Author Archives: Simon Richardson

About Simon Richardson

Simon Richardson is a passionate Scottish winter climber

New Winter Season Finally Underway

It’s been an unusually slow start to the Scottish winter season. Normally by the second half of November winter climbing is in full swing, but temperatures have been higher than usual and the weather very unsettled. Winter routes were climbed … Continue reading

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Updated Mini Guidebook to Creagan Cha-no

Just in time for the new winter season, the Scottish Mountaineering Club have published a new edition of their mini-guide to the easily accessible Creagan Cha-no on the east side of Cairn Gorm. The guide is fully comprehensive and includes … Continue reading

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Book Review – Scottish Rock – Volume 2 North

Gary Latter first published Scottish Rock – Volume 1 South in 2008. This covered popular rock climbing venues from Arran through Arrochar, Glen Coe and Ben Nevis to the Cairngorms. A year later, Volume 2 North completed the series describing … Continue reading

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Book Review – Tears of the Dawn

Tears of the Dawn was first published in 2013. It is an autobiographical account of Jules Lines’ climbing life, mainly as a solo climber. The book was originally self-published and became a hugely successful title winning the prestigious Boardman Tasker … Continue reading

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Martin Moran (1955 – 2019)

Last year was a terrible period for Scottish mountaineering with Andy Nisbet and Steve Perry’s accident in February, and then three months later, Martin Moran was lost in the Indian Himalayas. Personally, I found it difficult to reconcile that three great … Continue reading

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End of Season Wrap Up

With settled high pressure and cool nights, winter climbing conditions have looked superb over the last month, but with the hills close due to Coronavirus, it is all been rather academic. However. I thought I’d take the opportunity to catch … Continue reading

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Ewan Lyons (1969 – 2020)

On March 13 Ewan Lyons, known to some as Captain Solo, died as a result of a fall on Beinn Dearg. Dave Kerr has written the following tribute: Ewan was one of the most prolific and accomplished Scottish winter soloists … Continue reading

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Hindmost Ridge

The first ascent of Hindmost Ridge on The Devil’s Point on March 4 demonstrated that there are still major unclimbed features even in well-known parts of the Highlands such as the Cairngorms. Iain Young, John Higham and Kenny Brookman’s ascent … Continue reading

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The Irony and Scotophobia

Dave Almond had an outstanding trip up to Scotland last week and came away with two new routes on Beinn Eighe. Dave takes up the story: “I drove up on the March 7 and started my week with a very … Continue reading

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Israelite First Winter Ascent

Guy Robertson and Greg Boswell pulled off a long sought after new route on March 4 when they made the first winter ascent of The Israelite (VIII,8) on Creag an Dubh Loch. This summer E4 provides superlative rock climbing but … Continue reading

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