Ice – Misty Mountain Hop

Seeing the Light on Deep Cut Chimney, Hell’s Lum

24 Feb

Andy begins 150 m of perfect neve and ice climbing while cloud and spindrift stream off the plateau above in the strong winds.

After a sharp thaw and hard re-freeze, reports of stellar conditions all over the Highlands were flooding in. Not wanting to miss out, Andy and I hatched plans for the Loch Avon Basin in the heart of the Cairngorms. Having...
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The Dog’s Danglies on K9 and Window Gully

20 Feb

Andy approaching the final steepening after a rising traverse on slightly worrying ice. Photo credit: Joe Dobson

A week of heavy snow on gale-force south westerlies rendered many approaches to the popular north and east facing crags fairly serious and covered the cliffs themselves in powder. Wanting none of the peril and the arduous clearing required on...
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Hit and Miss but Always Stunning in Torridon

18 Feb

Another view of the same section and about the time we realized this wasn't a grade IV pitch...

The West Buttress (IV, 4) rematch was on! Conditions were good, the forecast excellent and schemes were hatched – we would arrive on Thursday night, blitz Beinn Eighe Friday and enjoy two leisurely days of Liathach ice over the weekend....
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West Is Best – Classic Ice on Ben Nevis

15 Feb

The cliffs of Ben Nevis and some of the surrounding peaks are currently in fantastic condition for ice climbing, with many of the classic lines well formed thanks to the gentle freeze-thaw cycles they have experienced. After cancelling our planned...
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Wild ice in a wild place – The Drool, Eagles Rock

25 Jan

After last weekend’s fun but crowded visit to Coire an t’Sneachda, Debs and I both agreed we needed to up the adventure stakes for our next climb. We toyed with the idea of attempting something on the big bad Creag...
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Sun, snow and summits – Chamonix trip report

22 Sep

Watching the weather during the months leading up to our trip to the Mont Blanc massif, one could be forgiven for despairing – continued reports of cold, wet, stormy weather didn’t inspire confidence that we would achieve much. Accounts from...
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A precursory glance

2 Aug

2014 has so far been a brilliant, yet at times frustrating, year for climbing. The promising start to the 2013/14 Scottish Winter season soon gave way to massive storms, turbo-thaws and the biggest accumulation of snow in recent times, making...
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