Stag Rocks

Went out with the aim of climbing the 3* classic Afterthough Arete (III) on Stag Rocks in Glen Avon the other day. Due to the still extensive snow cover I opted to ski tour over Cairngorm and ski down into Corie Raiberit. The snow was hard and icey but its coverage was almost total. No rock dodging, no grass patch veering, no intricate line required. Just point and go! Made even better by the absolutely cloudless skies..

After leaving the skis at the top of Stag Rocks I descended Diagonal Gully and at the base looked up at the obvious arete feature on the west side of the gully and guessed that was the way. After noticing the lack of worn rock and quite tough start I realized in my enthusiasm I had failed to read the guide properly (which was conveniently in the car!) and I was infact, on the wrong ridge.. I had by accident climbed up Serrated Rib (III). Ops!

 

The Northern Cories catching the last of the Sun

Ah well, not quite a 'Scottish classic' but good in the sunshine. The sunset from the top of spot height 1141m made up for the minor route deviation though!
    

Sunset from SH 1141m just before the descent in Coire Cas

Sunshine somewhere

 From what I hear its been a rather nice day in the south. In fact in Devon its meant to 'ave bin bleddy 'ansome. Meanwhile in Scotland.. Stormy and warm!

 The big thaw has begun. So I decided to make the most of the snow while its still here and get out and do some ski touring. Only last week you could ski right out of the Cairngorm Mountain car park, I have to lug all the gear up to Corie An Lochain before there was anything near enough to skin up on.

 Looking over at Buttresses 1, 2 and 3 in Lochain from the West. The big 'crevasse' can be seen below which are indicative of the full depth avalanches that regularly occur in that part of corie! At least this warm weather might get rid of some of the biblically proportioned cornices baring access to the face routes.

The approach from Cairn Lochain to Ben Macdui was on hard snow with thick mist for most of the way. Skiing with a compass in one hand is defiantly an acquired technique (and no I still haven't acquired it yet!) made all the more interesting when the only things visible to use as bearing features is the odd Ptarmigan.

 The Summit of Ben Macdui. There is a shelter under there somewhere! 

 Looking over into the Loch Avon basin at a still winter-locked Carn Etchachan and Shelterstone Crag whilst being buffeted above Hell's Lum. At least I finally got a view!

  Clouds coming down and the wind is picking up. The weather closing in again at spot height 1141m. 

 Time for some descent decent! Looking back up at spot height 1141m before dropping into upper Corie Cas above the ski resort.

 After skirting the steepest corniced section I then dropped down into the Corie. Almost feel sorry for the people on the tows!

Another cracking day. Just not quite as warm as the rest of the UK it would seem!

The Scottish Alps

This is a collection of photos from today when I traversed one of Scotland's most spectacular ridges, The Aonach Eagach. So I got up early, found I was the first on the ridge after a whole dumping of fresh snow with a few only hours weather window during the morning to snatch an ascent. Rather than write a load of stuff about what happened here are some photos!

The early rays of morning light up the depths of Glen Coe

Looking down the Aonach Eagach from Am Bodach through the gloom

Looking back up at decent down Am Bodach (fence post for scale)

The start of "The Pinnacles" from Meal Dearg

Its a long way down!

After one of the difficult pinnacle steps, looking back up Glen Coe

One of the many narrow sections of the ridge, lots of air beneath your feet!

Solitude and untrodden snow and even some sunshine

Looking west towards Stob Corie Laith

Almost Alpine.
The crux chimney with Stob Corie Laith beyond

Looking up the steep, buried chimney. Perfect snow! 

Looking east along the ridge. The tiny dots are the people who should have
got up earlier!

The Aonach Eagach with Ranoch Moor beyond

Still breaking trail, still empty west of Stob Corie Laith

Looking back along the frozen ridge

Proof that the sun does shine in Scotland on a Saturday

The view from The Pap of Glencoe, not quite as snowy but a great
end to a great day

Into the Freezer

After many weekends making the by-now ritual Saturday journey to the Glenmore Lodge snow gates only to find them shut, frustration was growing ripe! Countless days of gale to storm force winds, zero visibility and rapidly accumulating unstable snow was making me wonder if I should take up mountain biking? But finally some stable weather. I say stable, but in fact the conditions weren't that great, but the weather has been so consistently crap for the last few weeks, a half decent forecast was all that's needed!

The snow plastered Fiacaill Ridge (II) 

Looking out over the frozen plateau towards Ben Macdui. 

I made the most of my dream combination of good weather and a Sunday by racing past the hordes walking up in Corie an t-Snechda and then onto the Fiacaill ridge. The wind, although significantly subdued compared to the last few weeks was still quite buffeting, waiting to push you off your feet with every minor stumble from hibernating rocks beneath the snow. The ridge itself was quite busy, but with a strong cross wind these other people were all but invisible, hidden by the torrent of spin drift being blown up from Corie an Lochain.

Looking into the Loch Avon basin with the lake of Loch Avon visible,
 just beneath a respectable amount of snow!

Looking over at Shelterstone Crag and Pinnacle Buttress

Kinda gives an idea of the amount of snow about. Not quite
yet spring yet it would seem!

The view of the plateau was amazing. A totally frozen landscape, only the most pronounced of topographical feature pierced the vast the blanket of snow. After that I left all the people behind and descended into Loch Avon via Allt Corie Raiberit. The gully was on the west impinged on by a large cornice, resulting in sugar soft powder in the base, which was wait deep in place!

Actual sunshine!  Don't think its going to thaw out the lake any time soon..

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Looking up the final section of Diagonal Gully.

Looking from the top of Diagonal Gully back into Loch Avon.

After traversing the shore I then broke up the valley just short of the Shelterstone aiming for Diagonal Gully on Stag Rocks. The gully itself is only grade 1 but quite steep, and was defiantly suffering from the strong sunlight that day as large chunks of ice started to break off and wizing past me, destined for the valley below. After that followed a traditional visit to Cairngorm summit then a beer at the funicular station by the car park. Victory!

Strange hoar frost formations on the decent down to Ptarmigan Station. 

The Problem of employment

The wonderful Pink Granite of Upper Tier in the Western Section,
Pass of Ballater

Having a job is great. Especially somewhere like the Cairngorms. From its wild and forgotten glens to its barren ice clad peaks, its an amazing place. The only problem is, working 5 days a week you don't get to enjoy it that much! Don't get me wrong, my job with the CNPA gets me outside a lot and with GIS I don't even need to leave my chair to explore it, but its not quite the same as being out and about!

So this afternoon with a good forecast and some flexitime built up, I took the afternoon off and went over to the western section of The Pass of Ballater. Due to everything being a wee bit wet from the rain torrents of recent times I had to steer clear of big cracks and slabs so face routes it was to be. I decided upon Peel Wall (E4 6a) as it was completely dry when i checked it (and its supposed to be a classic!).

Just before the first go. What a setting!

So with the top rope set and a cheeky wee look at the route when abbing down I started getting psyched to give it a go. Standing at the bottom with the rope hanging away from the face the whole way down I questioned my motivation for choosing something so steep. Maybe I should have found a nice VS slab?

The Peel Wall (E4 6a) where the rope is hanging. The arete is tackled by Smiths Arete (E5 6a),
with the corner of Little Cenotaph (HVS 5b) on the right.

After a few man up pills a fierce start using tiny feet and underclings sees you grunting up some strenuous layback edges followed by a couple of finger jams. After this once you have your foot placed above your shoulder you rock up with the last of your strength and grab THE JUG. Another jug right above it then leads to the crux (typically the last bit before the top).

A photo from the internet demonstrating the incorrect way
of negotiating the crux

A recent lack of any kind of rock climbing and an obscene amount of food over Xmas meant this point is where the onsight was slain. After blowing it once and going for the honourable ground up approach I descended to try again. After getting smashed again and again I decided to toss the honourable approach out the window and dogged the shit out of it with eventual success.

Great route, think i'll blame not getting out enough training on the job though. Maybe they're not so bad after all!

A cheeky initial exploration the other day with Rob. We had a crack at a
couple of VDiffs well after dark in big boots by head torch. Weekday climbing
is thwarted by the 16:30 sun set in Scotland!