Abacus Mountain Guides
  • Home
  • Adventures
    • Ben Nevis >
      • Ben Nevis Pony Track
      • CMD Arete
      • Ledge Route
      • Tower Ridge
      • Events and Challenges
      • Ben Nevis Winter Ascent
    • Summer Guiding >
      • Ring of Steall
      • Glen Coe Walks
      • Curved Ridge
      • Aonach Eagach
      • Rock Climbing
      • Sea Stack Odyssey
      • Private Guiding
    • Skye and the Cuillin Ridge >
      • Cuillin Ridge Traverse
      • Cuillin Munro Bagging
      • Inaccessible Pinnacle
    • Provident Sailing & Hill Walking
    • Winter Guiding >
      • Winter Walking >
        • Winter Skills Courses
        • Guided Winter Walking
      • Winter Climbing >
        • Intro to Winter Climbing
        • Winter Climbing Progression
        • Classic Winter Climbing
        • Guided Winter Climbing
      • Skiing >
        • Intro to Ski Touring
        • Scottish Steep Skiing
        • Ropework for Skiers
      • Avalanche Awareness
      • Fort William Mountain Festival Workshops
      • Winter Resources
    • Mountain Leader Courses
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • About
  • Sustainability
    • climate donations
  • Booking
  • Partners

A last lap of Number Six Gully.

28/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Mike and I had a lovely Spring day to enjoy climbing Number Six Gully on the West face of Aonach Dubh today. I was thinking it was quite late in the season to be able to climb this route but the first ascent was made on 30th March so perhaps it's the winters that have changed. It was slightly colder than yesterday and fresh snow had fallen down to 500m or so over night. Being able to see the climb from the road does make it easier to decide whether it will be OK or not and we decided it looked good enough for a closer look.
Picture
Despite the snow being a bit soft and the ice being quite detached from the rock we had some nice climbing. The first and second pitches were just a little delicate, the third was too delicate so we did some agricultural climbing up rock and turf to get past the steep bit. The fourth pitch was great to start but then had soft snow covering the ice on the second half. The ice is very impressive having formed a huge umbrella that you can now see up underneath to the stream right at the back. I was quite gentle with it and thought light thoughts as I stepped past it! It all held in place fine but I could not really recommend it to anyone! It worked fine for us and it was a grand day out.
Picture
Over on Ben Nevis the ice is still in fantastic shape. It is all a lot higher and fatter so it will be there for a long time. There has been fresh snow and graupel there too but it seems to be secure enough for travel around the mountain. Looks like we will have a nice day again tomorrow. We might also get dry easterly winds at the Easter weekend so it could well be worth the trip to the Outdoor Capital for some skiing or ice climbing!
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Mike Pescod
    Mountain Guide.

    Self reliance is a fundamental principle of mountaineering. By participating we accept this and take responsibility for the decisions we make. These blog posts and conditions reports are intended to help you make good decisions. They do not remove the need for you to make your own judgements when out in the hills.

    Categories

    All
    Avalanche Awareness
    Ben Nevis
    British Mountain Guide
    Climate Change
    Hill Walking
    Mental Health
    Munro Bagging
    Navigation
    Philosopy
    Provident Sailing
    Risk
    Scrambling
    Skye Cuillin
    Summer Mountain Leader
    Weather
    Winter
    Winter Climbing
    Winter Conditions
    Winter Mountaineering
    Winter Walking

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015


Picture
[email protected]
  • Home
  • Adventures
    • Ben Nevis >
      • Ben Nevis Pony Track
      • CMD Arete
      • Ledge Route
      • Tower Ridge
      • Events and Challenges
      • Ben Nevis Winter Ascent
    • Summer Guiding >
      • Ring of Steall
      • Glen Coe Walks
      • Curved Ridge
      • Aonach Eagach
      • Rock Climbing
      • Sea Stack Odyssey
      • Private Guiding
    • Skye and the Cuillin Ridge >
      • Cuillin Ridge Traverse
      • Cuillin Munro Bagging
      • Inaccessible Pinnacle
    • Provident Sailing & Hill Walking
    • Winter Guiding >
      • Winter Walking >
        • Winter Skills Courses
        • Guided Winter Walking
      • Winter Climbing >
        • Intro to Winter Climbing
        • Winter Climbing Progression
        • Classic Winter Climbing
        • Guided Winter Climbing
      • Skiing >
        • Intro to Ski Touring
        • Scottish Steep Skiing
        • Ropework for Skiers
      • Avalanche Awareness
      • Fort William Mountain Festival Workshops
      • Winter Resources
    • Mountain Leader Courses
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • About
  • Sustainability
    • climate donations
  • Booking
  • Partners