Winter Mountaineering Day 1

A team starting on Nordwand - pitch 1 (out of about 10)

Jagged Globe - Winter Mountaineering

Today we started the course discussing equipment, weather, snow and plans, before heading up to the Ben Nevis Car park, to get on some mixed snow conditions at the entry of Observatroy Gully. We initially refreshed the teams minds on the skills of kicking steps, cutting steps and the use of crampons, before getting some ropes out and refreshing some basic knots, and belaying. We moved on to a basic reminder of an abseil system, before looking at some snow anchors and how to use a few of them. A good first day. We found some mixed snow conditions, lots of slab, some neve and also some cruddy thin icy slab that easily broke away on moderate slopes. The snow seems a little complex at the moment - a little care needed.

One of the CIC cascades

Neil

Observatory Gully

Point Five Gully

Adam

Michael

Susie

John

Tower Scoop

Today (Tuesday) I was working for Jagged Globe alongside Ed Chard on their Snow and Ice Climbing Course. We went to take a look at the Ben. When we got to the CIC hut, the wind was much stronger than we had expected and the gusts were quite powerful. We could see quite a lot of snow moving about and building in some areas. We decided to go into Observatory Gully, with a view to doing Tower Scoop (III**). We found the snow to be patched with windslab, but as we gained height the patches coalesced, but with careful route choice a safe route was possible close to the Scoop. The snow here was a tricky again, so we pitched up to the rock, and enjoyed 2 pitches on the Scoop. Topping out the neve was solid. The wind at this point was regularly gusting, and the snow into Tower Gully looked dubious so we decided to go down Observatory Gully instead. This was only a short ice climb but a great day out.

The video is poor quality but gives an idea that the ice is building. Point 5 looks terrific..

A quick look around Observatory Gully on the way to Tower Scoop from Max Hunter on Vimeo.