Recovery update- 4 weeks on

Just over 4 weeks ago I was lying in Belford Hospital with a profound sense of deja vu. Almost 2 years ago to the day, I was in the exact same position with almost the exact same injury after a car accident. This time it was after a climbing fall. Compression fracture to T12 was the diagnosis ( it had been L4 previously). As I contemplated the long road to recovery that lay ahead, I briefly thought about the fall. It was nothing spectacular really, just a few metres up the route before reaching the sparse protection about halfway up it, I mucked up the moves, tried to lower down but landed awkwardly. I immediately felt a searing pain in my spine and the numbness from my mid chest downwards certainly suggested I'd done something serious. Thankfully the loss of sensation only lasted a few seconds. I felt my back muscles go into spasm and I was pretty sure I'd been here before with this type of injury.

Photo by D. Scott

Photo by D. Scott

After survivng Kev and Davie's exruciating banter for about 40 minutes, my extraction off the hill got underway!
I'd like to offer a big thank you to Mike, the rest of Lochaber MRT and the crew of Rescue 177 for getting me off the hill in a quick and painless fashion! Also, to my climbing partners on the day for sorting things out in a timely manner, cheers!

Back in the Belford Hospital, after a CT scan, it transpired that the fracture was much less severe than last time. There was no need for bed rest for 2 weeks and no rigid back brace for 3 months. I was on my feet after 2 days and home by the third. It definitely felt like a shorter road lay ahead this time. Again, thanks go out to friends and family for the visits and support whilst in and out of hospital.

Keeping Robin entertained in the Belford!

So, 4 weeks down the line things are going pretty well. The physiotherapy to strengthen the core muscles is going well and my general mobility and movement feels almost back to normal. Today was my first day climbing at the Ice factor with Kev, which was a bit of a test of things. As with any injury, I think it's normal to try and protect the area so whilst I felt my arms and feet were doing ok, the general body movement felt a bit stiff and awkward. Still, the small victories have to be enjoyed at this stage. It's too easy to feel good, push things too far and push the recovery back.

Next week I'm hoping to head back into the mountains and once the magic 6 weeks are up in terms of bones healing, I'll be keen to push on a bit further with the training for Winter. Until then though, slowly and genlty does it...

Season drawing to a close...

Another busy few weeks have gone by as the Summer seasons carries on. I had a day on the Ben in the worst conditions I've had on a Summer trip for Maximum Adventure. We unfortunately had to call it a day at corner 3 as some of the lighter members of the group were almost getting lifted off their feet by the ferocious winds!

Out again the next day for Seren ventures and we managed to reach the summit this time although the weather was still pretty grim on top!

Joe and Clive warming up again on the way down!

I had a great couple of days on my First Aid Course run by the British association of Ski Patrollers (BASP). Duncan ran a really interesting course with a lot of realistic and useful scenarios in the area around Nevis Range to get us thinking about our management of casualties in the outdoors.

Later that week I headed over to Skye for a days work for Wilderness Scotland. Bruce from the USA only had one day on Skye so we did a mega tour of the island including the Old Man of Storr, the Cuillin at Glen Brittle and Sligachan, Dunvegan Castle and Trumpan. 

Back to Fort William and I had a superb day guiding David along the Carn Mor Dearg Arete and onto Ben Nevis. I cannot recommend this route enough, it really showcases the awe-inspiring North Face of Ben Nevis and as well as taking in the exciting Arete between CMD and the Ben. Days like that really dont feel like working! Well done to David for a fantastic effort and for being great company!

Next I was off on another 3 peaks in 3 days for Maximum Adventure. The team were raising money for Diabetes UK. We got a real soaking on the Ben but everyone soldiered on and reached the summit. Some nice weather with the odd shower on Scafell Pike and pretty dry and pleasant on Snowdon. A very enjoyable trip, a shame to be working for the last time with Dave and Carly of PJ Travel as they move on to bigger and better things! All the best guys!

Nice view over Rannoch Moor

Looking up to Scafell Pike

Rescue on Crib Goch

At the weekend there I was working for Wilderness Scotland with Laura on the 'Big Small Isles Challenge'. A team from Downs Syndrome Scotland were taking part. The plan was to get a high speed Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) to Eigg, stay the night there and then try and climb to the highest points on Rum, Eigg, Canna and Muck over the following 2 days. Unfortunately a worsening forecast meant not only a pretty choppy journey over to Eigg on Friday but left us on Eigg on Saturday morning too. Still, with everyone in good spirits we headed up to An Sgurr on Eigg, a striking volcanic feature. Smashing views over to the mainland and the other Small Isles. On descent, a small fall but awkward landing saw me having to assist one of our group off the island to get checked out in Fort William.

Top of An Sgurr

 A short stay at home and then it was on to Rum for day 2. Our objective for the day was Askival, the highest point on Rum and the rest of the Small Isles (812m). This fantastic peak may not be incredibly high but it provided an airy and tricky ascent and a fiiting climax to a great couple of days. Well done to everyone.

Morning Commute!

Top of Askival (812m)

With the first signs of snow on the Ben it seems that Summer is slowly drawing to a close. The next few weeks for me will be some climbing and training in preparation for my MIA training down at Plas y Brenin in Wales. After that, who knows when the ice axes and crampons might be getting looked out....

Summer update, Centurion, the Ben and Great Glen...

As the period of warm and dry weather ran on I was really keen to get on the only real rock route on my summer ticklist- Centurion (HVS) on Carn Dearg Buttress on the Ben. Like a lot of these classic routes their reputation precedes them and in my head I'd prepared for a bit of a challenge!
Andy and I headed into a somewhat cloudy Ben which was a relief from the high temperatures.

However, the sun came out just as we arrived at the base of the route. A striking corner visible from some distance away, it looking absolutely awesome. Andy had climbed it before so kindly let me have the first crux pitch, P2. Andy breezed up P1 and it was my turn to be swallowed up in the huge corner. What followed was one of the best pitches of climbing I've been lucky enough to lead on- it was outsanding! Plenty of gear but the mini cruxes just kept on coming and the pitch was interesting right up to the belay.


 Andy lead on and joined P3,4 and some of 5 too. I followed and reached the belay before the second crux, P6. After only leading about 8m of P5 Andy offered me the lead on P6 which looked awesome. Pretty intimidating to look at but the holds were all there and before long we were one pitch from topping out.

Andy cruised the 4c pitch over a nice little bulge and we enjoyed a few minutes soaking up the views on the terrace. A great day's climbing, cheers Andy.




Following this, a busy period of work lay ahead. A very hot Saturday on the Ben working for Seren Ventures saw the group battling through 28C heat and blazing sunshine! I'd prefer -10C and a blizzard to be honest! Still, everyone did exceptionally well and we made it up and down with minimal sunburn!

Things cooled down a bit and I took Fritz and Willi from Germany to the summit on the Thursday. These young machines managed up and down in 4hrs 30mins! Great effort guys, well done!

I was away on a full 3 peaks with Maximum Adventure at the weekend. Pretty nice on the Ben, an absolute soaking on Scafell Pike and a bit breezy on Snowdon. Well done to everyone who took part!

After my purgatorial 8 hour bus ride from Manchester to Fort William, it was back out the next day with Indra and her family on the Mountain Track. Pretty murky and damp (as is more usual on the Ben) but a great day out.

Back out again the following day with Sabine and her friends, again from Germany. This was a warm up to them starting the East Highland Way. The cloud was down until right on the summit, when we got a quick glimpse towards Tower Ridge and Carn Mor Dearg, well worth it!

Davie also took Stuart and his daughter for a great day out on Buachaille Etive Mor in Glencoe.

An absolutely wild day on the Ben for Seren Ventures followed, with us managing to get 8 out of the 12 ladies to the summit in strong winds and driving rain. A sterling effort folks!

I headed off to work for Wilderness Scotland for 4 days with Myron and Joanne. On day one we headed for some gentle hiking in the Cairngorms National Park. As the weather was looking good we headed up to Coire an-t Sneachda in the morning to give the guys a great view into a Cairngrom coire. After a quick refuel at the Ski Centre we headed down to Glenmore for a walk up to Lochan Uaine and then a circuit back to Glenmore.


Next up was a trip northwards to start our tour down the Great Glen. We stopped at Clava Cairns just next to the Culloden battlefield. I hadn't been to these Bronze Age burial Cairns for a long time so it was nice to visit them when working!

 Myron and Joanne were keen to walk some of the Great Glen Way so from Invermoriston they headed towards Fort Augustus. I drove down and went for a wee run to meet them and accompany them the rest of the way. Both were keen environmentalists and we had some really interesting chats about the landscape, human impact and climate change.
Day 3 saw a similar hike from Fort Augustus down to Loch Oich. The afternoon we went for a walk to the Culachy Falls by Fort Augustus which, after battling through head height bracken, were well worth seeking out.

Finally, we finished on my home turf with a walk to Steall Falls in Glen Nevis.

 This stunning walk never fails to inspire, with a guaranteed 'wow' moment as you leave Nevis gorge and get the first views of the Steall Falls. A great end to a thoroughly enjoyable 4 days.

Back up the Ben last weekend there for Seren Ventures.Well done to Jessica, Ian, Graham and Sherry on a successful summit!

On Tuesday, Davie, Joe and myself headed to Kingussie Crag for a bit of climbing. We got on routes from VS 4c to E1 5b. Good efforts from Davie and a trainer clad Joe!