Abacus Mountain Guides
  • Home
  • Adventures
    • Ben Nevis >
      • Ben Nevis Mountain Track
      • Ben Nevis: Get Out and Give Back
      • Coire Leis
      • CMD Arete
      • Ledge Route
      • Tower Ridge
      • Ben Nevis Winter Ascent
      • Events and Challenges
    • Summer Guiding >
      • Glen Nevis Heritage Trail
      • Ring of Steall
      • Glen Coe Walks
      • Curved Ridge
      • Aonach Eagach
      • Rock Climbing
      • Sea Stack Odyssey
      • Private Guiding
    • Skye and the Cuillin Ridge >
      • Cuillin Ridge Traverse
      • Cuillin Munro Bagging
      • Inaccessible Pinnacle
    • Winter Guiding >
      • Winter Walking >
        • Winter Skills Courses
        • Guided Winter Walking
        • Women's Winter Walking
        • Fort William Mountain Festival Workshops
      • Winter Climbing >
        • Intro to Winter Climbing
        • Classic Winter Mountaineering
        • Winter Climbing Progression
        • Classic Winter Climbing
        • Guided Winter Climbing
        • Performance Winter Climbing Workshop
      • Skiing >
        • Scottish Steep Skiing
        • Ropework for Skiers
      • Avalanche Awareness
    • Qualifications >
      • Mountain Leader Courses
      • Level 2 Mountain Bike Leadership Award
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • About
  • Sustainability
  • Booking
  • Partners
  • Covid-19

Cruising up Cutlass.

24/11/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Douglas Boulder has a collection of very good mixed climbs that do not rely on ice or neve at all. When the wind is strong or conditions higher up, these can be brilliant outes to enjoy. Having climbed Gutless and Jackknife a couple of times it was about time I got onto Cutlass so that's what Sally and I did today. It was ace!
Picture
Cutlass climbs a huge corner which is really obvious from below. There is a slabby ramp to get to the start of it and you are straight into the over-hanging crux moves from this belay ledge to get into the corner. With no ice in the big corner crack apart from a good few bits of verglas, there were plenty of chockstones and a couple of thin cracks to get the picks into. Tiny foot placements on the left wall intersperse the better foot ledges in the corner and the moves in between are fantastic. There was plenty of protection today so it was just about ideal conditions for climbing. At the top of the corner there are a few turf moves and the turf was fine to use, not solid but frozen.
Picture
The third pitch gets you right into a chimney from which it is not as hard as it looks to escape onto easier ledges and the SW Ridge of Douglas Boulder. When Scott climbed this route a few years ago he found the corner crack to be choked with ice which he used for his picks all the way with his feet out on the rock ledges on either side. The protection was pretty spaced for him since he didn't have ice screws with him! It just goes to show how varied these climbs can be. Today was snowed up rock with a bit of turf at the top. In a couple of weeks it could be very icy.
Picture
Ken and Andy climbed Slab Route in the Trident Buttresses which is also a very good early season climb to do. Again, there is some turf to get onto the slab that needs to be frozen and the ridge above the climb to the plateau is superb. It looks like we will get a few cold snowy days coming our way. The snow came down to sea level while we were climbing which made the drive back down the forest track the trickiest part of our day!
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Mike Pescod
    mountain guide.

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

    Archives

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

    Picture

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed


Picture
Jottnar
info@abacusmountainguides.com
+44 (0) 1397 703563
  • Home
  • Adventures
    • Ben Nevis >
      • Ben Nevis Mountain Track
      • Ben Nevis: Get Out and Give Back
      • Coire Leis
      • CMD Arete
      • Ledge Route
      • Tower Ridge
      • Ben Nevis Winter Ascent
      • Events and Challenges
    • Summer Guiding >
      • Glen Nevis Heritage Trail
      • Ring of Steall
      • Glen Coe Walks
      • Curved Ridge
      • Aonach Eagach
      • Rock Climbing
      • Sea Stack Odyssey
      • Private Guiding
    • Skye and the Cuillin Ridge >
      • Cuillin Ridge Traverse
      • Cuillin Munro Bagging
      • Inaccessible Pinnacle
    • Winter Guiding >
      • Winter Walking >
        • Winter Skills Courses
        • Guided Winter Walking
        • Women's Winter Walking
        • Fort William Mountain Festival Workshops
      • Winter Climbing >
        • Intro to Winter Climbing
        • Classic Winter Mountaineering
        • Winter Climbing Progression
        • Classic Winter Climbing
        • Guided Winter Climbing
        • Performance Winter Climbing Workshop
      • Skiing >
        • Scottish Steep Skiing
        • Ropework for Skiers
      • Avalanche Awareness
    • Qualifications >
      • Mountain Leader Courses
      • Level 2 Mountain Bike Leadership Award
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • About
  • Sustainability
  • Booking
  • Partners
  • Covid-19