Blog Posts in Category: Locations

Beinn Liath Mhòr and Sgorr Ruadh

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Walking Short Link

With yet another stunning forecast we decided to make the most of it in Torridon by getting up high and doing a long walk. As we had previously done the classic ridges of An Teallach, Liathach and Beinn Alligin we elected to do a horseshoe involving Beinn Liath Mhòr and Sgorr Ruadh. It ended up being a longer day than we expected, but it was absolutely amazing. We made quick progress up the valley to the ascent up to the ridge on Beinn Liath Mhòr. The ascent was very steep and felt like very hard work after the previous few days. Once we were on the ridge it was fairly cold in the wind, but we had stunning views of the hills above Torridon. We made fairly slow progress along the ridge as there was a mixture of rock and snow and we had to take our crampons on and off a few times. The final ridge up to the summit was amazing with stunning views of all of the mountains above Torridon. The descent to the col before Sgorr Ruadh took a while and we considered our options as we. Read the full article…

Chno Dearg

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Walking Short Link

After a big day on the Ring of Steall we wanted a shorter day before we headed up to the North West for the rest of the week. We decided to tick off a Munro where Becky had previously climbed one of a pair. We headed to Chno Dearg which is above Fersit and from the guidebook sounded like it had a fairly horrible and wet approach. Thankfully the bog at the bottom was frozen solid, and all of the slopes up to the summit were covered solid neve which enabled quick progress to be made up to the top. As we approached the top the wind picked up and slowed our progress slightly. The views from the top were absolutely fantastic, we could see the Ring of Steall which was nice after completing it the day before. Looking east we could see the Ardverikie Munros and Creag Meagaidh and looking to the North we could see all the way up to Torridon. After a quick descent we again managed to cross the bog with dry and clean shoes and then enjoyed a stunning drive up to Torridon.

The Ring of Steall

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Walking Short Link

As the Ring of Steall has been on my wish list for a long time as it is one of the classic mountaineering routes around Fort William. I have been saving it for a good day, and we certainly had that! Over the past few week I have been eagerly looking at the weather and watching as huge amounts of snow arrived, then a large thaw happened and then a big high pressure built which was bringing cold air to Scotland. This lead to conditions where all of the snow which remained was frozen as solid neve, and the snow line went all the way down to 450m! Due to a long drive up from Bristol the evening before, we elected to start at 9am despite knowing how long the route was. As we were putting our walking boots on at the car we were in a bitterly cold wind which was whistling down the valley, which was frankly unpleasant. Thankfully as we ascended up into Glen Nevis the wind reduced, but still remained and kept us fairly cool. Soon we had crossed the wire bridge and were at the. Read the full article…

Taking climbing bags for a walk around Helvellyn

Alastair BegleyLake District, Winter Walking Short Link

There had been lots of snow in the Lake District, which is always the first hurdle for winter climbing in the Lake District. On this weekend last year we were rock climbing in Langdale! However, unfortunately there was really a bit much fresh snow, which had even led to some sizeable avalanches over the previous few days. James and I came up with a plan to head to Dollywagon North, which had lots of good looking short routes on it. Unfortunately from Patterdale the walk up to Grisedale tarn is a long way, which was made worse by endless trail braking with often thigh deep snow. After a three hour approach we made it to the top of the crag, at the same time as some other teams. Unfortunately we were all disappointed as the crag was completely buried, the approach slope was under a large cornice, the top outs looked like they involved almost vertical powder below yet more cornices. With all these negative factors it wasn’t hard to make the decision to take our climbing bags for a walk to the summit of Helvellyn. On the summit we. Read the full article…

Gael Charn

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Walking Short Link

After an aborted attempt at the Tarmachan Ridge due to the car park being an ice rink and having a downhill entrance we had to reassess our options. As Becky is Munro bagging we had to find a single munro which she hadn’t previously climb and which wasn’t too far away. In the end we settled on heading up north to climb Gael Charn, which is an isolated Munro in the Monadhliath. Based on the forecast and the description, combined with the wind hitting the van in the car park, I wasn’t expecting brilliant day out. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised, as the boggy approach was frozen solid and apart from at the summit we were below the cloud for the whole day. Once we got to the snow line the going was quite difficult as the snow was unfrozen and wet, but we made reasonable time to the summit. The views on the ascent were stunning, it was just a shame that we couldn’t see anything from the summit. From the summit we made a quick descent into the freezing wind, and managed to get back to the car just. Read the full article…

Arco multi pitch

Alastair BegleyArco, Rock Climbing Short Link

Having abandoned the Dolomites due to unexpected snow, we headed to Arco which is just north of Lake Garda. Arco is best known to climbers for sport climbing, however it turns out there is also a huge amount of big multi-pitch naturally protected routes. For the most part these seemed to have fixed protection, either threads or bolts. But it was occasionally necessary to place gear. For the first few days we climbed routes just north of where we were camping which were 3-4 pitches. These were enjoyable routes, and more importantly they were out of the afternoon sun! On the last day we headed further up the valley to climb a long multi pitch route called La Bellezza Della Venere. The route climbed 300m in 9 pitches, and was excellent throughout. It was slightly marred by some rude Germans behind us who were getting angry with the party in front of us who were not as fast as they wanted to be. We enjoyed a relaxed day on the rock, in the sun, with beautiful views up the valley while chatting with the party in front of us at belays.. Read the full article…

Che Guevara

Alastair BegleyArco, Via Ferrata Short Link

Due to snow in the Dolomites and a cold forecast for the remaining week, we decided to decamp to Lake Garda where the forecast was 15 degrees warmer and for constant sunshine. The via ferrata of the region which stood out to us was Ferrata Che Guevara, which climbs an impressively big face and gains 1220m in the process. The total height gain throughout the day was 1380m! As we didn’t want to move the van from the campsite, we decided to cycle the 15km up the valley to the start of the route, which was a bit harder work than anticipated with 20% hills to climb en route! It was a strange start to a big mountain day, as we had to walk through an industrial estate and then around  huge quarry. The ascent up to the start of the cable in the woods was hard work due to the heat, which turns out was just a sign of things to come. We almost didn’t start the via ferrata due to a rockfall incident from an inexperienced person above, who had left his girlfriend at the bottom unable to. Read the full article…

Delle Mèsules/Possnecker

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Via Ferrata Short Link

After a leisurely start we headed over to the Sella pass to do the Delle Mèsules via ferrata, unfortunately we discovered that the pass was closed to cars every Wednesday during the summer when we got to the bottom of the pass. Thankfully it turned out that we could get a bus up to the start of the route, it just meant that we had a defined finish time as it would be a very long walk back if we missed the bus. The short walk to the start was under the impressive Sella towers. The start of the via ferrata was the most sustained part of the route, with excellent climbing but some fairly long sections of cable which made it feel fairly exposed. After this first section of steep climbing there was an easier but unprotected section, this included a short chimney, an exposed ladder and then a climb up into a rift. We decided to get a rope out here and quickly moved together up this section. After exiting the confines of the rift, we moved around onto an exposed face. The climbing up this face was amazing. Read the full article…