Busy Ben

Jim and John on SW Ridge of the Douglas Boulder

Jagged Globe - Snow and Ice Climbing

Today Jim made a special request for a good mixed climb. He said something like Castel Ridge would be too easy - he wanted to do the ridge on the Boulder, even though I'd been on it already this week. On the walk in, we could already see queues building on many climbs. The Curtain had the biggest queues. Ledge route was also amazingly busy, with a bit of a bottle neck on the first ledge, but Di (with Gordon) was well ahead and Craig with his 2, easily overtook people. Vanishing gully had 2 teams on it - I think 1 of them was Graeme B? Tony Halliwell climbed Waterfall Gully.

Jim really enjoyed the ridge, and got to grips with the variety of techniques required, compared to ice climbing. John enjoyed the climb (his second time up the climb) as a chance to prove to himself that his technique was improved - his precise crampon placements in particular - today he showed a lot of style. I had to do a lot of clearing on the route today, and even though I did it on Wednesday, it felt like a different climb today!

Smile, Tim's going to look at the photo :)

Tim - this is for you

Coire na Ciste

Jim on his way out of the final corner

John and Jim on top of the Douglas Boulder

Hadrian's Wall Direct and Point Five Gully looking inviting

Douglas Traverse

Ben Nevis Castle Area

Today was the last day of the Jagged Globe Winter Mountaineering course for Wendy, Dan and Tom. I was working with Tony Halliwell. We decided to head for the Ben. The Ben track was covered in snow causing difficulty for everybody. Only one car made it to the top car park. Again the team wanted to look at winter leading, so they could have their own adventures after the course. We chose the Douglas Gap West Gully and Traverse (I*). Kenny Grant and Ben Wallace both led ropes up Fawlty Towers today.

Ben Nevis looks a little more wintery now

Wendy on the left. Tony Halliwell and Tom on the right in West Gully (I*)

We had West Gully to ourselves. There was some fresh snow, but the old neve was still there to make progress easy.

Wendy in Douglas Gap

There were some accumulations of snow in the East Gully, but not enough to cause concern, and it was only patchy. A quick abseil took us down to the neve lower down. From here we could see the bottom of Point 5 Gully and a team of 3 retreating from it's base.

A quick abseil down East Gully

The start on Point 5 on the right hand side. Just after this photo was taken I spotted a team on 3 retreating from the base of Point 5.

So finished a terrific week for the team. They had great fun in the 'Scottish weather', and enjoyed all the climbing. Hopefully they're eager to come back for more...