MountainZ: Glencoe

Showing posts with label Glencoe. Show all posts

Sunday, 16 February 2014

Back on North Buttress IV 4

Approaching the base of the route on good snow

Climbing in parallel on the top pitch

Abseiling back in to Glencoe

Saturday, 15 February 2014

This week I'm working with Chris who's making his final preparations for his MIC reassessment. The forecast was terrible with a challenging avalanche forecast so we kicked off on Zig Zag Direct (III) on Grear Aonach before descending via the Zig Zags (II). In the event conditions were fairly benign and even pleasant at times and we had a great climb despite the soggy snow.

The view east through Glencoe as far as Schallion

Topping out on Grear Aonach

Looking west to Loch Leven

Chris short roping us on the descent of Zig Zags II

Thursday, 6 February 2014

Laughing chicken** seen on North Buttress!

The Buachaille - North Buttress IV 4 takes the line of shallow chimneys on the left of the crag

There have been a spate of blogs reporting great conditions on the Buachaille's North Buttress, a classic IV 4 which will go in most conditions and is a good option when avalanches threaten. It wasn't looking good as we left the car in tropical temperatures and postholed through knee deep sugar snow up to the foot of the route. However it all changed as soon as we swung the first axe into the snow ice that plastered the initial groove. The climbing was easy and gear easy to come by. However a few minutes later we were in full blizzard conditions and getting pummeled by a constant stream of spindrift. Rob and Barry seemed to be enjoying the experience so we continued. Our initial plan had been to abseil off after the difficulties to rest the legs after three big days but a glimpse of sunshine and views over Rannoch Mor tempted us on upwards towards the summit. Deep snow slowed our progress on the easy final slopes but a couple of bus loads of Plas Y Brenin students had visited the summit via the safe ridge so we had a huge trail to follow on the way down.

**Rob & Barry have renamed Ptarmingan Laughing Chickens! Don't ask me why but it's been a very surreal week!

Impressive avalanche debris

Approaching the climb above Glencoe and the A82

Blizzard conditions and spindrift on North Buttress

Monday, 3 February 2014

Eastern Slant (SCNL)

Face of concentration! Rob on Eastern Slant (III 4)

This week I'm working on an Introduction to Winter Climbing course for Adventure Peaks. Rob and Barry were up for pushing their limits and have plenty of general mountaineering experience so we jumped straight on to Eastern Slant (III 4) on the east face of Aonach Dubh. With gusts of 90mph forecast for the summits this proved to be a good option topping out on to the floor of the coire. The snow was pretty unhelpful but the route provided a good introduction to hooking, torqing and general mixed shenanigans.
There's a lot of wet snow in Coire Nan Lochan at the moment and we post holed back down through thigh deep drifts. The main crags were looking very wintery but the approach apron was a wee bit spooky. We saw teams heading for Dorsal Arete, Spectra and even NC Gully!!! - the latter not to be recommended with the current high avalanche risk!

Eastern Slant (III 4) takes the obvious corner to half height before a rising traverse left

Sunday, 2 February 2014

Mountaineering rope work in SCNL

Saturday, 1 February 2014

Wee Buchaille

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

Wet tooling... plus a quick dash up Sron na Lairig.

Sron Na Lairig on a blue sky day

The forecast was terrible with rain, wind and a freezing level above the summits bringing a high avalanche risk. Conditions were supposed to improve slightly in the afternoon so we spent a few hours at Onich Slab working on crampon technique and confidence on rock holds. The north ridge of Everest has surprisingly little snow above 7500m due to the high winds and this proved to be a very useful session which should give SKK the confidence to move quickly and safely along some of the more challenging passages of climbing above 8000m, including the Second Step. Still relatively dry we drove up to Glen Etive to put some more miles and height gain into the legs. We set a quick pace up towards the Sron na Lairig ridge diverting briefly to have a look at the full depth avalanches which had come down the corrie to it's east. Once on the ridge we climbed the obvious groove and snow gullies to the half way ledge. The snow was saturated with water running behind the remains of any ice. With the normal descent route being via the avalanching corrie to our left we opted to descend back down the ridge before a quick blast back to the van.

Significant avalanche debris on our approach

Monday, 23 September 2013

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...