Tag Archives: Simon Richardson

The Wolves Are Running

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 … Continue reading

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No Success Like Failure

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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A Long Day’s Night

Roger Webb and I were keen to make best use of last week’s high pressure, so arranged a visit to Beinn Dearg Mor on Thursday January 24. This remote Corbett hidden behind An Teallach has an attractive north-facing corrie, but … Continue reading

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Jib on Skye

Sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind, and chase your dream. When Iain Small and I climbed on Blaven three years ago we were struck by the soaring corner-line of Jib on the north side of The Great … Continue reading

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Hostage to Fortune

We had big plans for a route in one of the great east facing corries of Braeriach, but despite a good forecast, the weather had other ideas. When Roger Webb and I started cycling up Glen Einich early on Sunday … Continue reading

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Clova Comes Up Trumps

January 1 was forecast to be a good day in the East, so Henning Wackerhage and I arranged to meet up in Glen Clova. We both had (party) commitments the night before which we meant we couldn’t meet up before … Continue reading

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Stormy Week

The weather over the Christmas –New Year holiday period was very challenging with high winds putting the hills out of bounds for much of the time (for sensible folk at least). Rather frustratingly, the fluctuating temperatures were on the cool … Continue reading

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Insurgents on Lochnagar

Lochnagar is my local crag, and over the years I have climbed almost all of its features, often by multiple routes. But there was one buttress that had eluded me – Sinister Buttress in the Southern Sector. Greg Strange wrote … Continue reading

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New Routeing with the BBC

On Friday December 7, Chris Sleight from the BBC and I climbed a new 150m-long III,4 buttress route on Ben Cruachan as part of a programme for Radio Scotland. With heavy snow at the end of last week making approaches … Continue reading

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Titan Cracks

There was a clutch of good mixed routes climbed on Ben Nevis last week, and I expected the mountain to be busy on Saturday December 1. Helen Rennard and I were attending the SMC dinner that evening in Fort William, … Continue reading

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