Ben Nevis Conditions 18.4.2014

Walk-in inspiration

I didn't think I would be able get any more winter climbing this season after my ridge day as I was going to Cyprus for my final year field trip for two weeks and then come back and it would be exam time. Yesterday however I did manage to get  one last day in before everything falls down.

I set off to Ben Nevis to Elaine Ford hopeful of climbing either Comb Gully or Green Gully, as they had both been done recently meaning that there should be away through or around the monster cornices which are on the Ben at the moment. 

We had quite a nice walk-in in the sun, which felt quite unusual for most of my days out this season. The north face was looking quite bare. Much of the snow has fallen off the crags, with the douglas boulder looking totally black. Some of the ice lines looked complete though. 

Coire na Ciste

We headed up into coire na ciste across lots of avalanche debris. I left Elaine just at the bottom of the Trident Buttresses area thanks to a slight crampon issue. In the end I decided to climb Comb Gully. The approach was quite good with some rather hard neve which made for quick upwards progress, although a lot of calf pump too!

The route itself was in an OK condition. It was a bit damp in places, and I got rather wet as I was only wearing a base layer, but it was fine for axes and crampons. It wasn't too stepped out either. A cornice does directly overhang the gully but a short traverse to the left avoids this. 

Top of Comb Gully

I decided to try and descended no.4 gully as I could see a way round the cornice on the right hand side (if you are looking at it from the CIC hut). This made for nice easy progress back into the coire were I found Elaine again. 

It was quite warm so we walked out and went for a walk around Glen Nevis. It definitely feels like rock climbing weather now. That is probably my last day out this season but there should be some ice lines to go for on the Ben this Easter weekend. Enjoy it while you can! 

Playing in the Snow

 

The Ben Nevis Ridges

The weather was looking pretty nice for Ben Nevis on the 26th March, so I decided it would be a good opportunity to attempt something I have been wanting to try for a while; solo all of the major Ben Nevis ridges in a day. As always with this sort of thing I set off from Edinburgh a bit later than I had intended, rocking up at the CIC hut at just before 3am! I managed a couple of hours sleep before waking up at 5am, and finally setting off for my first ridge in dawn light at 5.30am. At this point I should explain the distinct lack of pictures in this post as I had left my camera in Edinburgh!

Castle Ridge was my first objective. This was for a number of reasons. It is a bit out of the way, compared to the other ridges, and it has some avalanche prone approach slopes, so cool conditions were preferable. The ridge itself was a bit slushy and there was lots of bare rock, so I only used one axe, however snow on the ledges made crampons necessary. Once at the top I decided to head down via the Red Burn as there was a white out, and with No.4 Gully being too dangerous, the only other descent option was Coire Leis. When I arrived back at the hut I met some friends from university; Ally Rocke, Alex McMillan, Tom Eadington and Liam Ingram. After a rather long time sitting about and chatting about what might be worth while doing we headed off from the hut together.

North East Buttress was next. I was going to solo it while the others would make two teams of two and climb it as well. The route was fun, and probably my favourite of the day, with varied climbing on short steep walls, snow fields, aretes and corners. On topping out I made my way down Coire Leiss and round into Observatory Gully.

At the top of Tower Ridge (Photo Credit: Andy Southan)

Observatory Ridge was next on the list. This is the hardest of the major ridges, and I was quite happy to be following a coupe of team up it, showing me the way. The climbing felt quite insecure, however this isn't too long lived at the top is a nice easy snow romp. On topping out I met Ally and Alex who had just finished North East Buttress, with Liam and Tom still climbing. I descended Coire Leis again to get ready for my next route.

Tower Ridge was next up. This is the only one of the Nevis ridges I had done before so I felt quite comfortable leaving it till this late on. Tower Ridge is the most classic of the Ben Nevis ridges, however its classic status does spoil it a bit as there are often cues at the notorious tower gap. The ridge went quite smoothly until I got to the gap where at team wouldn't let me pass then as the had been "waiting there for hours". A long wait later they finally let me pass on the upper snow slopes. With 4 out of 5 ridges completed I could taste success, or maybe that was the hot Ribena some kind climbers supplied me with on the top. 

Ledge Route was up next. I decided I would down climb this on my way back to the hut. Ledge route is a nice little outing and an easy end to the day. I got back to the hut just in the light, had a coffee, or two, and headed back down to the car.

Ribena Simon walking off the summit plateau (Photo Credit: Andy Southan)

I am really pleased to get this done on my first attempt, and 4 out of the 5 ridges done onsight! 

Torridon the scenic way

This weekend  I had some big plans. On Friday I was going to try and have a big day on Ben Nevis linking up as many routes as I could and then on the weekend I was going to head to Torridon to meet the rest of the EUMC and climb something a bit harder. My plans were changed quickly on thursday evening after a quick chat with Lochaber SAIS forecaster Blair Fyffe who said the descent gullies were likely to be loaded with snow and avalanchy. A quick change of plans saw me acquiring a map of Skye for a shot at the Cuillin Ridge.
The Cuillin Ridge is probably Scotlands finest mountaineering excursion and usually take parties 3 days to complete. I chose to attempt it in a single push, and to assure this of happening I wasn't going to take any bivi gear.
At 2am I rocked up underneath the Cuillin. After packing my bag I set my alarm for 4am. I woke at 4 to the sound of rain on the roof of my car. I didn't want to get wet at the start of the day so I set my alarm for another hour of sleep. 5am came and the rain was still there. Did I read MWIS wrong? Im sure it said the weather was going to be good!
In the end I decided to sack it off. If its rain down here it will be falling as fresh snow at the top of the ridge which would make the going very hard. I decided a lie in and a drive was a better bet for the day, so I spent the rest of the day having a leisurely drive around the North West of Scotland and Skye. I made my way up to Torridon, via ex-EUMC member David Geddes house, and even managed to get a bit of work done that evening.
At about 12pm everyone else arrived. I went about finding Alex who I was going to climb with. During the day, seeing that everything was looking a bit wet, I had been formulating a plan. My plan was to consist of climbing 4 mountains in 1 day. The mountain of Beinn Dreag, Beinn Alagin and Liathach all have graded ridges on them. My idea was to climb each of these mountains and then finish by climbing the classic Fuselage Gully on Beinn Eighe. In the end I managed to drum up some more psyched students to come with me so the team consisted of Tom Fitzpatrick, Alex Toomey, Alex McMillan and Max Scherer. 

An early start!

We (maybe I) decided it was best to leave straight away as there was going to be a lot of walking to do. At 1.30 am we all left the car park after no sleep and started walking. At the Beinn Eighe turn off Max and Alex M left us to climb Fuselage Gully, so Alex T, Tom and I continued on our way to Beinn Dearg.
It was still very much night time so we couldn't really see where we were going and predictably we couldn't find out route. In the end we climbed some rotten gully to the top and after a short walk along the summit ridge descended the northern side of the mountain.

At the top(ish) of Beinn Dearg

Once back down in the valley, were we were greated my some rather nice Scottish scenery,  we contoured around to find Beinn Alligin. The weather wasn't anything as nice as predicted. This combined with a extreme lack of sleep saw us decide to bail on our plans. I told Tom and Alex they could head back to the campsite from here, as we were now quite close, and that I would go back and get the car.

On my way out I passed a party walking in and suddenly realised just how early it still was!  Shortly after this I saw some climbers heading up a gully towards the Liathach ridge, then checked my watch. 9.30 am! I cant go back now. I quickly weighed up my options and finally decided that I probably should actually go and climb something and headed up the ridge via Hidden Gully (II). The ridge itself was in great condition with some friendly snow. This allowed me to climb quite fast and overtake lots of team, including a group of EUMC members, which included Alex M and Max.

Assorted Yummicks on the Pinnacles

After finishing the ridge and retrieving my car I got some well earned rest, sleeping from about 4m till 8am sunday morning.
On Sunday I decided that driving home would be a silly thing to do and instead walked in to Beinn Eighe with the idea of climbing Fuselage Gully. As always plans change and a couple of hours later I found myself topping out on West Buttress (IV).

West Buttress Selfie

All in all that was quite a fun and tiring weekend, which was just what I needed before the next couple of weeks in the library to finish my dissertation!
I suspect not many will have read this far, so Hi Mum!
I will add some more pictures later.

A Busy 2014

So I have been sort of neglecting my blog recently but this has mostly been due to me being really busy!

Kandersteg

I have loads to tell you about, but I will be brief to avoid making it into too much of an essay.

Team GB in Romania

During January I competed in the Ice World Cup in Korea, Romania and Switzerland. Despite me never challenging the top climbers at all I have learnt loads, had so much fun and made loads of new friends.On my travels I have also been to some cool mixed climbing crags. We were shown a newly bolted crag in Romania and then went to Kandersteg whilst in Switzerland.

Saas Fee Structure

Saas Fee Qualifiers (Photo Credit: Matt Pritchard)

Romanian Qualifiers (Photo Credit: Anna Wells)

My best performance was in Korea where I just went out there and climbed as I didn't have a clue how I was going to do. Hopefully next year I will be selected for the team again and I can do a bit better!
After returning from Switzerland I went straight to the BMC international meet. This was a week were UK hosts, of which I was one, showed loads of foreign climbers around the winter scottish highlands. I didn't really get very much done as I missed the best days to go to university but I did manage to climb The Seam, Unicorn, a new route in the Cairngorms, DTS Spirit and Fast and Furious in my wellies (well I took a victory whipper from the final hold on this).

The Seam (Photo Credit: Piotr Sulowski)

Unicorn (Photo Credit: Piotr Sulowski)

Unicorn (Photo Credit: Piotr Sulowski)

F+F (Photo Credit: Piotr Sulowski)

Since the meet I have managed one day out on Ben Nevis where I climbed Route 1 with its Direct Winter start.

Route 1 Direct Start

In addition to my ice axe related adventures I came joint first, with a very strong boulderer, in the Edinburgh Universities bouldering competition last week held at the CSE climbing wall. I was quite surprised at this since I haven't rock climbed very much at all in the last month or so.

Competing at the CSE (Photo Credit: Steven Barnes)

My 2013 climbing year

So 2013 is now at an end an I think I can safely say that it is my most successful every year of climbing. I have managed to achieve personal best in all disciplines in climbing but also had some amazing days out and experiences.

Trying extra hard on Seal Song

According to my UKC profile I have ticked 459 climbs in 107 days out. The days out is definitely an underestimate as there have been a number of days when I have failed to climb anything at all!
2013 started off quite badly as I dislocated my elbow at the start of January and missed the Ice world cup! It could only really get better from here really.
Winter climbing is the way I usually start and end a year. This current winter season has been good for me so far. I have climbed personal bests with Cornucopia (VII 9) and Sioux Wall (VIII 8). My favorite winter day would have to be doing Orion Face and Tower Ridge on the same day back in April. I even managed a first ascent in Stob Coire nan Lochain with Alex McMillan in March, called Seattle Grooves.

Sioux Wall

Cornucopia

Ravens Edge

I have also done a lot of drytooling in 2013. Although I haven't improved my red point grade, despite being close, I have managed to flash/onsight a couple of M9's. I also managed to keep my hands on second place in the STS, loosing out to Peter Holder by one point!

Newtyle

I haven't really climbed too much trad this year but what I have done I have enjoyed. In May I managed to onsight my first E5, a route called The Quickening at Reiff in North West Scotland. In July I managed to climb another E5 at Dumbarton rock near Glasgow called Physical Graffiti. In June I made a trip to the Hebridean islands of Pabbay and Mingulay with some friends from university. I really enjoyed the trip and the highlight of it was climbing Voyage of Faith (E3) on Dun Mingulay on our last day. My favorite trad route of 2013 is quite close between Wuthering (Stanage), Empty on Endorphins (Reiff), Golden Fleece (Reiff) and Big Country Dreams (Cambusbarron).

The Quickening

Wuthering

I spent most of the summer driving around Northumberland bouldering, although I did manage a few trips further afield. The highlight of the summer has to have been climbing Sprung at Bowden Doors, my first font 7c! It is easy for the grade I know but you have to start somewhere don't you. I have done so much bouldering this summer so its hard to pick out my favorite problems. In June I managed to climb Spank the Monkey at Cambusbarron, which is one of the best boulder problems I have ever climbed, and its in a grotty hole in the ground which makes it even better. Similar in setting, but completely different in style, is Gloom at Rothely in Northumberland. I loved working this problem and was so chuffed to manage to climb it in July.

Gloom

I managed two problems this summer that I have tried a number of times before. These were Little Pixies (Back Bowden) and Si's Arete (Almscliff).

Si's Arete

Little Pixies

My last bouldering highlight comes from a crag just 15 minutes away from my flat. I finally managed to climb the Low Black Wall Traverse on Edinburgh Sailisbury Crags!
I have done a little bit of Sport climbing too, but this wasn't very impressive or interesting so its not really worth talking about. I even went to the Alps but its the same story there.
To finish of the year I have been selected to for the newly formed British Ice Climbing Team and will be competing at the 2014 Ice World Cup!

CAC Festival of Ice Final

I should also thank those who have supported me throughout the year. Firstly I should thank Outdoorkit.co.uk who have been supplying me with kit to test and review. I should also thanks Scarpa for some new footwear to see me through the coming winter season and Schmoolz for making me a pair of fatter indoor ice climbing tools. Red Goat and Rock City climbing walls, in York and Hull respectively, should also get a quick mention for supporting my climbing throughout the year. Also a massive thank you to everyone that I climbed with this year!
2013 has been my best year for climbing so far, and hopefully I can build on this for 2014.

Glen Coe Conditions 31.12.13

I managed one last day of winter in 2013 yesterday with an ascent of the Aonach Eagach ridge in Glen Coe.

The weather was looking to be a bit blowy but I figured if I climbed something where I could just keep on moving it wouldn't affect me too much. 

It was a bit wet in the morning and I almost sacked off the ridge for the day and ended up heading into Fort William for some breakfast. On my way back through Glen Coe again I decided I might as well just go and try it. Id probably get wet but I can always dry off again and Im here already. 

It was wet on the way up

I left the car at 11am in the wind and rain and made my way up. Things started getting wintry just before Am Bodach with snow on the ground, although it was a bit wet. On the ridge there was some good snow about and even a bit of decent turf in places. The rocks weren't exactly rimed up but there was snow in all the important places. I thought the bit around the pinnacles was pretty fun, and felt fair for grade II, but it was sustained. 

Looking towards the pinnacles

Back at the pinnacles

The weather improved throughout the day and I managed to get a good look at a few of the crags in the area. Bidean looked reasonably white, as did parts of Stob Coire nan Lochain. I managed to get a look across at the Ben, although you can't really see the North Face from the ridge, but it did have a good cover of snow. 

Glen Coe Crags with Bidean and Lochain in the clouds

Towards Ben Nevis

Hopefully the weather will settle down soon for some proper climbing!

Happy New Year and Safe Climbing!

Hot Aches Distilled Review

Distilled is the new film recently brought out by climbing film makers Hot Aches Productions.

Distilled is a climbing film following mountain guide (I'm not sure on exactly what qualifications he has) Andy Cave around Scotland in winter.
Distilled doesn't really fit the usual mold of climbing film. There is no hyping about how beautiful and natural a line is. In fact the climbing seems to be more of a means to keep the viewers eye busy while Andy tells the story of his life. That isn't to say that the film is badly shot. It really isn't. Its just that when I watched it I found Andy's story more interesting than what he was climbing, which is strange for me.
One thing that stands out from this film is the very unique life that Andy has lived. He has gone from a kid from a Yorkshire coal pit with no GCSE's to a world renowned climber summiting Himalayan Peaks with a PhD.
The film follows Andy Cave around Scotland in some very Scottish looking weather. I don't often think that I should wear waterproof trousers when winter climbing, especially not while watching films, but this certainly did. I must have watched this film at least 5 times now. I'm still yet to work out all of the routes that are featured in it (those labels are a bit subtle guys!). I have to say that seeing how little gear Andy carries on routes makes me feel a bit ashamed to climb things looking like a moving gear store!
The film does end on a bit of a somber note where Andy talks about his ascent of the North Face of Changabang, which claimed the life of his climbing partner Brendan Murphy. It was quite interesting for me to learn how Andy recovered from this and has since been back to the Himalayas.
I found Distilled inspiring in a very odd way. Its not like hot aches previous winter climbing film, The Pinncacle, which got me really psyched because of what Smith and Marshall did. I really can't put my finger on the way that Distilled has inspired me.
All I can really say is you have to watch it. Im sure its not to everyone's taste but give it a chance.
I give Distilled 1 thumb up.

Magic Crack

On Saturday I met up with Pete Holder, who hitched all the way from Keswick to Aviermore (that's dedication). We headed into t'Schneada with a few idea about what we could try but no firm plans. Once in the corrie we decided to head for Magic Crack. This is a really iconic route, which was featured on the TV show the edge back in the day, or so I am told.
The route starts up The Genie before breaking out right up a steep foot less slab. Magic Crack can be done in two ways in winter. One by breaking out right after the crack pitch, for White Magic, or by following the summer line throughout, for Magic Crack.
I began by climbing the first pitch of The Genie, which felt really sketchy. I didn't manage to get much gear in but I got up it reasonably quickly. Pete led the second pitch, a really cool set of crack and a corner set just off vertical. Everything is there on this pitch but you do have to do some smearing in your crampons which is pretty good fun.

The third pitch was the money pitch. The finger crack is a pitch I had seen pictures of before and it looked really hard. I was a bit worried that there would be ice in the crack which would make protecting it really hard. The crack was full of the most helpful ice I have ever seen. It was good enough to allow me to hook it making the climbing easy, but not too good so that I had to struggle to clear it. I managed to climb this pitch quite steadily, until the very end of it where I spent a long time trying, and failing, to get some gear in.

The fourth pitch was Petes and he elected to climb the final hard pitch of Magic Crack, instead of copping out and climbing White Magic. He took a couple of falls on this pitch but persevered and managed to dispatch it. The climbing on this pitch was well protected but a bit blind with really poor feet!

The final couple of pitches were about grade II scrambles.
I really liked the climbing on this route. There was nothing too difficult but you were always thinking. I do quite like climbing things where you have to really try and place your feet as well.
I would recommend this route to anyone, especially if you get it in the conditions that we did! I have done a lot of route in the coire and I think I can say that this is by far the best one.

Mountain Equipment Guide Glove Review

Mountain Equipment have a long history of producing very good mountaineering kit, and the Guide Glove is no exception. Mountain Equipment describe the guide glove as being a "work horse glove for all round mountaineering".  It features a waterproof lining, nylon outer shell, a nose wiping thumb cover and a fibre pile and fleece lining.

These were the first gloves I ever bought for winter climbing in back in my first year at uni and I'm now on my third pair. Needless to say I really like them! I have used other gloves too but in the end I always come back to the Guides.

Guide Gloves being put through their paces on Sioux Wall

The insulation on these gloves seems to be a nice compromise between warmth and finger dexterity. Yes you will have more movement in the fingers in thin gloves and you'll be warmer in more insulated gloves but you need to find a balance between using fingers and feeling them. The guides seem to have done this very well.
I also like the little nose wiping patch. This wont work for er... a big pay load, but it does suffice to wipe away the shrapnel.

One of my first attempts at tooling  in Guides back in second year, not sure why I needed to woolly hat 

They also come with elastic wrist leashes. These are very useful for not accidentally dropping gloves half way up a route! We've all seen this done on the Ben haven't we. Don't be that person! Keep them attached to you at all times.

Guide gloves on the summit of Bein Bhan a long time ago!

Another useful feature for a winter glove is a hard wearing outer. Winter climbing ruins gloves but the guides do seem to stand up to a fair amount of abuse. The nylon shell seems to work well for this.

Used on Cornucopia too!

One bad aspect of these gloves is their waterproofness, or rather lack of. They just don't seem to really stay dry. This however has been a problem with all gloves I have ever used. Maybe its because my hands sweat too much. Who knows.
Last but not least is price. These gloves are quite cheap by winter gloves standards. You can usually find them at about £45. Seeing as you will go through gloves so fast I think it is a good idea to get relatively cheap ones. I have never found a pair of gloves which are as good as guides and this cheap!
I give Mountain Equipment Guide Gloves a rating of 1 thumb up, but it is oh so nearly 2! A top notch all round gloves!

Sorry about the pictures but its hard to get pictures of gloves. I am wearing the gloves in all of them, honest.
You can buy ME Guide Gloves from Outdoorkit.co.uk with 11% off!