Golden Oldie on Everest!

 Stunning views over the Great Glen

Another stunning day in Lochaber tempted us on to the classic Golden Oldie II on the West face of Aonach Mor. Surprisingly the approach was very quick despite some very deep drifts. The east face of Carn Dearg Mheadhonach opposite us was looking very white with some significant cornices. These caught at least 3 walkers out this week, luckily without serious injury despite some big falls.

Our ridge was almost buried but still the best option on this face. The other popular route, Western Rib III, was totally buried and all four teams in the valley opted for Golden Oldie. Going first meant that there was a lot of digging to find decent belays but good snow over most of the tricky rock steps meant progress was quick. There was some suggestion of cross loading and cornicing on the easy final slopes so we opted to pitch the final 70m but in the event they were stable and well frozen and we topped out in time for lunch.

 Fort William enjoying some early morning sunshine

Deep snow on the approach

 Approaching the first belay

Linking together patches of neve

Three teams behind us enjoying the buried conditions

 On the exposed and corniced crest

Retrieving one of the few pieces of protection we placed

The exit slopes to the summit of Aonach Mor

A very snowy Ben Nevis

Scottish Winter Mountaineering & Climbing courses

Learning to lead on Golden Oldie (II) on the West Face of Aonach Mor

A few photos to whet the appetite for the forthcoming Scottish winter season. I'll be working my 9th season running winter mountaineering and climbing courses from Fort William and Aviemore. Please get in touch if you fancy a wee adventure...

Enjoying the delights of a bucket seat belay!

Bad weather arriving on the Cairngorm plateau

The 4 star Curved Ridge (II) in Glencoe

Digging snow holes on a character building day!

Steep mixed climbing on Fingers Ridge (IV 4) in Coire an t-Sneachda

Ski mountaineering on Ben Nevis prior to a 1300m descent

 Topping out on Green Gable in the Lake District

Enjoying the sunshine on a classic mountaineering day

Curved Ridge (II) under heavy snow conditions and a blue sky

The stunning Smith's Route (V 5) on Ben Nevis

Descending to Fort William after a big day on the Ben

Summit 4 Heroes Scottish winter training

Summit For Heroes

 Duncan & Billy on some steeper ice

This week I'm out with Pete, Billy & Duncan from the Summit For Heroes team helping them begin their preparations for an attempt on Everest in 2016. They'd already been out for a couple of days on the hill so today was about consolidating their new skills, developing some movement skills on mixed terrain and introducing ropework. We used the Aonach Mor gondala to reach the snowline and explored the area around the Nid ridge. Careful route choice kept us in the sun for most of the day!

Hiding in the clouds!

 Topping out on Golden Oldie covered in a nice layer of rime

While the rest of Lochaber was basking in the sun we went and hid in the clouds on Aonach Mor. After a couple of days in gullies Joe and Tom were keen to try a ridge and Golden Oldie (II) on the west face fitted the bill perfectly. We walked in in the sunshine but climbed into the cloud capping the summit on the final pull up to the start of the route. With plans for the alps, today was focused on the skills of moving together on a variety of terrain. The steep snow slopes on the approach were protected with a short length of rope with a couple of direct belays on steeper sections. Once on the buttress the snow disappeared and we ran out two long pitches on rimed rock and frozen turf looking at hooking and torquing. The snow reappeared where the ridge flattens out and we swopped back to moving together with natural and running belays. On this upper section the wind was bitter and the rime was forming in front of our eyes. The boys have had a very easy introduction to Scottish winter mountaineering this week so it was good to top out on to a featureless plateau in a whiteout and experience something a wee bit more normal!

 

3" of rime on a piste marker

Golden Oldie