Monthly Archives: January 2022

How to Report a New Route

Scottish new routes are recorded in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal which is published annually. In addition, new route descriptions are stored in a database which forms the basis for SMC guidebooks. The database aims to be comprehensive and currently … Continue reading

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January Update

January has been disappointing month for Scottish winter climbers. The weather has been dominated by warm high pressure systems and any snowfall has quickly disappeared with sudden thaws. The dry air and associated wet bulb effect has allowed the remaining … Continue reading

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Mistral Early Repeat

On January 9, Dave Almond and Dave Keogh made an early repeat of Mistral on the West Central Wall on Beinn Eighe. First climbed in winter by Andy Nisbet and Brian Davison it has a fearsome reputation and is certainly … Continue reading

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Lurcher’s Repeats

Nathan Adam has had a busy winter so far, notching up some excellent ascents in the West and East. Here he describes a couple of early repeats on Lurcher’s Crag: “Yesterday (January 9) we had a grand day on Rottweiler … Continue reading

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Jacobite Buttress

Neil Adams, Nathan Adam and Garry Campbell made an excellent addition to Sgurr Ghiubhsachain’s Jacobite Buttress above Loch Shiel on Friday January 7. This newly developed cliff is described in Neil’s highly anticipated Winter Climbs West guidebook that will shortly … Continue reading

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Iron Man Ridge

It’s been an unsettled season so far, but Wednesday January 5 offered a possible opportunity to escape the recent gales and storms. The weather was clearing from the west, so at first glance, the Central Cairngorms was not a logical … Continue reading

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Geologists’ Ridge

Iain Young and John Higham had a superb day on January 5 making the first ascent of Geologists’ Ridge (IV,4) on the 450m-high south -west face of Conival in the Northern Highlands. Iain and John have a strong track record … Continue reading

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