Monthly Archives: March 2015

Angels and Demons

Masa Sakano and Phil Ingle made an enterprising visit to the remote An Garbh Choire in the Braeriach massif on March 22 and added a long mountaineering route to the north face of Angel’s Peak (Sgor an Lochain Uaine). The … Continue reading

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Alas Poor Clachlet

Such a neglected hill; Clach Leathad in proper Gaelic. My Dad used to talk about about it affectionately as one of his favourites (also easily reached when no-one had cars), but then it was demoted as a Munro. And there … Continue reading

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Call Me Ishmael

Uisdean Hawthorn had a remarkable run of routes on Ben Nevis last week. The first three days were a prelude for the main event – a new route on Indicator Wall. But even so, Boomer’s Requiem, Le Panthere Rose, Astral … Continue reading

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Goodeve’s Buttress

Sunday March 15 was a glorious day on Ben Nevis. The sun shone and the air was crystal clear. After last week’s thaw the snow had re-frozen into hard neve, and the high-level ice routes were in superb condition. The … Continue reading

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Time Warp

Roger Webb and I visited the North Face of Aonach Beag on March 14. It was a memorable day on several counts – the weather was superb and we climbed a good new route – but most importantly, it was … Continue reading

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The Piece Maker

Iain Small and Blair Fyffe added another technical test-piece to Ben Nevis on March 10 when they made the first ascent of The Piece Maker (VIII,9). “After all the ice climbing recently I was pretty keen to get back on … Continue reading

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Far North

“All the options were too snowy, and I’m too old and wise for wading,” Andy Nisbet writes. “Steve Perry and I had a couple of scores to settle from earlier in the winter but neither looked promising. So the old … Continue reading

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The Shroud, The Secret and More

Following his successful Scottish hit in January, Tom Livingstone had another superb run of routes in February. Tom takes up the story: “Pete Harrison and I were keen for two weeks of hard mixed climbing, ideally in the North West … Continue reading

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Waive Wall in Coire Garbhlach

“Coire Garbhlach is a useful place when the Cairngorm ski road is shut, although it does mean I’ve usually climbed there in bad weather,” Andy Nisbet writes. But on March 2, the weather didn’t seem too bad, although there was … Continue reading

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Houdini Indirect Finish

On February 28 Rob Adam and Fiona Murray climbed a new finish to Houdini on Fiacaill Buttress in Coire an t-Sneachda. “After straying off route on pitch four of Houdini,” Rob explained, “we found ourselves at the right-hand end of … Continue reading

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