Winter climbing and chimneys seem to be one of those combinations that just works. For some reason unbeknownst to me or anybody else I've climbed with, there abundance on routes seems to be a hugely understated fact. For most people the thought of placing yourself in such vertical incarceration, with escape only achieved by a disproportionate amount of effort for every inch gained is perhaps distasteful. However for me its this very struggle that best defines what winter climbing is all about, with success hanging in the balance right to the very end! So it was with much excitement that Sol and I donned our ambition and made the slog-of-a-walk-in up to Church Door Buttress on Bidean nam Bian in Glen Coe in search of some suffering.

Other than the obscene amount of snow we had to negotiate on the walk up, conditions were pretty much perfect with the weather being cool and crisp and everything frozen from the bottom of the valley up. After what felt like an age of galloping through deep fresh powder Church Door Buttress eventually came into view. First impressions were most definitely that the crag was well named, with the entire right hand side of the crag leaning out away from the main rock face, creating corners and voids filled with snow and shadows. An eery looking place, made all the more intimidating by the fact that it was these very ominous crevices which we'd be venturing into. 

Church Door Buttress up on the north west face of Bidean nam Bian. Crypt Route (V,6) takes the obvious chimney line up between the two walls before diving into and up the back of the buttress, emerging just below the huge set of overhangs high above

Moving through the steep lower chimney. This section of the climb (technically pitch 2 but we linked it as 1) is perhaps the steepest part of the whole route, but is thankfully adorned with both gear and amazing hooks for your axes. 

Looking down at Sol seconding the steepest part of the lower chimney. After one or two more moves you dive into the back of the chimney and emerge at a belay on top of a giant chockstone

Crypt Route (graded V,6) basically climbs the back of the open door up a huge chimney system, before plunging into the bowls of crag through a series of smaller, hanging chimneys, emerging through a blow hole style opening just below the main barrage of overhangs. It is the section just before the squeeze which proves the crux where skidding feet and burning arms are the order of the day. Once at the squeeze all gear must be removed at a small ledge inside the face. Once through you can reach back through and retrieve all your gear which you can hang from a chock. Its at this point, on a good ledge under the shelter of the overhangs soaring above that you can take stock, and have a jolly good chuckle at your second as they tussle and curse their way upwards.

Sol on what is probably the crux squeeze on pitch 3. You can just see the ledge high on the left where you need to take off all your gear before squeezing through the "blow hole"

Sol mid-squeeze looking very relaxed. Then again he is a caver! 

Looking down at the hanging grooves from a belay you take high the overhangs above the chimney sections

From here on in its considerably less claustrophobic, with a long hanging groove pitch sneaking through the overhangs onto the buttress above allowing you to join the last few pitches of West Chimney (IV,6) just before the notorious Raeburn's Chimney pitch. Perhaps not as hard as the lower pitches of Crypt Route, however it can feel pretty taxing considering the amount of gut busting and squeezing and gurning and fighting you've already done up to this point. Thankfully the last pitch was icy grooves with not a chimney in sight. Although for us the weather by this point had significantly deteriorated and we were loosing the light, so not much was in sight anyway! 

Crypt route is an archetypal winter route, with some hard bits, some easy bits and some uncomfortable bits. Perhaps its best attribute is the strength of its line, exploring and conquering the most obvious feature on the buttress. Its a route for any masochistic chimney lover and shouldn't be missed!