For those of us who live for horribly early starts, hail biting our faces and the sound of a well-placed ice tool, the Scottish Highlands are more than just a playground. They are a barometer for the health of our planet. This winter has been a nice reminder of winters of the past with good snow cover and ice climbing. But the trend of the last 20 years is clear, that barometer has been sending some unsettling signals.
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If you’ve been following our conditions reports over the years, or have been climbing in winter for a long time you will have seen it first hand. The "classic" Scottish winter with months of reliable snow cover and classic ice climbing is becoming increasingly elusive.

The Reality on the Hill

This winter has been very welcome. It has restored some faith in Scottish winter climbing. Let’s not get too carried away though; it has been much snowier than the last four winters but nothing like the snow cover we had 20 or even 40 years ago. Scottish winters are notoriously fickle and variable, so seeing trends is difficult, and our memories are short. But there is a clear trend towards shorter winters, deeper thaws, less ice climbing and snow cover.

Climate change is no longer a distant projection; it is the current reality of mountaineering. The data (e.g. from summer snow patches) confirms what guides and climbers feel; mean temperatures are rising, and the freezing level is hovering higher on the hills more often than in the past. When the media speaks of "climate alarmism," it often feels like they are finally catching up to what the mountains have been telling us for years.
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However, while it is vital to acknowledge the gravity of the situation, focusing solely on the "alarm" can lead to a sense of climate doom, the feeling that it’s too late to act. At Abacus Mountain Guides, we believe the opposite is true. The changing snow line should be a call to action, not a reason for despair. We should acknowledge what is happening and act accordingly. 

Learning from Success: The Uruguay Model and Beyond

When discussing climate change, we often get bogged down in what can't be done. But if we look globally, there are stunning examples of what is possible with political will and clear-headed strategy. Take Uruguay, for instance.

In just over a decade, Uruguay shifted its electricity grid from being heavily dependent on fossil fuels to generating 95-98% of its electricity from renewable sources (primarily wind, solar, and biomass). They didn't do this through "alarmism," but through a pragmatic, long-term national agreement that prioritised energy sovereignty and lowered costs.

We are seeing similar structural triumphs closer to home, too. The UK has become a global leader in off-shore wind energy; today, over 40,000 people are employed in the UK’s offshore wind industry, and 55,000 in wind energy combined, driving a sector that now generates a significant and growing proportion of our total power demand. 110,000 will work in this industry by 2030. Uruguay’s success and the UK's wind revolution prove that a rapid transition isn't just a pipedream, it’s a blueprint.

The Unsung Success: Reducing Emissions

Amidst the headlines of melting glaciers, we rarely hear about the genuine progress being made. In many developed nations, including the UK, emissions per capita have dropped significantly over the last two decades. Through a combination of cleaner energy grids, technological efficiency, and public awareness, we have proven that decoupling economic life from high-carbon output is possible.

We are moving in the right direction, but we need to accelerate. The goal isn’t to mourn the winters of the past, but to protect the winters of the future.

How We Can Make a Difference

As climbers and outdoor enthusiasts, we have a unique platform and a deep motivation to act. Effective climate action isn't about "doing less"; it’s about influencing the systems that govern our world.

• Lifestyle Choices as Market Signals: Individual actions like reducing meat consumption or choosing rail over domestic flights are important. But their real power lies in market influence. When we shift our spending, we signal to corporations that the "old way" is no longer profitable.
• Political Engagement: Individual change is the foundation, but systemic change is the main goal. Write to your MPs, support policies that subsidise renewable energy, and vote for leadership that prioritizes the environment.
• Leveraging Your Network: Climbers are a tight-knit community. Whether it’s at the climbing wall or the pub, your influence matters. Normalizing conversations about effective climate solutions helps move the needle from "alarm" to "action."
• Donations to Effective Charities: Not all climate charities are created equal. If you want your donations to have the maximum impact, look toward "highly effective" organizations like the Clean Air Task Force (CATF). They work on the "hard" parts of the climate puzzle like pushing for technology and policy changes in sectors like energy generation and methane production. This is why Abacus Mountain Guides donates £25 every month to Clean Air Task Force.

A Future Worth Climbing For

The snow cover has been better this year, and the ice climbing has been good. The spirit of Scottish winter climbing remains, whatever kind of winter we get. By acknowledging the trend of our changing climate without falling into hopelessness, we can find the resolve to act.

If you want to do something positive, you could start by joining the World Climate Relay!

It has been so nice to have a winter with slightly more normal snow and ice cover. The last few winters (2022 to 2025) were very patchy, characterised by some snow build up followed by deep thaws that stripped much of it away. The snow pack did not have a chance to build and to transform into the kind of snow that is resistant to a few days of thaw. As a result, ice climbing has been very limited in the last four winters. We have been enjoying lots of mixed climbing and climbing conditions that we'd call early season conditions for much of the winter, but there has not been very much ice to climb at all. Last winter (2025) in particular was notable for there being no classic ice climbs formed at all for the entire winter.

So, it has been really nice to see the big, classic ice climbs on Ben Nevis form up this year, to have a snow pack that is now durable in the days of thaw and there is hope that we will continue to have some ice to climb for another month.

It has not been entirely normal or easy going though. For about five weeks in January and early February we had a strong easterly or south-easterly air stream. This happened last in 2010 when it was incredibly cold all winter with lots of snow and we had and amazing season for climbing. This year there was a lot of snow in the Cairngorms and the west coast didn't get so much at all. However, it was very cold and the ground froze properly, setting us up nicely for when the weather changed to a more common westerly airstream with snow and thaw-freeze cycles.

During this time of strong SE winds, we took a right battering! It's a characteristic of SE winds that they accelerate down the "sheltered" side of the mountains. You often see a higher wind speed being recorded at the CIC Hut at 670m than you do on the summit of Aonach Mor at 1200m. In the coires of Ben Nevis, the SE winds swirl around like crazy, making it very difficult to reach any of the higher crags. We climbed on The Douglas Boulder a lot!

Finally the airstream changed to a westerly, three weeks into February. This meant rain to the summit and a thaw at all levels but we need this to generate some ice. Persistent cold conditions are no good for building the snow-ice that we rely on. Instead, we need fluctuating temperatures with snowfall, thaw and refreeze to build up snow, get it wet and soggy then refreeze it into snow-ice that is good for climbing.

We had to endure some very wet days and poor conditions for it to start to come good. Vanishing Gully and The Curtain formed up nicely and ice climbs at Creag Meagaidh were pretty good. Big classic climbs like Point Five Gully and Orion Direct looked great but were actually made of cruddy ice, partly because of the super thick rime that had built up.

A few more deep thaws and rain finally saturated all the snow at all levels and it froze back into good snow ice. At last we could go and enjoy classic climbs like Zero Gully, Orion Direct, Astral Highway, Hadrian's Wall Direct, Point Five Gully, Indicator Wall and Smith's Route. Lots of people grabbed a chance to climb on some beautiful days for climbing, leading to multiple teams on every route and the inevitable frustrations caused by slower teams and falling debris.

Early starts were a good tactic, leaving North Face car park at 4am and hoping to beat anyone staying at the CIC Hut! Also, having a flexible approach to the route you choose worked well, and climbing routes like Roaring Forties and Comb Gully Buttress that are less busy but have equally good climbing.

So, we now have fat ice on Point Five Gully, and pretty good ice on many other climbs. Orion Direct might be a bit thin on the crux second pitch but most of the other big classic ice climbs are holding up well enough. Today we have fresh snow down to a couple of hundred metres above sea level and much colder temperatures on the summit. It seems like the ice climbing will be around for a bit longer.

​Remember that Ben Nevis ice climbing often coincides with the daffodils being in flower. Up here they are only just starting to open up - we should have a month of ice climbing still to come!

So far, this winter has been full of promise. We have not had the devastating thaws that have characterised the last four winters. Instead, a cold and mostly dry December gave us some beautiful days ideal for running around ridges and some mixed climbing as the ground dissipated its heat from the summer.

​The airflow has often been from the east which means that we get much less precipitation here in the west. At the start of the winter this is good news because we want the ground to cool down and freeze properly before the insulating layer of snow starts to build up. 

The Cairngorms received much more snow and many more visitors as a result. But we have sharp ridges and pointy mountains which are always fantastic for exploring and for getting you fit ready for the rest of the winter.

Over Christmas it got even colder but it remained dry. Short, dark days were made sparkly and bright by hoar frost that coated everything in the glens while the tops of the mountains were hardly any colder but were bathed in sunshine. Finally the snow started to arrive in early January giving us one memorably stingy Tuesday, a reminder of how fierce winter weather can be on the face. Very cold conditions froze low level streams into cascade ice and we got our first taste of ice climbing of the winter.

On the tops the snow built up and rime grew on the rocks, covering everything with a thick white coat. Mixed climbing became laborious but still without any thaw-freeze cycles there was no transformation of the snow and no snow-ice to climb in the classic gullies.

The last couple of weeks have given us some gentle thaw freeze cycles that have locked snow in place and started to build a proper snowpack for the next few months. The freezing level has hovered between the summits and half way down the mountains, just as it should to transform the snow without melting it all away. It's a slow process and we need to be patient. But the signs are good, the basis of what could be an ice filled winter of climbing is in place. We already have good ice climbing at Creag Meagaidh and I think it will not be long before we have some classic ice climbing on Ben Nevis as well.

Let's weather the January storms, battling through to February and March when it all starts to come good and we are rewarded with an armor plating of soft snow-ice all over the North Face of Ben Nevis and we can enjoy those mega-classic routes again.

​Fingers crossed!!

​What You Are Really Buying: Depth of Knowledge and Experience

When you hire a certified mountain guide, leader or mountaineering instructor, you are not simply hiring a highly experienced hiking partner or a navigational tool; you are tapping into a resource of profound, specialised knowledge honed over years of personal and professional practice.

The value you receive is immediate access to:

• Risk Management: A guide is a master of continuous, dynamic risk assessment. This includes understanding complex variables like snow stability, real-time weather changes, rock fall hazard, and route conditions.
• Route Choice: Honeypot routes are very well known about by definition, but there are very many brilliant, unknown routes that your guide can show you that will keep you away from the busy areas.
• Instruction and Education: While managing your climb, your instructor is also subtly teaching you why they are making every decision, giving you valuable skills for your own future adventures.
  
• ​Emergency Response: The highest level of training in rescue and wilderness first aid, ensuring that if something goes wrong, you have the best possible chance of a safe outcome.

​The Guide's Primary Role: The Ultimate Decision-Maker

Your guide's primary role is not to drag you to the summit, but to act as the ultimate safety officer and risk manager for your team. This means they are constantly filtering incoming information—the feel of the snow beneath their feet, the change in wind direction, the time of day, and your own physical condition—to make critical, sometimes life-saving, choices.
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These choices are the core of the service. They are decisions that, as a client, you might lack the experience, technical training, or objective viewpoint to make yourself:

• “Should we cross this slope, or is the snow too unstable?”
• “Are we moving fast enough to clear the summit ridge before the afternoon storm hits?”
• “Is the client experiencing acute mountain sickness, and do we need to descend immediately?”

​The Hard Truth: The Objective Is Secondary to Safety

The depth of experience that your guide brings usually means that you stand an excellent chance of achieving your chosen objective. Their expertise in pacing, route optimisation, and reading the mountain often makes the difference between success and failure.

However, a professional guide's focus is always to safety and the quality of the experience, not merely the goal printed on the itinerary.

There will be times—and a good guide will tell you this upfront—when their professional judgment leads to a necessary pivot. They might decide:

• The Risk is Too High: The objective conditions (weather, avalanche danger, etc.) have deteriorated beyond an acceptable margin of safety. In this case, the safest and most professional decision is to turn back, or even not to start towards that climb in the first place. In this case, there are usually safer, better climbs to go for.
  
• It is Not the Best Objective for You: The guide may assess that your current physical or technical ability, given the mountain’s current condition, makes another, more appropriate climb the better choice for a safe and rewarding day.

Moving up to the next grade can feel like a daunting prospect, or sometimes an impossible leap. Much of the time the barrier is in our heads but there are also some practical steps you can take to reach the next level in your winter climbing. 

Protection

To get used to placing protection on harder climbs and in more difficult positions, when you are climbing at your current grade place protection in tricky places. You know you can climb at this grade and you can place protection in comfortable places. As well as this, stop on the steeper, trickier sections and place protection. Don’t power through the crux; instead stop half way through it and place an ice screw or a nut. This will give you practice in placing protection in more difficult places which is what it will feel like on the harder climb. Make sure you are relaxed and slick at placing the protection. If it does not work you can just carry on climbing like you would have done anyway.

In fact, even if you don’t place protection, stopping half way through the tricky section of your current grade is a good idea. Instead of powering through, rushing through the crux to easier ground above, slow down, stop and admire the view. You need confidence in what you are doing and being in the position you are in. If you are rushing though the crux you are not ready to move up a grade. If you are relaxed and confident enough to stop and soak up the atmosphere, to admire the view, you are ready to try a harder climb.
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You need to trust your protection and belay anchors. You might even need to do a hanging belay on the next grade of climb. So, practice and get confident in your anchors by leaning out on your anchors when you are belaying your buddy. This is a good idea anyway. You do not want any slack rope between you and your anchors if you are belaying off your harness so that there is no chance of a shock load on your anchors if your buddy falls off. So, kick out a nice ledge, stand tall and lean back on your anchors with confidence.

Research

Do your research. Winter climbs come in all shapes and sizes, styles and characters. Choose one that matches your strengths, whether it is ice, mixed or snowed up rock. Find out what it takes to be in optimum condition, where the pitches go, where to belay and where the crux is. Choose a popular climb which is well known, not an esoteric adventure that has only seen one ascent. Make sure it is well known so you can get the information you need and so you know the grade is accurate. You will also be able find out when it has been climbed recently which is quite a reassurance. Making the first ascent of an ice climb each winter is certainly more nerve-wracking than climbing it after many recent ascents.

Having said this, it can be tricky working out what kind of route each one is and therefore what the optimum conditions are. The information is much more available these days though and don’t be afraid to ask around. My guidebook "Winter Climbs: Ben Nevis and Glencoe" published by Cicerone puts every climb into a category so that you know what to expect. It also describes in detail what weather creates the chance of each style of climb coming into condition.

Snowed up rock climbs often come in to condition first each winter. These are solid rock climbs that just need a quick freeze along with rime and snow to make the rocks white. Savage Slit and Fallout Corner in the Northern Coires of Cairngorm, Slab Route on Ben Nevis, Scabbard Chimney and Crest Route on Stob Coire nan Lochan are all pretty good examples.

Mixed routes take a little longer to freeze up properly and should not be attempted until the turf is frozen solid. These routes are climbed on rimed up rock, frozen turf and bits of ice all mixed up together. Climbing mushy turf is very unpleasant and damages the turf for future ascents. Taliballan on Stob Coire an Laoigh in the Grey Coires, Western Chimney Route on Bidean nam Bian and Morwind on Aonach Mor are all good examples of turfy mixed climbs.

Some mixed climbs take a bit more frozen snow-ice to be at their best. Snow-ice is formed by snow on the route being warmed by a thaw so that it goes wet but does not melt away, then refreezing into solid, aerated ice that is brilliant to climb on. Thompson’s Route on Ben Nevis is just like this. It’s a wonderful icy mixed route with bits of snow-ice and bits of rock in a chimney that is a dream to climb when the snow-ice has built up but very tricky beforehand.

When the snow-ice has had more time to form and just the right combination of snowfall and thaw freeze cycles (often not until February or March) the West Coast classic ice climbs can be at their best. Orion Direct, Hadrian’s Wall Direct, Point Five Gully and Zero Gully are all climbs to aspire to once you are confident on grade V ice and you can climb 300m or 400m in a few short hours!

When we get a sharp cold snap there are ice climbs that form in natural drainage lines. Whole venues such as Beinn Udlaidh is a perfect example of a venue full of ice climbs that require a very good freeze of a week or two but very little snow or thaw freeze cycles. The climbs here are of strong but hard water ice that is secure to climb on (solid ice screws as well as ice axe placements) but steep and hard work to place your picks. Make sure you sharpen your picks and crampons before you go!

Some winter climbs are good in any conditions and it is well worth knowing about these. If you climb the same route in very different conditions you will learn about how the conditions change the climbing and the feel of the route. It might also give you some good climbing in marginal conditions or bad weather. North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor is a great example. The grade is much the same if it is just rimed up, buried on soft snow or if it has a line of ice in the chimney and it is always great fun. South West Ridge of Douglas Boulder on Ben Nevis has become a very popular climb recently for the same reasons. 

Experience

​Climb with climbers who are better than you. You will find it easier to move up a grade if you have seconded a few climbs at that grade and you know what it feels like. In fact, if you can get a buddy to lead you up a climb that you want to lead yourself you will have much more chance of success. Much of the difficulty in moving up a grade is psychological so take away the concerns over route finding, where to belay, what kind of protection to take with you as well as the climbing itself by climbing it with a stronger climbing buddy. Even though leading a route you have seconded makes it much easier to lead, you will still have the confidence of having lead at that grade which will carry you forward to your first onsight lead of that grade.

Serve an apprenticeship and move through the grades steadily. If you climb one grade IV route you are not automatically ready to climb a grade V. Even if you find the grade IV straight forward you should climb several more at that grade before moving up the grade. Experience is earned through spending time on lots of climbs in different locations, on different days and in different conditions. You learn how to deal with many, many different situations and these help you cope with new situations that you will undoubtedly face.
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“There is more to ice climbing than climbing ice”. In fact, the techniques of winter climbing are only a small part of climbing winter routes. Be prepared to build up a huge bank of experience by climbing lots and lots of routes. You will learn all sorts of tricks from other climbers, about dealing with the harsh weather, about how the weather affects the climbing conditions, about avalanche safety and navigation, and about how to cope with all the little (and some major) things that don’t go completely right every time!

System

Sort your system so that you stay warm and dry. We all have different preferences of gloves and clothes but a system that works well for you is essential. Any fool can be cold, hungry and dehydrated but all these will reduce your performance. Play around with different gloves and carry spares for when you get wet. Use a belay jacket, one between the two of you if you are swinging leads. A jacket that fits over your helmet, that does not pull out from under your harness and that does not hang over your harness covering up your gear makes a huge difference to your climbing.

Arrive at the start of the climb in a good state to climb. This means that you need to get fit in the autumn, you need to walk up at steady pace and you need to eat and drink on the way, and you should change into a dry base layer before you start.

Find food that is easy to eat on a belay ledge and something to drink in something you can drink from easily. If you can arrive at the foot of the crux pitch feeling warm, dry and well fed you will be in a much better position to climb it. The concept of marginal gains really makes sense to me in winter climbing. Making sure your zips are done up really can help you climb the next grade!

One reason is that we want to follow social norms. For example, if everyone else in a shared home is cleaning the dishes, you will do it too. If everyone else is just leaving their stuff, you won’t bother either.

Someone has to break the cycle and wash the dishes first. Nobody wants to be the person to stand out and do something by actually washing the dishes and asking everyone else to do the same, despite everyone wanting the system to change. But, once you've done it, everyone will be grateful.

You can be that person to break the silence about action on climate change and create a new social norm. Talk about climate change, take action and tell all your friends to do the same.

Remember:

• 89% of people around the world want more climate action but most think that few other people want the same.
• More than 99% of climate scientists believe that man made climate change is happening.

There are many excuses for not acting on climate change. Here are some that I have heard and some responses that you might like to try.

Change needs to come from the top down. There’s no point in making lifestyle changes.

In some ways this is correct. Only governments can change policy on energy production, environmental protection, taxation on aviation, licences for new oil fields etc. There are a lot of things that need to happen that we can’t directly make happen. So when we vote in elections it’s important to learn what each candidate is promising to do for the climate so that we can prioritise this in our decision making.

We also need to tell our government to do the right thing. Despite about 85% of people around the world wanting more to be done for the climate, politicians often find other things to be more important and fail to take the actions we need. 

But, we all need to make some lifestyle changes so which would you prefer? For lifestyle changes to be imposed by those in authority or for you to tell those in authority and everyone else what they should be doing? Neither one is ideal. On the one hand we don’t want to be told what to do with no say in it. And on the other hand, few of us want to do research into what’s effective and become campaigners for climate action. Actually what’s needed is both of these at the same time.

People-power is incredibly persuasive. As consumers we can be very effective at changing what is being offered to us. As an example, if more people buy electric cars, manufacturers will build more electric cars and EV charging infrastructure will be installed more quickly. Also, we’re all micro influencers. We can talk with all our friends and colleagues about driving an EV and encourage them to do so too.
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Plus, it’s very easy to write to your MP. Contact details are easy to find online and you can send an email or go to one of their surgeries and speak with them face to face. If we campaign for change it can happen quickly.

China is emitting so much greenhouse gas that it's pointless for us to change anything.

In the last few decades China successfully raised millions of people out of poverty, which is an amazing achievement. And it’s true that they did much of it with coal. But they are now leading the world in renewable energy production and manufacture of renewable energy infrastructure like wind turbines and solar panels. China’s total emissions have declined in the last year despite strong economic growth.

China now leads the world in wind and solar energy production, with twice as much capacity under construction as the rest of the world combined. Between March 2023 and March 2024, China installed more solar than it had in the previous three years combined, and more than the rest of the world combined for 2023. 

But comparing emissions of countries is not very helpful because of the different sizes of the countries. It would be pointless to say that an apartment block uses more electricity than a bungalow. Instead we need to compare emissions per person. Each person living in the USA and Canada emits far more than each person in China. USA and Canada’s emissions have been dropping over the last few years and it looks like China’s will drop as well.

China has a long way to go but is now moving in the right direction at a very fast pace.

We're such a small country it's just vanity signalling. Our impact on the planet is tiny compared to big countries.

Yes, UK emissions are small on a global scale but in many ways we're leading the world by showing responsibility and by developing technology that other countries can use instead of coal. Renewable energy production is now far cheaper than coal.

We are responsible for much of the historic emissions over the last 180 years so we have more responsibility to show leadership in changing to sustainable practices.
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There’s also nothing much to lose by making the changes necessary. If we do it right we will have better quality houses, cleaner air, cheaper electricity, greater biodiversity and many other benefits.

The climate has always gone in cycles.

More than 99% of climate scientists agree that man-made climate change is happening and current global warming is not part of a natural cycle. 

Milankovitch Cycles take place over time spans of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years and are due to slight changes in the earth’s orbit and tilt along its axis.  In just the last 800,000 years the earth has been through eight cycles of ice ages and warmer periods. These can be attributed to Milankovitch cycles.
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The current warming is different and is clearly the result of human activities over the last 180 years due to greenhouse gasses released by us. The effect of carbon dioxide trapping heat in our atmosphere was first demonstrated in the mid 1800s.

We're stuffed anyway, it's too late.

It’s not surprising that many of us feel pretty despondent. We are being bombarded with news stories and images of the impacts of climate change but never with any positive actions that we can take to do something about it. We also think that few other people care about the climate.

However studies have shown that about 89% of people around the world do want more action to be taken to address climate change. Politicians still don't understand this and are heavily influenced by very large corporations that actively push against climate action. 

We are very close to triggering social-tipping dynamics. A concerted effort to correct these misperceptions could be a powerful intervention, yielding large, positive effects. Instead of following social norms towards inaction, we can unlock potent, self-reinforcing feedback cycles that drive people towards taking action for the climate.

Positive changes are happening. Worldwide GHG emissions per person are reducing. The USA has reduced its GHG emissions by 22%. Renewable energy production is now cheaper than fossil fuels. Technology is moving very fast and becoming far cheaper. The cost of solar EV cells and electric batteries for vehicles have dropped by 95%.

Change can happen very quickly. Do you remember we had a big problem with holes in the ozone layer? You don’t hear about it any more because we changed the things we needed to in order to repair the ozone layer.
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So, what do we need to do?

• eat less meat
• fly less
• tell people you want action to be taken for the climate, especially your MP
• donate to very highly effective charities such as Clean Air Task Force that can change government policy

There is no doubt that winters in Scotland are changing. As a result, walkers and climbers will need to shift expectations of what winter is. Ten years ago we could assume that there would be a general cover of snow sufficient to be able to walk over to practice winter walking skills with ice axes and crampons, even in poor weather. We would be able to count on classic routes like Tower Ridge to hold enough snow to feel “wintry” even in the rain.

A study published in 2023 by Leeds University says the Scottish Highlands has seen an increase in mean minimum and maximum temperatures over the past century and a 45-year-long study in the mountains of the Scottish Highlands linked a reduction in winter and spring snow cover duration over this period to an increase in mean temperature. Climate models forecast a continued warming trend and further reductions in snow cover. 

Of course there have been very wide variations year by year, but the overall trend is clear. Data from SAIS collected over the last 18 years show huge variations in temperature and snowfall. Last winter was slightly warmer and we had slightly less snowfall, resulting in much less snow cover.

What does this mean for walkers and climbers?

Finding good snow cover, winter climbing and amenable weather has always been a lottery in Scotland. Nothing has ever been guaranteed and we have always worked with an attitude of making the most of what we’re given. Sometimes it all comes together and we get to enjoy the most fantastic climbing in the world. Much of the time we have a bit of a battle to find something that feels wintry and is enjoyable, even if it is sometimes only enjoyable after getting down and showered! We have always had days when getting onto snow and ice has been impossible.
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In future winters, we will be even less certain to find snow and ice. But it’s still winter in Scotland and there is lots to enjoy.

Does this mean we shouldn’t bother?

Not at all! Walking and climbing in winter in Scotland has never been entirely dependent on having snow and ice on the ground. What many think of as winter skills - using crampons and ice axes - form one small part of the complete set of winter skills we have always required. Route planning and avalanche avoidance, what to wear and what to carry, how to stay warm and comfortable (enough) to enjoy the day, navigation and route finding are all essential skills to develop and these can be learned and practiced with or without snow.

In many ways, a weekend of blue skies, sub-zero summit temperatures and good snow cover will not prepare you for the inevitable wet and windy days that you will come across on future trips. We have delivered many winter skills courses in delightful weather which we have ended by saying that, as nice as it was, these days have not been good preparation for what you will face next time you are out by yourself.
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Unless you live here and can pick out just the nice days to go climbing or walking, planning a trip has always included a lot of uncertainty. With some perseverance to make the most of the tough weather and keep enthusiasm levels high, you will eventually enjoy some really good weather and conditions. If you don’t try, you will never get to enjoy the good days.

Our promise to you.

Last winter included many excellent days for climbing and walking and on these days it was easy to deliver something that our guests wanted. There were also very many days that fell below expectations or aspirations of snow cover and climbing conditions.

We will always try our best to make the most of the weather and snow and ice conditions that we have at the time. We will always find some useful training or interesting routes to try in bad weather to nudge along your experience and skills a step further. We’re very grateful to all our guests who embrace the challenge of the weather in order to learn and develop their skills. It might not be exactly what you expected but we can’t change the weather and there is always something new to learn.

Stopping for a rest can be a dangerous thing to do. It gives you the chance to look around, see where you are and fully appreciate the seriousness of the place. When you are scrambling, focusing on hand and boot placements on the moderate ground, everything is OK. As soon as you stop and look where you are, the sense of place can be overwhelming.

Ledge Route is the modest name for this most outstanding route, a simple Grade 2/3 scramble, rising 400m over its 800m length. What sets it out from all other scrambles is where it is, finding a way through the seemingly impenetrable cliffs of the North Face of Ben Nevis, in amongst the finest and grandest of mountains in the UK.

The ridges and gullies, the buttresses and chimneys of the North Face stretch across 2.5km in a straight line but many, many times more than this if you could pull them open, like a concertina, to reveal their full extent. Rising up to 500m high in a continuous sweep of rock directly to the summit, they look impossible to breach. Through this intimidating wall climbs a single, reasonable route. Ledge Route requires nothing more than scrambling skills, a good head for exposure, and the ability to find the route. But, being surrounded by such grandeur and history makes this scramble feel far more impressive than the rock beneath your boots.

​Walking up the Allt a’Mhuilinn towards the CIC Hut, the mountaineering hut safely tucked in underneath the North Face, the cliffs unfold above you with more and more complexity and detail. What you thought was a big, impressive cliff at the start turns into an even bigger and more impressive series of cliffs and gullies as you get closer.

The most impressive single chunk of rock, just above the hut, is Carn Dearg Buttress, 200m of vertical rock full of overhangs and deep chimneys. Ledge Route climbs this! Of course, it doesn’t go straight up, this is the reserve of the rock climber. Instead, Ledge Route enters the depths of Number Five Gully to the left of the buttress, and finds a series of ledges up the edge of the buttress. Number Five Gully is often full of snow right into July after funnelling the winter snows to its base. Squeezing between the snow and the rock walls of the gully for 50m reveals the first of the ledges, a terrace leading out right through the edge of the buttress.

Immediately, the exposure is incredible and it is here that you find the crux of the route. A slab of rock, set at a very easy angle, but smooth with few helpful holds and often wet, drops away to what is already a very long way down. It is only 10m long, but it can be enough to stop upward progress. It is here that a rope might give the confidence required to climb the slab, but remember, someone needs to climb it first to put the rope in place.

​The ledge continues but soon reaches vertical rock and impossible ground; turn left and climb easily up an open gully to some boulders on a shoulder looking into Number Five Gully. Easier ground now heads back up right to the top of Carn Dearg Buttress, past a bizarre top-heavy tower, to the finest picnic spot on Ben Nevis. While you take a break and catch your breath look between your feet to the path 400 below.

The route now changes character, from the series of zig-zag ledges outflanking the steepest of ground, to a narrow ridge leading all the way to the top. At its narrowest you’ll have your hands on the crest and your feet shuffling along just below, but mostly it is a wide, blocky crest giving you the chance to admire the North Face scenery on both sides.

Over to the left, in Number Five Gully, grow some of the rarest wild flowers found in the UK. Arctic mouse ear and several saxifrages found only on the highest peaks in the country grow here. Keep your eyes open on the first ledge of Ledge Route for globe flowers (giant buttercups!), alpine meadow rue and dwarf cudweed, sibaldia and roseroot. The first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis was made by a botanist and the plants growing here are still being studied.

​The crest of Ledge Route leads finally to the summit of Carn Dearg, the northerly top of Ben Nevis. Looking across to the summit and resting before the half hour walk over the plateau, consider the volcanic origin of the rocks. The andesite and rhyolite of the North Face cliffs are what remains of a huge area of volcanic rocks put down 430 million years ago, all of which have eroded away apart from the summit of Ben Nevis.

To top off the day, if you have the legs for it, go around the Carn Mor Dearg Arete and down to the North Face car park, to have the chance to admire the route you came up. There is a great satisfaction in seeing a route after having completed it, reliving the experience and fully appreciating the grandeur of the setting. 

Ledge Route, Ben Nevis
A brilliant scramble through the finest of mountain scenery.

How hard is it? 
Grade 2/3 scramble, often completed without a rope, but with exposed and tenuous moves on the crux slab. The scrambling mostly requires confidence rather than climbing ability.

What skills and experience do you need?
Hill walkers with experience of exposed routes such as Carn Mor Dearg Arete or Crib Goch will find Ledge Route as the next step up. Route finding skills are crucial. Although most people do not use a rope on a dry day in good conditions, having a rope and knowing how to use it for a simple pitch would be a good plan.

Guidebook: Highland Scrambles South (SMC). Scotland’s Mountain Ridges (Dan Bailey – Cicerone).

Much has been written about the Cuillin on Skye. They are unique, set apart and a step up from everything else in UK mountains. Their rocky nature is daunting and inspiring in equal measures and rising out of the sea with only islands and the open ocean to see out west adds another wonderful dimension to the experience of climbing the peaks.

There are eleven munros in the main ridge of the Cuillin and you can often reach all of these summits in four single days based in the glen. A complete ridge traverse is one of the finest mountaineering objectives in the world but it is incredibly intense and not for everyone. Climbing all eleven munros in single day trips is more achievable for most people and just as rewarding.

​Here is how the four days can work out.

Day 1. Sgurr nan Eag, Sgurr Dubh Mor and Sgurr Alasdair
Day 2. Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Inaccessible Pinnacle and Sgurr na Banachdich
Day 3. Sgurr a' Mhadaidh and Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh
​Day 4. Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir and Bruach na Frithe

Day 2. Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Inaccessible Pinnacle and Sgurr na Banachdich

​There is no need or desie to go up the An Stac screes to reach Sgurr Mhic Choinnich from Coire Laggan. Just after the lochan in Coire Laggan you can go up grass and fairly solid ground to find a slight path on the left side of the screes. This allows a simple climb on far more pleasant ground to reach the crest of the ridge at the foot of the east ridge of An Stac. The crest is then followed to Sgurr Mhic Choinnich up grade 2 scrambling, normally to the right of the crest but more on th eleft side in the last few sections. Sgurr Mhic Choinnich is a brilliantly exposed wee summit from which you can admire the full drama of Coire Laggan.

Return back along the ridge to climb An Stac directly on the crest (intimidating but surprisingly straightforward despite the not quite solid rock) or follow the brown bypass on the left directly to the foot of The Inaccessible Pinnacle. This is, of course, the hardest of the Cuillin munros and in fact the hardest of them all. Its grade Moderate climbing hides the incredibly exposed position; the experience is far greater than the grade would suggest. 40m of rope is required to abseil off the short side.

From Sgurr Dearg it is a simple walk with only occasional touches with hands to reach Sgurr na Banachdich. It's actually quite nice to be able to move at a faster and more flowing pace over easier ground, compared to the more technical and therefore slower scrambling. From the summit you descend west down easy slopes into the small Coire an Eich to join the path leading to the Youth Hostel.

Day 3. Sgurr a' Mhadaidh and Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh

This is a shorter and easier day so if you get a bit of slightly worse weather go for this one, but stream crossings are a real problem after very wet weather. Start at the Youth Hostel and follow the good path for a long way all the way towards An Dorus. Many waterslides and waterfalls decorate this walk into beautiful corries full of gorges and flowers. Follow the path up scree towards An Dorus but leave this about 100m below the top to find a shelf on the left. This leads to easy slopes past bivi spots to the simple route up Sgurr a' Mhadaidh.

Descend the same way but head directly to An Dorus. There is a tricky step down into An Dorus and another bigger step out of An Dorus on the other side. Simple terrain leads over a slight bump before you pass to the left (east) side of Eag Dubh, a black, deep chimney. Meander up the ridge and to the right of The Wart, a massive lump of gabbro stuck close to the summit. There's a short section of ridge to enjoy before reaching the summit of Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh.

Return the same way to An Dorus which requires you to climb down its awkward step, then follow the gully and path all the way back down to the Youth Hostel.

So, there you go, eleven munros in four days. Breaking them down into these routes creates four fairly even sized days that are all manageable for most people. In dry weather and if you are moving well you can complete all the munros in three days by joining the 2nd and 3rd days together, or by including Sgurr Mhic Choinnich into the first day via Collies Ledge  and going from The Inaccessible Pinnacle to Sgurr a' Mhadaidh on the second day.

But there is great value in exploring the corries in the sides of the main ridge and enjoying the views and scenery on the walks in and out each day. It's a wonderful place - why rush it?

​Senja is the second largest island in Norway and sits on the west coast a long way north of the Arctic Circle. Its highest peak is just over 1000m but the peaks rise straight out of the sea in fantastically jaggy formations that would fit the Lord of the Rings perfectly. Many people know it as a destination for ski mountaineering, ice climbing and mountaineering but in a slightly mythical way. It is a dreamscape that we know we want to go to experience but one that we can’t quite grasp. Even when you get there, it doesn’t seem real.

Having arrived in a snow storm, day one was always going to be about working out the lay of the land and calibration. There is little information available anywhere and our few ideas soon went out of the window when we started looking around. 

Despite its location in the far north, Senja is not immune to global changes in climate and climbing conditions. Three times in the winter of 2025, sea level temperatures rose to +8C and the snow cover and ice routes were badly affected. One of these periods of thaw occurred just before we arrived so the regular ice climbs we were hoping to find were not there. 

​By 1pm on day one and still having not climbed anything, Daniel, Lauren and I decided to try Chockstone Gully in Ersfjord, a climb next to Big Blue which was forming again after the melt but still looked too thin. Chockstone Gully was nice after the first pitch which was a mixture of snow and cruddy, layered ice. Many years of climbing ice in Scotland give you the confidence to climb less than perfect ice, a skill that was tested on every climb we did! But, we were up and running, we climbed an ice route in Senja!

​It’s common to need to make your own decisions and work out how it all works by yourself in Senja. On day two we climbed a route that overlooks Senjahopen that you can see from the road. This is all the information we had; what we could see from the road! Of course the first pitch turned into 40m of laminated, thin ice on smooth rocks that gave me two ice screws on the whole pitch. Pitch two was brilliant! Pitch three was a link up of new ice and pieces of old ice through steep rocks to the snow slopes above. We managed to walk down an unknown ridge, weaving a route between steep rocks and scrubby trees.

Then it rained up to 500m so we took a rest day.

​Our third day of climbing was on a mixed route that was reminiscent of mixed climbing in Scotland. It is called The Trolls, The Trolls and was first climbed by Rich Cross who was a real pioneer of climbing in Senja. He spotted the adventurous nature of the climbing here and was keen to put his extensive Scottish experience to good use. Rich made the first ascent of many amazing climbs in Senja and was good enough to send me the information before our trip. 

The Trolls, The Trolls climbs steepening moss filled rocky grooves for four pitches before it reaches a major chockstone. This gives a punchy crux with wild moves swinging out around the chockstone, above a very impressive drop. Mixed climbing on turf, frozen moss and rock is a completely different style of climbing to the ice climbing we were used to, and it felt pretty tough, especially with the cold wind blowing the heavy showers of hail up into our faces at all the wrong moments. Determined to finish, we topped out as the sun was setting, bathing our descent in a warm glow that we could only enjoy in between more blasts of snow and hail in our faces!

​Back on the ice for day four of climbing we went to Even Bigger Blue, which, as you’d expect, is an enormous sheet of ice in Ersfjord that would have a dozen different lines described on it if it was anywhere else. In Senja, we just knew it was about WI4 or WI5 and the rest we had to work out for ourselves. 

We made two pitches up easy snow climbing to get to the ice, then two pitches up good ice to get to the main event. We chose what looked like the fattest ice and were rewarded with fabulous ice in a wonderful position, looking across the beach at Okshornen (sometimes called the Devil’s Teeth).

​After another rest day we were ready to take on one of the bigger climbs, Hesten Islinja. This tops out at 700m but feels like a big mountain route. The approach is steep and avalanche prone, the climb is enormous in very impressive terrain and we needed to abseil the entire 400m climb because of the avalanche conditions on the regular walk off. The common theme of layered, delicate ice continued on the second pitch but, after that, it was all good to the top. What a fabulous climb!

​Our last day of climbing coincided with rain and another thaw forecast to arrive midday. We played it safe and went to experience one of Senja’s wild, narrow ridge mountaineering routes. Bent Vidar Eilertson is the local mountain guide who knows all the routes and has all the information. We were very grateful to him for sharing some of his knowledge, and in particular the details of this brilliant alpine route on Hatten. 

There was something peculiarly nervewracking about being on this incredibly narrow ridge. Most ridges have jagged rocks to hold onto and thread the rope through, but this one was smooth and clean with nothing but balance stopping us from taking the ride down the side. 

We made our summit before the rain and made good use of the occasional bolts placed by Bent to get down as the rain came in. This was the Senja I wanted to see on this trip and I was so grateful to get to explore one of these impossible looking ridges before we had to go home. We descended rock and frozen turf all the way to sea level, arriving on the dunes behind the sandy beach still in our crampons.

​Bent, the local mountain guide, is in a dilemma. He has all the climbing information in a big folder which he is happy to share with visiting climbers once they are in Senja. He is considering putting it together and publishing it as a guidebook and this is his dilemma. Should he give the world his unique knowledge and make it easier for climbers to come and experience this unique place, or should he try to maintain the uniqueness of the place by letting every visiting climber work it out for themselves, maintaining the adventurous spirit of the place?

There’s no doubt that climbing in Senja is pretty wild; it’s everything I was hoping for and more. It’s hard, exciting, scary, brilliant and testing; exactly what climbing should be.