Lion's Den...

Point 5

Craig and Mark thought winter was over but some recent action suggested otherwise.

Point Five in mind, the boys were up at 330 for an early start and headed for the Ben with some excitement.  Weather gods were good and the rain stayed off and it was 4'C at the top carpark...with things looking white enough.

The usual long walk in was dusted and they headed for Observatory Gully, which looked white.  There were flutters of snow and the cloud covered the summit down to around 1000m but occasional glimpse of P5 suggested it looked good.

A pair were ahead starting up the Chimney pitch and as always getting to the base took longer due to the steep approaches.  A single screw belay and Craig was off to run the ropes out.   The placements were pretty good but the ice a bit cruddy in places and out of 5 screws only 1 felt good, the others hitting air in the ice or just being pretty crap, though there is the usual tat in place to clip...with little real confidence.

'Fast' approaching the route?

Looking down from the first belay

The route is a bit banked on P1 and we started higher than usual, so Craig ran the Chimney pitch to the top of its first steep section and set up a good nut belay.  The amount of spindrift coming down the route was worrying; initially it seemed it might be the team ahead but the volume was at times heart stopping and increased with progress.

Under the maelstrom

Belay before the rogue pitch

Mark came up and joined Craig on a tight belay and headed off up the final steepening of the Chimney pitch and thence to the Rogue pitch which had nice ice and took a couple of better screws.  The amount of spindrift was now concerning, as if it wasn't before, and after Craig joined Mark, a quick chat and a good decision was made to set up a belay and retreat down the gully; ahead looked grim in the mist and clearly the slopes were getting loaded with little pro on the pitches above.

On an abseil point half way on P2, a massive spindrift 'avalanche' launched down drenching us for a full minute at least...felt longer; we were 2 ft apart and couldn't see each other...that bad!!  Once it abated, we quickly set up and escaped far down our descent to Observatory Gully and the hut.

Nice hanging belay

They eyes have it... Craig on belay

Escape into the void

It's a wonderful climb in good nick just now.  We thought it a bit steeper in the Chimney pitch than previously but it had just enough bridging opportunities to make for comfortable screw placements.

All in a proper belter of a day; steep climbing, challenging conditions and spicy enough to feel tested!

Sadly, that might just be it for us this winter...proper work beckons; after the best day of the season too!

McFlurry...

Craig and Mark headed to the Ben to climb some ice although they knew this was unlikely as the thaw they witnessed a few days before had continued.

The Ice was still fat, but with natural release coming down most routes, they thought better of it and climbed onto Tower Ridge via a pleasant solo up Faulty Towers.

The ridge was in good condition - crampons the whole way - and they soloed till the pitch before the Eastern traverse. A quick catch up and chat with Mike and client at the gap and before they knew it they were on the top with shades on in 16º heat.

The team headed down number 4 - thanks Tom for use of your rope - and back to the North Face car park in super quick time.

A super day out in stellar weather, if not climbing, conditions. 

Missing the Worm

Craig and Mark headed for the Ben early o'clock to get some, hopeful, action on a quality route; notwithstanding the turbo thaw forecast...

630am departure from the NF carpark saw them ahead of the crowds and walking in 8'c...not promising.  Once into the corrie proper heading for CIC hut, it was apparent the faces were black and the thaw had done some serious damage!

A sarnie stop at the hut and  chat saw them head into Observatory Gully for for the Great Chimney - hoping its enclosure might have protected it...some chance.

On entering Observatory area, a significant but old (2-3 days?) avalanche snout welcomed them and they walked up the W side on soft sugary snow offering no respite nor encouragement a climb was on the cards.  Vis was poor and the approach to The Great Chimney provided all the evidence needed to declare it a no go area.

We chatted, humphed and hawed and then descended a short distance and traversed over to Tower Ridge thinking...but it was never going to be an enjoyable day in soft snow and high winds towards the summit.  We scooted round to Vanishing Gully area and despite an 'uber' guy pointing he climbed it on Thursday, sadly, it wasn't Thursday and it was stripped on the top half, and thin/delaminating on the first.

The Curtain is closed and much blackness is evident.  Things are not looking good for this winter; we chatted and determined we have completed two full planned climbs this winter - and we have been out a lot!  Sadly lots of bailing and lots and 'walking the rope'!!

Ce la vie...there's always next week.

A shout out to Jottnar apparel today; wet, minging weather with a windchill higher up tested the light and heavy weight hard shell jackets and sallopettes we already knew were excellent. The new Alfar midlayer fleece is also an awesome piece of kit. Warm on the walk in but not a sweat fest and toasty in the wind. 10/10 for Jottnar. Top class clothing for mountaineers. 

A trip around the cornucopia of beauty, which is Fort William High St, brought the day to a close and we headed home...disappointed indeed!  

But we got out, tried and still had a grand day out; nothing beats a walk in Scotland's winter hills...except a climb in them. 

Bluebird day...

6 March 2016

Jane and Mark headed to Bridge of Orchy for some winter mountaineering in the sun. Mark had almost forgot what a pleasure it was to walk in the sunshine rather than shiver on a belay.

Today the early morning weather was excellent with good underfoot conditions and little wind.

Teams bailing off a fat looking Fahrenheit complaining of cruddy ice.

 

 

 

Versatile Coffee Cups

SCNL Summit Buttress Ordinary Route from C Coid on Vimeo.

Winter has arrived at last (for weekend warriors anyway!).  Stunning stellar morning with alpenglow over the early hills...things were looking good - hopefully the cold snap had made for great conditions.

A sunny Creish

The infamous Hurt Lochan

Craig and Mark had Scabbard Chimney in mind and headed up the Hurt Lochan light, bright and early with only a couple of parties ahead.  On getting to the corrie, the route was clear and had a pleasant trench to the base.  However, the cold snap had caused evaporation to dry the snow pack and what was left in many places was a powdered sugary top-pack which collapsed under weight - a feature of the day with some steps eventually collapsing and becoming a near insurmountable face.  There is also a lot of surface hoar about making for dangerous future conditions if we have another dump of snow soon.  That said, it made for a beautiful corrie.

Simply stunning

Scabbard looked thin on the first slab with the first 3-4metres battered out (understandably!) and covered in verglas and useless absent/thin neve.  Craig led off and got into the thin slot on the left wall but the lack of a good placement on the main slab made for very tenuous moves and getting a foot hold proved too much.  Common sense prevailed and down he came with Mark giving it a bash...he found precisely the same problem; at V 6 it was always going to a 'fun' but this was too committing and they decided it just wasn't worth it on the day.

P1 Scabbard Chimney - thin and difficult

P1 Ordinary Route

Thence to Summit Buttress Ordinary Route - one they have looked at for some time but never got round to doing.  It starts about 10metres left on a different crack line and off Craig went on pitch one - again a fairly thin line which meanders up a steep wall, traverses far left and continues up - this time to a very busy belay!

Mark coming up to p1 belay

After a while (big while) Mark climbed through on an easy pitch and we wondered if the fun had finished...however, given the easy p2, Craig gave up the third pitch and Mark headed off up a steep, thin chimney line.  This proved to be a very nice pitch with some spice; in retrospect and referencing the book we wondered if this was the grade V finish.  It ticked all the boxes from the guide about mantel shelfs and thin chimney/ledges etc but we're not sure - if anyone knows for sure, grateful for some beta and/or pics.

Mark heading up p3 - V variant finish??

A long solo to the top saw a quick pack up, sarnie and fast descent of the NE ridge in fabulous condition and also some sun for the first time that day - we were in shade for the route.

Despite the disappointment of Scabbard 'Chim-no', this turned in to a 5* day with super weather and a fine new route, which merited its grade and 1*, maybe a 2* route in our minds.

About the coffee cup...really, you wouldn't want to know!

Sense and Sensibility

Craig and Mark saw a scrappy forecast and pretty rough avalanche predictions for the snow pack so a local day seemed more amenable than a long drive to waste.

They headed for the Cobbler thinking of a route, any route, which might be climbable. The weather was poor at the carpark but the rain turned to wet snow around 350-400m with deep pockets developing on approaches.

Slow progress going up

We plumped for Maclay's Crack but in the mist it proved more difficult to find than we anticipated. We soloed up some increasingly steep ground then topped out on a plateau adjacent to Great Gully. 

Snowy approaches

We were on the cusp of predicted avalanche ground so our radar was on - there is no SAIS for Arrochar per se but the West Highlands forecast is good enough to adapt to local interpretation and gave us sufficient info to be aware of the predicted Considerable warning - human triggered avalanches likely!. We zig zagged cautiously, with care and sensible heads on, up towards the route belay, digging a couple of hasty pits enroute, which showed two weak layers at 8" and just short of full depth. 

Thinking about it...

As we were about to start the climb, a fairly significant sluff of snow came down GG and then down Maclay's Crack. We discussed things and decided conditions just didn't justify the risks, so we ran away down the safest exit path - seeking islands of safety, away from terrain traps and the line of fire. 

There was more snow on the mountain than we had anticipated from the drive up & walk in; significant wind slab, with cross loading, was developing on N to SE aspects and sink-pockets were up to 5' in depth! It was a place demanding respect and we were thankfully in a 'safe' place to make good our escape.

Wind scoops, wind slab and plenty blowing snow too

It was a day framed by sensible decisions...not least of which was trying out the new Jottnar Alfar jacket. A cracking warm jacket worn as a mid layer (love the hood!) over the equally excellent and comfortable Uller base layer.  Even in the wind with a pretty significant windchill factor, we found this combo (and the Bergelmir hard shell) to be more than sufficient to keep us toasty, even on belay.  Thanks to Tommy at Jottnar for turning around a quick order for our weekend fun...check out their apparel - top notch quality kit from a quality British company, focused on the winter mountaineer and skier.

Scary loaded slopes

What ever happened to the rain...

Super freaky avalanche threats enunciated by many had Craig & Mark keep a keen eye on conditions with a trip up Shelf Route high on the agenda.  This is a really nice IV 6 route up high out of Crowberry Gully on the Bookle which has a spicy finish.

We checked the face from the Jacksonville carpark with binoculars and saw plenty of loaded slopes and wind blown snow...a recipe for a bad day demanding good decisions.

Blue steel

We headed up and found plenty of snow with a 2" layer of new blown snow on top of much of it.
We took the route for Curved Ridge and crossed low down towards Crowberry Gully and got to the entrance proper.  There was plenty of soft snow about but the first hasty pit was quite encouraging on a NE'ly aspect.  We moved up another 10m and dug another which released without assistance about 8-9" down - very scary.  We chatted and decided  to climb directly out the gully on our left - a nice steep line onto a snow terrace and upwards onto Crowberry Ridge.

There were patches of useful and plenty useless snow for climbing and we got to the route proper with three chimneys ahead of us, accessed by a thin snow terrace.  Mark led off towards the centre one, the correct line,

but when he got under them, he climbed the left hand chimney which turned out to be very thin...a fabulous lead by Mark on seriously hard terrain - the route proper is a much easier line!

We continued on but knew we were now off the route line.  Some steep ground ahead took us to an airily perched perfect block belay and abseil point.  After a bit of work, we were off on the first of four abseils down to the bottom of the route and low down on Curved Ridge.

All in an excellent day with good climbing and good decisions.  A sunny but very, very cold day with plenty disco dancing on belays to keep warm.  We hope to return next week for a shot at the route proper if we can get to the base via Crowberry Gully...a scary place today, which had no other parties in it.

NB pack even more tat next time !!