Monthly Archives: January 2019

A Little Line on Nevis

The title of this post comes from an email that Toby Archer sent to me last week regarding a possible new line on the left wall of Number Three Gully climbed on January 4 when conditions all over the Highlands … Continue reading

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Three Excellent Early Repeats

“Having waited for what seemed forever for winter to turn up Simon Frost and myself drove up from Liverpool on January 20,” Dave Almond writes. “After a 4.30am start to walk over to Shelterstone to find it looking black we … Continue reading

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Hare Restorer in Corrie Fee

“Pamela Millar and I were out in Coire Fee yesterday (January 24)” Martin Holland writes. “We ended up high in the corrie and climbed a line starting below and right of The Comb and finishing to it’s right. There was … Continue reading

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Rudge and Wood’s Route

On January 19 Doug Bartholomew and Michael Barnard made the probable first winter ascent of ‘Rudge and Wood’s Route’ on Sgurr nan Gillean. This narrow dyke on the West Face of the Second Pinnacle on Pinnacle Ridge was first climbed … Continue reading

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First Grade VIII for Lurcher’s

On January 20 Steve Perry, Helen Rennard and Andy Nisbet put up the first Grade VIII on Lurcher’s Crag with their ascent of Shapeshifter. This route was a long-term project for Steve who had attempted this prominent line last season. … Continue reading

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Sunset Buttress Revisited

I’d been meaning to return to Sunset Buttress on Lochnagar for years. I first climbed it in 1994 when winter climbing in the Southern Sector was not very fashionable. Rick Allen and I made an ascent of the original summer … Continue reading

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The Goldilocks Zone

The Southern Cairngorms have been consistently colder than the northern part of the massif this winter, so the cliffs of Lochnagar quickly came into good mixed climbing condition after the welcome snowfall late last week. On January 18, James Richardson … Continue reading

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Winter Restarts At Last!

This blog has been unusually quiet for the last few weeks, because quite simply, there has been nothing to report. The warm weather over the Christmas period was followed by a stable high pressure system that resulted in almost no … Continue reading

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