Protecting Our Glaciers: Effective Climate Action for the International Year of Glaciers 2025 For those of us who climb, ski, and guide in the Alps, the impacts of climate change are undeniable. Glaciers are retreating at an alarming rate, permafrost is thawing, and routes once considered stable are becoming unstable or disappearing altogether. These changes are not only reshaping the landscape we hold dear, but they are also making our profession more unpredictable and risky. As mountaineers, we have a responsibility to understand these changes and take meaningful action. Every choice we make — from where we travel to the gear we buy and the causes we support — shapes the future of these fragile alpine environments. Just as we move with care and respect in the mountains, we must adopt the same thoughtful approach to reducing our climate impact. The United Nations has designated 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, a crucial initiative to raise awareness of glacier loss and drive global action to protect them. This year will unite scientists, policymakers, and the public to improve glacier monitoring, bolster climate adaptation, and advocate for sustainable policies. As glaciers continue to shrink, threatening water security and ecosystems, this year serves as a critical call to action. In response, the British Mountain Guides (BMG) will publish climate-focused articles to educate and inspire the mountain community. We will provide professional development for guides on climate change, and commit 1% of member fees to high-impact climate charities working to address the root causes of glacier loss. This article explores the most effective steps climbers and guides can take to combat climate change. By reducing our personal carbon footprints and supporting systemic solutions, we can help preserve the Alps for future generations. While the scale of climate change can seem overwhelming, we aim to provide actionable knowledge and steps that lead to tangible, positive change. Understanding Climate Change: The Global and Alpine Perspective The past decade (2014-2023) has been the warmest in recorded history [1]. The Paris Agreement set an ambitious target to keep global temperature increases “well below 2°C” while striving to limit them to 1.5°C. However, our current policies have us on track for around 2.7°C by 2100. Only if countries stick to their current pledges, can this be reduced to 2.1°C [2].  Source: Climate action tracker Alarmingly, the Alps are warming at nearly double the global average. Over the past two years alone, Swiss glaciers have lost 10% of their total ice volume, matching the melt rate of the entire three-decade period from 1960 to 1990 [3]. Rising Temperatures and Shrinking Snowfall Since 1900, Alpine temperatures have increased by 2°C—an even steeper rise than the 1.4°C increase recorded in France as a whole [4]. As snow cover diminishes, exposed rock absorbs more heat, further accelerating the warming process. Extreme weather events are also becoming more frequent. By the end of the century, deadly heat waves may become the norm, occurring every other year [4]. In addition, periods of drought are affecting ski resorts, where the average snow cover duration is now 36 days shorter than historical averages [5]. Snow depth has declined by 8.4% per decade since the 1970s [6]. The Disappearance of Alpine Glaciers Alpine glaciers have already lost half their volume since 1900, with 20% disappearing since 1980 alone [7]. Even with aggressive climate action, most of these glaciers could be gone by 2100 [8]. Beyond their visual and cultural significance, glaciers serve as crucial water reservoirs, storing precipitation during the winter and gradually releasing it during the summer. Their disappearance threatens agriculture, particularly traditional dairy farming, which depends on reliable water sources. In recent years, water has had to be transported to Alpine pastures via helicopters and trucks, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of this way of life. One of the starkest visual indicators of glacier retreat is the Mer de Glace near Chamonix. In 1880, visitors could step directly onto the glacier from the Montenvers Hotel. Today, accessing it requires a descent of 550 steps, prompting the recent construction of a gondola in 2023 to facilitate access.  Individual Guide’s Perspective “In the 22 years since I qualified as a guide the changes have been enormous, though this timeframe is barely a millisecond on a geological timescale. I remember continuous ice on the Argentiere Glacier extending almost down to the Cremerie ice climbing. I remember the tongue of the Mer de Glace extending so far down, that you barely needed to ascend off it, to the Mottets Buvette, if you’re skiing the Vallee Blance all the way to Chamonix. Not that you can do that very often any more. Rockfall was a relatively rare event and August was almost always an ideal month for Alpine climbing. A poor refreeze at night was only an occasional problem in the summer, up high. It’s really different now”… Jon Morgan, IFMGA Guide Biodiversity on the Move Alpine ecosystems are home to “glacial relic” species—plants and animals that adapted to cold conditions after the last Ice Age. As temperatures rise, these species are forced to migrate to higher elevations. However, since mountains taper at the top, available habitat diminishes. Species like the ptarmigan could lose up to 60% of their habitat by 2050, with potential extinction by 2090 [9]. Similarly, many alpine flowers are struggling to shift their range upward fast enough to survive the rapidly changing climate. The Collapse of Permafrost and Increased Rockfall Permafrost—permanently frozen rock and soil—acts as the glue that holds Alpine mountains together. As temperatures rise, it is melting, leading to increased rockfall and making iconic climbing routes dangerously unstable. Of the 100 classic Alpine climbs cataloged by Gaston Rébuffat in 1973, a third have become unclimbable in summer due to rockfall, while three have collapsed entirely [7]. In 2003, the famous 1938 route on the Eiger’s north face was barely recognizable due to ice melt, leaving climbers faced with loose rubble and exposed rock [9]. Mont Blanc’s normal route has been periodically closed due to rockfall risks, and the Matterhorn saw 90 climbers evacuated in 2003 following a massive rock collapse [8]. The trend is clear: as the Alps continue to warm, these hazards will only increase. Taking Action: What Can We Do? Given the scale of the crisis, individual actions can feel insignificant. However, targeted and effective steps can make a real impact. The Most Effective Individual Climate Actions Many people believe that recycling or reducing plastic use are the most impactful climate actions, but research suggests otherwise. The most effective personal choices include:
 What people think is most effective vs what is actually effective. Source: Hannah Ritchie, Not the end of the world, 2024 Even if someone were to live a completely carbon-neutral lifestyle, the impact would be marginal compared to the power of systemic change. True effectiveness comes from influencing policies and driving innovations that can reduce emissions on a global scale. The Power of Charitable Donations One of the most powerful yet often overlooked ways to fight climate change is donating to highly effective climate charities. To illustrate this, a report from climate researchers at Founders Pledge compares the impact of individual lifestyle changes to donating to the most effective climate charities. Their findings reveal that donations can be up to 100 times more effective in reducing emissions per year than any single lifestyle change. This makes sense—while personal actions only reduce your own carbon footprint, the most effective charities drive systemic change by lobbying for policies or developing breakthrough technologies that transform entire industries and impact millions of people.  Relative impact of lifestyle choices compared to donating to effective climate charities (Source: Founders Pledge Climate and Lifestyle Report) However, not all charities are created equal and some are much more effective than others. In order to find the most impactful donation opportunities - it’s recommended to follow the advice of independent charity evaluators. For climate change, Giving Green is the gold standard charity evaluator. They spend thousands of hours each year rigorously evaluating which charities make the biggest difference and then curating a list of the most effective ones to support. Their 2025 recommendations include organisations such as Clean Air Task Force and the Good Food Institute, which focus on policy and technological innovations to reduce emissions across entire industries.
Act for our glaciers If you want to take action for our glaciers, here are the most effective steps you can take:
Conclusion The Alps are experiencing climate change at an accelerated pace, with rising temperatures, glacial retreat, biodiversity loss, and increased rockfall making their mark on these beloved landscapes. While personal lifestyle changes can contribute to a more sustainable future, the most effective actions involve systemic interventions—advocating for policy change, supporting cutting-edge climate solutions, and funding organizations that drive large-scale impact. For those who live, work, and find inspiration in the mountains, the urgency is clear. The question is not whether we should act, but how we can act in the most effective way possible. By Jennifer Stretton, International Mountain Leader and co-founder of Mieux Donner  Sources
[1] 2023 was the warmest year in the modern temperature record (Climate.Gov) [Accessed 18/08/2024] [2] As the climate crisis worsens, the warming outlook stagnates (Climate Action Tracker, 2024) [Accessed 11/03/2025] [3] Two catastrophic years obliterate 10% of Swiss glacier volume (Swiss academy of sciences, September 2023) [Accessed 18/08/2024] [4] Climate Change and its impact in the Alps (CREA Mont Blanc) [Accessed 18/08/2024] [5] How climate change will hit snow levels across Europe’s ski resorts (Carbon Brief, August 2023) [Accessed 18/08/2024] [6] Quel avenir pour les stations de ski dans un monde en réchauffement ? (National Geographic, February 2024) [Accessed 18/08/2024] [6] How does the future of ski resorts look in the face of climate change? (National Geographic, February 2024) [Accessed 18/08/2024] [7] Climate change taking big bite out of alpine glaciers (Deutche Welle) [Accessed 18/08/2024] [8] More than 90% of glacier volume in the Alps could be lost by 2100 (European Geosciences Union) [9] Un avenir incertain pour le lagopède alpin (CREA, Mont Blanc) [10] Spot Crea Mont Blanc (CREA, Mont Blanc) [Accessed 18/08/2024] [11] EU agrees to regulation that will dramatically cut EU and global methane pollution (Clean Air Task Force) [Accessed 17/03/2025] [12]The Future of Geothermal Energy - Executive summary - Technology breakthroughs are unlocking huge potential for geothermal energy [Accessed 17/03/2025] [13] The Untapped Climate Opportunity in Alternative Proteins (Boston Consulting Group, MA) [Accessed 11/07/2024]
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 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.   A significant thaw in the last week of 2024 gave way to much colder weather on 1st January 2025. The thaw had melted away just about all the older snow and there was a lot of rain at all levels. Here on the west coast we have not had a huge amount of snow over the last ten days but there's about 20cm to 30cm general cover higher up and the snow is down to sea level with summit temperatures around -8C. So, the snow is dry, soft and fluffy because it has not been warmed up and refrozen. There is no base layer of snow - instead the soft snow is sitting on rocks and rubble in most places. Turf and the ground everywhere is pretty well frozen and water courses are freezing up creating cascade ice in streams and on some climbs. Our chief guide Mike was climbing with Chrissy and Steven this week, teaching climbing skills so that they can go and enjoy climbing independently. They started out by climbing the East Ridge of North Buttress on Stob Ban, a grade II/III that is open to much variation and a turfy mixed climb that suited the conditions very well. There is a choice of pitches low down offering grade III climbing with quite technical short steps interspersed by turfy terraces with the chance to practice a variety of placements of anchors for belays. Higher up the ridge narrows and becomes a fabulous rocky arete in a fantastic position. Mike led the first four pitches before Chrissy and Steven took over to lead themselves up the remaining five pitches. The descent is a grade I climb down the North Ridge of Stob Ban before a quick and efficient walk down to the Lower Falls in Glen Nevis. Wednesday was a stunning day after a hard frost with lots of sunshine and amazing views. Chrissy and Steven led themselves up Curved Ridge on Buachaille Etive Mor with supervision from Mike all the way. There is a mixture of pitched climbing and moving together alpine style on Curved Ridge, so this is a great route to practice both rope techniques as well as more protection placements, belays and route choice. When it is as cold as this, lots of ice forms on the approach and in the lower sections of the route. This gave us the chance to try a small grade III pitch of ice climbing on the way to Curved Ridge, as well as placing some ice screws. Great Gully is forming ice really quickly and by now it is likely to offer many pitches of fun grade III ice climbing. Yesterday we went for Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis. Since there has been no transformation of the fluffy snow into useful snow-ice, it was slow going and footery. But there was no boot trail and it was a proper, cold, winter day so it was amazing! The Fallen Block Chimney has very little snow in it so we went underneath the block, and the Eastern Traverse is very simple because it has not been banked out with snow. The crux pitches up The Great Tower and Tower Gap are as fiddley as ever though! In the current conditions, the best climbing on Ben Nevis (and in most other places) is on steep mixed climbs. Routes such as Gargoyle Wall, Darth Vader, Babylon, Lost The Place have all been climbed recently as well as Centurion on Carn Dearg Buttress by a very strong team of young climbers who spent something like 18 hours climbing, finishing at 3am! Well done team, amazing climbing and I look forward to seeing the images. The great ridges like Tower Ridge and Castle Ridge, NE |Buttress and Observatory Ridge are fun but slow going with the soft snow on rocks. With no snow-ice at all the gullies such as Green Gully, Comb Gully, Point Five Gully and Zero Gully have nothing in them worth climbing at all. The big snow gullies have some soft snow in them but it is sitting on rubble and rocks, so they are no fun at all right now. There is ice forming fast in drainage lines such as Waterfall Gully, Gemini, Compression Cracks and The Curtain, and there is ice on the Carn Dearg Buttress Cascades close to the CIC Hut which means that there is ice at Beinn Udlaidh, Bridge of Orchy and on the West Face of Aonach Mor.  We have a couple more good days of weather before the temperature starts to rise on Sunday. Next week looks warmer and wetter. Hopefully it will not melt away all the snow we have currently!   Glen Coe has a long tradition of hard mixed climbing. Think of Hamish MacInnes and Chris Bonnington in 1953 climbing Agag's Groove (VI,7), Raven's Gully (V,6) and Crowberry Ridge Direct (VII,6) before front point crampons and leashless technical ice axes had even been thought of. These climbs have lost none of their respect since their first ascents over fifty years ago. Currently on Stob Coire nan Lochan, there are four routes graded IX,9 (Satyr, Scansor, Year of the Horse and Eggäschpili) and one of X,9 (The Tempest). Glen Coe remains a destination of choice for mixed climbing. For those of us who can only dream of reaching these grades, there is also the full range of grades of mixed climbs in Glen Coe. They all involve a long mountaineering day; this is not winter cragging. Approaches are usually steep, reflecting the steep sided nature of the glen. The rock is predominantly rhyolite with nice positive edges and spikes and it is worth reading up on the geology so you have something to wonder at when standing on belay ledges. The topography of Glen Coe crags is particularly complex too and it will take a few trips to learn your way around. Avalanche hazard can be difficult to assess due to cross loading for the same reason but this is less of a problem at the start of the season before the snow has built up. All of the routes described are good early season mixed climbs since most of them are climbed just on rock.  Aonach Eagach My first winter route in Glen Coe was the Aonach Eagach and it blew me away. I had no idea what to expect so it was all a brilliant surprise for me. It is at its best when it has been buried in snow by a recent storm and its grade can vary between about II and III. Make sure you do it on a clear day; the views in all directions, including downwards, are breathtaking. When it is like this it is one of the best mountain experiences in the UK. The Aonach Eagach is a mountaineering route with a big walk in, several hours spent traversing the ridge and a good couple of hours more to descend. The best route zigzags along little ledges close to the crest all the way. It goes up and down many pinnacles so the climbing is complex and delicate with several sections of airy down-climbing. Good route finding skills and the ability to change quickly from one rope technique to another are essential. By necessity, you will learn how to move efficiently over all sorts of mixed terrain. Do it with one ice axe to develop precision and confidence with your cramponing on snowed up rock.  Buachaille Etive Mor The sense of open space on any climb on Stob Dearg, the northern summit of Buachaille Etive Mor, is immense. The crags drop away to the huge expanse of Rannoch Moor below, and wrap themselves around the sides of the mountain. The climbs are surrounded by nothing but thin air and the distant views of far away peaks. Paradoxically, many of the climbs are very well sheltered from the wind. Curved Ridge in particular is well known for being a good choice in a westerly gale and an excellent introduction to Glen Coe mixed climbs. North Buttress is another well known “banker” of a climb which is possible in any winter conditions. Descent from these routes is down Coire na Tulaich if the snow is stable. However several major avalanche accidents have happened here and a descent down the broad ridge bounding the west side of the coire is often a much more secure descent. Curved Ridge III,3 Many people fall into the trap of thinking that Curved Ridge must be easy to find because it is a very popular climb. Unfortunately, this is not the case. If you follow the path and the boot prints in the snow from Lagangarbh past The Waterslide and up the scree you will see a quite distinct ridge. This is not Curved Ridge (it is D Gully Buttress, another great climb but a whole grade harder). Curved Ridge is found by scrambling away up to the right over a wee waterfall and into Crowberry Basin, a well known avalanche trap. Even from here, the ridge does not stand out well but after climbing the first pitch out of the top left corner of Crowberry Basin the route becomes obvious. The climb is relatively friendly with harder sections of a pitch in length, separated by sections of easier ground that should be tackled by moving together on a shorter length of rope. The rhyolite rock is particularly helpful and much of the protection comes from nice small spikes. A rack of nuts and slings is all that is required. The crux corner has very nice torques in the corner crack and a bomber thread on the left. Despite the friendly layout of the ridge, do not be too relaxed. It is a long climb with plenty of ground to cover and a finish right on the superb summit of Stob Dearg. Hopefully you will get to enjoy the panorama from the summit, it’s a wonderful place. North Buttress IV,4 This is one of those routes that is nearly always possible. It is also a brilliant climb for learning hooks and torques with ice axes and for standing on small edges on your front points. It’s been said you just need to reach up and your pick will fall into a hook or torque by itself. It might not feel like this first time but the hooks are really quite positive when you find them. In fact it is just a brilliant climb with four very interesting pitches straight up a continuous line of weakness in the buttress. The approach is a complicated scramble and the exit to the summit is potentially time consuming as well. Start early! The descent is the same as for Curved Ridge but if the weather or time is against you a descent by abseil is quite simple. The route goes straight up a chimney and the belay anchors are nearly all big spiky blocks. Shelf Route IV,6 Shelf Route follows a line of chimneys up the north west side of Crowberry Tower. Like many climbs in Glen Coe, the approach is quite tricky. Head up as for North Buttress so you get a view of the route before crossing Crowberry Gully. A short traverse leads out of Crowberry Gully round to a bay below the two chimneys of Raeburn’s Route and Shelf Route. Start up the left chimney (Naismith’s Route) before going across to Shelf Route. Simple sections of snow link short steep sections which look quite intimidating and can prove tricky. Being a chimney though, the key is to keep looking behind you to find footholds for bridging. The entry into the last pitch involves a bold couple of steps then a well protected tricky step right. Fun sustained mixed climbing leads to the top of the climb. Of course this is not the top of the mountain though. Crowberry Tower is still another 100m of climbing away and the summit beyond that. This is a great route to try the technical grade of 6 but in the relatively friendly setting of a grade IV climb. Bidean nam Bian The highest crags in Glen Coe, Church Door Buttress and Bishop's Buttress on Bidean nam Bian, face north west and are visible from the road. They rime up and freeze quite quickly being exposed to the wind straight in from the sea. The best way to get there is next to the stream at the side of Achnambeithach farm and to follow the line of an old fence all the way in to the coire. It is a long pull up to the buttress but the scenery is spectacular and quite distracting. Church Door Buttress is a maze of tunnels, chock stones, chimneys and a great arch which forms the church door. It is quite possible to get lost under ground, behind the buttress. West Chimney V,7 Church Door Buttress This prominent line of chimneys used to have a cave and a through route requiring a bit of tunneling. A few blocks have moved though and this is no longer possible. Simply climb the chimney around and over the chock stones in the chimney to large stances in between. The crux is a short, well protected but powerful couple of moves - hard but not very long at all. It is classic, chimney climbing mostly on rock but with a little turf and ice mixed in as well. Many climbs on this buttress reach the great arch and this route is one of them. Walk over the arch and make sure to peer down the hole behind it. If you want a quick and very exciting descent, a 60m abseil from the arch itself get’s you to the foot of the crag in Central Gully. However the climb finishes with a deceptively tricky pitch up a groove on the left, Raeburn’s Chimney. Some ice in this groove will help progress and protection can be fiddly to find. The Gash IV,4 Bishop's Buttress Often overlooked in favour of Church Door Buttress, this crag has some brilliant climbing. The Gash is the biggest feature on the crag, forming a deep, dark chasm up to its highest point. This is another climb that can be climbed at any time of the winter. It does form snow ice and the climbing can be mostly on ice with a few rocky sections oat the chockstones. However it can also be climbed with no snow-ice, just rimed up rocks. There are a couple of hollow sounding blocks but it is easy to climb past these gently. A through route behind the monster chockstone at the top adds to the atmosphere and fun factor! Stob Coire nan Lochan National Trust for Scotland owns Glen Coe and puts in a great deal of work on the footpaths, for which we should be very grateful. The walk in to Stob Coire nan Lochan is one of the tougher approaches but the continued work on the path makes it much more reasonable. Once in the neat and compact coire you are likely to have a more sociable climbing experience than on other Glen Coe crags. There is a wide variety of climbs which are clearly seen from the foot of the coire including snow and ice gullies and mixed climbs from very simple to the hardest in Glen Coe. Rucksacks can be left in the coire and a descent made to the north over the top of the crags until the slope eases near the col to Aonach Dubh. Take care with cornices over the gullies which cut into the summit ridge more deeply than you might think. A couple of people I know have taken the ride down into the coire by walking too close. Crest Route VI,6 For a climb that goes directly up the crest of the buttress, there is some confusion over the exact line (and grade) of this route. However, the variations are all about the same grade so you are in for a good climb whichever way you go. The true line gives the most sustained and best climbing and looking down from the perched block is very satisfying. The groove on the second pitch is probably the technical crux and the climbing is so involved that you might well miss the step left and down to the belay on a small pinnacle. This might explain the confusion in the grade and line of the route. If you miss this belay, you are likely to run out of protection. The cracks are all quite helpful (carry large nuts and some hexes) and there is often some gear stuck in place. Get back into the groove and follow it straight up for more sustained mixed climbing fun in an amazing position. This is full on scraping and seeking, torquing and hooking. It’s not a long climb but every move is hard won and it is a battle to finish the three steep pitches. Everything you’d expect from a grade VI mixed masterpiece in Glen Coe. Twisting Grooves IV,5 Twisting Gully is the classic snow-ice gully on South Buttress - Twisting grooves follows a line straight up through the rocks to the left of the gully. The first and third pitches offer fun and spectacular climbing, tremendous bridging up a corner on the first pitch and perfect back and foot chimneying on the third pitch. The link pitch is a bit of a wander and you can go by any one of a few lines. This is a fantastic climb to test your mixed climbing with options to change plan if it doesn't go perfectly! Leave this one a bit longer for the turf to freeze properly, it's not pure rock so you want the turf to be solid and a bit of snow-ice on the ledges is very helpful!  Ice climbing in February 2024 after a heavy thaw. The United Nations COP 29 meeting is taking place right now in Azerbaijan. As usual, it seems that the systemic change we need to see from countries right around the world takes place at the pace of a glacier. In fact it seems like the glaciers are melting away faster than we can react to them doing so! This is the fourth year in a row that all the snow in Scotland has melted away, including The Sphynx, the snow patch on Braeriach in the Cairngorms, which was considered to be permanent until just 20 years ago. Ian Cameron, the snow patch expert, says "it has now melted completely since the 1700s in the following years: 1933, 1959, 1996, 2003, 2006, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024." This is only 11 times that the snow patch has melted away and six of those times were in the last 8 years. There is no doubt that over the last 24 years of running our small guiding company, we have seen huge changes in seasonal conditions due to climate change. For many years it was easy to oversee these changes due to the inherent variability of the weather in Scotland. We've always had good winters and bad winters, dry summers and (more often) wet summers. But, even taking into account this natural variability and the short nature of our memories, it is absolutely clear that man made climate change is having an impact on all of us now.  Observatory Gully February 2024 What is less clear is what we should do about it. Several decades ago, big oil companies successfully shifted the emphasis onto us individuals, coming up with the term Carbon Footprint to make the discussion more about what we can do as individuals rather than what governments and oil companies should do. In fact, by far the biggest levers we have to enact systemic change are voting and donating to effective climate charities. Doing our recycling and changing to LED light bulbs will have very little impact on anything. If we were to follow the top three most effective lifestyle choices and we gave up a car, switched to a plant based diet and didn’t take a transatlantic flight, we would save approximately 6.2 tons of carbon per year. The average UK carbon emission per person is around 10 tons per year, so this would be a significant saving. All of these actions are great initiatives and set a positive example for a better future, but they are far less effective than what can be achieved through legislation driven by governments that are willing to place the environment high enough on their agendas, helped by really effective charities.  Golden Oldie March 2024 This was all new to me before I went on a workshop delivered by Jennifer Stretton of Mieux Donner. Jen lives in Chamonix and works as an international mountain leader. She spends her summers guiding hikes in the Alps and her winters guiding ski trips in Finland. In conversations with her groups, she realised that the majority of people care deeply about climate change, but the situation seems so vast and hopeless that it causes anxiety and paralysis. This led her to take action and she founded Mieux Donner alongside Romain Barbe, in order to educate people about the most effective actions they can take to not only reduce their own carbon footprint, but make a huge positive difference in the world. There are concrete, evidence based actions we can all take to reduce our carbon footprint, but the issue is there’s a lot of conflicting information online leading to a huge mismatch between what most people think is effective, and what’s actually effective:  Stob Coire nan Lochan March 2024 In her blog "How to turn your climate anxiety into action" Jen says that the most effective action we can take is to donate to one of the six most effective charities that she lists. As an example, one of the most effective climate charities, The Clean Air Task Force worked closely with the European Commission to pass the landmark EU Methane Regulation last year. It’s estimated that regulations like this could achieve a huge 30% reduction in emissions from the oil and gas industry. Another example of a highly effective charity is The Good Food Institute, who promote the development of plant based and lab grown meats. Alternative proteins are a particularly promising way of addressing climate change because livestock farming is responsible for around 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In comparison to traditional carbon offsets which have little independent oversight, the most effective climate charities have been rigorously vetted by the world’s leading independent charity evaluators. Both Clean Air Task Force and the Good Food Institute for example have been independently evaluated by Giving Green to avoid 1 ton of carbon for every euro donated to them. To put this into context, if you were to donate 170 euros a month to Clean Air Task Force or The Good Food Institute, your donation would mitigate more than 2000 tons of carbon in the atmosphere, equivalent to:
 So, forget about carbon offsets, donate to these charities instead and vote with environmental sustainability at the forefront of who you vote for. The most effective associations in the field of climate change stand out for their ability to generate significant impacts thanks to their strategic approach. They prioritize political and technological interventions, creating powerful levers for reducing global emissions. Their approach is based on in-depth research and collaboration with various stakeholders to maximize results.
You can donate now! Click here.  At a glance, it would be easy to think that the main driver or benefit of participation in outdoor activities is in doing the activity itself. We talk about going biking, climbing or Munro bagging. We share success in terms of completion of a route, a trail or a climb; its grade or length, the speed or time you did it in. It can be like a tick list of accomplishments or peaks conquered. It is of course very useful to talk about routes and objectives. We all need inspiration and a list of things to go for. The Munros offer a fantastic list of brilliant days out right across north Scotland which will get you out doing something on a weekend of poor weather when it would be all too easy to sit at home staying cozy. Guidebooks are full of routes to tick off and the star rating system accentuates the value of some of them in particular. I remember a description that said this is "a route for all aspiring Alpine ice climbers"; I was, of course, totally hooked until I had completed the climb. I still have my own personal list of objectives behind a magnetic badge on the fridge.  There's no doubt that reaching a state of flow in whatever activity we engage with is a powerfully beneficial thing. When our full cognitive bandwidth is taken up by the activity there is no space for anything else; our usual worries, day-to-day concerns and long term anxieties can disappear from our minds and we get some welcome relief. Just about any activity can do this, but an activity with a real risk of injury as a result of a minor lapse in concentration will focus the mind more easily and more completely. Skiing and mountain biking can offer such experiences while at the same time we can be insulated from our surroundings. The infrastructure of a ski area tries to bring the comforts of modern living to the mountain landscape with restaurants and bars, uplift in sheltered bubbles and marked out and manicured pistes that we are to follow. All of this is good and it gets people outdoors exercising in a fairly wild landscape which sometimes has amazing views if we stop to look at them. However, it seems to me that there is a greater depth of experience that might be missing from your average day of piste skiing or lift assisted mountain biking.  Instead of always doing things in these wild landscapes, perhaps we should take time simply to be in them. I think we should build time into our journeys to stop and connect with the place in which we find ourselves with the final goal of becoming a part of the landscape. This might be a spiritual process in which we connect ourselves physically to the ground and meditate on our position in the world, in our lives and our existence. Or it might be a process of learning more about the landscape, how it came to be as it is now and of all the ecosystems and human influences that keep it this way.  Up to a couple hundred years ago people lived in these landscapes, subsisting on what they could grow and catch to eat. Clearly there was a deep connection with the landscape then, an interdependence that offered the possibility of life in what can be an incredibly harsh environment. Evidence of those lives is easily seen now; the footprint of black-houses and shielings, peat cuttings, lazy-beds and signs of ancient agriculture. Things have changed beyond recognition since then. We no longer depend on our landscape for sustenance and we can no longer say that the landscape is wild in terms of being untouched or unmanaged by human hands. It strikes me how the same landscape that used to be essential for survival 300 years ago is now sought after as a respite from modern day life and seen as essential to many people for very different reasons.  When thinking about experience instead of landscape, the term "wild" is subjective. To many people, experienced walkers and climbers, walking up a big path to the top of Ben Nevis alongside a few hundred other people is not a wild experience. However, to someone who has barely left an urban environment, being a few hours walk away from shelter, rescue, a coffee and a toilet, being unable to stop or change the weather and being totally reliant on nobody but yourself represents a very wild experience. At whatever stage you are at, I think the most fundamental value of exploring our beautiful landscape is in creating and fostering a connection with it. The initiator of this might be an activity or a list to tick off as a challenge, but the end result should be in becoming a part of the landscape, one that is in tune with it and understands its rhythm. Take time on your next expedition through our landscape to allow this internal expedition to start out.   Can I climb Ben Nevis in spring without a guide? Yes, but there are some skills and knowledge you need to do it safely. Even then, it can be really tough, and turning around before reaching the summit might be the best thing to do. Here is some guidance on what you need to know and the skills you need to climb Ben Nevis in winter without a guide.  What you don’t know you don’t know. The mountain usually sees its first snowfall in September and it can be in winter condition all the way through to May. So don't be fooled by a warm, sunny April day down in Fort William, the top of the mountains could still be experiencing serious winter weather! Further south in England, it's very easy to forget that there is any snow anywhere at all. But the summit of Ben Nevis holds on to its winter conditions for much longer than most mountains in the UK because it is a long way north, it is very high and it can collect 2.5m depth of snow on the summit over the course of the winter. The summit is usually about 9℃ colder than the temperature at sea level. So, if it is 5℃ at sea level it will be about -4℃ on the summit. Add to this the extra chill of the wind blowing at 30mph to 40mph, and it will feel like -14℃. There is nearly always a wind blowing on the summit and it can be anything from 10mph to 130mph. 30mph to 40mph is common, making walking very hard work enough and enough to make you very cold; 50mph to 60mph happens quite a lot and is enough to blow you over or off the path; 70mph to 80mph will knock you flat. Snow conditions underfoot vary hugely with what the weather is doing at the time. The bottom half of the track is often clear of snow, with the snow line usually sitting between about 600m and 900m. From this point you should expect to be on snow all the way to the summit and back down. After a fresh dump of snow it will be very soft, but if the snow has been through some freeze-thaw cycles (meaning the temperature rises allowing the snow to go soggy, then the temperature drops again, freezing the soft soggy snow into snow-ice) it will be very hard and icy, so the walking will likely be easier but crampons and an ice axe will be essential.  Essential Skills. You’re going to get wet. Probably you’ll get some rain or snow fall, and even if you don’t you’ll get wet through sweat. You need to know what to wear and what to carry with you, but just as importantly, you need to know how to use your gear to stay warm and comfortable. If you get wet you will get cold, and if you are cold you will not eat or drink properly, you will not want to think about navigation and you will not make good decisions. Staying warm and comfortable is an essential, under-rated winter skill. Once on the snow you need to be comfortable using your boots to kick steps if it is just small areas of hard snow, or confident walking in crampons on relatively steep ground. Make sure your crampons are correctly fitted to your boots before you set off - the side of a mountain in 40+ mph winds and swirling snow is not the place to be adjusting them. Crampons have a habit of catching on everything - rocks, trousers, your other crampon, you name it - so make sure you practice walking in them on easier ground first. You should also have your ice axe and know what to do with it. It can be used to provide support while you walk and also to stop a trip or slip from having dire consequences. It is common to walk off into the Red Burn in descent, either intentionally or by accident, where you might find very long stretches of steep snow. If the snow is hard and icy you will need an expert level of skills with crampons and an ice axe to descend by the Red Burn. It's best to stay on the Mountain Path and follow its zigzags.  Navigation A clear summit on Ben Nevis is a rare thing so expect to be in cloud and that means your navigation needs to be on point, especially when there is snow on the ground. In summer there is a path to follow but in winter this gets completely buried in snow, and there can be little to no visible difference between the ground and sky. You need to know how to take a bearing from your map, and then be able to follow it accurately on varying terrain. Once on the huge and featureless summit plateau there are cairns to aid navigation but it is common to not be able to see from one cairn to the next, and in heavy snow winters some of them get completely buried. Here's more detailed advice about Navigation on Ben Nevis. You will still need to follow a bearing on your compass and know exactly when to make the left turn toward the summit. When you reach the summit remember that you're only half way there and you will then need to do everything in reverse, so stay switched on all the way down. In a white out, the only thing that will keep you from falling through the cornice is following your compass bearing accurately. Sometimes, turning back before you get into a very serious situation is the best thing to do. Come back on another day when the weather is better.   High pressure brought us settled, cold, dry weather last week after a reasonable cover of snow, a quick thaw and refreeze. It was a fantastic start to my winter of guiding and climbing in which Doug and I enjoyed stunning days out, fantastic climbing and dry gear at the end of every day. We started out on Stob Coire nan Lochan on Monday, climbing Raeburn's Buttress (AKA Central Buttress Ordinary Route). At grade IV,4 and in really friendly condition, this was a nice warm up, a reminder of the movement and feel of winter climbing. It was a fantastic way to get . Previous climbers had left boot prints if compacted snow which had frozen nicely to provide really nice sticks with the ice axes. Protection was easy to find, belay ledges pre-prepared, and travel around the mountain was simple on the firm snow.  Ben Nevis was second and a climb called Lost the Place (V,5). I knew that this had also been climbed recently, so it would be nice for us to climb. The snow has been quite cruddy for climbing (but firm enough to walk on) in most places above 900m or 1000m. Climbing something first since the recent snowfall was pretty hard going. Ali and Kelvin climbed Maneater on Aonach Mor on Monday and had to dig it out from under the cruddy snow. Lost the Place is a brilliant mixed climb which is at the harder end of the grade V spectrum. The main long pitch up a groove is sustained and brilliant, there's a weird balancy move on the link pitch, then an intimidating overhanging chimney to finish. Warming up in the sunshine on top with nearly no wind and amazing views out west was outstanding. Doug and I upped the grade and effort levels again on Wednesday by going to Church Door Buttress on Bidean nam Bian. We climbed Crypt Route, a bizarre route that goes subterranean for much of it including a very small squeeze between chockstones. On previous ascents I have managed to fit through quite well but this time I found it properly hard! Full-on effort required for 1m of upward progress. A slightly easier day on Aonach Mor on Thursday gave us completely calm conditions, warm in the sunshine but cold in the shade. We went to the East Face (Coire an Lochain) and walked down Easy Gully to climb Morwind (IV,4). Early season conditions with little ice build up meant that we were climbing rimed rocks and frozen turf. Like this, the climb can feel a bit more tricky (and certainly not III,4 as listed in some guidebooks). Fantastic climbing though and wonderful views over to Schiehallion and the Cairngorms. We didn't take it easy on our last day, we went to Buachaille Etive Mor to climb Shelf Route (IV,6). This is a fantastic route that is not so well known giving six really fun pitches of chockstones and chimneys in a great position overlooking Crowberry Gully. There was just about enough snow at the start (which is quite low down) to make it feel wintry and by the top we were digging out the hooks and ledges from the cruddy snow. The top of the climbing is on Crowberry Ridge just below Crowberry Tower, so you still have to get up to the summit from there. It's a long climb and really good fun. The walk in and descent through Coire na Tulaich were about at tricky as the climbing with lots of water ice over the rocks and hoar frost covering everything that wasn't in the sunshine. As the weather started to show the first signs of changing with the high pressure drifting away we walked down reflecting on an amazing week of climbing. For me, there is always a bit of uncertainty at the start of every winter around my fitness, how I'll cope with back to back days out for many weeks, the physical and mental demands, but these were all addressed positively this week. It feels good to be at the start of another full winter of climbing (my 24th in a row). For Doug we nudged the experience and skills envelope a bit bigger by doing lots of mixed climbing on trad gear, a huge array of wacky three dimensional climbing and five big days in a row. We also discovered that we had been following Harold Raeburn around all week. He made the first ascent of Raeburn's Route, Raeburn's Chimney provides the route up from The Great Arch on Church Door Buttress, and he did the first ascent of a route next to Shelf Route. All of this more than 100 years ago!  Between Christmas and New Year we had a couple of storms that brought a bit of snow for us. It is currently lying down to around 600m and is not very deep, but it is very welcome! On Monday (New Year's Day) I went into Coire na Ciste on Ben Nevis to climb Strident Edge with Ali. We had tried a couple of times previously and found it to be black. This time it was white and frozen with a light covering of rime and snow. Perfect for mixed climbing. The rest of this week has been a bit warmer so Strident Edge and the Trident Buttresses are black. Ali and I chose the right day to go climbing.  Today I had a lovely day with Elise and Dom climbing Ledge Route. This was their first day in crampons but they have done some scrambling and hiking previously. Ledge Route was a perfect way to the summit of Ben Nevis, learning crampon skills on the way as well as moving on a rope in a team of three. The snow was soggy today and we were glad to get above the freezing level, even if it was up at 1100m or so. Even on the summit the snow was soft and wet, and we also got a long shower of drizzly rain on the summit. The temperature seemed to have gone up by a couple of degrees as we walked across to the summit from Carn Dearg.  The warmer conditions are consolidating the snowpack ready to freeze up when the temperature drops again over the next few days. The big gullies are full but only with a thin cover of snow. There are no cornices above any of the gullies causing problems and people have climbed Number Four Gully and Number Two Gully. The scree slopes in the coires are half covered in snow with plenty of rocks still showing through. Ice had been forming nicely in drainage lines such as Waterfall Gully and The Curtain. However, at this altitude the ice has been melting for a few days now. It is not likely to build very fast unless it gets a lot colder. Mid-grade gullies such as Green Gully are not formed with snow-ice. They will take a couple more storms with fresh snow then thaw freeze cycles to build enough ice I think.  The big ridges such as Tower Ridge and NE Buttress look like fun, especially when the snow freezes in the next few days. Below about 1200m the rocks are black. Above 1200m there is now thick icy rime on the rocks, so they look white but will be quite tough for mixed climbing. There is lots of rime on the summit shelter and ruins. So, there is a limited selection of climbing to do, the ground is cold and we have a nice spell of weather coming our way with high pressure building. We will get more snow later this month I'm sure and plenty more storms so the ice will build through the season. But, it's not a bad start.  Water freezes into very different forms of ice. Here we look at three that affect winter climbers very much. Rime is what normally makes mixed climbs white enough to go and climb. Hoar Frost grows on horizontal surfaces in a cold, clear night and can create a very weak layer in the snowpack. Verglas is an invisible sheen of ice covering rocks, making them incredibly difficult to move over.  Rime is a type of ice crystal that grows on any surface exposed to humid air being blown onto it in a sub-zero temperature. It is often seen on fence posts and, perhaps confusingly, grows into the wind. So, you need a wind blowing cloud onto the crag and the temperature to be below zero. No snowfall is required at all. After a westerly gale, choose a crag that faces west and has been in the cloud. The best conditions in which I’ve climbed snowed-up rock have included well-frozen rocks and a light rime of a couple of centimetres that is easily brushed away to reveal (hopefully) cracks and ledges underneath. The crags have been totally white at the start of the day, with the climbs brushed free of rime by climbers on various routes. Sufficient rime to make crags and climbs white enough to climb can form overnight. Twelve hours of strong winds blowing freezing clouds onto the crag is enough to form a couple of centimetres of rime over every surface of the crag.
Delicate dry rime can fall off the crag in a strong wind and is likely to fall off in very dry, cold air. This means that the crag can be white one day and black the next despite the temperature staying below zero. Once the crag is out of the cloud the rime will start to deteriorate. Sunshine will also strip rime from the rocks faster than you can climb them. Over time, rime can grow to be a metre deep, and it turns very icy after thaw-freeze cycles. In March, the summit observatory ruins on Ben Nevis are often covered by incredibly thick rime ice that has built up over the previous three or four months and survived many thaw-freeze cycles. This type of rime makes life difficult if you want to climb the rock underneath it. Thick, icy rime it can be a monumental struggle to clear off the rocks for a whole pitch.  Hoar frost is very different to rime, apart from being a type of ice crystal. Hoar frost forms during a cold, still, starlit night and is what glistens on the grass and in the trees after a hard frost. Crystals of ice grow upwards as moisture in the air falls onto horizontal surfaces. Since hoar frost only forms on horizontal surfaces, it doesn’t turn steep crags white. So, by itself, it is not sufficient to create the winter conditions required. Hoar frost grows on the surface of the snow as well as anywhere else. When snow builds up on top of a layer of hoar frost, this buried hoar frost will stay intact and remain as a weak layer within the snowpack. The hoar frost crystals are strong enough to hold a substantial layer of snow on top, but they are prone to collapsing in a layer across a wide area. They act a bit like playing cards standing upright. In this position they can hold a lot of weight but if they are pushed in the right direction they will all fall over at the same time. Hoar frost crystals can grow very fast and a very thin layer of them is required to create a weak layer if they are later buried. So, a night of snow showers and clear spells can create a snowpack with weak layers. Remember that it does not need to be snowing for accumulations of snow to build up. The wind can transport snow that is already lying on the ground to other places where there is shelter from the wind. Clear, cold, windy nights can a create areas of windslab witting on a weak layer of hoar frost crystals.  Verglas covering the rocks on the Inaccessible Pinnacle Verglas is a thin covering of ice on all the rocks. When you look at the ground and you see rocks that look like they might be wet, but actually turn out to be icy, you've got verglas. Not surprisingly, verglas is really tough to deal with. Walking on a path can be tortuous, scrambling over verglas covered rocks is incredibly tenuous and climbing anything can be made impossible. Not only are the handholds and footholds very slippery, but cracks can be made useless for protection and slings slide off spikes very easily. Crampons can help a little but it feels like walking on bare rocks with crampons on which is never much fun. If the ground is very cold after a week of freezing weather, verglas can form instantly when the weather warms up a little. A moist cloud blowing over super cold rocks will freeze water droplets onto the rocks, creating a cover of very thin ice. If the temperature continues to rise the verglas will not survive very long, but there is a period when the rocks stay icy because they are much slower to warm up than the air. Alternatively, if the rocks are all wet when the temperature drops suddenly below freezing, the water on the rocks will freeze to create the same thin layer of ice everywhere. This verglas can last a lot longer if the temperature stays below freezing. I found conditions like this once when I walked in to climb Curved Ridge on Buachaille Etive Mor. We decided that wearing crampons for the path was the best way forward even though it looked like bare, wet rocks. On the way down we took off the crampons for the loose snow in Coire na Tullach before putting them back on for the path back to the van at the end of the day.  |
