ClimbNow Blog

Out today with Mary, Andrew, Nigel, Sarah and Anne-Marie doing a Winter Skills Course. We used the area around the head of Allt Coire Fhar finding new snow on lee slopes above 700m. Where the new snow was on top of older consolidated snow it was generally starting to bond fairly well to the old snow due to the moisture content at these elevations, although there was some debris from a minor avalanche from yesterday. Scoured areas of older snow were firm giving good crampon practice. Exposed turf was frozen from about 750m. Ridges generally scoured clear of snow.

Taking a break near the head of Allt Coire Fhar

Fresh north-westerly wind giving some redistribution of snow and a few snow showers during the day. Freezing level circa 700m through the day, but falling to road level by nightfall. General cloud cover with the odd break including some excellent views of Ben Alder.

Paul exiting Anvil Gully.

John leading Anvil Gully.

John abseiling into Anvil Gully with the Anvil boulder over his left shoulder.

Tam exiting Milky Way in Coire an Lochain

For the past two days I have been in the Cairngorms with the Falkirk High Tops Team. I have been climbing with John Bell and Paul. John Jackson, Doug and Tam climbed together as a team

Yesterday, the weather was wild. We still managed to get a route done though in Coire an Lochain. Both teams climbed Milky Way on well frozen turf and some snow ice. Of note, is a pocket of windslab underneath this area of the crag which requires care.

Today we all visited Creagan Coire Cha-no and climbed Anvil Gully. We abseiled down the route and climbed back out again as the snow in Recovery Gully looked very suspect. The turf low down on the route was a bit soft but excellent higher up the route and on all the difficult moves.

Out on Geal-charn doing a Winter Skills Course for EICA Ratho today with Duncan, Paul, Neil and David. The weather was fairly wild with more north-west in the wind than the forecast westerlies and winds steadily around 45mph at circa 750m. Snow showers throughout the day depositing fresh snow and wind blown snow on lee slopes above about 600m and rain at road level. Old frozen snow patches from 600m upwards. Turf very variable and only consistently frozen above 750m.

David trying his crampon skills on steeper ground

We found enough old snow in Coire Beul an Sporain to cover the course requirements, but had to keep moving and find shelter to keep warm with the lads coping very well with the challenging conditions. Goggles definitely helpful today.

Descending towards Allt Coire Fhar

Mike and Steve today with Cam Chreag behind.

I have been out today with the Falkirk staff team doing some winter training. Snowfall continued through the night in the Killin area making the walk in a bit harder. A 4WD vehicle is also necessary to get all the way up the road. With good visibility it would now be possible to link enough snow patches together to ski some of the Munro’s.

We climbed Rhombus Buttress. The turf was not completely frozen on this route.

I am off to the Cairngorms now for four days so will be reporting from there.

Euan & I have both visited Cam Chreag several times this week and a few folk have asked about a topo, as there’s no diagram in the current guidebook and the descriptions can be a little confusing; it’s worth noting there’s is an update in the 2003 SMC Journal. There’s a topo below of the east side of the crag (east of Easy Gully). Not all routes are shown and a number of lines have been climbed since the guidebook, but hopefully it will help with getting orientated for anyone new to the crag. If you click on the image and then click on it again you should be able to see it in a larger format.

Cam Chreag Topo

Gayle below Mackay's Gully (leftward slanting ramp) and Clark's Gully (narrow ribbon of snow).

Alasdair and Gayle on the second belay of Clark's Gully.

I have been out today with the Falkirk High Tops Team. Gayle, Alasdair and I climbed together and John, Linda and Tom climbed together. Both teams climed Mackay’s Gully and Clark’s Gully on good snow ice and some frozen turf.

The buttress routes on this crag are currently in good condition. However, it is worth noting that for all routes on this crag (including the gullies) a good number of Warthogs should be carried.

Windslab is currently building in the gullies and at the top of the crag and requires care.

Up in the Menteith Hills near Aberfoyle on Wednesday running a navigation course for Ross and Nathan from Falkirk. Access to these hills from Braeval is via forestry tracks and there are currently a lot of trees down across the tracks following the high winds in December. The wind damage would currently make sections of the Rob Roy way problematic to walk or bike with detours or climbing over trees required.

No snow at summit height, circa 400m, but views north showed snow patches from about 600m on higher hills. Fresh westerly wind and rain showers during the day.

The summit of Meall Nan Tarmachan.

Bomber Harris leading Easy Gully on Cam Chreag.

I have been back up today at Cam Chreag with the EICA Ratho staff team. The conditions on the crag are still pretty good. Everything is well rimed, the turf is frozen and the snow is still firm. Today, we visited the summit of Meall Nan Tarmachan in addition to climbing on Cam Chreag to give us an opportunity to practice navigation skills.

Out with Nic, Euan, Pamela, Davy and Fran on an EICA Ratho Staff Training day today looking at short roping and general winter mountaineering. We visited Cam Chreag, a south/south east facing crag underneath the summit of Meall Garbh. The major gully lines and crag apron contained firm neve and the turf was very well frozen.

Davy Virdee near the bottom of McKay's Gully

McKay’s Gully was climbed on a mixture of snow and frozen turf. The right hand branch of Easy Gully was climbed and the left hand branch of Easy Gully was descended on good snow. Below freezing at crag height all day, light SW breeze and cloud cover for most of the day, but no precipitation.

Just time for a quick route or two this morning before departing for the airport, so Euan, Graham, Ivor and I headed to the Krokan Area, which has a quick approach.

Ivor with the large icefall behind him being Bullen

We climbed Kjokkentrappa, which was in good condition, and Euan rounded off the trip with a good lead of Lucky Lisa.

Euan leading Lucky Lisa M8

Jomfrua was also being climbed and looked very stepped out. Lots of other routes across the grades were in condition, although some were a little lean and possibly hard for the grade.

Euan topping out on Lucky Lisa

Unknown climber on Jomfrua