Summer highs

Last Friday, myself, Kev and Andy headed on to the Ben with a plan to climb Tower Ridge. The guys had agreed to be my 'clients' for the day and as we approached the hut, it sure looked like an interesting day! The cold North wind was really biting and as we layered up, it certainly felt a million miles away from some of the warm sunny days we'd been having recently. I roped the guys up and we headed into the Douglas Gully East. This was pretty horrible, loose and wet and not particularly easy to safeguard the chaps on. Nevertheless, we made it up the chimney and onto the ridge just as the snow started... As the the cloud lifted we saw fresh snow and even some rime on the upper part of the climb. With an ice axe each, but no crampons, we made the decision to head down. After having an epic long day on Tower Ridge in winter before, none of us felt we had anything to prove by fighting up the route in sub optimal. We descended the grassy ramp higher into Observatory gully which will be my first choice of accessing the ridge in the future. We even found a few bits of kit that had been dropped last winter!

On Saturday, the sun was out again, and I was guiding a group of 3 peakers for Maximum Adventure. A great performance and nice conditions saw us on the summit in around 3hrs 15min and back down in under 6 hours total, a promising start for the team!

On Sunday, I was guiding Mark and his son Matt on the Ben for Hunter Mountaineeing. Both of the guys live in California but were adapting well to the Scottish climate! A wet forecast didn't really amount to much and we stayed fairly dry for the day, which was a bonus. Well done guys!

I seem to get more than my fair share of good weather when guiding on the CMD arete, and Tuesday was no exception! I was out with Sam, who had chosen to ascend Ben Nevis via a more interesting and challenging route. She was treated to conditions that were pretty much as good as it gets, with great views of the North Face of Ben Nevis, the Mamores and beyond to Glencoe. Sam took the arete in her stride and steadily cruised here way along it until the final push to the top of the Ben. It's on days like that I have the best job in the world!

It's always a pleasure to meet up with returning clients and on Thursday, Razia, Anuja and 9 year old Aakesh were back in the Fort with the summit of Ben Nevis in their sight! Last April when the guys were up here, we headed up Meall an-t Suidhe as warm up to the Ben. After a good few months of training, they were ready to give the Ben a shot. A good steady pace for the day saw us all reaching the summit in good spirits with plenty in the tank to tackle the long descent. A massive well done to young Aakesh who has been the youngest person I've guided up the Ben so far.

Aakesh making sure he was the highest person in the UK!

With a great forecast on Friday, Andy had mentioned the possibility of getting on one of the big mountain routes on the Ben. The Bullroar was high on both of our lists and so we headed up to Carn Dearg buttress to get a look... There were some wet streaks along the crux slab pitch but we hoped the sun would dry these out. Unfortunately, the first pitch was really wet and Andy moved over into the corner and the E1 5b alternative start. A great effort from Andy saw him battle his way up the strenuous corner and onto the first belay. I led the next two pitches which saw some thought provoking moves on sensationally exposed ground. The first wet streak was dry but the second one meant we had to make a rather large step over to avoid it. Route finding was quite hard but we eventually found ourselves on familiar ground half way up pitch 3 of Centurion. A couple more pitches and we reached the ab point above The Bat. We backed up some dodgy looking tat on the anchors with our own and made the 2 long abseils back to terra firma! An absolutely classic route and one of my favourite days climbing for sure!

Photo by Mike Pescod

With rare day off on a Saturday, Glenda, John and I headed to Glen Loy. I went for a run up Beinn Bhan which was massively enjoyable, especially with the stunning views over a mirror like Loch Arkaig. Nice to be moving relatively fast and light in the hills, and outrunning the midges too!

 

Cheerio Winter, hello Spring...

Last week I had a great day out with John, Colin and Sam in Glencoe. The guys were had all done a bit of winter walking before but wanting to brush up on a  few skills. We had a good chat about avalanche awareness and route planning before heading onto the hill. The walk up to Coire nan Lochan was tough going due to the fresh snow but thankfully, Andy and his group had already broken trail. We looked at the snow pack before heading into the Coire properly. There was already some avalanche debris in the West side of the Coire and by the time we headed down there were 3 more avalanches! We managed to cover lots whilst still being out of harms way. Thanks for the enjoyable day guys!

On Tuesday I was guiding a group of priests from London along with Dave B. Two of the group, Junior and James, were out with me last year for a winter ascent of the Ben. This year, they decided to bring some colleagues and had raised £2000-3000 for charity. It was a bit of a soggy day and plenty of cloud but we did get the odd glimpse of sun. The path fizzled out at corner 4 and we headed straight up to the plateau from there. A great effort by everyone meant we all reached the summit and had a speedy descent back down to Achintee.

Photo by D. Buckett

Wednesday was a great forecast so Kev and I headed to the Glen for our first bit of rock climbing this year. This was quite a benchmark for me as the last time I was out climbing was September, when I fell and fractured a vertebra! We warmed up on Pine Wall (HS 4b) and I went on to one of my favourite routes, Damnation (VS 4c). Despite some early season rustiness, my head felt in a good place which was really encouraging, so hopefully last year's ground fall shouldn't affect things for this season. The first BBQ of the season also happened that evening, with the obligatory down jackets on after 7pm!

Pic- Kev Shields

Pic- Kev Shields

Last Thursday and Friday I was working with the First Year Degree Students on their leadership module. Day one was training based so we looked at some of the hands aspects of leadership such as helping a group over rocky steps, choosing a route and general management. We even had time to look at a couple of emergency situations and the leader's role.

The next day was their assessment so we headed to Druim Fada for a hill day to put into practice some of what they'd covered. The students did really well and handled some very awkward group members with ease! Chilly on to the tops but some stunning views over Lochaber.

On Tuesday I was out with Andy as he prepares for his Summer ML navigation assessment. We went up Glen Loy and I found some good features to give some challenging legs near Beinn Bhan.
As the weather cleared up we headed down to Glen Nevis and I jumped on a climb on Dundee Buttress which I think was  Weaver's Loom, HVS 5a ( left the guidebook at home!)-. I then ran through a couple of bits of ropework with Andy being a  helpful body on the rope!

I'm heading off to Wales tomorrow for my MIA training. I've been looking forward to it for a long time so can't wait to get started!
It's been a challenging Winter season, with some really tough conditions to be working in. However, I feel I've learned a lot on a personal level and the few nice days out climbing I've had have really stood out because they've been so rare.

Some mileage

This time of year can be a bit hit or miss with winter climbing so to increase my base of fitness for winter I've had a couple of trips out hill walking.

On Saturday I headed up to Glenfinnan to do the Corryhully horseshoe. A pleasant cycle into the bothy saved a bit if time before tackling the steady climb to start the route. Pretty claggy for most of the day and a nice bit of navigation practice to sharpen the skills for when really needed! This was a smashing route, the ridge felt very grand indeed. A lot of soft snow that required wading in places, so crampons and axe stayed in the bag.

 Today I was back in Glenfinnan with John. We decided to head up to the Corbett, Sgurr an Utha as neither of us had been here before. Another great little hill, it felt very remote despite being so close to the road. Rough walking with some ice and soft snow in places and another cracking day out.

It look like we're set for a thaw over the next few days before cooling down at the end of the week.