It was not the winter we all hoped for. Dreams of a repeat of last years seemingly endless abundance of thick chewy ice weekend after weekend were crushed following a week of high summer in February, but it wasn't until March when everything was stripped again that all hopes of getting some descent stuff ticked were truly thwarted. However, even amidst all the heartache and longing, the cold was around for long enough to whiten the cliffs just enough for a few mad but sucessful missions.

Fresh snow and swirling winds were apparently loading slopes left right and center. The solution to this debacle was to go somewhere that would be high enough to be well within winters grip but also that minimized the amount of time we'd be wondering through risky terrain. Ben Cruachan and its Munro height winter corrie seemed to fit the bill nicely. Perhaps the classic of the crag, Tainted Elixir, proved to be a worthy adversary being buried under a considerable layer of powder and cruddy ice which made it earn all of its grade of V,6. The next day we went in search of more adventure in the Loch Avon basin. Unfortunately the snow conditions weren't playing ball, looking extremely loaded on our descent aspect. It also didn't help that it was thigh deep in places making for some spectacularly long stints of wading and crawling. In the end we opted for Wobble Block Chimney (IV,5), which apart from the top pitch was pretty average and only just worth the walk.   

The approach up past the very eerie Cruachan dam

Rafe battling through pretty challenging conditions on Tainted Elixir (V,6)

Topping out in the storm (still!)

Wobble Block Chimney (IV,5)

The final outing of the season was a big one. With a return to cold conditions due to be followed immanently by some substantial warming we grasped the opportunity by both hands and rode it all the way to the north face of Ben Nevis. The route of choice was Point 5 Gully. It was always going to be a long shot based on just how little snow and cold there had been this year and so it was pretty sad (but unsurprising) to see gaping holes in the ice on the first pitch. Not to be dismayed, we opted for our second choice, Observatory Ridge (V,4) which was thankfully coated in snow and ice from top to bottom. After quickly dispatching the difficulties lower down, we found ourselves enjoying a particularly calm and settled day on the well consolidated upper ridge with wicked views and brilliantly hard and chewy neve. Its perhaps a bit unfair on OR to call it a consolation prize, as at nearly 500 m long, its one of the biggest routes on the Ben and was a major undertaking. We left Stirling at 3am and didn't get back until after midnight with the route alone taking nearly 8 hours. The next week it got warm and that was that. 

Not a bad morning view

Looking up one of the crux grooves on Observatory Ridge (V,4)

Seb high on Obervatory Ridge, just before joining Zero Gully

 

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. 

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!

Things finally started to get a bit cooler again last week. It only took a slight change in wind direction for that blocking high pressure system that was plaguing us with all that warm air to be flipped on its head and instead bring crisp and icy conditions across much of the UK. For any normal person weather like this can be a total blight, but for me there is nothing more exciting than having to have the heating on all the time and de-ice the car every day for a whole week! The cold snap couldn't have been timed better with that very next weekend being a planned winter trip with Sol.

Although its been cold, its not been overly snowy which kind of restricted our choice of possible venues. This is because cold is great for freezing turf, but that lack of snow means that ice is less abundant as there is no melt or other water source. With that in mind we decided to head for the northern Coirres just because of its reliability and thankfully we weren't disappointed.

Looking up a well iced Mess of Pottage with a team just starting up the first pitch of The Message (IV,6)

The first route we opted for was The Message (IV,6) on the Mess of Pottage, a Sneachda classic and by all accounts a bit of a trade route for any aspiring mixed climber so it had to be done really. The route climbs a series of interconnecting corners and grooves right up the middle of the buttress in as many as 4 or 5 pitches. In the end we opted for 3, with the second pitch being linked to do the crux groove pitch and the hanging corner in one go. With huge exposure, great hooks and gear everywhere The Message certainly lived up to the hype and was made even better by the freezing cold and windless weather we'd found ourselves enjoying. 

Sol and I enjoying the perfectly cold and crisp weather at the top of the first pitch on The Message 

The crux corner on pitch 2 of The Message

Sol moving into the sun after long last on the top pitch of The Message

With that in the bag and not wanting to waste such a rare day we opted to do the direct start to Hidden Chimney (IV,5) which was also on the Mess of Pottage. The line climbs a shallow groove and corner to the left of the large gully of Jacobs Ladder and in the end was quite cruxy, with pulling off the ground probably being the hardest move of the whole pitch! After that the route joins the normal line of Hidden Chimney (III), which Sol lead in 2 fine pitches, the last of which climbed the 'hidden chimney', was particularly enjoyable and perhaps made even more memorable when we topped out to the sun setting in cloud filled valleys far off to the west. Days don't really get much better than that do they? 

The thin and tricky lower section of Hidden Chimney Direct (IV,5)

Sol smashing the money pitch on the fine open grove of Hidden Chimney (III)

On the Sunday we decided to take a bit of a gamble. The winds had been cold and northerly for around 5 days with the freezing level hovering between valley level and 600 m depending on aspect. On that basis some of the north facing crags a little further south could have been in a climbable conditions and so with the gear packed (as well as the optimism) we sacked off the two hour return drive to the Cairngorms and headed west to Beinn an Lochain near Arrochar. The target route was the Cold Climbs classic Monolith Groves (IV,5), which climbs the north face of the main buttress in as many as 6 pitches, through gullys, chimneys and overhangs, culminating is a spectacular top pitch which climbs a steep and exposed groove on a hanging slab. 

Beinn an Lochain with the hanging grove and slab of Monolith Grooves (IV,5) visible high on the left

Sol at the end of the difficult traverse out of the cave on pitch 3 of Monolith Grooves

Getting stuck into the tricky chimney on pitch 5 of Monolith Grooves

The superb hanging slab on pitch 6 of Monolith Grooves. A fantastic pitch. 

Sol seconding the last bit of the final pitch of Monolith Grooves

We encountered rock solid turf from the bottom of the valley up, however as we go to the base of the crag the snow got deeper and that had clearly insulted a turf a little, however where it was exposed on rock edges or on walls it was frozen solid. Thankfully once we were off the ground and up onto the buttress the turf became rock solid and was in great condition.  

A saunter on the Souter

For the last two seasons winter climbing in Scotland has kicked off as early as October. A conveyor  of bombarding icy blasts from the North Atlantic heralded the arrival of conditions perfect for snowed-up-rock and super high mixed routes. Unlike 2018, dreams of such a promising start were quickly quashed this year by a blocking high pressure bringing a continued spell of unseasonably warm air across our mountains, striping many of the peaks right back to their summer attire. I've no doubt that the old hands of Scottish winter climbing contingent will be laughing at such an optimistic outlook, as for them winter doesn't usually kick off until mid February! Anyway, to avoid upsetting them or myself by lingering on "the January that could have been", I'll instead share with you the adventure of last weekend where instead of a hopeless walk in to a soggy mountain crag, we headed for the coast in search of sun and dry rock.

Sitting eating my breakfast watching the first wisps of dawn appear through the beads of rainwater trickling down the kitchen window, the idea of a successful days rock climbing started to feel like an overoptimistic objective. Thankfully as we piled down the M80, then the Edinburgh by-pass, then the A1, the skies cleared and the ground grew drier and we started to think we might just be that lucky. Which it turns out we were!  

The Souter is a sea stack situated 30 miles east of Edinburgh on the chaotic and rugged coast around St Abbs Head. The slender sandstone stack has several routes up it with the most popular being "Ordinary Route" which climbs the seaward edge at HVS 5a. As far as routes on sea stacks go, Ordinary Route is an absorbing and entertaining line with some great (albeit a little bold) moves on mostly solid rock. The route is split by a small ledge about half height, with crux being the short corner just below, which is probably somewhere between tech 5a and 5b. Although the tricky move is protected by an old peg (which can also be backed-up by a reasonable nut) there isn't much scope for any other gear in the corner (BETA ALERT! - you can actually get reasonable yellow [size 4] BD cam in a flared slot just right of the base of the crack). Above the ledge there is another technical move past a peg but the difficulties there are short lived and its more like tech 5a. We abseiled down the seaward side because of the wind, but you'd be fine lowering off either side.

Overall its a great adventure and well worth the effort of seeking out.

The Souter sea stack near St Abbs Head

Moving up below the short corner on Ordinary Route (HVS 5a) on the seaward arete of The Souter (photo Rob Steer)

Rob pulling on the hanging slab just below the top

What goes up must come down (photo Rob Steer)

 

A panoramic view up the line of the seaward side of the Souter stack. Ordinary Route climbs the obvious corner to half height before moving up and left and pulling through a small overlap onto the final hanging slab. 

Top routes of 2018

I know what you're thinking, another year, another annual round-up blog post! Well you'd be right, however this time around I thought i'd put a new spin on things by including WINTER routes as well as the normal list of trad climbs. I mean its still mainly summer trad, as winter climbing is deeply unpleasant and generally only any fun on the calmest of bluebird days (which basically never happen and even then you're probably still freezing your ass off)! Anyway, without further adieu here are my top 10 favorite climbs of 2018!

10) Landward Face (HVS 4c) - Am Buachaille, NW Highlands

The remote sandstone sea stack of Am Buachaille situated about 10 miles south of Cape Wrath 

Am Bucachaille must be one of the most stunning climbing venues in Britain and the most awkward to boot. As always, the easy bit is driving, all 5 hours of it (assuming you're starting from the central belt!) with most of it being on tiny single track lanes on rally style roads (great as long as you're not the passenger). Once you've arrived you then have to contend with a 5 mile walk over a boggy moorland to the edge of a crumbling sandstone cliff, which you then have to somehow scramble down with impossibly heavy bags without killing yourself or anybody silly enough to come with you. Now you're at the bottom of the cliff, hopefully you've done your homework and checked the tide times and you can walk/scramble under some massive precipices to the channel that separates the stack from the mainland.

Now the hard bit.

The channel is permanent, regardless of tide and therefore its time to don the speedos and (in our case) the mini inflatable boat. Once everyone is across the climbing can begin! The classic route (Landward Face) is unsurprisingly sandy and quite limited on gear too (maybe the bag doesn't need to be that heavy after all) but its got some fun moves and you get to top out on a pretty amazing summit.

Myself and Gregor ferrying everything across the sea channel to the base of the stack (photo credit Iain)

This place is all about the adventure, if the climbing was good it would be a lot further up the list! This stack was also the last of the classic 'Scottish trio' i'd yet to tick with the others being Stoer and Hoy which were ticked last year.

9) Tower Ridge (III,3) - Ben Nevis

Tower Ridge needs no introduction. One of the best and longest winter climbs in the UK. So good I did it twice last season! Worth the effort and the hype. We were also spoilt with an excellent ice pitch just after the climbing out of the Douglas Gap as well as a suitably buried Tower Gap.

Looking down Tower Ridge just after completing the steep ice pitch a short way above the Douglas Boulder

Some climbers just topping out on the top section of Tower Ridge on a perfect bluebird day

8) Clachaig Gully (Severe) - Glen Coe

What's not to like about vertical moss walls and freezing water running down your arms and your front? Even if you go on a dry day, you'll still go home soaked to the skin.

A 'classic rock tick' that climbs perhaps Glen Coe's most infamous watercourse over a couple of hundred meters. Although there is a lot of wading, scrambling, filth and other general discomfort, there is a surprising amount of quality climbing (Jericho Wall being especially good). The route itself is pretty hard to read and considering how linear it is, the route finding is far from simple and the guidebook description only making things more confusing. None the less, its a brilliant adventure, just make sure you put the car keys in a waterproof bag!

Although its one of the longest climbs in Glen Coe, Clachaig Gully has one of the shortest walk-ins! 

Mike negotiating the one of the main waterfall pitches and trying to avoid a soaking

7) Jezabel (E1 5b) - North Third, Stirling

Esoteric central belt crack climbing at its best. Hard to find and even harder to climb, but its still well worth making the effort to seek out. Maybe one of the purest hand jamming cracks I've climbed anywhere. The crux is moving through a bulge at about 10 meters up, but be sure to save some gas in the tank for the top!

Approaching the crux of Jezabel on an unusually warm day up at Costa del North Third

Ben giving it the 'double fist' treatment on the crux bulge of Jezabel

6) Savage Slit (V,6) - Coire an Lochain, Cairngorms

Its all in the name! Savage! A route of great character with a bit of everything. Situated high in the Cairngorms its a reliable venue for some early season antics and thankfully this reputation was upheld this year with the onset of the first winter storms.

The route climbs a humongous crack up a hanging buttress with climbing on the inside as well as out! The corner may well be the main event here but don't underestimate that start, it nearly caught me out that's for sure!

Connor enjoying the challenging nature of early season conditions on the main corner of Savage Slit

5) Fionn Buttress (VS 5a) - Carnmore, NW Highlands

I spammed the hell out of my facebook and instagram this year after my visit to Carnmore with Rafe in June so I'll keep this short. If you want to know a bit more you can check out my blog post about that trip here or you can wait a few months and you can read about it in the Climbers Club Journal.

Fionn Buttress is the classic of the crag and is perhaps one of the best big mountain VSs I've done anywhere. Although not the purest of lines, its a clever climb with lots of contrasting pitches, which gradually build in exposure and difficulty until about half way up (maybe 100 m or so) where there is an exposure explosion and all of a sudden you feel like a very small piece of this vast and empty wilderness that surrounds you.

People talk about 'bucket lists' of things to do before you die. This route is absolutely one of those things for anybody that loves climbing mountains in the UK.

The long road to Carnmore. Rafe walking across the causeway the military constructed and trained on during the early 20th Century. The battle scars and rusting Czech hedgehogs still evident and are a humbling remainder of the freedom we have today.  

A photo of Rafe and myself on pitch 7 of Fionn Buttress taken by Barry, who was down at the bothy watching our antics

Rafe following the sensational pitch 6 traverse on Fionn Buttress deep in the wilds of the Fisherfield Forest

4) The Indy 500 (E1 5b) - Lundy Island

Perhaps one of the most sustained routes I've led on one of the UK's most remote climbing venues. Yes, Lundy may well be closer to London than all of the north of England, however if the ferry isn't running that day you may as well be in Shetland. As with most climbers that have been there, Lundy will forever hold a special place in my heart so perhaps I'm looking at the routes there through rose tinted glasses when I say this, but there literally is nowhere better in the world to climb than Lundy.

The Indy 500 is a steep wall and crack climb with some very smart and technical moves and quite sustained at 5b. One of the best routes I've done on the island and one of the best single pitches I've done anywhere. If you like steep sustained crack and face climbing, get this route on your bucket list!  

Ed on the steep upper wall of The Indy 500

Another route from the same trip. Ed following the exposed fin of Shark (E1 5a)

3) The South Ridge Direct (VS 5a) - Rosa Pinnacle, Isle of Arran

Another Scottish big mountain classic! Over 300 meters of beautifully grey speckled granite ridge situated on one of Scotland's most stunning Hebridean islands. The South Ridge has been high on my hit list ever since I first read about this route in Dan Bailey's Scottish Mountain Ridges but in the past have had attempts thwarted by bad weather or other circumstance. This summer Caelan and I finally managed a weekend warrior mission up into Glen Rosa to tick the ridge and a few other classics while we were there. 

You can read more about our trip here.

All good Scottish adventures start with a ferry ride! 

Looking up The South Ridge Direct from the first pitch. The technical and thrutchy 'S' and 'Y' cracks clearly visible higher up the route (photo credit Caelan)

2) North East Buttress (IV,5/6) - Ben Nevis

Climbing this route felt like the culmination of a lot of things. Until this year winter climbing was a big taboo for me as previously I had favored walking and mountaineering whilst I was doing my winter mountain leader qualification. This was because I knew if I got a taste for winter climbing, I'd not have the mental resilience to log QMDs when there were prime climbing conditions abound! With the qualification done and a fabulously well endowed winter season between 2017 and 2018 providing ample opportunity, I made the most of every chance I could working my way through IIIs, IVs and even the odd V. North East Buttress felt like one of the biggest undertakings of the season, and was a testing ground for all of the skills and techniques I'd learned and absorbed over the previous few months. The route took Connor and I all day to climb, with the final and most testing sections saved for the last bit of the 500 meter high buttress of the Ben we scaled.

I enjoyed writing the post about this adventure almost as much as climbing it! You can read more about that day here.   

The north face of Ben Nevis in all its Glory. North East Buttress climbs the left hand skyline all the way to the summit

The well iced '40 foot corner'

1) Dragon (E1 5b) - Carnmore, NW Highlands

Contrasting, committing, brutal but ever so slightly stylish climbing through what feels like some of the biggest roofs in Scotland! Dragon climbs the plumb line of Carnmore, surmounting the talon of the beast, stealing both your breath and your biceps! Its another odd route like Gob, in that it actually starts half way up the face from the central terrace, with the approach across a sea of partially detached vertical heather from the base of Carnmore Corner being awkward and harrowing in equal measure. Once you're on the route though all is forgiven, with a steep wall and bold slab on the first pitch giving way to even steeper (and similarly bold) wall climbing on the upper pitches.

After a bit of a stint away from harder adventurous trad in recent years, this pitch for me felt like a significant turning point both mentally and physically and I'll never forgot being wedged under the lip of the overhang after the crux and looking down with all of Fisherfield far beneath my feet.  

The first belay of Dragon with the third pitch roof looming dauntingly overhead (photo credit Rafe)

Rafe moving towards to the belay on the delicate traverse after the roof

Well that's your lot. Other routes that were amazing but didn't quite make the shortlist include; 

• Elgins Crack (E2) and Dead Ringer (E1) at Limekilns;
• The Cuilin Ridge Traverse with Laura and Sol;
• Agags Groove (VDiff) with Emma;
• Last Exit to Torquay (HVS) and almost Gargantua (E1) with Adam; and
• Basically everything else at Carnmore (Gob [HVS], Carnmore Corner [E2], Balaton [HVS], Abomination [HVS] etc).

Thanks again and see you in 2019!