Morwind – Aonach Mor

I was pretty keen to get out today after spending a blue sky day in bed yesterday due to feeling ill, however the forecast was less than promising. We decided to head up Aonach Mor due to the lift allowing us to have a lie in, surprisingly due to the wind the chair lift was running which enabled us to get very high on the mountain without doing any work. Conditions on the mountain were terrible at the start of the day, with warm air, hill fog and lots of wind. We made our way up to the summit hut and were sheltering behind the hut trying to decide if it was worth going for a climb. Eventually we decided to abseil down Easy Gully and have a look, with the idea that if the conditions were bad then we would walk around to the climbers col. As we made our way down Easy Gully we met up with another pair who were heading for White Shark, which looked like it was in pretty good condition, but I don’t know how they got on. As we got to the base. Read the full article…

Green Gully

I had a brilliant first winter climb of the season today, and what a contrast to last year as the weather and conditions were fantastic. We climbed Green Gully. and the conditions were fantastic. We had first time placements all the way up, some of the gear wasn’t brilliant due to this and the top belay above the last crux step was awful. The climbing was brilliant and the route was not banked out or stepped out at all which made the climbing much more enjoyable. The walk in was beautiful as the sky was completely clear and starlit, it was a shame that there was no moon as I have fond memories of walking into a moonlit Ben Nevis. Due to a very early start it was still very dark by the time we were at the CIC hut and started the next slog up into Coire na Ciste. During this walk we met up with an SMC member who had been staying in the CIC hut, apparently Point Five was climbed yesterday and was reported to be in good condition. The snow was not ideal for walking up, but. Read the full article…

A fantastic 2014 in 100 Photos

As we are fast approaching the end of the year I figured it was probably time to have a look back through what I have been up to this year. It has been a fairly contrasting year when compared to last year, which was mostly significant due to the significant amount I achieved in winter and in the Alps. However, this year with terrible weather and conditions during winter in the UK and in the Alps during summer. Despite this I still managed some great routes in Scotland and had an even better time in the Alps taking some chances and being lucky with weather and conditions on the routes we did manage. This was also the first year I have undertaken technical & committing routes in the Alps, rather than busy trade routes, and I am now looking forward to more alpine adventures in 2015. The Flèche Rousse, North Ridge of the Weissmies and the North Face of the Tour Ronde were all long, serious and committing routes. On the first two routes there was no one else attempting the routes which makes you feel very isolated and committed. Additionally,. Read the full article…

Walking on the Black Mountain

I have just returned from a rare weekend away walking in the mountains of Wales. On Friday after work I headed out to the Back Mountain with the Avon Mountaineering Club for a fun weekend of walking, drinking and playing silly games. We were staying in the quiet valley of Ystradfellte, as per usual in winter we arrived in the dark so it was great to wake up and be greeted by views the next morning. In order to make the most of the weather we made a reasonably early start, defrosted the cars and headed over to Glyntawe which was at the base of an obvious ridge up to Fan Brycheiniog. We were supposed to be meeting Phil at the car park, who had decided it would be a good idea to get up 2 hours before daylight and walk to meet us there! This didn’t quite go to plan and he was a bit delayed, so Pete and I decided to stay and wait for him while the others headed up the mountain, the idea was that we would catch them up. Phil was only shortly behind and we headed. Read the full article…