marmotte.co.uk

Off to the Alps

2009-06-22T23:01:00.002+01:00

I'm off to the Alps tomorrow until mid September for lots of climbing so heaps of packing to do. Posts will appear as and when I can get an internet connection!
:-)

Sgurr a' Chaorachain - Monday 1st June

2009-06-03T20:44:00.003+01:00

For the full story, have a look at Ron's blog here http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Diabaig - Sunday 31st May

2009-06-03T20:33:00.005+01:00

A beautiful sunny day for climbing at Diabaig followed by a great outing to Sgurr a Chaorachain and the Cioch Nose.

For the full story, have a look at Ron's blog here http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Salamander, Creag Ghlas

2009-05-29T23:01:00.004+01:00

This route has to be high up on my list of favourites - lovely slabby climbing, great gear and a fantastic situation with stunning views. The weather helped a bit and Ron and I enjoyed a hot, sunny, blue sky day.

We arrived to find two other climbers high on the route so we really felt we had it it to ourselves as we climbed. The first pitch has an incredible dog-leg crack which the guide book describes as "noticeably harder after the dog-leg". It was right, it was more difficult but in a nice sort of way! The second pitch has less protection but lots of good holds and some heather too. The trick seemed to be how to work out how to get along the heathery ledge without getting mud on the rock boots. The next pitch has a choice of 5a or 5b and Ron chose to climb the 5a route up the slab and around a little overlap. And so it went on with another lovely slab and some layback moves into a crack. The final and fifth pitch took a hidden chimney on big moves to the top.

Above are a few photos of Ron climbing on the third, fourth and fifth pitches.

More pictures from Ron here http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Traprain

2009-05-28T00:28:00.008+01:00

Ron and I had very brief visit to Traprain Law on Wednesday and with only time for one very quick route,we chose Great Corner as it was an easy route I used to enjoy when I lived in Haddington and Traprain was my local crag. I was a bit surprised by just how polished this route has become and saddened too by the crampon scratches that were so visible.

Cummingston and more

2009-05-24T22:16:00.003+01:00

A bit of a hectic week for me with lots of trips down to Edinburgh and back to Aviemore but on Friday and Saturday, I was working for climbmts.co.uk and Tiso at Glasgow and Aberfeldy. We had a slightly damp but fun day looking at lots of useful techniques for scrambling.
Today, Ron and I went up to Cummingston to enjoy the good weather and some classic Cummingston routes. We started off on the Prophet Walls, I lead the two VS routes and Ron lead the HVS right corner. After that, we went over to the Stacks area and I had fun leading Stregosaurus, the holds, once I could reach them, were just great!
Ron then went on to lead Diedre of Doubt and he even managed to find some gear placements on the "poorly protected smooth corner above"!
Ron had the camera so photos on his blog here http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Skye - right place, right time

2009-05-17T20:34:00.006+01:00

Ron and I headed off to Skye last Sunday hoping that the weather was going to be good and it turned out to be fantastic for almost the whole week.

On Monday we took David and Alastair up to and onto the Inaccessible Pinnacle and luckily, we were ahead of the crowds. We had fun scrambling up and the abseil down off the short side provided more excitement! Amongst the crowds, I met up with friends, Mark and Grant who just happened to be along to watch the fun. We continued on along the ridge after the In Pin to Sgurr na Banachdich.

The weather was great again on Tuesday, blue skies and sunshine, so Ron and I went into Coire Lagan to Sron na Ciche and Shangri La.The first pitch was straightforward then the second started with some intricate moves up a little wall. A long corner followed which was quite sustained in the third pitch and as the guidebook said, deceptive in the next! A big grassy ledge provided a comfortable place for me to belay Ron on the final, strenuous corner. Overall the climbing was excellent although without rucksacks, it would certainly have been a bit easier! The evening sun stayed with us on our descent down the Sgumain Stone Shoot and we ambled down taking lots of time to look at routes for another visit.

Wednesday was a rather lazy day and apparently Skye was the warmest place in Britain so it was good to relax in the sun and plan for Thursday. It was also good to catch up with Chris and Chris and hear about their adventures on the Basteir Tooth and their plans for Sgurr na h-Uamha for the next day.

Back to Coire Lagan and Sron na Ciche for a day of classic routes - Cioch West, Slab Corner and Integrity. Years ago, I seconded Ron up Integrity and it has been a route I wanted to go back and lead and I got my wish. The climbing was tricky at the start but the climbing on the slab above was just perfect - lots of lovely pockety bits for hands and feet and a crack for protection wherever it was needed - and then the awkward bulge to get to the belay. It was better than I remembered!

On Friday morning the wind had picked up and the rain started to spatter on the tent so we packed up and drove back to Aviemore already planning more routes providing the weather is kind.

Loads more from Ron and photos and video from the Inaccessible Pinnacle too http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Photo from Benny Beg

2009-04-30T10:45:00.000+01:00

Benny Beg

2009-04-20T21:41:00.001+01:00

A trip down to Perth and good weather meant that I persuaded Ron to come along too with the climbing kit and we had a couple of hours in the sun at Benny Beg enjoying some of the bolted routes there. The routes are quite surprisingly steep but good fun!

Pygmy Ridge and Pot of Gold

2009-04-19T21:37:00.004+01:00

Gareth and I climbed up Central Gully then up Pygmy Ridge whilst Ron solo-ed about with the camera so a video to follow. Afterwards, Gareth headed back down for the long drive back to Dumfries and Ron and I climbed down Jacob's Ladder then back up Pot of Gold on the Mess of Pottage.
The weather couldn't have been better, a good frost this morning meant the snow in Central Gully was firm then we climbed into the sunshine on Pygmy Ridge. The Mess of Pottage gets the sun late in the afternoon so some very warm rock climbing there!

More pictures from Ron here http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Underwater photography in Coire an Lochain

2009-04-13T21:10:00.002+01:00

Ron and I had planned to go rock climbing today in Coire an Lochain but the wind was a bit stronger and chillier than we expected so we had a picnic at the lochan, enjoyed the views and Ron experimented with the underwater and under-ice capabilities of his camera.
More here http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Coire an Lochain and Coire an t-Sneachda

2009-04-12T21:14:00.004+01:00

Ron and I went into Coire an Lochain this morning and encountered only two other climbers, Mark and Alan, a couple of ptarmigans and the Easter Bunny.
We climbed up the steep slopes of the corrie to Y Gully and the snow was great all the way up except for the last two metres - the cornice!
The sun shone and there was very little wind though we were surprised just how cold it felt when the sun briefly disappeared behind passing clouds.
After stopping to watch Mark and Alan climbing up The Vent, we walked over to Coire Domhain for a look at the snowholes then climbed down the Goat Track and back up Central Gully to Pygmy Ridge again.
Happy Easter!

A mix of climbing at Cairngorm

2009-04-03T20:40:00.009+01:00

Ron and I went back into Coire an t-Sneachda today to enjoy the fantastic sunny weather.

We left the car park early in the hope that there had been a bit of a freeze overnight and whilst the temperature in Aviemore this morning was +9c, the snow on the routes was solid.

We started off with The Runnel which had nice ice in the upper chimney pitch then down the Goat Track to Finger's Ridge. Once we were onto the rock, it was off with the crampons and the axes were stowed away so we could enjoy some great rock climbing.

It seemed best to carry on as there was lots of day left and the sun was still shining so down Aladdin's Couloir to reach the bottom of Central Gully which we climbed up to get to the start of Pygmy Ridge. More lovely dry rock to climb on without the hassle of crampons and axes.

In all, I'd guess we did about 450m of climbing on a great combination of snow, ice and sunny, warm rock.

Lots more from Ron here and he has lots of video clips so a video to follow. http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Central Gully

2009-04-01T20:54:00.006+01:00

The weather wasn't quite the blue skies and sunshine we were expecting but it was still good to be out in Coire an t-Sneachda. Sue and I went up Central Gully following behind Ron, Ken and Angus. The snow was soft on the surface but firm to kick into and the cornice was easy to avoid on the right.

It was quite breezy on the plateau so Sue and I headed back towards Point 1141 and after finding a sheltered spot for lunch, we had an easy walk down through Coire Cas.

We chatted to a guy who had been for a ski touring trip over to Ben Macdui and he advised that there was good cover though a bit of dodging rocks was needed in places and he only had to take the skis off to climb up Cairngorm so he could ski back down.

More photos and info from Ron here http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

When we got down to the car park, I was asked if I would like to participate in a questionnaire on local issues!

Lots of wind, snow and great views

2009-03-29T19:26:00.005+01:00

Kim and I walked in with Ron, David and Ken to Coire Cas and then we parted company and headed up in the winds to the plateau. The spindrift was creating some amazing features in the snow as we crossed over to get some shelter above Stac an Fharadh. We sat there in the sun, sheltered from the wind before venturing up into the gusts again and on to the summit of Cairngorm.

Some pictures and more information from Ron here http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Blizzards and high ropes

2009-03-26T23:33:00.002Z

It was a day for the cadets to choose their own activities and groups went clay shooting, kayaking, to explore Culloden and to try out the high ropes course.
I was with the groups at the high ropes and in the morning we had the added challenge of blizzards which made the course a little bit more challenging.
Cairngorm was looking a lot more snowy by this afternoon so hopefully more winter to follow!

2009-03-25T16:12:00.004Z

John, Lionel and I took our adventurous Winchester cadets on a snowholing expedition yesterday. We started off from Coire na Ciste car park and headed up the ridge past Cnap Coire na Spreidhe to Ciste Mhearad. It was a bit blowy but not unpleasant so after stopping for a break and a chat with Al (http://alanhalewood.blogspot.com/), who was there with a Glenmore Lodge group, we headed off towards Stac an Fharadh which was our planned destination for the night. The weather was none too friendly around the south side of Cairngorm and the windslab was getting deeper and deeper so we backtracked to Ciste Mhearad.

There was one snowhole already dug out and as it looked very comfortable, we designated this as "the leaders' lodge"! The guys were keen to get digging so off they went, tunnelling at great speed into the snow.

By late afternoon, it was drizzling though this changed to snow as the evening went on and the wind was picking up. We were all glad to be inside by this time. During the night, the snow and spindrift came pouring into the corrie and I went out a couple of times to check the entrances had not become blocked. The guys' snowholes were fine but we had to dig our entrance out a couple of times.

After a leisurely start this morning, we walked back on good, frozen neve and ice with some drifting fresh snow past the Ptarmigan restaurant and then down alongside the ski area and on to cups of tea and warm showers at Norwegian Lodge.

The two other groups of cadets set off yesterday on a camping trip to walk from Linn of Dee to Achlean and they experienced strong winds yesterday then a lovely walk out through Glen Feshie today.

A windy, wintry day

2009-03-23T22:18:00.003Z

Over the past two days, I have been out with groups from Winchester College Combined Cadet Force and a busy time it has been too. We've had a mixture of sun, wind, rain, sleet and snow, in fact just about every combination of weather possible. Both days were spent practising skills on the Coire Cas headwall then on Sunday we went on up to Cairngorm along with the group's garden gnome too!

Today Lionel and I took another group of cadets into Coire an t-Sneachda to dig some emergency shelters and on the way back, we all gained a wintry coating of snow.

There were very few people out today!

The Vent, Coire an Lochain

2009-03-19T16:20:00.006Z

An early start from the car park today and Coire an Lochain looked a little bit eerie with all the mist floating around. Ron and I went up to the Vent which had some very nice ice though it was a bit drippy near the bottom. I'm glad we had an early start!

It was quite a different climb to the last time I was there when it was totally banked out with snow. Much more interesting this time!
Back down to Aviemore by lunchtime to sit out in the sun with good views back into the Northern Corries.
Photos and video clips from Ron here http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Lots of gullies and some ice too

2009-03-17T19:25:00.006Z

A lovely weather day so Ron and I went out climbing.
We went up Crotched Gully then into Spiral Gully which got us quickly up on to the plateau and as it was far too early to head down, we walked over to Hell's Lum to see if The Escalator was looking good and it was. So up that and there was still lots of time left so we dropped down Half a Gully to climb Fiacaill Couloir.
Ian took his fat Freetrek skis for a walk up Cairngorm to enjoy the views and then had great fun skiing back down.

Navigation and snowholes

2009-03-15T17:59:00.008Z

Sue, John, Paul and I navigated our way up to Ciste Mhearad today and it was certainly less windy than yesterday!

We found a big snowhole to hide away in for lunch before digging our own emergency shelters and looking at snow profiles and talking about avalanche awareness.

Unfortunately, we found two candles that had been left behind in the big snowhole. Not good as these add to the litter that appears when all the snow melts. We brought the candles out with us! Ciste Mhearad was quite busy today with a couple of other skills groups and a happy group of young ski tourers. All very sociable.

Ron had an interesting semi-axeless climb...look here for more info http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

Windy winter skills

2009-03-14T18:46:00.003Z

Paul, John and Sue came along on the Bank of Scotland's Hillwalking Club winter skills weekend and encountered the Cairngorm winds today!
We found a pleasant spot on the side of the Fiacaill Ridge for ice axe breaking then headed into Coire an t-Sneachda and the moraine ridge for lunch. Then, for some practice with the crampons, we went up below the Mess of Pottage to the plateau. As we reached the top, the wind gusted strongly and blasted ice particles upwards so it was not a good idea to look back down! On the plateau itself, we discovered the skill of walking without actually moving forward, so strong was the wind. We dropped back down from Point 1141 into a much calmer Coire Cas.
Apparently the ski area closed early after recording wind speeds of 80 to 115mph!
Ron was out climbing on The Runnel today http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

In a sheltered, sunny spot with some trees

2009-03-13T20:45:00.004Z

Alan and I had a morning out of the wind todayl ooking at different ways of using the rope, tying in, belaying and creating belays before he had to travel back to Inverness for his flight home this afternoon.

Good luck to Alan with his goal of climbing Gran Paradiso later in the year.

Being blown up Jacob's Ladder

2009-03-12T18:30:00.005Z

Walking in to Coire an t-Sneachda was definitely less windy than yesterday's adventure up to the summit of Cairngorm but would it last? The gusts picked up as we headed to the bottom of Jacob's Ladder and the strong winds helped us on our way up the gully. We climbed out on the right where there was a little rocky step. Other groups climbed out on the left which looked good too.

Windy Cairngorm

2009-03-11T17:49:00.002Z

Alan and I went for a windy walk up Cairngorm today and then dropped down into Ciste Mhiread for a bit of shelter from the strong, gusty winds. After some navigation practice, we splashed our way through the slushy bits above the ski area to retreat downwards again.

There were a few folk out skiing and one tow, a rope tow perhaps, was the only one that seemed to be running up at the top.