Ben Nevis, Glen Coe and other snippets….

On January 28, 2015 by Tim Neill

Twisted, Stob Coire nan Lochan….Swaily cruising

So, I’ve just finished my first week or so up North this winter. It’s got to be said it’s pretty good and getting better…I hooked up with trainee Guide Paul Swail for a great weekend…we did a recently recommended route on the Douglas Boulder (the short approach suited me after a 13.5 hr drive from Wales due to heavy snow…so I needed a lie in) called Turf War finishing up Down to the Wire giving a good way up the front face. Next day we waded into the currently very icy cliffs of Stob Coire nan Lochan and made an early repeat of a recent line called Twisted….great icy mixed up the wall between Moonshadow and Chimney Route….very good.

Stu on the chimney of Point Five..

The next day I hooked up with Stu and Paul for a perfect Ben day….we were working together for the following week on a Mountain Guide winter training course, so it was cool to have a fun day out and decide on whether we’d use stopper knots and which was the best colour of rope for short roping etc for the week ahead…

Paul loving the famous Rogue pitch of the Point…

The Point was looking perfect and blue so we had a blast up that then down early to meet the trainees….it was one of those blue bird days with every mountain in the Highlands on view.

Our course was very lucky as the conditions were ideal for all the tasks we needed…we bagged plenty of classics over the 5 days from grade 1 to V…Golden Oldie on Aonach Mor, Point Five, Hadrians Wall, Tower Ridge, Ledge Route, The Great Chimney, Vanishing Gully on Ben Nevis, Scabbard Chimney, Spectre, Innuendo and Raeburn’s Route in SCNL, and the East Ridge of Beinn a’ Chaorainn. Not too shabby…

JPeg on Hadrian’s Wall…

Tamsin lapping up the Great Chimney on Tower Ridge….

Our busy little week will hopefully set up the trainees for their exam in early March….best of luck with that!

I then had 3 days guiding with Chris who is new to climbing in the winter…. we cruised up Twisting Gully and Langsam in SCNL on day 1, a fun ascent of the Invernooky in the ‘Gorms and finished with a stormy and super snowy ascent of Gearr Aonach via the Zig Zags.