Student Weekend

I just spent the weekend at Glenmore Lodge working as one of the volunteer staff on the MCofS Student Safety Seminar. Yesterday after some informative talks I was helping a group learn some simple personal climbing problem solving techniques. Then last night (and well into this morning) was a great social with an awesome talk by Mark and then quite a few drinks and some good craic in the bar. Today Greg and I took seven students to Huntly's Cave. The 4 I was working with reviewed ropework for lead climbing, protecting themselves on a retrievable abseil and prusiking back up again. A great weekend and well done to all the volunteers for the hard work and thanks to Scott for the lift over.
There still looks to be much more snow on the west than the east but its still pretty soggy up there and we need temperatures to drop to bring things into good winter nick.

A hard rain falling

I was out for a second day with Dan and Cam and today we went to Kingussie in the vain hope of drier weather. Other teams were out with Max, Sandy and Ben. Managed to make a 2 pitch route out of the longest slab and then Cam focussed on some skills to make his belay building more efficient whilst Dan got a few problems set to help him revise towards his SPA.
As we left Fort William we could see that this rain was falling as wet snow along the top of the CMD Arete.... come on winter- do your stuff!

 Slimey slab

 Nice views

 Leading out

 Max and co.

Sandy just hanging around

Autumn weather and damp rock

Another day working for UHI and today I was out doing some rock climbing development work with Dan and Cam. Both are reasonably accomplished (Dan has climbed some hard sport and trad routes this year and Cam solos mountain diffs on Skye) but wanted to focus on multipitch ropework and simple problem solving.
Despite the wet rock we managed half a dozen pitches on Pinnacle Ridge and the Gutter,  long abseil retreat and a couple of hoists. Well done to Dan who being from down south appears largely unfamiliar with the concept that wet rock can be climbed ( ;-) and Cam who forgot his rock shoes today (seconding polished damp mica schist Severe with no falls)!

 Dan 'enjoying' the rock 

 Cam following damp Severe in big boots

 Well some of it's dry Dan....

 Cam glad it wasn't his lead...

 ...but it is now!

Dan embracing Scottish rock- perhaps not in its best condition!

Running from the rain to the resin

 Dan looks for a rest

 Just (bat) hanging around

Holly coming down

Rock climbing instruction for UHI went indoors today at The Ice Factor. Thaw conditions on the tops continued so we had to make our fun on the resin.

A big day out before the thaw

I spent the weekend visiting family in Huntly and going to the Nordic Skiing open day at the dry track there- always good for a workout. On the way back west I dossed with a friend in Aviemore and met Keith and Tim from PYB who had been on the upper tier of Carn Etchachan reporting pretty good conditions. This turned out to be enough to tempt my partner Jamie B away from the fleshpots of the Northern Coires and so 7am saw us leaving the carpark for the long walk over the back.
After a lot of loose boulders covered in powder, one wet foot and one wet glove when the ice collapsed on a stream and general early season puffing and sweating we were at the foot of Castlegates Gully eyeing Castle wall; a 1 star 210m IV,5 that Jamie liked the look of. We'd followed tracks much of the way and there was a team already in situ on the chimney of Route Major so we decided to crack on.
The route was fine, turf mostly good, a bit of clearing and Jamie led a fairly sustained 60m pitch to start off, nice only slightly tenuous climbing. Next I began up a nice steep juggy groove and then that was it. The rest was much easier, a bit like Golden Oldy on Aonach Mor. My pitch stretched the 60m rope to the belay and a third easy pitch using all the rope from Jamie put us on the lip of the Coire. The weather was less pleasant now, it was white enough for the map and compass to be used to get us the the top of the Goat Track and the walk up Coire Domhain was proper Cairngorm weather with the wind blowing freezing rain at us hard enough to make us stop and turn away in the worst gusts.

 Looking down the last of the difficulties

 Loch Avon behind

 Jamie B

 Last pitch

Topping out

It was stiller, mild and sauna like as we dropped into Sneachda a sign of todays thaw to come. We bumped into Mark and Gordon (well done on following your first pitch of Tech 6 Gordon!) in the car park who had had a good day on the Message and my Facebook is alive with pictures of happy early season winter climbers. How mild it will be before it goes cold remains to be seen but the season is off with a bang!

Update on yesterday

Looks like our climb yesterday was a new start to El Nino III,4 joining it where the difficulties easy. Given that it is a counter diagonal it could be the La Nina start. Here are some pics from Guy of yesterday.

Off East for the weekend but it will be biking and x country skiing (dry track). Winter should still be there on monday though. Have a good weekend.

First route of the season... maybe a new one?

The walk in

Today Guy and I went up Ben Nevis with my shiny new tools to see what there was to see. We had our eyes on Gargoyle Wall which meant a repeat of the slog up to the top of Coire Na Ciste for Guy who climbed Archangel there with Kenny yesterday. The snow line had come down a bit from yesterday and the stones in the Allt a Mhuillin below the CIC hut were coated in ice. The powder on rubble walk in was a good bit of early season suffering as I reminded myself of how much heavier cold weather winter sacks are than summer climbing ones!

Guy set up off up Pitch 1 of Gargoyle Wall but it was soon obvious that the drop in temperatures had choked every crack with ice and this was hidden under plenty of powder. After over an hour of digging, with runners you wouldn't want to hang your coat on Guy found a thread and lowered off.

 

 Pitch 1

Guy digging for victory... and losing

We'd had a lovely morning with blue skies and a cloud inversion and although the weather was changing slowly we weren't ready to give up yet. So we quested up a powdery No.3 Gully past Winter Chimney (tried that before without ice.... shudder) and to the right hand side of the buttress forming its right wall. Here there was a ledge a short way above the gully and at its left side a pair of twin cracks. Guy set up the right hand crack and although the gear was better here it was a lot steeper than it looked from below. About 35m later it was my turn and I copied Guy in cutting loose on a good left axe in a very small crack on the left wall of the crack. A few good heaves and after some nice technical climbing I was traversing left along a ledge below Guy's grinning face. The second pitch was a similar length to the plateau but much easier. Guy reckoned his pitch merited V,6 and although short we'd give the route a star as the climbing was good; high steps to powerful moves on good hooks. I'll have to check with Andy N to see if its been done before. Its in a well visited area but with so much good climbing around there it may have not seen an ascent. Nice to hang on the Nomics on something steep and although the walk in was purgatorial and the belays cold there were no hot aches today (despite a wee hangover)! Hoorah for winter!

 Heading to the twin cracks

 Going for it

 Gear please

 Guy in my new belay jacket

 Looking back down the easy second pitch

 Abseiling into No. 3 Gully our route shown opposite

Bizarrely Guy's Iphone had overheated in his sack at the bottom of the crag. It was the only thing feeling hot today!