Rain last night cleared away as the temperature dropped leaving a bright day with heavy showers, blustery winds and (crucially) fresh snow down to about 500m. As we walked up next to the Allt a'Mhuilinn the snow was just above the CIC Hut but by the time we came back down it was lying well below the hut. Heavy showers all day were adding to the amount of snow and it was being blown around the coires by the swirly wind. We had a couple of moments of quite strong winds in the showers but generally it was a good day to be climbing and it was below freezing above about 700m I think. Sally and I were out with another group of trainee Mountaineering Instructors and a trainee Mountain Guide. Rich, Annie and Phil are all on their way to the MIC assessment and Kevin is doing the winter part of the BMG scheme. They are all very good climbers and guides already and we workshoped a few ideas about general approach to the work, ways to make the rope work more slick and more secure. We climbed SW Ridge of Douglas Boulder and onto the start of Tower Ridge before traversing off the side into Observatory Gully. The rocks on Douglas Boulder are all very loose. The thaw of the last few days released the grip of the ice and made everything very wobbly. The grass and turf were also mushy down at this level. Colder conditions, especially at the end of this week, will freeze it all back into place quickly I think but be careful until this happens. Dorsal Arete is another nice warm-up route but it also has plenty of loose blocks. As the snow builds up and the temperature fluctuates this week we will have some testing days but in the long run this weather is great for the rest of the winter's climbing.
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The Mountain Weather Information Service says -
Planning Outlook All mountain areas of Britain from Tuesday, 10 January, 2017. A much colder week. On the Scottish Highlands, a very brief thaw early hours Wednesday morning, but otherwise the mountains permanently below freezing point until next Sunday. Elsewhere, all mountains dropping below freezing point by Thursday when snow will fall extensively, the precipitation considerable on western mountains where frequently heavy. Access to mountain areas may well be difficult on Thursday and Friday when snow will lie even in some valleys down to south Wales. Upland gales, sometimes severe or storm force will be widespread until Friday. So the snow is on its way! We have bits and pieces of ice and the ground is cold so this snow fall, along with fluctuating temperatures, will be very welcome and will build good winter climbing conditions quickly. Winter climbing is often a bit like Forest Gump's quote "My mamma always told me life's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get!" For the last of our three days of training with Till, Hollie, J and Sam we went to Curved Ridge. A couple of these guys have been to the Alps and were interested in how to move together ona rope on long, Alpine scrambling ridges. Curved Ridge is an excellent venue for this and the guys moved up the whole ridge by themselves. It was another hard frost and very cold day with lots of sunshine and light winds. The views from the ridge were brilliant but the cloud just came down to the summit when we got there, the first sign of the wet and warm weather we expect over night and tomorrow. Walking up through the screes to Curved Ridge and the first section of scrambling to Crowberry Basin is very awkward at the moment. Dribbles of ice cover many of the rocks and make progress difficult. Once on the ridge the rock was bone dry and a delight to climb. Lots of the loose rocks are well frozen in place too. There was some frost on the rocks on the rop and more dribbles of ice on the descent slowed us down here too. A could of old hard snow patches are found on the way around Crowberry Tower, before the very last step to the summit and at the top of Coire Tullach on the descent. An ice axe and crampons should be taken but we managed to skirt around the snow patches and cut steps across some of them so we didn't use the crampons.
Wet and warmer for a few days over the weekend but MWIS says "Monday brings an abrupt drop in temperature, upland gales and heavy rain, but in Scotland, snow to increasingly low levels. By midweek onward, it will be changeable, as winds vary between west and north, but on the Scottish Munros, even in the westerly phases, temperatures will frequently be below freezing point, leading to an overall accumulation of snow." Till, Sam and J got a chance to lead their first pitches of ice climbing today. In a complete contrast to yesterday the weather today was dry, cold and sunny later on. The snow froze hard and icy, there was next to no wind and we had a wonderful sunset from the summit. We were back on Ben Nevis and it all worked out very well. We walked back into Coire na Ciste where we'd seen North Gully yesterday looking icy and lean. We did some ice bouldering to coach movement on steep ice then we placed ice screws in a handy bulge of ice. By the time we got to North Gully Al and Jamie had climbed it already and another team backed off it since it was certainly not a normal grade II climb! The first pitch is very thinly ice with nice but delicate climbing. We managed to place several ice screws but it was a great lead by Till. Sam and J each led a pitch as well placing ice screws and belaying before topping out into sunshine. There's a couple of icy climbs to enjoy on Ben Nevis at the moment. Number Two Gully had a few ascents today and Gardyloo Gully has been climbed recently but at about grade IV which is normal for early season lean conditions. There are a few other ice pitches that you can seek out as well but not that much really. Green Gully for example has a few blobs of ice and a couple of tiny snow patches but that's all. The big grade I gullies are all easy and verglas is on a lot of the rocks including the great ridges. There was one team on Gargoyle Wall today which was verglased but not well rimed up at all.
The Rockhoppers Mountaineering Club sent a big contingent to Scotland to enjoy Hogmanay and some winter walking and climbing. I am enjoying spending three days with Till, Hollie, J and Sam of the club to go through some winter mountaineering skills. These guys already have a good base of rock climbing and some winter walking experience so we're mostly just winterising their skills. We started with a trip up Number Three Gully on Ben Nevis including coaching in core movement skills, snow anchors and belaying on snow anchors, moving roped together on steep snow and all sorts of other things. It was surprisingly nice on the top with a light breeze so we found Number Four Gully very easily and abseiled into this before walking down and back to the van.
It was also surprising to see that not all the rime had fallen off the rocks. Some of it had but above 1100m it all still looked quite wintry. We have two days forecast with nice, cold weather so there might be a chance to do some mixed climbing on Ben Nevis. Apart from this there is not much to climb other than the big gullies such as Number Three and Four Gullies, a nicely icy Number Two Gully, a thinly iced North Gully and very thinly iced Number Three Gully Buttress. The easier classic ridges will be grand days out too but we could really do with some more snow now to be honest.
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AuthorMike Pescod 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.
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