Author Archives: Simon Richardson

About Simon Richardson

Simon Richardson is a passionate Scottish winter climber

International Winter Meet Day 6

Two new routes on Garbh Bheinn was the big news from the last day of the winter meet (February 28). The South Wall is very rarely in winter condition, but continuous storms had plastered it in snow making it a … Continue reading

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International Winter Meet Day 5

Heavy snowfall overnight on strong westerly winds resulted in dangerous windslab conditions on the fifth day of the International Meet (February 27). On Ben Nevis this confined teams to wind scoured cliffs such as the Minus Face, where the three … Continue reading

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International Winter Meet Day 4

On February 26, the wind dropped and all eyes turned to Ben Nevis with close to 40 climbers from the International Meet active on the mountain. The standout performance came from Peter Hoang (Canada) and Neil Adams who made an … Continue reading

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International Winter Meet Day 3

First of all, the big news from yesterday (February 24) was a new route on Minus Two Buttress on Ben Nevis by Maarten Van Haeren (Canada) and Andy Inglis. Calculus (VIII,8) takes a line directly through the overhangs that girdle … Continue reading

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International Winter Meet Day 2

The weather forecast for February 24 predicted Scotland would be in the eye of a storm but the exact timing of the anticipated heavy snowfall varied from forecast to forecast. Unfortunately, after a calm start it soon started to snow … Continue reading

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More Mullach nan Coirean

Nathan Adam and Suzana El Massri continued their exploration of Mullach nan Coirean yesterday with two new routes in Coire Dearg. New Kids on the Block (V,6) lies 10m left of Captain Caveman, and Turf Factory (VI,6) is on the … Continue reading

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International Winter Meet Day 1

After twelve months of planning, the 2020 International Winter Meet finally got underway last night when 55 climbers from 23 countries met at Aviemore Youth Hostel. After a slow start to the winter, the February storms have magically transformed the … Continue reading

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Butterknife First Winter Ascent

After their inspirational first ascent of Sapiens on Lost Valley Buttress on Tuesday, Tim Miller and Jamie Skelton are on a roll. On Thursday (February 20) they took the ferry across to Ardgour and made the first winter ascent of … Continue reading

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Crack of Dawn Second Ascent

Callum Johnson and Andy MacKinnon pulled off a major repeat on February 13 when they made the second ascent of Crack of Dawn (VII,8) on Sgurr Mhic Choinnich on Skye. Callum, who has had a very productive February with a … Continue reading

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Outstanding New Route in Glen Coe

In the late 1980s Rab Anderson was the driving force behind a group of mainly Edinburgh based climbers that popularised mixed climbing on the Northern Corries and Glen Coe. Routes like Deep Throat and Hoarmaster in Coire an Lochain were … Continue reading

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