Author Archives: Simon Richardson

About Simon Richardson

Simon Richardson is a passionate Scottish winter climber

Recent New Routes

Away from the cutting edge it has been a relatively quiet season on the new routes front, but several good mid-grade routes have been climbed. Back in early December in Glen Coe, Jack Morris and Neil Kerr found Last Resort … Continue reading

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Busy Season at the Cutting Edge

The following ascents were initially reported on Instagram but unfortunately, I do not have first-hand details. All are significant ascents and are listed here to maintain the historical record. 8 December, Lochnagar, Nihilist (IX,9)First winter ascent by Greg Boswell and … Continue reading

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SMC Journal New Routes Website

The Scottish Mountaineering Club collects route descriptions for new routes climbed each year and publishes them in the SMC Journal. These descriptions are now available online via the following interactive website: < https://newroutes.smc.org.uk> The website is available to all and works … Continue reading

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Southern Highlands Twin Pack

On December 11 Dec, Stuart McFarlane, Di Gilbert and Rich Bentley visited Beinn a’ Chreachain in the Bridge of Orchy hills. Fuelled by stories of ‘unclimbed icicles’ by Erik Brunskill, I’d always meant to explore here,” Stuart told me. “Being … Continue reading

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Pollaidh Perfect

Iain Young and John Higham made a winter ascent of No.2 buttress on Stac Pollaidh via a variation of Original Route (an ancient summer Diff) on December 12. “It was a fabulous day out and our third attempt on the … Continue reading

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Base Jump Buttress

Nathan Adam, Huw Scott and Mike Lates made the first ascent of Base Jump Buttress (IV,5) in Coire na Banachdaich on Sgurr Dearg in the Cuillin in December 10. Nathan takes up the story: “Huw and I had a wee … Continue reading

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Winter Begins!

Once again, it’s been a slow start to the Scottish winter season and most of November was unseasonably mild. There was a three-day window in late November when the snowed up rock routes in the Northern Corries came briefly on … Continue reading

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Duncan Tunstall (1962 – 2022)

My friend Duncan Tunstall died last month. Duncan lived with an inoperable brain tumour for 20 years, but this never stopped him living life to the full. Duncan had huge energy, great imagination, and an unstoppable love for adventure. He … Continue reading

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The Fear Factory

On form Greg Boswell succeeded on one of the most prized objectives on Ben Nevis on March 6 when he made the first ascent of The Fear Factory (WI6R), the prominent hanging icicle on the lower part of the Little Brenva … Continue reading

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An Ice Surprise

Dave Riley and Andy Harrison had an excellent day on Lurcher’s Crag on February 25. They climbed a continuous run of ice between Central and Diamond gullies up the highest part of the crag resulting in the 365m-long An Ice … Continue reading

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