In just over six weeks we will start our regular Guided Group Walks up Ben Nevis. These run all summer, every Sunday and Wednesday and cost just £90 per person. They are a great way for summer walkers to get some help to try to reach the summit of Ben Nevis. However, looking at the depth of snow on the top half of the mountain right now, we will certainly be walking over snow for the first few walks in May!

This is normally the case. In the spring when flowers are blooming in the glens and warm sunshine washes over the woodland, the summit is still in the icy grip of winter. Reaching the summit in May very often takes unprepared people by surprise. Snow on the summit covers the path making it very difficult to follow in the mist, the temperature can be very cold and snow overhangs the tops of the crags in dangerous cornices which are very difficult to see from above.

Walking up Ben Nevis in the spring is very often a brilliant experience and the best time of year to do so. However, the winter snow on the ground does demand extra equipment and skills to keep an ascent safe enough. Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team has, unfortunately, had to help a lot of people recently who did not have the best boots and equipment.

With snow on the ground you will need winter walking boots that are rated to take crampons, as well as crampons and an ice axe each. All of these can be hired in Fort William from these excellent providers:
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• Scottish Mountain Hire - https://www.mountainhire.co.uk/
• Calluna Kit Hire - https://www.fortwilliamholiday.co.uk/kit-hire/
• Ellis Brigham - https://www.ellis-brigham.com/shops/fort-william
• Nevisport - https://www.nevisport.com/stores/fort-william
• Cotswold Outdoor - https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/stores/fort-william.html

In good visibility, navigating up and back down Ben Nevis can seem quite straightforward. It is a busy mountain and there is often a well trodden path to the summit, as well as cairns above 1150m about every 50m along the way. When you can see as far as Skye to the west and Cairngorm to the east, it is not surprising that you should be able to find your way easily. Even then, the path above 900m or so is usually covered in snow between December and May and can be nearly impossible to find and follow. If there is no boot trail through the snow, it can be quite confusing, even in good visibility. And the summit is only clear about 20% of the time in winter.

You might read comments saying "just follow the path" which are fine when there is no snow, but until it has all melted away you will need to be able to navigate properly.

In the cloud, when there is no definition between the snow on the ground and the cloud all around you it is a very serious place, and navigation skills need to be very accurate. The skills you need are to be able to follow a compass bearing accurately, and to measure the distance you walk along the ground by counting your paces. With these skills, you can then follow your progress on the map and plan the next section of walking, as long as you are very used to using maps and identifying features on the ground that are marked on the map. Of course, most features will be covered by the snow, just to make it even harder!

Here is our guide to help with the navigation skills you will need.

https://www.abacusmountainguides.com/blog/navigation-on-ben-nevis

Of course, on the summit of Ben Nevis, when everything is white, is not the best place or time to learn navigation skills! Do some preparation, practice in a safe place first, get some training before you need to use the skills for real.

The hazards on Ben Nevis are very real. It is not a tourist attraction, it is a mountain that many tourists are attracted to.
  
But it is still a mountain with real dangers and the very real chance of injury or worse. Please be prepared, take it seriously, and be rewarded all the more for the effort that you put into your climb.

By Sally

Over the weekend we joined forces with Girls on Hills to run our first Women's Winter Festival. After a big Covid shaped spanner was thrown into our plans to launch the event last year it was absolutely fantastic to get the festival going this year, and to have so many keen and capable women join us for the various events.
Over the two days, courses run by Girls on Hills and ourselves included:

• Winter Trail Running
• Navigation Skills Refresher - Be Winter Ready
• Descending Performance
• Winter Hill Walking Skills
• Intro to Winter Climbing
• Winter Climbing Progression

We also had two evening events with a talk from Becky Coles about Project Alpine Spirit on Friday evening, and a chat from Keri Wallace about winter trail running and a pre-recorded interview with Debbie Martin-Consani on Saturday evening.

​SATURDAY 12TH MARCH
Kicking off on day one, we were fortunate to have fairly calm weather, although there was a few very wintry squalls to keep things suitably Scottish! After a chat about kit, weather forecasts and avalanche forecasts, Kirsty and one of the Winter Hill Walking Skills teams headed to Aonach Mor, while I took the other team to the North Face of Ben Nevis. The aim for the first day of the Winter Skills course was to introduce basic skills such as using crampons and an ice axe, ice axe arrests, route planning and avalanche awareness. Both teams did brilliantly and were ready to put all their new skills into practice on a mountain journey on day two.

​​Keri took her group of Winter Trail Runners to Aonach Mor where they were able to quickly get onto the snow. There, they put their microspikes to the test and worked out the limitations of their winter kit before enjoying a run over Sgurr Finniosgaig and Meall Beag, then back down to the Nevis Range base station.

​SUNDAY 13TH MARCH
Sunday's weather forecast wasn't ideal with 50 to 60 mph winds suggested. Fortunately the snow conditions were more favourable so we had plenty of options to try and find shelter from the wind.
Keri and the Descending Performance group made use of many of the descent options on Cow Hill to hone their technique on a variety of terrain. This great little hill just above Fort William has everything from rough landy track to slippery muddy path to pathless tussocky heather. Plenty to get to grips with!

​Emma and her team of navigators also took advantage of the fantastic Cow Hill with all it's contour squiggles to brush up on their skills. Accurate navigation is vital in the mountains, and particularly in the winter when you can be faced with zero visibility. Practising skills such as contour interpretation, pacing, timing and following a bearing in a friendly and inconsequential environment is a great way to make sure you know what to do when it really matters.

​Both Winter Skills teams opted for a day in Glencoe on day two. Kirsty's group went for the Wee Buachaille (Buachaille Etive Beag) where they practised more movement skills on the steeper ground up to pt. 902, and then got themselves out the wind by digging some emergency shelters. My team were psyched to try a circular walk where they could practice a bit of navigation so we planned a route with a few options, depending on how the wind was when we got up high. We found shelter by heading into the Lost Valley and up towards the south west ridge of Stob Coire nan Lochan. The wind was lighter than expected so we were able to quickly tag the summit before descending off the north west ridge just as the squalls started to pick up.

​What an incredible weekend!! For me, one stand out memory from the weekend was listening to one woman tell me on Saturday morning that she lacks confidence in the mountains. Then on Sunday afternoon I watched her lead the way confidently up a steep snow slope, 100% at ease with where she was and what she was doing. So awesome! The purpose of the weekend was to empower, encourage and enthuse women to explore the mountains in winter. I really hope that this weekend has done that, and everyone who took part has gone away with new skills and a massive boost to their confidence. It has been an absolute pleasure to share two days in the mountains with such an amazing and strong group of women.
Big thank you to all the participants and instructors, Girls on Hills for collaborating, and Ellis Brigham in Fort William for hosting. Hope to see you all on a mountain soon!

​The Scottish Highlands in winter can be wild and intimidating, but they can also be awe-inspiring and beautiful. With the right skills and knowledge, you can make these mountains your playground throughout the winter months.

This weekend we are teaming up with Girls on Hills to bring you a weekend of new experiences, new skills and a chance to push yourself physically or mentally, in a safe and supportive environment.

We are so looking forward to hearing from Becky Coles on Friday night, 7pm at Ellis Brigham in Fort William.

​Climbing all the alpine 4000m peaks has yet to be completed by an all-women's team. Over two trips, one on skis in the Spring, the other throughout the summer, we climbed 56 peaks. She named it Project Alpine Spirit and discovered a fascinating history of women who shunned social norms and climbed in the Alps from the Victorian era to the present day. The talk tells the story of our journey and introduces some of the women who were at the forefront of Alpinism.

We have a couple of last minute spaces available. Get in touch, the weather looks good for the weekend!
​

• Winter Climbing Progression - 1 space
• Intro to Winter Climbing - 2 spaces
• Winter Hillwalking Skills - 1 space

https://www.abacusmountainguides.com/womenswinterfestival.html

Storms, snowfall and thaw-freeze cycles are all tough to endure but we need the bad weather to produce good ice. We now have some very good ice!

On Tuesday of this week the sun was shining, it was cold and calm. Many teams enjoyed climbing big classic ice climbs such as Orion Direct, Point Five Gully, Hadrian's Wall Direct, Observatory Buttress etc. I'm not sure about the Minus Gullies, but Vanishing Gully, Italian Right Hand, The Cascade, Green Gully, Comb Gully and many many more climbs are well iced and good to climb. The great ridges are also very good, icy mixed climbs are excellent, snow cover is good and there are some cornices but they are not terrifying.

This week I climbed Stringfellow with Ali on Monday. I have been wanting to climb this for many years and we picked an excellent day. Lots of ice on the rocks really helped the climbing, protection was OK, and it is a fantastic line on a great bit of Ben Nevis. 

Tuesday was sunny and cold, and busy. Bob, Tony and I went to Coire Leis to stay away from trouble since we have climbed most of the big classics already. Cresta Direct gave us some lovely ice climbing in the sunshine! We had the whole coire to ourselves and the view over CMD Arete to Aonach Beag. The Little Brenva Face feels like a very different place to anyone else on Ben Nevis and is well worth visiting.

Wednesday started out sunny and frosty, but the strong SE wind barrelled down the Allt a'Mhuilinn and made it quite a cold, serious day. Tony, Bob and I went to climb a really cool route called Fatal Error on Pinnacle Buttress of The Tower, close to Stringfellow. This is an icy mixed climb that is really worth hunting down. The main pitch gives a long lead up a gully full of icy snow which is steep but you can get a foot out to a wee ledge every time to take the weight off your arms. Four long pitches of really interesting climbing lands you on Tower Ridge at the foot of The Great Tower. We chose to continue the Eastern Traverse into Observatory Gully to descend due to the strong winds.

I must admit that my enthusiasm for climbing today was much lower due to a forecast for drizzle and a thaw to summit level. However, we persevered and were rewarded with a much nicer day than expected. It didn't rain very much at all and the wind was much lighter than forecast. The freezing level was at about 1200m but because it was very cold for the last few days and the snow is quite well transformed into snow-ice, the climbing was good. We went to Nevis Range to use the gondola, and climbed on the East Face in Coire an Lochain. We were first there so we abseiled Left Twin and climbed Typhoon and Left Twin. Both were excellent and the gondola was still running so we got a ride down as well.

With so much good ice and a good forecast for the weekend, it's going to be busy on Ben Nevis. So, instead of queueing for Orion Direct try Pinnacle Buttress Direct or Raeburn's Buttress Intermediary Gully. Have a look at Nasturtium and Morton's Neuroma. Stringfellow, Tower Face of The Comb, Fatal Error. There are lots of outstanding climbs to explore. Or go to Nevis Range and climb on Aonach Mor or Aonach Beag.

It has been a tricky week demanding lots of careful planning, route choice and studying of the forecasts. Three nights in a row gave us thaws with a refreeze at dawn or during the day. Lots more snow fell, plenty of wind and general storminess kept us battered and embraced. It's mentally exhausting, as well as physically demanding, and I love it. But I am looking forward to a more settled period of weather.

On Monday, Mike and I were climbing Tower Ridge in improving weather until Mike became unwell and we had to go down. It was a real shame because it turned into a lovely afternoon, but these things happen sometimes and being ill on the traverse of Tower Gap is not ideal. Descending is a skills in itself and we got a good bit of practice. On climbs like an t'Aonach Eagach in Glen Coe there are many sections that are downclimbed, and we don't often get much practice. Climbing down is very often faster than abseiling, especially if there are several of you.

Tuesday was windy and not very cold. Wednesday was extremely windy, not very cold and very wet. Will and Jonathan had a nasty reminder of the challenges of gearing up in the wind and rain at just above freezing before we climbed Twisting Gully/Grooves in Coire nan Lochan. It was all a bit soggy, cold and wet. The crux of the day was getting out of the van in the morning but we were glad that we did. It was type 2 fun, but it was very well worth doing.

Today was very cold and very windy at times. We woke to snow at sea level and it didn't warm up much at all. Nobody ventured high on Ben Nevis due to the winds and fresh snow building up, so the west flank of Tower Ridge was popular. Vanishing Gully was fat and busy so we went over to 1931 Route. This is great fun and well worth looking up. You go underneath the first chockstone on some lovely icy steps, then under or over the second one depending on the build up of snow. There was not so much snow, so we went underneath but there is only just enough room to squeeze through if you exhale and push/pull at the same time. We were glad of some caving experience!

Tomorrow looks like it will be the day of the week. There is a lot of snow that has built up above 1000m now so it will be hard to get onto any of the big classic ice climbs. Point Five Gully is now fat, Hadrian's Wall Direct looks mega and I'm pretty sure that Orion Direct is good to climb as well. However, there is a significant avalanche hazard getting to any of these and I will certainly give it some time to settle before I go near them. The great ridges now all have some brilliant snow cover and usable snow-ice. Steep mixed climbs are pretty icy and will be hard work to clear. The big snow gullies are very full and general snow cover is pretty good.

Psychology of Winter Climbing
​
There are so many variables in winter climbing that it can be a daunting experience and quite hard to progress. So let’s try to work at these variables one by one to push up a grade and get into the climbing you really want to do.

Climbing in winter brings with it lots and lots of anxiety and stresses, things that play on your mind and hold you back. So, we should focus thought and energy on each one of these to reduce the anxiety attached to it, and to bring down the overall anxiety level. If your mind is not working away on whether there will be a cornice at the top, you will have less anxiety and more cognitive bandwidth for the stuff you need it for, the climbing right in front of you.

​Chip away at all these stressors, assess them and box them away in your mind when you know they are now sorted or it is not worth worrying about them right now. By doing these things specifically, you will clear your mind and be able to focus on the climbing.

Is it in condition?

To answer this you need to know what good conditions are for that route. If it’s a mixed route, is it best with a coating of rime that brushes off with a wipe of your glove or does it need little patches of solid snow on ledges and frozen turf? If it’s an ice climb, does it need many weeks of freeze thaw action or is it a cascade ice climb that just needs a cold snap of a week?

Do some research, speak with people who have done the climb and work out what makes up optimal conditions, what pattern of weather will create these and then wait for them. Read up on the blogs to see what types of climbs have been done. The internet is useful for this but remember if someone says they had a very hard time on a climb it might mean either that the climb is not in good condition or that person is not very strong at that grade.

Later this year, the new edition of my Winter Climbs - Ben Nevis and Glen Coe will be in the shops and it will have lots of useful information to help you with the different styles of climbs, what style each route is and what it takes to bring each style of climb into good condition.

Am I Good Enough?

If you’re going from grade IV to grade V, first off climb lots of grade IV routes so you know you are happy on these in a variety of conditions. If you can get up a grade IV on a good day with perfect weather and it feels tough you are not ready for grade V.

Place protection on your grade IV climbs in tricky places to replicate what it will be like on grade V climbs.

Do not place as much protection as you can on the easy bits. Get used to some longer run outs on sections you know you can climb.

Get your belay management really slick so that hand-overs are done in a couple of minutes, not 10 or 15 minutes.
​
Be decisive.

Get a buddy (or a guide) to lead you up some grade V climbs to experience them as a second so you know you can do the climbing.

Avalanche Hazard

Learn as much as you can about avalanche hazards, but on the day you push your grade do not let it be a factor that will contribute to your potential anxiety! Wait for a day when there is Low or Moderate avalanche hazard. This is often in the spring for ice climbs which is often when they are at their best anyway. Mixed climbs can be on buttresses facing away from the avalanche hazard so choose a venue that faces the prevailing wind at the time. Less anxiety about avalanches will mean less anxiety overall, and more cognitive bandwidth for the climbing.

Visualisation

Going through the whole day in your mind before you get there is a very useful thing to do. Practice visualising the feel, sounds and smells of everything from packing your bag, walking in, approaching the climb, stepping on to the climb, powering through the crux moves and reaching the top with energy and time to spare.

Also visualise the things that might go slightly wrong, how this will feel and then how you can get yourself back on track. For example, you might visualise dropping an ice screw, feeling that anger and annoyance, getting calm again and having the confidence to carry on without it.

Visualise each pitch after looking at it. Work out the tricky bits, the easier bits and where to place protection. Plan out where and when to place protection and have the gear ready in the right place on your harness.
​
Visualise the crux move on each pitch, the sequence of moves and pulling over it feeling strong.

Some more settled wintry weather has been a blessing for those of us in pursuit of seasonal adventures. Last weekend we had a lot of snow, much of which melted away in the rain on Monday, but certainly not all of it. Further snow arrived for the rest of this week on very strong winds and all the way down to 400m or so. This afternoon gave us a slight improvement and we even had some sunshine. Buachaille Etive Mor looked beautiful. However, the fierce winds and squalls have been slightly testing at times. Tomorrow, Friday, looks calmer so our faces will get a wee rest from the battering.

Matteo and I have been having fun on a Classic Winter Climbing trip. We started out on Monday by climbing Curved Ridge in deep snow, light rain and strong winds. It's a lovely climb and a great way to get reacquainted with crampons and mixed climbing. It was clearly not too testing for Matteo, apart from getting quite wet.

On Tuesday we went to Ben Nevis and climbed a very soft Green Gully. Serious (due to very poor protection) but quite simple climbing and lots of spindrift as the temperature dropped and fresh snow came in on showers.

On Wednesday we went to Stob Coire nan Lochan and climbed Raeburn's Buttress (AKA Central Buttress Ordinary Route) which we climbed with a non-ordinary step off a tower high up on the route to add a little spice. It was very cold and quite windy. A crazy squall hit us as we started to walk down, blowing us sideways and making it tricky to see where we were going.

​Today we went back to Buachaille Etive Mor to climb North Buttress which was lovely. It was cold again and the wind was slapping on the rocks all around. 

When it is cold and windy, the snow is dry when it falls and the wind can move it around a lot. So, it does not tend to collect in as many areas. We have soft snow in the few places where it has been properly sheltered. On Buachaille Etive Mor, the snow is collecting in small patches dotted all around the place.

​The descent into Coire na Tulaich was OK today for us by walking down just to the right of the gully as we looked down. The gully is holding a strip of soft snow all the way down but it was easily avoidable. Lower down, the gorge has snow on its side and it was quite straight forward to walk down it, making the walk out nice and easy.

Since the snow has been blown away, there are many areas with no snow and lots of loose rocks. On Raeburn's Route and on North Buttress we found plenty of loose rocks on ledges not very well held in place. 

A lot more snow has collected in Coire na Ciste on Ben Nevis. There were a few avalanches there today and Douglas Boulder was a popular place to climb for the people that managed to fight their way in. A few people decided, understandably, that the café was a better place to be!

It looks like we will have a warmer day on Saturday before it goes cold again for Sunday and next week. The January storms were delayed by the big high pressure, but they are here now. Snow is building up and ice is growing.

If you would like to enjoy some grade IV climbing on 1st, 2nd and 3rd March please get in touch. We have a long standing customer whose climbing partner is no longer able to join him. £150 per day for three days for classic winter climbing like we have been enjoying this week, but less windy hopefully!

In the snow-thaw-freeze balance, this week has been too heavy on the thaw with not enough snow and freeze. Sunday and Monday were lovely, cold with some fresh snow. There was a bit of mixed climbing and several ice climbs on offer, even though there is not much snow in the gullies and the ice is thin. The quality of the ice was very good though. I climbed Green Gully on Sunday and Comb Gully Buttress with Tommy on Monday. The Cascade looked OK and a team climbed Comb Gully.

Since then it has been thawing, reducing the snow cover and volume of ice, and increasing the volume of water in the Allt a'Mhuilinn.

Yesterday Tommy and I climbed Bobrun on the Little Brenva Face in Coire Leis, Ben Nevis. It is grade II in the guidebook but with little snow at the base and by linking together the steeper bits Tommy and I enjoyed 200m of climbing that would be IV,5. It was very wet though, so I didn't take any photos. Richard climbed Green Gully and the big snow gullies and Ledge Route all had plenty of people in them

Today was even wetter and windier. Not many people ventured out and that was probably a good decision. Tommy, Alex and I did go ut, we managed to get across the Allt a'Mhuillin above the CIC Hut and we climbed Number Two Gully. Rock fall and ice fall is a concern in thaws like this, as well as getting on to some ice that turns out to be mush with water running down it. We climbed Number Two Gully which is a very atmospheric grade II snow gully. We then went down Raeburn's Easy Route a short way to climb Experts Choice, a nice pitch of grade III or IV ice. There are several lines you can follow here and the ice is pretty fat.

The big snow gullies are full and cornice free (but fresh snow is falling currently), snow cover in the coire goes down to the lochans, the major ridges have some snow but less than there was a couple of weeks ago, and rime might well be growing on the rocks for mixed climbing, as well as ice in the cracks.

The expert's choice today was rubber gloves plus double waterproof trousers and jackets! I was only wet from the wrists to the elbows where water running down the ice went into my sleeves!

As I write this at 6.30pm, the temperature dropped 5 degrees in one hour and it will be much colder over the next few days with a little thaw freeze as well.

I wasn't out climbing today, which was a shame because it turned out to be a nice day for ice climbing. Friends of mine were out climbing The Cascade and Green Gully on Ben Nevis. Both were thin but gave good fun ice climbing.

​After two and a half weeks of soggy, relatively warm weather, we are finally starting to get more normal weather and temperatures for the time of year. The big high pressure is finally moving away, taking with it the stream of air from the Canary Islands that has slowly melted away some of our snow and ice. In its place, low pressure systems will sweep across Scotland bringing strong winds and fluctuating temperatures, and plenty of precipitation. This is good news (honestly).

How do you know if the balance is just right and the snow-ice will be perfect? Well, that comes with practice, and a lot of checking forecasts and actual weather data. It looks to me like the weather forecasts for the next week or so, combined with the snow and ice cover we already have, the background temperature of the rocks and the amount of water in the rocks from recent rainfall, all add up to a good ice building period coming our way. Fingers crossed!

Here are some useful resources to track progress.

Mountain Weather Information Service - https://www.mwis.org.uk/forecasts/scottish/west-highlands
Met Office - https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/specialist-forecasts/mountain/southwest-highlands

Scottish Avalanche Information Service - https://www.sais.gov.uk/lochaber/

Weather data from Aonach Mor at 1200m - https://holfuy.com/en/weather/1365
Weather data from Aonach Mor at 900m - https://holfuy.com/en/weather/195
Weather data from Aonach Mor at 650m - https://holfuy.com/en/weather/296

Weather data from Glencoe Mountain (Meall a’Bhuiridh) at 360m, 750m and 1100m - https://www.glencoemountain.co.uk/weather/

Webcam images and weather data from CIC Hut, Ben Nevis - https://www.smc.org.uk/cicwebcam/cic_weather.php

After a week of green avalanche forecasts it might not be the best timing to talk about brushing up your knowledge and skills. Then again, the climbing is a bit limited right now so perhaps it is the perfect time to put a bit of effort into understanding how we can avoid being avalanched. We are blessed with a good number of excellent resources at our disposal and there is a new one out today.

A new online avalanche awareness training initiative has been launched by The Snow and Avalanche Foundation of Scotland (SAFOS), with development support from member organisations Mountain Training Scotland and Glenmore Lodge.

Aimed at individuals making critical decisions in the winter mountains, this free digital version of the ‘Be Avalanche Aware’ planning tool will enable hillwalkers, climbers, mountaineers and skiers to be more aware of the avalanche risks and the factors that influence their planning and journey decision making.

Avalanche education has changed completely in the time that I have been working as a full time guide (22 years). Now, there is a focus on how to read an avalanche forecast and weather forecast to make decisions in the planning phase before you head outside. 70% of our decisions should be made in advance, and our observations on the day should confirm these decisions, while also being open to differences in the forecasts and what we observe and being able to react and change plan accordingly.

Modern avalanche education like this reflects the fact that people who get hurt in avalanches often do so as a result of human factors influencing their decision making, not things to do with their understanding of the avalanche hazard. These heuristic traps or cognitive biases are very powerful and often go undetected by us as we enjoy our days in the mountains. Having a process to help us make decisions without human factors influencing us is very important.

To take this even further, we also have James Thacker's excellent Crew Resource Management training. Crew Resource Management, a term first used in aviation, was introduced to mitigate the affects of heuristics and other human factors, but have since grown to encompass many ‘non technical skills’.

Non technical skills for skiers and mountaineers include: situational awareness, decision-making, teamwork and communication, leadership and task management and the application of these skills in the winter environment. For leaders, instructors and mountain guides working in the winter mountains, CRM behaviours and non technical skills can be used alongside existing decision making frameworks such as ‘Be Avalanche Aware’ (BAA).

The winter mountains may not be your work place, but some of the behaviours and non technical skills will almost certainly be relevant to lots of recreational user groups in the mountains.