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!

Return of the Blog!

In an attempt to pull this blog back from the brink of a forgotten about, low priority, 'when I can be arsed' statement.... I thought I would do something that I've been meaning to do for weeks! An update...

What a strange few months its been.... the winter season peatered out at the end of February, save for the hardy few who impressively managed routes in the remote corners of the cairngorms while the majority were out frolicking on the sun baked rock..... or in my case, hanging out in the last place anyone would want to be (The Tube, Birnam), locked in a horrible single-minded project focus, which ultimate ended in failure. Multiple energy-sapping attempts during 2 RP's to latch the final move of an M11 ended in a perverse satisfaction of being able to walk away from the cave knowing I wouldn't be returning for at least 6 months.....

April was the month I had really been waiting for, and the prospect of 3 months of ski touring in the Alps with Monica! A few days of driving, via a Newcastle to Amsterdam 'mini crusie' (!), an exciting drive through Germany on the Autoban with Monica getting nailed by a speed camera (on the autoban?!?!), and a tired final stretch over the col du montet had us in Argintiere. A few days of great skiing on the Grand Montet and Valle Blanche had us primed for some touring, unfortunately this was to be the last of the good weather forecast, something I've frustrating come to accept in the Alps, especially in the Chamonix valley. 

With the onset of unsettled weather and no obvious high pressure fronts arriving soon, the obvious decision was made to abandon ship. A last minute call was made on where to go and off we drove to Gap for some sunny sport climbing at Sisteron, Orpierre and Dauphin. This was as big a shock as 23degC temps in Scotland in March, with Monica having not climbing in 2.5 years! Having only held and trained with axes for the previous 6 months, cranking on rock with hands was certainly a bit strange at first!

With another front due to bring further unsettled weather into france, we escaped further south, this time to Espana for some more sport climbing (Suiranna) and sightseeing in Barcelona. The climbing was so good it might require a return visit..... nice crimpy climbing, loads of crags and friendly holiday grades equals a winner! Basically onsighting 3 x 6c+'s in a day was pretty strange compared to nothing above 6b+ over the course of 5 days in France! Grades..... who knows!

As for Barcelona, this was the first time Monica and I had been and we were both blown away by the city! Amazing architecture everywhere and such freedom of design, incredible! Doubly impressive when driving back through the drab cities of Geneva and Amsterdam on the way home.... although my mind might still have been on the daylight robbery we encountered on booking a hotel in Geneva. We should have been suspicious on being told of the free mini bar in the room, which might have offset the pain a little but no, even the fridge was full of soft drinks! Grrrrr! So in the end, a chilled out 3 weeks driving round Europe clipping bolts, skiing and sightseeing ended with a bender in Amsterdam and a trip to the beach! And another 'mini cruise' of course.....!

The only downside about being away for a period of time is the wandering of the mind, often to whats happening back home and what your mates are up to. Obviously I was distraught, near unconsoleable (not quite), that winter had returned while we were away, so it was with hope more than anything that I managed to sort out a partner for the first weekend back... some Guy called Robertson? As it turned out he seemed pretty keen and a trip into coire an lochain was arranged.

With the sun shining in the clear blue sky, conditions seemed polar - bare black rock, or absolutely caked! Numerous options were discounted with Swallow Tail Pillar (VII,7/8) the chosen route. First climbed in winter in 2008, it presumeably made an impression on the first ascentionists with the discription in SMC new routes log of the 2nd pitch being both hard and bold! Fortunately I wasn't aware of this when we started....!

Guy cruised the first pitch once he'd excavated the route, leaving me the 2nd pitch which appeared short and slabby. Fortunately excitment levels were raised by the sparse variable gear and blind rounded cracks, making for great climbing and allowing the use of variety of modern techniques as well as good old school use of the knees! Simply a fantastic day to be out in the mountains, and maybe the best day of the winter? What a way to end the season.... or could another route forthcoming....?
 The following weekend (now into May!) again provided a good forecast, with saturday to be a ski day and sunday a climbing day. So saturday dawned to more snowfall and a drive west to the Sugarbowl car park for an adventure up Braeriach. Gully skiing was the aim for the day, but unfortunately conditions didn't quite play ball and the day turned into a tour and a walk (3hrs with skis on the back), with the gullies looking steeeeeper and firmer than expected! It was also great having a frenchman (from Westhill) with us called David, who seemed quite adept at skiing!  

Team surveying the options on approach.... unfortunately none were to be skied! Next time.

Sunday dawned clear again, with todays target again coire an lochain, this time with Steve who I had managed to presume out! The last time we had climbed together had been 5-6 years ago and had ended with Steve taking a 50-60 footer off White Magic! I can still remember the moment of Steve pealing off and seeing nuts (5) flying from the crack and the body rushing towards me ending with terrified screams and Steve level with me on the belay. On that occasion his only injury was to his arse, and not in the way you might expect.... On this occasion a slightly more moderate route was called for, with Headhunter chosen. The line is a very obvious groove below a striking tower (Pic n Mix, Gathering), which looks about grade III, but is actually VI. As it turned out, the psyche levels were not at their highest and I back off from the crux, convincing myself ice was required on the blank slab, with minimal gear in sight.... whether it does or not require ice, I'll have to seek a second option!

After my fail, we ran up a route called Ewen Buttress, which was great fun and surprisingly icy for May! (Steve below on the first pitch) A gentle stroll across the plateau and the realisation that we'd got the days the wrong way round....... perfect skiing conditions with a nice 2-3" of fresh powder! With 'winter' sports still very much on the go, I still wonder what surprises Scotland and weather will throw at us next....

  

Pic n Mix

Pic n Mix - Coire an Lochain (again!)

The fickle scottish winter has played havoc with my emotions the past 3 months. The season threatened to arrive a few times, all the while I bided my time, waiting for the time that an ongoing autumns training could be tested where it counted, in the mountains, not in a man made hole in the ground. Not with shiny bolts for protect, but skill, guile and courage.

Winter arrived, opportunities were missed, bad choices made, days out with an optimistic frame of mind, all the while the test was avoiding me... I knew it was close but each time a locked door barred the way. Some days it was the weather, the circumstances or just unacceptable conditions. Yesterday it arrived.

An unexpected chance to climb presented its self late on saturday, a frantic dash around the houses to find a partner yeilded an unexpected outcome, the chance to climb with Murdoch Jamieson. A cool guy I'd met a number of times who I suspected was almost as keen as I was to get on something interesting. Hell, he'd only done the Needle a few weeks ago! The plan - daddy longlegs. The intention - emulate the Adams/Higgins ascent of the previous day!

8am the next morning standing below No.1 buttress in coire an lochain, we were if not gobsmacked, not far off! It was black, nothing there, like almost everything else. How could this be???? Thoughts were rapidly turning bto fall back options... all that was left was to check if the area around hoarmaster was in. Nope not a lot there.... snow pimp, hmmmm VIII,10..... na, nice easy looking grade VI yeeaaaahhhhh, what about pic n mix hmmmm only tricky VIII rather than guidebook IX apparently.... well...... hmmm.... neither of us had signed up for this and yet 20 minutes later after gearing we both realised 'WHAT ARE WE DOING??????'. Oh well, I've geared up, there's bugger all else in nick, I may as well see if I can start the pitch before jessying out!

Initial foraging provided some gear in the thin crack up the 80 odd degree wall and there were some v small ledges (maybe the wrong word!) for the feet, maybe it could go. I few torques and hooks in frozen mud, a bit more gear, an exciting tin opener move up the crack and suddenly I was bridged in the corner. Ok. A thin traverse right, where was it? Oh yeah this is where Tim Emmet takes a winger on the first attempt in 'Hard XS' the DVD..... oh oh not the image I was looking for! Must be higher.....

More gear, a layback around the corner and I can see the fat crack I'm aiming for...... but where are the footholds, *^%$ there's none! Re-think time, and this time more gear in the crack, a really thin hook up high.... how is it staying put, this can't be the way, %&*£ it. Swing the feet onto the slab, match the tool, what the hell's going on, my pick's on a tooth depth, my feet are smeared on the steep slab, YES, the crack's got a hook! Can't relax yet, NEED gear, a hex leaps into the crack, my axe slips, my heart almost exist my chest, after an eternal 10 seconds the rope is clipped. Relief. Just have to finish the pitch, another 5metres of steep pulls and the belay station sucks me in. Euphoria engulfs me. This is what I've waited months for.

Approaching the belay on P1

Murdoch cruised up to the belay, with a slight hesitation at the thin move with an expression I recognised..... what? How? Na, I'm missing something! All encapuslated in a single grin! A quick change over and the Murdoch machine started up P2, the harder pitch!

Initail smooth progress and gear came to an abrupt halt with a hook popping in the overhanging corner. I don't know who was more surprised at the fall! Straight back on and Murdoch cruised to the top of the pitch. All that was left was for me to follow and strip the gear. I've rapidly come realise I am shit at seconding and 5 minutes off the belay and the flash pump had arrived with avengence in the overhanging, strenous corner, this was nae grade VI ground! Almost at the belay and the arms were burning with lactic acid and the thought of shouting 'take' was so appealing. Exhaustion arrived on the flat top, as well as admiration for an awesome lead from Murdoch. First route together and hopefully not the last!

Its probably only fair to say that VIII,8 felt like the grade rather than guideboook IX,9. This being a guess based on our limited experience of VIII or 8 and the ideal conditions we encountered! The guidebook is probably right about the 3 stars though! Ace short route and great experience! Taking a chance is normally worth it......!

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!

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.

Battle of the Bulge

I was out in the Northern Corries today with Heike for our first winter route of the season. Plan A was black and we'd both done each other's Plan B, so after much deliberation we had a shot at Bulgy.

I first tried this route last winter with Andy Inglis. The entire crag was sheathed in ice, making it almost impossible to get any gear. We backed off at half-height, fearing a full-on epic or worse if we continued through the crux. Bulgy was therefore unfinished business for me.

Conditions weren't as different today as might be expected. There was certainly lots of ice around, although there was also good neve, crud and powder-on-verglas. It was also pretty wild first thing this morning so all in all, it felt very Scottish.

Heike led off up the first pitch. The leftwards traverse our into the main groove looks trivial from the ground but is actually sketchy, teetery and fall-off-able, but Heike made short work of it and continued up the groove to the base of the steeper corner. I led on from there and decided to bring Heike up to a belay below the crux, letting us communicate a bit more than would otherwise have been possible.

Now came the difficult bit. I'd heard that this route required big gear to protect the crux, but I didn't realise how big - I couldn't even stack hexes to contrive anything big enough. After much procrastination, I finally summoned up the bottle to commit to the move out under the roof which let me get some gear in. All of a sudden, the moves up round the end of the roof looked much more feasible and with only a little more faffage, I got through the crux. This was by no means game over as the climbing above was insecure in the icy conditions, but I eventually teetered, thrutched and grunted my way to the top. There then followed the excitement of the partially free-hanging abseil back to the packs then off home for tea and medals.

Winter is definitely here, and I hope this'll be the first of many satisfying days in the mountains in the months to come.