A few days over east.

I've been over in the Cairngorms for the last few days helping Al and his team from Worksop college prepare for their trip to Greenland in the summer. It's been a mixed couple of days with some strong winds but the team did a great job getting to grips with all things winter and the ropework required for them to move over the glaciers.

Strange goings on in Aviemore.

A catch up!

I've been a bit slack with the blog lately so here is a bit of a catch up. On Saturday 23rd I was working for Maximum Adventure again on the Ben Nevis leg of the three peaks. Most of the team were successful with the front runners coming in at 5 hours but unfortunately two of the team had to turn round at the three hour mark as they hadn't reached the summit.

The Challenge group descending from Cairn Mor Dearg.

Last week I was Outward Bound again working on a government funded course called 'The Challenge'. This was the first week of three for the group and it was designed as an opportunity for them to bond as a group and face some personal challenges before they go onto the second and third week of their course nearer home.

They arrived on the Sunday night and I threw them straight into the deep end on Monday morning as we set off on Expedition. We left the top car park at 11am and made our way up onto Cairn Mor Dearg. The weather was fantastic if a little warm in the midday heat so we were glad to be up high. From there we carried on round the C.M.D Arete to the Abseil posts on Ben Nevis. It was a little late in the day at this point so we decided not to go up the Ben and started to drop down towards Coire Guishagen and Spent the night bivvying out on a grassy shoulder a couple of hundred meters down. It was a beautiful night and the stars were out and the group really enjoyed their night out in the wild.

Day 2 and we carried on descending and made our way out past Steall falls to our pick up.

Not a bad veiw to wake up to.

The next couple of days were spent climbing in Glen Nevis and Gorging in Glen Dubhlighe. The group did really well on what was a tiring week with the heat and some very strong bonds were built between the members. Good luck to them for their next two weeks.

On Saturday I was working for West Coast Mountain Guides marshaling a Marie Curie event which saw 52 participants walking from the King House in Glen Coe to Glen Nevis. Almost 23 miles in again very hot temperatures. Everyone but one person made the finish line and the one gentlemen who didn't make it was a 74 year old local that gave it a damn good shot.

A couple of days off to start packing before my Alps trip next week and then I'm away doing some work right up until my departure.

The Grey Corries and the Aonachs.

The first full view of our planned route.

So it was the groups second expedition over the last three days and this time it was in the mountains. We set the bar high and decided to see if we could traverse all of the peaks on this long and spectacular range. We set off late Saturday morning in what can only be described as uncomfortable heat, especially when you're carrying an exped pack. We made slow but steady progress up to Stob Coire Gaibhre from there we could finally see our whole objective laid out before us and it looked big. By now it was evening and the temp had dropped so the climb up to Stob Choire Claurigh and Stob a'Choire Leith were much more comfortable. We decided to drop off the ridge her to camp next to a lochain on the South side of the ridge which was a beautiful spot with stunning views towards the Buachille.

The group arriving at Sgurr Choinnich Mor.

Day 2 and we had a lot to get done We continued west ticking off the rest of the Peaks and descended to the Bealach between Aonach Beag and Sgurr Choinnich Beag. Here the group decided to continue and try to get all of the peaks in even though it was now 4 o'clock and they were tired. We made the steep climb up to Stob Coire Bhealaich and then carried on to the summit of Aonach Beag. A long and hard day for the group and they did well to keep going. We camped at the Bealach leaving us only Aonach Mor to tick off this morning on our way out to Nevis range.  

The summit of Aonach Mor and our final one.