Not a classic winter.

So far, the winter of 2024/25 has been a bit on/off. It is not shaping up to be a classic winter. In fact it is a concerning indication of what our future winters might be like as the climate changes and we experience different weather here on the west coast of Scotland.

Since November we have enjoyed periods of settled, cold weather with some great mixed climbing conditions. Rime on the rocks, freezing on the tops and very dry air have combined to give us really nice days for mixed climbing. Luckily we have had enough snow at the right times to make things wintry enough to feel good.

We have been lucky enough to climb routes like Turf War (V,6) on Douglas Boulder, Neanderthal (VII,7), Gargoyle Wall (VI,6), North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor (IV,4) and Tower Ridge (IV,3) on lovely days with amazing views and everything you want from Scotland in winter.

In between these nice periods of weather and climbing, we have had very intense thaws with a lot of rain that has melted away the majority of our snow each time. Another of these thaw periods has been with us over the last four days and we have lost much of the snow we have beforehand. This has been a characteristic of the last few winters, that the thaws have been too intense for the snow to build up and transform into snow-ice.

The ideal combination is a cycle of fresh snow, a thaw and rain that is enough to make all the snow wet, then a refreeze to solidify the snow and turn it into snow-ice. We have had too little snow and too much rain for the cycles to build snow-ice. We have had virtually no snow-ice climbing all winter so far.

Reliable classic routes like Green Gully, Comb Gully, Point Five Gully and Central Gully in Creag Coire na Ciste, all on Ben Nevis, have not been climbed this winter.

Over the last four days we have had over 100mm of rain in Glen Nevis and the temperature on the summit of Ben Nevis has been above zero for much of that time. To put this into context, that amount of precipitation falling as snow on the summit would have been 1metre in depth.

At this point in the winter we would normally expect Tower Ridge to be pretty well covered but right now the Fallen Block Chimney is not covered over and we are climbing underneath the block like we do in summer. There are rocks showing in Number Four Gully which more commonly has a metre or two depth of snow blown in by now. And the scree slopes in the corries are still only half covered in snow.

This all sounds very depressing and in some ways it is. But the west coast of Scotland is an amazing place full of all sorts of challenging adventures. We might have to adapt and change our aspirations as the winters change over the coming years, and we will certainly be ready to jump at the chance of some classic ice climbing. There is no doubt that there will be times when the big routes are great to climb. 

We believe that spending time in our beautiful mountains, immersed in nature, challenging yourself physically and mentally, is fundamentally good for us all. We can find some breathing space, escape everyday stress and feel the restorative effect of nature whatever snow cover and climbing conditions we are presented with.

We are incredibly grateful to our guests who have endured the worst of weather; those who have got soaked to the skin, dried out overnight and who are ready and keen for another day of the same the following day! There is good learning to do in tough conditions, working out what gear works and what you can put up with and still be able to think and to function. And all the bad weather days make the good weather days seem even more sweet!

The winters might be changing but the commitment to get out and have fun does not change!

PS If you want to know about effective actions you can take to help us all reduce our impact on the planet take a read here.