Author Archives: Simon Richardson

About Simon Richardson

Simon Richardson is a passionate Scottish winter climber

Minus One Direct

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Simon Richardson

On Wednesday March 10, Guy Robertson, Pete Benson and Nick Bullock made a stunning winter addition to the Minus Face by following a line approximating to the four star summer E1 classic Minus One Direct. The trio followed the footsteps … Continue reading →

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Lonely Road to Seana Braigh

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Simon Richardson

I was a little surprised when we met Malcolm Bass and Simon Yearsley in the North Face car park on Sunday night to see a couple of mountain bikes strapped to the back of Simon’s camper van. Clearly this prolific … Continue reading →

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Minus One Buttress at Last!

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Simon Richardson

I got home at 3.30am on Monday morning after an amazing journey up Minus One Buttress on Sunday March 7. Iain Small and I climbed the first four pitches of the summer route North-Eastern Grooves (VS) and then continued up … Continue reading →

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Fear of the Cold and Dark

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Simon Richardson

Iain Small and Pete MacPherson are on a roll. On Tuesday March 2 they visited the Eastern Ramparts on Beinn Eighe and came away with a new VIII,8 – Fear of the Cold and Dark. They started up the summer … Continue reading →

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Mainreachan Adventures

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Simon Richardson

A long standing problem in the North-West was put to bed yesterday (March 3) when Guy Robertson and Iain Small made the first winter ascent of Sherlock on Fuar Tholl’s Mainreachan Buttress. This steep HVS line on the vertical right … Continue reading →

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Alligin’s Unclimbed Face

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Simon Richardson

Roger Webb had mentioned to me a while back about a big unclimbed face on Beinn Alligin, so on Sunday February 28 we decided to take a look. We knew that Torridon had escaped much of the heavy snow that … Continue reading →

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Udlaidh’s Ghost Laid to Rest

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Simon Richardson

On February 23, Andy Turner made the first ascent of Behind the Sun (VII,7) on the lower tier of Beinn Udlaidh. This gently overhanging line is based on a series of icicles that lead to an ice curtain leading through … Continue reading →

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Anubis

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Simon Richardson

On February 20, Dave MacLeod stunned the winter climbing world with the first winter ascent of Anubis, a challenging summer E8 6c, high up on Ben Nevis. Dave MacLeod made the first summer ascent of Anubis, which follows an intermittent … Continue reading →

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Pioneering on Stob Gabhar

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Simon Richardson

Andy Nisbet and Duncan Tunstall have had a great couple of days exploring Coire Dhomhnaill (Donald’s Corrie) on the north side of Stob Gabhar. The climbing potential of this remote cliff was first discovered by D.Stewart and N.Wightwick in April … Continue reading →

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Danger Mouse

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Simon Richardson

Dave Hesleden and I were so inspired by Ross Hewitt and Neil Morrison’s attempt on Mousetrap last weekend, that we tried a new line to its right on Wednesday February 16. Our route was based on the natural weakness of … Continue reading →

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