Summer hangs on...

A lack of blogging usually means I've been out on the hill a lot and that's certainly been the case over the last couple of weeks. 

I had an enjoyable day on the Ben with Howard and his daughter Isobel. Howard had completed the 3 peaks challenge earlier this year so we had a more leisurely day and also went plant spotting for some of the rarer plants I'd learned about during the North Face Survey.

Next up for me was a smashing four days on the Ben with brilliant blue skies!

To kick things off I was out with Wilma and Maggie who put in a fantastic performance.

This was followed by a day out with Anne, Ian, Keith, Will, Evie and Ollie. Whilst the sun was out, the wind was bitter on top but we still had a great day out.

Another smashing day out with Pam and Michael and again, we took my new favourite detour towards no.4 gully and along the corrie rim to the summit.

Day 4 on the Ben was on the CMD arete and Rachel and I had a superb day enjoying the finest walking route to the summit of the Ben. Some stags were even kind enough to pose for us!

I had an MIA teaching day with Ollie, Evie and Will down in Polldubh and got the guys on their first ever multi-pitch climb and abseil.

It was time for me to head North for the week after all this and I headed to Ullapool to work for Wilderness Scotland on their 'Wilds of Assynt' trip. 

An absolutely outstanding week in which we managed to climb Suilven, Cul Mor, Quinag, Stac Pollaidh, Ben Mor Coigach and the Fiddler. Many thanks to Faith, Martin and Russell for making it a thoroughly enjoyable week.

Corrieshalloch Gorge en route to Ullapool

Cul Beag from Cul Mor

The Wall on Suilven

On Quinag

Stac Pollaidh

Ben Mor Coigach

The Fiddler

Inside the Bone Caves

Rogie Falls

Back home again and I was on the Ben working for Seren Ventures. It was a  bit of a misty day but I had great chat with Zena, Andrew, Christine, Janet and Paul and it was great performance by the team from Yorkshire. This was the same day that the Ben Race was on so the team were treated to some thrills and spills as the runners made short work of the Ben!

It had seemed like a long time since I'd been out doing some personal climbing so Andy and I headed to the quiet side of the Buachaille in Glencoe for an adventure. The aim for the day was a couple of routes on Blackmount Buttres, a crag that isn't very easy to get to! We scrambled up the start of the Chasm to Crowberry traverse, followed by a slightly wet 90m V. Diff chimney to arrive at the base of the crag. After climbing some enjoyably steep rock for VS on Whispering Grooves (VS 4c***) and Flamingo (VS 4c**), we continued on and descended Curved Ridge, a proper mountaineering day out!

An iconic shadow of an iconic mountain!

On Friday I had my first day out with this years new Degree students at WHC. We had a smashing day in Glen Roy covering various aspects of navigation and it was a very promising start for some of our future instuctors!

To bring things up to date, Glenda was back out guiding yesterday with Charlene from the US and Karrie from Canada. Charlene was celebrating being 70 years old in style by climbing the UK's highest peak- inspiring stuff!

A productive month!

This month started with an excellent day on an Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI) trainee workshop run by Alan Halewood. The aims for the day were to look at how we can effectively teach rock climbing to our clients. A big thanks to Alan for the day- it was thoroughly enjoyable as well as being massively useful with many top tips learned.

I had a great day out on the Ben with Anne and her five friends who had all met up from various parts of the country (and the world!) to climb Ben Nevis.

On the same day, Andy and John were guiding a group of 15 from TLT solicitors who were raising money for charity. A cold wind on the summit but a great effort from both groups!

Andy and I headed East to avoid the rain and did some climbing in the Cairngorms. We headed to Stac an Fharaidh on the North side of Loch Avon. Walking along the Cairngorm Plateau was enjoyable in itself before we headed down to the crag. We climbed Mack's Dilemma (VS 4c) and Whispers (VS 4c/5a). Some lovely slab climbing on good rock and a few other routes spotted for a return trip in the future!

Another reunion with some returning clients saw me meeting up with Simon, Jane, Zaf, Duncan and Justin from the Nordic walking club based near Cheltenham. The team did the 3 peaks over 3 days last year and were now keen to step it up a gear and go for the 3 in 24 hours!
From the outset I could tell we were on for a good time, reaching the Red Burn in just over an hour! We managed to complete Ben Nevis in just over 4 hours before heading down to the Lakes. We finished Scafell Pike in just over 3 hours in some hot temperatures but with stunning views.
The headtorches came out as we embarked on the final peak, Snowdon at about 0200hrs. Again, the team comfortably reached the summit in just under 2 hours before descending the Miner's Track. It gave us a total time of 23 hours! An outstanding effort from everyone and most definitely one of my favourite 3 peaks trips!

Back up to Fort William and I had a great teaching day down in Glen Nevis with Emma looking at multipitch climbing. We climbed 8 pitches as well as looking at gear placements and a bit of abseiling. Sunshine, a slight breeze and no midges!

A change of venue next, and I was at Polney Crag at Dunkeld with Nik. We looked at various aspects of climbing outside and covered stance management and building belays on multipitch climbs as well as some abseiling.

On Monday I was out with Anna and Amanda back in Polldubh. Both have done small amounts of climbing before but were keen to progress their knowledge of ropework and climbing. A few more midges this time but we managed to climb on some dry rock and cover a fair amount on the way!

I was back out again with Anna and Amanda on Tuesday, and with a good forecast, I wanted to get some practice guiding on Tower Ridge.

The hills were a bit claggy and damp in the morning but with an improving picture we decided to give it a go. We headed up Observatory which still has a lot of fairly firm snow in it, so the ice axes I stuck in as a last minute thought came in very handy! 

We traversed the ledge on the East side of the ridge to gain the crest proper. A few glimpses of the route as the cloud swirled around but no sign of sunshine. Still, this was great for me in terms of picking out the best route up and the damp rock certainly let me get some good mileage whilst short roping the girls.

 Tower Ridge has to be one of my all time favourite routes on the Ben and looking across to Tower Gap and the final slopes brought a smile to my face. The last time I was on this part of the ridge was during a long winter ascent, with the rock covered in verglas and powder snow and in pitch black darkness. Even with the cloud and dampness, it felt decidedly friendly in comparison!

A lower into the gap, and then a climb over for me and we were on the final push to the summit. Thanks to Anna and Amanda for being my guinea pigs for the day and being good company despite the lack of sun and blue skies!

Yesterday, I was out with Hannah and Benn on the Mountain Track. The couple had been planning a trip to Scotland for a while and thought that climbing the Ben would make a fitting highlight! With some cloudy and wetter weather due to arrive later on, we made the most of the views in the morning and had pretty pleasant conditions for most of the way to the summit. The waterproofs came out for a short while on our descent but all in all, a pretty pleasant day. Well done to Hannah and Benn for reaching the top of the UK and thanks for the great conversations throughout the day!