Blog Posts in Category: Winter

Munro Bagging in the Cairngorms

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Walking Short Link

With the forecast far to warm to consider doing any winter climbing, it was back to Munro bagging for the last three days of our Scotland trip. On the first day we headed up to the Drumochter Pass to climb Beinn Udlamain and Sgairneach Mhor. The weather was beautiful, if not a little windy and throughout the day we were treated to fantastic views in every direction. On the second day the forecast was particularly uninspiring with extensive hill fog, lots of wind, warm temperatures and some drizzle. Due to this we elected to complete the second munro out of a pair which Becky had climbed one of previously. We made very quick progress up to 900m due to the high snow line, and there being a stalkers track most of the way up. Unfortunately once we left the first col the snow cover made for hard walking and the thick hill fog meant we were walking on a bearing and pacing to navigate. After an age of seeing only the red needle on the compass and trying to work out if I was going up or down we eventually made it to the summit,. Read the full article…

Ardverikie Munros

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Walking Short Link

While we were staying on the Ardverikie estate we decided to climb the three munros on the estate, as it meant we had access to the estate track keys which saved a long walk in. The weather was exceptional on the first day where we were treated to spectacular views on the ascent to Creag Pitridh, unfortunately on the summit of Geal Charn we ended up in the white room. On the second day we headed back up the tracks and climbed Beinn a Chlachair in less good conditions, however we were treated to fleeting views from the top.

SW & E Ridge of the Douglas Boulder, Ben Nevis

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Climbing Short Link

With an excellent forecast George and I planned to go to Ben Nevis with the aim of climbing Observatory Ridge. The walk in was beautiful with a clear sky, views of a snowy mountain and a beautiful view back down into the valley. Unfortunately due to the lack of winter so far this year, while Ben Nevis was covered in snow it was lacking in ice which is what lead us to attempting a ridge route. Unfortunately while we were approaching observatory ridge it became clear that the snow was very unconsolidated with no base at all. I set off on the first pitch and quickly decided that we were going to have a long and unpleasant day if we continued, so made the unpleasant unprotected down climb back to the belay. We then decided to head for plan B which was the classic south west ridge of the Douglas boulder. This provided three pitches of excellent mixed climbing, with good hooks, reasonable snow, excellent protection and enjoyable climbing. George led the first pitch which was the crux of the route with an enjoyable technical traverse, the second pitch was more straightforward. Read the full article…

2016 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, Alpinism, Mountaineering, Winter Climbing Short Link

It’s safe to say that 2016 was a very mixed year, with the highlights being an excellent start to the year with lots of successful winter climbing trips and a winter sun rock climbing trip. The summer rock climbing never seemed to start properly for me this year, before I injured myself and had to take an enforced break. My alps trips this year was very successful and I had an excellent two weeks in the Ecrins with Becky where we climbed a few peaks and enjoyed lots of sunny bolted multi pitch climbing. Unfortunately shortly after the Alps I received the tragic news that one of my close friends and regular climbing partners died in a climbing accident in the Avon gorge. Following this I was fairly disinterested with climbing for a while which resulted in a relaxed autumn and a chilled out weekend walking around on Lundy. As I was starting to force myself to think about climbing again I headed to south Wales for some sport climbing, and had an enjoyable day out until injured my finger & forearm which put me out of action until Christmas. Winter This year. Read the full article…

Alpine Striding Edge

Alastair BegleyWinter Climbing Short Link

After a brilliant day on Sharp Edge the day before we weren’t sure that we were going to be so lucky today. Thankfully when we were woken up we were treated to another crystal clear sky, although this did have the downside that it was -5 in the valley which had made the van a bit cold… After we had thawed out we started the walk in a little bit later than planned, which was unfortunate as we had planned to set off early to try and avoid meeting any unprepared people on the route. The start of the walk was very cold, but the ascent up Myers Beck soon warmed us up. As we ascended the view along Ullswater just kept getting better with the combination of the frosty valleys, sunlit heather slopes and snowy mountains. After the shady ascent up Myers Beck it was a relief to climb into the sun and see the first view of Helvellyn, and it just looked outstanding with it’s winter coat and the clear blue sky. We were soon on Striding Edge and decided to put our crampons on at the start,. Read the full article…

Alpine Sharp Edge

Alastair BegleyLake District, Winter Climbing Short Link

Last weekend and the start of this week was characterised by heavy rain and cold conditions in Bristol, which meant that in the Lake District the mountains were developing their first significant winter coat of the season. As the week continued a high pressure system started to build, so Becky and I decided to take a day off work and head up to the Lake District for a long weekend. On Friday morning we left Bristol at 6am hoping for a clear run up the M5 and M6 in order to get to the Lake District in time to climb Blencathra via Sharp Edge and descent via Hall’s Fell ridge. Thankfully we made good time, and by 11am we were in a lay by near the start of the walk into Sharp Edge with cold and and crystal clear blue skies. The walk in was beautiful leaving the green sunlit valley and climbing up in the warm sun, we soon arrived at the first col and left the sunlight behind and the temperature plummeted, but we were treated to a fantastic view of Sharp Edge being illuminated by the sun.. Read the full article…

Glovers Chimney

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Climbing Short Link

Armed with a good weather forecast we set off for Ben Nevis again with the aim of climbing Glovers Chimney, a route which I have been wanting to climb for a while. The walk in was beautiful with crystal clear skies, no wind and stunning views of the north face of Ben Nevis.Thankfully there was a path up into Coire na Ciste which saved a significant amount of energy, as trailbreaking up the approach slopes to Glovers Chimney was fairly tiring. Eventually we made it to the base of the route, unfortunately by this time the weather was starting to break as hill fog was starting to form. The first pitch was an ice pitch was fairly buried so it was unfortunately short, the ice wasn’t in brilliant condition. It was then time for the long snow slope in the middle of the two technical pitches, we completed this in two very long pitches and were soon at the base of the main chimney.From below it was looking very rimed up and icy. Once in the chimney I was not disappointed, the climbing was interesting and certainly wasn’t a walk. Read the full article…

Minus Three Gully

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Climbing Short Link

Another early start this morning to head back to Ben Nevis in order to make the most of the brilliant ice conditions. I was pretty unhappy this morning with yet another early start, and when it was raining as we were in the car park my psyche levels were pretty low. By the time we were at the hut the weather had cleared but it was very cold in the wind. We headed up into Observatory Gully with an open mind, but having seen the minus gullies looking great we decided to go and have a look at Minus One Gully. I lead up the first pitch which was straightforward to start with, but I was soon stopped by vertical snow below the first belay which meant that I couldn’t get to the belay. The crux pitch looked thin but maybe climbable, but with only a rusty peg 10m below me I wasn’t willing to try and swim up vertical snow (never seen anything like it, in the photo look at the icicles hanging down for reference of angle). After a quick abseil back down the gully we came up with. Read the full article…