Scottishwinter.com

Winter Climbs in the Cairngorms, authored by Allen and Blair Fyffe, was published last month by Cicerone. The cover photo shows Neil Johnson on the top pitch of Swan Song (V,6) on Fiacaill Buttress in Coire an t-Sneachda.

I have a battered copy of the second edition of this popular guidebook on my bookshelf. It is over 30 years old (the staples are rusting) and was written by one of the world’s greatest ice climbing pioneers – John Cunningham. I have certain fondness for this little paperback guide for not only was it my first Scottish guidebook, but it also conjures up memories of woollen breeches, straight shafted ice axes and bendy Salewa crampons in an age when Grade V really meant something.

The new fifth edition, written by the father and son team of Allen and Blair Fyfe includes Creag Meagaidh as well as the Cairngorms, and reflects the change in emphasis of Scottish winter climbing from ice to mixed over the past three decades. It is a very attractive book, bright and clear and well laid out. It is illustrated with excellent crag topos (some such as Perseverance Wall and The Cathedral on Lochnagar have never been published before), and a series of superb action photos by Henning Wackerhage. Henning is the only climber I know who carries a full size DSLR with him on every route, and his resulting images are both beautiful and evocative, and just make you want to get out and go climbing.

Unlike its sister Cicerone volume (Ben Nevis and Glen Coe) that sets out to be comprehensive, Cairngorms and Creag Meagaidh is a selected guide. I feel this is wholly appropriate, because unlike the SMC definitive guidebooks that have to be fully comprehensive by definition, a selected guidebook can be more creative and point newcomers to the better cliffs and corries, and highlight not just the finest, but also the most do-able routes.

In this regard, Allen and Blair have done a superb job, especially in the Northern Cairngorms. The route choice is imaginative, and includes several recently developed cliffs such as Lurcher’s Crag and Sron na Lairige. Allen is also author of the Northern Cairngorms section of the SMC guide, knows his subject well and writes with authority. If I had to make a single criticism, it would be that the route selection in the Southern Cairngorms is a little predictable. Sure, you have to include the great Lochnagar classics, but in the main, the selection appears to be fairly conservative. For example, including a selection of routes on The Stuic, which contains some of the most enjoyable short middle grade routes in the Cairngorms, would have been a useful addition.

Overall this is a great little guidebook and a natural complement to the SMC title. A newcomer to the area may well be attracted to this new Cicerone guide, but the aficionado will probably always be drawn the SMC fully comprehensive volume (I would say this of course, because I am one of the authors). However, I suspect that even the most hardened Cairngorm climber will also appreciate the Cicerone book for its different perspective and excellent diagrams and illustrations.

Dave McGimpsey on the lower section of Cribbage (III) on Coire Garbhlach in Glen Feshie. The pair could not decide to where to belay, so ended up climbing the route unroped. (Photo Andy Nisbet)

Andy Nisbet made another visit to Glen Feshie yesterday (january 20):

“With a good forecast before a very windy weekend, but rain moving in to the West, another trip to Coire Garbhlach felt right. A complex rib between the two gullies of Corkscrew and Moss Ghyll was the unfilled gap. After having such a hard time on an unfrozen Corkscrew, I was nervous about the turf despite friends assuring me the Cairngorms were well frozen.

An easier walk-in and the sight of a cliff not deeply buried like last time didn’t convince me until I hit the first sod and it was good. So Dave McGimpsey and I set off soloing until we reached a steeper bit. But the turf was so good that we kept on going until we reached an easier middle section. Then Dave spotted a turf ledge which led across a steep wall overlooking the gully of Moss Ghyll (climbed in December), so I went looking for a steeper bit where we might rope up. And there was a steeper bit but we didn’t rope up, so we reached the top rather quicker than we’d planned. We’d been ribbing, or maybe that was Cribbage (Grade III).

It seemed a bit early to go down, and we had carried a rope and a rack, so we decided to put them to some use by straightening out the Corkscrew. The gully at the top end of the crag is Grade I and made a useful descent. This time we did rope up although the turf was still excellent, and it felt nice with a rope despite only one runner in a long pitch (still IV,3). And we reached the top earlier than expected, but this time the legs said to go home.”

Keith Ball enjoying The Crab Crawl (IV,4) - Tom Patey’s classic girdle traverse of the Creag Meagaidh cliffs. At 2400m in length, it is one of the longest climbs in the British Isles. (Photo Tim Neill)

Collectors of Cold Climbs routes will be interested in the email I’ve just received from Tim Neill:

“Keith Ball and I thought about Ben Alder for Monday just past too! It was such a nice day, but probably the best thing to do was something more traditional than trickier/modern. We had a great day on Meagaidh doing The Crab Crawl in the end! Don’t know if it’s a route that’s so much in vogue these days, but conditions were perfect, with great neve, bomber turf, and great ice where needed to cross the bits of the Post routes on the third part. We finished with half an hour of daylight to spare!”

Harry Holmes pulling through the second crux section during the second ascent of Smooth as Silk (VII,7) on Creagan Cha-no. Harry was partnered by Joanna Lisowiec who was doing only her second winter route, and went on to lead Jenga Buttress (III,4) later in the day. (Photo Joanna Lisowiec)

Friday January 13 was a busy day on Creagan Cha-no.

Stuart Lade, Liam Fleming, Jill Plummer went to have a look at Jenga Buttress but ended up not walking far enough and climbed the broad ledgey buttress between Anvil Corner and Duke’s Rib. “It was one of the more wintry looking parts of the crag on the day as a lot of the line was shaded,” Stuart told me. “It was a bit of a rambling line, fairly escapable but with some tricky pulls over ledges with a fun 20m corner at the top.” Stuart reckons their buttress was about Grade III and it was the first time any of them had done a new route.

Further right, Harry Holmes and  Joanna Lisowiec from Edinburgh University Mountaineering Club had a good day with an early repeat of Jenga Buttress (III,4) and the second ascent of Smooth as Silk (VII,7), which is probably the hardest route on the cliff at present.

John Lyall and Eric Pirie also climbed three new routes to the south (i.e. left of Recovery Gully). “One was on the right wall of the buttress of Cutty Sark, which was on ice and neve,” John explained. “The other two were on the next big buttress to the south of Short Ridge, and a bit better than they looked!”

The cliff is attracting an ever-increasing number of visits, so if you think climb have something new (and there is still a lot to go at), please get in touch and I will attempt to keep everybody up to date.

The CIC Hut on Ben Nevis in April 2009 during the hut upgrade work and a few months after the new roof was installed. The roof of the sleeping quarters (the nearest part of the hut to the camera) was the one that was damaged in the Great December Storm. (Photo Simon Richardson)

Good news – The SMC released the following statement earlier this week:

“Thanks to the work carried out by Neil McGougan, John Orr and team, the roof on the CIC hut has been repaired and will be fully open from 16 January 2012.”

Looking down to Dave McGimpsey on the first ascent of Raeburn’s Edge (III) on the South Buttress of Garbh Choire on Ben Alder. After sixteen year’s of solitude, this remote crag saw two independent visits from separate teams over the space of two days. (Photo Andy Nisbet)

When Andy Nisbet visited Ben Alder with Dave McGimpsey and Duncan Tunstall on Monday January 16, they were surprised to find steps from the day before leading up The Diamond. Andy takes up the story:

“Funnily enough, my mind had been on the South Buttress of Garbh Choire on Ben Alder since 1996 when Brian Davison and I walked past it. I told Brian it was a big unclimbed cliff, so with better eyesight than me, he asked who were the two people climbing on it! Bass and Yearsley of course. We had climbed a couple of new routes on the Enigmatic Buttress, then bagged the Munro (although Brian walked round it on principle) and were heading down into the Garbh Choire to look for something else. Time was getting on so an easy gully on Garbh Choire Beag was planned. This was Scotland’s least visited area by climbers, so we couldn’t believe seeing another three climbers heading straight for our gully. We were warmed up so a mad rush got us there first. It turned out they were going for the buttress right of our gully, and they were mates anyway. So seven new winter routes were done on a single day on Ben Alder; I think more than doubling the number for the previous 100 years.

I’ve been back to Ben Alder many times since then, but always when there was no snow low down. Two days previously Braeriach was in good nick but Ben Alder was left for a couple of days’ extra freeze. Dave McGimpsey was fresh back from work in Poland and after his first route of the winter, while Duncan Tunstall had been similarly inspired by Braeriach. Our tactics are older fashioned so we started cycling at 8am when it was properly light and reached the crag about 4hrs later. There were occasional footprints heading in the direction of the crag and we did have a discussion about why walkers would be going up Ben Alder that way. The snow was hard and icy so no more prints were seen until we found a cut stance in the snow at the base of the cliff. To be honest, we were more amused than annoyed that Simon and Roger had beaten us by a day, when no-one else had been to the crag for 16 years. We knew it was them; no-one else walks that far on a Sunday. Also time was getting on and their line looked tricky, so we took the easy option and climbed the lower angled rib to the right of Raeburn’s Gully. It had a tricky start and occasional hard moves, so ended up as an easy III; Raeburn’s Edge seemed as good a name as any. Its best feature was that it was surprisingly long, and even discounting the lower tier, the 200m given to Raeburn’s Gully felt quite modest.

As we returned to the cliff base, Dave and I felt it was a long way to come for one climb and the urge to try another obvious line overtook common sense. The gully bounding the right side of the buttress looked fine except for a steep band which had a steep icicle formation, clearly climbable but late in the day and without ice screws, we gambled on an easier option and headed up into the gully. A big ice bulge blocked our view but once bridging over it, things looked more hopeful, as well as a prefect thread runner in what was generally unhelpful rock. The icicle was the main flow but there was enough ice to jink left and back right to gain a V-groove which would have been easy had it not been full of unconsolidated snow. Still, we did out best to speed up it and get back to the rucksacks with just over an hour of daylight left. High Jinks (IV,4) seemed a good name.

It was very gloomy when we reached the bikes but a bit of urgency overcame our caution. My bike is not exactly top of the range and we were going pretty fast over frozen bumps, so it was showing signs of wear when we reached the main track. I rushed on to Ben Alder Lodge in fading (faded would be more accurate) light and stopped to get my torch out. Just as I realized my front wheel was loose, the torch went out and Dave disappeared along the track. I had this feeling it wasn’t my lucky day but then I could just about make out the track, so tried a short cycle and despite wobbling around with the loose wheel, it was better than walking. I had in the past cycled off the road in darkness and been lucky to get away with only a small but permanent lump in my shoulder, so I was nervous and walked some dark bits in the trees. But I was only half an hour later than the others and despite Dalwhinnie not having a pub, it was one of the best days of the winter.”

The North-East Coire of Beinn an Dothaidh. In the top left corner, the higher crag is split from the lower one, by a left slanting gully. Consolation Corner (IV,5) takes the faint corner that can be seen at one o'clock, running up the centre of the higher crag. (Photo Andy Nisbet)

Erick Baillot and Stuart McFarlane visited Beinn and Dothaidh on Sunday January 15. “Turf conditions were amazing and the cliff was icy,” Stuart told me. “Now all the main crag needs is a dump of snow!”

But instead of climbing on the main cliff, Stuart and Erick headed high up and left where there are another two smaller crags separated by an easy snow gully. The first crag is broken by a large terrace, with a rock tower above, and the second has a prominent corner running up the centre.

“When we looked up from the car park, the base of these small crags is higher than the top of West Buttress, which would explain why they were slightly hoared from Saturday’s south-west wind,” Stuart explained. “Clearly they deserved some attention, so we climbed the prominent corner on the second crag on ice, turf with some helpful neve.”

After emailing various Southern Highlands aficionados, the conclusion was that these crags were indeed unclimbed (although the central snow gully is known to have had ascents), and the result of Stuart and Erick’s exploration was the first ascent of the fine two-pitch Consolation Corner (IV,5).

Will Sim on a possible new VI,6 on the right wall of Y-Gully Left Branch in Coire an Lochain on Cairn Gorm. During a weekend of fine weather but very lean conditions, it was the high and secluded Y-Gully area that held on to the most wintry conditions in the Northern Corries. (Photo Greg Boswell)

Will Sim and Greg Boswell enjoyed three productive days in Coire an Lochain in the Northern Corries last week. On Friday January 13, they warmed up with Daddy Longlegs (VIII,9  with Adam Booth before making the second ascent of The Gathering (VIII,9) the following day. This exceptionally steep route on the pinnacle in the fork of Y-Gully was first climbed by Guy Robertson and Pete Macpherson at the end of February last season.

“The route was awesome,” Greg told me. “It was home to some very steep but positive climbing with two brilliant pitches. Not too hard for the grade, but deffo VIII,9, and much harder than Pic’n Mix.”

On Sunday (January 15) the pair climbed a route on the right wall of Y-Gully Left Branch. It started with a technical cracked wall leading into a hanging off-width chimney, before moving onto a turfy wall and finishing up right to the top.

“We weren’t sure if this was a new line or not,” Greg explained, “but the climbing was super enjoyable, and maybe one of the best routes of that grade that I’ve climbed. Will led the whole thing and we thought it was about VI,6.”

Roger Webb moving up the easier central gully section on the first ascent of The Diamond (V,4) on the South Buttress of Garbh Choire Mor on Ben Alder. Until this week, only one other winter party is known to have climbed on this remote 200m-high buttress. (Photo Simon Richardson)

Ben Alder was a natural choice for anyone looking for classic Scottish winter climbing last weekend. Its huge eastern corries are renowned for holding snow blown from the extensive plateau area, and the recent thaw and freeze were perfect for stabilising the snow. It is easy to have too much snow on Ben Alder however, (on both the crags and the approach), and since the mountain lies 14km (as the crow flies) from the nearest road, this is a serious consideration.

On a hunch, Roger Webb and I decided to visit the South Buttress of Garbh Choire. This crag has been on my hit list for over 20 years, and I was rather envious when the emerging team of Malcolm Bass and Simon Yearsley made two visits to the South Buttress with J.Clamp in March 1996 and added four fine-looking routes to the cliff. This was the first time anyone had climbed on the buttress in winter, and to my knowledge their routes are unrepeated, and nobody has climbed on the cliff since.

There are good reasons for the neglect of Garbh Coire’s South Buttress. It stands proud of the main corries and lies a little lower and strips more easily in a thaw. It is also a longer walk, and on the way you pass under the enticing Alderwand face in Garbh Coire Beag, which (quite understandably) has attracted the majority of the climbing attention on the mountain to date.

Roger and I left Dalwhinnie early on Sunday morning (January 15) and by daybreak we were looking across to a wintry South Buttress. As expected the gully lines were full of snow, but as a bonus, the more shaded north-east side of the buttress had caught a little of Thursday’s snow that had fallen across nearby Creag Meagaidh. Back in 1996, the fledgling Bass-Yearsley machine had very effectively scooped up the major lines on the cliff, but there was one remaining unclimbed feature – the impressive barrel-shaped buttress to the right of Raeburn’s Gully.

The buttress is defended by schist slabs at its base, so we decided to climb up into a steep overhung niche in the hope that a hidden through-route would take us through the steep lower section.  Our optimism was not completely misplaced, as we could see accumulated snow in the base of the niche that had to come from somewhere, but even though no hidden tunnel appeared, a steep groove behind a tower led us up into a series of icy grooves.

Five pitches later we thought it was all over, but a short final headwall loomed with tricky chimney and we emerged on top of the buttress with the sky turning red as the sun set behind us. We had enjoyed a classic Scottish winter outing, but our day was far from over. We still had to return 24km back to the car!

Duncan Tunstall on the first ascent of Left Wing Extremist (III) on Garbh Choire Mor. Over the past week, Andy Nisbet has added two routes to this ever-reliable corrie that cuts deep into the Braeriach plateau. (Photo Andy Nisbet)

Last week’s thaw has meant that new route possibilities have been rather thin on the ground recently (pardon the pun). Cairn Gorm in particular suffered badly in the warm temperatures, but Garbh Choire Moir on Braeriach can usually be relied upon to provide good conditions, even when other places are lean.

Andy Nisbet has made a couple of visits recently, so I’ll let him take up the story:

“Having seen a very bare Northern Corries on January 8, the best looking option for the next day was the snowiest, Garbh Choire Mor of Braeriach. I didn’t feel I could ask anyone else to make the long trip on spec, so headed off light and solo. Heading up the west slopes of Braeriach, all was as bare as Cairn Gorm but once I looked into the Garbh Choire I couldn’t believe how much snow there was.

My imagination increased the cornices to giant size, so I headed over to West Buttress in the Lower Corrie where the light was angled best for showing a gap. The right side of the buttress hadn’t been climbed and started with a deep slanting chimney with a thin strip of white. It looked way too hard to solo but it didn’t cost me anything to look and surprisingly it leaned back across the slope and was full of snow-ice. After that, easier slopes led to a steep top band which again had an icy break leading towards the cornice break. West Buttress Right Edge (Grade II) seemed an appropriate name for a traditional route.

The day had felt a huge effort and I found out why when I woke the next day with a streaming nose. Five days later I was just about better and little more snow had fallen. This time I knew there were conditions so asked Duncan Tunstall if he was interested in another visit. A summer picture showed a few possibilities but looking down into the corrie on a lovely day, they looked trivial. So it was back to the West Buttress to hope there was another line tucked in to its left edge. Snow conditions were now so good that a line of grooves proved easy and led up towards an older route. So we jinked left to an attractive looking icy groove which proved a bit tricky but finished suddenly on the final slopes and another cornice break.

It was such a gorgeous day that it was tempting to nip back down to Phoenix Gully, which was looking in fine nick, but common sense sent us back to the bikes and back to the road in daylight. The only naming snag was that we had climbed a route left of West Buttress Left Edge, so Left Wing Extremist (Grade III) came into being.”