Winter Skills & Mountaineering LJMU

Week two of Winter Skills and mountaineering with Liverpool John Moores University and a much cooler snowier one.

Monday we returned to the Lochain for some crampon, boot and axes skills, the crags were looking whiter and there was some fresh snow blowing around so the group could see some wind transportation.

On Tuesday we battled the wind to get up into coire cas to look at snow anchors. A great day for personal admin and making sure people were organised with kit so that it could not blow away. The digging was hard work.  Wednesday was spent on Beinn a Choarainn's east ridge, calm conditions on the walk in and ascent as the ridge is well protected from a westerly wind. We had to do battle with this when we summited.

Belay chat on the ridge

Making progress up the ridge

On old firm snow

Sorting out a bearing on the summit, getting ready to brace the strong wind and experience white out conditions.

A great bumslide on the way back down!

Thursday was spent walking into Creag Meagaidh to have a look at the crags and watch some avalanche activity as the temperatures went up and Friday has been a climbing workshop day looking at winter rack, ropes, harnesses, axes and crampons., 

07-03-12, Ben Nevis - Winter Climbing

Ben Nevis North Face

Off to the Ben on Monday. Ice conditions up high 1100m and above great. There was a lot of soft slab about at the top of Tower Gully. We had a relatively late start for the Ben, with the road from Loch Carron only opening at 7am due to the land slide. Up Tower Gully, with the rest of the world, numerous teams on Good Friday Climb, Gardyloo Gully, Smiths, Tower Scoop and Tower Ridge. We climbed Tower Scoop (III), 3 good ice pitches for Andy and Stewart to get their ice fix for the week! Tuesday less good weather, windy, cloudy then heavy rain late afternoon. We climbed the East Ridge of North Buttress on Stob Ban (II/III) a great mountaineering route, which can be climbed in any condition. That day we did it with just one axe and no crampons. Today some rock climbing at a crag near Applecross very gneiss rock, and a day of four seasons, snow showers, sunshine and occasional wind. There is a good dusting of snow in the NW, the freezing level was probably 600m.

Busy Tower Gully area.

Andy enjoying the ice.

Some Hero's having it on a new route!? Left of Kellets. They abbed off from there.

Dusk



Stob Ban, Mamores, East Ridge of North Buttress on right sky line.

04-03-12, Fuar Tholl, Glen Carron, NW Highlands - Winter Climbing

View from the top of Fuar Tholl.

 I am over working in the NW highlands again this week for Martin Moran. There was a dusting of snow this morning and today the weather was fair and pleasant. There are some old snow patches still hanging in high up, but most routes harder than grade I/II are non existent, and there are few climbable at that grade. Andy and Stewart are on a technical winter climbers course and hope to feel confident leading grade II winter climbs and have experience of seconding harder. Today we refreshed winter skills, cramponing and boot work, snow belays, bucket seats and buried axes, then the guys led the first couple pitches of Access Gully, II, (Fuar Tholl) before I took over. The weather looks set to be cold for the next few days so hopefully ice on the Ben Nevis will be improving.

Andy and Stewart climbing Access Gully, II

Looking south from the summit.

Winter Skills Cairngorm

Last week I was working with students and staff from LJMU for Ogwen Cottage. We were based out of Badaguish in the Glenmore forest. The normal 5 day plan had to go out the window due to lack of snow for any skiing, however we cobbled together a great week.

On Monday we headed to the Lochain and looked at boot, crampon and axe skills as well as some ice axe arrest. We saw lots of glide cracks in the snow pack, flocks of ptarmagin and a few other teams sharing out snow patch. 

On Tuesday we headed to Cnap coire na Spreidhe to look at how to build snow belays, we spent time digging bucket seats backed up with buried axes, and tested some of the buried axes which highlighted to the students the importance of keeping your axe slot tidy with square angles. We also looked at snow bollards and abseiling techniques, once the basics were in place we went to some steeper terrain to put the skills into practise. 

On Wednesday we headed up to Torridon to see a different part of the Highlands, a team headed to Ben Lair, another to Beinn Eighe and I headed to the Black Carls with a team of 5. We quickly walked into the ridge but also very quickly realised that the wind speed was unrealistic for an ascent so reversed thrusters and spent some time on a lower craggy section looking at techniques involved in moving together and short pitches.

Thursday was a shorter day with a variety of workshops - an environmental walk around Loch an Eilian or a climbing kit one. The climbers headed to an old railway siding which allowed us to hammer in some pegs, look at modern winter climbing axes and crampons, talk about ice screws, harnesses ropes etc.

On Friday we had teams rafting, mountain biking and walking. The walkers headed to Beinn a Choarainn up the east ridge. A grade 1 scramble that is far from the best Scotland can offer but was a short drive and gave up the opportunity to think about how the team would look after themselves on something similar in winter conditions. We were treated to blue sky (the first all week) just as we summited and practised some winter navigation to get ourselves off the summit avoiding the big corniced edges. 

03-03-12, Creag Bheag - Rock Climbing

The last few days have been very similar weather wise, warm conditions but dry at least in the Cairngorms. On the last 3 days of the winter skills course we bagged a few more Munros and consolidated skills learnt earlier in the week. We also looked at use of the rope and how to build good snow anchors, when venturing into steeper graded ground.

Today Kath and I went sport climbing at a recently bolted conglomerate crag called The Mound about 1 hour NE of Inverness on the Caithness coast. This is a very nice friendly crag, lots of 5s and 6s, with numerous juggy holes and stones. It faces SE and has a very quiet feel overlooking the river Fleet, only 10 minutes from the road and good quality conglomerate rock with little seepage. Worth seeking out if your in the area and fancy a chilled day.

28-02-12, Cairngorms - Winter Skills

Very dry Fiaciall Buttress

 This weekend and week I have been working at Glenmore Lodge on Winter Skills courses. MCofS University students at the weekend and a regular open week long course this week. There are enough significant patches of snow on some NE aspect slopes to practice winter skills - Lochain and Cas. There are some deep accumulations still hanging around on the plateau in the usual places i.e. Domhain, Ciste Mhearad and Cnap Coire na Spreidhe, but other than that it is bare and very summer like. A couple of winter routes exist (if your seriously desperate!) in the corries. Basically crags are bone dry and ready for Rock Climbing! Today (Day 2) we headed to Coire Cas, did some more ice axe self arrest, and cramponing up the slope, headed to windy col and descended into Coire an t-Sneachda, marvelled at the glorious dry rock, dug some emergency shelters in the moraines and covered some more navigation.

Mess of Pottage

Aladdin's Buttress

Skiing - closed.



Don't dig too deep!



Winter Hillwalking last week

Last week I was in Glen Coe working for Plas y Brenin on a Winter Hillwalking course. We had a wet and mild week with the exception of day one which we spent on Buchcaille Etive Beag, successfully summiting Stob Dubh.

Some raised footprint on the way over to the summit

Winter navigation techniques being practised on Beinn Bheag - pacing and walking on a bearing in the wind and rain.

Digging snow shelters near the path on the way into Coire Ardair on Creag Meagaidh. There is still lots of snow on meggie with Easy gully and Raeburn's gully looking white, though the post face is very black and the gully lines are broken. There were still plenty of banks of snow on meggie.

We had a final day enjoying an escape from the wind and rain in the Ice Factor climbing on the rock wall, ice climbing and dry tooling. 

More mildness next week, but should be a good one with LJMU students. The Ben has plenty of snow high up as does Stob Coire nan Lochain, it is not over yet.