Coached Scrambling on Curved Ridge, Glencoe

Returning clients are great!  Of course I would say that, as it brings back business, but more to the point, it allows both a solid relationship to develop and great opportunities for progression and that's just what the theme of today was all about.  Wes, Kev, both of whom I had guided up Tower Ridge back in July, came back for more mountaineering, and this time had brought Chris along too.  Tower Ridge is unquestionably one of the finest and challenging scrambles in the UK and to step it up from there (without visiting Skye) would enter the realms of rock climbing (North East Buttress and Observatory Ridge on Ben Nevis spring to mind), for which better weather than what was forecasted would be required.  So, in order to challenge the three, and in particular Wes, as he had a bit more experience under his belt, I suggested that a day of coached scrambling, with Wes on the sharp end, leading Kev and Chris, on the Glencoe classic, Curved Ridge would make the most of their day.

We set off from the car, with steady drizzle and low cloud, as I explained the various landmarks and directions, which make finding Curved Ridge in the low cloud far easier and picked our way to the base of the ridge.  Before setting off, we talked through the ideal scrambling rack and the principles of scrambling with a rope, i.e. being safe enough rather than too safe in order to keep things moving, and the three components of scrambling:

1) flow -keeping things moving, being dynamic with decision making and planning ahead
2) control -using the rope efficiently and effectively and ensuring that both seconds are always protected
3) command -directing both seconds, at times independently

Chris and Kev enjoying the scrambling, with Rannoch Wall behind

Wes took all of this on-board and with some en-route coaching, brought Kev and Chris up safely and quickly to reach the top of Easy Gully and the base of Crowberry Tower for lunch.  Wes has also started his quest to complete all 283 Munros within 10 years, so rather than hang about, we made our way up the final broken ground to the summit of Stob Dearg, and quickly fired our way along the broad ridge of Buachaille Etive Mòr to the second Munro, Sgor na Bròige.  Munro no. 6 in the bag! The weather had improved vastly throughout the day, allowing fantastic views down into Glen Etive and across to Buachaille Etive Beag.

At the top of Curved Ridge, with glimpses towards Rannoch Moor behind

Spectacular views up Glen Etive

Three weeks in the Ecrins Massif, French Alps

Following a day's guiding Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis with Edita and Boris, from Croatia, Scott and I made the long journey from Fort William to Ailefroide, on east side of the Ecrins National Park.  The village of Ailefroide sits at 1515m, and is surrounded on all sides by towering granite mountains, offering everything from roadside bouldering and single-pitch sports climbing right the way through to long (500m+) bolted and traditional multi-pitch climbs and mixed alpine climbing.  Coupled with some of the best weather in France and an enormous, yet tranquil campsite with climbing a mere ten minutes walk away, it seemed like the ideal destination.  And it was.

Scott enjoying the granite slabs of Ailefroide

Having driven for 24 hours almost non-stop, we chose to ease ourselves in gently, and headed up to the local crag of Sector Engilberge (15 mins walk from campsite!) and climbed 'Ma, que! Seulment du V!', which was a perfect introductory climb to the area and sported 5 well bolted pitches of fantastic granite slabs.  The following day, we headed up to Sector Orage D'Etoile and climbed the even better 'Orage D'Etoile', this time sporting 10 well bolted pitches up equally fantastic slabs, which just kept on coming.  The route is quite sustained at the grade, which given the quality of climbing, was no bad thing!

Dawn on the Pelvoux Traverse

After a quick bite to eat, rehydration and a quick re-pack of the bags, we headed up to the Pelvoux Hut at 2700m.  The following morning, having managed about 4 hours of broken sleep, we joined other early risers to head up the 'Coolidge Couloir', graded PD+ (see here for more info on alpine grading) and reached the summit of Mount Puiseux at 3943m, part of Le Pelvoux, which dominates the views to the NE from Ailefroide.  We continued the classic Pelvoux Traverse, and descended via the impressive Violettes Glacier, before tackling a number of rocky ridges and abseils, all as part of a huge 6 hour, 2500m descent back down into Ailefroide.  A long, but highly recommended day!

The summit of Mount Puiseux 3943m

The start of the descent via the Violettes Glacier

Cravasses on the Voilettes Glacier

Following a day of single-pitch sports climbing (I found the routes much harder than the equivalent grade on steep limestone!), we walked in to the popular Glacier Blanc Hut, from where we tackled the Pic Glacier Blanc at 3525m via a seemingly less travelled route called 'Le Communard' graded D (photo topo here).  This excellent route takes quite a direct line up the south face of the 'Pic du Glacier Blanc', and is reasonably well bolted, particularly on the trickier pitches.

Pre-dawn, looking out over the Barres des Ecrins

Pic du Glacier Blanc

Scott on Le Communard, Pic du Glacier Blanc

Bivi beneath the north face of La Meije

After one last climb up Little Palavar, we left Ailefroide, and planned to head round to La Grave, to try 'Gravelotte Couloir' on the north face of La Meije.  This involved bivi-ing on top Les Enfetchores, at one of the most spectacular spots that I've spent a night, directly underneath the looming north face of La Meije. However, after another early start, we began crossing the heavily cravassed glacier, and soon realised that the snow was far too soft and that the snow bridges, which would allow safer passage through the almost blind maze of cravasses when frozen, were not so secure due to the temperatures not falling as much as anticipated through the night.  We called it a day (at 5am!), and whilst we were unsuccessful on climbing La Meije this time, it was a great experience non-the-less and certainly a lesson!







The village of La Berade was our next destination, and is almost a mirror image of Ailefroide, minus the crowds and shops.  A quick climb on the local crag of Tete de La Maye set us up well for our final trip into the higher mountains, up to the Soreiller Hut, which lies at the foot of the striking Aiguille Dibona. We climbed 'Voie Madier' TD, which is now largely bolted, which was without a doubt, my favourite route of the trip.  The route follows an obvious diagonal fault up to the Boell Ledge, from where we took a slight diversion up the grooves of Visite Obligatoire to reach the summit.

The striking Aiguille Dibona

The Aiguille Dibona from the Soreiller Hut

On Voie Madier, Aiguille Dibona

One last climb of the trip saw us abseiling 6 rope lengths down the Cascade de Villard, close to Bourg d'Oisans to gain the base of 'Issue de Secours'.  The three routes of this well hidden crag lie either side of a magnificent waterfall, which provided a very atmospheric backdrop to our final adventure in the Ecrins.  Whilst the climbing probably only merits two stars, the situation definitely deserves three!

A visit to the Ecrins National Park is highly recommended, and I will be heading back there in the future!

Mountaineering on Ben Nevis: Tower Ridge & Ledge Route

Today I was out with Wes and Kevin, who were keen to tackle one of the finest mountaineering routes in the UK, Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis.  Both had a fair bit of hillwalking and scrambling experience under their belts, but the majority of scrambling they had both done had tended to be in the Lake District and North Wales, so as the clouds swirled around the coires as we made our way up towards the CIC Hut, they were clearly in awe at the scale of the north face of Ben Nevis, and in particular that of Tower Ridge.

We made good progress up the ridge, and were fortunate for the clouds to lift and provide some impressive views out towards Carn Mor Dearg, Aonach Beag and beyond.  I've said it many times before, but these spectacular views are very hard to get bored of!  We didn't hang around, and soon found ourselves at 'The Gap'.  On Saturday, a substantial block came away from Tower Gap (details here), which has led to the down climb into the gap being slightly trickier than before, and more importantly has loosened up a few other surrounding blocks in the gap, and now requires greater care than before.  We did just that, and soon found ourselves emerging into the sunshine on the summit plateau.

Beyond the Gap

The gravity defying blocks on Ledge Route

As if scrambling 900m up was not enough, Wes and Kevin were keen to descend via Ledge Route, and in no time at all, we were back down at the CIC Hut.  All in all, it was another fantastic day to be out in the mountains.

Ben Nevis this afternoon

Four days on Skye, including a Cuillin Ridge Traverse

The northern Munros of the Black Cuillin

It's certainly been a busy few weeks, hence the lack of postings here, but my feet have finally touched the ground, so to speak, for a short while at least!  Friday the 17th June saw an early start with a drive to the 'Misty Isle', or Skye as it's better known as, which in my mind, is one of the finest mountaineering playgrounds in the UK (see my book review on the new Skye Scrambles Guidebook, published by the SMC), and to meet up with Steve and shadow Mike along with his clients; Nick, Noel, Bob and Peter, with the intention of completing the three northern most Munros on the Black Cuillin; Sgurr Nan Gillean, Am Basteir and Bruach Na Frithe.  The circuit is very achievable in a day, and incorporates plenty of excitement, from the airy scramble along and back down the West Ridge of Sgurr Nan Gillean and a tricky down climb from the summit of Am Basteir, imaginatively called 'The Bad Step', to a spectacular abseil down the Knight's Cave Chimney, in between the summit of Am Basteir and Am Basteir's Tooth.  From here, it was a straight forward walk to the summit of the third Munro, Bruach Na Frithe, before descending back down Coire a'Bhasteir.  The weather took a turn for the worse as the day progressed, however despite the rain, the group had a great day.

Heading up the West Ridge of Sgurr Nan Gillean

Heading to the summit of Sgurr Nan Gillean

Saturday saw me working with Mike for Abacus Mountaineering and heading out with Anthony, Paul, James and Bryan for a warm up day up Pinnacle Ridge of Sgurr Nan Gillean, before a full Cuillin Ridge Traverse starting on Sunday.  In profile, Pinnacle Ridge, which we saw the previous day, looks quite spectacular and imposing, and whilst the journey is nothing short of spectacular, the actual route over the pinnacles is far less intimidating than first appearances may suggest.   The highlight must be the airy abseil from the third pinnacle, onto quite a narrow ledge, before down climbing to a much larger ledge below.  The ascent of the Knight's Peak involved some fantastic scrambling, before easing off leading up to the summit of Sgurr Nan Gillean.  From the summit, we heading back down the West Ridge and back down to Coire a'Bhasteir.  The weather held out nicely, and gave the team a taste of what was to follow over the next couple of days.

Loch Scavaig and Loch Coruisk

Anthony, Paul, James and Bryan

The team had opted to start the traverse by taking the boat from Elgol, across Loch Scavaig to the foot of Gars Bheinn, which I now think is possibly the best way to start the traverse due to not having to back track at all, never mind the adventurous feel to it all!  We made good progress up onto the ridge, and found ourselves at Sgurr Dubh Mor in good time.  Both Mike and I took our teams up the King's Chimney on Sgurr MhicConnich, before moving swiftly up An Stac and up and over the Inaccessible Pinnacle, where the weather took a slight dip, fortunately the difficulties for the day were done with. That evening we made it passed the Three Teeth of Sgurr Thormaid for a short bivi.  The following morning was another early start, however following the knife edge ridge of Sgurr a'Greadaidh and technical climbing of Sgurr a'Mhadiadh, I descended from the ridge at Bealach na Glaic Moire, with Bryan who was finding that his knees were giving him trouble.  It must have been a hard decision for him to make, and made all the more difficult by watching the rest of the team head off up Bidein Druim Nan Ramh.   Mike went on to complete the ridge with Anthony, Paul and James, despite less than ideal conditions, so a huge well done to them!

Descending the Inn Pinn

Tacking the knife edge ridge of Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh

That was my first substantial bit of work on Skye, and I'm not sure that guiding in the mountains gets much better, so fingers crossed it won't be long until I'm back on Skye! (All photos courtesy of Steve Holmes).