Not a lot to say!

I was working with students from the West Highland College for a recap on their winter skills today. With driving rain and strong winds there wasn't much enthusiasm to get out the bus but we made our way up onto Bauchaille Etive Beag and had a wander around the coire going over what we could with the conditions. We managed to stay out until about 1pm but we were all pretty soaked and quickly running out of pairs of gloves. It looks to be getting colder towards the end of the week which should improve the climbing conditions and hopefully give us some ice to climb.

Calm before the storm.

With the weather due to deteriorate sometime after lunch Tim and I had a slightly earlier start and headed up the Ben with the plan to get a route done low down and run away before the weather hit. We bumped into Jamie and Rich at the CIC hut and followed their steps up to the foot of the south west ridge of the Douglas boulder. This gave us three great pitches of climbing if very snowy but thanks to Rich and Jamie we didn't have to do much digging. The usual abseil tat on the summit of the boulder was nowhere to be seen, even after digging down for nearly a metre. We were back down to the CIC just as the wind was picking up and the snow started to fall. Today I was working for West Coast Mountain Guides.

Rich and Jamie clearing the way.

Tim getting stuck in.

Wet, windy and warm!

Day 2 with Andrew for Abacus Mountain Guides and it wasn't the most inspiring view this morning as I looked out the window but with the promise of improving weather and snow higher up we headed for Curved ridge. There looked to be very little sign of snow as we drove through the Coe but we persevered, after an hour of walking into the wind, rain and through deep wet snow, we passed the waterslide and it was at this point the wind hit us. The clouds were whipping across Curved ridge and it was decided that we needed a plan b. After much deliberating, Andrew decided he would rather head back than have a very wet day of 'making do'. It did brighten up this afternoon and the freezing level dropped but we really just need a good freeze to firm up the snow and help build the ice. Tomorrow is set to be brighter, so pack your bags, get out and have a good New Year!

Looking up to a very damp North buttress and Rannoch wall.

Start of my season.

So today was my first day of work this season and I was out with Andrew and Sarah for Abacus Mountain Guides. We headed for the North ridge of stob Ban today hoping that the freezing levels had come down as had been forecast to give us some firm snow to use our crampons. We put them on but we were just walking through wet snow right up to the summit. Only here did it feel like things were starting to firm up with the exposed turf frozen and rock dry, so there may well be some climbing to be had on the higher crags if the snow refreezes this evening.

The crags of Stob Ban from the North.

A summer exped in December!

I've been out with a group of 4 students from the Advanced Certificate in Outdoor Learning on an expedition that marks the end of the summer section of their hill skills module. We started from Brae Roy lodge and headed into Luib chonnal Bothy which was going to be our very comfortable home for the night. We headed out for a couple of hours of night nav to return to the fire for some dinner.

Nothing like a fire at the end of the day for some comfort.

Today we headed south past Dog falls and through the Bealach between Beinn Teallach and Beinn a' Chaorainn to finish at Rough burn. We saw very little sign of snow although it was pretty grey with low cloud for most of the time. Looks like it's due to get cold again next week and with some snowfall forecast but it feels more like September that December at the moment.

Back to the blog!

I've been a bit slack with the blog this summer but winter has arrived so it's time to start again. A couple of routes have been done here on the West, such as the Slab climb and other easier mountaineering type routes. With the mild and wet Autumn the turf has taken it's time to freeze but it looks like things are shaping up. Today I was out on the hill with some students from the West Highland College working on their nav and after a cold night the ground was frozen above about 400m and remained that way for most of the day. We are due some cold nights with milder days for the weekend which will hopefully continue freezing the turf further. We have got some snow on the hills but not so much that these temps won't be getting to the turf. Fingers crossed!

Ben Nevis from the South.

Glen Coe with S.C.N.L and Bidean on the right.

Winter's round the corner!

So the summer has flown by, I've not really been keeping the blog up to date this summer but I've been busy with both work, play and personal stuff. Booking and enquiries are coming in almost daily now for the coming winter season and it's gradually cooling down outside and the word snow is appearing more and more on the mountain forecasts.

We could have our first proper taste of winter in the next couple of weeks or we might have to wait a bit longer but peoples focus is definitely turning towards the white stuff. So why not get in touch to see what I can do for you this winter. With courses ranging from an introduction to winter walking right through to guiding on some of Scotland's greatest classic climbs. 

Looking for some inspiration then have a look at 'The festival of ice' this weekend at the Ice Factor including the 'Scottish Tooling Series' or you can have a read of a write up I did earlier in the year of my Cuillin winter traverse last December. If they don't do it for you then here's a couple of videos that always get me excited.

Fingers crossed for another great winter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG95yGRaooY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP-HQDEym6E