Monthly Archives: January 2016

Tips for the Visiting North American

Josh Wharton concluded his trip report on the successful visit made by Steve House, Mikey Schaefer and himself in early January with some tips for the visiting North American. It’s always interesting to have an outside perspective on the Scottish … Continue reading

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Gentlemen’s Excuse Me

“I was out yesterday [January 21] on Geal-charn, Drumochter,” Martin Holland writes. “We were heading for the main Creag Dhubh crag, but some nasty snow conditions on the approach above the crag forced a change of plan. Gregor Ewing, Linda … Continue reading

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Scottish Winter Debut

“I drove up from Liverpool and met up with Ramon Marin on January 12,” Dave Almond writes. “Ramon is a super strong M15 ice climber but had only tried his first ever Scottish winter route with Dougie Russell that weekend. … Continue reading

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Bruised Violet – Second Ascent

Murdoch Jamieson and Guy Steven made the second ascent of Bruised Violet (VIII,8) on Beinn Eighe’s West Central Wall on January 20. Murdoch takes up the story: “Guy and I had made an arrangement with each other weeks ago to … Continue reading

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Far North Quartzite

Erick Baillot and Dave Kerr had a great weekend climbing on the quartzite cliffs in the Far North-West. “On Saturday [January 16] Dave and I had a short easy day on Bucket Buttress on Quinag,” Erick told me. “We repeated … Continue reading

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Reach For The Sky – Probable Second Ascent

Iain Small and Andy Inglis set out to make an early repeat of Snoopy (VII,7) on Fuar Tholl’s Mainreachan Buttress on January 17, but they found insufficient ice on the lower section of the route. Instead they made the probable … Continue reading

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Gothic Edge

Some late news just in –  John Crook and Peter Graham climbed a significant new pitch on Number Three Gully Buttress on Ben Nevis on December 31. “We started up the Direct Start to Gargoyle Wall, which without much ice … Continue reading

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Buffalo Ballet

On the evening of January 21, Helen Rennard and I were on our way to Skye when we received a phone call from Mike Lates suggesting that we may want to reconsider because the Cuillin had been thawing all day. … Continue reading

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Bamboozle Buttress

On January 16, Adrian Crofton and I visited Corrie Bonhard in Glen Clova and climbed Bamboozle Buttress (V,6), a direct line up the left-hand of the twin buttresses high up in the corrie. The right-hand buttress was climbed last year … Continue reading

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Two Repeats for Shoot The Breeze

On January 16, Andy Inglis , Murdoch Jamieson and Iain Small made the second ascent Shoot the Breeze (IX,9) on Beinn Eighe’s West Central Wall. This sensationally positioned route rose to prominence last year last year when it was featured … Continue reading

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