Tag Archives: Ben Nevis

Point Blank Repeats

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Simon Richardson

Saturday March 16 was a landmark day on Observatory Buttress with two repeats of the legendary Point Blank (VII,6) and two new routes on the buttress itself. Point Blank, which takes the steep rib bounding the right side of Point … Continue reading →

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Shooting Star

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Simon Richardson

The second magnificent addition to Ben Nevis fell to Robin Clothier and Richard Bentley who added Shooting Star (VI,6), a superb 500m-long rising line across the Astronomy and Orion faces. The route was climbed on February 23, the day after … Continue reading →

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Deadly Presence

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Simon Richardson

There were two truly magnificent routes added to Ben Nevis in February. First off was Iain Small and Doug Hawthorn who climbed the icy wall up and left of the ramp of Left Edge Route on Observatory Buttress on February … Continue reading →

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New Route on Ben Nevis

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Simon Richardson

Dave MacLeod and Helen Rennard added a good new icy mixed route on Ben Nevis on Tuesday February 26. “We didn’t have a definite plan on Tuesday and took up a large mixed rack and ice screws so we had … Continue reading →

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Early Repeat of The Good Groove and Much More…

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Simon Richardson

Every season I receive an exciting email or two from Tim Neill recounting his latest adventures in the Scottish Highlands. It’s always a long list of impressive new routes and repeats, which is very fitting, because Tim’s enthusiasm for winter … Continue reading →

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The Solution to Does Anyone Recognise This Route?

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Simon Richardson

Mystery solved! The unknown route climbed by Jeff Lowe and Henry Barber in March 1976 is Clough’s Chimney (VI,6) on Comb Gully Buttress. Michael Barnard sent me a photo of the route from February 2010, which clearly matches the shot … Continue reading →

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Does Anyone Recognise This Route?

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Simon Richardson

Nick Bullock is ice climbing in New England at the moment, and recently spent the evening with climbing legend Henry Barber. Henry climbed a probable new route on Ben Nevis with Jeff Lowe in March 1976, and passed on the … Continue reading →

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Grooverider

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Simon Richardson

Pete Davies, Donie O’Sullivan and Ross Cowie added a little bit of new climbing to the North-East Buttress area of the Ben on Saturday, February 2. “There was excellent snow ice on all the easier angled ground,” Pete told me. … Continue reading →

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The 2013 Scottish Winter Meet

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Simon Richardson

Despite being preceded by a week of stormy weather, the Scottish Winter Meet in Fort William from February 1 -3 was a great success. The winds began to die down on the Friday, but the day of the weekend was … Continue reading →

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No Success Like Failure

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Simon Richardson

When Iain Small and I climbed Rogue’s Rib on Ben Nevis in March 2011 we were struck by the unclimbed shallow groove to our left. It ran the full height of the buttress and was defended at its base by … Continue reading →

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