The Long Climb

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

A line across the Skye

The Cuillin ridge (generally referred to as "the ridge") is considered by many as one of the finest mountaineering challenges the UK has to offer. Taking in 11 Munro's across ~12 km, its not the longest outing by Scottish ridge day standards, but statistics can, and in this case are, deceiving. Once combined with a long approach, lack of water and most crucially, an absolute abundance of technical and exposed scrambling and climbing, the reality is the ridge is the ultimate test for any self proclaimed "mountaineers". Being both ambitious and very self proclaimed, it presented an obvious objective for Rafe and I on our annual Scottish climbing pilgrimage. 

Making the most of moist day in Ratho Quarry

Ribs and pizza. The definition of a balanced diet

 Our trip began in the same way that most ambition is kindled in the Scottish climbing scene - in a central belt quarry in the rain. Thankfully the rain eventually got heavy enough as to quash any further  and we abandoned ship to head home and prepare for the drive to Skye. 

The main cliff of Flodigarry with Spanstastic being the obvious pillar bridging the gap. The bird nest-free alternative route of Lucy in the Sky is the crackline to the right

Rafe enjoying not having bird vomit on him on Lucy in the Sky

When we arrived the weather was cool, but dry and generally improving. With the mountains being shrouded in a thick misty blanket (so typical of the climate hereabouts) we opted to go for some sea cliff action on the north east end of island over at Flodigarry. The route we had in mind was the much photographed Spantstastic, an intriguing line up a large triangular cliff that includes its namesake pillar of rock than leans rather alarmingly across a very big sea cave. Unfortunately on the abseil down we noticed that the route was adorned with an assortment of sea bird nests, some of which were harboring eggs so we decided to change tactic (mainly to avoid getting covered in vomit...). The counter line on this part of the cliff which is equally popular is the superb finger crack climb of Lucy in the Sky, which was absolutely fantastic with solid jams and great gear all the way. 

With the remnants of low cloud and mist still clinging to the tops of the hills the next day we decided that sea cliffs would probably be another wise choice so headed west this time for a days climbing at Neist. Whilst some would consider climbing on anything other than the Cuillins a lesser day on Skye, in reality Neist has the highest concentration of high quality rock climbs of anywhere on the island and has several kilometers of crags providing many superb and absorbing routes. Our venue for the day was the financial sector on the upper tier as it looked like it would be sheltered from the worst of the wind. Thankfully good weather seemed to prevail for the day and we ticked a number of routes ranging from HVS to E1, the majority of which required quite a forceful approach (to say the least...). 

Rafe on Venture Capital. One of the best routes we did that day

Rafe following on Earthbound

Rafe on the crux of Insider Dealings

After a productive day at Neist we made a beeline for Glenbrittle. Whilst not an objective before the trip, much discussion had been had on whether we should make an attempt on a traverse of the Cuillin ridge on the drive up and in the days proceeding. Eventually the draw was too strong so we made a half baked plan to give it a go, which included driving the car half way to the finish and running back to the campsite late in the evening before. Organisation is not my strong point.  

The next day dawned bright and clear, and we made great progress up to the first Munro, Sgurr na Eag, where we left our bags and did a quick out and back to Garbh Beinn, the official start. After racing back to get the bags we eventually made it to a very dank TD gap, where Rafe did a great (if not a little comical) job of leading us up through the very greasy chimney crack. The next pitch of climbing on the Kings Chimney of SmC also went without incident, although it was made slightly harder by a big loose block that almost rocked out of the crack about half way up the pitch. One to watch.

The next few sections whizzed past in a blur of heat, mild dehydration (turning to proper dehydration!) before eventually we made it to the final obstacle, Naismith's Route up the Bastier Tooth. Whilst only a severe, its steepness makes it look quite formidable, particularly with tired arms and legs! Thankfully it wasn't too bad with good holds and gear all the way. After a final bit of scrambling we made it to the final summit, SnG and the end of the ridge. Since we were parked at the Fairy Pools, we had to reverse of tracks down the West Ridge and under Am Bastier until we could drop around the flank of BnF. All in all we managed to main traverse in around 12 hours, with the walk in and out amounting to another 5-6 hours so a pretty long day! 

Success! 

Rafe's special edition approach shoe / flip flop cross ridge traverse footwear

After a more chilled day on the Cioch the day after the ridge, the next and last day was spent at Rubha Hunish on the very northern tip of Skye. This striking mass of sea cliffs looks very unassuming from the south, but upon closer inspection provides probably some of the best climbing we did on Skye. We climbed Master of Morgana first which was loose to begin with, but gradually got more solid as height was gained. The top pitch provides spectacular climbing a series of hand cracks / off-widths before a tussle of a fish through a large and overhanging tapering crack. Brilliant. The last route we did was called Minch and Tatties and featured a terrifyingly hollow "banister rail" along which you had to climb up underneath then swing along to a belay. As with MoM, the top pitched provided much more solid rock, with some amazing hand jamming cracks which would rival in the best route inn a central belt quarry. 

The stunning cliffs of Rubha Hunish

Moving up underneath the banister rail roof crack on Minch and Tatties

All in all, another quality trip. Can't wait for next year.    

Finale

An unseasonable bout of cold meant a one last winter outing could be planned, and this time it would be across the boarder. The objective was the majestic Mitre Ridge, over in Beinn a' Bhuird's Garbh Choire, and is both big and remote, which is a guaranteed recipe for adventure in Scottish winter terms. 

After an overnight bivi in the cars we set out just before dawn from Invercauld, east of Braemar. The approach initially heads out past the large estate house on good roads before turning on dirt tracks as it winds up into Gleann an t-Slugain. For speed we opted to use bikes for this part of the approach, however what was a dusting of overnight snow at the car park quickly turned into 4 inches, then 6 inches of fresh snow, clogging brakes and reducing grip. Perhaps somewhat naively we assumed that the going would be better out of the top of the glen, so continued to push and carry (and at one point throw!) the bikes through drifts for another hour or so only to find that the usually cycle-friendly path to the base of the Cleirich stone was in fact very much impassable. With the daylight hours now ticking away and with only half the approach distance done, we abandoned the bikes and started break trail through knee deep snow. The going was initial tough, but as we passed the Cleirich stone and moved up into the coire below the Sneck, new snow turned to bullet hard neve and the going got a little easier. 

Conditions at the Sneck however were anything but. With a cold wind blasting overhead, finding shelter in this bleach beleach was close to impossible. By the time we'd changed clothes, arranged gear and doned crampons there was serious bouts of shivering and hot aches for both of us. Thankfully, as we avoided fresh drifts of snow in favor of some (arguably) safer 45 degree neve as descended into Garbh Choire, the wind dropped and the cloud base lifted just high enough for us to see the way.

The huge granite bastion of Mitre Ridge is a very impressive sight. Being nearly 300 m high, and projecting straight out of the side of the Choire it felt very intimidating, not helped by the top being obscured by darting clouds and the nagging thought that the nearest road was now 20 km away. Being compact, steep and almost entirely vegetation free on one side, it is a popular destination in summer and winter however on the dull and grey day we'd decided to visit it felt anything but. The namesake route of Mitre Ridge (V,6) climbs the prow of the buttress fairly directly, with a few detours around the really steep stuff towards the top. The lack of ice lower down meant we opted for the newer (and generally more popular) alternative chimney start on the west face. 

This first pitch was certainly a good introduction to what was to come, with a very steep and thin (but well protected) pull through the narrowing and almost overhanging chimney. After that it was Ben's lead up through another small chimney and a belay on the arete below the crux pitch. Rather reassuringly by this point, ice was more abundant, and the potential for a hard mixed grovel was diminished and a few tricky steps landed us at a belay just short of the Splintered Chimney (summer crux), which Ben lead up brilliantly. The rest of his pitch involved some quite tenuous mixed climbing up blind corners with a fair bit of ledge shuffling and was another great lead. 

The last few pitches passed in a blur of strengthening wind and approaching darkness and it wasn't long before we'd topped out and started making our way back to the Sneck. A quick sort of gear and we were on our way back to the bikes. Whilst the temperature had remained cold in Garbh Choire, the same could not be said for the glen below the Cleirich, and by early evening the snow had turned to mush adding to the fatigue already building in legs that had been going for 14 hours. Eventually we made it to the bikes, pushed them a bit through the sketchiest and steepest part of upper Gleann an t-Slugain, and then free wheeled back to the cars. We started at 5:30 and had finished by 21:00. A long, but satisfying day in one of the wildest corners of Scotland.  

Unfortunately I didn't take many photos, but have a few which I've shared below.  

Cycling through fresh snow in Gleann an t-Slugain

After abandoning the bikes the only alternative was to walk the remaining approach on foot, breaking trail through the fresh snow

Appraoching the intimidating Mitre Ridge (V,6) in Garbh Choire

Ben leading through on the second pitch, just before reaching the main prow of Mitre Ridge

Sunrise at Ben Lomond from near the descent into Coire a' Bhathaich

With some warmer weather on the horizon it felt like it was now or never for having another go at climbing on Ben Lomond. We'd walked up there in early December and been confronted with very marginal conditions, despite several days of freezing winds and snowfall. In the end, it took nearly three weeks of subzero temperatures to freeze the turf and form up some good snow & ice. 

The plumb line of the crag which is positioned on the gloomy north side of Ben Lomond is without doubt the compelling Lomond Corner (IV,5), situated on the left of B Buttress. The easiest way to reach the corner is to walk up the summit path to a bealach, which is ~300 m before the summit. From here a steep grassy slope can be descended under the imposing A Buttress into Coire a' Bhathaich. Around to the left is Pioneer A Buttress, which along with many folk before us had been confused with A Buttress. From the descent Lomond Corner gradually comes into view and is probably the best feature to use to work out the rest of the crag. Its worth noting that the start of the corner is at ~750-800 m and is sheltered to all but the coldest north westerly winds, so if conditions aren't good when descending from the bealach you'd be best abandoning the corner for a more exposed climb on Pioneer A Buttress which is more likely to be climbable. 

Looking up the first pitch of Lomond Corner (IV,5) with the fantastic upper pitch visible beyond

Seb seconding the fantastic main pitch of Lomond Corner

The easy lower corner has a few steep vegetated steps but is otherwise pretty uneventful and leads to a belay that needs a lot of searching out (good nut overhead). The upper corner is definitely the main event and provides a huge 60 m pitch up the right angled corner using turf, rock and snow. The difficulties low down are reasonably well protected and soon ease with height. The crux is maybe 10 m off the belay where the turf thins to a steep slab and the vertical wall on the left pushes overhead slightly. This section had some useful ice and good solid blobs of frozen turf in the back of the crack but even then my partner who seconded the pitch thought the grade could easily be IV,6. Above, the angle relents, but is essentially without protection and those with shorter ropes hoping to take a belay before the top would really struggle to find anything meaningful.     

Lomond Corner definitely deserves a few stars and is worth seeking out, but only after a substantial freeze.   

Seb seconding a tricky step on Shoogleniftt (III,3)

Grooves and turf all in great icy condition

Watching the moon rise over Loch Lomond certainly makes getting up so early feel worth it 

And if you're wondering... Ben Lomond is within Stirlingshire, the county where my climbing partner and I both live.

Third time lucky

The far west buttress of Beinn an Dotaidh in prime early season winter condition

We'd walked up to Beinn an Dotaidh twice before and been met with varying degrees of soft turf, bare rock and rain. The disappointment of finding your objective unclimbable is crushing, which is unsurprising given how much you can invest when choosing winter climbing routes. You spend hours and hours studying guidebooks, live weather data, forecasts and social media. After meticulously piecing together the puzzle you then haul yourself up a huge hill only to find out it was all for nothing. Needless to say, winter climbing is always a roll of the dice and conditions in the mountains can change so fast, but it still sucks when things don't go your way.

Luckily for us, this time Storm Bella had delivered the goods in terms of winter climbing conditions. Freezing northerly winds combined with fresh snow had totally plastered many of the hills and high cliffs. This was our third attempt at winter climbing on Beinn an Dotaidh and it was a great relief to finally see everything looking so white and frozen in the early morning light.    

The first route we climbed was Pas De Deux, a grade V,6 which weaves a wandering line on the steep wall overlooking the central gully climbed by Cirrus. The route is described in the SMC Scottish Winter Climbs as a "neo-classic" (whatever that means!) and is one of the few routes at the crag awarded 3 stars so was an obvious choice. The first pitch climbs some turfy grooves with a steep pull to a thread at about 25 m. If you suspect that the turf is not frozen and there isn't much ice or snow this is definitely the point to bail! The next section of the pitch makes a traverse left along a narrowing ledge, where a few small wires can be arranged before a committing step is made up into another groove. The climbing was mostly just awkward steps between sloping foot ledges with nothing for axes other than thin ice used for balance. After this tenuous series of moves a ledge and a peg is reached and offers some relief before further traversing on icy slabs leads to a belay left of a corner. This corner and the next one above it provided further entertainment being a little thuggy, with much of the gear hidden by snow and ice. The guide suggests that a "zig-zag" should then be made to a thread belay overlooking Cirrus, however conditions were icy enough for us to make a more direct line consistent with routes grading and avoiding massive potential rope drag. The last pitch of tricky climbing up an icy chimney and subsequent corner crack is absolutely fantastic. The ice on the lower chimney was good for climbing but too thin for screws, making it quite committing but no less enjoyable. The upper corner itself was steep and broken with ample hooks and gear and more than makes up for the lower pitches being so sketchy. 

Seb teetering on frozen blobs up the crux pitch of Pass De Deux (V,6)

The spectacular upper icy groove and corner beyond near the top of Pass De Deux 

With cold prevailing we returned a few times over the next week or so, climbing a few of the other "classics" of the crag as well as some of the more rarely trodden lines. 

With Pass De Deux in the bag, the obvious choice was to try Menage a' Trois, another V,6 that is allegedly slightly harder but also somewhat safer than the former. The main feature of this route is the 30 m corner that splits the imposing high tower up and right of Cirrus. The corner is accessed via a short wall from the thread belay at the top of the first pitch. I found the easiest line was to climb directly off the thread and make a traverse up and across the wall for about 8 meters. This was surprisingly technical and also had no protection so felt quite committing. Under more icy conditions with more neve I imagine this would feel a lot easier. The upper corner itself was well defined, with several short and sharp crux moves through steeper sections which were interspersed with good rests. The gear was generally quite good, apart from at the upper crux where a bulge pushes you out just before the exit rightwards. This section was covered in a thin layer of water ice covering rock which made for insecure placements and also limited options for protection. I spent quite a while trying different sequences before eventually committing and making a few steep pulls up onto the icy ramp above. The top pitch whilst comparatively straightforward, is very enjoyable grade II/III climbing and shouldn't be missed. 

The compelling corner line of Menage a' Trios (V,6) on Beinn an Dotaidh's far west buttress

Making slow progress up the steep and unprotected wall on the start of the main pitch of Menage a' Trios

Seb negotiating one of the many crux steps on the main corner of Menage a' Trios

On subsequent visits later in the week we also climbed two shy grade IV lines, Clonus and The Skraeling. The former is situated right of Menage a' Trois and climbs another corner system before weaving a devious line through a large roofed section. The lower pitch up to the in-situ belay provided entertaining grade III ice with a few steeper steps too. The second and main pitch climbs a vertical icy groove right of the main corner, which apart from a single size 1 RP in a mossy crack was unprotected and quite committing. After the groove, the lip of the overhang is traversed left back into the corner and up to easier ground and a belay. The traverse was also quite committing for both the leader and the second, and because of the ice draping the entire traverse had a large swing potential. Helps to keep you focused at least!  

The big and beefy icy groove on Clonus (IV,5)

The other route, The Skraeling, is way to the left of West Buttress and climbs up a series of corners capped by large roofs. We opted to miss the easy lower section by traversing in from West Gully and belaying just before the "10 meter traverse" needed to gain the corner system. Ben led this and through the steep turfy wall above in fine style to gain the lower corner and a rather cosy belay on a small ledge. The lower corner was well protected, but the turfy wall was not, so kudos to Ben. The next pitch teeters round an icy overhang into the sustained corner and crux, which is protected by twin pegs. After that the climbing eases a bit and a final steep pull around another roof gains an easier groove which is followed by another pitch to the top. Whilst a bit scrappy in places, The Skraeling was one of the most enjoyable routes at Beinn an Dotaidh with the main corner pitch providing some really good three dimensional climbing in a brilliant position. 

Looking up the line of The Skraeling (IV,5), which tackles the central group of left facing corners

Ben on the first pitch of The Skraeling, moving up towards the turfy wall which enables access to the corners

Approaching the cosy belay below the crux corner

Ben on some of the icy exit grooves high up on The Skraeling

Climbing at Beinn an Dotaidh has been a great experience, with the repeated visits a direct product of travel restrictions making the majority of other crags out of bounds. As its within striking distance of the Stirlingshire / Argyll and Bute boarder, while country restrictions remain in place I've no doubt I'll be back here again sometime soon.    

Looking across at the Blackmount and Glencoe Ski Centre. Happy memories which are missed desperately.