BMC Winter Meet

The BMC meet was definitely the highlight of my winter so far. Held up at Glenmore Lodge a couple of weeks ago (yes, I know, I've been a bit slow in writing about it), it brought together about 45 visiting climbers from 26 countries and a similar number of local hosts to experience Scottish winter.

Inevitably, the Scottish weather lived up to its reputation! The first day was particularly wild, and even Coire an t-Sneachda felt like quite an adventure!

A little different to Spanish climbing

  

I teamed up with Felix from Spain. To avoid the loaded approach slopes, we went up the Fiacail ridge then abseiled in to Fiacail buttress. The wind was so wild, just we ran up Invernookie and headed back to Glenmore.

The next day was forecast to be better in the west so Neyc Marcic and I hopped on the minibus to Glencoe. We did East Face Direct Direct ion Stob Coire nan Lochain. It's a deceptive route - it looks about grade IV from below, but very variable snow & ice conditions made it challenging and it warranted its VII,7 grade on the day. I led P1 & P2 in one long pitch and Neyc cruised the awkward top pitch in great style.

Neyc seconding the long first pitch of East Faced Direct Direct

Good Scottish conditions on the top pitch

The next day, Andy and I took our respective Slovenians to Beinn Eighe. This is one of my favourite mountains anywhere, and it didn't disappoint! Despite a strong wind on the walk-in, we were treated to shelter and great conditions in the coire - we even saw some sun! Neyc and I did The Sting on the Far East Wall, which is possibly the second ascent. After me enthusing about how positive and helpful quartzite is on the approach, the first two pitches turned out to be surprisingly bold and technical but after that, we were back to good, steep, positive hooking and torqueing up perfect rock.

Neyc starting up P1 of The Sting

Look - a view!

 We switched partners that night and for the rest of the week, I was paired up with a very strong Japanese climber named Kenro. He had had a bit of an epic on West Buttress Directissima the day before, so I took pity on him and suggested a shorter day. Auricle was a bit of a swim / wade in places but a good route all the same.

Kenro on the crux pitch of Auricle

The weather was terrible the next day, which I was secretly delighted about as it meant I could have a rest! The next and final day was forecast to be better the further north and west you went, to Kenro and I headed up to An Teallach along with Susan Jensen and partner. The weather was glorious on the walk-in, and hopefully restored Kenro's faith that it is sunny in Scotland occasionally!

A beautiful morning and a beautiful mountain

 We'd been planning to do Hayfork (three-start VI,7) but spotted a great-looking, obvious line on the side of Major Rib which wasn't in the guide so decided to have a go at that instead. It turned out to be a great and varied route. P1 followed a bold icy corner, P2 up thinly iced slabs and flakes, P3 (crux) up a steep corner past a roof and P4 up a chimney onto the crest of Minor Rib. We called the route Last Orders (which we had been afraid of missing back at Glenmore!) and there's a route description here for anyone who fancies repeating it.

Me on pitch 1 of Last Orders - photo Kenro Nakajima

Many thanks to Becky McGovern and Nick Colton the BMC for organising this fantastic event. I hope to see you all at the next one in two years' time!

Season Opener!

With Christmas cheer in the air, and storms ripping across Scotland again, it feels like a fitting time to get some words down from the comfort of indoors! The winter season has started and as usual has appeared for a few days here and there, with occasional spells of settled weather between the storms! Neil and I have managed a few routes thus far (Magic Crack, The Secret, Apache and Tracheotomy) and I will let the pics do the talking. I have also snuck in a few pictures of some impressive ascents, Pete MacPherson and French Eric on Avenging Angel Direct and Harry Holmes and Helen Renard on Sioux Wall (both on Ben Nevis). Have a ho ho ho merry Christmas! Hope Santa is good to you! ;-) And that might just be some settled weather on the horizon.....mmmmmmm

Neil on the top pitch of magic Crack

Walking into Coire na Ciste on the Ben

The Secret, good line (the crack in the headwall)

Neil on P1

Trying to get started (with difficulty)

Neil getting stuck into Apache

Coire na Ciste - Wonderful playground

Neil and Eric below AAD

Eric on P2(?)

Harry on the crux pitch of Sioux Wall

Coire an Lochain looking wintry

The wade

Neil starting the groove of Tracheotomy

The ubiquitous looking down shot to prove it was white(!) and in nick.....

Nothing to ab off, a massive cornice and avalanche prone slopes, oh well, simultaneous abseil it is then!

New Year in the Northern Corries

 

I was up in Boat of Garten for a few days over New Year with a bunch of friends. We only got one day's climbing in, a quick raid into Coire an t-Sneachda on New Year's Day. The weather was a bit wild and most of the crags had been stripped by the thaw.

 

Fiachaill Buttress was still well and truly wintery though. Our choice of Belhaven was more like an ice route than a rocky mixed line! It was an ideal route for a short, low-stress day. 

Approaching Fiachaill Buttress

Andy looking cold!

 

The icy groove on the upper pitch

 

Hill Running... there's nae fells in Scotland!

After the disappearance of the snow, and the recent rains of summer, the motivation to get out in the mountains has changed a little in the last few months. The desire to run/trott/crawl up and down the hills has caught the imagination of late! Having been out half a dozen times in the last few months, it struck me yesterday the variety of thoughts that go through your head while indulging in a relatively greulling sport....hmmm on second thoughts I'm not sure if 'sport' is the right word. It might be if taken in the same context as 'the only sports are racing driving and mountaineering, all others are games! In no particular order are a few thoughts which popped into my brain yesterday while doing something which I enjoyed doing.... well for a few minutes anyway! You might guess it, but Beinn Bhreac and Beinn a'Chroarainn (Cairngorms) might not be the best hills for fast flowing, high level running! :-)

 

* Jacket on or jacket off….

 

* Oh oh I'm going to get soaked

 

* Stupid bog!

 

* Great, wet feet already and I've only been out half an hour

 

* Aaaarggghhh can't believe I'm ankle deep in frogspawn!

 

* Wow, what a view!

 

* Shit that was close, don't want to do my ankle in here!

 

* Those clouds are very black, wait for it… wait for it…. And the rains on, great.

 

* Ah the hutchison hut, what a place!

 

* They look like their prepared for the weather (couple in full waterproofs, me in lycra leggings and t shirt)!

 

* My lungs hurt

 

* My legs hurt

 

* I wonder if my heart rate has gone through 200bpm yet

 

* I could just stop for a seat….

 

* Stupid knee-high grass and heather

 

* Bollox, I'm on the wrong hill, stupid map!

 

* Damn, turdoclock.

 

* Aaawww my eyes, stupid sweat!

 

* Bet the GB mens road cycling team wouldn't be slacking it right now….

 

* This was a terrible choice of route!

 

* Mmmmm I'm glad the suns out!

 

* This is summer and I'm starting to lose feeling in my hand….. Stupid wind and rain.

 

* Damn, my trainers are filled with mud…. should never have worn road shoes.

 

* Damn it, I think my nipples might be bleeding…..

 

* Wow, there's Loch Avon! I'm glad I came out.

 

* Wooowwww this slopes too steep for road shoes!

 

* Oh oh, that better not be cramp coming on….

 

* I wish that woman would bugger off so that I can take my pants off……ok maybe that was in the carpark!

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Impressions

We were clearly not the first to have walked this way in recent days. To tell you the truth, many others had probably gone before us this very morning. The powder white snow bearing the tell tale signs of a throng of size 10s. At least we now had the luxury of a half light approach on a firm trail, still, heavy legs and a building sweat excused the occasional interuption to our brisk pace. Behind us, the rising sun brought with it a magical south Cairngorm dawn; the clear sky reflecting the colours of its emerging warmth. I'd never before been here in winter.

People, I have heard, wax lyrical of the great north east Coire of Lochnagar. I've been here just once, a summer solo of Eagle Ridge, but it's in winter that the true majesty of this royal coire is felt. Dropping down from the Meikle Pap col I make a mental picture, as my eyes track the length of the Coire picking out guidebook lines - my expression of a first impression that will last a lifetime. It has been said that if the beautiful were not in us, how would we ever recognise it. I'd like to think there is some truth in that.

Jim

Running Away

I'm just back from an excellent weekend in Aviemore with a few mates, although it wasn't the most successful weekend's climbing I've ever had!

The forecast on Saturday was pretty wild. However, the forecast is often pretty wild and often turns out to be not so bad, so Andy and I applied the "blind optimism" approach to planning and set out with the intention of trying Time Traveller on Carn Etchachan. Unfortunately, the forecast was right and we got to the top of the Goat Track in a full-on Scottish hoolie. We presevered briefly, being blown over a few times and making it just far enough across the plateau to be sure it wasn't getting any better. Soon, we admitted defeat and headed for the relative shelter of Coire an t-Sneachda.

Time to turn back

It had been dark when we walked through Coire an t-Sneachda on the way up, so it was a surprise to find all the crags completely black. A couple of easy gully lines were just about complete but by this point, a log fire, a mug of tea and a fry-up seemed like an infinitely more sensible plan.

That's more like it!

Today was a bit more productive. Andy's mate Gwylim and I headed up to Creagan Cha-no, the crag Simon Richardson et al have been developing on the east side of Cairn Gorm (see www.scottishwinter.com for more info). We didn't have a topo but abseiling in past the cornice, we spotted an attractive-looking crack line on a short buttress to the left of the main crags. This looked like a slabby Grade IV from below but once Gwylim had led up to the base of the crack, its true angle became clear. I had a shot at it but backed off and we scurried up an easy gully to the left instead.

It didn't look this steep from below! 

By now, another couple of teams had turned up, testament to the crag's growing popularity. Borrowing a topo, we located one of the established routes, a pleasant Grade IV just right of Mainmast, the name of which now escapes me. Gwylim reckoned this looked about Grade II from below but was soon put right by his own taste of the rounded, steeper-than-it-looks granite.

"It looks about Grade II" 

After this, we had a shot at a couple of short, (possibly) new lines on the right-hand wall of that buttress. I tried the cracks on the left-hand side of the photo below but had an unexpected fall when a seemingly-solid hook blew. I was unhurt but didn't fancy a rematch, so did the wide crack and chimney line just to the right (starting just left of centre in the photo). This gave a pleasant pitch with tech 6 moves and quite spaced gear, although I'd struggle to justify giving it any more than V,6 given its length and the general lack of seriousness of the crag.

Our line took the wide crack & chimney starting left of centre and finishing through the overhung niche on the skyline

Creagan Cha-no definitely feels like cragging rather than full-on Scottish mountaineering but it's a nice wee crag all the same. It's certainly worth knowing about for a short day or poor weather, and there are plenty of lines waiting to be done.

Daddy Longlegs

After a week of reports of black crags and melting ice, it was a relief to walk in to the Northern Corries yesterday and see some whiteness. The crags were in the ‘friendliest’ of winter conditions: aesthetically white but with only a thin coating of rime, and dry cracks that made finding solid gear easy.

Our Plan A was one of the less white lines, which wouldn’t have been justifiable on the day. Instead, we decided to make the most of the easy conditions by heading for Number 1 buttress. I had never climbed here but Jim had some unfinished business and an ambitious goal. He and Francis Blunt had attempted Big Daddy (solid VII,8) last season in much harder conditions. Jim took a fall towards the end of the first pitch and had to hand over the lead to Francis. He managed to get up the first pitch but then in fading light, they traversed off into The Vent rather than attempting the top pitch. Jim was keen to have a rematch with Big Daddy but also had his eye on the harder finish, Daddy Longlegs (VIII,9). Having not climbed on this buttress before, I didn’t know if this would be feasible – neither of us had climbed Tech 9 in our lives – but I was keen to have a go.

I took the first pitch, which is the crux of Big Daddy and which Jim had had such a tussle with last year. Even under the very amenable conditions, I found it hard. Much of the climbing is quite insecure and balancy, particularly in the upper groove. It involves lots of bridging out between small edges, one monopoint on each side of the corner, which resulted in me having the worst calf pump of my life! Still, I managed to teeter my way up to the overhang at the top of the second groove. This looked daunting from below but fortunately, perfect hooks and good gear suddenly appear so while this section was a bit more strenuous, I didn’t feel in danger of falling off. A big rockover to the left brought me to the belay.

Although Jim had struggled on this pitch last year, he cruised it on second. He then led through the easy ground up to the big ledge below the top pitches of both Big Daddy and Daddy Longlegs.

It was Jim’s lead and he was clearly feeling good – Daddy Longlegs was on! The pitch consists of two steep cracks separated by a small ledge. Jim seemed to be making light work of the first crack, cruising up it at an impressive rate and looking absolutely solid. However, the top of this crack is wide and flared, making the rockover onto the ledge above extremely awkward and technical. Having placed a bomber hex, Jim tried to make the rockover but had an axe rip at the crucial moment, resulting in a short fall onto the hex. Undeterred, he was immediately back on and pulled through it seemingly effortlessly.

The crack above the ledge is even steeper – it overhangs by a few degrees throughout its length – but the hooks and the gear are perfect. After an initial foray up the first couple of metres to clip some in-situ gear and place some of his own, Jim set off up it in determined style. He made short work of it and was soon at the belay. I have to admit that I was apprehensive about even seconding this pitch but thankfully, I managed to get a solid adze placement where Jim came off and was just able to grunt my way up to the belay before my arms gave out. A short easy pitch led to the top, where we were treated to beautiful views across the Cairngorms in the January sunshine.

It’s always satisfying to succeed on a hard route but neither of us were under any illusions that this was ‘proper grade VIII’ – the conditions couldn’t have been kinder to us so VII,8 was probably fair on the day. However, the combination of technical, balancy climbing on the first pitch with sheer thuggery on the third made Daddy Longlegs particularly enjoyable. I’m sure I’ll be back for more routes on No 1 buttress at some point but in the mean time, I’m hoping winter kicks in again so that we can get to venues other than the Northern Corries!

Breaching The Citadel

I won't lie. My heart sank when I woke, peered through the frosted window, and saw that snow was falling heavily on the Cairngorm ski car park. I had really hoped for a perfect blue sky day and just enough snow to ease, not hinder, our planned assault on the great bastion of the Shelterstone. Alas, the early signs showed that this wouldn't be an easy won battle and so it was proved.

We had heard that conditons on the Shelterstone were good. News had broken of Greg Boswell and Will Simm's repeat of the awesome Stone Temple Pilots (X 9) two days before and a dramatic failed attempt on the Citadel had been reported earlier in the week. I had also heard rumours that Murdoch Jamieson and Martin Moran were on the Needle (VIII 8). Said rumour was confirmed when I was awoken by the succesful duo stumbling back into the ski car park in the early hours of Saturday morning. Martin has since blogged on their impressive ascent.

Our own drama was to be played out on the Citadel (VII 8). An established hard classic often referred to as one of the most sought after winter routes in the Cairngorms. Modern gear and improved climbing standards may have opened this route up to the masses. But with infrequent favourable conditions and hard, sustained, climbing on a big cliff, success has to be earned and is still something to be savoured and celebrated.

On this occasion I was climbing with Neil and, as I've become accustomed, Neil does like to pack alot into a weekend. He arrived at the ski car park at about half past midnight, having first enjoyed his staff Christmas party. When we sorted gear in the morning, he told me he also had plans to climb with Any Inglis on Sunday on Beinn a Bhuird. Hmm I thought...

The usual 2.5 - 3 hr trek across to the Shelterstone took 4 hrs as we misjudgingly followed the eratic trail presumably left by Mssrs Jamieson and Moran several hours earlier, so it was a late 9.30 am when we got to the base of the route. Being mid December it would be dark by 4pm. I've never liked climbing in the dark, but on a climb of this scale and at this time of year it is inevitable. Head torches packed? Double check!

Jim on the Lower Crux (Photo: Neil Adams)

The early pitches passed without incident, but perhaps more slowly than would be ideal due to vast amounts of unconsolidated snow. I led the excellent peg protected lower crux on perfect hooks and, so that Neil could have the upper crux, I led through to the atmospheric aerie stance below the impressive flake. No sooner had I called for Neil to follow, then the last light faded and we were left with a star spangled sky. Two thoughts crossed my mind as my head torch reilluminated the immediate world around me: I don't like climbing in the dark and I'm glad Neil has got the hardest pitch on the route.

Now, I think it's fair to say that from here-on time appears to have advanced at double pace. Neil calmly led the upper crux, as my chilled body stiffened and my toes became numb. I turned my head torch off for a minute as my conscience reasoned I should conserve battery power. In that one minute I have never felt more alone and vulnerable. I quickly turned my torch back on and regained some connection with my surroundings as I intermittently paid the ropes out. I don't mind saying that I found the pitch hard to second. I was losing energy, enthusiasm and warmth quickly and I pulled on every piece of gear Neil had placed to ease upward progress. At the stance I felt in no fit state to lead on. "Neil, I feel really bad about this, but you'll have to take this pitch as well". To his credit and my relief he moved off without challenge.

After several aborted sortees in various directions, we agreed that we could not locate the crack that is supposed to continue from the crux pitch. Did we belay in the right place? Is the crack in the powder covered slab above us? We just didn't know and, to be honest, we just wanted to get the hell out. I wanted to be anywhere but here. Neil traversed out left a short way across more powder covered slabs to a small snow bay, from which rose an open-book corner. "Will it go Neil?" I called. "Not sure yet" came the reply. All I could see was the flickering torchlight around the corner which was gradually gaining height as I paid out the rope. Some time passed and then I heard the call for me to follow. I was now struggling to handle any gear at all with my numb hands and, regretfully, I lost some in the process. But I got to the corner and, as before, simply hauled my way up using the protection Neil had placed.

Before too long I spied Neil belaying above. He was on the top of the Shelterstone, shivering uncontrollably in the biting wind and my first thought was that he was having a fit! It really was time to be off the hill.

Having meekly shook hands, coiled the icy ropes and located our sacks just away from the summit I looked at my watch that I had left behind. It was 11.55pm and we just couldn't believe it!

For the next hour we walked and stumbled on a compass bearing across the Cairngorm plateau and with immense relief we emerged at the mass footsteps marking the Goat Track. Down we went headlong into a maelstrom that was giving us "ice cream" headaches, until we were once again sheltered within the Coire. Another couple of hours on a compass bearing and we saw the welcoming glow of the ski centre. It was 3.15am when I unlocked the van, threw my wet kit in the back and put on a brew. It had been an epic 22 hour day. We were both exhausted, but what a prize! And, yes, we would do it all again!

Jim

The Vicar... or Maybe Not

I was out with Jim in the Northern Corries yesterday. It was one of my more eventful days' winter climbing and won't be forgotten in a hurry!

We were both feeling good and had developed a bit of confidence from the first couple of routes of the season so decided to have a wee go at something hard. The Vicar (VII,8, summer E1) is a route that has both inspired me and scared me for a while; it looked to be in excellent nick so we decided it was worth a shot.

The first pitch is shared with Nocando Crack. After reading about Messrs McPherson, Moran and Robertson's recent ascent of that route, we were expecting to find a bit of ice but were still surprised by how much was there. The steep corner near the start of the first pitch was climbed purely on ice, which meant Jim had a fair old run-out by the time he got established on the mixed ground above.

From there, I led a fairly short but quite exciting pitch up to the base of the Vicar cracks themselves. These looked to be in perfect nick from below but on closer inspection, they were heavily iced, making placing solid gear difficult but providing no assistance for the climbing itself. From the belay (a stonking peg plus a couple of nuts in the icy crack), it was obvious that this wasn't going to be easy!

We transferred gear, Jim psyched himself up, I shuffled across to try to get out of impalement range. Jim moved off, clipped the top piece of the belay as a runner, reached up past towards the ledge above then slipped and shot past me. Before I knew it, I was upside down with Jim below me. Looking up, the gear in the icy crack had ripped reducing the three-point belay to one. Jim and I shared a wide-eyed stare and some deep breaths for a second or two, both quickly coming to the conclusion that another attempt wouldn't be wise. I lowered Jim to the ground, rigged an abseil (with lots of paranoid triple-checking of the knot and the anchor) and descended.

We knew we'd been lucky to get away with it, and we had neither the nerves nor the daylight left for an attempt at anything else of a similar standard. However, talking through the options, we realised we were probably he only two winter climbers in Scotland that hadn't done Savage Slit (classic V,6) so we decided to nip up it.

The route was well plastered so it was a little more time-consuming than expected but we managed to get up & down before dark. It certainly helped to settle our heads. It seems a shame to think of it as a 'consolation route' as it's an excellent climb and deserving of its classic status.

In the end, though, our experiences on the Vicar will be the abiding memory from the day. We made a few mistakes - over-ambition under tricky conditions, belaying from a non-ideal position, trusting gear that was compromised by the ice in the cracks - and we both know we were lucky to get away with it. It was a timely reminder that these routes have their reputations for a reason and that we need to pick & choose our moments to push the grade, scaling back our ambitions when conditions aren't ideal.