Last weekend saw another return to winter action with both days being pretty contrasting in terms of weather, route and everything really! The first day myself and Sebastian decided to go for an early start and headed all the way out to Hell’s Lum in the northern Cairngorms. Conditions had been quite cold and snowy all week, which made for quite tough going out over the plateau through deep drifts down into the upper Loch ‘An basin. Once at the base we found the crag totally plastered with snow and ice, no doubt thanks to the slight thaw that we had at the end of the previous week. Our route of choice was the well-travelled and Cairngorm classic that’s Deep Cut Chimney (IV,5). The route starts up the innocuous looking slabs before climbing the progressively narrowing gully up to deep and foreboding the chimney proper. Although the wind kept things entertaining by continually dousing us in mountains of spin drift, the route was well iced in the low section, which made for some really enjoyable and secure climbing. After some more battling we eventually made it to the exit pitch, which makes an outrageously positioned traverse out from the back of the chimney towards some chockstones on the edge of the buttress. The traditional way to overcome this section involves back and footing, bum shuffling and whatever other chimneying techniques you have in your tool box. Unfortunately for us, the walls were totally plastered with a thick layer of spin drift and completely obscured all of the holds needed for our escape. Thankfully after quite a bit of digging we managed to find the line and escape to the top of the crag, although unbeknown to us the weather outside has significantly deteriorated since we’d started out, so no sooner were we out, we were almost wishing we were back in again! Conditions on the walk back out continued to be testing, going from white-out to black-out in seemingly no time at all. A testing end to a testing day.  

Hells Lum totally plastered in snow and ice. Just how we like it! 

Seb moving up the lower snow and ice gully just before the chimney proper

The deep and spin drift lined upper section of Deep Cut Chimney. From here on the chimney is blocked, so a rising traverse is made up the walls, however as you can see this required a lot of excavation for us when we started heading that way! I ended up going slightly high initially but eventually managed to figure out the line.

Seb escaping the chimney and entering the storm

The next day was a total contrast. Calm and settled skies which were almost totally cloudless. Following a cold night with some overnight snowfall, Rob and I decided to take a chance and head over to Glen Clova and see how some of the ice routes were forming up, specifically the classic grade IV, Look C Gully (IV,4). The day started with a slight hitch owing to the extensive overnight snowfall totally clogging all of the roads and lanes with a mass of fresh powder, which was being re-shaped into impenetrable drifts by the morning breeze. Eventually we made it to the car park and headed towards Coire Fee with the first rays of the morning sunlight breaking through the snowy canopy of the forest. It was about half way up we bumped into two climbers that had already walked up into the Coire and decided that nothing was in and were headed elsewhere. Not to be dismayed we went for a look anyway and boy am I glad we did. I’ll admit that from afar the ice did look thin and perhaps incomplete, however by the time we were at the base and up close, we could see thick blue ice running the whole length of the climb. Not only this, but there wasn’t another climber in sight!

The ice turned out to be a bit hollow low down, with a few sections that required ‘careful handling’ however for the most part it was in great condition, especially on the main icefall which was amazing and even took a few screws too!

A perfect winters morning in Glen Clova

Looking up at Look C Gully in Coire Fee, Glen Clova. Ice falls galore from top to bottom

Rob starting up the second pitch chimney on good chewy ice

The main icefall pitch on Look C Gully. Steep but not sustained and thick enough to take a few screws too. What more can you ask for?

More ice on the 4th pitch of Look C Gully. As we got higher up the ice narrowed and thinned a little, meaning we could hear the roar of the water underneath quite clearly which made for some careful tool placements..

Rob following one of the more exposed icefal sections

What a contrast. White-out the day before, and this the next. Scotland really does keep you on your toes.