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.

Polldubh

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

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!

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

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.

o
o
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

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

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

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

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

....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

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.