Happy New Year from all of us at West Coast Mountain Guides! We hope that the new year brings you all incredible adventures in the mountains.

The run up to Christmas was quite a busy period for us, with good early season conditions settled over the Highlands many teams were keen to make the most of it and get their climbing kick started with some guidance and instruction. Ken was out instructing Sebastian for Peak Mountaineering, they managed to get some great routes climbed including Pink Rib on Beinn a’Chrulaiste, Zig-Zags on Gearr Aonach, Dinnertime Buttress on the West Face of Aonach Dubh, Central South West Buttress on Meall an T’Suidhe before having a slightly more relaxed day in Glen Nevis. Following this Ken was joined by Mike and Duncan who wanted to improve their confidence in leading winter routes themselves. They climbed some classics including Dorsal Arete and School House Ridge in Glencoe then East Ridge North Top Stob Ban in the Mamores before learning about snow anchors on the North Face of Ben Nevis. Steve was later joined by Donald and David for some guiding up Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis and then Curved Ridge on Buachaille Etive Mor, then just after Christmas Steve led father and son team William and Ryan up Ledge Route before making the summit of Ben Nevis on a rather windy and unforgiving day. Hannah enjoyed working on a winter skills course for Richard Bentley. They were Instructing a group from Bristol University who over two days spent time on the North Face of Ben Nevis and Beinn A Chaorainn where they gained it’s south summit.

In-between all of this some personal climbing was sought out. Hannah had a great day with Lena and Adele who went to climb Cirus on Beinn a Dodaith which unfortunately was not in condition so instead they climbed an icy West Buttress (III). Steve teamed up with Duncan and Hannah for a few days and climbed Auricle (VI,7) in the Cairngorms, made the second ascent of Tried and Tested (VII,7) on Stob Coire nan Lochain before adding their own stamp by making the first winter ascent of the Orphan (VII,8) on Buachaielle Etive Mor.

Lots of wet heavy snow is currently falling over the West Highlands. This is fantastic news as we were lacking any decent buildup in the easier gullies often making for a very awkward approach and some rattly blocks on steeper lines. Along with a forecast drop in temperature and some high winds, conditions will continue to improve into the first half of January. Our winter courses delivered over two and five days are beginning to fill up with keen and eager participants. Signing upto one of our winter skills, mountaineering or intro climbing / advance climbing  courses is a great opportunity for the solo adventurer to join other like minded people who want to learn and enjoy the winter mountains just like you do. Guides and Instructors often meet there best climbing partners on instructional courses as you are dropped into a world of super motivated peers, who often aspire to the same mountain adventures that you do.

If this sounds appealing to you, get in touch and we will help you achieve your goals for 2018! [email protected]

We hope that you all had a great Christmas! Hannah was out on Ben Nevis yesterday and with the skies being so clear, was able to get a good look at the crags. There’s plenty of rime about, however the snow is unconsolidated, and so getting around the mountain is still quite awkward.

People are sticking to the ridges and buttresses for the time being, with teams on North East Buttress, SW Ridge, Tower Ridge and a number of steeper mixed lines either side of No.3 Gully.

Alan Kimber went for a look at the East Face of Aonach Mor, but reported pretty lean conditions.  At least the turf up there will be freezing well!

We hope that you all had a great Christmas! Hannah was out on Ben Nevis yesterday and with the skies being so clear, was able to get a good look at the crags. There’s plenty of rime about, however the snow is unconsolidated, and so getting around the mountain is still quite awkward.

People are sticking to the ridges and buttresses for the time being, with teams on North East Buttress, SW Ridge, Tower Ridge and a number of steeper mixed lines either side of No.3 Gully.

Alan Kimber went for a look at the East Face of Aonach Mor, but reported pretty lean conditions. http://alankimber-mountaineering.co.uk/2017/12/poor-climbing-conditions-on-aonach-mor/ At least the turf up there will be freezing well!

This past weekend brought with it the first notable spell of worthwhile winter climbing conditions, however, working out how worthwhile beforehand proved to be a bit tricky. In the end, Steve and I decided that the only way to find out was to go and have a look. Things were looking promising on the approach to the CIC Hut, but the clouds did their best to obscure views of the high crags in Coire na Ciste. We continued up into Observatory Gully, which given the lack of snow, felt somewhat purgatory. The lean conditions gave some entertaining steps of grade III climbing, on what would normally be a steep but straight forward snow slopes.

Looking into Coire na Ciste

North East Buttress to Tower Ridge

Entertaining climbing in Observatory Gully

We drew level with the foot of Tower Gully, with plan A being to climb Grand Central, a route put up by Simon Richardson and Robin Clothier last year, however, the numerous rocky slabs were completely devoid of snow, and guaranteed some insecure climbing. We continued walking along the wide shelf towards Tower Gap, and spotted a potentially unclimbed series of ledges and short walls on a blunt arête immediately to the left of what forms later in the season to give Upper Tower Cascades Right.

Steve on pitch 1, Optimist’s Arête, Ben Nevis

Team approaching Tower Gap, Tower Ridge

Start of pitch 2, Optimist’s Arête, Ben Nevis

The climb turned out to be a bit steeper and more exposed than first appearances suggested, and gave two entertaining and absorbing 30m pitches of V,6, before two further pitches of easier (but by no means easy) climbing brought us onto the plateau right by the top of Tower Ridge. We settled on Optimist’s Arête V,6. Despite the settled and cold conditions, it was still fairly quiet, with a couple of teams on Tower Ridge, and teams on Hobgoblin, Sioux Wall and Babylon.

On Sunday, the cold and settle conditions continued. Hannah and Lena made the most of this and climbed the brilliant Sron na Lairig in Glencoe.  After a further dusting of snow overnight, down to 500m, the route was quite wintry in appearance, although the snow was still quite soft lower down. From about halfway up, they encountered much firmer snow which made for more enjoyable climbing.
Plenty of folk out on Buachaille Etive Beag, but only one other chap on their route.

Approaching Sron na Lairig, Glencoe

Lena leading the way on Sron na Lairig

On the descent

It’s been a great start to the new winter climbing season, and whilst it’s warmed up a bit since then, the mid term forecasts are looking very promising, with low temperatures and snow on the cards over the next week.

If you would like to kick-start your winter climbing or mountaineering season, we have early season availability for private mountain guiding with myself or Steve, so get in touch.