Category Archives: Commentary

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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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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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 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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Can Do on Nocando Crack!

I left out the Guy Steven and Steve Holmes’ ascent of Nocando Crack (VII,8) on January 29 in Coire an Lochain in the Northern Corries in my last post January Scottish Winter Diary because Nocando Crack is neither a new … Continue reading

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