MIC Training, Day 4: Aonach Dubh and Stob Coire Nan Lochan

What a wet day!  Heavy rain was falling at all levels today, saturating the snow pack, and blackening the buttresses, and a fair bit of existing snow and ice was quickly making it's way out to sea.  All was not lost however, far from it.  With the rain due to stay all day, we had a day of mountaineering, scrambling up a slush covered 'Dinner Time Buttress II', on the west face of Aonach Dubh, along up to the summit of Stob Coire Nan Lochan, and down 'Dorsal Arete II,3'.  The focus of the day was dealing with more mountaineering terrain, where straight forward pitching would be both unnecessary and very time consuming.  The decent of Dorsal Arete enabled us to look at the tricky business of managing two clients down steep and technical ground, whilst using various belays to keep everyone safe.

Tim and Dave on the damp descent of Dorsal Arete

Signs of avalanche activity were present, with quite a bit of debris at the base of Forked Gully.  There was a surprising amount of ice on Dorsal Arete, and with the forcasted refreeze tonight, the snowpack should firm up well, and provide very good climbing conditions for the next few days.  There will be a slight rise in temperatures on Friday, but existing ice on the higher crags should be in great nick.  We only saw one other team today, who had climbed 'Ordinary Route IV,5' on the Summit Buttress of Stob Coire Nan Lochan, who seemed to have had a good day, despite the rain.  Another productive, but somewhat damp day!

MIC Training, Day 2: Stob Coire Nan Lochan, Glencoe

Overnight, there was a lot of fresh snow, down to about 300m.  This had fallen on all slope aspects, meaning that there was probably little wind through the night, and therefore hadn't created much new wind slab.  However, with the forecast suggesting an increase in wind strength throughout the day, particularly from the west, wind slab would be steadily building on the leeward slopes, so those facing east, but also lead to cross loading, filling in gullies and depressions on other aspects too, especially those perpendicular to the wind directions, so in the case of Stob Coire Nan Lochan, northerly facing gullies, of which there are quite a number.

Snow being transported from west to east,
looking out toward Aonach Dubh

Day two of the MIC Training course was spent focusing primarily on personal climbing, but also with thought on efficiently guiding two clients up a route, making the most of the limited time windows of opportunity in which to teach winter climbing.  Rusty, Tim and I climbed 'Ordinary Route IV,5' on the Summit Buttress of Stob Coire Nan Lochan, which proved to be an excellent mixed route, throwing in a fair share of tricky steps and great situations in amongst quite a complex crag.  The turf was all pretty frozen, and asides from the odd patch of rotten ice, the climbing was all pretty secure.  As forecasted, the winds did start transporting the snow onto the crags, and whilst not a problem on the route, meant that descent down the various gullies became more serious, and therefore no longer an option so we ended up descending the ridge joining the summit of Stob Coire Nan Lochan to Aonach Dubh.

Late afternoon views to the southern slopes of the Aonach Eagach

A very productive day, with again, a wealth of new tips and techniques practised and discussed.   A busy day in Stob Coire Nan Lochan with other teams out on Innuendo, Twisting Groves, Twisting Gully and Dorsal Arete. Tomorrow, the winds are forecasted to be north westerly, and overall, with the freezing levels at around 600m for most of the day, conditions should be great.  Care should however be taken based upon the SAIS forecasts.

The Wild North West: Glen Sheil & Torridon

Back in 2004, I took my first steps on steeper snow and ice, on an introductory winter climbing course with Martin Moran, and I remember it well, with days out on the rugged mountains of Liathach, Meall Gorm, Fuar Tholl and Sgurr an Lochain.  Since then, despite numerous promises to myself, I have only spent a very small amount of time up in the north west, so decided to start doing something about it.  I had the opportunity to join the same course that I had been a participant on 6 years previous, with the aim of picking up tips and techniques required to instruct and coach winter climbing in an adventurous yet efficient and safe manner.

Looking out towards Beinn Dearg and Loch Maree

Tuesday was spent on 'Way-up Gully I' in the magnificent Coire Dubh Mor (translates as 'Big Black Coirre'), on one of the finest ridges on the UK mainland, Liathach.  This corrie is home to some of the great ice lines of the North West, including 'Poacher's Fall V,5', 'Salmon's Leap VI,6' and 'Umbrella Falls V,5'.  I had climbed Umbrella Falls quite a few years ago, arguably having bitten off a little more than my climbing partner, Andy, and I could chew back then!  We did finish the climb, albeit in the dark, and made it down safely, but we both certainly learnt a thing or two that day!  I digress, so back to 2011, we ascended Way-Up Gully, and continued to the summit of the most easterly Munro of Liathach, Spidean a'Choire Leith, to then descend 'South Gully I'. The upper slopes on the south side had been scoured, leaving quite a hard icey surface, fortunately lower down, below 700m or so, it was much easier going with the softer snow.  The ice lines today were a long way from being complete, with only the thinnest of smears of ice highlighting where the various lines of thick, dribbling ice should be.  These routes all require snow lying above to feed the ice through cycles of melt/freeze, and fortunately, despite there being very little snow above the lines on Tuesday, this will have changed over the course of the week! 

Descending a very snowy Forcan Ridge

Wednesday saw a later start, in the hope of making the most of a reasonable weather window.  To a large degree, this worked, as despite a wet start, making our way up to a grade I gully on the north side of the 'Forcan Ridge II' in the Munro lined valley of Glen Sheil, we topped out and descended the ridge in much calmer conditions.  Snow fell heavily throughout the middle of the day, and was settling down to 600m.  Rivers and streams remained in spate!  Throughout the day, the risk of thunderstorms was present, due to a mass of warm air being forced upwards by an incoming wedge of cold air. More info here: Causes of Thunderstorms.  Later that evening, Glencarron was treated to a display of forked lighting, the booming of thunder and the threat of power cuts.

Tricky down climbing on The Traverse of A'Chioch, Beinn Bhan

Thursday morning brought an early start, due to the promises of foul weather hitting the west coast of the UK mid afternoon.  The team today headed up onto Beinn Bhan, a magnificent Corbett, with its six dramatic NE facing coires, the majority of which containing a fine array of classic mixed and ice climbs, on some of the continuously steep cliffs in the UK.  The aim for the day was to climb one of the most adventurous grade IIs in the area, 'The Traverse of A'Chioch II'.  The route starts on the dividing ridge between Coire na Feola and Coire na Poite, and is more than just a straight forward climb, involving some down climbing, traversing and exposure to reach the final four pitches.  We were lucky to have blue skies, light winds and great views for the first few hours of the day, but on topping out, it was clear that things were changing, rapidly!  Some of the wildest weather I've experienced came through once we had finished, bringing with it torrential rain, storm force winds, and high up, a lot of fresh snow.  I'm sure the early start, and hence early finish was very much appreciated by all.


Whilst this stormy weather renders the hills almost out of bounds for the time being, in the long run, it will only lead to improved climbing conditions for the winter ahead, so long as its not perpetual!  Nevis Range is closed today, and looking out the window, I can't say that I'd be too inspired to head out today.  I shall be on my MIC Training this coming week with Plas Y Brenin, fingers crossed for slightly better weather!