Aonach Eagach

With an excellent forecast, combined with the outstanding late season conditions we decided to head up to Scotland to climb Aonach Eagach. Aonach Eagach is a ridge which I have done before in summer and winter, however it has been on Becky’s list for quite some time now. When I last climbed the ridge in winter the weather was very good, but it did not compare to the weather we had this time. The snow underfoot was mostly firm, the ridge generally had a good covering of snow other than some of the steeper rock sections and the weather was outstanding with a mixture of sun and cloud all day, without a breath of wind. We made the most of the clocks having changed and the longer daylight and enjoyed a relatively late start to miss the bad weather early in the morning, which was a good decision based on the amount of rain as we were driving towards the ridge. The initial climb doesn’t get any easier with successive attempts at the ridge, and felt as abrupt as ever, but thankfully it is over fairly quickly and once it. Read the full article…

Sgurr na Bana-Mhoraire

With another day of cold weather and strong winds we decided to have a short walk up Sgurr na Bana-Mhoraire, which is a stunning viewpoint overlooking Loch Torridon on the shoulder of Beinn Damh. The walk up was on an excellent track, so we made good time to the summit. The views from the top did not disappoint, and we were glad that we didn’t need to spend too long in the winds on the summit ridge!    

Deep South Gully & Beinn Alligin

The whole country seemed to have forecasts for heavy snow, apart from the small part of north west Scotland around Torridon. Despite the lack of a forecast for snow, the forecast did remain bitterly cold with temperatures of -10 being forecast on the summits, with easterly winds which were gusting up to 50mph and a “feels like” temperature of -30 according to the Met Office. Due to this we developed the plan to walk around to the back of Beinn Alligin and climb the atmospheric looking Deep South Gully as the descent off the back is quick, which should have limited our exposure to the strong winds. We made quick progress around to the back of Beinn Alligin, and despite forgetting the guidebook, easily identified the gully. There was bomber neve all the way up the gully, which extended down to the valley floor. This enabled us to make rapid progress up the gully, which was fantastic. It was very atmospheric inside the deep sided valley, which combined with the snow quality made for a very enjoyable climb. We were surprised when we got to the top to find that. Read the full article…

Moruisg

After three days of walking and seven Munros our legs were starting to feel fairly tired. As the weather for the rest of the week is looking somewhat more unsettled we decided to have a short day and climb our local Munro, Moruisg. We woke up in the morning to a surprise covering of snow, which made the walk into the mountain very attractive. The walk is very short, but with lots of ascent over a short distance. As we finished the steep section of the ascent we were greeted by a very strong and cold wind, this combined with the intermittent low cloud cover felt far more like Scottish winter than the last few days! The summit was very cold, so other than a brief photo we didn’t spend much time there before heading back down as quickly as possible. On the way down the cloud lifted and provided us with some stunning views of the local mountains, we could even see the grand Glencarron estate house which we are staying in on the descent.

Beinn Liath Mhòr and Sgorr Ruadh

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

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

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…

2017 in 100 Photos

2017 was a very busy year with plenty of trips away, however due to a lack of motivation it was another year with limited climbing. This year we discovered road cycling which took up a large part of summer and we bought a house which resulted in numerous weekends at home packing, unpacking and doing DIY. We did manage to find plenty of time for walking in the mountains, and enjoyed an excellent summer holiday in Italy. Winter The winter got off to a strange start on the Avon Mountaineering Club’s (AMC) winter Lake District trip. The weather had been very mild leading up to the trip, and the forecast for the weekend looked brilliant. Due to this George managed to persuade Becky and me to go rock climbing on Gimmer. This was a brilliant day, if a little cold at the start before we were in the sun! It was soon time to head up to Scotland for the AMC winter trip, while there was plenty of snow on the trip there was a distinct lack of ice. I managed one day of climbing with George on Ben Nevis,. Read the full article…