Scotland Winter Courses 2017

Our Scottish winter courses are now in full swing and we’ve had some great reports from our mountaineering, and snow and ice climbing courses.

We offer a full range of courses on offer from Winter Mountaineering to Ben Nevis climb and Snow and Ice Climbing courses. Please see our website for further information and contact us for course availability.

Ben Nevis and Winter Mountaineering, 10th – 13th March

Instructor: Mark

It was a different story in terms of conditions this week, but a great long weekend nonethelesss, with an introductory Winter Mountaineering Course and Ben Nevis Winter course running over three days.

Winter Mountaineering Course 25th February – 1st March

Instructor: Andy

Saturday: It started wet, but the forecast was improving so we went to the zig zags on Gearr Aonach. This scramble is sheltered from the wind and we had a good session doing some scrambling rope work. At the top we stopped for lunch and enjoyed the weather as it cleared and we then navigated up the ridge towards Stob Coire nan Lochan.

Sunday: Wet,  wet , snow, wet, wet was the order of the day! The team headed up to Stob Bhan on the Mamores, where we found some old snow to practise some skills. After that we ascended the peak and descended down the North Ridge scramble. We were all soaked to the skin – a 9 out of 10 wet day – you only get a 10 if you’re swimming.

Monday: Cold and sunny and with a clear forecast we went up the Ben via Ledge Route. A great day all round!

Tuesday: Down to 2:4 now so we had a mass ascent of the Dragons Tooth Ridge on Ben Bheither (the Ballachulish Horseshoe). Another lovely winters day. Good for skills including abseil safety.

Wednesday: We headed to Sron na Lairig in Glencoe, a classic grade 2 ridge. The guys had another excellent day covering more moving together and short pitches.

All in all last week was one of the better weeks of the winter with 3 good days, some new snow and more promising conditions.

Thanks to Paul, Alex, Edd and Beatrice for a good week.

---

 Ben Nevis Winter climb, 24th February

Instructor: Mark

Great conditions for a winter climb of Ben Nevis over last weekend.

---

Introduction to Snow and Ice Climbing Course, 28th January

Instructor: Dave

The conditions were challenging as everything is very lean in the Scottish mountains. We had to go high for even a chance of a good route, but that did mean that the routes we achieved were a grade harder.

We did a refresher day and a short gully climb, then a  skills day in the higher mountains and Boomerang gully,Forgotten Twin and Easy gully.Ledge route on the Ben.

                

---

Introduction to Snow and Ice Climbing Course, 21st-22nd January

Instructor: Andy 

This week-end I was out with an Irish team, Emer and James and we were going to try and do some winter work. As you probably know things are a little thin up here at the moment. But on certain east facing aspects there are still plenty of things to play on. Plus the weather was great.

Saturday, start with a bang off up the Ben. Ben Nevis is holding the most snow as usual being the biggest. So we walked up into Coire na Ciste to have a look around. It was a frosty clear morning and there was plenty of activity going on up the hill. The snow was rock hard, fantastic cramponing snow and we were soon chopping steps and digging holes all over the place. After doing some rope work and snow belays we climbing up No4 gully to bask in the sunshine. Only then to abseil back into the shade off a snow bollard, always fun abseiling off attached to frozen water!

Sunday dawned a bit more cloudy and some new snow overnight. We decided to head for Buchaille Etive Mor to do some rope work on our ascent of Curved Ridge. The new snow made things very slippery and the climbing was tricky. We started off without crampons but needed them higher up, we made good time to the summit. The descent was hard! The snow had been packed on the path and was very slippery. We had to keep our crampons on for about half the descent which was tough on the ankles and knees at the end of the day.

---

Introduction to Snow and Ice Climbing Course, 13th – 18th January

Instructor: Clive

It’s always challenging in Scotland to match up route aspirations, the conditions and the weather but it’s that challenge that draws people to the Scottish west coast from all over the world.

The week started with summit temperatures of minus 8C and ended with them approaching plus 6 so on the first day myself and Fergus set off trail breaking through deep powder snow towards one of the iconic Ben Nevis ridges, Castle Ridge. It’s a great route for looking at techniques to move quickly over easy but serious terrain using the rope and then some steep technical rock steps requiring pitching and two axes.

With a great day ticked and in the bank we could ease back to fill in some gaps in knowledge and technique with a day at the Ice Factor in Kinlochleven while rain swept through, removing the deeper deposits of snow in the gullies. These days are always very useful as so much technique can be covered which would take forever to cover on a cold windy mountain side but can save so much time and energy over the following days. Fergus finished looking a proficient steep ice climber, placing ice screws one handed and lead climbing on a wall, setting up his own belay and then abseiling down independently using a prussic back-up. Great skills for future trips.

The next day we headed back up Ben Nevis to put these new skills into practice straight away. The gullies had calmed down from the considerable avalanche risk from the day before so we headed up Number Two gully which still had plenty of snow and a surprising amount of ice. Fergus was able to lead a few sections and place several ice screws on the way. In fact the ice was in much better condition than the rock and a lot quicker to place so we ended up using 3 or 4 screws per pitch.

No. Two Gully had inspired. A combination of the satisfaction of leading, coupled with the frustration of not quite knowing what to do with rock protection made us decide to head to Polldubh to set up as many rock belays as possible and to look at abseiling off natural gear. Fergus knows his limitations technically but is keen not just to be passenger so this venue ticked a lot of boxes for future goals of independent trips.

The reality of climbing with a guide is that the more you climb as a team the better the experience. Fergus had become an extremely competent second over the week and was moving well on his feet and sorting out rope work efficiently. The skills had fallen into place to tackle one of the longest routes on Ben Nevis, Tower Ridge. At 800m in length it is given an unusual trade of IV/3. Whilst never technically very hard (3), many people get caught out by its length and end up being overtaken nightfall or deteriorating weather high on the mountain (IV) so all the training earlier in the week came into sharp focus…efficient movement, slick rope work, seamless transfers from roped pitches to moving together all lead to a fast ascent of the second big ridge route of the week.

 

The weather in winter is always beyond our control. High on the Ben and in the snowy corries of Glencoe winter remains, well past when folk in the valley think that winter has long passed. The secret for mountaineers and climbers is linking that weather with the best routes after determining realistic aspirations. The rewards are there for the taking for those who engage with the vagaries of the Scottish climate to solve that jigsaw for themselves.

---

Introduction to Snow and Ice Climbing Course, 13th – 18th January

Instructor: Mark

Tuesday was another mild day, so with an ice route out of the question we decided to take the opportunity to look at some in-depth ropework and stance management skills.  We headed to Glen Nevis to work on Pinnacle Ridge and The Gutter on Pine Crag Wall.  Luckily we stayed dry all day and covered a range of skills from placing protection to building belays and retreating from a climb.  It was also a good chance to get more comfortable climbing damp rock in big boots.

Fergus was keen to make the most of being in Scotland and get a big route done so on Wednesday we headed for Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis.  This is always a good route no matter what the conditions and we experienced quite a range as the day went on.  It was mild low down and there was little snow on the ridge but by the Eastern Traverse the temperature had dropped sufficiently for there to be some icy rime and a lot of verglass on the rock.  This made it feel a lot more wintery and made some sections quite awkward.  Some of the snow higher up was firming up in the lower temperatures and the forecast is for more snow next week so fingers crossed!

---

Ben Nevis winter ascent, 6th – 9th January

Instructor: Mark

---

Winter Mountaineering Course, 2nd – 6th January

Instructor: David

Please see our website for further information and contact us for course availability