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Pete Macpherson on the second ascent of Steam Train (VII,7) on Ben Nevis. This striking line takes the big corner between Orient Express and Newbigging’s 80-Minute Route on the First Platform. (Photo Guy Robertson)

On April 26, Guy Robertson and Pete Macpherson visited Ben Nevis. They had their eye on an objective higher up the mountain, but with the big routes buried under thick unstable snow, they opted for a safer low level option and made the second ascent of Steam Train which they thought weighed in at about VII,7

Steam Train was first climbed as a summer route by Doug Hawthorn and Noel Williams in July 1984 and graded HVS. Dave MacLeod and visiting US climber Alicia Hudson made the first winter ascent in 2007 and graded the route VI,7.

“It looks like Dave started up The Ramp and missed the first pitch of Steam Train,” Guy told me. “This was a notch harder than the top corner, so the grades make sense. It’s definitely a quality wee route and a good option when the weather and/or snow are conditions unfriendly!”

Doug Scott below The Smear (V) on Sgurr a’Mhadaidh just before the first ascent in 1979. The route was not climbed again for 34 years until Andy Huntington and Mike Lates repeated it this April. Scott later wrote that this was his hardest new route on ice. (Photo Jim Duff)

Mike Lates and Andy Huntington rounded off an exceptional 2013 winter season on Skye with the second ascent of The Smear (V) on the North Face of Sgurr a’Mhadaidh.

“Mick Fowler once told me that he’d only ever seen it touching down in the mega winter of 1986,” Mike told me. “I never thought it would happen again, but I watched it grow considerably over the first two weeks of April. Andy’s sailing to Oz this summer so needed very little encouragement to drop everything before the thaw arrived. Some pressure built with a text from Blair Fyffe asking if Icicle Factory was in nick, which I just had to duck and hope he didn’t interpret my silence as a yes – sorry Blair!

Heavy rain overnight luckily cleared by the morning (April 12) and we reached the freezing level just below the climb. After studying the B&W shot of Doug Scott beneath it (on the first ascent in 1979) Andy had rehearsed the committing start in his head. I was blown away by quite how rapidly he went for it and very relieved when he finally placed a screw after 20m. One swing explained Andy’s speed – the ice was perfect with first time placements virtually all the way. Having worried whether my arms would make it to the belay I found myself, instead, looking forward to leading the second pitch. Even a crampon coming off couldn’t distract from the fun, which was over far too soon.

Looking at the B&W shot again, Doug and Jim had far less ice than us – in fact it doesn’t even appear to be touching down. They must have been wearing wings that day!”

Perfect spring conditions on Ben Mor Coigach with the prominent North-East Ridge containing the Reid-Crofton Grade III and Hyperborea (IV,5) in the centre. (Photo Bob Reid)

Bob Reid and Ian Crofton visited Ben Mor Coigach on April 8 and did a little exploring.

“Conditions were excellent,” Bob told me. “There was plenty of snow and ice on the north faces and we had good weather. We walked in toward Lochan Tuath and went southwards into the corrie at the northern end of Ben Mor Coigach. There are several easy gullies in this corrie (which appears nameless on the 1:50,000 OS Map). We passed these by and headed for the left-bounding rib of the corrie. This is much more of a feature than we imagined, and became quite well defined as we got higher. It gave a very good mixed climb. We stuck to the crest and were delighted at the climbing we found. Sandstone steps, grooves and the odd chimney connected by steep snow led directly to the Coigach plateau where the climb abruptly ends.

We didn’t think a [modern] name appropriate for such a traditional route but suggest North-East Ridge of Ben Mor Coigach (285m Grade III).”

The story should have ended there, but it turned out that Bob and Ian were not the first to climb in this corrie. When Bob returned home the latest version of the SMC Journal had arrived with a description of Hyperborea (IV,5) climbed the previous winter by John Higham and Iain Young. “They call the hanging corrie Cadh’ a’ Mhoraire,” Bob explained. “And their route took a rather more serious challenge on the right (west) side of the North-East Ridge.”

Ian Magill on the first ascent of Highway to Hell (III,5) on the north side of the North-East Ridge of Beinn Ime. This is the highest cliff in Arrochar and provides worthwhile climbing when conditions are lean. (Photo Andrew Fraser)

“While on the subject of high, north facing and reliable crags in unreliable areas,” Andrew Fraser recalls, “we have been doing some routes on Arrochar’s highest crag – the north face of the North-East Ridge of Beinn Ime. Again this only had one route, being The Lost Highway (III). There are two crags, both of 100m. The left one has a ramp leading rightwards across it. This gave the excellent The Darkness Beckons (IV,4) with a surprising first pitch and a sting in the tail to Ian Magill and myself in February 2012. The vertical fault at the right end of the cliff gave Lane Restrictions (III,4) to Ian, James Dalgliesh and myself on April 7.

On the right-hand crag, the fault to the right of Lost Highway gave two pitches of pleasant Grade II climbing to Ian and myself on 28 November 2012, before Ian spoiled matters with a desperate tech 5 finish – Highway to Hell (III,5). At the far right end of the crag, Ian, James and myself did Innominate Gully 55m (I), in heavily banked conditions, on April 7. As the highest crag in Arrochar, and north facing as well, this is another crag, which has proved reliable in thin conditions.”On the right-hand crag, the fault to the right of Lost Highway gave two pitches of pleasant Grade II climbing to Ian and myself on 28 November 2012, before Ian spoiled matters with a desperate tech 5 finish – Highway to Hell (III,5). At the far right end of the crag, Ian, James and myself did Innominate Gully 55m (I), in heavily banked conditions, on April 7. As the highest crag in Arrochar, and north facing as well, this is another crag, which has proved reliable in thin conditions.”

A view of the lower right side of Winter Corrie in Clova, with the prominent line of Grampian Club Buttress (IV,5) cleaving the middle of the lower buttress in the centre of the picture. This photo was taken following a thaw two weeks after the ascent. The icy smears of the Lynx Variation (IV,4) can be seen running down the right wall of the (partially hidden) introductory gully of Wildcat Wall bounding the buttress on the left. (Photo Forrest Templeton)

On March 29, Forrest Templeton and Kevin Murphy visited Glen Clova and climbed the buttress between the initial gully of Wildcat Wall and Pinnacle Gully in Winter Corrie.

“We started at the bottom of the compact area of buttress to the left and below of Pinnacle Gully and followed a groove line to its left,” Forrest told me. “The line went up, veering slightly leftwards until it was possible to flit delicately leftwards across a large detached block onto a horizontal ledge system. This was followed to its left end and then a corner system was taken over a couple of bulges to ledges below a steep head wall immediately right of a narrow chimney. We belayed at the right-hand side of this ledge at some large loose flakes. The first pitch was a full 50 metres. The second pitch constituted the technical crux and climbed the constricting, thrutchy chimney before moving out left below the capping chock stone. This was about 20 metres long, but included having to go back a bit to get a good belay.

We had presumed this line to be unclimbed but an old channel peg was in situ just above the start of the chimney on the left wall. The whole route until that point gave the appearance of not having been climbed before as every crack was vegetated up, muddy and several bits were loose. Whether this peg had been placed in summer or winter, we don’t know, but it was placed next to an excellent wire placement. It could have been used to abseil off or for aid, as the technical crux was just above this. We suspect it was an earlier summer attempt by the Grampian Club.

The line itself was quite a good natural line, with some nice positions. We suggest Grampian Club Buttress as the name. It was probably IV,5. There is no obvious separate continuation line so it is short, but for those who would prefer something more challenging on the way up to do Wildcat Wall, it would be a worthwhile start. We finished up Pinnacle Gully on the day.”

Whilst enquiring about the above ascent with Andy Nisbet, The Lynx Variation (IV,4) to Wildcat Wall by Aberdeen regulars Bill Church, Brian Findlay and Greg Strange came to light. This was climbed on February 24 and takes icy ramps on the right wall of the introductory gully to Wild Cat Wall.

The 250m-high north face of Ceum na Caillich (the Witches Step) above Glen Sannox in Arran showing the new lines added this season. 1. Power Outage (II/III), 2. White Witch (IV,4), 3. Bewitched (IV,4). The only previous winter route on this crag was White Magic Groove (III,4), the wide gully on the left side of the main crag. (Photo Andrew Fraser)

“It was interesting to see you were on Arran on April 1,” Andrew Fraser writes. “At the time I was over on Arran dealing with the power related problems and all the other issues which went along with it. When mains power was reconnected on March 30 things quietened down and I discovered I had a day off, a wife and daughter who had headed off for sun in Malta and a willing accomplice in the shape of Nigel Marshall, Chief Instructor at the Arran Outdoor Centre.

Now Arran’s main problem is that it has few north facing crags and the rest are easily stripped in the sun. The highest north-facing crag is the north face of Ceum na Caillich, which is 250m high and bizarrely only had one existing route – White Magic Groove (III). So we went there and climbed the really pleasant and quite icy line of Power Outage 270m (II/III) up the middle of the face. To the right of this was a high crag with two tantalising groove lines. The left one gave The White Witch 140m (IV,4) to Ian Magill and myself on April 5 and just ahead of the thaw, the right-hand one gave Bewitched 145m (IV,4) to Ian, Nigel and myself on April 11. Both were excellent mixed lines. It is strange that the crag had been overlooked as it is high, north facing, easily accessed from North Glen Sannox, and probably gives the most reliable conditions in Arran.”

Looking up the gully of Centre Post on Creag Meagaidh. The icefall of Centre Post Right-Hand (V,5) is on the right, and the icefall on the left is Centre Post Direct (V,5). Centre Post itself (the original Grade III) takes an exposed traverse right to reach an easy snow gully parallel to the direct line. Centre Post Right-Hand goes straight up to exit in this snow gully. (Photo Michael Barnard)

Michael Barnard and Ewan Gourlay visited Creag Meagaidh on March 31 and climbed Centre Post, Right-Hand (V,5), the steep icefall on the right wall of Centre Post. “It makes a good alternative to the Direct, “ Michael explained. “Steep climbing up the 30m-high icefall gains the easy snow slope above, and 60m ropes may just allow the Centre Post belay (ice screws) to be reached. Alternatively good turf protection can be arranged on the left at 45m.”

It seems surprising that such a prominent feature has not been climbed before, but there again ice conditions on Meagaidh have been superb this year. There is certainly no record of an ascent, so please leave a comment if you have been this way before.

Dave McGimpsey enjoying superb late season conditions on the Northern Pinnacles of Liathach in Torridon after making the first ascent of Spring Roll (IV,4) on Meall Dearg. (Photo Andy Nisbet)

“When Spring is arriving, I can’t help thinking about a fantastic day I had climbing Spring Gully in April 1996,” Andy Nisbet recalls. “The gully is on the north face of Meall Dearg, an outlier of Liathach and I had spotted it thanks to the RAF who flew me over it a few days before. OK, they weren’t just being generous; they were flying out Brian Davison and me after a Jenga incident on Beinn Eighe which cost Brian a broken arm. It was a warm day but the snow was frozen in the shade, so the gully followed by the Northern Pinnacles gave one of the longest Grade II outings in Scotland. When we finished on the summit of Mullach nan Rathain and hit the sun, suddenly there was no snow and we changed into tee-shirts for the walk down. It was the end of a long winter and the mood of total relaxation stays with me still.

So when March 31 was going to be my last day of the winter (I had a hernia operation the next day), and the forecast was sunny, I couldn’t help thinking of Meall Dearg and that there was a gully line right of Spring Gully that would make a fine finale. I wasn’t sure it was going to be a great line, as an easy gully led up to an improbable barrier wall, but Dave McGimpsey was willing to take a chance, plus my ‘black book’ was running rather short on certainties.

The walk-in starts from the Beinn Alligin car park and goes round the back of Liathach, so it was a little worrying that such a low cliff might be bare, but at least it was a gully so the odds were improved. The ground was dry but frozen so the walk-in was so quick that we realised the cliff was in good nick before we really had time to worry. The next question was whether the barrier wall would be exactly that, but initially we found a steep wall at the base to worry us. It puzzled me, as I didn’t remember seeing it on the photos, but there was a steep icefall through it. But when we got to the icefall, a hidden snow gully appeared, almost disappointingly easy as we soloed up towards the barrier wall. It was too nice a day not to be optimistic, and sure enough the barrier was broken by a fine chimney.

We roped up with our 50m of half rope doubled and I set off. The chimney was steep but technical 4 at most and soon I was in the long groove above. Now Liathach sandstone doesn’t have many cracks so we decided Dave would untie from one end and I would lead on it single. That only helps if you intend to stop, so soon I was below a steeper section with still not much rope and nothing I trusted for a belay. Dave said there was 10m of rope left, and it looked about 15m to an easing, but it was one of those days where you had the feeling it would work out in the end, so I went for it. I think Dave had started climbing when I reached a good belay. Dave’s pitch was also very turfy and steeper than we expected but he reached easy ground just as the rope ran out. I expected the ground above just to be turfy slopes but actually the rib right of Spring Gully was well defined and we enjoyed some easy soloing right up to the crest of Meall Dearg.

Up here was very snowy, so the Northern Pinnacles were no pushover. They are very popular and the turf is slowly eroding, but I was still surprised how little was left in the crux chimneys. Some folk recently have said Grade III, and I wouldn’t disagree with them. The summit of Mullach nan Rathain was busy with Liathach traversers and not as warm as I’d hoped, but it was still crampons off and a fine roll back down to the car. Spring Roll was Grade IV,4.”

Martin Holland looking up the side stream in the remote Cama’Choire deep in the Central Highlands. The ice pitches of Barrow Boys (III) can be seen in the stream bed and the Left Fork breaking out left. (Photo Jonathan Foden)

Martin Holland and Jonathan Foden made two enterprising exploratory visits to Cama’Choire (between Drumochter and The Gaick) over the Easter holiday period and added three new routes.

“I haven’t heard of any climbing in there before,” Martin told me. “It’s pretty remote and we took the opportunity of the conditions to use skis to access the climbs, walking/skiing about 8 or 9km to get to the routes.

On Easter Sunday (March 31), we decided to avoid the crowds and walked/skied from the A9 just south of Dalwhinnie up the track past the old quartz quarry on Carn na Caim and down to Cama’Choire on the east side of A’Bhuidheanach Bheag. Cama’Choire is more of a steep-sided stream line than a normal coire, and I think it was formed by a glacial lake feature.

Anyway, we skied down the coire to the waterfalls shown on the side stream on the North side at Grid Ref. NN685785. We climbed the gully of the stream line in three waterfall pitches, each containing steepish ice sections, followed by some soloing up easier ground and icy steps above (route description below). Ski Sunday (III) gave some nice climbing on good, if hollow sounding, water ice. Once the angle in the gully eased back we put on skis and skinned up the gully and around to A’Bhuidheanach Bheag before heading back to Pt. 902m. The day finished with a glorious ski down the South side of Coire nan Cisteachan.

The following Saturday (April 6), we headed back in to Cama’Choire. This time we skied around from the quartz quarry to the Allt Mhic an Righ and descended the spur on it’s South side to near the junction with the Allt a’Chama’Choire. We then walked upstream to the junction with the North facing side stream at Grid Ref. NN68907865.

The gully of this side stream was generally easy angled Grade I or less snow, but steepened for a section in the middle. We soloed up to the steep section and climbed two lines. The 50m Left Fork sneaking around a crag on good ice and narrowing before popping out on to the open snow slope above and Barrow Boys, the main icefall, which gave a good 50m Grade III pitch on excellent ice in two steps. The main icefall could probably have been climbed at II to the right, but wouldn’t have been as much fun. We then soloed up the easy rest of the gully before cutting out, skinning around to the summit of Carn na Caim and descending Coire Bhathaich and the burn draining Coire Uilleim.

The routes aren’t classics as the climbing isn’t continuous and it’s mostly escapable/bypassable on the gully sides. However, both gullies provided some very pleasant water ice climbing and great scenery in a very quiet location. I’d guess the routes could vary from lots of ice in lean snow conditions to completely banked out in very heavy snow.”

Dave McGimpsey on the first ascent of Allt Coire nan Arr (III) in Applecross. The first ascensionists did not carry ice screws, so they had to lead the route with minimum protection. Even so, Andy Nisbet commented afterwards that it was a ‘relaxing day out.’ (Photo Andy Nisbet)

“I had been out six days in a row, all to the West from home, so I needed somewhere near the road,” explains Andy Nisbet. “Just like the Bealach na Ba, where the road goes almost through the cliffs. Why not a direct finish to an older Grade I on Sgurr a’ Chaorachain unimaginatively called Far North Gully? I printed out an extra large version of the 1:25000 map so I could find it, but of course the weather was perfect and gave a stunning view of Skye and many other islands.

Now I admit my memory was a bit vague but I did remember how rough the descent was, down beside a steep branch of the stream called the Allt Coire nan Arr. The legs were protesting as we zig-zagged between the tiers, and Dave McGimpsey’s legs must also have been unhappy when he pointed out that the stream itself was fully iced and was that not a possibility. But I had this finish in my head and wasn’t going to give up easily. But as we descended further and below the snow level, even I had to reluctantly admit that there wasn’t even a single snowflake down here and no rule book can be bent that much. So we headed towards the stream and looked in to a pleasant surprise. There was continuous ice even on the horizontal sections and the various pitches were complete, even if the flickering light of flowing water could be seen through the ice.

The only snag was that we hadn’t taken any ice screws. We were trying to save our legs by going light and as usual, this suddenly didn’t seem like a good idea. So being my fault, I set off leading the first pitch knowing there wouldn’t be any runners. But actually any angle of ice where you aren’t on your arms feels quite straightforward after several weeks of ice climbing, and the flow of water underneath made the ice very pliable with minimal dinner plating. Dave quickly caught on to this too, so we climbed three long pitches very quickly, leaving Dave with the final wide fall, the one which caught his eye originally. It was quite steep but in steps, so soon we were sitting in the sun having our lunch. “Just like the climbing the ghylls in the Lakes”, said Dave who’d lived there for a few years and only recently escaped back to Scotland.

After a break, we went and looked down our intended line but I couldn’t really see any worthwhile direct finish. It’s funny how memories can play tricks. But then I did remember that Martin Welch often used the top pitch of our stream for ice practice with his clients, and I can remember his lamenting more than once that he’d love to climb the stream below but that it was never frozen. And that was in the mid 90s when winters were really cold. I suspect that there had been too much water and the long dry spell had given us a very lucky break. The Allt Coire nan Arr gave a 200m Grade III on March 30, and as far as I know, Martin Welch never did climb the lower pitches.”