Looking down the long and excellently positioned 3rd pitch of Indian Slab |
You can’t beat a good ferry crossing, even if it is small by Scottish standards |
Findlay just before the smooth crux on Direct Route |
Looking down the long and excellently positioned 3rd pitch of Indian Slab |
You can’t beat a good ferry crossing, even if it is small by Scottish standards |
Findlay just before the smooth crux on Direct Route |
Jed following the tricky third pitch of Original Summer Route (IV,5) |
A brief respite from wild weather on the walk out from Mullach Clach a'Bhlair |
The car easily demonstrating how much snow had fallen in the time we were climbing! |
Jed soaking up some exposure on the steep and exposed exit groves on Albino |
Church Door Buttress up on Bidean in Glencoe. Flake Route (IV,6) climbs pretty much straight up the middle through a series of chimneys and grooves |
Ben putting in a final udge on the chimney pitch of Flake Route |
Ben making short work of the notorious Raeburn's Chimney pitch where Flake Route joins West Chimney (V,7) and Crypt Route (V,6) |
Another fabulous day in Glencoe |
My orange jacket standing out like a sore thumb on Andromeda (photo credit James Rigby - thanks James!) |
This winter has been rather other worldly. Unseasonably warm and dry conditions have been the norm, which has made getting the usual run of winter ticks somewhat more challenging.
Thankfully this weekend just gone a bit of luck with the forecast fortuitously timed with climbing plans conjured in Autumn of last year.
After an overnight dusting and dominance of a freezing northly gale James and I found the Lochain looking "lean" but with potential at least. It was James first ever winter foray so going easy probably should have been the order of the day, but a pedigree of climbing hard trad and ultra running meant I wasn't too worried about taking him to the deep end - certainly as far as northern cories climbing is concerned.
The route we opted for was Andromeda (IV), a grove and corner line that breaks off from Milky Way and heads directly up through steep ground to join Central Crack Route.
The start was awkward. The usual snow clad ledges and groves were replaced with icy rock, a dust of useless snow and turf frozen so solid even a sharp axe barely made a dent. The highlight was a horizontal crack a full reach past a small overlap made for a textbook torque and was protected by a rusty peg complete with frozen tat. What more could you ask for from a first pitch.
After some more textbook encounters - this time of the faffing and hot aches variety - we were ready to tackle the main corner line of Andromeda. The line is actually a series of three corners, with the one of the left being the true line, an option just right being supposedly slightly harder and then another corner way to the right, which looked a grade easier than the other two options. As we stood there being buffeted by the wind and snow, there was certainly a strong urge to take the easiest of the options - que climber on Milky Way who announces that the left corner is worth the effort and the true line. That settled it. Off we went up the left corner.
It had torques, it had burl, and most importantly it had copious opportunities for full body wedging. Were I to do it again, I'd probably leave the bag at the base as it definitely made some of the chimneying sections harder than they needed to be.
The last pitch was an easy romp up past the cornice. Unfortunately the weather the next few days wasn't up to climbing, but it was still great to have a catch up with James.
Ben on the second pitch of White Shark |
A revelation from todays drive to the crag… what a game changer |
Over the past few years winter time training was mainly done on a turbo and bike in the garage, which was partially a function of convenience but it also being a new and exciting thing that I’d not done before. This was supplemented by a few runs and then also the deep base that a winter climbing day in the hills doubtlessly represents. Training on a turbo can be surprisingly addictive as the performance gains and consequential fitness can be generated quite clinically and over a reasonably short time period. The thing is that after 2 years the novelty of turbo training has well and truly worn off and it’s becoming increasingly harder to muster enough motivation to spin away in a freezing garage for hours on end with Netflix trash TV only providing a faint distraction.
Towards the end of last year one of my friends suggested that we enter the Pentland Skyline fell race held in the hills south of Edinburgh. The race itself is ~17 miles and takes in many of the major Pentland Hills, with the route climbing a vomit inducing 2000 m along its course. After agreeing and realising that my fitness was probably woefully inadequate, I dusted off the fell shoes and started doing at least one several hour muscle endurance run in the hills each week. I also joined the local running club, Ochil Hill Runners, and went on some of the social evening runs after work on a Tuesday which was great fun. Within a few weeks my love of the hills and running in them was totally rekindled and it’s for that reason I’ve decided to shift my training focus for 2021 towards hill races.
As well as the Pentland Skyline, last year I heaved myself around the Wansfell Fell Race, the Stybarrow Fell Race and also the Birnam Hill Race, the latter of which was also my best result so far coming 4th overall. This weekend just gone I ran in the Stile End - Outerside and Barrow Hill Race, which narrowly avoided seriously snowy and icy conditions thanks to a well timed thaw the evening before. It would have been a different race if it had stayed sub zero! The next race is planned for Clough Head, which features a lengthly section of very very steep grass and tussocks up just below the main summit, which on the way up will be lung busting, and on the way down, hopefully not bone busting!
Triathlon is still very much a firm fixture next year with two races, one in the summer and the other early autumn, both in the Lakes. Aside from those the plan is to also have a try at some of the longer hill races…
In the meantime hopefully all this running will be useful training for some winter climbing, whenever I eventually manage to make it out into the hills.
Classic sunshine and showers on an alternate OMM weekend with Dad after it got cancelled |
David and I getting our feet wet on the stepping stone crossing on Loch Voil |
Looking back along towards Ben Lawers on a another training run / snow swim |
The author blowing hard on the SOB fell race. Not icy, but definitely wintery! |
I recently fulfilled a long held promise with my good friend Mike to go and tick one of his few remaining "Classic Rock" routes on the north face of Ben Nevis. The Long Climb is (unsurprisingly) one of the longest rock climbs in the UK, scaling one of the biggest and highest mountain faces to boot.
Its altitude and location on the highest mountain in the UK means that weather and conditions can be extremely hard to predict and as such, has gained a reputation for being a very serious undertaking. Many aspirant ascensionists have got hopelessly lost on its sprawling face with some even coming to grief. The necessity for good conditions combined with the difficulties of findings willing partners to go and do such routes in the first place mean that opportunities are rare, which only compounds the air of uncertainty and mystery that such routes hold.
After agreeing this as an objective and setting a date, our attempt followed several days of warm and dry weather and so it was with great excitement that we set off early from the Torlundy car park under clear and calm skies.
A perfect sunny summers day on Ben Nevis. The north face and line of the Long Climb just visible in the distance |
The first challenge was actually getting to the route from the scree slope below, with our way blocked by a very large patch of neve that extended for several hundred meters down slope from the start of the route. Whilst there is no risk of avalanche, the consolidated but decaying nature of this lump of snow means a slip and long slide in the event of a poorly placed foot or collapse of a snow step would be disastrous. After making a quick belay I set out across the neve and before long had run the ropes full length and secured myself at the base of a broad rib, roughly 60 m below the so called "first slab rib".
One of the main challenges of this route is picking out the line as its snakes its way up the vast face, with countless possibilities, many ultimately ending in desperate or even insurmountable barriers. Notwithstanding, the face itself has a few defining features and it is these that the Long Climb seeks out. The three main features are the two "slab ribs" (first and second), which are separated by an easing of the rock angle in an area known as "the basin".
After two surprisingly bold and delicate pitches, we gained the first slab rib, with the climbing on the rib comprising of a series of airy moves from a corner belay around a prow followed by some great finger jamming up two parallel crack lines. This really was a brilliant pitch, which Mike did a great job of leading. After a few easy pitches through the basin we eventually made it up and underneath the second slab rib (which is hard to spot from the face itself, however a large chimney to the right we noticed from below the crag is obvious, and was a helpful feature). The second rib is perhaps slightly harder than the first rib, but not by much and is superbly protected by wire and small cam placements (all of which needed digging out!). Whilst the digging did slow me down a little, i really enjoyed this pitch and reveled in the exposure of being somewhere some vast and intimidating. After that a long leftward rising traverse following corners and cracks led to an easing of the angle, and eventually the top.
Mike on the first pitch. The slab ribs are visible above |
Mike in a brilliant position on the first slab rib |
We both agreed that whilst the ascent for us went very smoothly, we still had a few moments where uncertainty and doubt crept in and under anything other than perfect weather, the Long Climb would be a very different prospect to what we encountered. The abundance of vegetation, dirt and need to dig out all gear placements meant the route had a very adventurous feel, which when its considered the route "classic" status is perhaps a surprise. However the seriousness of the face, the general reputation and location on an extremely high and infrequently visited crag probably means accents are few and far between. Notwithstanding, its a fantastic route, with interest on every pitch. Its not the best climbing you'll ever do, but its certainly one of the best adventures the UK has to offer and has the added allure of being on one of the biggest cliffs and finishing on the highest point.
Mike leading the pitch after the second pale rib |
The view from the top |