Author Archives: Simon Richardson

About Simon Richardson

Simon Richardson is a passionate Scottish winter climber

Revisiting the Third Man

Andy Nisbet and Helen Rennard notched up their first winter ascents of the season with an ascent of The Third Man (IV,6) on the Northern Corries, on Thursday October 20. This was the first time that Andy had climbed the … Continue reading

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New Winter Season Underway!

The wind swung around to the North on Monday and winter began on the Scottish hills with the first significant snowfalls of the season. On Tuesday October 18, Ledge Route (II) on Ben Nevis was climbed and Alan Halewood made … Continue reading

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Trilogy Traverse

The first snows arriving on the Scottish hills last week reminded me of a recent conversation I had with Brian Davison. Brian is probably best known for the first winter ascent of Mort on Lochnagar. When he climbed it with … Continue reading

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The View From The Other Side

When Ines Papert and Charly Fritzer visited Scotland last February they were accompanied by German photographer Hans Hornberger. Hans has just compiled a brief video that captures some of the highlights of the trip including Charly making the second ascent … Continue reading

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2011 Winter Season Review

As temperatures shoot up across the country, winter is receding fast, so let’s take a look back on what has been a truly extraordinary Scottish winter season. Before attempting to single out any individual performances or trends, the part the … Continue reading

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Doug Lang (1941 – 2011)

Iain Small and I had just descended from the Ben the Saturday before last when we heard the terrible news that Doug Lang had been found dead in an avalanche in Coire Fee earlier that morning. The short message on … Continue reading

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Running Wild

Some late news – on Wednesday March 16, Andy Nisbet, Garry Smith and Jonathan Preston added another new addition to this year’s bumper crop on the Far West Buttress on Beinn Eighe. Andy continues with the story: “Like me, Garry … Continue reading

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West Central Gully… New Line Shocker!

I received an intriguing email from Pete Benson last week… Hi Simon I have just been looking through my photos of last year with Guy [Robertson] of West Central Gully [on Beinn Eighe], and he was confused. “Did you not … Continue reading

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Rogue’s Rib Rediscovered

For Iain Small and I, it was another tough call this weekend on where to go. East or west, mixed or ice were the choices, but in the end our decision was simply based on access. After the heavy snowfalls … Continue reading

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Godzilla

Pete Benson, Nick Bullock, and Guy Robertson added another demanding route to the Giant’s Wall on Beinn Bhan on Monday March 14. Godzilla (it was something of a monster) takes a direct line to join the last two pitches of … Continue reading

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