Do you think 60's will reach the bottom ?

19 May 2014

Craig and I took advantage of the great forecast and headed early morning to the Rannoch Wall.

Crossing easy gully was scary with hard icy snow but once across and on route we had great sunny and warm weather.

On Agag's, Craig lead the first 2 pitches and I lead the last 2. The rock was in great condition after the winter.

We abseiled down January Jigsaw to the big block belay on Agag's to climb the last 2 pitches. The plan was to climb all pitches but there were 2 teams already on pitch 1 and 2.

The climbing was fantastic on good grippy rock with holds where you needed them. I think we have climbed every possible option on the last pitch over the years, some slightly harder than others, but all great.

The temptation is to run the last two pitches together but that would be selfish...

We abseiled again to see how far the 60m ropes would take us down the wall… all the way bar 2 meters is the answer, be careful.

Another great day in the Coe.

More on the Simply Epic blog here

Sometimes …

You just got to go and see for yourself. We went, we saw, we came back. The Ben looked like it was over despite the volume of snow.

The trip was good however, as was the night in the 'Hotel Discovery'.

More on the Epic blog here.

Tower Ridge

Nice moves...

22 March 2014

With a half decent forecast we walked into Sneachda for a look. The wind was blowing hard but it was pleasant enough and gave us great views. Spotting old grey neve with pockets of "fresh" was easy enough so we quickly decided to head up to Patey's Original Route, IV 5.

The boys tried to shelter from the wind as I climbed the first pitch. This was really good with lots of nice hooks for the axes under fresh snow and with just the right amount of gear placements to make it all go quickly and without any drama. I might have run the first 2 pitched together…

Craig's turn had him disappear round the corner and heading for the ledge and corner crack for some exciting moves. Again, with good axe and gear placements, he made quick work of this pitch with a big grin on his face.

We abseiled from here into Aladdin's Couloir. A great day with good sociable belays climbing as a rope of 3.

Another day on the zigzags...

15 March 2014

Warm, wet, windy, zero visibility, the sound of thunder as cornices collapse in the doom.

Another day in the Coe.

Gerry on a snow bridge in SCNL

Just hanging …

Most mates just hang with a beer and some random chat. Not us - mid week 'Y' hang rescue in the dark...just to make it EVEN MORE exciting!
 

 

Making holes for Craig…

I headed up the zig zags of Gearr Aonach in heavy rain on Sunday then made holes on the East ridge of Stob Corrie nan Lochan. The underfoot conditions improved at 850m with good icy neve on scoured slopes to the summit.

I heard a big slide go off in the Lochan on an Easterly aspect but it could have come out of NC Gully. It sounded like thunder...

There is masses of surface and full depth debris everywhere. 

Looking into the Lost Valley

Gearr Aonach ridge

Looking into SCNL

The honeymoon suite...

Craig and I headed to the Northern Cairngorms on Friday night for an early start on the Mess. We were not the only ones and the early morning stampeded had us rethink the plan and head to Lurchers crag instead.

Having never climbed at this crag before we kicked up to K9 for a look see. The thaw had taken its toll on the lower slabs with water running under very thin ice. The first ice pitch looked good but getting to it looked dubious.

We retreated and soloed up North Gully (III).  Low down the snow was soft but it soon firmed up as we gained height. Chatting briefly with another party we climbed through and roped up for the ice pitch. This was short but nice and took screws. Once over we soloed again on bomber neve to the summit.

All in a great day with fantastic views

Chalamain Gap

Tags still on ?

9/2/2014

Finding something to climb at the moment is difficult, just getting out is difficult, as most hills are plastered with deep unconsolidated snow, rising temperatures and high avalanche warnings. Even the slopes above the walk into SCNL look like they could 'go'.

Craig had never climbed the School House arete (Ballachuilish) of Sgurr Bhan. This is a great ridge giving access to Sgorr Dhearg and Sgorr Dhonuil or for a quick hit to the summit 947m and back down the North ridge making for the classic horse-shoe traverse. This was a good plan and although we didn't get a view from the summit the views on route over Glen Coe and The Mamores were brilliant.

More on the Simply Epic blog here.

Twisted, well done…

With spookie snow conditions in SCNL Craig and I made careful but swift movements to get us to the belay on Raeburn's Route (IV 4 **). This is our default route for when things look thin or conditions are marginal. Today the first pitch was in great condition, the second pitch was buried making for awkward movement. I backed off (down climbed) the 3rd pitch as it was buried with soft snow. We bailed from the second belay in two abseils but with the 60m ropes we reckon we could have gone the whole way.

A great day despite the bail and poor climbing conditions. It's going to take a monster thaw and refreeze before climbing is both safe and nice.

Fingers crossed.

Sliding doors …

24 December 2014
I humped the bag into SCNL (68mins) for a wee look yesterday. With Craig on his death bed it made sense to solo something easy and I knew Boomerang or a variation of it would go. There was a surprising amount of snow and neve and the turf that was exposed was frozen.

I climbed the first 150m of Boomerang and then moved out onto the Arête. Two teams on dorsal and one on Ordinary (CB) , but otherwise just me and an arctic hare for company… or so I thought, Gerry and Murray were shadowing me all day.

Fly guys ...

Nice day climbing on Curved Ridge with Craig. The hill was quiet apart from some speeding flyers… we beat them down right enough, but we are fast for a couple of older* guys…

Winter had left the westcoast but will return this week…

*ORIGIN Old English ald, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch our andGerman alt, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘adult’, shared by Latin alere‘nourish’.

 

Déjà vu ?

10 November 2013

A good day hooking and wading our way up Invernookie on Sunday… (one day we will get the seam in acceptable condition (for us)).

The big dump of snow and rime looks wintery enough, but to consolidate the loose blocks we need a couple of freeze thaw cycles.

All in, a good start to the winter season for us, with a tramp over the Fiacaill Ridge to get back to the ski centre.

Rigging in the rain

Quick look at Kingussie crag at the weekend, some nice looking lines but too wet to climb so Craig tied some knots…

Rainbow but no turtle …

20 October 2013

A weekend at Peter's chalet on Loch Fyne started well with some good home cooking, beer, wine and plans made for the Saturday morning paddle on the water.

Dreich described the weather the next morning but we kitted up and headed onto the water with Stuart taking a team shot to give to the coast guard just in case !

We paddled across the loch and hugged the coast before finding a spot
for lunch.

As the tide turned we headed back across and arrived at the Oystercatcher in good time for refreshments and rest before the obligatory eskimo roll session… the new 'dry kit' got the thumbs up from everyone.

Great food and beer helped reconstruct the days events to tales of 2m high waves and storm force winds, tiger sharks, sea eagles and knife carrying seals.

The  weather on Sunday didn't disappoint the bike ride with heavy rain for 70 kilometers. A quick coffee and cake stop before we loaded the kit and headed home.

Thanks Peter for being a great host and the font of all local knowledge.

More here on the Simple Epic website and blog

 

A long and winding road…

Meeting Craig at Stac An Eich (South Ballachulish) he was already fighting his was through the undergrowth to get to the crag. We found the rather damp and lichen covered HS 4b that is Appin Groove (its got 2 **). Coin (double headed) flipped and off I went in search of the top. Some clever gear placements settled the nerves and some nice moves had me up the layback and heading for the silver birch at the top. Nice route that would be better if not damp, was climbed more often, and was easier to get too !