West Gully - Bein Udlaidh

Jeff and Jan

Jagged Globe - Winter Mountaineering

Today I headed off to Beinn Udlaidh with Jan and Jeff. The car park was about as full as it can get, so there were lots of people trying the ice today. Luckily they all seemed to have arrived much before us so they were well into their 1st/2nd pitches. We started up West Gully aiming to look at rope management and belay construction, so we did the climb in 8 pitches.

Busy in West Gully

The ice was good today, but it could do with building on the lower pitches. The snowpack was still a little thin in many places, and lots of loose stones were still at the surface.

The first steepening has broken ice

Close up of the first steepening

The ice at the first steepening was a little cruddy, and broke up readily, but there was still enough ice for screws.

Looking ahead to the fun icy ending

Pretty good ice in the upper section of the gully

Not full cover in the gully yet, still lots of loose boulders showing

A great final icy section

All the fun was in the upper pitches where the ice was fat and plentiful. Several lines were possible towards the end. The snow after the ice was soft and the axes would easily get through to the frozen turf beneath.

Jeff and Jan waiting their turn

A fun day

Belays at the top would either involve frozen turf, or icy patches on the floor, for those with long ropes. A great first day at Bein Udlaidh - lets hope this season will have many more days on ice. Thank you to Jan and Jeff for a lot of fun today.