Nav Assessment As The Snow Falls

Buachaille Etive Mor - what a difference a day makes - see the first photo from yesterdays blog, then there was no snow on the mountain.

The snow level is down to about 700m, so we decided to go to some lower hills with the Uni First Years for their navigation assessment today. We drove past Buachaille Etive Mor, and I couldn't resist taking the photo above to compare to yesterdays shot, when there was no snow. Today the winds didn't turn out to be as strong as the forecast suggested, but there were plenty of wintry showers - hail, snow and plenty of rain. A good day to test your waterproofs.

The Buachaille from the King's House

Glencoe Mountain Resort on the Left Hand Side, Sron na Creise on the RHS

I was with Andrew, Andy, Sean, Lynsey and Micheal today. Sean has mostly recovered from his torn ACL in his knee (previously he climbed Stob Coire Nan Lochan, before he had it diagnosed as being torn!), and Lynsey has partly recovered from her cracked ribs. After a few easier legs, we got off the paths and headed for the hills and started to test their nav a little more.

Navigation in a little winter weather

Lynsey, Sean and Micheal. Snow at 650m on Meall Bhalach, with Blackwater Reservoir behind.

Sean

Sean still on his nav leg. The Buachaille in the background on the left

Lynsey. The Buachaille on the RHS

Unfortunately the visibility remained good for the entire assesssment, but the team has shown good navigation today and on previous days of the module - it was an easy pass for the whole team.

The ground is saturated, soft and never close to being frozen (we only got to 700m today). There was evidence on the hills of how bad the ground had flooded recently, but the water levels had returned to normal now. The snow line will move up tomorrow towards 900m with a higher freezing level, but then at the end of the weekend onto the new week, the freezing level drops again, helping to freeze the turf on the higher hills.

SC Gully

With an awesome day for weather, where shall we go climb. I wanted to go to Glencoe, so had to break the news to Claire that we were going to walk up to Stob Coire Nan Lochan again... But actually it wasn't so bad after all and we caught up on some other teams. There was a team on Twisting Gully, so we headed for SC Gully (III ***) - there was already a team in it - but 1 pitch ahead. This was Claire's first grade III. The steep ice pitch was badly out of condition, and so was harder than normal - feeling more like a few moves of IV. The traverse pitch was fine with good neve to pull on.

Claire pulling up to the end of pitch 3.

Claire in the heart of SC Gully - on the last pitch (4).

Impressive scenery

Claire pulls over the top and climbs into sunshine...

In the distance is Ben Nevis - maybe we can go there tomorrow...

Dave Kenyon and Clive also had a great day in Glencoe....

Dry Tooling, Ice Training And Belay Training

Another day of poor weather and poor snow conditions. We decided to have a day of skill training, starting with dry tooling. Here Claire is abseiling down the dry tool cliff. Today Claire will be prepping for her first grade III climb tomorrow.

Here Claire learns how to use her front points and axes on tiny ledges and cracks.

Clive climbing his first of 2 lines up the cliff. After this we headed off to The Ice Factor for a spot of steep ice climbing training. Later Claire learnt how to belay a leader - all that she will need for the next 2 days...

SC Gully

SC Gully (III***) today

The Jagged Globe Snow and Ice Climbing Course today headed for Stob Coire Nan Lochan in Glencoe. Ed Chard did Twisting Gully and I wanted to do Raeburn's Route. There was a team on the route, moving slow, so I headed for a thin looking SC Gully. There was a team on it, but high up. I did bring screws, on the off chance, so I thought I'd take a look.

Some snow and ice from the higher team - a little hit Tariq on the nose

Pitch 1 was too thin for screws unfortunately, but there were a couple of hooks in the ice which were nice. Even though it didn't take screws it felt more secure than past ascents.

Tariq on the first pitch

Fred

Fred relaxing - but his calves working hard

Pitch 2 was a little rocky, but when there was neve it was usually solid.

Looking down after the rocky crux

The crux was rocky and not the standard grade III, but there was a clear hook, clear footholds, and eventually solid neve leading to the final ice line - but yet again, not deep enough for screws.

Tariq finishes it off

The exit was friendly on the left hand side. So, now Tariq and Fred have had 2 days of ice, and 2 days on mixed - what'll they choose for tomorrow?