All Alone on Zero Gully

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Climbing Short Link

I have plans to spend next week in Scotland with some friends from university, however with a decent forecast and fantastic conditions I was unable to resist the urge to come up a bit early and do a bit of climbing. My aim for the day was another big classic Ben Nevis route, Zero Gully, which has a reputation for being a very serious route. I was climbing with Tony who I met off UKC, it was very odd meeting my climbing partner for the day for the first time in the car park as we were sorting gear. We had a relatively leisurely start as Tony had to drive across Scotland, and I only arrived in the car park at 2am so was grateful for a bit more sleep, although four hours is not really enough… We made good time on the very warm walk in and thankfully as we gained height the temperature started to cool and by the time we arrived at the snowline we were greated with a firm snowpack, which makes a nice change compared to my last few trips. Due to our leisurely start we were expecting other people. Read the full article…

Left Hand Branch & El Mancho – Clogwyn Du

Alastair BegleyWinter Climbing Short Link

After yesterdays long day on Western Gully in the Black Ladders, the aim of today was to have an easier day out so we decided to head to Clogwyn Du due to it being a more friendly crag that was closer. The walk in did not feel any easier as we made the never ending slog up to the crag in the cloud, made worse by having to chase Nick up while trying to ignore what my legs wanted to do. As we got to the gearing up spot the cloud dropped below us and revealed the crag in fine winter conditions. Despite being at the crag shortly after 8, and overtaking a number of parties on the walk in we discovered we were fourth in line for the route we wanted to do, Left Hand Branch. As the route looked like it was in brilliant condition we decided to wait in line for the route. The problem with following other parties up ice gullies is that you have nowhere to hide when parties above dislodge ice. The team in front of us learnt this the hard way as one of the. Read the full article…

Western Gully – Black Ladders

Alastair BegleyNorth Wales, Winter Climbing Short Link

In an attempt to make the most of the brilliant conditions up in North Wales at the moment we took Friday off work and headed up for a long weekend winter climbing in North Wales. It was great to only spend 4hrs in a car and be at a winter climbing destination, rather than the normal 9 hours it takes to get to Scotland. Today we headed up into the Black Ladders to climb the classic Western Gully, a route which Nick had unfinished business with. After a reasonably leisurely start we set off just as it got light and made the seemingly never ending walk up towards the crag. Not knowing much about the conditions of the Black Ladders we were pleased when it came into view and was suitably white. Eventually we got to the base of the crag and had to make the long slog up the approach slopes, which was incredibly tedious thanks to unconsolidated snow on top of rocks. Eventually we arrived at the base of the climb and geared up. In an attempt to save some time we started by soloing the easy initial. Read the full article…

An Attempt at Ski Touring the Cairngorm 4000ers

Alastair BegleyScotland, Ski Touring Short Link

I had made plans with Nick to head up to Scotland for some climbing this weekend, however the never ending snowfall all week made that seem unlikely due to arduous and dangerous approaches to the climbs. We are both capable skiers and decided that this would be a good opportunity to learn to ski tour, especially as the forecast for Saturday spoke about Alpine conditions. Nick and I have a history of not doing things in half measures (two years ago we climbed Orion Face, Tower Ridge and Point Five in a brilliant weekend while camping at the base of the north face of Ben Nevis). This was no exception to that, as instead of doing an easy day tour to learn how to do it, we decided to do a two day tour and attempt to climb all five of the Cairngorm 4000ft peaks. After a slow drive up to Aviemore after work on Friday we hired kit early on Saturday morning and headed to cairngorm mountain where we avoided looking to stupid as we skinned up the side of the ski lifts. We were soon at the summit of. Read the full article…

Morwind – Aonach Mor

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Climbing Short Link

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

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Climbing Short Link

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

Alastair Begley100 Photos, General Short Link

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

Alastair BegleyWalking Short Link

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…