Winter Conditions

Martin and Nettle went in to Stob Coire nam Beith on Wednesday to have a look at Deep Cut Chimney, which was thinly iced/melting with soft turf so climbed North West Gully by the second pitch of the Direct Start instead (the first pitch not being fully formed). The pitch required care, but was climbable at about IV. The rest of the route provided a very pleasant way up the hill.

On Thursday Martin and Nettle climbed Morwind on Aonach Mor East Face. Easy Gully and the crag apron was fairly heavily loaded with moist snow and there were some big cornices. Sun on the rocks was warming in behind the ice/snow in places, but Morwind gave excellent, if delicate, mixed climbing and an easy cornice exit. Two other parties in the Coire, one climbing Left Twin and the other retreating after a pitch of Turf Walk (reporting variable turf). The ski-ing looked good and the ski touring looked excellent.

Mark, Pamela and Martin were out in Stob Coire nan Lochan today climbing SC gully. There was approx 10″ of fresh snow on top of firm old snow on the route below the first steepening. Once the gully steepened up the fresh snow depth was only a couple of inches and good old snow/snow ice made for pleasant climbing. The cornice exit was easy on firm old snow, but there are sizable cornices overhanging the route from the butresses.

Other parties were out on Dorsal Arete, Twisting Gully and Ordinary Route.

Snow falling on and off all day in the coire. The high winds were northerly, but winds were moving around in the coire and loading slopes other than just the south.  A cornice collapse to the north side of the North Butress occured during the day leaving sizable debris.  

Once more the Falkirk High Tops Team and i had an excellent day out in the Northern Highlands.  We headed up Stac Pollaidh for a days scrambling.  We stuck to the ridge as closley as possible, therefore giving ourselves some interesting problems.

We had good views to the Fannichs and An Teallach which still have a good covering of snow.

The Falkirk High Tops Team, Mclaurin and i had a great day out today in the Northern Highlands.  We went up Cul Mor and Creag nan Calman.

We ascended  the east ridge of Cul Mor directly which gave excellent scrambling and climbing sections of around grade 1 on snow, ice, rock and turf.  The turf was frozen from 650m upwards.

The weather was excellent and we had fantastic views of The Fannichs and An Teallach.  There is still plenty of snow on these peaks for climbing and walking.

I was out on An Teallach today with the Falkirk High Tops Team.  It was a very wild day with rain, snow, hail and winds up to 70mph.

There is still plenty of ice and snow in the corries and the turf was frozen above 700m.  If it freezes again, the gully lines and buttress routes should be good.

At the moment the snowpack is very wet at lower elevations and there is large deposits of weakly bonded snow at higher elevations.

Mark and i had a good day out in Glencoe today climbing Crowberry Gully.  We left Edinburgh early and finished the route by lunchtime as i am heading to the Northern Highlands with Falkirk Council for a few days.

The route was in good condition with enough neve on the harder pitches.  On the crux cave pitch two wires before the steepening and two ice screws on the steep section protected the pitch.

There was some spindrift avalanches coming down the route due to last nights snow.  There is some signs of avalanche activity on sun affected slopes.

I was out today on Lurchers Crag with Andy and Mark.  We climbed Quinn on the South Crag as Andy had previously done the ice routes on the North Crag.

Quinn gave a lovely little route with interesting moves under a jammed block.  However, there is some loose blocks that require attention.  The turf was mostly frozen and the crag was very white.

We had intended to do a second route but lost a lot of time on the walk in due to very deep snow.  On the walk out we got a glimpse off the Northern Corries which were looking very white.

Viv Scott and I did Blood, Sweat and Frozen Tears on Beinn Eighe yesterday. The route was in excellent condition. The freezing level had definitely risen by the end of the day however, with some damp conditions experienced on the walk out. A warmer day today in Torridon so we opted for a lie-in.

Poachers’ Fall was thin, with the freezing level only around the base of the route. Driving south a view across to Beinn Bhan showed Silver Tear in the making, but not yet…

I was out today on Ben Ledi with Nic and Patryck looking at teaching winter skills and group management on steep ground.  We were situated in a corrie to the North East of the summit.  This is a great venue for this as it holds snow very well and has lots of different angles and aspects for teaching skills on.

Looking north to the Ben Lawers area, there is still a good covering of snow on these hills.

Martin climbed Forked Gully Right Hand on Stob Coire nan Lochan with Roo and Graham on Monday.The steep pitch gave a short near vertical wall of good ice with a covering of crud. The steep pitch looked as though it could be bypassed by going out right and back left if required. Plenty of soft snow with a crust in the coire, which is slowly consolidating. Parties on Boomerang Gully, Dorsal Arete and Twisting Gully and also tracks coming out of SC and NC.

Ski-ing on Aonoch Mor today (Tuesday). Cornices above east face looking big, but plenty of parties topping out. Couple of centimetres of fresh snow falling on a northerly wind during the afternoon starting with 10 minutes of graupel. Roo and Colin had climbed Golden Oldie on Saturday reporting good conditions.