The grand traverse of Ben Lawers

'The traverse of Ben Lawers is undoubtedly one of the three or four best ski-mountaineering expeditions in Scotland, giving a day of extraordinary variety and interest, both as regards skiing and scenery' Bennet D and Wallace B. Ski Mountaineering in Scotland. 1987.

Simon and I initially wanted to ski the four 4000ers but then the Met office forecast for the Northern Cairngorms predicted mist and clouds and so we looked for a new tour until we read the above sentence. Here the start after a short walk...

 ... and here the slopes of Beinn Ghlas lower...

 ... and higher up.

 We decided to ascent via the Corrie on the Southern side of Beinn Ghlas...

 ... to finally see Ben Lawers.

 Here is Simon on the connecting ridge on the final ascent.

 Great views from the tops and some company.

 Finally the long run down...

 ... on sometimes icy, sometimes creamy snow, softened by the sun.

We knew that An Stuc had a steep descent and mistook a top for An Stuc but then found a way with a steepish descent into the corrie towards Meall Garbh.

 Here is Simon on the final ascent to Ben Garbh...

 ... and here he is on the top. 

 Skin's off and a long run to the col...

 ... before the final ascent to Meall Greigh. 

 Here the last metres with the ridge behind. 

 On the descent heather stopped us relatively early...

 ... but we were 'milking' the thinner and thinner snow lines until walking was inevitable. With every step winter went and spring came with buds on the trees and the first daffodils. 

PS. As an encore the descent from Carn an Tuirc the day after:

Cairn an Tuirc downhill descent from Henning Wackerhage on Vimeo.

PPS. The clip stick in one of the photos was not used for clipping bolts but as a second ski pole as I had forgotten mine in glen Tanar!

HW

Clova Direct

The Met Office Eastern Highlands forecast had suggested a 300 m freezing level and a lot of snow. Thus on Sunday Robbie and I went back into Corrie Fee in order to climb the face to the right of Look C gully as directly as possible, especially above the band of overhangs. However, when we arrived there was less snow than we had hoped for on the lower buttress and so we decided to follow a neve and ice line to the right of 'Frozen Forest' as it looked best. For the guidebook we suggest to record the left, harder line as 'Clova Direct' V,6 as shown in red on the topo and the left, easier line as 'Frozen Forest' III,4 which is shown in yellow on the topo. These are the most logical lines and they are most consistent in difficulty.  

The conditions on the upper buttress were good with frozen turf and frequent, heavy snowfall. Here, I start the lower bit of the upper buttress which goes at tech 5 with well protected, turfy mixed climbing. 

The lower part of the upper buttress ends on a saddle that soon leads to the upper part of the buttress. Here, Robbie led a very well protected left-facing open book corner followed by a steep crack...

Robbie then carried on straight over a tricky tech 6 overhang with good protection and perfect hooks and, seeking more difficulty, climbed a thrutchy 10 m offwidth crack to the top. We then awarded ourselves with a bum glissade down D gully. 

As we say, the revised 'Clova direct' (the bottom of the original Frozen Forest which we had climbed earlier and the top of Sundays route) gives an atmospheric, generally well protected route up a 250 m high face with two tech 4, one tech 5 and one tech 6 pitch although the tech 6 difficulties at the end can be avoided. The revised III,4 route, 'Frozen Forest' is an adventurous turfy route with one ice fall and an atmospheric gully on the upper buttress to reach a ramp on the highest buttress and then turfy ground to the top. Both routes are good alternatives when Look C gully is not in condition as Look C needs a prolonged spell of cold weather to freeze the running water whereas on this face the turf needs to be frozen and it needs to be snowed up. Currently there is a lot of good neve in Glen Clova so it is well worth a visit after an overnight freeze. 

HW

Corrie of Farchal II

A very cold day was forecast and so we went the second time into Corrie of Farchal which has much more to offer than is obvious from the road. We planned to add another line to the buttress which we had climbed on new years day. Here we approach the buttress...

 ... which was in good condition with snow, solid neve, well frozen turf and even some ice on the rock.

It was cold and snowy which was a relief after the hot air weather system which had recently passed over the Scottish winter climbing lands.

In Corrie of Farchal the rock is frequently broken which means mostly good protection and some thrutchy chimney climbing. Here Tim is on our second climb, a broken buttress on the right. It was better than it looked from below but overall easy.

 A last dash to the plateau and some blue skies.

 A good day and we did not see a single soul on the hill despite the excellent neve and ice conditions.

Corrie of Farchal is well worth a visit for grade III/IV climbers who do not like long walk ins.
HW

Seven routes in Angus

This weekend Robbie and I had planned to go to the Ben or Meggie as everyone else. But we both had a bit of a cold and so we decided against a long day on the Ben and had a wee look at a 'new' venue in the Angus glens instead. The walk in was easy with either frozen tracks or firm neve. Our first route was zig-zagging up the crag at grade I...

 ... to reach the small cornice. Great positions but easy climbing.

 We descended an easy gully, route 2, to climb up a slightly steeper gully on the right hand side, route 3.

Here is Robbie starting route 3, another gully line on the right hand side. Short but more of a line and maybe grade I or II. At the top a unique prow.

Again down route 2 and we soloed route 4, a grade II, which we had seen when we did our zig zag route. By the way, we always carried a rope so that we could set up a belay and climb with ropes if necessary.

Once again down route 2 and up route 5, an icy line to the right of route 4, this time with ropes.

Again down number 2 and up the best ice line that we could see which was route 6. It goes just to the right of Robbie.

 Here, I start the main pitch...

 ... and here is the main ice fall, mostly good ice! Grade IV.

 Just above was a good cave belay...

 ... which Robbie enjoyed as well.

Robbie even added a cave variation near the top, a treat for troglodytes and horror for claustrophobics. Great views from the top over the Angus glens.

We descended not very well defined gully line on the left hand side of the crag, route 7 (ok 5 in ascent and 2 in descent), and then walked out in the sunshine.

We could have gone on but I was coughing a lot so decided to call it a day. The sunshine on the walk out was the cold treatment that the doctor had prescribed. I am not sure whether the Ben would have been much better.

Finally, to complete the multi-medial overload, a wee video:
Seven routes in Angus from Henning Wackerhage on Vimeo.

HW

Frozen Forest IV,4

Glen Clova again. It fits our philosophy of climbing (and walking) more and driving less. You can even change inside and for afterwards there is the Clova Hotel for a pint and a meal, a great place. Today Robbie and I went into Corrie Fee as we wanted to climb the large face to the right of the classic Look C gully. Here is Robbie entering Corrie Fee...

... and here is the face with our line..

The line aims for the prominent overhung niche which is also reached by 'The Wild Places IV,4', which was first climbed by A. Lawson and A. Smith on the 12th of January 1980. According to the Cairngorms guidebook (which we forgot to bring) we climbed further right than the 'The Wild Places'. Here is Robbie soloing pitch 1...

... and here he climbs literally a frozen for(r)est, one reason for the route name. Bring many slings as there are lots of tree runners and tree belays...

Here is Robbie on a - you will have guessed it by now - tree belay below and to the left of the the niche...

... and here I am after the icy traverse into the niche receiving a spindrift shower...

There is an easy enough corner up with decent gear. Above was a steep, almost snow-free (as it was below the large roof) squeeze chimney. It was doable but I traversed to the left to have a look and found a tree-lined groove that led to easier terrain. When we reached the buttress above we traversed right into a gully line with good neve in places (The Wild Places goes left below the buttress). We moved together, placing runners whilst moving, and when the gully ended Robbie moved up a turfy ramp which goes left under the large buttress at the top ...

...to climb mixed ground with fantastic turf to reach the very top of the face and buttress.

Altogether roughly 6 pitches of excellent adventure. The Glen Clova answer to the Orion face!
HW

Tower Face of the Comb VI,6***

New routeing in the Clova hills is fun but Robbie and I needed a proper objective. The weather for Saturday looked good and we decided to go to the Ben Nevis and try the Tower Face of the Comb VI,6***. This mixed or in late season icy mixed route was first climbed by Robin Smith and Dick Holt on New Years day in 1959. The route gained a reputation and still has some of it left. We reached the car park at 7 am and with good fitness after the long Angus walk ins reached the CIC hut in little more than an hour. We immediately walked up Coire na Ciste which appeared otherworldly in the soft early February morning light. The Comb is the triangular feature to the left and above of Robbie...

Here is Robbie approaching the bottom of the Tower Face of the Comb through some unconsolidated snow.

The Nevis guidebook description of the climb is at times not very clear and we climbed up Comb gully to Hesperides ledge before realising that the climb started much lower down. The guidebook says that it is 1/3rd up but it is actually close to the bottom of the buttress proper. Here is Robbie downclimbing Comb gully after realising that we were in the wrong place.

A good orientation feature is the little ridge to the left of Comb gully. The Tower Face of the Comb starts just below that. Here, Robbie starts the first pitch...

... and here he tackles the left facing corner...

There is a ledge above and a steep, short wall leads to the belay. Pitch 2 is a 25 m long groove that goes through the lower buttress. Here, I start that groove...

... with some thin and sometimes poorly protected ice and neve climbing...

... to reach a fantastic position higher up.

After that some easier neve to the belay. The third pitch traverses past blocks and flakes to ascend a steepish, turfy wall to again reach a ledge. Here is Robbie, with the SMC approved winter climbing beard, starting pitch 3.

The belay is on a ledge next to an obvious rock window on which I am sitting here, whilst starting pitch 4...

After that the guidebook is a little unclear as it says to go to the end of the ledge and then to climb a corner on the left. The ledge ends at a big block and to the left there is a steep wall which is climbable at a harder grade than 6. I was teetering around, decorating the wall bits of gear and finally decided to have a look on top of the block. And as it happened, one or two not too bad moves led via easy neve to a sit-behind-a-block belay on top of the Comb. Robbie had the unthankful task to remove all the gear that I hung in random places which took him some time. Two easy pitches finished the climb. Here is Robbie starting a perhaps grade II pitch up the tower of the Comb...

The last pitch is a hugely exposed 'au cheval' exercise to walk off into the clag on the plateau...

A fantastic day and even more so as we only made our plans at the last minute...

HW