Scottishwinter.com

The top icefall of Daft Laddie, a new Grade III in Coire Crom in Glen Affric, can be seen in the centre of the photo. The rest of the route is hidden below and left. (Photo Matt Smith)

Matt Smith had a fine adventure in Glen Affric on March 29:

“I went in to Coire Crom on the south side of Loch Affric thinking the west gully of Meall a’ Ghraidh might give a good solo and interesting way up the hill. However, once in the coire, it didn’t look great, but a couple of ice smears were visible to the right. I wandered up to have a look, and found the right branch of the Allt a’Choire Chruim to be sufficiently frozen so I headed up that.

Starting at about 470m (NH150203) as Grade I with Grade II (or III) steps available if you wanted, it got more interesting the higher I went (and with less scope for easy options). There was some water running behind, but mostly it was really solid ice all the way, which was nice and chewy in places. It finished at a nice wee ice fall that might be tech 4 taken direct, but since I was soloing, with my old blunt Raptors, B1s and blunt walking crampons, I took it left to right.

It was about 100m or so, and worth grade III, I think, and similar in difficulty to West Gully Beinn Udlaidh. It felt a bit pokey with blunt kit and not having told anyone where I was going, all sorts of scenarios were running through my head on the top icefall. ‘Daft Laddie’ sprung to mind as a route name!”

Simon Yearsley on the first ascent of ‘Left-Hand Amigo (tech 5/6), with the icefall of Central Amigo (tech 5/6) and Right-Hand Amigo (tech 5/6) to the right. (Photo Chris Pasteur)

“Chris Pasteur and I made a quick dash into Eilde Canyon on March 27, inspired by tales of ice-encrusted Glen Coe,” Simon Yearsley writes. “The canyon was in superb condition, with some of the icefalls we’d seen part-formed in previous years looking very climbable. We were fairly short of time (we had to get back to Perth at a sensible time), so we walked into the base of the canyon and nipped up the right-hand sister line of ‘El Mini’ which gave ‘El Micro’ (III) – possibly the shortest recorded ice route at a massive 8m… but worth recording as it is really obvious and well-positioned in the canyon.

We then walked up the Grotto Icefalls area where ‘Hongos’ looked in superb condition. This had been climbed in January 2011 by Simon Davidson and Neil Carnegie, and looked far too tempting to walk past. It gave a superb 30m of steep ice, which definitely merited the technical grade of 5. I’m beginning to think that overall grades are a bit irrelevant in Eilde, as most of the routes are single pitch ice lines with usually 25 to 40m of continuous ice, so it’s probably more relevant to focus on the technical grade and then describe any significant issues to do with sustainability in the description. Anyway, after the repeat of Hongos we were keen to see what the centrepiece of the canyon – ‘The Three Amigos’ – were looking like. They are the impressive vertical ice pillars on the western side of the canyon, the central one we climbed in the first wave of the Eilde exploration in December 2010, but as far as I was aware, the left and right-hand were still unclimbed. Until now that was! We chose ‘Left Hand Amigo’, as it looked the steepest, and it certainly was… an initial vertical 4m wall, then a slabby section to a rest under the imposing headwall. I must admit to hanging around for quite a long time, summoning the courage to launch onto the steep upper section. A good screw placement, a deep breath, a quick shout of ‘OK, watch me here, Chris’ (shouted as casually as I could of course…) and then up I went. Chris’s belaying was spot on, despite being distracted by a wee scuttling mouse that was ploughing furrows under the snow all around him… obviously hungry! Anyway, back on the route, the plumb vertical section went on for what seemed like ages (in reality about 5m), then the angle kicked back to 85 degrees for a several metres before a gradual easing towards the top. It was a beautiful and superb pitch, with the ice pretty amenable and chewy. For its technical grade we thought very very very top end 5, or more realistically tech 6.

We popped back to the abseil to retrieve our sacks, but I couldn’t resist a quick solo up the easier angle ice-flow opposite the abseil point to give ‘Raton Rapido’ (II), named in honour of the scuttling mouse.

It was great to get Eilde canyon in such good conditions, and pleasing that its’ not just a product of the ‘uber-winter ‘ of 2010/11. We weren’t able to get out for a few more days, but knowing the canyon was in good condition and the weather should be cold enough for three or four more days at least, we did do the selfless act of posting on UKC about how good the conditions were. Neil Carnegie and Scott Elliot saw the post and nipped in on March 30 and repeated Central Amigo, enjoying the steep climbing on good plastic ice and finding it quite ‘goey’ for the grade. They finished by climbing the last of the remaining 3 Amigos: Right Hand Amigo. This went at about the same technical grade as the other centre-piece pillars, i.e. very top end tech 5, or tech 6. It gave another excellent quality steep ice route which Neil described as ‘a really good steep pillar, after a cracking and very featured groove lower down. Really nice to climb fresh ice for a change!’

With the warmer weather upon us, Eilde is off the agenda now, but it does remain an excellent and easy accessible pure ice venue. It requires a good freeze, but is pretty resistant to thaws, and may well be in condition fairly often – probably a good indicator is Beinn Udlaidh… if Udlaidh is ‘in’, then Eilde Canyon is worth a visit! I’ve updated the topo to show the new lines done this winter, plus to update the grading to just technical grades. The topo is available to download at http://www.bigtreecampervans.com/eilde-canyon.”

Martin Holland setting off on the delicate slab on the second pitch of Hell Mend Ya (V,4) on The Brack during the first ascent. (Photo Ian Mcintosh)

On March 25, Martin Holland returned to The Brack with Ian Mcintosh and Steve Langton and straightened out the Abyss Variation that Martin had climbed earlier this season in January.

“We had the usual discussion about grade,” Martin told me. “It definitely felt bolder than any of the IVs I’d done in the area with some moves a fair way above warthogs, so hence the V,4 grade. It’s probably worthy of a star for the moves up onto and off the flake/pinnacle.”

Harry Holmes leading the crux pitch of Raven’s Edge on Buachaille Etive Mor. This excellent route was first ascended in winter by Aberdeen climbers Rick Allen and Brian Sprunt during the great January storm in 1984. They avoided the crux open book corner by taking the rib to the right. The summer route was first climbed in its entirety by Rab Anderson and Rob Milne in March 1996. (Photo Harry Homes Collection)

Harry Holmes, Helen Rennard and partner made a rare repeat of Raven’s Edge (VII,7) in Glen Coe on March 26. The superb route takes the narrow buttress to the right of Raven’s Gully

“We had the mountain pretty much to ourselves,” Harry told me. “There were two other cars in the car park but we didn’t see anyone else all day. We found there to be two quite hard pitches, those being the second and third. The second pitch is a thin traverse and the third is a long sustained corner. The off-width horror show I was expecting at the top never seemed to really materialise.

I think VII,8 might be a fair grade as it felt harder than any  tech 7 I’ve done before, and was reasonably sustained. Conditions on the Buachaille were looking really good and even Ravens Gully looked nicely iced!”

“It was a great route,” Helen confirmed.” Harry did really well leading. There was quite a lot of loose rock (a big rock came off when he was leading the crux). We climbed up a very icy Great Gully to get to the route – quite an approach!”

Andy Nisbet enjoying the first ascent of the 150m-long Fraoch Choire Icefall (V,5) in Glen Shiel. (Photo Dave McGimpsey)

“It’s great what unusual conditions have been produced by this cold spell lasting long into the season,” Andy Nisbet writes. “When I spotted a waterfall in an unfrequented valley by Munro bagging without reading the Munros book, I would never have guessed I would be climbing it so soon. Dave McGimpsey and I wanted a short day, and this north-facing icefall at 550m in Glen Shiel seemed ideal. All it needed was a free-falling waterfall to be a frozen pillar. We parked at the site of the Battle of Glen Shiel and hoped this wasn’t going to be another day when the raiders were defeated.

So we walked south up the valley towards the east end of Creag nan Damh towards where a waterfall is marked on the 1:50000 map and hoped for the best. Rounding the final corner was a “wow moment”, as not only had it formed but it was way thicker and the route longer than I had dared hope. The aim had been to belay behind the pillar and then launch up, so we had brought a huge number of ice screws just in case. But as we arrived at the bottom, we could see that it was a wide screen, no doubt spread out by the cold gales, which we’ve had recently.

The start was some 90m of low angled ice, around Grade II or III, but a pleasant warm-up for the main event. There was obviously no gap behind the ice, so we belayed in a more photogenic position on an excellent peg. We could see that a lot of snow had blown around the waterfall as it froze, so as well as the blue ice, there was whiter coloured material which would be somewhere between an ice crust over powder and perfect chewy glue. The start, leading left towards the main fall, was somewhere in between but then improved enough to take an ice screw. As I reached the line of the waterfall, I started to hear water hitting my helmet. I could see it was only a couple of vertical moves to escape out on to a hanging slab but still felt the need to place another screw in the compacted slush which seems to form when water is still flowing. The potential soaking speeded me up and I knocked off a couple of large icicles before launching up on small umbrellas, which are typical of waterfall ice. Once on to the slab, I found the ice better than the crust below and placed another couple of ice screws before some more steep moves up left led back into the fall line. But it was all dry this time although I could see the water flowing underneath and one of my placements made a weird sucking noise when I removed the axe. Soon I was into the easier upper gully and digging out an earthy crack with my newly sharpened axes.

Dave soon joined me and headed on up to the top. It was an easy walk back down to the sacks and an easy walk down to the car. Despite collecting wood for Dave’s stove on the way down, we were back at the car at 1pm and plenty of time to be real tourists and stop at a café for tea and cake. This is what winter climbing should be, my sunburnt nose contrasting with the gales and spindrift which we often find. It felt quite exposed and the shape seemed unusually friendly, so we gave it V,5.”

Neil Wilson on pitch 5 of Reuben’s Groove (IV,5) on Beinn Dearg during the first ascent. This seven-pitch route takes the broad tiered buttress between Wee Freeze Gully and Edgeway. (Photo James Edwards)

James Edwards, Neil Wilson and Simon Nadin added a good new route to Beinn Dearg on March 24.

“I went into Beinn Dearg off the Ullapool road on Sunday with Neil and Simon,” James told me. “I was amazed to see another two parties on the crag! It was quite a novelty to have people to chat to on the walk in (and useful to walk just behind them into the easterly gale racing down the approach path). Conditions are currently very good there, and all the classic gully lines looked good and several have seen ascents in the last few weeks. We climbed a new line, Reuben’s Groove (IV,5) on the buttress between Edgeway and Wee Freeze Gully. Seven long pitches of great turfy mixed climbing with great positions. It looks like winter is far from over!”

Susan Jensen leading the upper corner of The Sting (V,6) on Creag an Socach in the Southern Highlands during an early repeat in December 2010. (Archive Photo Iain Small)

I received the following email from Michael Barnard yesterday:

“Thought I’d join the general discussion from a while back about The Sting on Ben Dorain, having climbed it (more or less) yesterday [March 24] with Andy Wilson. I’d note that the line drawn on the photo-diagram in Scottish Winter Climbs is incorrect – it shows the route going up left of the right-slanting groove (pitch 2).

We weren’t sure of the exact line on pitch 1, and not liking the slabby nature of a couple of ways tried, ended up just coming in from the right (as for Promised Land etc). The right-slanting groove is a good pitch and the corner above a real joy and well-deserving of all the praise bestowed on it. We thought V,6 fair for both – protection is fine where it matters on the groove and of course brilliant on the corner which we found very positive and certainly not tech 7 (unless you get it verglassed I suppose). Modern axes without adzes weren’t a problem as much was solved by some good old-fashioned hand jamming!

It was above this point (as might have been expected given the name!) that we found the main difficulties. Andy decided the big groove on the right looked more amenable (it’s suggested in the guide as an alternative), but found it capped at the top by a steep slabby wall, so he downclimbed a bit then moved up and left to belay. The only line of weakness I could see above was a narrow groove up the headwall, which was a bit heart-in-mouth – few reliable placements and very little gear. It felt like a VI,5 pitch but was tech 6 climbing so bold VI,6 I guess? There was an in-situ peg at Andy’s belay so presumably someone may have finished this way before. Does Golgotha go up here?”

It’s a long time since I’ve climbed on Creag an Socach, but I do remember that Golgotha finishes well right of Second Coming. (In fact, Defenders of the Faith finishes up Golgotha). If anyone has any idea where Michael and Andy may have finished, please leave a comment.

Andy Inglis on the first ascent of Moonshine (VI,7) on Stob Coire nan Lochan. This steep hanging groove branches out left from Moonshadow on the subsidiary buttress that overlooks Twisting Gully. (Photo Neil Adams)

Neil Adams and Andy Inglis added a new line on Stob Coire nan Lochan in Glen Coe on March 16.

“Moonshine takes the obvious slim corner to the left of the top pitch of Moonshadow,” Neil explained. “To get to it, we started up Twisting Gully RH, then continued up another groove just right of the easy ground on Moonshadow (although this was also pretty straight-forward – you’d be as well just going up Moonshadow). There’s then a steep 30m pitch up the groove to the top of the buttress.

It’s probably VI,7 overall – quite sustained tech 7, but never quite reaching tech 8, and not long enough difficulties to justify more than VI overall. Worth at least a star, probably 2, and a good option if the lower buttresses are stripped (as they were last Saturday).”

Iain Small climbing through the storm on the crux pitch of The Wolves Are Running (VII,7) on Ben Nevis. This bold icy mixed route takes the vertical headwall between Rubicon Wall and Atlantis. (Photo Simon Richardson)

A direct line up the Observatory Buttress headwall had been on my mind for several years. I’d probed it a couple of times before with Never-Never Land and Atlantis, but it was clear that the true challenge ran straight up the centre of the wall. From afar the headwall looks ominously steep and blank, but I was fairly certain from the earlier forays that there would be a hidden weakness. The only way to find out for sure was to go and have a look.

As usual, Iain Small was not perturbed by a healthy dose of uncertainty, (although he was a little circumspect about the conditions), so we decided to give it a go on Saturday March 16. Whist the mid level ice routes on the Ben were in exceptional shape, and Observatory Buttress itself looked particularly icy, Iain was not sure about the quality of the thinly plated ice. The minor thaw a couple of weeks before had improved the major lines, but it had lifted the more ephemeral ice just a little from the underlying rock.

Iain’s hunch was correct of course, for although the first pitch went smoothly enough on well iced slabs, by the time we reached mid-height the going had become rather tenuous with the thin ice easily shattering and leaving blank Nevis rock underneath. This was just about acceptable when the angle was not too great, but as we belayed under the imposing headwall, it was clear that the climbing was now going to step up a notch.

The crux pitch linked a series of discontinuous grooves, stepping down and left, from corner to corner until a longer groove led up to the final undercut vertical icefall. Iain climbed with absolute precision, and in all my years winter climbing I have never come across anyone else who could have led such a steep, delicate, technical and poorly protected pitch. The ice allowed only a singe hit before it shattered, and sometimes Iain mantled on his lower axe to reach through and avoid the most delicate sections. When he gained the long groove, Iain announced the ice was good, yet when I reached that point I found that the ‘good ice’ was indeed attached to the rock, but it was less than five millimetres thick. The final icefall was also worringly thin, and we reached the Girdle Traverse Ledge in the building storm that swept across the mountain that day, unknowingly bumping into the Point Blank and Night of the White Russians teams.

After a long discussion we graded the climb ‘bold VII,7’ rather than anything harder, because better ice on the headwall may turn it into a less fragile experience. Nevertheless, The Wolves are Running seemed an appropriate name for a particularly frightening route.

Pete Davies on the superb first pitch of Night of the White Russians (VII,6) on Observatory Buttress. Conditions on the mid-height ice routes on Ben Nevis have been superb for several weeks now, resulting in a steady stream of good new routes. (Photo Pete Davies Collection)

The first of the two new routes on Observatory Buttress climbed on March 16 fell to Pete Davies, Donie O’Sullivan and Tim Marsh when they added Night of the White Russians (VII,6), which starts on the right flank of the buttress about 20m left of North-West Face.

“We climbed two long pitches to reach the Girdle Traverse Ledge,” Pete told me. “The first pitch was brilliant technical icy mixed, and although the second was much easier, it was a natural continuation. We then climbed to the very top of the large snowfield on Observatory Buttress, and continued up the prominent icy corner above that is capped by a prominent square roof. There were some bold moves passing rightwards under the roof to gain an easier chimney leading to the crest of the buttress. Another pitch up the crest, in common with the other routes, then led to the plateau.

In case you’re wondering about the name, it refers to the previous Saturday at the wedding of some fellow Scottish winter devotees when apparently vast quantities were drunk, although know one can really remember!”