Douglas Boulder

The Douglas boulder has been proving popular with climbers in the last week or so. This is due to the ease of approach and the fact that recent conditions have leant themselves to snowed up rocky climbs and shorter days with wild weather! Guy and I went to the easiest route on the boulder- the Southwest ridge yesterday. I made a false start low down on the ridge and was scratching around for a while before Stu from Plas Y Brenin arrived with the beta that the groove i was in was 'nails' compared to the normal route which starts a little way up the gully. Since the point of our day was a quick route before the arrival of bad weather in the afternoon Guy and I were happy to take the advice! We hopped onto the ridge a little higher and took a fairly direct line straight up the crest of the ridge. It is possible to climb an easier line by weaving a little. Guy dug out t a well buried tat covered block on the summit and we abed down into the gap and descended the east gully as the snow came in again. More pics on Guy's Blog: http://guysteven.blogspot.com/ and a report on Richard Bentley's new route on the Boulder on Rob's site here: http://www.highlandguides.com/winterreports0708.htm .

The Ciste and Observatory Gully area are both very full of snow and parties heading to 'white' looking ice routes low down like the Curtain found only bottomless snow on arrival. Today strong winds and frequent showers are keeping it wintry out there.