Winter Guiding

On March 23, 2016 by Tim Neill

Skelly…one of the staff at Joint Services…now an MIC holder

I’d thought I would separate my winters work and my own climbing for a change. This past winter season I found one of the most challenging for as long as I can remember…mostly due to late January and February’s constant wind and snow. It was all consuming and tiring and perhaps explains my lack of attention to any updates…

One of my all time favourite climbs…N Buttress on the Buachaille

After the Guides course in late January I made a short stint for PYB, spending a few days updating with Avalanche forecasting and also provision for Winter ML, then some classic ridges around Glencoe…a good bet in the windy snowy weather, although the N Butt in the photo above is stretching the definition of a ridge!

K Dawg on the East Ridge of Stob Ban

The following 2 weeks work was with JSMTC Ballachulish on their 2 weeks of “Winter Climbing Concentration”… As per usual the enthusiasm and fitness of staff and students meant for a full and exhausting time. I worked with students who were working towards their Winter Climbing Leader award and some who were sitting their MIC later in the season…it worked well for them all I believe.

In the Gorms on the Mess of Pottage

Wavelength on Fluted Buttress

The Invernookie…a Corries Trade Route!

We enjoyed classics in Glencoe like Twisting Gully, N Butt again, Curved Ridge. I climbed this winter’s very popular East Ridge of Stob Ban…the first of a few trips this season. On the Ben we made the NE Buttress and Tower Ridge plus SW Ridge on the Douglas Boulder too.

We made a couple of trips to Cairngorm climbing a bunch of lines on the Mess of Pottage, Wavelength and the well travelled Invernookie.

And so a busy 10 days. Then a quick week at the Brenin to run an MIC training course with a great bunch of young and not so young trainees.

Ian on Twisting Gully, SCNL

The weather was now slowly improving allowing better ice and gully climbing, although a gnarly wet day was endured on the Sron na Lairig…less endurance and humour testing days were had in SCNL, the Buachaille, Stob Ban…

An annual week with the Doctors on their Mountain Medecine Diploma coincided with the arrival of a cold high pressure…and so a week of great weather, views and company ensued. My highlight of the week was climbing with Rhianne and Adrian at Bridge of Orchy. We made our way up the classic grade VI ice of the Promised Land…apparently a rare treat.

Adrian’s pic…me on the Promised Land last pitch

And my final fortnight were a back to back MIC training and test. The conditions were excellent throughout…except for one day when we climbed wet rock in Glen Nevis instead of having a type 3 day up high. Training is more fun than assessments for both sides of the fence I can assure you… Good luck to the trainees on their future exams and well done to the assessment candidates who put in a great effort regardless of the results. I was lucky to work alongside one of the MIC trainers from Glenmore Lodge on the MICT…hopefully this will lead to more similarities in the future and was timely given the current review of NGB climbing awards…perhaps now is the time for the MIC to be recognised for what it’s used for by instructors these days as its well past its original concept? We’ll see…