ClimbNow Blog

Marcus, Rosie and Steve below the Canale Grande.

Rosie having a rest at the top of the Canale Grande.

Steve off piste above Alagna.

A great day’s skiing today above Alagna and Gressoney. Highlights of the day were the Canale Grande, Canale Dell Aquila and the Vallone D’Olen which all had great snow.

The team off piste skiing today above Champoluc.

Rosie enjoying the empty pistes of Gressoney.

Steve skiing the Canale S.Anna on the 10/2/12.

We have just had another great day’s skiing today in the Gressoney area. Light snow overnight allowed us the opportunity today for some fresh turns. Steve and I revisited the Canale S.Anna which gave some great skiing due to the new snow.

Out in the Cairngorms and Ben Nevis over the last four days. Earlier in the week the southerly and south-westerly winds were loading the lee slopes with wind slab and building cornices and avalanche activity was observed on Creagan Cha-no (above Strath Nethy) on Monday and Number 3 Gully on Ben Nevis on Tuesday. Green Gully, Wendigo, Central Right Hand, White Line, Glover’s Chimney and Number 2 Gully Buttress were all climbed on Tuesday, but conditions will have changed considerably since then.

There was a big thaw in the Cairngorms overnight Wednesday and through Thursday with buttresses largely stripping back to bare rock and even some of the thicker ice turning very soggy.

Rosie off piste skiing above Champoluc.

The whole of the Monte Rosa lift system was open today. Therefore, we headed over towards Champoluc for some skiing. Conditions were good. Later in the afternoon we returned to the Punta Indren area. Due to the recent high winds the snow is not as good as it was a couple of days ago.

Enjoying the sun above Champoluc. The Matterhorn is in the background above the cairn.

The team enjoying the surroundings of the Italian Alps.

Steve skiing the Canali Dei Cavi.

Marcus skiing the Canale S.Anna.

Today is our third day in the Gressoney area. At the moment we can not get to Alagna or Champoluc due to the winds. However, we have still got some great skiing done both on and off piste. We have been using Andrea Gallo’s guidebook Polvere Rosa. Off piste highlights so far have been Seehorn, Canali Dei Cavi, Canale S.Anna and Canale Del Moos.

The team enjoying the sun above Gressoney.

Steve chillin' out in the sun before the next pitch.

Sharon enjoying the off piste skiing in the trees above Gressoney.

Currently Rosie, Sharon, Pamela, Steve, Marcus and I are out in Gressoney skiing both on piste and off piste. It hasnt snowed for a few days but conditions are still currently excellent with lots of fresh tracks to be had.

We are staying in Hotel Residence which we can recommend. The weather was a bit mixed today but as there is masses of great tree skiing to do this did not affect the day.

I was out with John and Paul, Graham and Doug from the Falkirk Team today. After a false start involving deciding not to leave the mini-bus where we may not have been able to get it out later in the day due to steadily falling snow we were left with limited time, so chose to head to Newtyle. It was a first time dry tooling for the guys and they all seemed to have fun and technique improved massively through the day and will transfer well to future mixed climbing.

Sleet/snow throughout the day at Birnham and the ground remained largely frozen.

Unfortunately, I forgot the camera today, but can’t resist putting up a few more photos from yesterday on Route Major.

Euan having pulled out of the "tapered chimney"

Steve in the "tapered chimney"

Ian belaying below the chimney

Steve at the top of Route Major.

Sharon climbing on Route Major with Hells Lum behind.

Ian looking towards Carn Etchachan and the Shelter Stone.

The belay below the exit chimney of Route Major.

Ian and Sharon walking across a frozen Loch Avon.

Today was a beautiful day in the Cairngorms. Ian, Sharon, Steve, Martin and I went over to Carn Etchachan and climbed Route Major. The approach was fairly quick due to the ground and Loch Avon being frozen.

The route itself, was in excellent condition. We chatted to another team who climbed Scorpion and Pamela and Nic climbed Deep Cut Chimney on Hells Lum.

During the day I could hear large bangs. I think it was ice falling off Stag Rocks but could not be sure of the exact location.

Paul is currently skiing in Kashmir and has sent through these two photos for the website.

Scrambling on Emel Ridge.

Glenn and Pamela on Emel Ridge.

I have been out today with the EICA Ratho staff team on Beinn an Dothaidh. We climbed Emel Ridge which was in excellent condition. All the buttresses are currently white and some ice is begining to form.

The exits of the gully lines are currently heavily loaded with windslab.