Hanging Garden Route & Funeral Fall

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.

HW

Moon Ice Jazz VI,7**

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.

HW

No off day: Sun rock blues direct IV,6

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

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!

HW

No Blue Skies rematch (sort of)

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

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.

HW

Gargoyle wall: reality check

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