MacMountaineering Reports

(Sponsored by MacMountaineering Inverness updated 05/04/2007)

For full weather details see Geoff Monks weather reports for the East Highlands here or West here (Adobe PDF reader required)

The Amazing Ben	pitch 1 Albatross	Pitch 2 Albatross
Pitch 3 Two step	Enormous Cornice Two Step	Two Step Cornice with Tower Ridge in Background

3rd April 2007...Another outrageously brilliant day on Ben Nevis today! A few people about on the big classic lines but not what you would call busy. Yet again we headed up Observatory gully to make the most of the fat conditions on Indicator wall area. We decided on Albatross VI,5 which gave 3 stunning pitches on almost perfect ice with lots of interest all the way. We were on the summit by mid-day, so with plenty of time on our hands we nipped down number 4 gully and across to Two Step Corner V,5 which seems to have had countless ascents this winter. Unfortunately the route was a bit chopped up but non the less gave three pleasant ice pitches with an interesting cornice finish. With the slightly milder weather on the way the enormous cornices in that area will eventually collapse, so anyone heading near any of these routes may want to bear that in mind.
A great end to my winter!

Observatory Gully and Orion Face	looking across to Gardyloo Buttress
The thin second pitch Atrctic Turn	Twin ramps

27th March 2007... The beautiful spring weather continues with crystal clear skies and fantastic ice. We decided to head up to Indicator wall and repeat a new line Simon Richardson and Iain Small did on Sunday. Artic Tern VII,5 follows Albatross for the first pitch before heading up and left on to thinly plated twin ramps then finishes fairly directly. The second pitch up the twin ramps is both delicate and serious but superb climbing. Yet again the hill wasn't too busy, but for those who were out it would have been a memorable day.

Gardyloo Buttress	Top corner Satanic Verses	Pitch 2 Satanic Verses
Parties on the Direct start to Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and Arctic Turn	Main Pitch The Great Glen

25th March 2007... Another stunning day on the Ben with Spring like weather and great ice. After an extremely busy Saturday, Sunday was very quiet on the hill. We were the first up Observatory Gully with no parties on any of the routes above Observatory Buttress Direct. First we climbed The Great Glen VI,5 which comes into condition once in a blue moon. An easy grade 3 pitch is followed by a fairly thin but awesome pitch up the slabs and round the arête then finishes as for Smiths. Wasting no time we headed back down Tower Gully in case we were suddenly inundated with crowds and beaten to a route. This however didn't happen as the crowds didn't materialise so we traversed across to Satanic Verses VI,5 which we climbed in 3 excellent pitches. Nevis ice at its best.

Pitch 1 Psychedelic Wall	Top corner Psychedelic Wall	Gremlins above Murdo's head
Observatory Buttress and Gully	Looking across to Quickstep	Chimney on Thompson's Route

Friday 23rd March 2007...Stunning conditions with perfect sunny weather on the Ben today. Murdo and myself headed up Observatory Gully which was quite quiet for a change and headed for Psychedelic Wall VI,5 which looked in great condition.3 superb pitches with a wee sting in the tail on the top corner - Great! Afterwards we headed over to number 4 gully where we met our mates who had just done Five finger discount IV,4 which they raved about. After abseiling into number 4 gully we nipped over to Thompson's Route IV,4 which again was tremendous with interesting climbing on great ice all the way and even some bomber rock gear.

The man from Tain on the Stain	Murdo at Ruthven

20th March 2007...With these cold northerlies and loads of snow forecast for the north west, we left Inverness at 4 am and made the long slow drive up north in full on blizzard conditions with the intension of heading to Bucket Buttress on Spidean Coinich, Quinag's southerly top. Facing north-east and at 700 metres we felt this Steep Quartzite buttress would be perfect as it would have been scoured by the northerlies and less turf dependant than the predominantly sandstone surrounding crags. Unfortunately there was very little snow believe it or not and most of the hills north of Coigach had a mere dusting with the buttresses on Quinag, Suilven and the Culs virtually black. On our way back we thought about heading into Beinn Dearg which had a lot more snow but felt it was both too late and also probably not frozen. It seems there's a lot more snow further south than in the far north west. So with it being far to late to do anything else we settled for some horrendously cold bouldering at Ruthven boulder. A very poor substitute for Quality North West winter climbing. No doubt Beinn Eighe would have caught more snow and been a safer bet but that's the chance you take with the north west.

Beautiful start to the day	Graeme approaching over lap Salvation V 7	On overlap Salvation
Graeme on cracked slabs	James coming up 3rd pitch Salvation	Face like a spanked arse

Sunday 4th March 2007...When we walked in to Coire an t-Sneachda at 6.30 am on Sunday it was a glorious morning with clear blue sky and virtually no wind. The forecast was for severe weather later in the day so we thought we might sneak a route in before it came. We headed for Salvation V,7 which goes up the cracked slabs right of White Magic and the Genie on Aladdin's buttress. We had three pitches of superb climbing with the second pitch up the cracked slabs definitely the highlight. By the time we got to the top of the third pitch the weather could only be described as MENTAL! We headed up to Aladdin's seat with the intension of Abseiling down Aladdin's Couloir but by this time it was a raging storm so we retreated down Salvation via abseil. The walk out was extremely difficult as we were being blown clean off our feet and struggling to stay on our feet. It was with great relief that we got back to the car, shattered with red raw faces and eyes. The wind was that strong at the car park that the car was rocking side to side with us in it!. Not a nice experience and definitely a lesson learnt, i.e. stay at home when bad weathers on the way!

Indicator wall 26th Feb 2007	2nd March 2007 Beads wig blowing away in the wind at the top of Smiths original route

2nd March 2007... A bit quieter on the Ben today compared to Monday when we were last out. On Monday we ended up doing Caledonia V,5 as all the other routes which were in condition on Indicator wall were mobbed. Unfortunately Caledonia wasn't in as good condition as things like Psychedelic wall or Albatross as some of the ice where buried was a bit rotten. Today (2nd March) we headed up to Indicator wall again but our chosen route had queues on it so we headed over to Gardyloo buttress. We headed up the first pitch of Kellet's route but due to thin conditions traversed on to Smiths Original route which gave an excellent, steep, but fairly unprotected pitch. The neve provided good tool placements but not screw placements. As the guide suggests the original line is definitely a bit steeper and more sustained than the icicle variation. The buttresses are looking whiter than the start of the week with the fresh snow from the past couple of days.

looking across to Carn Mor Dearg Arete and the Ben

7th February 2007... Stunning weather at Aonach Mor today, with wall to wall sunshine and virtually no wind. A short day was in order after the long day on Beinn Eighe yesterday. We decided on Stirling Bridge which was thinly hoared but with ice in the cracks and great neve at the top slab. Unfortunately one rest spoiled an otherwise great and very strenuous route. Never mind.

Liathach	chimney pitch	East Buttress pitch one
chimney		Murdo on top

6th February 2007... Went to Beinn Eighe today with plans of doing Pelican on the East Central Wall but because there was insufficient snow in the upper right branch of East Central Gully we gave it a miss. What is supposed to be a fairly easy approach up a snow/ice gully was in fact a loose steep blocky chimney. Instead we did East Buttress IV a classic mountaineering route with spectacular vies and positions. The triple buttress had a good dusting of snow but lower down the turf was quite soft. Superb weather for most of the day. As a point of interest we saw no ice what so ever in the back of Liathach.

Looking up to Smiths Route Indicator wall and Gardyloo Gully	Ian Exiting the Cornice	Donnie on Indicator Wall
Chris Pulling through Cornice	Chris on Tower Scoop III

2nd February 2007...Ben Nevis has lost a lot of snow in the past week during the thaw with a lot of the crags like Carn Dearg, the west side of tower ridge and the Minus face stripped of snow and ice. Point 5 and Hadrian's have fallen down as have most other route in the area. A wee drop in the temperature last night and today was enough to freeze up some of the existing snow and ice high up on the mountain. Smiths Route looked great with the icicle just a continuation of the upper ramp. We headed up Tower Scoop which had a fairly rubbish first pitch but it improved to give a good second pitch. We then headed over to Indicator wall which had superb ice and good neve all the way up to a steep cornice finish. We were surprised at just how good the ice was considering the recent thaws. Groups also on Good Friday climb which also looked good. Very few people on the hill today. The next few days might see the limited routes on the Ben get a hammering!

North East Buttress & Douglas Boulder	Carn Dearg Buttress	Delicate traverse on Sod's Law
Pitch 1 Route 2 Direct	Pitch 2 Route 2 Direct

20th-23rd January 2007...The four of us had the CIC hut to ourselves for three days at Ben Nevis which was luxury. There's a lot more snow about now with very deep drifts up in Coire na Ciste and Observatory Gully. Enormous cornices have now formed at the top of number 5 gully and above most of Coire na Ciste. On Sunday someone was avalanched out of Tower Scoop but luckily not injured. We didn't fancy trail bashing through all that snow so Graham and myself headed to Carn Dearg and did Route One Direct VI,6 (lower tear only) which was in great condition, the second pitch of which gave a thought provoking crux up a cracked slab with just enough protection. That same day Donnie and Beads had a good day on South west Arête III, on the Douglas Boulder. A lot of fresh snow fell during the night with high winds creating horrendous spindrift but by morning it cleared up and turned out a beautiful day so Graham and myself headed back up to Carn Dearg. This time we did Route Two direct start VI,6 the first pitch of which felt desperate and verglassed to death, and then headed up Route one VI,6 which gives a logical and direct route up the crag with a difficult crux right at the top. I couldn't fit in the finishing chimney so pulled through the overhang on the left via an ice choked crack. As more snow fell that night we decided against going up into Corrie Na Ciste the next day and instead headed back again to Carn Dearg where we did Sod's Law V,6 which is just to the left of Route one. It starts up a steep crack before following turfy grooves up to the large overhangs. From there you make an excellent exposed and delicate traverse across slabs crossing route one and finally finishes up a steep crack. A great route every bit as good as Route One. That same day Donnie and Beads did North Trident Buttress III, which they found to be in nice condition with good neve higher up on the route. With all this fresh snow about the conditions are variable with the steeper mixed lines being in better shape than a lot of the ice routes which seem to be a bit buried with horrendous approaches. We had a look at Waterfall Gully but the bottom pitch wasn't formed properly although things like Gemini and the shroud were building quite nicely as was the Curtain. A good thaw freeze cycle should see a lot of the classics come into fine shape. Fingers crossed!

Looking across to Ewen Buttress & No. 2 Buttress	Pete below the crux bulge on Fallout Corner	Donnie on the long corner on Fallout Corner
William Woodhead sent in some great photos of Savage Slit and Fallout Corner above...

18th December 2006....Beautiful day in Coire an Lochain today. Very little change from yesterday apart from a little less hoar. The turfs is great and lots of good neve. The western side of the Coire on the approach to No 4 buttress has a few more patches of slab about compared to the other side of the Coire but all in all there seems to be a great base for the winter to come. Fairly quiet today with only a few parties about. We climbed Fallout Corner which was in fine condition with just enough hoar and not to much verglass.

No 2 Ewen and no 4 Buttress	Ewen and No 4 Buttress	pulling over crux
	Pitch 2 Coronary Bypass

Sunday 17th December 2006....We encountered the best conditions so far this season today in Coire an Lochain. The snow that's left from thaw of last week has turned to great neve with only a few patches of slab about. There were a few parties out on routes such as Andromeda IV,4, Astroturfer III, Ewen Buttress III, Y right hand II Savage slit V,6, Fallout Corner VI,7 and Sidewinder III. A couple of friends had a good time on Astroturfer finding good turf and mostly helpful neve. We headed to no 1 Buttress to do Coronary Bypass V,7. The turf on the route was superb and most of the cracks were clear of verglass making the climbing perfect. Most of the route goes at about 4 or 5 apart from a seriously vicious 10 metre corner which gives technical and very strenuous climbing. Walking out it looked like Coire an t- Sneachda was a wee bit black so Lochain was definitely the place to be. Great day!

The Migrant	Oversear Direct, Hoarmaster & Hookers corner	Oesophagus
Savage Slit, Bulgy, Gaffers Groove & Deep throat	Savage Slit, Prore, Fall out Corner & War and Peace

2nd November 2006...Went for a wee look in Coire an Lochain today. Found variable turf from sludge to fairly firm turf. There was only one party I could see and they were on Oesophagus III, which is by the way supposed to be an ice route. As you can see from the pictures the buttresses are fairly hoared up but there is a distinct lack of snow so loose blocks will be a real problem. Savage slit would have been perfect under these conditions.

4th April 2006...I had a great day on the Ben on Tuesday. We did Vanishing Gully then headed over to Point 5 but it was too busy so headed up Tower Ridge which was in beautiful alpine nick.
Looks like we might get a few more routes in before its all over.

1st pitch Smith's route	Belay on Smith's	Crux pitch on Smith's
Left Wand, right Diadem	Top pitch on the Wand

20th March 2006...Back to Creag Meagaidh where the conditions are great. The walk in is now far easier with less snow on the approach.1959 route was looking a bit leaner than the other day but everything else was looking stonking! We headed for Smiths Gully V,5. Although a little chopped up in places lower down, the route was in perfect nick with first time placements nearly the whole route. The route gets steadily steeper pitch after pitch with the crux being vertical. Definitely one of the best ice routes in the country.
21st March 2006...Back again to the ice climbers playground that is Meagaidh. With the sun softening the snow by day and then refreezing at night the snow pack is solid. There has been some fresh snow on the hill with a few patches of wind slab on the approach to routes and scarp slopes but nothing to much. A couple of friends did Staghorn Gully III and found good neve and a nice wee ice pitch to finish. We had a go at The Wand V,5 which had all types of ice on the one route from dinner plating steel to solid neve to beautiful toffee. The umbrellas were beginning to form but not big enough to have to climb round. The was no cornice above the route but over to the right above Cinderella the cornices were pretty big. It felt very alpine on the top with blue sky and sunshine (for short periods) but out of the sun the north easterlies were bitter. With this weather set to continue for a few more days it looks like things are only going to get fatter.

Post Face & Pinnacle Buttress	Inner Corrie	On the Pumpkin
Belay....?	Steep ice	North Post pitch 5
North Post		Chockstone ice pitch

17th March 2006... We went back to Meagaidh today and did North Post V,5 which again was excellent. The approach to Meagaidh is pretty good at the moment with mostly consolidated snow. Lots of people about enjoying themselves. Scottish winter climbing is just the best!!

16th March 2006... Creag Meagaidh is in superb condition. All the classic routes are looking excellent i.e. Smiths Gully, 1959 route, Post Haste, Last Post, South post, Centre Post, North Post, Staghorn, South Pipe, Pumpkin, Wand, Diadem, Pantomime and others. We did Pumpkin V,4 which was superb.

Coire an t-Sneachda 8th March '06

8th March 2006... We had planned to head over to Carn Etchachan but when we arrived at point 1141 and the snow was still soft so we decided to do something in the Northern Corries. Looking across to Carn Etchachan it looked well plastered as did both Coire an t-Sneachda and Coire an Lochan. After the milder weather of the last 24 hours the snow pack now has moisture through it which if we get a good freeze should make for excellent climbing conditions. We walked round to Fiacaill Ridge and abseiled into Belhaven which like everything else was plastered in snow and hoar. The climbing although time consuming with all the clearing was excellent with the snow helping the feet a bit. It was a very mild day out of the wind and the snow was falling of the crags through out the day. Lets hope we get some cold weather soon!

1st Pitch 3 Day Grooves	Winter Traverse Stac Pollaidh	Stac Pollaidh with Cul Mor to the left and Cul Beag to the right
	Cul Beag and Loch Lurgainn	Beinn an Eion with Sgurr an Fhidhleir behind

5th March 2006... Great day on Stac Pollaidh today although less snow than we had expected. The surrounding hills were looking spectacular in full winter garb and not surprisingly were looking a bit whiter than Stac Pollaidh. We headed round to the north face which offers a variety of routes all roughly about the same grade. We decided on 'Three day groove' IV,5 which goes up a perfect groove with a line of turf in the middle before pulling left through a roof on to easier ground then up another corner to the top. The route was a lot harder than expected and i took a wee fall on the first pitch. The turf was variable with some very dry and crumbly some soft and some perfect. From below it looked like there was little snow about but on the route there was a fair bit of powder on the ledges and with intermittent blizzards blasting in from the north and whipping up spindrift it felt Baltic. The sun came out on the top and out of the wind it felt quite warm reminding us how little it would take to strip the hills in the north west at this time of year. We then did a traverse of the hill for the first time in winter nick which was superb and highly recommended! Then it was back to blizzards. Out of interest a couple of climbers who spoke to my mate at the bottom of the route said their mates backed of The Nose on the Fiddler due to soft turf.

West Buttress	1st Pitch Pas de Deux
Steep....!	3rd Pitch

2nd March 2006... With the hills plastered and the roads hard going in the North West and the Cairngorms out of the question for the moment we headed for the first time to Beinn an Dothaidh. The south west seems not to have been affected by all the recent snow fall (so far) and the road was fine on the way down. We headed for the North East corrie as we had planned to do Menage A' Trois but found it to be a bit too lean. So we went for Pas de Deux V,6 which goes up the barrel shaped buttress to the left of Cirrus. (Cirrus IV,4 by the way looked a bit thin at the bottom but climbable and good above). Pas de Duex follows an awkward ramp out to the left then back right up a wee corner continues further right to a short wall which gives first class climbing! you continue over to the left edge of Cirrus. The 3rd and crux pitch goes up the left side of a slot then up a steep wall, before finishing up easy ground. There is endless brilliant turf, so much so in fact that I only torqued once on the entire route. The climbing was magic from beginning to end and never felt that difficult because of a near constant stream of bomber turf placements.
There were a few parties out today, a couple of friends were on West Buttress III and found it extremely turfy and fairly easy for the grade. Another party abseiled of Clonus which had very little ice on the slab.
Great Day.

Observatory Ridge	Looking over to Point 5	Carn Darg in Background
Brenva Face Moonwalk	1st pitch Moonwalk	Ben Nevis Summit

25th and 26th February 2006... Up at Ben Nevis for a couple of days at the CIC hut. Conditions are better than they have been but not exactly great over all. The snow that fell earlier on this week and last has settle down and the buttresses were looking a lot more black than they were. We headed up to Observatory ridge and started via the alternative ice pitch start which takes you to the terrace. The ice was totally crap, rotten and made for a rather scary pitch. The ridge itself was fairly lean which made the first crux pitch up the slabby left facing corner quite unnerving with very little for the feet. The second crux pitch had superb climbing with good tool placements and felt quite exposed pulling round the bulge. There were several parties on the ridge including two Italian Guides with two clients each who felt the need to try and push pass, I informed them that they were now in Scotland and not the Alps and asked them to wait but they pushed pass anyway. What ever happened to 'when in Rome' ignorant twats. Anyway a very cold wind was coming out of the north east so there was loads spindrift around especially down Point Five. Lots of parties out on routes such as Point 5, Zero, Slingby's, North East Buttress, Tower Ridge, Number 3 Gully Buttress (which looked good) and a very thin Observatory buttress which was reported to be 'interesting'.
Next day 26th we headed up to Point Five which was reported to be in good nick. We hadn't expected to be climbing ice this weekend so had taken mixed tools and stubby crampons so after one and a half pitches of tool ripping climbing we decided to bail. Having never done Point Five I would like to save it for excellent rather than 'just climbable' conditions. We then went up to have a look at tower scoop which had had several parties the day before and were similarly unimpressed by the look of it, so made our way around to the Brenva face which was basking in sun with several lovely looking routes. We climbed Moonwalk IV,3 which gave an excellent first pitch on solid ice followed by a couple of easy pitches, a bit of moving together and then two more quality long ice pitches to the top. Well worth doing! Bobrun and Cresta also looked good.

22/02/06 Looking along dyke to Ben Dearg	North Buttress Ben Dearg (route goes up rib left of Inverlael gully right of centre on picture)	22/02/06 1st Pitch possible new line?
	4th Pitch
21/02/06 Stob Coire Nan Lochan	21/02/06 1st pitch Crest Route	Climber starting last pitch of Crest Route (at edge of buttress)

22nd February 2006...Crystal clear and very cold in the North west today with visibility down to about 100 miles! The walk up Gleann na Sguaib on the way to Tower of Babel (Beinn Dearg) was bitterly cold with a light wind coming out of the north east.On closer inspection we found that Tower of Babel was far to lean as it doesn't hold much snow at the best of times, (guide book says for best results should be done in a blizzard). The north and west facing buttresses were far more wintry so we decided to try what we think is a new line just to the right of Inverlael gully and to the left of Inverlael Groove. The route goes up a prominent rib for about 160 metres following turfy ramps, grooves and corners and then about 40 metres of easy ground to reach the dyke. An enjoyable mountaineering route which we gave III,4.The turf was variable some good some bad. Fantastic weather and great views.

21st February 2006...Went to Stob Coire Nan Lochan today where there was plenty of fresh snow in the coire. Had planned to do Scabbard Chimney but it was completely buried and as we only had crampons and not tennis rackets for our boots we decided to give it a miss. We decided to do Crest route V,6 on the right edge of North buttress which gives steep, exposed and very positive climbing. There were lots of parties out on routes such as Tilt, Ordinary route, Intruder,  Pinnacle Buttress Groove and Dorsal Arete. We spotted a few brave headers in some of the gully lines which with all the fresh unconsolidated snow looked nasty, with one party abseiling out of from SC Gully. There's more snow south and west of the Great Glen than in the North West as we were to find out the next day.....

Aladdin's and Fluted Buttress	Towards Coire Domhain	Carn Etchacan & Shelterstone
Carn Etchacan in background	Hell's Lum crag	Top pitch Deep Cut Chimney

7th December 2005...Well below zero at the Cairngorm carpark today. Crystal clear and very icy on the walk in to Coire an T-Sneachda. A fair difference in the snow pack today with better consolidation making for easier walking. The corrie was looking great today with everything well plastered. It's the first time I've been able to actually see the buttresses because of clag in over 2 weeks. We decided to head over to Hell's Lum and see what the crack was. It felt very alpine with the sun hitting the top of the Fiacaill Buttress turning it a peachy orange. Carn Etchachan looked very impressive as did the Shelter Stone crag in (near) winter condition. A few patches of windslab on the way down Coire Domhain with loads of avalanche debris under Hell's Lum crag made the approach a bit exciting. Hell's Lum looked very disappointing with none of the ice routes in condition, even the Escalator looked poor. We decided on Deep Cut Chimney IV,4, approaching it direct via snow covered slabs. The first pitch in the chimney had rotten ice and snow and believe it or not soft turf (turf in corries is very good) making it fairly tricky. The next pitch still consisted of crap snow and turf but because of the narrow chimney neither need to be used, rock being the better choice. For the last pitch you climb over chock stones and go deep into the back of the chimney for at least 10 metres before back and footing straight up to jammed chock stones and an unusual finish. By this stage it was pea soup, so compass out and back to the car.

Red Gully	Aladdin's Mirror Direct

6th December 2005...Above zero at Cairngorm carpark. Felt quite mild on the walk in with the snow soft and a bit slushy under foot at first but improving with height. Coire an T-Sneachda was clagged in and there seemed to be a fair bit of fresh snow since Sunday. We expecting some good snow conditions with a bit of consolidation but unfortunately it was not to be, with deep snow and a layer of powder on top. I climbed Broken gully in difficult powdery unhelpful snow then Goat track gully with a distinct lack of ice then went on to Goat Track right hand variation which gave a 10 metre ice pitch with alarmingly crap snow/ice at the top. I then went onto Red Gully which surprisingly also had next to no ice. The Northerly wind picked up during the day adding to the already thick hoar. Out of the wind it didn't feel that cold (just below zero) We nipped round had a look at Mirror Direct which was fat enough to give a wee half pitch of grade 4 on (for the first time this day) QUALITY ice! The only other team we saw were on The Genie.

Aladdin's Buttress	2nd pitch Pot of Gold	Top pitch Pot of Gold

4th December 2005...In Coire an T-Sneachda today. The car thermometer read 3 degrees at the carpark. It seemed very mild on the walk in with wet soft snow. We were surprised to see the buttresses well hoared up with everything looking very wintery. The Mirror Direct looked like it was building up nicely. The trail breaking was horrendous on the way up to The Mess of Pottage with soft knee to waist deep snow. The temperature was hovering about 1 degree with moisture heavy in the air. We half expected the hoar to start falling of the buttress but it was just cold enough to hang on . We decided to do The Pot of Gold V,6 which follows a fault come chimney line to the right of The Message. There was a fair amount of ice about in the cracks, corners and slabby sections making foot and tool placements pretty solid. Needless to say the turf was bomber. With the cold weather forecast for the coming week we should see some of the ice routes coming into nick.

my pics didn't come out!

27th November 2005...the Northern Corries are plastered in snow! It took us two and a half hours to walk in to Coire an T-Sneachda today. Near on zero visibility and deep snow made for slow and difficult progress. Expecting to see the Coire scoured by all the northerly winds of late we were surprised to see the buttresses (what we could see of them) plastered and a fair amount of snow in the gullies. We headed up The Genie V,6 on Aladdin's Buttress which follows a corner system to the left of White Magic. Although a bit buried in places the route was in great condition with delectable climbing on great torques. The route starts of by following a ramp left before pulling through a bulge into the corner system. From here the corner continues for two excellent pitches the first of which is the awkward crux , the second a bit easier but more sustained.
The forecasted winds didn't arrive until about 3pm and the snow fell on and off throughout the day giving moderate blizzard conditions. We descended via Aladdin's couloir which had some dubious snow and plodded out of the corries by headtorch light. With this much snow and hopefully the right weather conditions things could be looking good!

ice usually banked out	Coire an Lochain	slabby ice
toffee ice!	ice and mixed	mixed!

20th November 2005...The temperature was reading plus 3 at the Cairngorm carpark today and both Coire an T-Sneachda and Coire an Lochan looked depressingly black compared to the day before. We decided to walk into Coire an Lochan for a bit of exercise if nothing else. Due to the exceptionally frosty weather of the last few days and minimal snow the stream running down to the right of number 4 buttress had frozen giving about 150 metres of grade 2 ice with the odd bulge at about 3 if you chose the best line. After this a short snow slope led up to the upper right section of Coire an Lochan which is guarded at the top by a 40 metre buttress split by 3 prominent grooves. We roped up and took the centre groove, half of which was grade 3 ice and the other half heavily verglassed mixed with a couple of awkward moves of about 5 then some welcome solid turf. Claggy and cold in the wind on top. Almost warm in the coire! Not what we came to do, but great none the less.

A wintry Coire an Lochain	1st pitch Deep Throat

18th November 2005....A few parties out today taking advantage of the superb weather and climbing conditions in Coire an Lochan. According to the car thermometer it was minus 4 at the car park but luckily there was virtually no wind in the Coire so it didn't feel that cold. We found superb conditions on Deep Throat V,6 on number 4 Buttress with solid turf, no ice in the cracks and plenty of hoar. There were parties on quite a few routes including The Migrant, Central crack route, The Inquisition, Astroturfer and The third man. Hopefully these conditions are a sign of things to come, then again that might be asking a bit much!

2nd pitch Hybrid
solo climber on Hybrid!	sunset over Fiacaill Ridge

17th November 2005...Cold and settled conditions in Coire an T-Sneachda today with the cloud coming and going through-out the day. The Buttresses had a good covering of hoar but all the gullies have virtually no build up of snow. We decided to do Hybrid IV,4 on the Mess of Pottage which gives 3 fairly steady pitches of 4. The turf was fairly solid in places but where insulated by a few inches of snow on the bigger ledges it was best avoided. We then went on to do Hidden Chimney Direct which gave quite a stiff 45 metre grade 4 pitch (usually a bit easier with consolidated snow on the slab) then finished via the chimney.

Coire an Lochain 9th Nov '05

9th November 2005...Beautiful day , had a wee scramble about just to see what the hill was like, and it was better than I expected.

Starting first pitch	Starting last pitch

13th March 2005...A near constant fiercely cold wind blasted in from the north today on Liathach making Umbrella falls IV/5 almost painful to climb. The spindrift was pretty bad most of the time which gave us the proverbial 'face like a spanked arse' look. The route itself was quite lean and not really in the best of nick. The first pitch dinner plated quite badly ,the second short pitch was rotten and thin at the top of the slab where normally there probably isn't a slab to see. The third and main pitch made up for the latter as the ice was good, steep and well featured and made for excellent climbing. One more pitch of good ice took us to the exit slopes where there was good wind scoured neve.
We only saw two other climbers who started up Poachers Fall and who seemed to have abseiled of at some stage. Poachers looked thinner than a couple of weeks ago with the groove looking a bit grey. Salmon Leap didn't look totally complete.

Looking up Mad Hatter's	First pitch Mad Hatter's
Steep 2nd Pitch	Top of Ben Bhan

Sunday 6th March 2005...Sunday started of cold and crisp as we made our way in to Coire na Poite in Beinn Bhan. The rising sun was illuminating the corrie and turning it a warm shade of pink making for a very atmospheric approach. We had planned to do March Hares gully but it looked quite buried so we carried on up to Mad Hatters gully V/5. About 150 metres of easy angled snow led up to a short ice pitch which took us to the bottom of the main steep pitch. The first half of the 40 metre pitch was very sustained and felt hard, partly because there was a couple of patches of crappy ice and partly because it was so bloody steep! The second half eased of a bit and led to a bomber belay. Two more easy pitches and a straight forward cornice took us to the top and lunch with a grand view. The temperature slowly rose above zero during the day so the ice was thawing and unfortunately this continued into the next day. On Monday we went into Coire Dubh Mor on Liathach, it was spitting rain ,warm and claggy.We had intended to do Umbrella falls but having climbed half way up the first pitch of the lower tier and with tools and feet ripping in rapidly rotting ice i lowered off and we headed home. Never mind.

Back wall Coire na Poite	first pitch Silver Tear	1st pitch
	3rd pitch Silver Tear	Exposed traverse...

2nd March 2005...Beinn Bhan was looking magnificent today with a fair amount of ice about in Coire na Poite. Mad hatters and March hares looked in fine condition but Silver Tear V/5 looked spectacular. The first 3 pitches (60m, 50m and 60m) gave steep and interesting climbing on mostly great ice with the odd spot of tool ripping stuff. This brought us to the bottom of two pillars of ice one above the other which were seriously steep and thin which you would have to be either very brave or very mad to climb. We decided to traverse for about 90 metres across a very exposed narrow sloping terrace. From there a long pitch up a turfy gully was followed by another fairly long pitch up a snow basin which was a bit slabby in places. We then traversed back left on an easy terrace for over 100 metres, by this time it was getting darker by the minute. One more pitch up some more tufty stuff took us to 40 metres below the cornice which was small and better still neve which made for an easy finish to an excellent long route. Two hours 40 minutes navigating took us thankfully to the car.

1st Pitch Poachers Fall	1st belay
3rd pitch Poachers Fall	3rd pitch

27th February 2005...Poachers Fall V/5 in Coireag Dubh Mor on Liathach was in great nick today with 'climber friendly' ice. The lean conditions made the route harder than the given grade on the day but with a slight thaw, tool placements were great. There were two parties in front of us so we didn't start the route until 12.30, and with a fairly steady stream of falling ice coming from above we erred on the side of caution and waited. Topping out at 8pm in the dark was interesting as was bum sliding down way up gully. There were parties on Umbrella falls ,over sixties icefall and George but apart from that the other routes looked incomplete.

Mamores	Ben Nevis
North Face Aonach Beag	Stand and Deliver

22nd February 2005...Excellent views today from Aonach Mor and Aonach Beag with Ben Nevis, Carn Mor Dearg Arete and the Mamores looking spectacular. Although most of the routes on the north face of Aonach Beag looked pretty lean 'Stand and Deliver' V/5 looked superb. A 45 metre snow and ice pitch leads to the imposing main icefall. We decided to split this in two and belayed in an ice cave over half way up. The ice was like steel and screws took a lot to bite making for strenuous placements. Both pitches gave steep and sustained climbing but very enjoyable. From there one and a half easy pitches on impeccable neve led to the top. Navigation was then in order as it was complete white out all the way back to the hut at Aonoch Mor.

1st pitch Savage Slit	2nd Pitch Savage Slit
Pulling over ckockstone	Abseiling from Savage Slit

17th February 2005...In Coire an Lochan today where all the buttress looked well hoard up and very wintry. There's not alot of snow in the gullys and routes like the Y gullys and Oesophagus looked very thin. We decided to have a go at Savage Slit V/6. Unfortunately the rock was covered in a layer of verglass which made it very tricky to make use of all those small creases in between the decent foot holds but apart from that it was a marvellous route with superb tool placements. There is still a bit of wind slab about in the coire but mostly good neve which with any luck should make for a good base for the snow to come.

Coire Mhic Fhearchair	West Buttress	Chimney pitch

15th February 2005...The Triple Buttress on Beinn Eighe was in perfect nick today, fully hoared up with little ice in the cracks and frozen turf. We did West Buttress IV/4 which starts up Fuselage gully before traversing out broad terrace and then makes it way up the imposing buttress above by the line of least resistance. The route itself is of similar grade to East Buttress but if you deviate from the line you will soon find yourself on desperate ground. Trail breaking wasn't to bad as the path was pretty sound right up until we got in to Coire Mhic Fhearchair and even then it wasn't to arduous. No wind and temperatures hovering around zero made for excellent conditions. A great route in a magical location.

30th January 2005...Another great days climbing on Aonach Mor. The hill was extremely busy today so we made quick headway from the chairlift to the shed, quickly geared up and made our way down easy gully (good neve) and across to White shark IV/4. We were first on the route, thankfully, as there seemed to be a queue at the bottom for the rest of the day. Although a little chopped up White shark made for an excellent route with quality ice for two pitches followed by an impressive exit at the sharks dorsal fin shaped cornice. Our second route of the day was 'Maneater' V/5 which seemed to have had little traffic, probably to do with it unfairly getting only one star. Two fairly steep ice pitches lead to a right exit at the cornice. Great stuff!
We were totally sheltered from the westerly winds in Coire an Lochan and the air temperature seemed quite mild although the wind chill on the top was substantial.

The Curtain	First pitch Curtain	First pitch Curtain
Tower ridge		Aquafresh Aonach Mor

26th January 2005...Although there is a shortage of snow on Ben Nevis there seems to be quite a few routes in nick especially in Coire na Ciste. Further up the mountain Point 5 gully was looking rather excellent but in contrast the N