Granite & Ice

Beinn a Bhuird: Jason’s chimney, V,6**

2012-01-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

At last a no wind and cloud MWIS Cairngorms weather forecast for the East coincided with no other commitments. Robbie and I decided to make this ticket count and decided on Beinn a Bhuird. This time we went without bikes and did not take a tent as there was no other car in the car park suggesting that we would be the only ones around. However, soon after setting off we noted the traces of mountain bike tyres in the snow and readied ourselves for a night under the skies. We reached the empty howff in sub two hours at 11 pm and spent a comfortable night in our winter sleeping bags.

A welcome change for Robbie who had shivered through previous nights in a bag that was made for summer nights on the Costa del Sol. We got up at 6 h, started walking at 7 h and after a red dawn ...

...whilst ascending the Northern flank of Coire nan Clach ...

...we dropped into Garbh Choire to have a look at our objectives. Objectives 1 and 2 were bare lower down but white higher up but to be honest objective 1 looked far more intimidating than in the guidebook and some very large cams would come in handy.

Thus we chose to climb back out and to walk over into Coire na Ciche...

... in spring-like light...

...

...for our original objective number 1 which was Jason’s chimney, a V,6**. It was first climbed on the 31st of March 1974 by M. Freeman and N.D. Keir. We saved time by a long and fast (but not lethally fast) bumslide into Coire nan Clach and reached Coire na Ciche at noon and started climbing at 12.30 h.

There was little snow on the rock but Jason’s chimney was, as the name suggests, a corner-chimney line which holds snow, ice and neve well and additionally has turf. It is the second chimney line to the right of hourglass buttress. I did the first pitch which was good tech 4 climbing and Robbie then the crux above which was a squeeze chimney.

The understated warning in the guidebook says a ‘traditional Cairngorms-style climb’ which translates into something that is comparable to wrestling with a wild boar covered in vaseline. At times I only saw Robbies right, cramponed foot scraping on the rounded granite but after a while he reappeared reborn above and soon reached a belay.

I initially tried to climb with rucksack but after getting stuck I sensibly tied the rucksack into the blue rope, squeezed through the chimney alone and then pulled the rucksack up. The third pitch was a short step onto a rib ...

...

...and then an easy traverse into the corner of Sickle ...

...and below a chockstone out onto the windless plateau.

...

We first walked the steep bit into the corrie and then bum-glissaded from half way up the corrie head wall...

...got our gear together and walked over frozen, heathery ground towards the burn where we saw a solitary walker with skis on his back, the first person all day. It was Adrian Crofton who had skinned and skied a Southern corrie three times. We walked to together to near the secret howff, collected our sleeping bags and with heavy rucksacks walked into the dusk ...

...to reach the cars at 18.30 h.

Beinn a Bhuird had delivered again. Jason’s chimney is a good climb well worth the walk in but only three pitches and in the Northern Corries there are many climbs of similar quality. However it is the wide spaces, wilderness, solitude and commitment that add an additional two stars to any climb in the corries of this great mountain.
HW

Aonach Eagach

2012-01-16T14:36:00.001-08:00

The forecast for the weekend was good and bad because on the one hand the sun would shine but on the other hand only some ice routes on the Ben and maybe Braeriach would be in decent condition. So Robbie and I opted for a short-ish and sharp-ish training session over the Aonach Eagach. This Glen Coe ridge is a scramble and a grade II in winter route and was first climbed in 1895 by A.R. Wilson, A.W. Russell and A. Fraser. We expected and found spring conditions with some snow on the Northern apects whilst there was spring on the Southern side.

Here is a video of our Aonach Eagach traverse, showing some of the best scrambles.

We parked in the small car park near Allt-na-reigh and ascended often with a heart rate of around 160 bpm (yes, I took a heart rate monitor) to the summit of the Munro Am Bodach. Here I am half way up with Stob Coire nan Lochain and Bidean nam Bian on the Southern side of Glen Coe.

Some good neve higher up but overall very little snow for January.

Here is Robbie tackling the ridge proper whilst I did some interval training: take a photo and then sprint to catch up with Robbie.

Soon the first descent: a steep drop of about 20 m but all on big holds with some snow. We descended quickly but did neither break records nor bones. Here is Robbie also wearing crampons for the only time.

Some easier sections and here I am catching up with Robbie once again.

Good views and easy progress...

... and easy, in places wintry scrambling.

Finally the highlight of the ridge, the crazy pinnacles. Unfortunately no snow here.

After us team red demonstrating the eposure of this section and also the winter-spring contrast.

After the pinnacles the ridge is easier with a final rise to Sgorr nam Fiannaidh, the second Munro. Here we descended directly and then eastwards...

... to reach the car after 4 h 59 min. A good training day but not the climbing we wanted to do mid January!

Postern VI,6**: a long night on the Shelterstone

2012-01-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

First winter ascent: M Hamilton, K Spence, A Taylor 5-6th of January 1980

After my holidays I had the Friday before Hogmanay free for climbing. Luckily Helen Rennard and Mark Mosgrove were happy for me to join their team. We decided to meet at 7.30 am at the Coire Cas car park in order to walk over to the loch Avon basin. We considered routes on the upper tier of Carn Etchachan but Mark said in a text message that ‘if the Shelterstone looks white it would be rude not to have at least a wee look at Postern...’. Helen and I also had Postern high on our tick lists and when we saw the white enough Shelterstone whilst walking and then bumsliding into the loch Avon basin our decision was made.

On the approach we spotted another team gearing up which turned out to be Iain Small and Susan Jensen.

No need to worry about being stuck behind a slow team then and also good to see two women tackle this big cliff in winter. Helen in our team is possibly the most active and/or accomplished female Scottish winter climber at the moment with a long list of impressive routes up to grade VII. Helen started our route by quickly despatching pitch one. There are some variations here and we climbed the turfy one to the right of Clach Dhian chimney whilst Iain and Susan climbed a snow-ice line to the left of the chimney.

Mark then led the delicate pitch two...

...

... and I the right slanting crack of pitch 4. On the photo below Susan is just finishing the trickiest section.

Good positions with mostly turfy climbing and hooking. When I arrived at the belay I saw Iain leading the impressive corner above which is marked by a wide crack. By then it had started to snow and it was windy. Mark and I had a look at the summer and winter topos of the Shelterstone in the SMC Cairngorms guide and we thought that the correct line was going left after the deep chimney and then right again to reach the top of the corner. Helen led the squeeze chimney and steep wall to a ledge well but because it was technical it took some time.

Both Mark and I struggled with the chimney due to our size and I had to let the rucksack and camera dangle on my right side to be able to squeeze through. Dusk descended whilst we stood on a small, exposed ledge high on the Shelterstone. The direct way up looked steep and poorly protected and we interpreted the photo topo to go further left and then right over broken ground. When Mark had finished this pitch it was dark and he stood at the bottom of a steep and long corner with a wide and more doable crack out of reach to the right. The corner itself was filled with unconsolidated snow and looked smooth and tough but I spotted flakes and thus gear on the steep left wall and decided to try that. Even if it was impossible to gain the large crack from there at least I could fix some good gear high up and then possibly down climb and attempt some thin or dynamic moves to reach the crack. The left wall was steep and pumpy with often only small features for feet but the gear kept coming and so after many hard moves I eventually managed to reach the corner at a point where the wide crack was close enough to bridge over. Whilst easier, the climbing was still strenuous and the final obstacle was an overhang at the end of the corner. Here I nearly came off as one crampon popped but managed to hold on to one of my axes. I hastily descended for a less pumpy position and got it right during the second attempt. Helen and Mark seconded steadily but as it was technical and pumpy it took a long time for all of us to meet again at the belay. This was well above the tech 6 that we had expected and I was low on sugar. By this time the temperatures had risen to above zero and the snow had given way to drizzle. Luckily there was a bit of a moon and we could see down a steep wall into Pinnacle gully even with the headtorch switched off. Helen led the next pitch which was a traverse to reach an exit to the plateau but she had to belay again as she was running out of rope. We were both very grateful to Mark for volunteering to lead another traverse on now slushy snow slopes above the drop. But when he started swearing, stopped, down climbed and had to belay again our heart sank as we thought that he was held back by a hard wall just below the plateau. Helen moved first on yellow and discovered that Mark was unable to move because the red rope somehow had got stuck whilst he was leading. Mark then easily topped out into the wet and strong wind followed by Helen and myself. It was 11 pm and so we had managed to spend 13 h on the climb despite climbing the bottom half quickly. I had my mapping GPS but the faint moon illuminated Hell’s Lum and the plateau allowing us to navigate by eye in the strong, wet wind. At times we saw and followed footsteps but it seemed a long time until the blue triangle hit the point on the GPS that said 'goat track'. A quick combination of slushy bum and foot sliding saw us on the Corrie floor and then Mark pushed us on against the strong wind to reach the Coire Cas car park at 1 am where we phoned our worried partners. I reached Broughty Ferry at 3.30 am wide awake due to two large cans of Red Bull. Overall we found that Postern is an excellent route which should not be underestimated. The fact that the very capable team of Murray Hamilton, Kevin Spence and Alan Taylor needed both the 5th and 6th of January 1980s suggests that it is epic-prone. The bottom pitches are obvious but at the top ensure to climb the corner with the wide crack in the wall directly rather than trying to traverse too far to the left and then back right as the guidebook topo might suggest at least to us. Maybe we have overlooked something and the corner direct is not too bad but the flakes on the left wall feel quite a bit harder than tech 6 and darkness did not help either. As a consequence we are now members of the exclusive Shelterstone 'long winter night' club whose membership has been steadily growing especially this year.
HW

Three new winter routes in Glen Clova

2011-12-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

Glen Clova and the neighbouring Glen Prosen are the nearest winter climbing venues for Dundonians and also close to Aberdeen and Perth. In Glen Clova the two main crags are corrie Fee with the classic look C gully and winter corrie. However, when the recent Cairngorms guidebook came out I stumbled over the south facing North Craig where Greg Strange and Rob Archbold had put up a two pitch HVS summer climb named ‘High Plains Drifter’. This suggested that the crag must be steep and reasonably high. I think three years ago Ryan Slater went up in a thaw and fog to have a first look of the crag. Last year Robbie Miller, Andrew Melvin and I went up again in thaw conditions and saw surprising quantities of ice due to drainage from above but the ice was rotten as it was far too warm. Finally yesterday (17.12.2011) Arno Alpi and I decided to make an optimistic walk in as we had cold nights for a while and as the end of the week was frosty around the clock.

When we arrived we saw a lot of ice, we were out of the wind and the sun was shining! We did three routes and graded them according for ‘average’, less than ideal conditions. The routes are (see topo below):
1) White Plains Drifter IV,4* 45 m, red;
2) Whitewash IV,4 50 m, yellow;
3) White Sun of the Desert III,4 45 m, blue.

We encountered thin and hollow sounding ice making the climbing interesting at times but after a prolonged freeze on an icy day with sunshine most routes should be easily a grade easier, deserve more stars and the crag will be a mini Beinn Udlaidh (so we hope!). Presumably conditions will be good here if look C gully in Corrie Fee is in nick. We started with the most icy route. Unfortunately the ice was quite thin and hollow sounding especially the last 10 m at the top. Nonetheless, it is a rare privilege to climb ice in the sunshine in December in Scotland. Ask Pete Wisthal who experienced very different conditions on Lochnagar. Here is me near the top before the delicate stretch of ice.

Next was the corner to the right. It looked good but in pieces the ice was poorly bonded and fell off making the climbing a bit too exciting. Again it will probably be a grade easier when in good nick.

Arno then tried the final obvious gully line furthest to the right.

However the snowice on the steepest bit was hollow and so we decided entering the gully via the buttress on the left which is a grade III and will not change much with conditions.

Good fun climbing and an excellent day. Here is Arno on the way back.

Some detail for North Craig which was first explored by Greg Strange and Rob Archbold.
1) Approach: Ascent the Kilbo path, walk for about 500 m towards the summit of Mayar and then contour to find the south-facing crag at ≈700 m altitude. It is not named but marked as one black line on the 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey map about ≈500 in south-westerly direction below the summit of Mayar. Alternatively use any route to the summit of Mayar and descent to the crag. The location is NO239 733.

2) Map: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/oldmap.srf?x=323850&y=773350&z=115&sv=323850,773350&st=4&mapp=oldmap.srf&searchp=oldsearch.srf&ax=323850&ay=773350&lm=0

3) Routes
Summer:
High Plains Drifter HVS Greg Strange, Rob Archbold 2001. See SMC Cairngorms guide page 428.

Winter:
White plains drifter IV,4* 45 m. Climb the obvious, iciest corner. If the ice is thin or hollow the last 10 m can be precarious.

Whitewash IV,4 50 m To the right of ‘white plains drifter’ climb the obvious gully line with an ice step one third up. The route will probably be a grade easier if there is good neve.

White Sun of the Desert III,4 45 m On the first attempt the ice in the gully was fragile so the buttress to the left was climbed to gain the upper part of the gully via a few airy steps.
HW

Tainted Elixir V,6***: Northern Corries climbing on Ben Cruachan

2011-12-05T10:17:00.000-08:00

No need to wait any longer: winter has finally arrived and Arno and I decided to combine plenty of hill fitness training with a short climb given the relatively poor forecast and the few hours of daylight. We decided on the Noe Buttress in Coire Chat (Ben Cruachan) which has only seen first ascents after 2000. We left Dundee at 6 am and here is Arno walking near the stream towards the Cruachan reservoir.

There was snow from 200 m upwards making the ascent to the 1126 m high summit of Ben Cruachan the hill fitness exercise that we were looking for.

From the summit the buttress is visible. Descend from the summit and walk maybe for 200 m on the ridge that goes to the West until you find East gully. At the bottom there is a good spot to gear up. It was Baltic with a strong, icy Westerly but the Eastern side of the crag more or less sheltered from the wind.

We decided to climb Tainted Elixir, a short, 70 m V,6*** first climbed by Chris Cartwright and Simon Richardson on the 14th of December 2003. The climbing was physical, technical and sustained and very similar to the best the Northern Corries have to offer. Gear was very good even despite the ice which required scraping and hammering. Here is Arno climbing. The steepness of the crag becomes apparent.

And here he is a bit higher.

I climbed the first two pitches as one and belayed below an overhang. The overhang was climbed with interest as the guidebook says but actually it was easier than it looked with lots of gear and good hooks, very satisfactory. After that some easy climbing to the crest. Because the climbing is so good and sustained the end was disappointing and it would have been nice if there was another pitch. On the other hand there are good looking routes to the left and right and so keen folk can easily climb another route. Here is me on the descent happy about the first route of the season.

At the end a sunrise over St Cyrus nature reserve on my way to Aberdeen. Whenever I get fed up with the dark Scottish winter days like yesterday and vistas like this make me forget all that gloominess.

HW

Waiting for winter 2011/2012

2011-11-20T15:13:00.000-08:00

Last November and in November 2009 we were already climbing winter routes. Not so this year. It has been unusually warm and so the only thing we can do is getting fit for the day when winter comes to Scotland. In Aberdeen there are few possibilities to train for winter but one is an old cottage ruin near the Aberdeen harbour lighthouse. It offers a half decent traverse which I did tonight on my way back to Aberdeen:

HW

Ben Rinnes

2011-09-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

Currently we are running and walking some decent mileage to prepare for the Aviemore half Marathon. This Sunday, after a long run on Saturday, we tried Ben Rinnes for a wee hillwalk. An easy land rover track to the top although it was very windy in places.

It stayed dry with some good views over the Speyside Whisky country towards the Moray firth.

Christian and a granite tor I...

... and II.

Dark clouds but still no rain on the in parts soggy landrover track back to the car park.

Autumn is coming.

HW

Esk-apades

2011-08-24T14:30:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I returned from Spain but on the way to Aberdeen I fancied doing some Scottish hill miles in order to remove some of the Chorizo fat in my poor, middle-aged body. Glen Esk is on the way and it is nice:

I jogged along the loch to the upper glen ...

... and past the falls to return over a boggy plateau to the loch.

Here is the river Esk.

After that the Tower with a Scottish sky above.

Here is the river Esk.

Yes, Northern Spain is nice and the food is far better than in Scotland but Scotland is still special. Also the days are getting shorter and after a dysmal climbing summer it is time to get fit again for the great adventure named 'Scottish winter climbing'.
HW

Black Mamba

2011-07-25T14:40:00.001-07:00

The summer 2011 is a bad one: it rains far too much in Scotland and I struggle to get days in the hills due to conferences and other commitments. But yesterday Arno and I finally managed to walk the long walk from Glen Clova to the bottom of the mighty Dubh Loch. We had a look at Pink Elephant but the top corner seemed soaking and so did a lot of other routes. As there was also a strong wind we decided to play it safe and did Black Mamba, a VS4c classic on the left hand side of the cliff.

We had the whole cliff, 1.5 km X 350 m, to ourselves. The first pitch involves some initially poorly protected slab climbing and the crux of the climb.

Here I am a bit higher up. The angle is deceptive. It is steeper than it looks and padding is not an option. We passed some potentially unstable rock (there was a rockfall just a few weeks ago) and quickly reached the middle ledge for lunch.

Some walkers arrived at the bottom of the loch and lay on the white sand beach.

On the higher section the route finding is tricky. We traversed probably too far left to wet ground but a rib came as a rescue.

We climbed a micro-waterfall chimney directly under the Pink Elephant chimney and needed a dodgy traverse to get to below the quartz corner where the Blue Max, Cyclops and Black Mamba finish. I then went down Central Gully to have a look at our winter route, More Vertigo. It looks impossible from below and I am still amazed that we managed to pull it off. Arno and I met again after Broad Cairn and the long walk back to the car followed.

Good to have a mountain route in the bag. Not a hard one but a good choice for the conditions. Hopefully it'll stay dryer for a while so that the routes dry off properly.

Porthlethen

2011-07-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I visited Portlethen for the first time this year. Despite spray and high humidity the rock had mostly good friction maybe due to the Easterly wind. I climbed a few easier classics and then watched Steven Wallce climb 'The Pit', a V6 test piece. A short video is here:

HW

Souter Head video

2011-06-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Last week Chris, Jon and I were out to climb a few routes at Souter head. Here is a wee video.

HW

Fulmar Wall & Meikle Partans

2011-06-01T16:37:00.001-07:00

Meikle Partan is the favourite of many low and mid-grade Aberdeen-based climbers since it offers climbing on perfect pink granite. Next to it is the larger Fulmar Wall with longer routes on almost as good granite in place. Yesterday Graham and I went and we started with a ***HS, The Weight.

Poor protection at the black bulge at the start but it soon turns into a jugfest in an exposed position. We then went over to Meikle Partans and climbed a couple of VSs and one of the best E1's on the Aberden coast, 'Strawclutchers wall'. Here I am having done the first section to reach the big flake.

After that the crux: a crimpy move to another break. Today I did poorly and the sling around the flake nearly came off. After that another reachy but easier move to reach the juggy finish. Here I am nearly there. In the background Slains Castle, which is believed to be the inspiration for the gothic Dracula novel by Bram Stoker.

Graham seconded it well and he should be able to lead it soon.

After that a few shots of the sea and pink sky tonight.

HW

Lochnagar five with Roger, Mike and Adam

2011-05-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

Mike and Roger's plane from Stanstead only landed one hour later, at 21.30 h at Aberdeen airport. After mutterings of staying at my place we decided to for the nocturnal walk down Loch Muick to the bothy where we arrived at 1 h in the morning. A sausage, bean & muesli breakfast at 7.15 h and Adam arrived at 7.45 h. Just after 8 h we walked up the path from the loch to Broad Cairn. Here is Mike...

... and here are Roger and Adam just after Broad Cairn.

Easy walking under wide skies with a cold westerly wind. Good for a reunion walk...

... with views over the central Cairngorms.

At one time it snowed and the Munros were nearly in winter condition...

... but quickly the clouds disappeared once again and the granite tor of the Lochnagar summit became visible.

Here is Adam looking down the Lochnagar corrie...

... and here is Mike on the last bit of ascent.

Team photo...

... and a view towards the Meikle pap...

... and another one towards An Stuic.

We descended to Loch Muick and had chicken soup & tea (bachelor menu). Cheers to the guys from the Dundee rucksack club for doing it up. And then Adam and I already had to leave whilst Roger and Mike stayed to savour a Scottish bothy night with the crocodile (only for insiders).

Good old Munro bagging: always special even if the weather isn't!

Shelterstone & Beinn Mheadhoin

2011-05-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Declan, a good friend originally from Enniskillen who now lives in Singapore, came back for a visit. We stayed under the Shelterstone and bagged Beinn Mheadhoin in the morning.

HW

Spring on Erraid

2011-04-11T01:22:00.000-07:00

In the last years we have always made a pilgrimage in spring to the Hebrides. After weighing up the options, we decided to go to Erraid, a tidal island on the West coast of the isle of Mull.

Here is the Calmac ferry from Oban to Craignure on Mull, the last at 22.30 h which we had booked to enable us to go after work on Friday.

Another hour of driving through the night on Mull and then a nocturnal, boggy walk to our beautiful beach. Bring your wellies. I did and did not regret it.

Here is a video of our trip...

Erraid does not offer spectacular cliffs but small, red granite crags. Very rough and unforgiving to climb but perfect rock. Here is Robbie climbing a HVS on the upper tier...

... and here is Arno seconding an E1 on which I had failed and which Robbie had led with preplaced gear. The grades seem tough.

On the way back to our campsite.

Robert Louis Stevenson visited Erraid and some writings such as'Kidnapped' play on Erraid. After the climbing we decided to go for a swim, which was rather short. Ze German went for the nude sprint in and out variant whilst the Austrian and Scotsman decided for the suitably dressed option just in case that a class of 30 schoolkids would turn up.

We were keen to supplement our diet with some maritime protein but our approach to fishing was not energetic enough. So no fish and Robbie is veggie anyway.

Whilst walking along the shore to try to find a more productive fishing spot we came across the asteroid chasm where we met Robbie, who was exploring the crags.

We had a look inside but it was quite wet at the bottom and so we decided against returning for a climb.

Our next climbing venue was another Meikle Partan's-like crag close to our tents. I led a VS 4c, Arno a severe ...

... and Robbie a VS 5a which involved some tough starting moves and seems a bit sandbaggy.

Robbie is clearly a better rock climber than I am now and after frying my brain this winter I was happy not to push too hard and rather to enjoy the whole atmosphere. We started a fire ...

... had some beers, Jura malt and fish-free pasta...

... and started to experiment with our cameras.

It was supposed to rain at night but in the end it stayed dry and Sunday morning emerged sunnier than Saturday. There is some superb but hard deep water soloing on the Otter walls close to the beach. In the morning I jumped again into the water and found it as cold as the day before and worried that if we would fall in whether we would get out safely. Howevrer Robbie was keen to try the 5b/c traverse despite us all struggling on 5a/s and 5b's here. Here is Robbie doing the traverse.

However, there is a cop out before it gets really hard and so Robbie finished it by a crack early. We walked back at 11 h and crossed the tidal area back to Mull at around lunchtime.

As our ferry back to the mainland was only at 17.30 h we decided to take the Fionnfort-to-Iona ferry to the Island of Iona which is a mile west of Mull. According to the Wikipedia entry the island was founded in 563 by the monk Columba and played an important role in the change to Christianity. The abbey of Iona is the icon and there are other signs of the early inhabitants like this cross.

Here is the return ferry arriving.

HW

Beinn Dorain

2011-04-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

Scottish winter is like Janus, the two-faced Greek god: one face is the great Scottish adventure that is winter climbing and the other face the long nights in the grey - or silver if euphemized - city that is Aberdeen. In spring the adventures become smaller but colour appears. It is a time to hill walk and to get fit again for rock. In the east the gorse bushes start to bloom and the sun starts to rise earlier and earlier. The hills are like zebras with snow streaks on brown-green ground. So after a good winter season with few but memorable climbs it was time for a first hillwalk and Ana and I decided to walkup Beinn Dorain, a bridge of Orchy munro. Here is Ana during the ascent...

... and here some walkers higher up...

... and here is Ana approaching the summit.

Another beautiful day in the highlands. Lucky us.

Vertigo Wall, the 'More Vertigo' variation

2011-03-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

'Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise' (from a poem by Thomas Gray, 1742).

Robbie Miller, Andrew Melvin and I were looking for more Cairngorm adventure climbing and decided to climb on Creag an Dubh Loch. We spent the night in the bothy...

... got up just before 6 h and walked towards the Dubh Loch at 6.45 h. It was snowing...

... and didn't stop all day. The White Elephant did not have enough ice for an ascent but when we walked up Central Gully we saw that Vertigo Wall VII,7**** had good ice. During the first winter ascent in 1977 Andy Nisbet and Alfie Robertson forced their way up the climb with some aid and a bivouac. A landmark achievement for 1977. Andy Nisbet then went back with Andy Cunningham to do the first free ascent in 1985. The route is described in the Cairngorms guide as 'an outstanding mixed route with turf, rock and ice, near the summer line'. Also given that sub zero temperatures and a lot of snow were predicted for the whole day we were confident that the top wall would not be stripped by the sun. Robbie led the first pitch quickly.

The photo below shows the initial two pitches which reach a belay next to the icefall where it is thicker.

Andrew following some maybe tech 5/6 climbing.

I did the second pitch which starts with a move onto a detached block.

After that some good and tricky climbing on hooks and turf with continually increasing exposure.

Andrew, with the experience of many Nevis ice routes then led pitch 3 with confidence. It comprises of featured ice requiring technical ice climbing.

Here is Andrew higher up going for the steepest section...

... and here he is close up...

... and here he tackles the last steep bit before the belay.

Pitch 4 was supposed to involve a traverse left, a shallow groove and a way back right. We thought we had to traverse the mini ledges in the photo below to get to the icicles and thought that the shallow groove was next to the icicles.

Some thin ice led to a flake (the 'creaking flake' I thought) below an overhanging wall. Unfortunately the lens was steamed up. It is steeper than in looks.

A photo of the pitch from the other side of the gully, taken two weeks later, is below.

I shuffled forward on the diminishing mini ledge with the wall above pushing me out. Luckily I got a decent torque, a placement behind a block and let my feet swing round to enter the 'shallow groove'. A scary move given that the wall in this section is gently overhanging with a large drop below (the icicles are an indicator of verticality; I had to chop most off as they were in the way). Well that's why it is given VII,7, I thought.

Some easier climbing up rightwards to a good belay followed. Above was a steep chimney which we thought might be the 'easier but still steep' last pitch as it is described in the guidebook. But when Robbie set off and retreated it dawned on us that we had climbed the wrong line. The photo below from a previous visit shows the normal line of Vertigo wall in red and the 'More Vertigo' variation with the distinct hanging icicles in yellow (large photo format). It looks impossible on this topo but the photos above show the small ledges that make the way to the icicles possible at possibly tech 7. The green line is the 'easier but still steep' pitch 5 or at least that's what we thought until it dawned on us that we were off line. Maybe a suitable finish for the leading Cairngorm pioneers Guy Robertson, Pete MacPherson, Iain Small and Simon Richardson (and many others of course)?

Here another topo from the opposite wall. I had taken it two weeks later when it had all melted.

Again our variation in yellow and the potential Robbie escape in green. I became tense as I needed 2 h for the previous pitch and we did not know what was lying ahead. Easier turfy ground was on the left and I remembered that there was a winter route to the right of Sabre Cut which we now hoped to reach. Robbie climbed initially quickly but then the rope came back and after a while he shouted 'safe'. Here is Andrew following the pitch. The photo also shows the exposure at this stage. There are several summer routes in the mid E-grades below.

Robbie belayed near a left-leaning offwidth chimney and the plan was to climb the offwidth hoping for easier ground above. A topo of the last pitch is shown below.

The offwidth was hard to start as it was teflon smooth inside and as there were only tiny edges for crampon placements on the outside. I managed an au cheval move but there was nothing to hook inside the chimney and after a lot of trying I cammed my lower leg into the offwidth, leant out wide to the left to gain a good hook in a crack near the arete on the left. I took a deep breath, uncammed my foot and swung left. Luckily there were another good hook and gear above. Some more tricky climbing to a spike and it all seemed to end maybe 10 m below the plateau with a steep slab above an overhang. I managed to fix a peg and nut below the slab and got higher up on an arete to start the slab. The slab was the scariest climbing I have ever done: thin hooks out of balance with no gear and the central gully wall exposure below. Somehow I managed to inch up the slab to a position where a big tuft of turf and safety were near but yet so far. Some moss did not even yield a marginal placement but finally I excavated a poor sidepull, kept the axe steady, placed my front point out of balance high up and with a lot of stretch just about managed to whack the axe into the turf. The left axe followed and I made the sweetest pull up of my life, scraped my feet up, ran a few steps, fell mentally and physically exhausted into the snow and shouted 'safe' into the void below. This last move was the psychological crux of the entire route and the last pitch was the hardest pitch that I have ever climbed. Robbie and Andrew topped out just before 19 h. We stayed roped up in central gully which we descended on the side to avoid windslab and after a long, long slog through deep snow we reached the cars at 23 h. Here is Robbie, smiling as the cars where close.

Here are Andrew and Robbie exhausted.
Grade? We are unsure but pitch 4 and especially pitch 6 felt technically harder and bolder than the first three pitches of Vertigo Wall and thus we suggest a technical grade of 7/8. We feel unable to give an overall grade. Also as for stars, the variation pitches are a wild journey through some unlikely, vertigous terrain with ice, thin ice, turf, snowed up rock, two swing moves and those psychological metres up the final slab. The only star-reducing factors are an easy fifth pitch and the fact that the line is not straight up. Again we leave it to others to judge this but it is well worth the effort. The epic did not end there. I had to leave my car in Glen Muick and Andrew just about managed to get out. We reached Aberdeen around 1 h in the morning and Andrew and Robbie must have arrived at Dundee at 3 h. Here is my car.

This morning my camera didn't work just to add one more to the epic (it eventually came back to life). Finally, Adam Henly, a partner of many ascents, gave me a lift to get the car out of the Glen Muick car park on Wednesday. HW

Vulcan, Braeriach

2011-02-27T15:03:00.000-08:00

Sandy, Helen, Brian and I were keen to climb in another remote Cairngorm corrie, Garbh Choire Mor on Braeriach. With midweek temperatures of up to 15 degrees in Moray we decided for Braeriach as it was high and as the ice should have survided the thaw. Also the predicted frost on Saturday night should have stabilised the climbs and the cornices above. So we met at the Linn of Dee car park and first cycled and then walked to reach Corrour bothy at roughly 20 h.

Inside was half of the Edinburgh University Mountaineering club but they had brought two tents so that other mountaineers could find some space in the bothy. Thanks! We had a good bothy night with pasta, beer, Aberlour, tea and skimmed milk. Here are Helen, Brian and Sandy.

I experienced the warmest bothy night of my life since I was next to the fire. It was like noon on the beach at St. Tropez. But the oven cooled gradually and I managed to catch one or two hours of sleep. We got up at 6 h and started walking just before 7 h. It was snowing wet snow but not too heavily.

We started the long slog through boggy ground following the Dee towards its source to arrive at Garbh Choire bothy, a spartanic place that sleeps 2-3 mountaineers. Brian unfortunately had low blood sugar and felt dizzy and Sandy struggled after a bad cold so they both decided to bail as it still was a long way into the corrie.

In the corrie we first had a look at Cherokee chimney and Little big chimney (first ascents by C. Cartwright and S.M. Richardson) on the left wall of great gully inspired by a photo in the Cairngorms guide. However, these are more mixed early season climbs and now there was poorly bonded ice, some windslab above and a rather big cornice. So we decided against climbing these routes and decended great gully in search of a climb in better condition to the right. Tiara looked great but again it was poorly bonded ice on slabs. So we settled for Vulcan V,4***, a V-corner with good snow ice first climbed by J. Bower, J. Ingram and K. Turnbull in 1975. Vulcan was John Bower's swan song as he gave up climbing after this. Here is Helen leading crux pitch one...

... and here she is a bit higher up ...

... with the monster Braeriach cornices above. I led pitch two and the good snow ice turned in places into not fully frozen neve. The best neve led to the right onto a sharp arete and I placed the deadman now 10 m above a dodgy ice screw. Light shone through a hole below the cornice suggesting that the cornice formed a bridge. In order not to load the cornice too much I decided to hack a wee niche into the cornice where I could place my knee. This was made difficult by the strong wind which was blowing spindrift up the climb. My face got ice blasted and when the niche was finished I got two half decent placements and very gently placed my knee inside the niche and pulled myself up. Helen quickly climbed the second pitch to appear on the wide, arctic Cairngorm plateau in the strong wind. A decent route but not too sure about the three stars as it is only two pitches and an estimated 70 m. After the climb we shortened the rope a bit by coiling it and walked South to find a descent. Great gully was blocked by large conices so we walked towards Angel's peak. At times the clouds lifted and bits of blue appeared. Here the view back to Garbh Choire Mor.

We walked parallel to the rim of the corrie which was blocked by huge cornices until we found a break at the start of the ascent to Angel's peak.

A good descent mostly by bum slide. At the bottom there was, like elsewhere in the corries, debris from wet avalanches that must have occured during the midweek thaw.

A long slog back to the Corrour where we had tomato soup and tea and then more walking and a bit of cycling to the Linn of Dee.

Braeriach is a good place to visit because of its isolation and because of that the day is more than just the climb. However, ensure that the route you plan to climb is in good condition and that you can see a way through the often gigantic cornices. So early season or late season, after a refreeze when all the cornices have collapsed, is probably best. Bring a versatile rack even if you only may use very little at the end. Choose the wrong route even 2-3 grades below your top grade in the wrong condition and you'll regret it very quickly as Neil Adams and Andy Inglis found out. To quote Andy's UKC entry for Phoenix Edge word by word it was a 'Mega sketch-fest in clearly poor unconsolidated snow conditions up the line of most consolidation, not least resistance. Backed off pitch 2 after 15m, Neil dispatched to top including horrendously insecure final slabby 20m on mostly soft snow above (required) snow bollard runner.Nightmare. Oh, and its quite remote. VI,6 minimum on the day. '

Reference: Strange, Greg. The Cairngorms. 100 years of mountaineering. Cordee, Leicester 2010

Cumming Crofton VI,6****

2011-02-14T11:12:00.000-08:00

Garbh Choire gets the highest values in Scotland for the product of remoteness times quality of climbing especially in winter. A suitable strategy, a ‘can do’ team, a decent level of aerobic fitness, climbing ability and general mountaineering skills are all required especially for attempting any of the bigger routes. Winter climbing highlights are the first winter ascents of Mitre Ridge V,6 by W.D. Brooker and T.W. Patey in 1953 (albeit with ‘combined tactics’; J. Anderson and A. Nisbet did the first direct, free ascent in 1979), the FWA of Cumming-Crofton VI,6 by R. Renshaw and G. Strange in 1977, the Cardinal VIII,8 by R.Webb and S.M. Richardson in 1995 and of Slochd Wall IX,8 by P. Benson and G. Robertson in 2008. If you do any of these routes expect to lie on the couch the next day with a big grin or your face or, in the case of the last two routes, expect to sit behind the computer googling for ‘post traumatic stress disorder'.

On Friday the 11.2.2011 Robbie Miller, Andrew Melvin and I met after work at 20.15 h at the car park at Keiloch. We cycled on snowy and icy tracks...

...and then walked to stay in the secret Howff somewhere hidden in these hills. We spent a cold night made worse by the lack of whisky. Robbie was worst off in his 2 season sleeping bag (the wrong two seasons) and whilst Andy and I were warm, we did not sleep much. We got up at 6 h, had some food and started walking just before 7 h. Our chances looked slim because roughly 10-20 cm of snow that had fallen overnight and it was still snowing.

We decided to press on and to only change our plan if we encountered and could not avoid serious avalanche conditions (the SAIS forecast for North and North-West facing slopes was less than optimal).

We reached the Sneck and gingerly descended as we felt that this was the most dangerous bit. However, there was little windslab and the descent into the Corrie was much better and subjectively safer than expected.

At 10 h we reached the bottom of Mitre ridge and whilst we geared up some blue appeared in the sky. A beautiful pre-spring light.

The mighty West wall was whitened by powder snow and I started the first pitch swimming up some steep powder as seen on the first...

, second...

and third picture...

all taken by Andrew. The crux of this pitch is a large hanging flake. I used two large cams to protect this move, got decent axe placements in snow ice in the crack to the left of the flake and after a few thrutchy moves I reached the belay.

Robbie led pitch two. First an easy angled but delicate and tricky move to the right followed by wide bridging and a move into the main corner line. After that several more tech 5/6 moves to finish on a good ledge. A great lead by Robbie and his hardest pitch so far.

Here is Andrew waiting on the pitch one belay...

... and here is Robbie executing the hardest move of his pitch.

Andrew took the last hard pitch which continued up the corner to its end followed by an ‘au cheval’ belay on the crest of Mitre ridge between the two towers.

Here is Robbie following the third pitch.

The options after that are to finish by the very exposed Bell’s variation V,7 or by climbing on little patches of snow ice and tufts of turf to the left of the second tower which we did. I put one runner on the whole pitch but the climbing was just easy enough to justify not scratching around for ages to try to excavate another marginal runner.

Here is Andrew belaying 'au cheval'...

... and here I am trying to step onto a granite block.

Some delicate but not too difficult climbing...

... up to the belay. Here is Robbie belaying.

The belay is right on top of the West wall which is very steep at this point. We finished over a series of easy but exposed mini towers and an awkward down-climb followed by exposed but easy enough climbing to the end of the route at roughly 17 h.

Here is Robbie finishing the pitch with the large exposure of the West wall behind him.

In the strong, icy southerly wind we quickly coiled our ropes, collected our gear and went over the summit of Cnap a’ Chleirich to follow the rib to join the path where it leads to the Sneck. From the ridge we saw the civilisation-free wide space to the South and the long way to the Fairy Glen, where where our bikes were.

It got dark around 18 h and we walked through the snow in the dark lightened up by our headtorches. The brain was too tired to think and so we followed without words our footprints and the footprints of another, lonely walker which were the only footprints leading back to the Fairy glen. Back at the Howff we shared some pocket-rocked-cooked pasta, Andy’s cheese & pickle sandwich and Robbie’s jam & peanut butter sandwich and some of Robbies vanilla cookies.

Soon after we reached our bikes I discovered that my rear tyre was flat. Worse, the rubber had detached from the valve and we had no spare tyre and only Andrew had bought some repair kit. Against all odds we managed to glue the thing together again which prevented me from pushing my bike for 8 km with a heavy rucksack. The pressure held and despite a few wild slides on icy patches we managed to avoid going over our handlebars and reached the Beinn a Bhuird car park at 21 h.

Cumming Crofton is the essence of Scottish winter climbing and one of the best routes we have done so far: team work, solitude, commitment, a strong line and high quality climbing are all attributes that describe our day.

Cornucopia

2011-01-31T10:12:00.000-08:00

No climb this season so far had put up much resistance and so I was keen to lock horns with a hard but safe climb. Andy Inglis, with several VIIs under his belt, was the ideal partner and we decided to climb Cornucopia, a short mixed climb on the Ben graded VII,8/9. Cornucopia was first climbed by Simon Richardson and Chris Cartwright in 1996 and was the start to a series of hard mixed climbs on the Ben that followed.

The image above shows Andy abseiling off Cornucopia (please feel free to subtract style points) with The Secret in the background and the deep crack of Darth Vader in the foreground, albeit tilted due to the wide angle lens used. Saturday started misty and an inversion was forecast. We were thus worried whether the mixed climbs on the Ben would be in condition. But the inversion never came and high in Coire na Ciste several climbs including Cornucopia were well rimed and in acceptable winter condition. We soloed the easy bit and the plan was for Andy to lead crux pitch 1 and for me to lead pitch 2. Here is Andy starting the climb.

The Cornucopia corner is steep. It is initially climbed on the right where the hooks are mostly decent and the gear placements are good. A little strenuous but not desperate. Here is Andy starting the harder climbing.

But at 15 m it changes: all very steep, almost nothing for feet on the left wall, not much on the right wall and the crack is too deep to get a hook. Andy got stuck in, went through 63% of the positions outlined in the advanced Kamasutra guide and despite his determination he eventually fell off. I lowered Andy and he offered the lead. I made good progress to the crux but then struggled like Andy before me. After throwing one Hex down the Ben and a lot of faffing I managed to climb up and to swing one of the remaining Hexes higher into the crack and to seat it well. Still some way to go to the ledge but at least no whippers. I had a few tries and came off but finally I decided to pull out all the stops: Up to the poor hook/sidepull on the right, another not really convincing hook in the crack and I got my foot onto one of the chickenheads (as Simon describes them in his account of the FA). I kicked the right foot into the crack which was more compressed at this point and held, got the left foot onto another chicken head and the axes into decent snow ice on the mini ledge. A few nervous seconds and I was on the ledge, pumped. The climb was stronger than we were but at least we managed to work the cux. Andy offered the lead but I was spent and so Andy led pitch two, demonstrating the skills gained whilst doing grade VII mileage. Here is Andy moving from a flake back into the main crack...

... and here he is shaking out. The second pitch is around tech 7.

I was pleased to follow the second pitch feeling in control once again. Well after such a crux even harder climbing feels almost easy especially when seconding!

Reference: Crocket Ken, Richardson, Simon: Ben Nevis. Britain's Highest Mountain. 2nd edition. Cordee, Leicester 2009

Short day: Look C gully

2011-01-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

Arno and I had time for a short day so we left Dundee at 8 am and drove to Glen Clova to do Look C gully in Corrie Fee. Here is Arno entering the corrie...

... and here is the gully.

One team had given up and informed us that there was a slow moving team of three ahead. We went in second position and climbed up. The team of three were the Trudgill brothers Pete and John and Will. Pete led the crux and then John and Will one by one. Here is the team on belay...

... and here is Pete leading the crux.

After that the wider, easier, upper part of the gully.

Here is Arno, sans helmet (left in the car), moving up to the belay.

Whilst the Trudgill turbos finished the gully...

... we decided to get out of the way and to do a mixed finish. A few tech 5/6 moves were on this section.

A soup and pint in the Glen Clova hotel and home just after 6 pm.

Red Chimney

2011-01-03T15:06:00.001-08:00

I always wanted to visit Creagan a' Choire Etchachan in winter. Today Tim and I did. We met at 7 am at the Linn of Dee car park and walked for over 3 h on icy paths (bikes are of no use at the moment) to reach the Hutchison hut. For the first time I had brought my pocket rocket and some Oxo cubes and we had a warm brew and geared up inside. Here is Tim leaving the hut to head for the cliff above (note the straight shafted ice axe in his right hand for the extra challenge). We hoped that the East-facing cliff was a good choice in the strong Westerly winds and it was as it was out of the wind.

On the approach it became clear that there was less ice than we had thought despite the thaw freeze cycles. Djibangi and Djibooty had no ice and the lower slabs of Red Chimney, our climb, were thinly iced.

Red chimney is on the photo below. The route starts in a bay on the left and then over thinly iced slabs (at least today) towards the main gully. High there is another steepening with a tricky ice curtain. Red Chimney was first climbed in winter by Hay and Ibbotson in 1959 but with a cop out variation up the rib on the right. The direct ascent and natural winter route was climbed by Paterson and Hepburn (aka Willie the Pimp and Superman) in January 1967 which is the month I was born.

Here is Tim finishing the slab pitch on easier neve...

... and here he is looking up to the pitch with the ice curtains. It is steeper than in looks.

After that some neve and turf. We topped out into a strong, icy wind and bum glissaded back to the Hutcheson where we cooked some more soup. It was getting dark so we were lighting candles.

After that the Cairngorm tradition of the long walk out in the dark. There was a lot of ice and hard neve on the path so the going was tricky in places. We brewed up a mint tea at Derry lodge and reached the car just after 8 pm. Here is Tim walking back.

We didn't see a single soul all day.
HW

Reference: Strange, Greg. The Cairngorms. 100 years of mountaineering. Cordee, Leicester 2010

White Heather Snorkeling

2010-12-06T13:33:00.001-08:00

Somewhere behind the rainbow there is a land of untouched, wintry steepness. It is not easy to get there as deep snow ...

... and icy streams make access difficult.

On Saturday Brian and I went...

... and climbed a line at IV,5 with too much heather and unconsolidated snow for stars...

... but with great situations and solitude.

A few tricky moves on three of the five pitches...

... but also some deep snow snorkeling.

Here the final steepening to the crest,

...more powder to the summit...

... and a bumslide back to the rucksacks.

Chilean Miners Reenactment: Crypt Route

2010-11-15T05:50:00.000-08:00

Finally the start of the winter season for Robbie and myself. Because we did not fancy the Northern Corries we went to Glen Coe to do Crypt Route which is on Church Door buttress just under the summit of Bidean nam Bian. Here is Robbie approaching Diamond (left) and Church Door buttress (right).

The snow was waist deep in places and especially the last bit to the buttresses took ages. The route is approached via Central Gully which divides the buttresses. Crypt route is obvious on the right: a deep, indeed very deep chimney leading up to the arch.

Robbie led pitch 1 with some good back and footing...

...and bridging before...

... being swallowed by the mountain. He was not seen for a while.

I then led pitch two which involved going into a cave system with several chambers.

Finally a tiny hole in the roof and although I had removed my helmet and gear I only managed to squeeze through during the second attempt after removing my jacket and fleece. Here is Robbie inside the hole (with jacket)...

... and here he is reborn by mother earth.

Above the arch, a structure which is delicate and monolithic at the same time.

Robbie started the next pitch but wasn't too sure about where to go. It involved crossing the arch and some steep snow and then a chimney to easier exit slopes. We topped out in the dark. A great day, excellent conditions in Glen Coe and a very good soup in the Chlachlaig.

Cuillin ridge in a day

2010-09-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

This is the view towards Sgurr nan Gilean from the Sligachan hotel & bar on the Sunday after Adam's and my Cuillin ridge attempt on the 25.9.2010.

We did the ridge on the Saturday and in contrast to Sunday there was a layer of cloud just above the summits but the rock was mostly dry and there was no ice.

So why do the ridge? The main reason is that it is the only properly testing, local Alpinism exam for British climbers. The second is that it is in a unique setting: an Alpine ridge in a Hebridean island world. The third reason is that there are 11 Munros which can be ticked off in one go and thus walkers may consider hiring a guide like Mike Lates (to start at the top) to tick them all on one or two days. This allows walkers to utilize their fitness to manage the distance and the guides skills for the tricky bits. The fourth is that it is the first route in 'classic rock' which puts it onto the to do list of many climbers.

Adam had visited the ridge several times before and I was on it twice with Tim, who had done the ridge earlier this year. During our attempt I also took many photos to maybe help others who prepare for the ridge. The ridge is long and complex and thus a visual idea of what is what and what should be expected is useful. Also in this report we will say what worked for us and what did not.

First some tips. The first tip is to train. Train enough to be able to run a Marathon in 3.30-4 h and the person who leads most of the climbing should be able to climb VS with no fuss (which means you should be able to lead HVS or E1 on a good day). The TD gap in less than perfect conditions with boots etc. will feel easily like VS similar to Naismiths in a fatigued state. If VS is your top grade on a good day then consider taking more protection and assume that you will take more time for the climbs.

The second tip is to obtain plenty of information and to cut out all wishful thinking. The ridge is tough and you need to gather as much information as possible. The following is very useful if not essential.
- Hyslop guide: http://www.rockfax.com/publications/miniguides/item.php?id=18
- Mike Lates guide: http://www.skyeguides.co.uk/Downloads/2007_Ridge_Download.pdf
- SMC Skye scrambles and the soon to be published Skye climbing guides.
- Map: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skye-Cuillin-Superwalker-Harvey-Maps/dp/1851374078

Adam and I used an Ortlieb map case and a Harvey 1:12,500 map on one side and the relevant page of the Hyslop guide on the other side. The Hyslop guide is invaluable as it says whether to stay left or right of the crest and how to do the sections where route finding is hard. If you do not have much experience on the ridge then a GPS either with the grid references for all the major peaks or a mapping GPS with a OS map for the area is useful. If the mist descends then navigation will be tough.

Finally clothing and shoes. Avoid big boots unless you twist your ankles easily. For me Five Ten Tennies worked very well as they are good for walking, OK for jogging and the sticky rubber makes them OK for climbing although the tip is not as suitable for small features as a proper climbing shoe. Our climbing gear will be shown further below (TD gap section).

Our attempt started at 4 am in Glen Brittle. This requires immediate concentration as you can easily lose your way especially in the dark. Tim and my first attempt more or less ended in the Glenbrittle bogs where we were trotting around for ages with wet feet. Walking up the night before for a bivouac is the other option but then you will have to carry a lot of bivy gear during the day.

You have two main options for the approach to the ridge. Choose the Coir' a' Ghrunnda approach for dry feet but navigation can be tricky in the dark. No problem at the height of summer but we lost 20 min scrambling on dodgy terrain in the dark. The other option is to walk parallel to the ridge and then ascend Gars-bheinn directly avoiding the scree as much as possible but assume wet feet. The essential bit is to collect at least 2 l of water. You will probably need more if it is warm and if you sweat a lot. Here is Adam filling the water bottles in Loch Coir' a' Ghrunnda.

If you do the Ghrunnda approach leave your rucksack at the bealach and quickly go to Gars Bheinn which is actually quite a distance. When you arrive at Gars-bheinn turn around and your attempt starts. The photo below shows Adam looking back over the initial part of the ridge from Sgurr Alasdair.

Whilst on the ridge ideally have some points where you check whether you are on schedule. We had around 12 h from dawn to dusk and thus we had to be within the 'fast walking' times of the Hyslop guides at all check points to avoid climbing or scrambling fatigued in the dark. Not so much a problem at the height of summer. Here is Adam near Sgurr nan Eag.

We missed out Sgurr Dubh Mor as it is traditionally not included in a ridge attempt (... says Mike Lates in his guide). A must do for Munro baggers though. After that an exposed move to arrive at the TD gap to start the first classic section of the ridge. A good point to discuss the gear that should be carried, a topic of many UKC postings. Our climbing gear is shown below. It was:
- a 50 m Phoenix half rope;
- Black Diamond Alpine Harness;
- Four 120 cm slings on carabiners.
- One 60 cm sling;
- Nuts esp. around 5/6 and a small hex;
- Belay device.

This amount of gear is OK if you are at least a HVS leader. If you lead only VS or HS then carry more gear. Maybe a full set of nuts and some hexes plus a few quickdraws. However, slings are, like Hexes on Ben Nevis, the key gear for the ridge as there are many chockstones and spikes. You can protect the whole TD gap with slings. The abseil tat on the ridge looked quite good but especially after winter it might a good idea to take some extra tat to back up anchors that look worn out. Here is Adam abseiling into the empty TD gap ...

... and here I am climbing out again. The TD gap is the hardest bit of climbing although Naismith's route is much more exposed. As I have said above, the slings are key gear here plus maybe one or two nut placements. Aim for the horizontal gap on the left side and then wiggle up. The Vdiff grade is 'traditional' and in many other places a HS/VS grade would not seem overly soft.

My legs felt quite stiff after the gap and for Adam crisis time started. He managed to struggle to Sgurr Alasdair and then sat down with cramps, coughed, nearly vomited and looked finished. But I remembered that he did not eat any food in Glenbrittle and I did not see him eat anything since. Thus hypoglycaemia or low blood sugar was the most likely explanation. So he was almost force fed three Hobnobs and he started to recover. After the luxury of a 10 min break he started to feel better and we moved on. After Sgurr Alasdair there is a tricky step up to Sgurr Thearlaich.

Sgurr Alasdair, Sgurr Thearlaich and Sgurr Mhic Choinnich are shown on the photo below from right to left. The descent from Sgurr Thearlaich, the lower middle peak, is the first big route finding task and requires full concentration. The Hyslop guide says 'Descent the roof-like section on the right-hand side. Look for a notch in the ridge before the final lumpy section [quite a bit before the end]. Cut off right down a ramp which leads round to the bealach'.

The climbers way to ascent Sgurr Mhic Choinnich is King's chimney. Unfortunately I didn't manage to take a good photo with my fixed 28 mm lens but trust us, it is obvious. It is the right facing large corner. The photo below shows me starting the climbing. Scramble up a little bit and belay in the open book corner. Climb the corner and then traverse out right under the roof and step up to a good belay. It is graded 'difficult' in old money and much easier than the TD gap.

Very enjoyable. I just sat back and didn't anchor myself while belaying to save time. Adam climbed quickly and we moved on. We were a bit behind time and missed out the good scrambling on An Stac to follow the brown ramp on the right to arrive at the Inn Pin.

The Inn Pin never fails to amaze. It is an icon of British climbing and the nightmare of Munro baggers. I climbed on a single half rope and when the rope went tight Adam and I climbed in together for maybe 10 m. It is roughly 60 m of climbing. All only semi safe but then then the climbing is graded 'moderate' and we saved a lot of time.

Here is Adam abseiling while another party is ascending the short side.

Now the mentally tough middle section starts: a lot of rough walking and committing scrambling but no iconic features. Here the Hyslop guide is invaluable as it says how to tackle the individual sections. Below a view onto the section that follows after the Inn Pin and Sgurr Dearg...

... and here is Adam on that bit.

We met a guided party and it was a moral booster to hear the guide saying that we were going well. However, Adam then overheard one of the clients saying 'nutters'.

Below another view over the middle section with Sgurr nan Gillean far in the distance. By this time we were maybe 30 min behind schedule and I was constantly encouraging (to use a euphemism) Adam to give his best which he did.

The whole middle section is never easy and requires constant concentration.

The three tops of Mhadaidh are particularly tricky for route finding and exposed scrambling. Again read the Hyslop guide carefully before each section. It will help you stay on course as descending the wrong scree gully takes a lot of time and can get you in serious trouble. Below a Mancunian team who had bivied on the ridge. They were probably a wee bit too slow to make it to Sgurr nan Gilean before dusk and we soon left them behind. A great show for being the first time on the ridge though!

Here is Adam above Loch Coruisk. Ensure to reward yourself with a view from time to time if you have a view that is. It is truly stunning on a good day.

The middle part ends with the traverse of Biden Druim nan Ramh. Andy Hyslop says 'this section involves some of the most complex route finding'. He gives A-F advice on how to climb it. Look out for those basalt staircases and good luck in the mist. The photo below shows Adam doing another exposed scramble...

... and an exposed down climb. Try to down climb as much as possible and reserve time consuming abseiling only for the trickiest bits (i.e. after An Caistal).

The descent from An Caistal is again tricky in places but finally the middle section is done and there is some easier ground to Am Bhasteir.

Am Bhasteir is the pyramid on the image below with several climbers on top. We pushed on and reached the base of Naismiths route at 17.20 h.

The climb traverses out onto the very exposed face on the right and then follows an obvious crack to the belay. I became a bit agitated when I realised that we would have to climb two pitches with not much daylight left but I quickly reached the flake belay. During the traverse the base falls away and at the belay the exposure is large. After that step onto the flake and do a move which is tricky in boots to reach the upper bit of the crack which is easier to climb.

After that tick the tooth, descend a rib and then climb runnels on the right to the final overhang below the top of Am Bhasteir which is a tricky boulder problem. You might wish to short rope to there, set up a quick belay and climb it belayed. No photos of the climbing as time was running out. We reached the top and descended knowing that the ridge traverse was more or less in the bag. Here the view towards Sgurr nan Gillean in the evening light.

During the descent we met a large party with a casualty who had fallen off the bad step and had broken his ankle. However, they already managed to phone mountain rescue, had the casualty in an orange plastic bag and the helicopter was on its way. So we felt the casualty was well looked after and we pushed on. Here is Adam on the descent with the helicopter above.

The last obstacle was a back and foot chimney onto the West ridge of Sgurr nan Gillean. Here is Adam climbing it...

... followed by easier scrambling up the West ridge to the top and the end of the ridge at around 19 h 20 min. The photo below shows Adam enjoying a wee rest after a long day which was not quite over yet.

We descended the West ridge again via the chimney this time with our headtorches switched on...

... to the rucksacks just below the bealach and watched as the chopper was picking up the rest of the party.

I think both Adam and I thought about taking a lift with the chopper but we switched our headtorches off in order not to confuse the pilot. Also we didn't know whether the chopper would fly to the hospital but it descended gracefully towards the Sligachan for beers and food! Well, descending the ridge when knackered is part of the experience. Regarding the rescue, a great job by the mountain rescue team and if you walk or climb in the Scottish hills then ensure to donate a bit to these guys who might save you one day.

After the chopper disappeared it became very quiet and dark. Half an hour later the almost full moon appeared behind pinnacle ridge and helped us with some faint light. No path is indicated on the map and we were unsure whether to ascend Pinnacle ridge or whether to descend into the gorge. We did the latter and it seemed that we had reached a cul de sac when we spotted a ramp on the left that led us to the main path. However, the normal path apparently goes to the left of the gorge over slabs so you have little chance of finding that in the dark. Tim recommends the following instead: 'And avoiding it really is dead simple: in descent from the G-B col, just head right and stick right on the "join" between the screes below and the cliff above.'

The path went on and on and we didn't say a word for a long time. But finally the car noises came closer and my mobile rung. It was Mike, who asked where we were and 20 min later we entered the Sligachan bar. Mike, John and John's son immedeately rushed to get us a Blackcurrant lemonade followed by a pint of Cuillin ale plus crisps and shortbread. It was good just to sit, talk a bit about it all and to feel fatigue taking over.

Epilogue

Sunday arrived with sunshine and the air was crisp. We had a good breakfast in the Sligachan and then leisurely drove home to Aberdeen passing many of the views that would turn Scotland in the number one tourist destination if the weather was not frequently and reliably utterly miserable. First the view to Lochalsh and Kyleakin from the Skye bridge. Well worth the walk back up the bridge.

On the other side the lighthouse...

... and further down the road the iconic Eilean Donan castle in an autumn landscape.

Lochs and hills towards Glenshiel...

... and then the view towards Knoydart, one of my favourite areas.

Finally acknowledgments. A great thanks to the master of the Cuillin and Skye mountain guide Mike Lates for invaluable advice, to the friends from Oxford for the refreshments and all the support and to the Sligachan staff for the special favours that we received!

Mythical Wall: the must do E1

2010-08-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

Showers were forecast for 16 h but Adam and I arived at 18.30 h at a dry grassy pinnacle to try the must do Mythical wall E1 5b***. Well must do for Aberdeen climbers at least:

After that the Pobble and then the rain finally arrived.
HW

Craig Stirling

2010-06-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight Maart and I went to Craig Stirling to climb Grand Diedre HVS and Electric Blue, an adventurous E1 with an overhanging finish on big holds. But Dave, Graham, Sandy, Brian and John provided proper action, deep water soloing E1s and climbing E2+s. Here a video:

That'll be it for a while as there will be a conference followed by a holiday. After that I'll be chubby, weak and a chicken again!
HW

Steeple E2 5c****

2010-06-28T02:20:00.001-07:00

Steeple is 'a condenter for the best rock climb in Scotland' according to the guidebook. Robbie and myself decided to have a go despite a prediction of showers from midday onwards. There were thick clouds over the pass of Drummochter and Robbie and I had low hopes as to whether we had a chance. At 7.30 h we walked in and we reached the bottom of the cliff at 9.30 h. Here is Robbie descending into the loch Avon basin...

... and here is the Shelterstone in all its glory.

We wasted no time with the bottom two dampish 5a corner pitches to get at least to above the crux before the showers started. Here is Robbie starting the first one...

... and here I start the second pitch...

... and here I exit it.

Robbie then led the easy bit to the bottom of the 5c crux ramp. The crux is sustained, balancy and progress was severely limited when I managed to clip my shoe lace into a carabiner connected to a cam. Thanks to kamasutra-like movements involving having my foot above head height and good sphincter control I managed to get the cam out and to get back onto the crux without weighing the rope. Here a shot after the antics...

After that more hard moves on damp rock until I got to the belay where The Needle and Steeple join. It now started to rain heavily for 30 min and Robbie did well climbing the next 5a pitch on wet rock to the magnificient corner of Steeple. Here Robbie starts the corner...

... and here he is higher up...

... and here high up in the sky...

Robbie climbed exceptionally well, got the gear in and climbed and climbed and climbed until the end of the 60 m rope was reached. I feared that he was on a hard bit but he had in fact reached the top. I followed with enjoying the good handholds but often poor footholds. One good move after the other until I emerged next to Robbie in the sunshine. After that a painful descent via Pinnacle gully.

We descended to the Shelterstone howff...

... before walking back over the plateau where some snow is still left...

... to get back to the car at 18.30 h.
HW

Death Cap E1

2010-06-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

For some Earnsheugh is heaven, for others more horror than 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and some poor souls have to hitch a ride on the helicopter after trying the forbidden fruit. Here a wee video of Death Cap, a soft touch E1 5a, with sensational positions:

HW

Cycling the Outer Hebrides

2010-06-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here a wee video of us cycling on Lewis & Harris. If you can stomach cool winds, occasional rain and plenty of hills then the Outer Hebrides are among the most beautiful cycle rides anywhere. After taking the 10 h morning ferry from Ullapool, we cycled from Stornoway to Tarbert in strong winds. On the Saturday we then cycled around South Harris with the Golden Road in the East and the golden beaches in the West. On the Sunday we woke up to heavy rain and cycled back towards Stornoway passing the standing stones of Callanish on the way. Here is a map...
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usmapindexes/westernisles.html
... and here a wee video of the Friday and Saturday. On Sunday the battery of the camcorder was flat:

Oh and on Saturday I also found a Gneiss boulder where I managed three two move problems. Nearly forgot that this blog is about climbing!
HW

Clashrodney

2010-06-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

A poor weather forecast didn't materialise and so Adam and I climbed Yellow Peril E1 5b, Gorgon VS 5a, Capitol wall VS 4b and Schoolboy Alcoholic VS4c. Here is a video of the last and first climb in case you need some beta...

HW

Monaliath, Nevis gorge & Polldubh Sandbags

2010-05-31T14:46:00.000-07:00

On Friday Arno and I met in the 'Tipsy Laird' in Kingussie while waiting for Mike and John, two Oxford-based Munro-aspirants. We had to wait for a few hours which meant a couple of 'Cats' plus some Whisky's. 'All Mike's and John's fault, officer!'. We started Saturday with a hearty full Scottish and filled to the brink with cholesterol, we walked down the glen to do three of the Monaliath Munros first in sunshine...

... before the weather started to change. Here is Mike above the hidden loch...

... and here is team Oxford & co resting near a patch of snow.

A good walk despite the rain and great to catch up with Mike and to meet John. On Sunday morning Adam met us and because the forecast was better for the west we drove into Glen Nevis. However, it was wet there and so we decided to do the gorge walk to see the falls of Steall...

... and to try the wire bridge which is far more entertaining now that one of the wires had snapped. When we returned it was much drier and we went to Pinnacle buttress to do two sandbags, Clapham Junction and Severe Crack. The climbs are graded VS, steep and polished Sassenach traps...

I left the gear in Severe Crack so Adam could try his luck with preplaced gear. However, it is like climbing teflon and Adam ended up aiding it like the nose on El Cap. Maybe the overdue edition of the next Highland Outcrops will see a correction or the grades are left so that the locals can have a chuckle watching visitors collecting airmiles.
HW

The Blue Max E1

2010-05-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

Creag an Dubh Loch is probably the finest cliff in Britain and every British climber should make the pilgrimage at least once. Living in the area enables climbers to move in when the conditions are right (and the exit ticket is award) to do one of the longest routes in Britain. In winter Labyrinth Direct was the highlight of the season and this Saturday Robbie Miller, Arno Alpi (an Austrian alpinist working in the Dundonian life sciences Empire) and myself committed to the long walk in from Glen Clova to try 'The Blue Max' at E1 5b**. The line is a variation on Cyclops but the three extra pitches on the lower pitch make the climbing significantly harder and arguably better. Ten metres into the climb is a first wake up call: An overlap which seems tricky for 5a at that stage because it needs time to get used to get used to the good friction...

Robbie led the second pitch which ends with a protection and holdless traverse over to Cyclops. I found it harder than anything on Hammer on the Etive slabs. Then in a great position some easy moves through the main overlap at 4c...

Now the 5b pitch: A diagonal traverse to a block with an obvious crack to climb the main overlap in two steps...

If you think it's all over then think again. Two more challenging moves and the last overlap seems more like a Boulder problem and it takes some time to find the right sequence. These 40 m are action packed! An easier pitch to the terrace and then up to the large V-groove above the boulders with the old slings. Robbie led the remaining 4c pitches. The big, airy V-groove was excellent climbing and it was a bit wet and seemed hard for 4c, particularly the move near the peg. Here is Robbie bridging for glory...

Robbie climbed straight up although it probably would have been better to escape onto the arete on the left earlier. After that the 4c pitch of Cyclops which was good climbing up the corner and then onto another arete. Finally a grassy and then scrambly pitch onto the plateau and then the painful slide through a snow filled central gully to reach the bottom:

Change shoes and then the long way back over Broad Cairn to the car park in Glen Clova. 'The Blue Max' is harder than 'The Needle' and 'Minus One Direct' with a lot of varied climbing. The climbing is better than Cyclops but it is unfortunately not the direct line. Many of the photos were taken by Arno. Finally a video of the thin 5a slab, a 5 b move, the V groove and then the descent through Central Gully with a climber that was soon surfing the Cougar.

HW

Treble E1 at the Pass of Ballater

2010-05-18T16:43:00.001-07:00

For once in a long time a warm evening was forecast and so Adam and I went to the Pass of Ballater to do some E1s. First Stinker: easy to the roof, place gear as high as possible, down to a rest and then go for glory. Second Black Custard: Easy enough climbing to the roof, place plenty of gear, again down for a rest and here we go. Finally Blutered: Thin traverse with a dodgy microcam (unless you want lots of ropedrag), place lots of gear and then jam for glory. Unfortunately I had placed so much gear that the rope became tangled and I had to unclip and reclip three pieces of gear before carrying on and reaching the finishing jug with not much left in the tank. A bit more 'go for it' and we'll be ready for the mountains.

Adam is also climbing better than last year as a result of climbing E1s almost everytime we went out.
HW

Good use of ticket: Robs Reed

2010-05-17T01:17:00.000-07:00

Arno, Robbie and I all obtained an exit ticket for a few hours on Sunday. The forecast was for heavy rain showers after 13 h and so we went to Robs Reed for some quick sport climbing. After a warm up we went for 'High Voltage' F6b+ with crimpy sandstone followed by a conglomerate crack. We then went for 'grasping the Nettle' F6c which seems doable and then entertained ourselves with 'Welcome To The Big Pocket' at F6b+. Various Etchachan members (don't mention the exit ticket) walked past murmuring 'sandbag of the crag'. Dynoing to the pocket was tricky enough but getting from the pocket to the roof was like wrestling a wild boar covered in vaseline:

Here is Arno going for the final pump...

... and here is the view from Robs Reed towards bonny Kirriemuir.

HW

Unforgiving Newtonhill

2010-05-13T15:17:00.000-07:00

Another rain forecast and we could just not stomach another night climbing indoors. So Adam and I went for Newtonhill because if it was wet there we could at least do traverses at Dykes cliff. The North facing cliff was relatively dry and I started on Acapulco, a pumpy, juggy, overhanging E1. It went well to the crux but there I could just not get my foot high enough, got pumped and had to rest. Disappointing but there you go. It rained at the top but Red Baron HVS as a second climb was more or less fine and it didn't go too badly.

Newtonhill is for the light & fit folk among us and not for fatties such as Adam and myself. But failing is part of the game and it beats indoors after a long winter spent climbing plastic.
HW

Zombie right-hand during a rainy night

2010-05-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

Having recovered from a tummy bug I was keen to do some vertical mileage. Adam could come as well, the forecast seemed fine and so we were heading for Long Slough in order to do a couple of HVSs and VSs there. However, it drizzled when I arrived, the rock was damp and we only managed to climb Zombie right hand HVS 5b before there was a heavy downpour. Difficult moves for HVS even during a repeat ascent:

PS. The gear at the start had been placed while waiting for Adam.
HW

Bang for buck training: Legaston

2010-05-04T09:32:00.001-07:00

One major benefit of joining the Etchachan club seems to be that members receive a permanent weekend exit ticket, usually spent cranking rock or ice (see Neil Morrison's excellent photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8027420@N04/). In contrast, non-members are usually on relationship, children or DIY duty and can usually, if at all, only climb 2-3 hours every other weekend.

So how to avoid falling too far behind? As I am at Dundee most weekends I am very lucky that the Angus venues Kirrie hill, Legaston and Robs Reed offer some very good sport climbing which is 30 min from Dundee with plenty of routes in the F6 grades. On Sunday, a cold 2nd of May, Arno and I went to Legaston Quarry for the first time this season to do a few routes being back home at lunchtime. Good for fitness and technique and good for climbing a lot in a few hours. The best route for the F6 weaklings is probably the 'Flight of the Mad Magician F6b' with a memorable crux move. Here is a video of another route, 'Bomber' at 6a+:

HW

Climbing, training, questions & myths

2010-04-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been reading up on specific training recommendations for climbing in order to prepare for the rock climbing season. There was some good advice but also some opinions that are not supported or that are contrary to the existing scientific evidence. The lack of scientific evidence does not necessarily mean that the recommended training does not work. It may well work and often very well especially for those that give the advice. However, certain types of training only work for some and in other cases the training might work but the explanation is wrong. Being an exercise physiologist I thought it would be good to comment on it. The following three questions interest myself and are relevant for climbing:

Question 1. I am following a training programme designed to increase climbing-specific strength but I don’t improve. What is the problem?
There is now evidence from solid studies showing that individuals respond very differently to endurance and strength training. For example, Monica Hubal and colleagues studied 342 women and 243 men that took part in the same 12 week, progressive strength training programme. They found that the size of the trained muscle changed from -2 to +59% and that strength changed from -32 to +149 (Hubal et al., 2005). The fact that one individual lost 1/3 of her/his strength despite training to increase strength suggests that there were some poorly controlled external factors but generally the message is that individuals will respond very differently to a strength training programme. So what's the lesson learned? Training recommendations designed to improve climbing-specific strength will only work very well for the MacLeods, quite well for Joe Average and not at all for the poor responders. Those that write training plans should point that out to the recipients.

Question 2. What training methods can I use to increase the percentage of fast/type II muscle fibres?
Rest is probably the best 'training' to get more fast muscle fibres. The reason is that all forms of exercise, including strength training, reduce the expression of the fastest type IIx fibres and increase the percentage of the slower, intermediate type IIa fibres (Andersen & Aagaard, 2000). The only thing that increases type IIx fibres is inactivity (Andersen & Aagaard, 2000) or accidentally denervation such as spinal cord injury (Biering-Sorensen et al., 2009). Thus the take home message is to train as little as necessary to increase strength and learn a movement if a high percentage of type IIx fibres is the key aim of a training programme. In other words, sprinters should not jog much. If a lot of training is necessary to increase glycolytic enzymes and mass then a tapering period (low volume) could help to let the percentage of type IIx fibres increase again.

Question 3. Can maximal neural activation only be achieved with near maximal contraction training (1 repetition strength training, hard bouldering, campus board)?

Strength depends on the size and composition of muscles and on the ability of the nervous system to activate the existing muscle. A high neural activation of muscle is important for athletes such as climbers and high jumpers because it means strength gain without increased weight/muscle mass. It is sometimes suggested that maximal neural activation can only be achieved with 1 repetition strength training, hard bouldering or campus boarding. This is probably not the case because near maximal neural activation can also be achieved with less intense contractions if they are repeated until failure or until one gets pumped, to use climbers language (Jungblut, 2009). So why is that? If a muscle generates a force say 50% of the maximum then initially only a limited of fibres need to be activated by the neural system to generate that force (= less than maximal neural activation). However, over time the PCR-ATP, and glycolytic system ‘fatigue’ in the contracting fibres (it would take pages to describe the exact mechanisms) and thus they lose force. In order to maintain the overall force, more neural activation is needed in order to recruit more fibres so that the fatigued and newly recruited fibres produce the 50% of the maximal force. At one stage all the fibres are that fatigued that we need maximal neural activation in order to recruit sufficient fibres to produce 50% of the maximal force and soon after we will be too fatigued to achieve 50% of the maximal force. This is the reason why a relatively easy crux move (requiring less than maximal force) high up on a pumpy route feels just as difficult and requires the same amount of teeth gritting than a brick hard move at the start of a boulder problem. Having said all of the above it is likely that near maximal contractions have benefits that exercise with less intense contractions to fatigue (and thus near maximal neural activation doesn’t have).
HW

Reference List

Andersen JL & Aagaard P (2000). Myosin heavy chain IIX overshoot in human skeletal muscle. Muscle Nerve 23, 1095-1104.

Biering-Sorensen B, Kristensen IB, Kjaer M, & Biering-Sorensen F (2009). Muscle after spinal cord injury. Muscle Nerve 40, 499-519.

Hubal MJ, Gordish-Dressman H, Thompson PD, Price TB, Hoffman EP, Angelopoulos TJ, Gordon PM, Moyna NM, Pescatello LS, Visich PS, Zoeller RF, Seip RL, & Clarkson PM (2005). Variability in muscle size and strength gain after unilateral resistance training. Med Sci Sports Exerc 37, 964-972.

Jungblut S (2009). The correct interpretation of the size principle and its practical application to resistance training. Medicina Sportiva 13, 203-209.

Garbh Bheinn for the budding Alpinist

2010-04-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Declan Lunny, a good friend of Ana and mine (and the rest of Dundee), was back to Scotland from Singapore where he currently works. He revealed that he and some other Irish gentlemen had booked a summer trip up the Finsteraarhorn, Moench and Jungfrau in the Alps with Alan Kimber, probably the best known Alpine guide residing in Scotland. But when Alan sent a list with the equipment required (things such as prussick loops, crampons, harnesses and parachutes) and after I told Declan that AD was the French abbreviation for 'quite difficult' (for seasoned Alpinists that is) it must had dawned on Dec that the planned Alpine trip was different from the usual bothy piss up!

Some preparation was required! So I convinced Dec and his mate John that we should start with some basic rock climbing at Dunkeld. And despite various cop out attempts we stood at the bottom of Polney and Dec climbed Kestrel Crack (severe) and a VDiff with not much of a problem...

... and so did John.

John and I then climbed The Groove (VS), a Dunkeld classic...

... before driving all the way North to the Ardgour peninsula. I can't remember ever having seen that many stars and we woke up to a beautiful day.

We walked into Garbh Bheinn...

... to do Pinnacle Ridge as Alpine practice. The two pinnacles are obvious and to the left is great ridge.

The first Pinnacle is the upper limit for scrambling and good for Alpine rope practice.

Declan had no trouble neither with the climbing nor with the exposure...

... and neither had John who would probably be able to second HVS.

Adam joined us after driving over from Aberdeen in the middle of the night. He picked up John's rucksack which John had thrown down the hill from the first belay. Here are the three of them with snow capped Ben Nevis in the background.

The climb finished up the second pinnacle, which was a bit grassy but again the whole team performed very well. Here is John...

... and here are Declan (smiling after discovering that he is actually quite good at this and that he was still in the genepool) and Adam.

Now things turned lazy. Well over 20 degrees in the Glen, still very warm high up, no wind and views to die for over to Ben Nevis and Glen Coe.

A good rest at the top. The image shows John using the oxygen bottle (of the Glenmorangie variety) and Adam overlooking Loch Linnhe...

... and here is Dec already cocky after playing the big chicken for the previous three days!

Time to enjoy the views...

... and to take photos...

... and more photos...

... of the many views that Scotland has to offer.

Spring has arrived!

Orion Direct to end it all

2010-03-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

It is time to say good bye to a good friend, the winter of 2009/2010. A conference in Copenhagen next weekend, Easter in Spain, plenty of work: the chance of doing another climb is remote. This winter Dave MacLeod and Ines Papert have set new benchmarks for males and females, the average level has increased substantially aided by the best winter in more than a decade. As has been said elsewhere, the Scottish winter scene is alive and kicking due to unleashing, better training & adventure addiction even if some UKC Beckmessers and Stevie Haston (promotion by controversy Ltd) think otherwise. Never have I personally regretted the end of a winter more!

Orion Direct was one of the few climbs on my tick list that I didn't manage to climb this season and during the week I e-mailed Robbie whether he was available. He was but due to the mixed forecast we dithered between doing some sport climbing and going to the Ben. After a few e-mail suggestions from helpful insiders we went for it. I got up at 1.30 h, picked up Robbie at 2 h and with renewed motorisation (the old, trusty Highland Express Golf was exchanged with an Audi 'midlife crisis' A3) we reached the Ben at 4.15 h. No speeding officer, honest! The thermometer was below zero most of the time, suggesting that we made the right choice.

The walk in was equally speedy and we switched off the head torches when leaving the forrest so that the guards in the CIC hut would not see the opposition coming. We reached the bottom of the climb at 6.30 h-ish. Here is a photo of Orion Direct from 2007 with two climbers on the upper snowfield below the exit chimneys.

Robbie led the first pitch...

... and I led the next two pitches and we then moved 'Alpine style' through the basin to reach a good belay below the crux. Here I am on the second pitch ...

... and here at the start of the third pitch. All good ice, well frozen after a cold night.

The crux was a traverse right but not having read the guidebook I went up the arete, saw steps further right and then traversed to the likely line. Ben Nevis thin face climbing and a little add on to a climb than needs no add on. Here is Robbie at the top of the arete ready to traverse after having taken a tied off ice screw out.

Grade III climbing on good snow ice with the odd ice screw towards the exit chimneys. It snowed a bit but nothing too bad. Unfortunately no views on a climb that would offer some of the best views in the UK. Plenty of atmosphere though.

Robbie on belay duty (typical Orion belay: ice axes, ice screws that touch rock and optimism)...

... and traversing over to the belay below the exit chimney. Two nuts that had to be loaded in one direction to be safe.

The right line was on the left with trickier, thinner options in the middle and to the right. The exit chimney contained good ice, some rock gear and was just enjoyable, atmospheric climbing.

Robbie then led the final pitch to top out at 13 h. A shot at the summit shelter...

... some tricky navigation on the plateau, back at the car at 15 h, in the Clachlaig Inn at 16 h-ish for some great food to end it all.

Smith's Gully

2010-03-10T14:22:00.001-08:00

The weather people had predicted a hard overnight frost, sun and low winds during the day. Plenty of reasons to take the day off. Here is Helen walking into Creag Meagaidh...

... and here is our target, Smith's gully, on Pinnacle Buttress. We overtook a tired team that also wanted to do it but being first at the bottom of the route is what counts. Smith's gully is the cleft to the left of the highest part of the buttress and was climbed by Jimmi Marshall and Grahame Tiso in step cutting style in 1959 and is rated V/VI,5****.

We had heard that the first pitch was the crux at the moment with a lot of steep, sometimes dinnerplating ice followed by an ice chimney. 45 m of lactate producing climbing all the way to the belay.

Helen then led the second pitch with good snow ice...

... to belay half way up...

... and I led the third pitch to the Appolyon ledge. No evidence for a recent Crab Crawl. Helen then led what is normally the crux . It was stepped, the placements were good and Helen climbed very well...

... while I did the easy exit pitch to the sunny plateau. Here again Pinnacle Buttress and behind the fat Post face...

... and here a last shot of the Corrie before leaving the shade which made photographing routes impossible.

On the path there was evidence for large avalanches but today the whole place was well consolidated due to current freeze-thaw cycles.

Snorkeling the Dee & Poachers Fall

2010-03-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

Foreword: Have you recently seen a middle aged male snorkeling in the Dee? I hope you have not phoned the police as there is a benign explanation for this incident. It was Mr. D. of Aberdeen who was in the Dee due to problems with his elbow also known as 'tennis elbow'. The story goes: During the summer Mr. D. climbed a lot and unfortunately his elbow got sore and various treatments did not provide relief. So Mr. D. announced that he would miss the winter climbing season. What Mr. D. did not reckognise was that the 2009/2010 winter would be a once in a decade winter and even climbs that rarely form were in condition and climbed by his climbing partners. So Mr. D. became frustrated and threw his ice axes in the Dee after announcing this act in an e-mail to his climbing partners. The elbow, however, got better, the winter continued and Mr. D. changed his mind about not climbing and jumped into the Dee in order to recover his ice axes. The Scottish climbing fraternity notes with great delight that the axes were found and that Mr. D. is climbing once again!

Main text: Here is Brian approaching Poachers Fall V,5****, a now classic climb first climbed by Andy Nisbet and Richard McHardy in 1978, on Liathach.

Below is the bottom of the climb. Poachers Fall is on the right and Salmon Leap is the icefall on the left.

It had thawed on Saturday and we decided to start early allowing us to make best use of the cold temperatures and good ice.

I did pitch two starting with an ice step...

... followed by a steep icefall to a good belay...

... which Brian used to raise his low blood sugar by eating Soreen malt loaf. Nothing works better in winter!

The last pitch started with some mixed climbing...

... and the ice umbrella above can be avoided on the left. A little bit more of ice followed before reaching the easier upper snow field. We then descended out of the mist to be treated to a Torridonian spring view.

And from time to time we a bumslide.

Another brilliant day, this winter keeps on giving! And good to see that Brian is back in the ring!

Labyrinth Direct VII,6****

2010-02-21T11:49:00.001-08:00

The Dubh Loch as a winter cliff is not often in condition. It is at the moment and the word is round. Thus the Aberdeen crowd and those that are part of the inner circle of Scottish Winter climbing sneak in to do the classics and new routes. The highlight is Guy Robertson’s and Pete MacPherson’s first winter ascent of ‘King Rat’, renamed ‘Super Rat’ at IX,9, and Ross Hewitt’s ascent of the ‘Mousetrap’ with Tanya Noakes. Other prolific first ascentionists were also active on the cliff but I don't know the climbs they did. The classic of the crag, Labyrinth Direct, had been climbed at least twice, first by an unknown team and then by the Aberdonians Mark Mosgrove and Michael McGhie who also did Hanging Garden Route and Funeral Fall on the same day.

I had Saturday available and managed to recruit Curly Stevo Holmes and Robbie Miller. In order to beat the Aberdonians, who would surely also go for it, we walked in early and with good pace from Glen Clova...

... bagging Broad Cairn as a Munro ...

... to reach the bottom at 10.30 h-ish.

Robbie led pitches one to three which are easy angled snow after a tech3/4 entry and we spotted a team coming in from loch Muick. They were Ross Hewitt, Sandy Simpson and Neil Morrisson (who is the Michael Schumacher of Scottish winter climbing).

Stevo then started a tech 4/5 pitch to the belay in the cul de sac.

At the cul de sac we spent a long time cleaning the rock and got three pegs, a nut, a sling around an ice sheet and additionally attached ourselves to a rotten loop behind a thin flake. No single piece of gear was good but together it did the trick. When seeing the ice smear on the left wall I remembered words such as ‘30 ft of overhanging ice', or ‘An icicle broke off and touched nothing for 200 feet. Unique!’ from Andy Nisbet’s enthusiastic description in ‘Cold Climbs’. Stevo and Robbie took a lot of my gear, I was wearing my thin Marmot gloves, who were not that well insulated but had flexible, grippy leather, did not impair blood flow and were good for dealing with gear quickly. I racked the 13 cm and 16 cm ice screws on the right and the longer and super short ones on the left. After clipping the peg I placed my axes, kicked the frontpoints into the ice and climbed two moves to get my right foot on a flat hold and placed an ice 16 cm ice screw in the thickest ice. Pumped a bit already but a screw was in providing much needed safety.

The placements went in well but for one who has not been at Rjukan or in Cogne it is tricky. I managed to mainly use my technical brain whilst the emotional one kept quiet: ‘straight arms’, ‘aim for the concave bits’, ‘avoid bulges’, ‘relax’ and ‘short shake out’. The large ice umbrella some 10 m above came closer and closer until I could wedge myself into a gap on the side of the umbrella which allowed a semi rest but must have made the belayers nervous as they were standing below the umbrella.

Above the umbrella the ice is still tech 5 but it allows bridging and the mad exposure of the left wall gives way to the comfort of a gully. And then finally, some 20 m higher the ice ends and easier angled snow starts. Another 10 m above there was some decent rock gear and I climbed the loose snow up to the cornice. Unfortunately while on the not very solid cornice the 60 m rope went tight signalling that this was it. A delicate down climb to a belay point on the slope below followed. Robbie and Stevo climbed the pitch as it was getting dark and at the top Ross, a bit short on ice screws, helped with our communication. A long walk back to Glen Clova under a clear, starry sky followed to reach the car about 14 h after we left it.

A serious climb and the exposed ice on the left wall must be one of the best ice pitches in Scotland. We felt elated that we manged to pick this rare plum but I have no idea how Jim Bolton and Paul Arnold managed it during the early days of frontpointing in 1972, before wrist loops, as it says in Cold Climbs.
HW (some photos taken by Curly Stevo)

Hanging Garden Route & Funeral Fall

2010-02-10T15:53:00.001-08:00

Ross and I both managed to took a day off to go to the Dubh Loch to look at Vertigo Wall, a Nisbet and Robertson classic but the third pitch held almost no ice which, according to the guidebook, would be required.

After a short discussion we changed plan and walked to the bottom of to the Labyrinth with the aim to do the Hanging Garden Route, another Nisbet & Robertson climb at V,4***. Here we are gearing up ...

... and here is Ross on the first pitch.

Higher up we traversed into the Hanging garden, a snowfield surrounded by iced up cliffs.

Expect scenery but not much gear. Taking a deadman is a good idea.

From the belay a tech4 snow ice gully leads to a Nevis-style belay, not helped by the fact that we only took 5 ice screws of which two were the shortest stubbies available. But the climbing was easy due to the first time placements that we found most of the time. Here Ross is approaching the belay with the Dubh Loch below...

Ross then had the best pitch of the day going up an icy slab to an inverted triangular buttress.

Here Ross is climbing the slab.

The last pitch was an airy traverse and then a climb up to the corniced rim. However, the route had been climbed recently by Steve Addy and Helen Rennard among others and so we just needed to follow the footsteps. Besides, we had blue skies and it must be very different to do this route in the mist not knowing how the cornice can be breached. Here is Ross in the sun on a nearly windless plateau.

We then decided to do Funeral falls because I have little water ice experience while a lot of others had done ice over the Christmas period or have been to Riukan or the Alps. We walked under a 'Mackerel' sky...

... to climb the falls which are an excellent tech 4 ice pitch with good ice screw runners. Take more than 5 screws for maximum enjoyment.

Rjukan-style ice climbing.

Who needs the Alps if conditions are like that. It is a little disappointing that the ice was lacking on Vertigo Wall but we were more than compensated by Hanging Garden Route and Funeral Fall. Happy bunny day!

Finally, thanks to the three blokes who spent the night in the bothy and offered us water and whisky. It made the walk along loch Muick easier.

Moon Ice Jazz VI,7**

2010-01-31T13:52:00.001-08:00

Moon Ice Jazz VI,7** (first ascent, 31.1.2010)

Adam Henly, Robbie Miller, Henning Wackerhage

This climb is all about the second pitch.
Pitch 1. 45m. Climb the right side of the recess in-between the 'Sun Rock Blues' and 'Wiggle' buttresses to a good rock belay.
Pitch 2. 50 m. Climb left and then directly up the steep wall to the icefall above. Climb the icefall in an exposed position to reach easier ground. A stunning pitch.
Pitch 3. 50 m. Easy climbing to the top remains.

When we climbed Sun Rock Blues two weeks ago we noted that there was no climb in the recess to the right. We discussed trying it at the weekend but the forecast suggested snow and a strong NW wind which meant avalanche danger. Adam, Robbie and I went nonetheless, ready to change plan if required. We were rewarded with an icy Clova and no avalanche danger as it hadn't snowed. Here is Adam walking towards the rising sun...

... and here is Robbie at the bottom belay. A lot of snow had thawed but with two and a half days of sub zero temperatures icicles and ice were everywhere, the neve was decent, the turf perfect and high on our route was an icefall.

Here the first pitch looking up with Robbie taking the photos...

... and here looking down the first pitch with Adam climbing.

Here a wee rest before pitch 2.

Pitch 2 is the crux pitch. Left on neve and then all of a sudden the wall to the icefall. It was steep from the word 'go', bomber placements on turf and ice, torques in icy cracks and steep moves with often little for the feet. Neve on the mini ledges which had to be partially cleared to get a bomber placement in the turf below. A nut here, a peg, hex, warthog, sling around a wee flake, all in strenous positions. Technical mixed climbing and just enough gear to keep going. Then in an exposed position 10 m of tech 4/5 water ice to reach the easy climbing, a decent hex and a photo of the climb below. Spot Adam and Robbie belaying. It was as steep as it looks. A stunning pitch.

I found a half decent belay and now that the tension was gone I became careless and sent my Nikon D300 all the way down the hill. It is not a nice view to see an expensive SLR in an Ortlieb bag first slowy and then quicker and quicker racing down a neve slope to disappear at high speed.

Adam and Robbie battled up the pitch and at the top we agreed that this was a sizeable step up from the tech 6s we had climbed. The last pitch was grade 1 and when arriving at the floor of the corrie Adam found my camera which, despite a long fall, still worked as if nothing had happened. Buy Nikon!

We met in the Clova Hotel which is recommended http://www.clova.com/ and started to think about names. 'The Clova mix', 'Clova mixer', 'Clova trauma' and 'Clova allsorts' were mentioned but did not made it into the final round. 'Nikon killer' seemed good but as I hadn't managed to actually kill it we decided on 'Moon Ice Jazz' as 'Sun Rock Blues' was the line next to it. We were sure about tech 7 but unsure whether a route with one money pitch deserved an overall grade of VI. However, pitch 2 is sustained and strenuous and the gear is sometimes hard won and it felt harder than Stirling bomber. Adam also thought that grade VI would be a 'health warning' so we settled for that. Stars? If there were three pitches similar to the second then it would be an oustanding route. But there weren't. So no, one or two stars? We thought it was worth two because pitch 2 is inescapable once committed and the climbing and the positions are excellent especially with the 10 m icefall, a truly mixed pitch, not just snowed up rock. Hopefully it'll get another ascent and then we'll know whether it is overgraded, overstarred and overhyped.

No off day: Sun rock blues direct IV,6

2010-01-17T14:49:00.000-08:00

To be honest, it could have been an off day: The freezing level was reported to be at 700 m rising to 1200 m, precipitation and a southwesterly wind were forecast and so I warned Adam Henly, Arno Alpi and Tim Chappel that we may end up doing a walk. Also I suggested to go to Glen Clova to avoid a long drive for little or no climbing. In the glen winter corrie, which can be seen from the road, looked very good and it still looked very good higher up.

Arno and Tim enjoyed the day doing some gullies (photo by Arno)...

...whereas Adam and I opted for a buttress route. We decided to do Sun Rock Blues IV,5 instead of Wild Cat Wall where Brian Duthie and Sandy Sampson had added a tech 7 direct variant last year. We decided against Wild Cat Wall because the headwall caught the sun and we were worried about icefall. Here is Adam approaching the wee buttress of Sun Rock Blues (left and above of him).

We did a more direct version of Sun Rock Blues at probably IV,6 which is shown in red whereas the original route is shown in blue.

The corner system at the start was was steeper than it seemed at first glance. Here is a photo of the start taken by Adam. Note the sling around the root...

The right hand side of the buttress led to a desperate overhang with little for feet and axes and I thought that this was way too tricky for tech 5. Here I am reversing the climb up to the overhang. The photo was taken by Arno...

... this photo, again taken by Arno, shows the position of the climb dwarfing me whilst switching to plan B.

A traverse to the left allowed to climb a less difficult line to a belay below a blocky chimney. Due to taking the wrong way and due to the large amount of snow the whole pitch took ages but Adam did well seconding. Pitch two started with a lovely, blocky, well protected chimney followed by a 20 m runout on steep turf before a good hex runner belay. Adam took a photo of me in the blocky chimney...

... Arno took one of Adam belaying at the bottom of the chimney and me climbing the turf above...

... and I took one of Adam while he was approaching the belay.

The third pitch of the original route traverses left and then up to avoid the steep ground above but we didn't bother to read the guidebook as we remembered that the tricky climbing was supposed to end on pitch 3. So I took a steep, turfy ramp more on the right using a sling around a couple of icicles as the only piece of protection. A rock wall at the top blocked progress and the options were an exposed traverse to the right or an overhanging corner above and possibly something on the left. I got a good hex below the overhang and a good nut that would protect the inital moves. There were some small footholds on the prow on the left and the wall on the right and at the top there seemed decent turf so that the way through looked like wild but doable climbing. I started by laybacking off a hook in a crack and a turf placement to place one foot high and managed to get into a back and foot position before pulling over into a turfy groove and then towards easier ground above. An excellent pitch with an airy, exciting crux which is probably tech 6 straightening out the original climb and adding a crux. Probably a well over the top description but we enjoyed it! Adam did very well to climb this pitch. He then quickly led through to the plateau.

Unexpectedly a very good day for all of us even although the amount of snow made the climb both look pretty but slow to climb. It didn't snow over night and the existing snow was well bonded so that there was no avalanche danger (it would change quickly if it snows). The wee variation is worthwhile for those that have extra energy to spare. With cold nights the turf should probably stay frozen for quite a while because there is plenty of snow to insulate it.
HW

Once in a blue moon

2009-12-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

Here it is: the ´Once in a blue moon´ buttress taken with a long exposure.

An esoteric, eight pitch gem requiring a long drive and walk in. [Well, that was a bit of a smokescreen because the climb is actually in Glen Esk] Here is the first pitch, a turfy, vegetated ramp.

The second pitch leads up to a corner with a smooth slab on the right and a difficult top out on dry turf under powder. But bashing the vegetation means that after a while it turns into gardener's questiontime!

The third pitch was my turn. A short traverse into an exposed, steep, shallow chimney. The rock was friable and it took ages to place two cams to protect the traverse and to get established in the chimney. At this stage I let my axes dangle on the spring leashes and climbed the steep bit with hands and crampons. A good hold turned out to be a loose block but it was past the point of return and I tried to focus on the job in hand rather than to worry about breaking holds and airmiles. The pump increased but holds just large enough to hang on and just solid enough not to fall out. Finally I got my axes into good turf onto an easier angled slope. Pitch four was a tricky traverse and a short and sharp step up a steep wall and then snowed up heather to a tree belay. Here is the steep, short wall.

Pitch five was a deceptively hard slab. After trying a thin hook I bashed my axe into a tuft of turf on the righ, hooked an arrete with the left axe and bridged over to a small foothold. Still laybacking I found a small hook on the arete that allowed to step up and to find better turf placements to finish the problem. Nice, technical climbing and good to learn from the pros. Here is the belay below the slab which we climbed with headtorches.

The last three pitches were easier climbing under deep powder to the top. We topped out under a blue moon, a 13th full moon in the year. Very grateful for being given the opportunity to be part of this adventure but I am ready for a Lanzarotean deck chair now!

No Blue Skies rematch (sort of)

2009-12-22T14:30:00.001-08:00

The morning started with a lot of snow in Aberdeen and Mark and I would not have started if the Scottish road webcams did not show free roads after Aberdeen. We found a very wintry Loch Morlich ...

... and Sneachda was a winter wonderland. Here climbers on Jacobs ladder and the slant.

No wind but it was cold. We decided to try a rematch on 'No Blue Skies' VI,7 because Brian and I had to walk off after pitch 2 earlier in the year due to darkness. Today the cliff was buried under sometimes good but mostly cruddy neve and ice. It was time consuming to find any protection and the climbing was sometimes bold and often very delicate. Here is Mark on pitch 2...

... me on belay duty ...

... and here Mark on pitch 3.

The crux move was on a flake and all the good hooks were covered by ice blobs or cruddy neve. Nothing to do a slightly overhanging move. Mark gave up after 30 min and I had a go. After a bit more gardening I found a very good hook but only for one axe and it was unclear whether the neve above would hold the cruxial second pull to get established on the upper slabs. It was 15.45 h and the climbers next to us had just finished The Melting Pot V,7. I decided to ask for a top rope (abuse now please!), did the move and found that the neve above was actually decent. Mark seconded quickly and when he arrived at the top it was already dusk.

Finlay and his mate climbed The Melting Pot and found the going tough as well. Here is them on the first pitch...

... and here is Finlay doing the crux move through the notch in the overhang. A great effort.

Conclusion: tough conditions, slow going. It should be considerably easier with either better neve or with much less of it. But the day was excellent even if the rematch wasn't perfect!
HW

Creag an Dubh Loch conditions

2009-12-21T10:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my climbing partner had to pull out and I just went to the Dubh Loch for a look. The roads were fine; less snow than reported elsewhere. First, a photo of a tame local deer.

The Dubh loch cliff didn't look very white and should be better for mixed than for ice.

I walked up central gully to have a look at Vertigo wall. There seems to be enough ice on the third pitch and there is a line to it as well. Not sure about what follows after that. It should be climable on turf and ice but is by no means plastered.

Labyrinth wasn't formed and Yeti and hanging garden did not really look in. However, Bower buttress on the left seemed OK.

To the left of central gully there is an iceline (Minotaur?) which looked quite good.

On the way back I passed funeral falls which is well formed and should be excellent ice practice.

Gargoyle wall: reality check

2009-12-17T14:55:00.000-08:00

The last time I visited the Ben for a winter route was in 2007 when the ice was thick, the sun was shining and hard, scary routes became easy. After a couple of good Patey routes I thought that Ben Nevis mixed would be a good idea and the recent Crocket & Richardson Nevis book put plenty of oil into the flames. So James and I decided to give it a bash on Thursday. The idea of maybe trying the stunning Darth Vadar as a first VII,7 was quickly abandoned when we saw the dark, steep creature. Also the cold, wind and iced up cracks made Darth say 'come, try me for a wee epic' in-between the deep pneumonic breaths.

So we went for Gargoyle wall VI,6*** as an alternative. Here is James approaching the cliffs. Darth Vadar is the off with on the right of number 3 gully and the gargoyle of Gargoyle wall is potruding on the left wall.

Here is another photo of Gargoyle wall coming down number 3 gully after the climb. The wide crack at the top belongs to Babylon VII,8.

I started pitch one and found it awkward, being more used to Cairngorms granite than to the iced up rock on the Ben. A step to a large ledge proved to be difficult as I did not yet trust the Nevis snow ice and the dodgy gear. At one stage I considered jumping in the style of Sylvester Stallone but then cut a step and went across. In contrast, James, who is more used to Nevis ice cruised it and then climbed the second pitch while I did the third one. Here is James following with big exposure.

The fourth pitch is the definate crux. All the holds and gear slots were covered with ice and James did a fantastic job staying on, getting some mostly dodgy gear in. It was a serious, thin lead and I struggled even to second the pitch because it is steep, there are few positive hooks never mind torques. The guidebook said it is 'memorable'. Here is James while I was standing below right in the line of fire. Needless to say, I was grateful that he didn't come off.

The fifth pitch was a groove with good neve but hardly any gear. I got a bit used to the Nevis neve at that stage and climbed better than at the beginning. Here is me starting the groove on a photo taken by James Richardson before his camera gave up!

Finally after an airy traverse on steep neve I ended up on the easy finishing ramp of number 3 buttress. A long way down followed. We saw still two parties in Green gully and the second must have become benighted. But a gully is better than a face route after dark.

Conclusions? Definately not used to iced/hoared up Ben Nevis mixed. It is scary and I prefer the granite of Carn Etchachan or Beinn a Bhuird which is more positive. But the Ben is the real thing...
HW

Patey III: Mitre ridge V,6****

2009-11-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

Tom Patey needs no introduction to British climbers and certainly not to a climber working for the University of Aberdeen. Patey and his co-climbers achieved an increase in technical ability and combined with their apparent willingness to suffer in style (winter climbs without gloves) it allowed them to climb the long, striking lines that were beyond the previous generation. Winter was where Patey excelled and three climbs stand out for me: Scorpion, Eagle Ridge and Mitre ridge. They are long, sustained routes and in the 2008/2009 season I tried to do all three. I failed when Ryan and I decided after a 7 h walk in with blizzards, white outs, deep powder and a bad northerly gale not to climb Mitre ridge and returned at the bottom of the climb.

The 2009/2010 season started in late November and the weather forecast looked good enough for the 27th of November. Robbie, with whom I had drytooled two weekends as Newtyle and climbed minus one direct in summer, was also happy to do Mitre ridge as his first winter climb. I got up at 3 am, picked up Robbie at 3.30 am and we started to cycle in at 7 am. It was well below zero and there was ice on the path. At 7 we saw that Beinn a Bhuird was covered with lots of snow from 700 m upwards allowing us to cycle nearly to the point where a rougher path ascends to the Sneck. The winds were less than forecast and we walked into Garbh Choire and through deep powder to arrive at a very white Mitre ridge at 9.30 am. Here is Robbie entering the corrie...

... and here he approaches the start of the climb.

Pitch 1 was a 50 m chimney line at tech 4/5. The turf wasn't frozen but it was mainly hooking the broken granite under a lot of powder. Here is me approaching the shoulder on the impressive West face that is hidden on the approach. Cumming Crofton is the large open book corner to the right and Slochd wall, the new winter desperate even further right.

We climbed the short crux wall direct. There were only small potrusions for the front point and marginal hooks. I ensured to keep the front points in position, gently stepped up and after a breathhold found a reasonable hook and stepped up. The easy looking slabs, a hackfest if neve is present, were tenuous, often poorly protected and slow because a lot of powder had to be removed. Here is Robbie lost in a white void.

The belay was a corner with two reassuring pegs that showed that we were on the right line and to the left was the splintered chimney. The traverse on deep powder on slabs seemed trickier than the chimney itself which had meaty hooks and good gear. Here is me climbing the splintered chimney.

Above the turf was frozen but finding the turf under the powder was another matter because only the longest blades of grass were visible. A steep corner followed and then a traverse on a half-foot wide ledge to a run out, delicate, diagonal line to another corner and then a good belay behind two rocks. It was 14.30 h and because it would start to get dark at 15.30 h we decided not to do Bell's variation but ascended the Tower on the Eastern side to reach the belay above the very steep West wall. For the final ridge I ran the rope to the left and right of the mini towers instead of gear and then made another delicate traverse to the col. Here is Robbie belaying above Bell's variation.

I agreed Robbie to just walk off onto the plateau making sure not to pull too hard so that Robbie would not be pulled off one of the Towers.

After a cookie or two we descended quickly. Because of our previous 7 h whiteout adventure I bought a GPS with a 1:50,000 Scotland OS map on we walked down knowing our exact position on the map every minute. Mountain bikes and GPS, I wonder what Patey would made of it all and how much it reduces the overall effort for the climb but the GPS made it safer with the map and compass as a back up. We reached the car at 18.30 h, Dundee at 20.00 h with Robbie having done a very special first winter climb!

Glen Affric in autumn

2009-10-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Autumn is the last time to take in colours before winter comes with its long nights and often it is a time of good weather. This year Ana, Christian and I went to Glen Affric where birches are yellow colour spots among caledonian pines.

We camped on the car park and it was below zero over night. In the morning cobwebs were marked by dew...

... and we walked up loch Affric and then up the hillside through heather & bog to Carn Glas lochdarach (771 m) on the Southern side of Glen Affric. Towards the East it was a bit hazy and so the photos do not bring out the colours. Here is Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin which is South of Loch Affric...

... and here a more wide angle view.

To the North and West there were deep blue skies and the warm colours of the grass on the Glen Affric (North) and Glen Shiel (West) Munros with Loch Affric and the river Affric below in the Glen.

We took plenty of shots...

... with various objects in the foreground...

... which slowed our descent but the weather was stable and it was warm.

We walked beyond the end of the loch and crossed the river at Athanamulloch and then returned on the north side of the glen in a warm evening light...

... and unfortunately the sun disappeared behind the hills before we could take photos of the birches and other autumn trees lining the various lochs.

Only a 20 s exposure shot of the stream connecting loch Affric with the lower loch.

A long journey back with sheeps on the road, a curry in Elgin and an irritating contact lens.

How to advertise Scotland

2009-10-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

I think I could work for the Scottish tourism office because I seem to advertise Scotland a lot. So Oli, with whom I studied, and Sebastian, a friend of Oli, took the bait and came over to a cold and rainy Scotland on Friday. Gales but drier conditions were forecast for Saturday and this is how it looked at Clashrodney...

...where we climbed Chester...

... and then Capitol wall.

Oli, father of three, kept his head down and went fishing instead of climbing but finally our brainwashing worked and he had a go at the Hairline as his first climb and also did Capitol wall afterwards.

Here is us topping out traumatised after a spicy solo.

We followed the coastal route via Dunnotar castle...

... and had our desert storm on Lunan bay.

On Sunday we hit 100 balls each at the driving range at St. Andrews and afterwards I had a wee jog at Clova and spotted these climbers doing ZigZag double direct E2 5c. One of my favourite routes.

Another good weekend. Scotland has a lot going for it and I'll carry on singing hymns of praise!

Minus one direct

2009-09-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Due to weekend commitments, poor weather and many other excuses I only got one multi-pitch route done this year which was Inbred right at the beginning. A good forecast for the 12/13th of September gave hope for the Cuillin ridge but then the forecast changed for Skye but was good for the Ben. Minus One Direct E1 5b**** was what Robbie and I independently came up with and so on Saturday at 6.30 am sharp we walked in from the North Face car park.

The route consists of 10 pitches and here Robbie is starting the climb proper with a 4b pitch.

Two other teams were behind us. A couple from Edinburgh (you fancy a wee climb darling?) and two seasoned campaigners from Glasgow, Neil Adams and Ross Barnes while Andy Inglis managed to climb a wet Centurion. Here are the teams below.

Well I managed to get onto a wet and scary 4c pitch while the other teams avoided this pitch on the right. Apart from that the route was dry. As we got higher the exposure increased with Zero gully below.

The minus buttresses and Orion faces are the largest rock face in the UK. The photo below gives an impression of the Alpine atmostphere.

The first 5b pitch was led smoothly by Robbie and it is very soft for 5b and I had no problems climbing it with a rucksack. The following 5a pitch was much trickier with an akward layback mini-dyno. If you are short: good luck! After that a 4c pitch followed by the airy 5b crux traverse below an overhang onto a tiny pedestal above a lot of air. Here is Neil Adams placing a good nut, the best piece of gear on the traverse...

... and here Neil on joining the mini stance.

From there on climbing got progressively easier with a 4c crack towards the great terrace...

... before a 4b pitch and then a final four pitch romp up Northeast buttress.

Here Robbie is on the Mantrap probably 4b (start the UKC post now) but traditionally Vdiff (but can be avoided).

Well, a good end to a season with a good start and nothing in-between. Fourteen pitches of climbing.

Searching for new routes in Knoydart

2009-09-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

After a 12 h+ session on Saturday we drove to the end of loch Arkaig, camped and got up at 6.30 am in order to search for first ascents in Knoydart. On the walk in I spotted what seemed a decent crag high up (there is no lack of outcrops in Knoydart) and after more than half an hour of steep bogwalking we saw an unprotected, vegetated, short, uninspiring slab. So we carried on walking...

... higher up we spotted the Old Man of Knoy, two blocks of snappy rock and thought about a first ascent. But being old (40+), wise (a rescue would take probably over half a day) and a bit of a chicken we decided against an attempt. Soon after we passed a slightly overhanging, 10 m high crag. But when having a try a flake of a size of a fridge moved and all first ascent dreams were put on ice. Nice views though!

After hours and hours of walking we saw this 15 m high crackline and went to have a look. The right hand wall was soaking and the crack is two fists wide (we brought no gear for that) with a dodgy top out. Again, old and wise.

Finally the cliff that I had spotted on an earlier trip. Over 100 m wide, up to 30 m high, great lines but vegetated, crumbly, wet. Where is Mick Fowler when you need him? Or global warming?

Again, nice views. The Isle of Eigg in the Atlantic.

On the way down we passed a sizeable boulder and had to do something. We managed to get up a V0/1 boulder problem, termed the Knoydartonian. Here is the video on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MEPMSc#play/all/uploads-all/0/TteI83kDlgk
HW

Angus Sport

2009-08-31T05:50:00.000-07:00

Trad climbing rules in Scotland but good quality sport climbing often in abandoned quarries emerges in various areas. A Scottish Sport climbing guidebook has been proposed for many years now but it is still in the making. When it comes to well bolted sport routes at a level that most punters can climb (French5-6c) with often better weather than in the rest of Scotland then Angus is the place to go. Here Neil Shepherd, Ken Edwards & Co have bolted the Abroath sea cliffs and Angus quarries. Because of poor weather forecasts, time limitations and not much practice Robin and I have spent the last three weekends sportclimbing at Kirrie Hill, Robs Read and in Legaston Quarry climbing from 5+ up to the softest ever 7a published in a guidebook (well, I could do it). Here are some photos and comments about the venues.

Robs Reed (closed from 1st of September for 2 months due to rutting season [the deer, not the climbers, are rutting])
The wall on the right is a mixture of usually solid, crimpy sandstone at the bottom with wall of pebble conglomerate above. Right at the top it can be a bit lose and a couple of pebbles usually fall down during a climbing session. So belayers should either wear a helmet and/or be alert. The following photo shows the main wall.

My two favourites at Robs Reed are ‘High Voltage’ and ‘Squeal like a piggy’. They are hard to get as an onsight because like with many routes hereabouts the holds are hard to find and read.

High voltage 6b+: A series of thin, crimpy moves on the sandstone lower bit leads to the break and a good rest. After a good rest climb the easier but steep crack on not obvious holds to the lower off. An Angus sport climbing classic.

Squeal like a piggy 6b: A thin start to a layback hold, followed to a series of crimps before a reach to a hold ends the hard bit. The crimps are hard to see from below. But it is still hard for 6b once you have worked the moves. The following two pictures show Pete Trugdill working the crimps...

...and finding the jug, belayed by Jackie.

Kirrie Hill
This is all red sandstone, a bit lose but there are nearly 60 sport routes mainly 5-6b, so a perfect vertical mileage venue for 6a-6c climbers but there is plenty for beginners but little for the >7a men and women.

Legaston
One or the earliest venues to be bolted in Scotland. There are fewer routes but plenty of 5a’s to 6c’s. The grades are pretty good value here and also in Robs Reed while Kirrie is a bit softer. My personal favourite is the ‘flight of the Mad Magician’, a 6b with a fantastic crux followed by long reaches.

Sandy on Islander E3 5c, Whisky cliff

2009-08-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

Many weekend trips got Sandy and Brian into very good climbing shape and on Tuesday they climbed for the second time on the rather obscure Whisky cliff on the Aberdeen coast. Brian climbed an E3 6a but got pumped, lowered down and handed the controls to young Sandy.

Sandy then took on Islander E3 5c. The initial bit is balancy and above a ledge the climbing is steep, pumpy and quite technical. Sandy battled hard to get the gear in but managed to continue to climb smoothly to an easier bit just below the grassy top out.

Here is Brian seconding without a problem...

... and here a view of the Whisky cliff and the North Sea at Aberdeen.

Yesterday I also got again a trad session at Clashrodney with Adam and we went for mileage doing Birthday treat E1 5a, Gorgon VS 5a, Cairngorm Club's other crack HVS 5a, Streetwise E2 5b (never 5c) and Schoolboy Alcoholic VS 4c. Adam battled hard and it is good to get going again.

Sandy and Brian were also there and Sandy looked a bit wet due to a hold breaking on sun(water?) lovers traverse. It is a solo traverse thankfully with water below. My personal conclusion: deep water soloing = maybe, soloing = no (it is not only Bachar who ended up as a pile of meat and bones on the bottom of a cliff).

HW
HW

Cumming Crofton on wet rock

2009-07-26T23:48:00.000-07:00

Last week Roger came up from Oxford and after a rainy midweek we were looking forward to a decent forecast on Saturday and walked in to spend the night in the secret howff.

We left some of our stuff in the howff and just after 7 am we were plodding towards the sneck on a very good path. It is very different than in winter under powder in the darkness!

Unfortunately it was showery and thus we walked up Ben Avon first rather than going straight down to Mitre ridge.

We then descended into Garbh Coire and there were plenty of wet streaks and almost the whole of our planned route seemed wet. So we went for the Cumming Crofton route instead, a classic severe and VI,6 in winter. The line is the large corner on the west face that is approached by a somewhat hidden access chimney.

Here is me setting off on cold rock soon with numb fingers...

... and here is Adam following and getting over the large rock blocking the chimney.

Here we start the second pitch (if you can spot us) which was for 20 m on soaking, slimy rock. The corner is a drainage line and after a wet week this came as no surprise.

We finished by Bell's variation by a traverse onto the exposed West face. We needed 2 h for the whole route. During that time Roger did the Beinn a Bhuird tops and we were lying for 1 h in the sun and started to panic because Roger was nowhere to be seen. At the time when we were about to leave Roger appeared and we made our way back to the howff. Here are the Eastern corries of Beinn a Bhuird with some decent climbs...

... and here we are on our way down.

Portlethen problems

2009-06-19T04:46:00.001-07:00

Yesterday evening showers were forecast but it was dry and windy resulting in very good friction. Here are some of the easier Porty problems including some slabs. There is potential for some good slab surfing!

Sandwood bay: bouldering away from it all

2009-06-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

Sandwood bay is simply one of the most beautiful places on this planet. It can be reached by a 8 km walk from Blairmore. At the Northern end of the beach there are some Gneiss crags which are OK for some trad but very good for bouldering over sand landings. It is the rock at the end of the beach.

I went with a friend and did four problems between V0-V2/3. I am not experienced at grading this stuff but here is a wee video showing the beach and the problems.

If they are have no name then I propose Sandwood Babe, Sandwood Barbie, Sandwood Bertha & Sandwood b**** but they have probably been climbed many times before and have a name in the head of those that have done them.
HW

Electric blue and a Scottish VS

2009-05-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

Despite a 'showers' forecast Adam, John and I went to Craig Stirling. It is up to 30 m high and the venue of the Aberdeen Deep Water Soloing festival. Take a parachute and a dry suit.

John was happy to belay me on Electric blue E1 5a** on the left hand side of the West buttress (the buttress on the right). Here is a short video...

It started on barnacles and wet rock, definately a turn off for me...

... but the rock was dry higher up with some great climbing and sufficient protection. The finish was steep...

... and I struggled at times a bit to find the holds...

... before topping out. Btw. Adam took the photos. John was the first to second and raced up itbeing in top form at the moment.

But Adam won the price of the evening for, to my knowledge, his first clean ascent of an E1. Brilliant effort! After that John fancied a no star VS that makes even distinguished veterans of the art shudder. It all starts with an innocent corner up to a ledge...

... but then there is a leaning crack requiring an awkard mantleshelf at the top onto a ledge with no space above due to the leaning wall above. Invariably even stylish performers end up in a 'Venus of Urbino' position (the wrong way round though). Compare http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_Urbino with John. I did the same whereas Adam had a power grunt, a rest and then attacked it frontally.

After that a crumbly top out to give it a good Scottish VS.

This little cutie is definately recommended as a first VS lead!

Solace at the Luath stones

2009-05-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

After several phonecalls there was still no outdoors climbing partner and at the pass of Ballater the hoped for climbing partners were not there. So I went to the Luath stones for solace and did a few of the easier problems shown in the wee clip below.

Clashrodney practice

2009-05-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I had a wee training session at Clashrodney to screw my leading head back on. We did Birthday treat E1 5a, Capitol wall VS 4b, Gorgon VS 5a and Chester VS 4c.

Above is a video of Birthday treat just before the midway ledge and below one of the starting moves on Gorgon. Both climbs are classics of the crag.

Jock's road, four Munros & the old chateau

2009-05-04T05:14:00.000-07:00

Declan Lunny is a friend who used to work in Dundee but who moved to Singapore a couple of years back. We had some good mountaineering sessions together before his move (buy him a Guiness and you might be lucky to hear them) and every year we meet up to add a walk. On Saturday Ana and I picked up Declan but also Celine, another friend of ours, and we drove to Glen Clova. We walked up Jock's road...

... to a shelter which is marked on the 1:50,000 OS map. Here is Declan enjoying a well deserved rest.

We left some gear and did four Munros, first Tom Buidhe and Tolmont (Declan shown at the summit of the latter)...

... follwed by Cairn Bannoch and Broad Cairn. Still snow left in the high Cairngorms and happy bunnies on the plateau (spot the bunny on the picture below). A 330 ml Glenmorangie oxygen bottle helped us to cope with the effects of altitude.

We returned to the shelter which we had renamed 'the old chateau' and had a three course dinner. It consisted of Spanish lomo as a starter, pasta with aubergine pesto as a main course and caramel cookies as a desert. This was complemented with a good selection of beers, French wine and the remaining oxygen. Prof. Lunny then gave an account of his harrowing experiences in the most hostile places on Earth. The ladies nearly fainted when hearing of the various acts of gallantry on steep North faces or on the oceans of this planet.

BBC Scotland had heard of the presence of the distinguished Prof. and conducted an inverview in the morning:

We then parted with the bonny place and walked down Jock's road.

Bank holiday weekend, Meackie point, Promontory wall and Huntly's cave

2009-05-04T00:54:00.000-07:00

With three days off work and the weather forecasters giving a poor outlook for the West coast, it looked best to stay local and explore the crags on the coast that take time to find, time we never really get in an evening. Paul, Chris, Matt and myself headed north to Meackie point. A steep compact Granite crag with nothing below HVS this is well worth a visit.

Paul and Chris started on the classic Killing moon, E1 5b***. Whilst i took Matt up an equally good HVS called Flurry. Well worth the 3 stars it receives. Having not climbed for a couple of months Matt had a tough time on this steep line, thought I'm sure he gave it his best. Paul then jumped on the un-starred Water margin E1 5a, taking the corner/groove direct making it 5b, and stating it was tough and deserved stars.

Feeling slightly guilty on Matt's behalf i suggested we go somewhere more friendly. Paul suggested Promontory wall, not far up the road.

There's a sea level traverse of the wall described in the guide book as 'a fine excursion'. Being only a Severe with a couple of stars I thought this would bee a good one for Matt to second. I had trouble finding the start proper so started it on an over hanging wall, harder than Severe i was sure I'd gone wrong somewhere. Easy traversing fallowed on slabby ground with jugs and good gear. Matt wasn't too keen on the direct line I'd taken (and the possibility of getting wet!) so backed off and called it a day. Paul was up for it, i needed to get my gear back anyway!

This is Paul starting the traverse, which is slightly overhanging and tricky. We both agreed it was about HVS 4c.

good fun was to be had.

this one shows Paul on the tricky 'crux' of the proper route.

Chris hadn't led yet and had his eye on toe cap, VS 4b*. After abbing in I set up the rope to get some shots of Chris dispatching another VS. The photo above shows him climbing the tricky hanging groove.

Sole fusion, E1 5b**, is the only E1 here and the i didn't fancy the E2 as it looks bold as brass! Not really my cup of tea at the moment. This one proved tricky to start. Once on it though (after much swearing and shouting), steep climbing with good gear led me to a flake crack on an exposed position.

Chris being about 10 stone lighter than me seconded this without even breaking a sweat!

We called it day after this as the threat of more showers loomed. With the moisture in the air a rainbow formed near Boddam light house and gave me the opportunity to capture a bonny photo.

Sunday started clear and dry so after a short phone call with Chris we decided that Hunly's cave would be a good choice for the day. I'd been told a couple of horror stories from local climbers about a route here called Pete's wall and thus was keen to go have a look and see what all the fuss was about.

This is a steep schist crag with big roofs and routes across the board crossing improbable ground. Chris started on cave route, HS 4b***. He led it all in one pitch with good rope work to reduce drag this is a fine pitch up a corner and out under a roof to the chimney crack and thus the top is gained.

Chris led this in fine style, though I'm sure he'd easily fit in to the crack at the top and body jam up!

Next up was the classic of the crag, Double overhang HVS 5b***. A steep wide chimney blocked by two roofs provides exiting and tricky climbing that sometimes resembles karma sudra and yoga mixed. On good gear the roofs are cleared in the least elegant way.

After a short lunch break I was keen to give Pete's wall a go. Getting ready below it i was nervous, two good climbers from Aberdeen had already failed on this one recently. The climbing started off ok, not too hard. A couple of moves and I was under the roof, the so called crux, getting the gear well placed, I shook out and tried the long move. It didn't go at first. Along way up for a shortie. Putting my feet higher I made the long reach up to the hold and rocked over, placed a couple of good cams had a wee shake out and moved right on good but flat holds, getting pumped with every move. Then the rain started. I was near the top, pumped stupid and struggling to hold on with the rock now getting damp. I somehow managed to get back to the cams and had a rest as the rain poured, I lowered off, stripping all the gear, disappointed at being so close.

It took a short while for the crag to dry after the rain stopped. We waited, I was confident now I could bag this and was reluctant to leave with my tail between my legs. This time the climbing was fluid, no nervousness. I reached the cams and my high point in no time, moved up and back down, now getting pumped. I made a good nut placement under the final wall, giving me confidence to push on to the top with some yelping and shouting on the way!

This shot shows Chris on the 'good' rest above the roof.

And this one is Chris on the final wall, gritting his teeth, working thought the pump.

Traverses for training

2009-04-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Little time, no money and no endurance? Traverses are the solution. Here are two: a crimpy one at the Fraser Noble building and a pumpy one at Dyke's cliff.

1) Fraser Noble traverse: Chalky spots mark a traverse on often tiny crimps. It is about F6b.

The building is located on the Old Aberdeen campus (building 14): http://www.abdn.ac.uk/central/vcampus/kings/index.shtml

2) Dyke's cliff traverse. The second traverse is at Dyke's cliff at Newtonhill. From the car park walk directly down on steep grass and approach the cliff from the right. It is an overhanging wall with big, now chalky holds all the way. A slimy puddle towards the end focusses the mind. About F6a. It is usually possible after rain.

Weekend of excitement Diabaig

2009-04-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

The weather was looking fine and settled for the weekend, Paul was free and I couldn't be bothered with work, so we decided to head to a crag on the West coast that we had both been wanting to visit for a while, Daibaig. This steep slabby Gneiss cliff was developed my Andy Nisbet and Co. In the '80s and '90s. Not much for any climber operating under VS, most of the routes are of HVS/E1 grade, with a couple of E2s to go at.

We started the day on Route two a ****HVS. The first pitch containing a slabby crux move and the second a crack with some difficult over a bulge. Feeling confident I put forward the idea of giving Norhtunberland wall a pop. Described as top of the grade at E2 5c, I doubted it would be a pushover, it looks hard. We drew grass and I drew the short piece thus lost. Climbing was good, a couple of hard moves and the crux was reached. The way ahead wasn't obvious so i tried a couple of ways up then decided I had to go. Pulling up I lost footing and slipped with the rope around my foot wipping me upside down wondering what happened! Paul lowered me down, pulled through the ropes and gave it a bash himself, getting no further than me though giving it a good bash all the same.

Not wanting to let the fall get to me (and we had gear to retrieve!) we jumped on to Black streak, E1 5c. Paul led the crux crack well and I had a bold slabby start to the second pitch to contend with, good for getting the head back together.

Time was getting on so we headed down to the Pillar, E2 5b****. Paul led this in good style, no faffing with gear and not too much shouting! The upper part of this pitch is 5b move after 5b sometimes running out but never desperate.

We called it a day after that and enjoyed a couple of beers and a BBQ at the campsite where I got a fire going.

Sunday started even warmer. We met two climbers from Aberdeen that we knew, Jakie and Pete. Jakie was having fun on a severe. We headed out to look at Con con , HVS 5b, in the sun. Delicate crack climbing then a tricky flake topped with a slab made good climbing in 30m. This felt tricky on lead.

Route three, E1 5b, was next in line. Vegetated climbing led up to a traverse with a technical move took me to the scoop and some slabby climbing lay ahead. A grit style crack loomed above I had the crux so this should have been easy(ish). Not so, Paul climbed it well pulling off a Jack Russle (on leg) move after admitting that 'this is bloody painful'.

I was keen to lead the Pillar even though I seconded it the day before. I thought it would be a good idea for getting my head back in shape. It was, the climbing proved to be much more enjoyable on lead. A great route to end a fantastic, though painful, weekend.

Harry & Hammer

2009-04-20T02:05:00.001-07:00

On Saturday the 18th of April Stevo and I went to the Etive slabs to do Hammer HVS ***. On the way down the glen I got a few shots of the locals...

... and at the bottom of the glen Harry Potter & Co. occupied all the parking spaces in order to shoot another Episode of Harry Potter saga. The Cockney film folk were quite nice though and allowed us to walk through to the Etive slabs. Here is a look from the slabs on the Potter folk (put some new contact lenses in; there are lots of 4x4's in the glen near the start of the loch).

The Etive slabs are at an easy angle but with few jugs and usually not much protecion. Here's an old photo from when we did Spartan Slab, a **** classic. When we arrived on Saturday it was grey and the older shot shows the slabs with the Heather in bloom and sunshine.

Steve started the first pitch, followed by me doing the second and both are easy. After that the proper Hammer starts with a 5a scoop pitch followed by the now 5b rated crux pitch. After the first cocky 'is that it' reaction you'll realise that the scoop is a wee bit polished, devoid of holds and move by move the gear is lower and lower. It feels different than it looks.

After that some good laybacking to a belay on a flake. Here is me starting again after putting the gear into the crack...

... and here is about to reach the belay.

More laybacking follows. The ancient ring peg is gone but chalk shows a very thin traverse to a line of flakes. This traverse is now rated 5b and it felt it esp. with the seepage that we had to cross. Gear on the flake line was limited before you reach an overlap with plenty of gear.

A wee pitch to the path ends a superb climb although the best bits are concentrated in two pitches. From the climb we saw climbers on 'The Pause' HVS/E1 running it out in the slabby sea.

Here another shot of the team from the descent path.

On the way back I went for a jog up and down the shores of Loch Earn. The evening light was warm and painted a classical Scottish loch picture.

It's classic...Gogarth. Friaday 10th

2009-04-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

Chris Wilson and Paul West-Watson made the long journey south form Aberdeen on Thursday night. We met up at the camp site on Holyhead island, as planned. We headed up to Holyhead mountain to warm up. After an short while i put forward to Paul that we head to Gogarth, knowing he was as keen so we left the others at Holyhead.

Gogarth is impressive steep and intimidating mass of rock the rises out of the sea for 100m. the route we planned to do that day shares the name coming in at E1 5b it's a classic in Ken Wilsons hard rock book. the decent to the cliff (below).

The views to the south stack (below) and surrounding cliffs were brilliant as we geared up below the route with the main cliff soaring above in great grooves and towers.

Paul led this first pitch. Easy climbing on good holds get you in to the flow of things.Next up was the 5a traverse pitch first right (below) to a hidden groove then back left to the slab belay.

A chossy pitch followed where Paul belayed at the foot of the big open groove (below). I'd seen this in books, it was big. I led off placing the only big cam we had low down in the crack, bad move! I had to run the rope out for a half the pitch, good job the climbing was easy.

A game of paper scissor stone was played the last game coming to a draw many times before the winner was decided, much to the delight of two climbers on Resolution direct. Paul won, jammy bugger. He set off on the airy traverse (below).

This takes you to the foot of the crux. Pumpy and over hanging with a good dose of exposure to top it all of it's easy to see why this is a classic.

We headed back to Paul's parents, talking most of the way back about the climb. It was good and deserved classic status. A BBQ was started and as the others arrived the food was plentiful and the beer flowed with talk of the days tales 'til late in the night.

Better than it would appear, Slate. Wedensday 8th

2009-04-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night was wild in Nant Peris, heavy rain and strong winds made us retreat to the warmth of the local pub in the village. Thinking all climbing would be off in the morning we enjoyed a pint or two too much over competitive games of pool. The morning cleared dryer thought the wind was still fresh. The weather looked better down the valley. Heeding sound advice form the staff at Joe Browns shop we made tracks to the Dinorwig quarries.

The first quarry to to be reached was bus stop quarry. There's a couple of easier climbs here to get a feel for the rock, so it made sense to start here.

I started off on what looked a bold VS 4c called Equinox (below). Though as it turned out there was plenty of gear and the crux move was saved to the last.

John then jumped on the slightly harder line to the left, Solstice HVS 5a (below). Again good climbing (on some suspicious looking flakes!) with adequate gear wet our apatite for more.

We had heard of an area called Dali's hole and a great route called Launch pad E1 5b. We were both keen to see if it lived up to the reputation and it also gave us the chance to explore the other quarries.

A short walk past some impressive slag heaps and only buildings made of slate we come to Dali's hole. A sign on the gate reminding us that swimming was not permitted, as if you'd need reminding!

I was slightly worried about the lack of holds on Launch pad (below). Thin moves to below the bolt and the crux has to be climbed before you can clip makes nervy climbing, this is what i like about climbing. Above easier climbing up the arete to the top.

Dali's hole was busy with scouts and other groups on the easy sport lines so we headed up to a route called Looning the tube E1 5b. This cracking little pitch gave a feeling of exposure from the first moves as you traverse along the wall to a old rusty chain and thus a crack/fault is reached with the crux at the top. (john reaching the crux, below)

The Serengeti is an impressive piece of rock that juts up from the floor of the quarry. There are a few lines on this face. I tackled Seems the same E1/E2 5b. The climbing was steady 5a/5b from the ground up with a solid 5b move over the bulge. Me approaching the crux with the view in the background (below).

Once the crux was clear easier climbing on sparse gear led to the top. We were begining to have fun with the style of climbing required and the cool head for the run outs. I top out a happy man (below).

John had spotted a line higher up. Feeling confident he fancied his luck on Slippery people E2 5c. Stepping it up a bit on this steep bold line that's been bolted, with only 2 bolts on 20m of rock! The first bolt 8m high (below) gave a feeling of seriousness. Lay offs and good foot work to reach a big hold, this turned out to be classic slate climbing!

We called it a day after this, both of us satisfied with the days work in the quarries, we headed down to the valley to seal the day with a pint.

Roaches! Tuesday 7th

2009-04-15T13:12:00.001-07:00

An area fully of climbing history and myth, the Roches lie to the North of the town of Leek. I'd never climbed here before though I was no stranger to grit.

After spending a damp night in a empty campsite the day broke dully and windy and I was begining to think we hand made a mistake. After breakfast we decided to head to Buxton for more breakfast and to see if it cleared up.

At Midday we finally headed up to the crag in lovely sunshine. Below shows Hen cloud crag which the campsite was below.

Much of the lower and upper tier was looking green and uninviting. Nesting birds put the classic Sloth out of bounds. The smaller skyline area appealed most. I stepped up to the challenge of Safety net, E1 5b (below). Solid 5b from the ground up with the crux being a friction move with a poor cam as the last piece of gear!

John rose to the challenge and was keen to do one better showing off his grit climbing skills by on sighting Short comings, E1 5c (below). Very technical climbing made sure john took his time on this one, hot aches came and went!

The classic Valkyrie is a must do for any visitor to the crag. John and i set off on this great grit line. First pitch (below) proved harder than it would appear, putting my jamming ability to the test.

The second (crux) pitch was delicate and airy. A traverse over the great roof (below) with good jamming and balance needed to proceed. This one is as exciting for the second as it is for the leader, a fall for the second would result in a massive swing over the roof!

On the way back we passed the memorial hut to the legend of Don Whillans. An man of great myth who developed much of the cragging here in the 50's.

Easter Trip-Northumberland gets the ball rolling sunday 5th-monday6th

2009-04-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

With ten days free of any work duties and no marital ties to keep me in Town I suggested to Mr. Forrester that we make the best of the weather and head South to explore new climbing grounds and put our techniques and skills to the test by climbing on different types of rock.

First stop on the road trip was Kyloe crag in Norhtumberland. A crag john had visited before. High on his recommendations.

We warmed up on Slab and arete, E1 5B. Then John led the classic Spacewalk, E2 5C (below). This turned out to be easy for the grade though a tad bold.

Feeling confident i moved on to lead Wasted time, E1 5b. This consisted of a pumpy little climb with a thought provoking crux. Next to fall to Mr. Forrester was Headbanger, E1 5c. A technical bouldery start led to easier ground. And all this before lunch. Kyloe seemed to be putting up little resistance!

After a short break I gave Wasted time direct, E2 5c a closer inspection (below). A fingery steep crux with ground fall potential made for exciting climbing.

We followed the sun round to the quarry to see what treats were in offer. John led chicken run, E1 5b. Good climbing on poor gear. Last but not least was the plumb line of Devils edge HVS 5a (below) .

With our bellies full and time to waste 'til dark we headed to the nearby beach and walked over the massive sand mass to look at some shipwrecks (below). The sun set as we headed back to the tents.

Monday dawned as fine as Sunday ended. John spoke of a Stanage like crag called Bowden doors nearby so we packed up and headed over. This proved to be a poor choice as I could not get into the climbing and John had a stiff elbow. John led main wall HVS 5b (below). Then long crack HVS 5a, to retrieve a cam! I then had a pop at Broken crack E2 5c, which duly spat me out.

Feeling a bit low and looking for something new we debated where to head to next and both agreed that Wales was calling with a stop off at Roaches first. So we headed south.

Luath stone bouldering

2009-04-14T00:40:00.000-07:00

Just briefly: Easter Monday was sunny in Aberdeen but the Haar was supposed to creep into town. I thus drove west for some bouldering at the Luath stone. See ScottishClimbs for a topo: http://www.scottishclimbs.com/wiki/Luath_Stone_Boulders
The bouldering is relatively limited for those that can climb 5b/5c but there are some decent problems. I spent most time climbing on the West side of the mouse in order to develop my crimp strength.

... as seen on these two photos.

Without a partner I wasn't too psyched so I took a few photos in the evening light...

... and just before sunset.

Over to Ryan now who has been touring the country with John for tons of climbing.
HW

Beinn a Bhuird, the great glycogen depleter

2009-04-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

Today Paul West Watson and I opted for Mountain biking and were planning to boulder a bit afterwards at the Luath stone, an area developed by Stuart Stronach, Tim Rankin & co. as far as I now. But after mulling over the Beinn a Bhuird area on the map it struck me that there are a lot of land rover tracks in that area. So we went to the Keiloch car park and cycled towards loch builg with some hard ascents that tired our legs that were unused to cycling over the winter. A great view over the Dee valley from higher up...

... and of Lochnagar in the distance.

We had a food break at the loch and then carried on towards Inchroy lodge which we didn't reach as we took the bridge and were heading West following the river Avon past the corries at the back of Ben Avon and Beinn a Bhuird. A herd of red deer ran over the track, through the Avon and up the flanks of the hill. Here is Paul on that stretch...

At Faindouran lodge, a non girl friend suitable bothy, the landrover track stopped and we had to push the bikes through bogs and over boulders all the ways to the Fords of Avon refuge...

After a short rest we forded the Avon (no stepping today) and mostly pushed the bikes up the Lairigh an Laoigh.

Here is Paul giving a false impression as most was pushing the bike over rocks and boulders

Finally the descent into glen derry with its caledonian pines. I got a puncture as the pressure in my rear wheel was not high enough for the rocky descent. We fixed it relatively whiith a view on Creagan a coire etchachan; it is almost in rock climable condition. On the descent once the front wheel got stuck and my rear wheel went high, followed by gravity acting on my body and a rib crunching landing. I broke nothing and tried to follow again Paul, who gracefully rolled down the glen on his full suspension beauty.

Finally the easy track from Derry lodge and then a slog on the road back to the starting point. Couting grids on the Ordnance Survey cairngorm map I estimate that the tour was roughly 60 km which is x miles with x being 60 km divided by 1.6. Needless to say, we didn't boulder. HW

Creag don't & Pete's wall

2009-04-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

As often before, after a sunny week rainy weather was forecast for this weekend. But this time Steve Addy and I wouldn't be caught out and so we went cragging on a Friday. We went to Creag Dhu which is also known Creag death or Creag don't. It has a reputation for a big wall with little gear.

It was >15 degrees, sunny and we bouldered a bit to get used to the rock hereabouts. I had Inbred on my mind, a **** HVS that went up the initimidating steep wall on big holds.

It follows a crack to a triangular niche, then step down and climb up onto a ledge. Good climbing, sometimes good gear, sometimes not. Here's me looking down after the niche in a photo taken by Steve.

Steve is actually on a ledge so it is pretty airy up there. The climb now goes right and with little gear to a loverly ledge with a bolt. Steve then seconded the first and led the second pitch which is an 4b rising traverse high in the sky. He's still smiling here...

... and nearly done here.

A long, scary abseil follows.

After that we did the direct start of King Bee VS***. A proper VS as this lass demonstrates...

... and here is Stevie on the second pitch, not a pushoever either.

Here is that other team on Brute, another VS with an overhang high up...

... and then they carried on with LMF, an exposed E1.

After that we visited Huntly's cave where I had an attempt on the pumpy Pete's wall E2 5c**. I got high up but misplaced a cam, never got it into a good slot and had to rest. I got the move after the rest. Well, early season and it was close.

Rain, you can come now! HW

Active recovery at Meikle Partans

2009-03-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

First Ryan and I would let you know that we have now fully thawed after yesterdays winter walk. We were looking for a friendly experience and thus we went to Meikle Partans, one of the friendliest crags in the North East of Scotland. It is about as friendly as an estate agent during the economic downturn. Here is a photo of the bonny piece of immaculate red granite.

I started with Epistrophe which was my first VS. Ryan then did the HVS variation of the bridge which is a traverse to the right and a thin layback move up to the finishing jug. The picture shows him on the traverse.

I experimented with a tripod and remote control which explains the wee black thingy in my left hand. It was a bit nippy and I did a bouldering traverse and then climbed Strawclutchers wall, an E1 on immaculate granite. The moves were flowing, an outstanding route.