Tower Ridge via the Douglas Boulder

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

 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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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.

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

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

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

...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...

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.