Author Archives: Simon Richardson

About Simon Richardson

Simon Richardson is a passionate Scottish winter climber

Binnein Shuas North-West Ridge Integrale

Masa and Yuki Sakano visited Binnein Shuas on February 16, and had an excellent mountaineering day following the crest of the North-West Ridge. Their ascent linked together three short routes with walking sections imbetweeen. The foot of the lowest buttresses … Continue reading

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Don’t Mention the ‘S’ Word!

On February 7, Ian Bryant and Catherine Hendrie added a good new route to Beinn Dearg in the Northern Highlands. “After backing off Penguin Gully as it was just horrible soft snow, we packed everything away and decided to just … Continue reading

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Stealth and Cunning in Glen Strathfarrar

“Since everyone else seems to be reporting new routes I suppose I ought to as well,” John Mackenzie told me. “Even more so, since you told me off for not doing so at the SMC dinner! So the ‘nose’ of … Continue reading

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1944 Route

During the BMC Winter Meet on January 28, Ian Bryant and Pawel Wojdyga from Poland made a rare winter ascent of 1944 Route on South Trident Buttress on Ben Nevis. Given the importance of the summer route (Brian Kellett made … Continue reading

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Freebird in Glen Prosen

I was delighted when I heard that Henning Wackerhage and Tim Chappell had succeeded on their long sought-after ice gully in Glen Prosen last weekend. It’s always immensely satisfying to get the conditions right on a route that needs ice … Continue reading

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Stormbringer Direct Direct

Willis Morris and Euan Ryan visited the North-East Coire of Beinn an Dothaidh on January 21 with the intention of climbing the classic line of Ménage a Trois. On the approach they were deflected on to a possible new line … Continue reading

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Creme de Violette

With an excellent weather forecast for the North-West on Friday January 7, Nick Bullock and Tim Neill headed up to Beinn Eighe with the intention of repeating Bruised Violet (VIII,8) on West Central Wall. Bruised Violet was the brainchild of … Continue reading

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Last Orders on An Teallach

One of the real highlights of the recent BMC Winter Meet took place on the last day (February 1) when Neil Adams and Kenro Nakajima from Japan made the first ascent of Last Orders (VII,8) on An Teallach. This striking … Continue reading

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Year of the Horse

On Thursday January 30, Iain Small and Blair Fyffe made a major addition to Glen Coe. “After climbing Sundance on Beinn Eighe with Murdo [Jamieson], I headed down to The Fort that evening to get out with Blair on Thursday,” … Continue reading

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BMC Winter Meet – North-West Highlands

The gales that raged throughout the BMC Winter Meet prompted many team to visit the North-West Highlands to seek some shelter from the South-East winds. This proved to be an unexpected bonus, as the Torridon Mountains were in excellent winter … Continue reading

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