.  The Ben saw the usual ice lines being climbed, but an ascent of Psychedelic Wall on Saturday showing that things have improved.  There should be a lot to go at up there, we just need the buttresses back for the mixed routes as well.

Carn Etchachan, Red Guard

After a big day yesterday, checking the weather and the usual conversation about where to go and what to do, we settled on an easy day in the Northern Coires on a couple of the short, but tricky routes on the Fiacaill.  A leisurely start saw us leaving the car park at 8:45am for the short walk to Sneachda.  Our hearts sunk as we saw that the crags were a bit on the black side.  A quick chat and we were off up the Goat track to see how things looked over the back.

The Shelterstone looked white, so down we went.  We can't believe our luck as we realise that we only have one headtorch between us, and the top of the crag is not white enough.  Solution, walk further.  Carn Etchachan, is a little higher and the last hope of the day.  Red Guard VI,6*** 250m is in so all good.  "One headtorch?  We'll just climb quick! OK".

Spindrift heaven on pitch 2

Matt coming onto easy ground after on pitch 3

This is an outstanding route.  We were a little tired from yesterday, but it still would feel sharp for the grade.  An awkward  chimney on pitch 2 leads to a steep groove on pitch 3.  It eases a bit from there, but not that much.  There is a sting in the tail of the final pitch, but well worth the walk over.  The spindrift was extreme, filling hoods, sleaves, mouths and eyes giving the full winter experience.  A quick walk back meant we returned in daylight and looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

Lochnagar, Link Direct

Approaching  the crag

Matt and I had never climbed in Lochnagar before, so the drive across last night was filled with anticipation.  A stunning clear night showing off all the hills and the hares dicing with death as they ran across the road in front of the van.  One was unfortunate to fall to natural selection, despite being the size of a small dog.  I'm sure it will feed a few members of the local wildlife though.  Having already packed packed the bags, we got our heads down ready for an early start. Whilst the Bullock van was still empty in the carpark ( see nick's blog for another quality installment).

The alarm went off at 4:15am and Matt got the tea and coffee on the go.  A cold night meant it was hard to break out of the sleeping bag, but as the van warmed a little with the stove and the smell of coffee perked us up, things started to move.  After a bit of faff looking for the toilets, we were finally on our way.  The moon lit the sky brilliantly, meaning the headtorch could stay off.  As we approach the col the sun was coming up and the sky was a mix of orange and red.  The crag came into view for the first time and it was stunning.  Much more impressive than we had hoped for.  After 2 hours walking we were kitting up at the box, and moving on to our chosen objective, Link Direct VIII,7****.

Matt approach the belay of pitch 5

Matt led us swiftly up the first pitch which was no give away.  The theme of the day was set, as every pitch seemed to be around the same grade with not much between them.  I led the second, before Matt linked the third and a bit of the fourth.  I then linked the bulk of the fourth with the fifth pitch to make a great pitch.  Matt quickly sent the final hard pitch before I finish off to the top.  things had gone very smoothly, and we were pleased to see it was only 1pm.  We abseiled into Black Spout and cruised back to the van for 15:15 to enjoy a well earned cup of coffee and a bit of food.  The plan had been to stay for another day, but the forecast is not the best, so we bailed back home to make plans for tomorrow,

Water Ice Workshop on the Ben

After the ming fest yesterday in Glencoe, it was a pleasant day on the Ben today.  There had been quite a bit of snow put down into the ciste, so any easy routes would have been a wade if you could have gotten to them.  We opted to head to the Gulch to have a workshop approach on the quality ice that was there at the moment.  This turned out to be perfect, with good length pitches of grade II-V ice to work through.  Everyone showed a real improvement through the day.

We finished off with some snow and ice belay before cruising back to the van.  A great contrast to yesterday, and great way to show the different side to winter climbing in Scotland.

Ming in Glencoe

The weather forecast was not prime for the first day of the intro to snow and ice course I am working on, but we got stuck into something anyway.  As the avalanche risk was High, I was not too keen to go all the way into Stob Coire nan Lochain today, so we climbed Jim's Gully II on the West Face of Gearr Aonach.  This gave us 3 good pitches of climbing, with the third pitch being the crux.  A few teams carried on into the coire, one triggering an avalanche and retreating and 1 other being avalanched out of Boomerang Gully and needed the services of the mountain rescue team.  A wild day out there!

Sioux Wall

Yesterday John and Ronnie climbed Sioux Wall VIII,8***, which resulted in a massive bout of FOMO for me.  I have wanted to climb Sioux Wall for ages, so managed to talk Jonny into heading up the Ben today.  This was a little above his leading limit, so it meant I had to lead the whole route.  I was secretly happy about this, as it is such a classic.

Jonny enjoying the first tricky pitch

Jonny through the tricky moves on pitch 3

It is fair to say that the it is an outstanding route.  Sustained climbing on mostly bomber hooks with thin but positive feet and excellent gear, makes this a true classic.  A must do route for the grade.

There has been a lot of ice forming, even at lower levels.  The Curtain looks to be very close and Cascade is now super fat.  Although Two Step Corner is there, none of the others seemed complete.  Hadrian's looks fat from a distance, so my guess would be that the Point etc. is in fine fettle.

NC Gully

I was working in a very quiet Stob Corie Nan Lochain today with Serena.  The aim was to climb a classic gully, and NC was a great choice.  The route is in good condition at the moment,m with some nice big stances in place, Result.  Despite the glorious weather, it was still very cold up there.  There has been a fair bit of ice building, but the buttress routes are black.

Head down and getting stuck in

great rock scenery 

The Ben still has a lot to go at, either ice or mixed.