Get in touch for Winter Courses 2011-12

As another summer passes by, it's time to look forward to this coming winter (not forgetting some autumnal rock climbing!), and with temperatures today on the summit of Ben Nevis just above freezing, it won't be long until the first snows arrive.  The past two winters have been fantastic, with some great early season conditions, so fingers crossed for a third.

Please do get in touch at applegateken@gmail.com or 07799 863068 if you are interested in developing your experience in the winter mountains this coming season.  I am based in Fort William throughout the year.
 
Prices per day start from: £160 for 1 person, £180 for 2 people, £200 for 3 people.

Very wintery up high: North Gully, Ben Nevis

For the second and final day, working for Abacus Mountaineering, with Wes, Jamie and Gary, we headed back up Ben Nevis, to tackle something a little more technical than yesterday and to have a look at the ropework and management involved with pitched climbing.  What started off as a dryish day, soon took a turn for the worse during the walk up to the CIC Hut, but whilst we were being rained on, the crags higher up were being coated by another fresh dusting of snow.

Fresh snow falling on the way up to Creag Coire Na Ciste

It was very quiet on the approach, although we did pass an optimistic adventurer with his skis strapped to his back!  We made for 'North Gully II' on Creag Coire Na Ciste, which is a great little route, with an interesting first pitch containing a step of steeper ice, before easing off, and passing through some quite dramatic scenery.  With spindrift pouring down, at times some heavy snow fall, rime building on the higher rocks and with fresh south westerly winds transporting snow onto the leeward slopes, creating pockets of fresh windslab, it felt as though we were back in the depths of winter.

Just above the crux on North Gully

The three did well on the three pitches of climbing, and we had just enough time to fulfil their ambition, to reach the summit of Ben Nevis.  The Red Burn bumslide is now riddled with holes, and is nowhere near as fun as last week.  Other teams out on Good Friday Climb, which was reported to be in good condition, Smith's Route, Central Gully Right Hand (which is said to be thin and the left hand line is no longer in), another team in North Gully and Green Gully is still apparently still in good shape.  Monday will be very wintery on the mountain, but again, temperatures are set to rise significantly during Tues and Wed, before cooling down again. These freeze/thaw conditions could well help regenerate the ice...  The fat lady hasn't sung just yet!

Ben Nevis this afternoon

A nice wintery surprise: Ledge Route, Ben Nevis

Fresh snow this morning

Following a very mild Friday, with high winds, heavy rain and temperatures on the summit of Ben Nevis hitting 7 °C, I was a little unsure as to how wintery it would be for a two day Winter Mountaineering Course, working for Abacus Mountaineering, with Wes, Jamie and Gary. Fortune, it seemed, was to be on my side! Once the strong winds died, the temperatures dropped and the rain ceased, which all happened at once, at about 6am, it had left behind a reasonable cover of fresh snow down to about 700m. 

Final snow ridge of Ledge Route

Wes, Jamie and Gary had all climbed a number of grade 1 gullies, in the Lake District, and had plenty of experience summer hill walking and scrambling, but were after something a little more adventurous, and also were very interested in learning the rope work required to protect tricky steps both in ascent and descent.  My decision to head for 'Ledge Route II' was confirmed as we approached Coire Na Ciste, and saw that the fresh snow had transformed a previously quite bare Ledge Route back to its full winter glory.  Quick progress was made up this classic route, stopping occasionally to focus on various rope techniques, before making the summit of Carn Dearg, where there was at least 4 inches of fresh snow, and it was certainly very wintery up there.  We headed round to No. 4 Gully, and had a look at stacked abseiling to enter the gully.  On regaining the base of Coire Na Ciste, the clouds lifted and it was clear that a lot of the freshly fallen snow had melted, leaving Ledge Route quite black again.  The flatter sections will still be snow covered, but the steeper section will be back to bare rock.

Coire Na Ciste this afternoon

It was a very quiet day on Ben Nevis, with a couple of teams heading up into Observatory Gully and a couple of others on Ledge Route.  The ice that was on Good Eve's Buttress and Raeburn's Wall is starting to look at bit thin, as did Hadrian's Wall Direct, which is riddled with large holes.  I'm sure Comb Gully Buttress will still be fine, as will Comb and Green Gully and some of the gullys on Creag Coire Na Ciste.  Freezing levels are due to be at 900m tomorrow, so it could be another good day.

It turned out alright: Dorsal Arete, Glencoe

South Buttress of Stob Coire Nan Lochan
 

Another day out with Phil, Ben and John.  As we pulled up in Glencoe this morning, there was low cloud and it was drizzling, without any signs of letting up.  Fortunately for us, the forecast of a high pressure moving in as the day progress materialised, and from about 11am onwards, we were treated to blue skies and sunshine, along with some great views out towards the Aonach Eagach and beyond.

This was my first time climbing 'Dorsal Arete II', on Stob Coire Nan Lochan in Glencoe, and given the traffic that the route had received yesterday, I was fearing the worst, given the current winter conditions, but we lucked out, and were the first of only two teams today.  The route is quite straight forward, starting on snow slopes just to the right of Broad Gully, and with good conditions on the route for the most part, we made good progress up the easier section of the route, before heading up a slightly bare chimney, and gaining the exciting finale, the exposed rocky fin, which today didn't require an axe, but did require a bit of care due to the loose blocks.  I'm sure that the route must change each season due to rockfall, but today we didn't significantly add to the erosion of the route, and topped out on the snow free west shoulder of Stob Coire Nan Lochan. Another great day out!

Jenga blocks on Dorsal Arete, be careful what you pull on!

It was very quiet in Stob Coire Nan Lochan today, and the blackness of the buttresses will be the reason why.  Boomerang Gully and Broad Gully (descended by a team today) are complete and Forked Gully, North Gully and NC Gully still look complete, although SC Gully is missing large sections.  The top-outs of some of these gullies will be quite precarious given the steep and soggy cornices still present, and until temperatures drop, which will happen to an extent through the night, they are probably worth avoiding.

Stob Coire Nan Lochan

A Winter Mountain Leader in the making: Glen Feshie, Cairngorms

Views out to Glen Feshie and the Monaliadth Mountains

Over the course of this winter, my better half, Han, and I have had quite different agendas, which has lead to us spending very little time on the hill together. She's moments away from embarking on her Winter Mountain Leader Assessment, whereas I've been out gaining experience in order to work towards my Mountain Instructor Certificate assessment, which has been predominantly winter mountaineering and climbing. We were due to go snow holing a couple of weeks ago, but a cold on Han's part saw an end to that idea, so finally we headed out to the hills east of Glen Feshie in the Cairngorms. An area popular for Winter Mountain Leader Assessments, due to it's potential for snow holing sites and for it's indistinct land features, ideal for testing navigation.

Sastrugi on Carn Ban Mor

 Snow was down to the valley base, enabling ski tourers to head off straight from the car park, whereas we were spending the day on foot. Glen Feshie is an amazing glen, and despite good access from Aviemore and Kingussie, on leaving the road suddenly a real sense of wilderness and remoteness is felt. The rolling nature of the hills also make the area a ski tourers' playground.

Drooping cornices on Carn Ban Mor

We headed up onto Carn Ban Mor, and quickly gained some incredible vistas up Glen Feshie and over towards the Monaliadth Mountains. From the summit, the western corries of Braeriach could be seen, with a sea of undulating snow lying inbetween. A navigator's dream or nightmare! After practising various navigational techniques such as pacing and staying on a bearing in white out conditions, we found one of the snow hole sites, one of the snow holes here was palatial. After lunching in one, we set off to find some more obscure navigational points, and in doing so, the clouds closed in, enabling Han to practise in true poor visibility. We finished back on Carn Ban Mor, and as we descended back into Glen Feshie, were greeted by moody sunshine and ominous looking clouds out to the west.


Han's well on track for her Winter Mountain Leader Assessment, having put a lot of time and effort into getting ready, and I wish her all the best! Go for it!

The very white peak: North Ridge of Stob Ban

The final day of working for Hughes Mountaineering saw me heading into The Mamores, with Declan, Tom and Miriam to have a last mountaineering adventure with one real criteria for the day: to get back for the Ireland/Wales Six Nations rugby fixture at 5pm!  With snow forecasted and a shift in the wind direction, it made sense to stick to ridges, and with that in mind, opted to head up the North Ridge of Stob Ban.  Stob Ban translates as the white peak, and although the term refers to it's quartzite composition, it was certainly very white with the freshly deposited snow.

A snow covered North Ridge

The ridge has great character, rising at first quite sharply out of Glen Nevis, then easing off before tackling what at first seems to be an improbable buttress.  Once up close, the true nature of the difficulties become much clearer and easier than initial impressions might suggest.  A couple of rocky steps and some meandering lead to a spectacular snowy arete, leading the way towards the various false summits and finally the shattered quartzite peak of Stob Ban.  Windslab, which had been forming on the easterly facing slopes over the past couple of days, was also forming rapidly on the westerly facing slopes due to the new wind direction.  On the summit, we bumped into a team from the Ice Factor  who suggested that the trench they had created on their ascent (also our intended descent) would prove useful, however so much snow had fallen that their foot deep trench had already filled in.

Not a great photo but it shows the
amount of snow on the descent path

We were able to forge a path back down the mountain, through at times waist deep snow, trying to stick to the line of the path as closely as possible, which was very obscure at times.  We made it down for just gone 4pm, allowing enough times to make it back for the rugby, but  I bet they wished they hadn't have bothered given the final score!  A great and very different three days, all reflecting the diversity and challenges of Scottish winter mountaineering.

Wild Wild West: Gearr Aonach, Glencoe

Sheltered scrambling on the Zig Zags

If the winds in Glencoe had been anything close to those in Fort William during the early hours of today, I think today would have turned out quite different.  Instead, David, Jackie and I enjoyed a relatively pleasant day in Glencoe.  Today I was working for Hughes Mountaineering, along with Campbell, Andy and John.

As we pulled up in Glencoe, I don't think anyone anticipated on staying out as long as we eventually did, but soon after we had left that car, the weather cleared and even showed some blue skies!  The winds were still quite fresh, and with strong gusts forecasted, staying low was essential.  David and Jackie had quite a bit of experience both at home (Ireland) and abroad, and were keen to experience an adventurous walking day, but were fully aware that the weather could easily curtail plans.  Other members of their party were heading up to climb on Far Eastern Buttress on the East Face of Aonach Dubh, so I chose to head up the Zig Zags, onto Gearr Aonach then traverse into Coire Nan Lochan.  As we tucked ourselves behind the northern buttress of Gearr Aonach, the weather eased, and along with clear views, made for a very enjoyable ascent of the Zig Zags.  Crampons were definitely not required for the scramble, as most the ledges were just covered in soft, saturated graupel. Once on Gearr Aonach, we battled a few squalls, but again, in between the squalls, we had great views across to the Aonach Eagach and to the summit of Stob Coire Nan Lochan.  We could also make out the various teams climbing on Far Eastern Buttress.

After being battered by the wind a few times, we decided to traverse into Coire Nan Lochan and make our way down to the car.  Overall, it had been a great day and we'd lasted a good 7 hours.

Just before one of the squalls on Gearr Aonach

Seconds later!

Stob Coire nan Lochan, laden with snow

Far Eastern Buttress, Aonach Dubh

Go high for winter: Gearr Aonach and Stob Coire Nan Lochan

It's been a busy week!  Through the week, I was working for The Outward Bound Trust, introducing the beautiful natural environment of Lochaber to 12 year olds from Kilmarnock, who were excited to say the least.  Today was a little more relaxed, working alongside Scott for Abacus Mountaineering.  The group today was a fairly competent group, on a long stag weekend up in the Highlands.  They had originally wanted to meet us at 10am at the Corran Ferry, probably allowing for alcohol induced recovery time, but Mike had managed to convince them otherwise, and we met at 9am, with everyone seemingly compos mentis!

Miles, the stag, and his band of merry men,
on the summit of Stob Coire Nan Lochan

We headed up a very summer-like 'Zig-Zags I' on Gearr Aonach, before making our way up the striking East Ridge of Stob Coire Nan Lochan.  The ridge, which higher up was quite wintery with some firm neve, does present a couple of tricky steps of grade I, both up and down and is an interesting route onto the summit.  Throughout much of today, the skies were clear enough to get some clear views over to Creise and Buachaille Etive Mor to the west and Ardgour to the east.  On arrival at the summit, we were able to see multiple teams on 'Dorsal Arete II/III', but unfortunately, the rest of the buttresses were completely black and very quiet. Freezing levels felt higher than forecasted, at around 950m.  Rime was slowly buildin and small icicles hanging off the rock, so winter is definitely still in existence.

Multiple teams on Dorsal Arete

We descended down the west ridge, towards Aonach Dubh, before entering the coire of Stob Coire Nan Lochan, and it was quite obvious that on leaving the summit, the snow soon became much softer, and that we had dropped below the freezing level quite quickly.  Just before reaching the car park, we were hit by quite a sharp shower, which fell as snow above 600m, and seemed to stay, whether it does overnight, I wouldn't like to guess, it was a very light dusting.  So overall, conditions aren't anywhere near catastrophic, with plenty to do.  The easier gullies of Stob Coire Nan Lochan and surrounding peaks are complete, with some firm snow, but it will take more than perhaps what the next couple of days have to offer to bring the mixed routes back in.  All in all, a good day to be out on the hills, with a great crowd!

The rather black buttresses of Stob Coire Nan Lochan, Glencoe

Jam packed day: Intro to Winter Day 1, Aonach Mor

Analysing the snow pack to increase avalanche awareness

Today was the first day of a two day Intro to Winter Mountains weekend for Tom, Ed and Rob.  The three lads had flown up from the south coast to get away from the gently rolling land of the South Downs, and have their first experience of Scottish winter.  Weather On-line provide a real-time reading for the temperature and wind speed for the summit of Aonach Mor, along with data from the previous 18 hrs.  This useful data gives a true picture of what is happening on the mountain, so whilst I was relatively sheltered in the lee of Loch Eil this morning, I found out that Aonach Mor was receiving the full brunt of the strong 50 mph southerly winds and so the gondola would therefore not be running.  The winds were due to ease as the day progressed, so I opted to head up Aonach Mor, in the hope that the gondola would run later in the day.

Beautiful rime ice on the fence posts,
indicating the recent wind direction

The walk up from the Nevis Range Car Park to the top station wasn't bad at all, and took just over an hour, and there were a fair few other teams making the steady walk up with similar plans.  Tom, Ed and Rob all had a fair bit of experience in the mountains in summer conditions, so were able to adapt well to the winter environment, turning their hands well to moving on snow and ice, ice axe arresting, cramponning and understanding avalanches.  We covered some steeper ground to gain the Nid Ridge, where we saw some fantastic rime ice and very pronounced raised footprints, the latter of which shows snow transportation and therefore suggest the building of windslab and associated avalanche risks.  From the cairn of the Nid Ridge, we also came across a brocken spectre, blue skies and it was also reassuring to see the ski area open, and more importantly, the gondola running!

So quite a packed day, with a variety of conditions, a lot of information and new skills for the three lads.  We're out again tomorrow, for a bit of a mountain journey. 

Rimed raised footprints towards the summit of Aonach Mor, an indicator of snow transportation