Summer in the Mountains

What a start it's been to the Summer so far! Making good use of the good weather, Dave and I headed to Skye for a couple of days traversing and expanding on our working knowledge of the ridge.

We checked out various alternative routes and bivvy sites, as well as enjoying the awesome weather in the process! A bit of a cold bivvy saw us shaking ice and frost off the sleeping bags at Bealach Glac Mhor but it didn't take long to warm up. Great to see the Cuillin at their best again!

Back home, I was working on a Summer Mountain Leader Assessment for Abacus Mountain Guides. We headed into Glencoe for the steep ground day and the Northern slopes of Meall an-t Suidhe on the final day. Well done to the candidates for some strong performances!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of guiding Pauline, Graham, Russ and Nikki on the best walking route on Ben Nevis, the CMD Arete. Stunning weather and views and great company meant for a superb day!

Last Wednesday, I met John and his son Sam who was celebrating his 12th birthday by climbing Ben Nevis. Both John and Sam have done a fair bit of hill walking so wanted a more exciting route to the summit. We headed up into Coire na Ciste and onto Ledge Route to let the chaps experience the North face of the Ben. They both cruised the scrambling, especially young Sam who looks like he'll have a great mountaineering future ahead!

On Friday I met up with returning client Graham, who I took out for a days Winter skills training in February. Graham was keen to try one of the classic scrambles in Glencoe and so we decided on the classic, Curved Ridge on Buachaille Etive Mor. Graham loved the scrambling and took it all in his stride and with some extra time in the bank, we bagged the summit of Crowberry tower before reaching Stob Dearg. Making the summit before midday and with such amazing weather, it was a no brainer to continue along the ridge to bag Graham another Munro in the process! Another memorable day on one of my favourite mountains!

 Yesterday  was one of my most enjoyable days at work I've had for a long time. Janette and Stephen had their sights set on Tower Ridge and with another blue bird day, I knew we were in for a great one! Tower Ridge has to be my favourite climb on Ben Nevis and sharing this awesome route with Janette an Stephen was an absolute pleasure! A superb performance team!

So it's been a thoroughly enjoyable start to the Summer so far and here's hoping for some more great weather through June and July!