Dow Crag, Coniston. C Buttress - Ordinary Route, Diff ***, 8th June 2013.

It was a sweaty walk in to Dow Crag for myself, Brian, Ian and Jimmy and the smell of a dead sheep amongst the rocks and scree above Goats Water added something extra to the "ambiance" of the route!

Brian and Jimmy gearing up at the foot of the climb; C Buttress - Ordinary Route, a Diff with three stars and 110m long.   

The route follows the the crest of the buttress, to the right of the picture.

Jimmy leading, with Brian (hidden by Ian) and Ian. 

Ian coming up to the (2nd ?) belay.

The guys on a steeper section of the buttress.

The crux of the route, a slightly awkward traverse up to a flake (top centre where the rope disappears).

Ian topping out at the last belay, at the end of the terrace of "Easy Terrace", with Goats Water behind.

The descent route is down the start of the "Easy Terrace" scramble, in the centre of the picture, with climbers to its left.

Ben Nevis summit camp, 25th May 2013.

Finally a good weather window allowed, myself, Ian, Mark and Willy, the chance to camp on the summit of Britain's Highest mountain. We sweated our way up from the North Face car park, crossed the Allt A Mhuilinn at the top car park and headed up to the Halfway Lochan. From here we joined the crowds on the zig zags and onto the plateau. It was heavy going in the soft snow with the big packs. We even opted for crampons to get a better grip, whilst teenagers in jeans and trainers hurried past us! However a time of 3 hours and 40 minutes (3hr 20mins for Ian!), didn't seem too bad with a wardrobe on your back!  

Unlike last year, the ruins of the old observatory were visible, which meant we could get some shelter from the not too strong (but getting colder) wind. Don't know how many times we were asked whilst (and after) putting tents up, "Are you guys camping?".

Slowly, the summit cleared of day trippers and Three Peakers whilst we set about getting some hot food, again the shelter of the walls avoiding the need to cook indoors.

Willy, Ian and Mark preparing their dinner in the comparative luxury of the outdoor kitchen.

Tower Ridge looking mostly snow free, although Tower Gully was complete.

A closer view of the Eastern Traverse.

A lot quieter now on the summit as the cloud came in. Any chance of seeing the International Space Station pass overhead (at 0255, chances!) were out of the question now.

After some food we got a fire going deep in the corner of the ruins. Environmentalists, please note, we used the recycled paper logs you can get for gardens etc, placed on stones. They burn away to nothing and leave no trace (99p a log!). However the was some amount of rubbish up there, left by (I assume, maybe wrongly?), people who come here once, leave the empty champagne bottle, and go back to the city.   

We also met Phil, who was attempting to summit Ben Nevis as many times as possible in 24 hours for charity, and on his last "summit", around 11pm we saw his headtorch appear from the CMD end of the plateau. So we invited him over to get a heat from the fire, whilst he put on extra layers and had a wee dram. Then we sent him off back into the gloom for his final descent.  

Apologies to Phil for the rubbish pictures (digital cameras/fires/night time etc), but at least he can prove he was there! 

After a fairly decent sleep, only punctuated by going out for a pee at about 4am-ish, in my shorts to see a couple of 3 Peakers at the summit shelter, we awoke quite late to a not bad morning. Again the peace was broken by the troops of charity teams either starting or finishing their attempts.

We had several options for the descent; The Carn Mor Dearg Arete, Number 4 Gully, The Red Burn or the dreaded tourist path. As the CMD was mostly clear of snow, we opted to try Number 4 Gully. To save the faff factor, we kitted up with crampons, helmets and axes and followed the gully edges around to Number 4 Gully.
However, on arrival, after a closer inspection of the gully's edge. it seemed a bit dubious as to how stable the snow was just on the first 20 metres or so. There were some footprints from yesterday, but the mild temperatures, no rope and big packs made us change plan and go for The Red Burn.  

The Red Burn was broken in places, requiring some boulders to cross in crampons (always a pain), but it is far for more fun and quicker (?) than the path. Be warned though, at this time of year you may break through the stream below, but on the whole you could bum slide a lot of it - with care!

Willy coming down the last complete section of snow on the Red Burn.

A last view of the Ben, still shrouded in cloud as we headed back to the car.

Video of the guys cooking at the highest wild camp in Britain!

Any routes left in Schneachda? Jacobs Ladder, 12th May 2013.

Still a few routes left in condition in Schneachda, but the ones that are (some of the trident gullies) still have big cornices. Alladins Couloir is complete, so is Jacobs Ladder but the edge isn't (or Hidden chimney). Don't think the Mirror or Spiral are complete either, but with soft-ish snow too, they are probably worth avoiding?

Surprisingly the snow wasn't too bad in Jacob's.

Willy removing gear on the way up.

The snow did vary though on the way up and although the cornice was ok in the middle and not overhanging, it was quite soft and might have been different unroped!   

Ian, about to swim over the top of Jacobs Ladder. 

The Slant, Coire an t-Sneachda, Cairgorms winter climbing - in April ! 28th April 2013.

Short video of me and Willy climbing the Grade II, "The Slant", on The Mess of Pottage in Coire an t-Sneachda in the Northern Corries. 

  

Looking across to Jacobs Ladder and The Mess of Pottage. Still some big cornices above the gullies waiting to collapse. 

The Slant, takes the obvious snow line across the face of The Mess of Pottage, and various harder routes are accessed by it, ie, Hidden Chimney. 

Although the weather was ok, if a bit windy on top, the usual happened as we descended back into the corrie via the moraines!  

Nevis Range skiing and forgotten crampons! - Easter weekend, 30th March 2013

Stunning weather in the West Highlands this weekend, perfect for a weekend of skiing at Nevis Range, Aonach Mor, and then The Legde Route on Ben Nevis on Sunday, except...
Someone, ie, me, forgot their winter climbing trousers and crampons!
So we had no choice but to ski for two days.      

Lorna at the top of Aonach Mor by the weather station.

Lots of big cornices over the back corries, which weren't open for skiing sadly.

Ben Nevis and the CMD Arete looked fully loaded with snow which hopefully will last for a few weeks yet. 

View from the Quad chair, Nevis Range.

Good, but limited skiing with very few queues.  

Different shot with the Drift HD cam.  

Aladdins Couloir, Coire an t-Sneachda, March 3rd 2013

This was Jon's first "proper" winter mountain trip, so we took the grade 1 route of Aladdins Couloir to go the basics of belaying, using axes and crampons, and all the faff that comes with doing stuff in winter conditions. Luckily we had good weather, although the snow was soft in some places. Everyone seemed to avoid Jacobs Ladder, as it looked to have a very dodgy cornice (which we saw from above later in the day).    

Although relatively straightforward, we roped up for Aladdins, and went through the motions to give Jon an idea of what goes on.

Mark and Jon, taking it easy at onr of the belays.  

Just before Aladdins Seat, there is a split in the gully, so we headed right to see if could get a view over Aladdins Buttress into the corrie. 

Jon enjoying the airy perch above Coire an t-Sneachda.

My belay stance whilst Jon took his pictures before dropping back into the gully.

At Aladdins Seat we stopped for a bite to eat, with cracking views of other climbers topping out above the Fluted Buttress area.  

Looking down at our route variation (Left as seen from above) from the belay.

Wide exit slopes with steeper, more interesting options to the left.

Jon and Mark, about to leave Aladdins Seat.

Final belay before topping out.

And Jon and Mark, topping out.

Team of three climbers who appeared from Aladdins Mirror area as we climbed out of the gully.

Video of the days activities.