Scotland Winter Conditions - Avalanches & Ben Lawers

Back on Friday I went out with Blair as he prepared the forecast for the SAIS (Scottish Avalanche Info Service). We dug a pit up on Aonach Mor and assessed the snow as we descended down to the base of the Nid. It was interesting to see the forecasting process and learn more about the complexities of snow.
On Saturday I went out to do some skills with my (slightly sick) partner Sarah along with Dave and Joe. We ventured onto the slopes of Ben Lawers where we found snow from around 400m, though much of it soft.

Scotland Winter Conditions - Cairngorms

Back into Sneachda today to avoid the rain/snow/wind in the West. I went up to climb with Lee (now driving a fiesta courtesy car) deciding to give Salvation (V, 7) a try. After Lee did a great job of pulling through steep overlap, on pitch 2, he discovered thin climbing and no protection and understandably decided to give it a miss. I decided I didn't want to face the same predicament either and so we went up Patey's Route instead. This route is given IV, 5 with icy conditions, but with no ice the steeper sections were a little more entertaining. We abseiled off after the hard climbing to avoid the still unstable snow slopes that are about.
The turf is now well frozen but the crags are hidden under soft snow and significant windslab is forming (it didn't quite rain at all levels last night).

Scotland Winter Conditions - Cairngorms

After playing van skating (and bumper cars with a wall) on the drive over, from Fort William to Aviemore, I eventually arrived at the Cairngorm ski car park. With Lee looking after his broken van I teamed up with Rocio and Dave and climbed Belhaven (V, 6) - which has a good 50m top pitch of sustained interest.
There wasn't as much snow as the west, and what we discovered was much more compact making for an easy approach. All the turf was well frozen, though most cracks were hidden beneath soft snow. It is due to warm a little overnight with freezing levels drop by mid-morning, which will only help to consolidate the snowpack.

Scotland Winter Conditions - Glen Coe

Today I battled up to the Lochan with Kenny and Lee, wading through knee deep snow at times. We eventually made it to the foot of Central Buttress to climb Central Grooves. This is a classic VII, 7 route but hard especially with the snowy, icy conditions (difficult to find gear and axe placements). Lee lead the first pitch, Kenny the second and then we decided that was enough for one day, otherwise we wouldn't finish until after dark. Both pitches were steep and pumpy.
On the way down the snow was a lot wetter and it felt that the freezing level had risen to 800/900m. Tomorrow it is set to drop to 600m with a frost overnight - hopefully helping to consolidate the existing soft snow.

Scotland Winter Conditions - Ben Nevis

Yesterday I went up the North West Face Route on the Douglas Boulder, Ben Nevis with Ian. We chose this route due to ease of access, avoiding any avalanche prone slopes as it was category 4. By the time we reached the top of 'the boulder' it was close to 300m of climbing, we some hard moves on the main 50m chimney pitch - mainly due to little ice, soft snow and unhelpful rock.
On the descent we decided to abseil down the grade 1 gully as it was loaded with a lot of snow.

Scotland Winter Conditions - Snow!

Unfortunately I couldn't get out today as I had a meeting, though it would of been hard going as a lot of snow fell last night - almost down to Fort William. The Nevis ski range was open today and Tom and Julie reported lots of powder drifts in between older frozen snow. A healthy wind blew all day creating windslab and a category 4 has been issued, so careful route choice is vital.

Scotland Winter Conditions - Glencoe

Today I went up into the Lochan with Lee, just up from Wales. The overnight precipitation (falling as snow high up) fortunately stopped as we arrived in the car park, producing a mainly calm day.
We jumped on Tilt (VI, 7), which has a lot of good climbing on. Snow had plastered the whole crag and the turf on the top half of the route was frozen. Unfortunately I discovered it wasn't quite so well frozen lower down as my axes unexpectedly ripped and I found myself 15ft lower.
We were just finishing the last pitch when the storm arrived firing snow pellets into our faces and blowing us around at will. By the time we made it back to the car park we were drenched through and struggling against the wind even in the car park.
With all the snow falling, loading the slopes, all the gullies were releasing lots of slough avalanches. I also heard of avalanches releasing on Aonach Mor and the Ben, so keep clear of them gullies.

Scotland Winter Conditions - Ben Nevis

I went up to Ben Nevis today to shadow Mike from Abacus Mountaineering. We climbed up on No. 3 Gully Buttress, finding good neve in places and climable ice. In the afternoon the wind and spindrift increased making for an unpleasant but exhilarating exit onto the plateau.
A frozen crust had formed over the the wet snow from yesterday, stabilising the pack. However with the fresh snow being blown onto Northerly aspects, and more being forecast, the SAIS have forecast considerable avalanche risk at category 3.

Scotland River Levels - Roy Gorge

With a turn in the weather, to wet and wild, I took the opportunity to go paddling. We kayaked the Roy Gorge, a classic grade 3/4 section, at medium to high levels. It was the first time I had been on the river since the grade 5, headbanger, had disappeared. There used to be a large section of cliff overhanging above the water, requiring the paddler to duck to avoid hitting their head.
Sorry about the quality of pictures they all turned out to be a little hazy today.

Scotland Winter Conditions - Caving in the Mountains

Today Paul and I made the steep 2 hour walk into Church Door Buttress, Glencoe. We climbed the interesting Crypt route. It takes a few excursions into the cliff itself over the first 3 pitches, requiring the ability to crawl through tight squeezes and wriggle up chimneys. The last two pitches, above an impressive arch, follow Raeburns Chimney - originally climbed in socks to loud cheers when completed back in the day.
The ground was much more frozen today after a slight frost, with the turf providing much better placements than yesterday. On the descent windslab had formed on Northerly aspects but with good neve below.
Unfortunately with the wet and warm weather tomorrow much of the fresh snow, which had dropped to 500m by the evening, may dissappear. Winter Mountaineering Courses

Scotland Winter Conditions - Winter Reforms

Yesterday I went with Alan Kimber and clients up No. 3 gully and down No. 4 on the Ben. The crags were wet but the freezing level was slowly dropping throughout the day. A steady wet snow fell through most of the day.
Today Kath and I went up to the Lochan in Glencoe to climb Scabbard Chimney (V, 6). We discovered that the wet snow had frozen but so had the wet crags, choking the cracks with ice and hampering the placement of protection. As we left it started to snow down to 600m.
Paul, Tom and Julie (with whom I'm living with outside Fort William for the season) climbed Green Gully on the Ben. Apparently it was a bit like slush puppy until the last 50 to 100m. A good freeze tonight and cold temperatures will sort that out.

Welsh Winter - Idwal Ice

I took my Dad and partner Sarah up into Cwm Idwal today to sample the ice and swing some tools. We ventured over to variety of frozen rivers between Devils Kitchen and Y Garn, which provided a mixture of pitches from grade II to a couple of short pitches at III/IV. Fun was had by all!
Unfortunatly rivers had started to form down the ice falls by the afternoon, and with warmer temperatures tomorrow I fear everything is going to be a little slushy. Not all is bad though as Scotland looks like it will get a good dump of snow tomorrow and falling temperatures on Monday, so if your interested in winter mountaineering up North email me - info@sea2summit.net
Winter Mountaineering Courses

Welsh Winter - New Route on Clogwyn Ddu

Mark on the crux pitch of The Rutt VI-7, new route on Clogwyn Ddu

Another cold day meant another day walking up to Cwm Cneifion to make the most of the conditions. I was climbing with Mark again, sharing pitches up the (now classic) El Mancho VII 7 - which proved to be worth the hype.
In the afternoon we added two pitches above Clogwyn Central, keeping to the arete instead of returning to the gully. My pitch went at about grade 5 and another of 7. The final hard pitch was thin for both feet and axes but Mark pulled it off, somehow.

Welsh Winter - 2nd FA of Blenderhead. VII 8

Mark on the second free ascent of Blenderhead VII 8
Mark and I went up to Clogwyn Ddu today to sample its mixed delights. There are a mixture of routes over the buttress all of which can be viewed here: http://welshwinterclimbs.wetpaint.com/page/Cwm+Cneifion+%26+Clogwyn+Du
Mark cranked hard to make a 2nd free ascent of Blenderhead. The crux involved torquing and laybacking up a steep groove, which was strenuous even as a second.
The turf is still well frozen, even though it felt a little warmer today. Hopefully more action tomorrow.
Winter Mountaineering Courses

Welsh Winter - New Routes on Glyder Fach

Today I went up to the North Face of Glyder Fach with Baggy. Back in November Baggy had spotted some new route potential (along with many other lines he has earmarked) and with the ground well frozen at all levels the turfy/mixed routes proved to be in good condition.
We climbed 2 new routes at about IV, 5 and a winter ascent of Square Chimney Buttress at V, 5 adding a new start. All were good climbs, well worth repeating.
On the walk-in we noticed that the ice was fattening up at the back of Idwal with more than a couple of parties enjoying the numerous routes that are in condition.

New Year in Scotland

I have just returned from a fun New Year in the far North, staying in the hamlet of Oldshoremore near Cape Wrath. The stable weather provided 7 days of blue skies and light winds, though the temperature rarely rose above 2 celcius.

There was little in the way of winter this far North, except for heavy frosts in the Glens. There was however plenty of rock climbing with a variety of single pitch crags on gneiss and sandstone, including the sea cliffs of Sheigra. These were 30m in length, steep but with jugs galore (also the name of a 3 star HVS route). The stack of Am Bauchile was close by, just an 1hr 15 min walk-in. Climbing the 50m VS was the easy bit of the day.

For water-lovers North Scotland recieves exceptional surf. We spent 3 days on the North coast at a variety of breaks on clean 4-6ft surf. My newly repaired surf kayak was happy to show off its speed, I'm sure the others were jealous in their slower plastic boats!

Rock Climbing Holidays

White Water Courses

Craig y Forwyn - open

It has been closed for the last 20 years , that is until now after the BMC negotiated access to once popular limestone venue. There are a range of routes from VDiff upwards, though many of the routes need a good clean after years of neglect. All the routes are trad and are between 10 to 40m in height.
Myself and Adam went up the excellent Mojo and Scalar, the latter has been cleaned but still needs time to wash away some dirt. Adam accidentally helped the cleaning process pulling away a sizeable block from the route!
See http://www.climbers-club.co.uk/downloads/forwyn_lr.pdf for a guide to the crag. Please take careful note of new parking areas and the approach. To keep access please respect the area and be considerate to others living in the area.

River Levels North Wales

Quick blast down the Seiont today which was at a medium to low level. I was in a kayak with Pete Firth and Adam Harmer in open boats. Other rivers had dropped off from last nights rain but more is due on Friday afternoon.
Kayaking Courses Wales
Outdoor Pursuit Courses

White Water in Scotland

It may have been a little cold, but good fun was had on the Spean Gorge then the next day the Orchy on a good medium level after a night of rain.
White Water Kayaking Courses

Early Winter Conditions in Scotland

November and December have had below average temperatures - good for winter climbers in Scotland and Wales. The snow has had chance to go through a few freeze thaw cycles and is starting to develop into good neve.
Photos of Flutted Buttress Direct, Northern Corries, Rannoch Moor and North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Moor
Winter Mountaineering Courses

Alpine White Water

Sorry about the lack of blogs, but we have been busy running a variety of rock climbing, white water and sea kayaking courses over the last couple of months. There has been some good weather too, allowing for all of the mountain crags to dry.

I'm currently kayaking in Alps working on a variety of courses. The levels are starting to return to normal after unseasonal weather over the last few weeks.

Photo courtesy of Adam Harmer

Easter Courses

It has been a busy Easter period for Sea 2 Summit with white water and sea kayaking courses, guided climbing and advanced scrambling. Pictured is day 3 of an introduction to sea kayaking course on the Menai Straits, using the currents that develop to learn boat control and have a bit of fun.

www.sea2summit.net

Ben Nevis Ice

Last week I spent 3 days on Ben Nevis, making the most of the good conditions. Ascents of Orion, Observatory Buttress Direct and Boomers Requiem were made. www.sea2summit.net

Winter Mountaineering

These are some course photos from the previous two weeks. The conditions have been very variable from blue skies to storms, but we always found a venue to teach new skills and have an enjoyable time.
www.sea2summit.net

Kayaking the Findhorn Gorge

Today felt like a warm spring day. Lots of sun and lots of water, much more pleasant than yesterday. Mat and I paddled down the Findhorn Gorge this afternoon, running all the rapids. This section is grade 4/5, and was at a good level.
Any snow that fell yesterday appears to have melted today, leaving just the old firm neve.
www.sea2summit.net

Ice Climbing to Kayaking

On Wednesday Sally and I found beautiful ice on Indicator Wall on Ben Nevis, a little cloudy and snowy but good fun.

The weather on the West turned the next day to windy and very wet, perfect for white water kayaking. The rivers have been huge the last two days and I paddled the upper and lower Roy yesterday and the upper and gorge section of the Spean today (releasing on 4 pipes while also spilling over the top). This was with a friend Sally and Ron and Simon today.

I don't really have any images of the main rapids as there was never any eddies to stop in! I tried a few while paddling, but as you can imagine they were a little blurred. So just a picture of the dam and the flat section at the end of the upper Spean

Intro to Winter Climbing

Monday and Tuesday proved to be glorious and sunny in Scotland, a perfect two days for Steve who was up to learn about winter climbing. The first day we did a route on Anoach Mor then onto the Ben to climb Raeburns route, finding lots of good ice and hard neve. The only drawback was all the other groups also enjoying the conditions.

Winter Mountaineering & Skiing

Unfortunatly with the lack of internet access in my homes away from Wales I haven't kept the blog as up to date as I would like.

I have however been active providing many winter mountaineering courses and even finding the time to go skiing in Italy.

Stormy but Snowy in Scotland

I've been working on another 'introduction to winter skills' course this week. We have used the white corries to introduce crampons and axes, summited Stob Corrie nan Lochan via the NE ridge, blown around on Anoach Mor and climbed steep ice at the ice factor.A lot of snow has fallen on the high mountains today and yesterday, creating avalanche problems as it forms slabs with the strong winds. The freezing level looks set to remain low, which wont help stabilisation of the snow, but hopefully ice will be growing on the cliffs.
I'm hoping my new camera will arrive next week so I can display photos again.

Winter Skills Week

Due to the lack of internet access I haven't bee able to update my blog recently. I have however been busy in the mountains. Starting off the week I climbed Twisting Grooves in Glen Coe with another Gaz, a nice fun but short day out. The rest of the week I ran a winter skills course, introducing crampons and axes, then progressing on to grade 1 ground with ascents of the Bauchile and Stob Corie nan Lochan in Glen Coe. Other days (when the weather was warm and stormy) looked at navigation and climbing steep ice at the ice factor. The weather was a challenge at times, but everyone had fun, learnt lots and went away keen for more!

New? Winter Routes on Ben Nevis

Yesterday I climbed with another Gaz up high on Ben Nevis. Seeking out possible new lines we headed up near No. 4 gully climbing two mixed routes that weren't listed in the guide book. Both were continualy interesting lines around grade IV, 5 and about 70m long. Being located near No.4 makes access and descent easy, almost like cragging but at the top of the Ben!

The turf was well frozen, with ice in places, which made for good conditions. The walk up to No. 4 was also made easy by the firm, frozen snow.

Sea Level Traversing & Kayaking

I have briefly returned to Wales yesterday or 5 days to work at Ogwen Cottage. This is an outdoor center run by Birmingham Council. The young people are on an activity course, aimed to challenge and develop them through adventurous activities.
Yesterday we went sea level traversing on Anglesey. The sea was big, which greatly reduced the venues that we could use. In the photo is a high level traverse, with a roped clip line to keep everyone safe, we also setup some zip-lines that day too. Only a few got wet from the persistent sea spray!
Today we went kayaking, running the rapid beneath the bridge at PYB in Capel Curig. Unfortunately the river was too high to journey down to Jim's Bridge on the Llugwy. Nevertheless they all enjoyed the introductory rapid so much they were still keen for more after the sixth go!
www.sea2summit.net

Winter Skills in the Western Highlands

I ran a 2 day winter course this weekend with Nick from Alpha Mountaineering. The group of 6 were split into two to cover either introductory winter skills or more advanced ropework and avalanche awareness.
Saturday was a glorious crisp day on Anoach Mor, with a hard frost the previous night, snow below 600m and no wind. My group (Joe, Nina and Mandy) ascended to the top of Anoach Mor looking, along the way we looked at using an ice axe and various crampon techniques. We also covered useful strategies to navigate in the winter.
Unfortunately todays weather wasn't quite so nice, but we still found good ice in the ice factor to coach on.

Buachaille Etive Mor, Glen Coe

Mat and I attempted to find a frozen winter route on the Buachaille today, but were unfortunately faced with a lot of wet snow and no frozen ground up to the base of Crowberry Ridge. At this point we decided to stop battling and turned back for a coffee, wading back down. It looked like the isotherm was nearer 1000m than 600m, if it drops though the snow will freeze nicely.

Winter Climbing in the Cairngorms

As the weather continued to be stable I took the opportunity, along with Nick again, to try a route in Coire an Lochain in the Northern Corries. Shorter walk-in and smaller route, though a little harder. We climbed Ventriloquist, a HVS rock route in the summer, a steep and technical mixed winter route today. Not used to the grade of VII, 7, Nick led most of the route and I tried my best to pull hard on the axes behind him.

Strong winds are forecast tomorrow, so a good excuse for a rest day, and return to the current winter wonderland on Thursday.

Winter Climbing on Beinn Eighe

Yesterday I went out with Nick (from Alpha Mountaineering) to Beinn Eighe in the Northwest of Scotland. A 2.5 hour walk-in gets you to triple buttress where the main climbing is located. We chose a mixed route (mixture of iced cracks, frozen turf, and snow), making the most of the frozen conditions. The snow was hard under foot, water ice was 'dripping' down the rock, and the vegetation was solid. These good conditions coupled with clear skies, for most of the day, and light winds made it a day to remember.

We climbed Pigott's route, a classic up central buttress, that goes at VI 7 winter grade. The crux involves struggling up a smooth, steep chimney right near the top of the 260m route.

Kayaking on Afon Llugwy

An afternoon outing today with friends on the Llugwy from Capel Curig. The rainfall last night was just enough to make the river paddleable, an ideal level for Nicky and Ian who were very much new to the world of white water. They had planned to make good use of the surf conditions, but strong onshore winds put a stop to this.
My next adventures will take me North to Scotland, which is currently looking very white if not a little stormy too. Posts on winter conditions will be added as and when I get internet access.

Introduction to White Water

Yesterday I ran a private white water course for Glen and Ali on the River Dee at Llangollen. We used the grade I and II rapids on the site to look at breaking in and out of the flow and ferry gliding across it. We also ran some of the rapids on the upper section, which always gives the participants a thrill!
The hardest part of the day was battling against the cold, after it being relatively warm on New Years day the temperatures have plummeted since. Glen reckoned the water wasn't too cold, under two wet suits and a fleece top, but Ali and myself decided not to try this theory out.

Sea Kayaking on New Years Days

Happy New Year. After a few drinks to see in the New Year, a few of us decided to make the most of the calm conditions and explore the coast around Trevor on the Llyn peninsular. From the small pier a series of shale cliffs extend southward, which comprise of various caves arches and stacks to explore. Unfortunately though the tide was still high making navigation through the arches impossible, with out turning the kayak into a submarine.

Skiing in the 3 Valleys

Christmas was spent skiing with the family this year in France, a nice alternative to the normal Family meals. Good snow was found on the pistes, though unfortunately the off piste conditions were very variable. Crusty snow to hard neve, with pockets of softer powder kept me on my toes!