It will be in Dundee at the-

D’Arcy Thompson Lecture theatre,
Tower Building,
University of Dundee,
DD1 4HN (http://goo.gl/maps/NbBEC )

Please come along if you want a laugh and are interested in winter climbing and new routing in the Scottish mountains.

More info is available at:

http://www.tiso.com/news/lectures/greg-boswell-psyched-for-winter-climbing0/ 

As we walked in, the snow conditions were the polar opposite to how they were the previous week. Instead of trudging through gloopy porridge like snow, we marched across bullet hard neve and reached the col in no time at all.

The sun was just coming up when we reached the col, and in the morning light we could see that the Tough Brown Face was looking in perfect condition. We also knew that if the snow on the routes was anything like the snow underfoot, it was going to be very useful and hopefully, a very good day.

We headed off to the base of the route, and as we were unsure about what route to go for, Guy lead off up the first pitch to gain the big turfy ledge.

Me pulling through the roof on pitch two (Copyright - Nick Bullock)

We then all agreed that Mort looked like the route for the day. So I headed off up the second pitch (which happens to be the crux pitch) and soon found myself under the steep roof that barred access to the upper wall.

After some up and down movements, trying to figure out a sequence through the roof, I eventually went for it and blasted my way upwards to gain a pretty comfortable position after the steep pulls.

With a bomber right axe placement, and what felt like a super solid left tool placement on a decent sized and very positive rock edge, I kept me right tool where it was and matched my left tool to place some gear on my left . After clipping the gear and re-matching my tool so I could reach out for my right axe again, the edge I was hooking (which turned out to be a forearm sized block) came away, and left me hanging from my springy lanyard on my right tool.

What then came out of my mouth, I’m not going to repeat. But as you might have guessed, I was not best pleased to be robbed of the onsight of this well known hard route. I was feeling super comfortable, after climbing the steepest section, just got some protection in and then I was off, due to unforeseeable circumstances of a loose block (that looked and felt super solid). I was gutted!

Me leading the crux pitch (Photo credit - http://www.sais.gov.uk/)

Still in a little bit of a rage, I got lowered down and jumped straight back on the route without resting. I charged back up to my high point, fuelled with adrenaline, psyche and a touch of frustration and continued upwards.

Guy seconding the crux pitch

I was soon brought to a halt, when I couldn’t figure out how to gain any more height. I could see where I needed to get to to get a rest, but for the life of me couldn’t figure out how to do it. I tried every feasible way I could think of, and just as I was losing hope and psyche, I gave it one last try.

Using the tiniest hook I have ever pulled hard on, and throwing my legs and body into a position I didn’t think I could, I yarded up and made an almighty rock over onto my right foot and away from my gear and any chance of retreat. Shit………

Then the only thing that was going through my head was, “what a stupid F**KING idea that was”! I was now fully committed to the boldness and couldn’t find any gear that would stop me from plummeting into the belay ledge if I was to fall from the upper wall.

Nick showing us what technical really means!

But after some huffing and puffing and some woeful whimpering which Guy and Nick got a little chuckle from, things like “I don’t know if I can do this” and “I’m all Idea-ed out”, I eventually unlocked a crazy sequence that allowed me to cross over the huge prominent fin that defines this route. After this I managed to keep gaining height with some more technical moves. But all the time I was moving up, there was still no gear to be had. I placed a crappy looking turf hook which was my last runner and my only one for quite a way.

The climbing eased a bit, but as there was still very little gear, my mind was still in full concentration mode. The last tricky section before the belay was a turfy bulging wall, but as the turf was quite aerated , it still kept me from relaxing until I had built and clipped the belay. Then it was ahhhhhhh…… another super technical pitch, with some bold and very complex climbing ticked.  It took me about 4.5 hours to lead the crux pitch, and this is mostly due to the puzzling nature of the climbing. Once you work it out, and you pray that the tiny placements don’t rip, then you can usually make some good progress.

Guy and Nick came up the pitch on second, and it was humbling to hear that it wasn’t just the fact that It was bold that was making it feel hard for me, the pitch didn’t give up easily for any of us.

Guy Leading pitch three (Copyright - Nick Bullock)

After a quick gear sort and some food, Guy headed off up the final hard pitch, obviously filled with a little anticipation. But I wasn’t too worried, he’s good at pulling it out of the bag when it’s needed!

He moved up higher and higher and after arranging one or two pieces of his own gear, and clipping a fair few pieces of insitu runners, he went for one last all out charge through the last steepening. This paid off, and it wasn’t long before we could hear the whoops of “SAFE” and “YEAH” that marked the end of another brilliant adventure.

Nick and I raced up the pitch as quick as we could to try and make the most of the daylight, but even so, I still ended up climbing the last section of the route by head torch light.

Once back at the bags, we were all filled with cheer and psyche after getting another cool route ticked, but I was still a little deflated by the rock coming away on my pitch. But it’s as close to an onsight as you could get, having not failed due to personal fatigue and still having the technical crux to do, so it’s all good I suppose and I’ll settle for ground up. Also It was cool to get the second ascent of this line, considering the first ascent was a combination of 15 years of effort, that come down to one outstanding lead, that was futuristic for its time and date.

Having had such a good day on Friday, it is a bit annoying to have spent the last three days in bed with the flu. But as soon as I feel a bit better, I’m looking forward to getting out again and doing some more good routes while the conditions are ace!

The route we tried was a battle of technical climbing, but also home to some very steep ground. We fought our way higher, and after two and a half long hard pitches, which involved some of the hardest moves I have climbed onsight in winter, we couldn’t seem to find a way past the last hard section. Dangerously bold climbing loomed above us and whichever way we tried, we couldn’t slay the beast!

But as darkness rolled in, we succumbed, and rapped back down to our bags. And even though we hadn’t won the battle, we still had had an awesome day full of good and very hard climbing. Which in the end, is all we were aiming for anyway. Getting to the top would just have been the icing on the cake.

That day reminded me why I like climbing so much. Even though we had walked for three hours to get there, and walked three hours back to the car, and didn’t manage to get to the top, you can still have an awesome time just by trying your hardest. But we still did some very enjoyable climbing, in a very cool location on a very sunny day….. What more could you ask for?

But on Thursday night I teamed up with Guy again, and this time Pete Benson joined us in our quest for adventure.

Pete on the first pitch of "Fancy Free"

As I don’t have a car at the moment, Guy and Pete picked me up off the train in Aberdeen and we headed for the Glen Muick car park. Unfortunately we only got halfway down the Glen Muick road, as the 6ft snow drifts had stopped the snow plough from going any further. So we grabbed the tent and sleeping bags and walked the last 5km along the deep snowy road to the visitor centre car park and camped in the trees, ready for an early start the following morning.

The new Girvel Jelly Baby Cartridge, for all your belay sweety needs!

We got up bright and early, and marched through the deep snow drifts up to the col and into the Lochnagar Coire just as the sun was rising. As we approached the mountain rescue box at the foot of the coire, we noticed that the snow pack was very very unstable. We all proceeded to dig pits and check the layers and snow pack etc, and after 5 mins of umming and ahing, we all came to the same conclusion….. it was bloody treacherous and far too dangerous to keep going! So we turned around and headed for a closer and more safely accessed part of the coire.

Guy exiting the crux sequence

We ended up doing a very enjoyable new route in the area of “Mantichore” VII/7. The first pitch started up Mantichore, which Pete lead. It then traversed left to gain another short steep grove, which turned out to be very technical but thankfully fairly safe (crux), which Guy dispatched. And finely up the leftmost of the three obvious big grooves to finish on the easy ground on the crest, which I took the reins for.

Pete seconding the crux pitch

Me Leading the last pitch

It was a good route and helped us salvage the day with some awesome climbing and we didn’t need to go near too dangerous a slope to get to it.

We called it “Fancy Free”, in conjunction with “Footloose” which was another route Guy and Pete had put up in the same area a few winters ago, and gave it VII/9.

As we walked out, the sun was beaming down on us, and we ambled back to the car park to find the road had been cleared. Thankfully Pete managed to grab a lift back to the car, which he brought back to get me and Guy from the car park, saving the 5km walk back. Luxury!

Chillaxing at the col before the walk out.

While recapping on some thoughts, I started watching some videos of other people that have visited Scotland, (whether it be from within the UK or further afield) and have had the same feelings as me. So I have put some links below of some cool videos featuring some cool people and showing some very cool places.

I hope you enjoy…….

The first is a video called “Rough Feels Good”, and it is about two Austrian friends of mine who came over to Scotland, hired a Big Tree Campervan, and hit the road, exploring all that this awesome country has to offer! And as you can see, they had a pretty cool trip.

(Rough Feels Good) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sLV1TsEtfqU

The next is about a weekend on one of Scotland best and most impressive mountains, Ben Nevis. When a bunch of keen winter climbers who had been competing in the STS (Scottish Tooling Series) from all over the UK teamed up with some invited hosts for a couple of days of fun and adventurous winter climbing.

(STS on the Ben) http://vimeo.com/34833407

And finally, the last two short films show how Scotland can inspire and attract some of the best climbers in the world to return year after year to sample what this awesome landscape has to offer, in both beauty and adventure! Ines Papert, a top class female climber, shows how it’s done from the view of a newcomer to the Scottish mountains.

(Scottish Wings) http://vimeo.com/13582765

(A film by Hans Hornberger) http://vimeo.com/23485991#

A Big Tree Camper In all its glory! (Photo credit - Hans Hornberger)

All of these films were brought to life after travelling around Scotland with the help of Big Tree Campervans. I think it’s awesome how so many people can share so many cool memories from such a cool country and sport. You’ve just got to keep exploring and looking for the adventure (corny, but true!).

Me seconding the 2nd pitch of Genesis

Unfazed, we quickly darted around trying to find something in good condition to climb, and that is exactly what we did.

We ended up climbing the classic VII/7 Genesis which follows the huge corner fault line for three fun and exposed pitches. Even though it was not exactly what we had in mind for our day, it was a fun route and I was glad to finally make it into this area for a scope at some of the other lines.

Unfortunately on my way home to Fife (1 mile from home) the turbo blew out on my car, leaving me vehicle-less for the time being. Which is typical…… just as the conditions are getting good, I have no transport.

Thankfully Adam was keen to get out this week as well, so on Tuesday night after limping my poorly car into the garage to get fixed, Adam and I drove west to the foot of The Cobbler for an early night’s kip and ready for an awesome day on Wednesday.

After looking at some pics on the Climb Now blog from Martin Holland’s antics on The Cobbler earlier in the week, I noticed that the buttresses were looking super white….. Like the whitest I had ever seen them. So that meant only one thing… let’s go roof climbing!

The tricky wall below the roof

It was the first time I had been up The Cobbler, but Adam had been a couple of times in the summer, so he was playing tour guide for the day. After some wandering around in the thick morning hill cloud, we eventually stumbled into the foot of the huge cave and looming above us was the sickeningly steep line of The Cathedral (X/11).

After texting Kev Shields the previous day asking him for the route description, I had a rough idea of what it would be like. But when I eventually saw the route, it looked much harder than I thought it would, and a hell of a lot whiter than I would have liked! But then again, if you’re going to climb a roof in winter, it might as well be as white as possible!

I started up the steep techy 15m wall below the roof, which was surprisingly tricky and required a little more thought and energy than I would have liked. But I bashed on up towards the impending barricade of horizontal steepness, and eventually found myself arranging gear beneath the blanket of ice and rime that coated the huge roof.

Getting pumped in the search for hooks!

Once I had gathered up some courage, I found myself performing some core destroying moves and getting pumped out of my head trying to clear away all the whiteness in the crack and on the wall trying to find hooks and a passage through the energy sapping roof.

Nearly there... I can taste victory!

Once I was fully committed and cranking out looking for the next placement, scraping away with my right axe, trying to keep moving while clearing the unwanted rime away, the tiny chockstone I was pressing away on with my left tool pulled out and I took the big upside down swing into the wall below. The onsight was over…… I wasn’t too fussed though. Because even though the chockstone ripped, I was pretty damn pumped, and if these routes truly are this grade, which I think they are, anything above grade IX/9 should be very very hard to onsight. So it just shows that the grading scale is pretty good.

After having another go and not getting even as far as my previous high point due to cramping arms and soaking hands from all the clearing, I decided to have some lunch, pull the ropes, and have another proper go after I had had a bit of a rest and retrieved some much needed energy to try and bag this route good and proper.

Sitting at the bottom of the wall with the big roof peering down on me from above, I felt an enormous amount of pressure to climb the route that day. I didn’t want to have to return another day, and perhaps find it in less wintery conditions, which would leave a sour taste in my mouth after having such awesome conditions that day!

So at 2:15 I tied into the sharp end once again and flew up the lower wall to reach the start of the really hard climbing. This time my head was set on one thing and once thing only…. the top! I moved quickly between horrible wobbly hooks and torques and swung my feet out horizontally in front of me. I flustered around trying to find another hook where the last had ripped out, but all I could find was a tiny rounded sloping edge….. I matched this with both tools swaying left and right ( a good sign of little purchase, I.e. a shit placement!)  and lunged out as high as I could. My axe caught on something beneath the whiteness and as I weighted it, it pulled towards me, I moved straight away, flustered again I lunged with my other tool and pulled without thinking….the next few minutes are a blur of spindrift and forearm pump. But I kept going, and eventually flopped onto the top of the wall and into a world of easy ground. WOOOO FRICKEN HOOOOO!

Packing up ready to head down after the ascent!

I was super psyched to get this route ticked, and once again Mr MacLeod gives an energy sapping masterpiece of fun and hard climbing……keep them coming Dave!

Pitch one on "Central Grooves"

After lots of fluid and food, Adam and I headed over to Glen Coe for some sleep, in prep for the good forecast on Thursday. We met up with Paul Prentice yesterday morning and had an amazing day, on an amazing route in the amazing weather. We did the 4 star route “Central Grooves”, and I think it is safe to say that we all enjoyed every second and every move one this stonking line!

Paul leading pitch 2 on "CG"

Adam leading the 3rd pitch of "CG"

So it has been another eventful week in my little world of winter climbing. Let’s hope the conditions continue and the routes keep getting sent!

On Monday we walked up through the fresh snow towards No.3/4 area for a snoop around to see what was looking enticing. Unfortunately on the way past the Trident area, Adam started to feel pretty ill and was looking super pale!

All of the stuff we had in mind to climb was either more than one hard pitch or not in condition, and as Adam didn’t feel up to much we just decided to go on a potential new route recce and spied some cool lines to return back for another day. We then headed back to the hut, grabbed our gear and plodded back to the car.

That night I had arranged to meet up with Guy as we had plans to get something ticked on Tuesday. I gave him a call explaining the not so good conditions on the Ben, and after some toing and froing on where to head the next day, Adam and I made our way up to Aviemore to grab some food before continuing onwards to Inverness to pick up Guy, and then forth to Torridon.

The view from the first belay

We parked up in the Beinn Eighe car park around 11:30, and Just after Guy had put up his tent, we had set our alarms for 4am, and had settled down to sleep, the heavens opened! This was not good. The forecast was for no precipitation, and as my stomach started to turn at the thought of the 2.5+ hour approach in torrential icy rain, I could deffo hear some bloody precipitation! I didn’t get much sleep, but when my alarm eventually went off, the rain had subsided and the stars were out in force once again. Phewwww!

Me gaining hight on pitch one

The whole right side of my car and Guy’s tent was fully glazed in a layer of water ice, and the promising thing about that was that it was the same aspect as the crag we were heading for. Guy, Adam and I headed off about 5am from the car with high hopes of amazing conditions on the route and after a 3 hour slog up hill, breaking trail through deep snow most of the way, we arrived at the summit cairn and trotted to the lip of the buttress.

“Holly Shit” Guy squeaked in a very excited tone, “These are the best conditions I have ever seen on this mountain!”

Then we all seemed to adopt the form of excited school boys and scuttled off to get geared up and start the days climbing activities.

Unfortunately, Adam was still feeling pretty rotten, and opted to chill at the top, soak up the amazing views and act as camera man for the day, And like he said, “It’s better to feel ill on top of Beinn Eighe in amazing weather, than at home feeling sorry for yourself”.

Guy and I then rapped down the face, and after a little bother with ropes, which thankfully Adam sorted for us, we arrived at the bottom of what can only be described as “an all mighty stonker of a line”!

Guy seconding pitch one

We were going for the first winter ascent of “Shoot The Breeze” on the West Central Wall, and as I looked up from the base of the route with nothing but overhangs and steep cracks looming above me, I knew this line was not going to be a Breeze!

Guy reaching the arete on pitch two

My following the arete, seconding pitch two

I started up the first pitch, and as I got stuck into the amazing climbing that this area has to offer I found myself enjoying every single move, all of which happened to be about tech 8. There was some steep climbing on the pitch, but after some working out of the last tricky section, I found myself pulling onto the belay ledge and……… “That’s me safe dude”.

Guy swiftly seconded up the pitch and after the usual swapping of gear and chatter about the awesomeness of what we had just come up, we looked up and everything got a little more serious. The big overhangs were now tantalisingly close, and as Guy took a swig of Lucozade and readied himself to climb, the silence of anticipation took over, as is usual when trying hard routes in winter.

After we were both ready, Guy headed off up the wall towards the steepness and balanced his way through the technical moves and steep pulls to reach the nice welcome of a small ledge, well, what he thought was a nice welcome! It turned out, that there was no good gear to be found, and the next section was super technical and super bold. So the ledge actually just turned into something he might smash into if an axe was to rip while moving upwards (not so welcoming then)! But after some heart in mouth moments for both of us as he battled his way to the obvious crack and potential gear on the arête, he managed to keep it together (as usual) and gain the outstandingly exposed position on the knife edged overhanging arête. He then moved out of sight and after a short while, I heard the (this time) very welcoming call of “SAFE”. Ahhhhhhhh………

Me Gaining the Steepness on pitch three

As the day was getting on a bit, I tried my best to second the pitch as swiftly as possible, but the style of climbing required concentration and patience. So soon enough I reached the semi-hanging belay, and clipped in for the re-racking process once again.

Once all the gear was sorted and I was ready to climb, I really didn’t want to look up and see what was in store for me on my next pitch. I finally lifted my head, and much to my surprise it was……. oh no wait…….. more overhangs and roofs!

I gathered my thoughts and set off into the sea of steepness that barred access to the easier ground. I pulled round an overhanging boss and got some good gear, which gave me the confidence to move back out to the arête. As I gained the arête, all I was focusing on was the climbing and what was above me, but Guy chose this moment to shout, “take a look between your feet lad, nothing but air for hundreds of meters”, Thanks Guy! (hehe)

The crag in all its glory. Spot the climbers.

I moved on up and reached the base of the first big-ish overhang. Much to my dislike, everything seemed to sound and feel very boomey, as if it could rip off at any moment. I wasn’t sure if it was just the demons in my head toying with me, after I had ripped a big block off of “Scansor” just before Christmas and took a 15m upside-down fall resulting in one completely chopped rope and a hefty scar on my right knee, but I was not too happy with the steep climbing with all my gear behind scary sounding flacks and suspect blocks. Not very happy indeed! But I pulled my head back to where it was meant to be (focussing on the moves, not the fall potential) and continued upwards and boldly climbed over the second overhang to reach the all inviting easier ground and belay ledge. Woohoo!

Me pulling on some suspect flakes on pitch three

By this time it was dark and with Guy climbing below me on another awesome pitch, I switched off my head torch and absorbed my surroundings and enjoyed every second of being in such a cool place, on such a cool route, with two good friends.

The next and last pitch was much much easier than the previous ones, and it wasn’t long before Guy and I were reunited with Adam and we all then proceeded to make the easier descent back down to the car. What an awesome day!

After dropping Guy back at Inverness, Adam and I headed to Aviemore to kip in the car once more in prep for a quick route in Sneachda the following day.

Me reaching the belay on pitch three

Wednesday was another good day with a little more wind than was forecast but still fun to be out in the mountains.

Adam lead “Watch Out” VI/8 which I had done a few years ago, but despite this, I still enjoyed the climbing very much. Knowing that we were having a rest the following day, we decided to jog back to the car for a little more fitness, as you do…..

All in all it was a good three days, and after a good training session last night (sometimes it’s too hard to rest) I’m looking forward to my next winter adventure soon!

“Shoot The Breeze”, IX/8 – FWA 15/1/2013

Looking out from No.3

On Wednesday night I headed back over to the Ben with Adam Russell for an early start on Thursday morning. We started from the car at 7am and trotted off to dump our stuff in the hut before heading up to No.3 area for a look at a new line that I had been reminded of on Monday.

Adam on pitch 1

Last year when I did the route “Apache”, I noticed that there was a splitter crack running straight up middle of the buttress between “Sioux Wall” and the crack I was on. So on Thursday, this is what we went for.

It was impeccable weather on the approach to the buttress and as the line came into view, we both got pretty psyched for the route.

Adam lead up the first pitch, which followed the same line as “Sioux Wall” to the belay on the ledge, as for that route. Then I stepped left off the ledge to the left and instead of continuing left into Sioux Wall I headed straight up the thin and techy wall to reach the base of the new crack.

Gaining the crack was pretty hard, but I continued up the wall with the small ledge at 1/3 height in my sights. The placements in the crack improved, but the wall kicked back in steepness just before the ledge. This is where the difficulties started, the gear became worse and the hooks that lead to the safety of the ledge became spaced and more inventive to find. But after some grunting and groaning, I threw my left heel up and rocked up onto the platform. Ahhhhhh……. and relax!

Me setting off up pitch 2 of "Tomahawk Crack"

Adam seconded up the thin wall, and it was cool to see how he worked out the moves from my position above. Once he was on the ledge, we swapped places and I got ready to set off up the steepness again.

Moving off the belay was still overhanging, the same as gaining the ledge below, but this time the feet where tiny and the hooks were also pretty spaced. I made my way up and down the wall, placing high gear and returning to the ledge to relive my arms from the pump and my biceps from the cramp.  After getting some protection up high I decided to give it a shot and boosted up the crack, gaining height with every miniscule foothold I stood on. Once I had committed to an upwards motion, the moves all became apparent and I made speedy progress on the route. As the light was fading and the angle of the wall was easing up, I eventually joined the junction where I belayed after the crux pitch of “Apache”. I continued on up, and after this point the climbing eased up loads and I swiftly ascended through the last overhang and onto the top of the buttress.

Adam seconding pitch 2

Me leading away from the ledge on pitch 3

I was so psyched to have got the line ticked, and I was even happier that it was home to some 3-star climbing and maybe the best route that I had done in that area of the Ben.

All in all it was the hardest route out of the three on that face, it was a fair bit harder than “Apache” and the gear wasn’t amazing on the first crux, and the second crux is looking at a ledge fall. But the climbing was well worth it!

The view of "Tomahawk Crack" (cleaned line) from "Darth Vader"

I would say, in my personal opinion, that “Sioux Wall” is VII/8, “Apache” is VIII/8 and our new route “Tomahawk Crack” is VIII/9. So our route fit it quite nicely with the other two awesome lines on that big shield of rock.

After completing the route and rapping back down into No.3 gully, we headed back to the hut to dry the gear and get some kip, in ready for another brilliant day on Friday.

The next day we headed back up under a bluebird sky to climb “Darth Vader”, a route I had climbed a couple of seasons ago with Ken Lacey, but Adam hadn’t done the line, and I owed him a couple of belays after the previous days antics. So he set off up the first pitch with very little bother and was soon shouting down that he was safe from the back of his cosy little cave that can be found high up on this awesome route.

After seconding up to him, with a bag on, which was definitely I big mistake, we swapped roles again and he lead off over the roof at the mouth of the cave and cruised his way to the belay platform at the top of the crux pitch.

Adam on pitch 1 of "Darth Vader"

Once I had joined him, I grabbed the rack and shot up the last small corner that leads to the top off the buttress, and we found ourselves at the top of another cool route on the Ben and topped off another awesome days winter climbing!

Me flashing "Bloodline" D10, in the rain (the joys of caves)

Two weeks ago today I headed down to “The Works” which is a relatively newly developed tooling venue in the Lake District. It is a brilliant place, and the potential for more easy and hard routes is unbelievable!  If all the potential line were to get bolted it would definitely be on par with some of the best mixed and tooling venues in the world, it’s just so big!

I’ve been down there a couple of times now, and apart from the most recently bolted lines, I have pretty much done all the routes at this venue. There is a bunch of lines ranging from D4-D12 with some awesome 3 star climbing to be had throughout.

Me finishing "Guardian" D12

Me on "Guardian of the Underwolrd" Photo credit. Paddy Cave

On my Last visit I met up with Richard Armitage who belayed me as I made the second ascent of “Guardian of the Underworld” D12. This was a route that I had tried on my previous visit to the Lakes. I also managed to bolt a steep and cool looking line of my own while I was there, and I’m looking forward to getting on it next time I’m down. I’m hoping to get down there again soon, but for now the winter conditions have returned, so there is only one place I want to be….in the mountains!

On Sunday Guy and I headed over to the Ben and up to the CIC hut in preparation for an early start on Monday (yesterday) morning. As we walked up to the hut, leaving the car at 9:30pm, we didn’t need to turn our head torches on once. The moon was beaming down and lighting up the sky, and we had an awesome view of a very wintery Ben Nevis for the whole walk in.

Yesterday we got up at 6am, ate our grub and headed off up towards Tower/Gardyloo Gully in search of our intended line. After walking through deep unconsolidated snow for a good while, the snow pack started to feel a little suspicious, and when it was time to enter the narrow gully to the left of “Tower Scoop”, I knew it didn’t feel right. I dug a pit and checked the snow, and straight away we both knew it was a No Go area. Now a little spooked by the overwhelming feeling that we were two very small people on one very big and currently, very treacherous mountain. We turned around and opted for a look at a different line that we had passed on the way up.

Guy walking into avalanche central

As Guy moved off right in the howling wind to reach the safety of the buttresses and out of the gully, a small (10ft wide, 2inches deep) section of the slope detached from above him and for a split second he went completely out of view under a light wave of snow. The next thing I saw was a very snowy Guy making a hasty retreat back towards me and then we both pegged it back down the way we had walked up and away from the loaded snow areas.

We then walked around to the bottom of the Douglass Boulder, where we had intended to climb, but as we reached its base, the cloud and mist lifted to reveal a very wintery and very tempting looking No.3 Gully Buttress area. Even though we knew it would be fairly late in the day by the time we reached No.3 area, after having walked up and down through deep snow for the past three hours, we also knew that it would be rude not venture up and climb something with the crag in its current, perfect condition.

Guy leading pitch one

So we headed up and jumped on the line that I had done last season with Will Sim, called “Knuckleduster”. Even though I had climbed this line before, I was happy to get back on it, as it was home to some amazing climbing and I also knew that there was a direct variation to the crux second pitch to do, and that is exactly what we did.

Guy lead off up the first pitch, leaving the ground at around 11:30 and got stuck into the brilliant mixed cracks and bulges that the Ben has to offer. After a thin start and some funky moves, he pulled up onto the belay and I swiftly joined him after seconding.

I then went on to lead off up the icy groove that is capped by an imposing broad roof. I arranged some gear on the wall beneath the roof and then got absorbed by the good hooks and enjoyable climbing. I blasted upwards filled with enjoyment from the awesome climbing, but that feeling was soon replaced with the dull sick feeling of fear that you get when you realise that things just got a bit more serious. I had realised that I had been too absorbed by the good hooks on the steep ground, and suddenly all of a sudden the good hooks disappeared, and so did the opportunity to get good gear. My last good runner was now quite far below me and I was weighting a less than ideal hook/axe placement trying to fiddle in some protection.

No.3 Gully Buttress getting some mid week action

I managed to tap in a crappy turf hook and a small cam in an icy placement, but the only option in my head was to continue up and gain the awkward ledge on the original route of “Knuckleduster”. So after some heart in my mouth, ballancey and super thin moves, I reached the safety of the ledge and the good gear. I then (after some toing and froing) pulled off the ledge and up to belay as for the last time I was on the route.

Guy then came up and joined me and proceeded to head off up the 3 star corner pitch that cuts its way through the centre of the buttress. I was looking forward to climbing this pitch again after seconding Will on it last season, and I knew how good and how much fun it was to climb. After that pitch it was just up the last short wall for me to reach the top of the buttress and then to the rap point at the top of “Gargoyle Wall”.

Me venturing into a sea of steepness!

Even with a slightly bolder second pitch then the original route, I don’t think the new section of climbing changed the grade of “Knuckleduster” much, so VIII/9 still seems fair to me.

We then returned to out bags, then headed down to the hut in a fairly strong wind that had been buffeting us for most of the day. But even though we were a bit tired from snow wading in the morning, steep climbing throughout the day and a wind blasting in the afternoon, we both still had big smiles on our faces, as all these things are what makes winter climbing so much god dam fun!!……lets hope it continues.

There was also another teams on “Sioux Wall” and a team around South Trident area, making the most of the awesome conditions.

Coire an Lochain in all its glory!

So winter has arrived… On Saturday I managed to get out into the hills with Dougie. Hoping to find some winter conditions, Dougie, Adam, Lindsey and I headed up into Coire an Lochain full of early season psyche and anticipation.

Dougie heading off on pitch one of Bulgy

To our joy, we found pretty much every route in condition, baring one or two super steep lines that hadn’t caught the wind/hoar. So Dougie and I headed off in search of a potential route while Adam and Lindsey headed off to do “Hookers Corner”. We opted to get on the classic line of “Bulgy” which skirts its way around two distinctive roofs.

It was a good route and after Dougie had quickly dispatched the first pitch, I made my way up the trickier second pitch.

I didn’t have any big gear to protect the crux moves around the roof, so I awkwardly stacked two hexes in the crack and with some reassurance from this, made my way up the rest of the route and to the top.

Me starting up pitch 2 of Bulgy

It was awesome to get out in the hills in winter conditions and it felt good too blow away the cobwebs on some mixty moves!

I also managed to get out again yesterday with Guy Robertson, were we ventured back into Lochain for a quick tick of a new line that Guy had mentioned to me earlier last week.

We took a line that follows a steep crack and stepped niche to the right of “The Gathering”. It was a fun wee route that packed a pumpy punch at its start and some awesome varied climbing higher up.

Guy on P1 of "The Candy Shop"

Whether it was early season rustiness or lack of concentration, but I popped off the very start of the crux pitch when my foot blew off its placement and simultaneously so did me axe as I was down-climbing back to the ledge after placing some gear. I was a bit miffed to have slipped off as I felt totally fine, but at the end of the day that’s what winter cranking is all about….the unexpected and unknown, and that’s why I love it!

Another unexpected occurrence on this route was after I had climbed the first overhanging crux crack (from the ground again) and I was moving up the niche, my foot slipped off the placement it was on and for some unexplained and unlucky reason my crampon plummeted down into a world of wind and spindrift (not attached to my foot I might add). Thankfully it landed at Guys feet on the small ledge that he was belaying from, and I was able to down-climb with one crampon to a point where I could to hang from one tool and pull/lower a rope to Guy to retrieve my crampon. I did this and managed to put it back on without having to sit on the rope/any gear, which was tricky, but satisfying as I was able to make a clean ascent of the awesome new “The Candy Shop” VII/9**, and our first (hopefully of many) new route of the season.

Me on P2 of "The Candy Shop"

It was ace to get winter climbing again and now I’m just psyched to do much much more….so watch this space for updates soon!

Me finishing the crux of "The Candy Shop"

Walking up to Les Dru

As most of the lifts are shut just now during the off season, we had to walk up to the bivi spot at the base of the Dru from the valley floor. Which when you have awesome weather and good company, it isn’t too bad a walk. So we headed off at midday on Sunday with our big/fairly heavy bags full of bivi gear and supplies and walked for the next six and a half hours up hill….the joys of alpine climbing! As we were walking, we knew that the temperature was unusually high for this time of year, and possible too high to get to our intended route. But we bashed on regardless, full of hope and psyche. We reached the bivi spot just as the sun was setting, and after sorting out the gear, eating some food and setting our wake up alarm for 1am, we headed off to bed for a few hours sleep before getting stuck in to the main event. During the night we both found it hard to sleep, firstly – due to the sound of rock and ice fall that was going on all around us, and secondly –  from the fact that we were both sweating our asses off in the unusual high temperatures we were experiencing. Especially for an autumn bivi in the mountains! Not filled with high hopes we awoke at 1am, and after a bite to eat we headed off around the corner toward the base of North Couloir. After walking/slipping through snow that was a consistency that you would usually find at midday on a glacier during the summer months, we reached the base of the first ice sections to find……no ice. As we were discussing our options, our minds were made up for us. At that moment a huge wave of cruddy snow/ice/gravel got washed down from above and over our heads. Without needing to exchange any words we both turned around and headed back down the glacier to the bivi spot. Unfortunately we didn’t get anything climbed on Les Dru this trip due to the high temperatures, but at the end of the day, it’s better to be safe than sorry. No one likes to be climbing a couloir when it is dumping alpine rock on your head. So it was a 4 hour walk back to the valley after catching a couple more hours sleep at the bivi spot.

Nice weather up the Midi

Later that day we spoke to Jon Griffiths who said he was also keen to crank in the mountains, and suggested that we all headed back up to Les Dru for a bash at the more reliable, Guides Route on the Petit Dru. After a lot of humming and hawing from me and Ally (not really wanting to walk 7 hours uphill again in the melting heat) we decided to agree and made arrangements to head up the next day (Tuesday).

Chowing down on some grub before the route

Tuesday came around and again so did the frustratingly baking hot weather! We all chatted about conditions and suggestions, and after some more humming and hawing, we decided to sack it off. We knew that Jeff and Korra were heading for the same route, but they live out there and could just do something else next week if it was no good. Unfortunately I only had 3 days left of my trip and hadn’t climbed anything yet. Ally and I then changed our plans and rushed to grab the last lift up the Aiguille du Midi with a couple of potential objectives in mind in the Mont Blanc du Tacul area. We trotted down the Vallee Blanche and set up our tent as the sun was starting to set over the alpine peaks. As we ate our freeze dried tartiflette we both stared up at the amazing line of Super Couloir that cuts its way up the summit of the Tacul. Not wanting to risk getting up the next day to find the tedious high temperatures had returned, we decided to make the most of the amazing clear night skies and bright moon, and just go for the route there and then.

The route in all its glory!

Super excited, we trotted off up to the base of the route and got stuck into what I can only describe as one of the best routes I have done in the Alps to date. I lead off and quickly dispatched the first mixed pitch of the direct start. This was home to some steady but slightly thin climbing to reach the base of the second pitch, which was an icy looking runnel that barred the way to the main couloir. The pitch looked pretty straight forward and I offered the lead to Ally. He respectfully declined and said we would probably be quicker if he did some leading once we were in the main couloir. I agreed and we swapped places and I headed off up the runnel. I soon found out that what looked like a straight forward néve runnel was really a cruddy horrow-show capped by an overhanging ice boss! After a bit of wizardry and some careful avoidance of the huge block that I nearly dislodged that would definitely have crush Ally into the mountain, I reached the couloir and we were on our way to the nice bolt belays and stellar ice that this 4 star route provided.

Pitch two of the direct start and the crux of the night

Once in the main couloir, it all went smoothly and Ally led all the pitches apart from the last main one, which I took, and it was described as the guidebook crux. It was 60m of perfect 80®/90® alpine ice that was an absolute pleasure to climb. We finished off the route and swiftly rapped/descended back to the tent under the looming shadows that the moon was casting on us from the huge Alpine faces that were all around. Walking back to the tent, I could think of no better place to be, and enjoyed the absorption you get from climbing by head torch light, especially on this mega classic and stonking line!

Me climbing the last hard pitch and feeling minuet by the wall of ice!

We grabbed a couple of hours sleep and then after chatting about every route/line we could see from our camping spot, we made the hot and tedious slog back up to the Midi lift station. Then back down to Cham to catch up with Dougie and Adam, who had unfortunately also been melted off their intended route due to the high temps (which proved that Ally and I made the right decision to climb through the night).

The next day, my last, we headed to the local tooling venue in Sallanche, the Zoo. We all had an awesome day and I did a handful of routes from D6-D10 all onsight. This gave me confidence and got me psyched for the Scottish mixed season. Which now that I’m back home, sounds like it has just about started.

All in all it was a fun short trip and I feel that we mode the most of our time and I gained some good fitness being up high for a couple of days.

Climbing at the Zoo

Hopefully there will be many more updates over the next few months with info on how my winter is going. But until then………