Buachaille Etive Mor Adventures

Dave: Yesterday Jack and I met Greg, Ben, Eddie and Paul at the Devils Staircase, a place Greg knew well from countless West Highland Way journeys. We headed to the North Face of the Buachaille overlooking Rannoch Moor and ascended Curved Ridge and onto Crowberry Tower, the two teams leap frogged each other taking slightly different lines on our ascent, we reached the summit around noon.

With plenty of time in the day we turned off the descent path and headed for Great Gully Buttress where the team descended some moderate terrain and abseiled down one of slabs, we may have had some heavy showers, but this gave great views with rainbows over the moor. Up and down the North Face and back at the car park for 2:30, plenty of time for the team to grab a pint in the Clachaig Inn.

We finished the two days off with a great meal together at the Indian in Fort William followed by beers in the town. Another brilliant time out with Greg and team, me and Jack are looking forward to our adventures next year possibly in Torridon.

www.westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk

Grivel

2pure

@ami_professionals






Aonach Eagach never disappoints

Dave: Yesterday Jack and I were guiding returning guests Greg and Ben on the Aonach Eagach with two new companions Eddie and Paul, we met Greg and Ben last year on Skye where we guided them and 2 others over all the Skye Munro’s.

This year the objectives are adventures and guest houses, the ridge yesterday was in amazing condition. With good visibility but some high cloud cover and wind to keep the temperatures down giving us perfectly dry rock and cool air to quickly move in. And after a good hill day we had a good meal and drinks in the Black Isle in Fort William.

We do have 2 open courses with spaces,

Skye Munros Fri 29/07/2022 Mon 01/08/2022 1 Space

Aonach Eagach Sat 17/09/2022

Www.westcoastmountainguides.co.uk

Grivel
2pure
@ami_professionals






West Coast Mountain Guides on TikTok

Day 3 of Nick Cuillin Adventures

Dave: Today we completed our excursion with a traverse of Clach Ghlas onto Bla Bheinn. We all had tired legs this morning but Nick’s determination meant we were completing our objective.

Unfortunately the weather was poor with near constant drizzle and rain but Nick managed no problem enjoying all the climbing and scrambling on offer.

Nick is raising money for charity, he’s currently raised over 40K and his target is 50K, his last munro is Cairngorm 13th of August.

https://www.justgiving.com/team/nicks-munro-challenge
@nicks.munro.challenge

Grivel
2pure

West Coast Mountain Guides on TikTok

Nick has completed a Cuillin Ridge Traverse

Dave: Day 2 with Nick and he has successfully completed a traverse of the Black Cuillin, not bad for 82! I can only hope that when I’m 82 I can still enjoy the hills and climbing as much as Nick today.

We had a very nice moment on Sgurr nan Gillean when we could look back and see everything we had accomplished, understandably his knees hurt as does my back. 13 hours day 1 and 12 hours day 2 is not a bad time, I’ve been slower with younger.

More in store for tomorrow! And thanks to everyone who has encouraged us along the ridge, each interaction gives us some energy and drive.

Www.westcoastmountainguides.co.uk

Grivel
2pure





Day 1 Nick Gardner’s Greater Cuillin Traverse.

Dave: Success for day 1 now relaxing at the bivi on the Mhadaidh side of An Dorus. Unfortunately we were unable to get the boat but a long drive and a long walk got to the start of our adventure.

Nick is an amazing individual who is as fit as any regular client half his age. Our forecast is not looking great but we will grin and bare it to get his challenge done.

Www.westcoastmountainguides.co.uk




Great start to the season

Dave: May and June are often the busiest months on the Cuillin, and this year hasn’t disappointed, we have had lots of team’s complete traverses in some damp conditions, 1 starting on Arrow Route and Integrity and lots of successful Munro trips where lots of teams summitted all 11 in 4 days. Instructors have also been in Glen Nevis and mountain cliffs of Glen Coe delivery a variety of learning objectives.

Our team have delivered some fantastic days for our guests this year and we have received lots of great feedback, and our team have really enjoyed being in the hills with you, reporting back with great stories and achievements from the day.

I’m looking forward to the rest of summer with lots of traverses and climbing days booked in, our team have availability this summer for Lochaber or Cuillin adventures so get in touch!

We do have 2 open courses with space, and I have had a cancellation for next week.

Lochaber 27th to 29th June Private Guiding Rock Climbing or Mountaineering
Aonach Eagach Sat 23/07/2022 1 Space
Skye Munros Fri 29/07/2022 Mon 01/08/2022

www.westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk

@grivel
@ami-professionals
@2pure






Too wet and too fast for pictures.

Dave: I was supposed to be traversing the Cuillin with James and Perry but unfortunately the weather wasn’t great, we postponed for a few days hoping a window would appear, but the weather got worse. Our back up plan is always to deliver 3 separate days rather than 2 traversing if the weather is poor but we rarely manage all 11 Munro’s in 3 days.
Day 1 Wednesday the 15th we met at the Sligachan and set off up the North end, it quickly became apparent that James and Perry were very fit! And after a successful ascent of Sgurr nan Gillean it also became apparent that they were both very capable at scrambling. We easily moved over Am Bastier and Tooth to finish the day on Bruach na Frithe for lunch.
Day 2 Thursday the 16th with an even worse forecast we decided to start at Sgurr nan Eag and see how far we could get. We took it easily on the first ascent being just over 2 hours to the summit of Eag but from there we turned it and floated around the peaks of Coire Ghrunnda not stopping until we were stood above the Great Stone Chute. I chose the long bypass of Sgurr Thearlaich of down the stone chute and up Bomb Ally to avoid the extremely slippery basalt of its ascent. We continued to move smoothly over Mhic Choinnich seeing 1 other guided team (the only team we saw over 8 Munro’s).
I knew we would make the Pin but to be stood on Sgurr Dearg at 2pm with only 3 Munro’s left meant we had no choice but to push and push hard we did, we summited Sgurr a Mhadaidh at 4pm. Hopefully it’s a while again until I experience water falls flowing down my outstretched arms whilst scrambling upwards, the worst was accessing Collies Ledge where I felt it flow all the way down my trouser leg but it happened 3 times in the day.
Below is some great feedback from James, Thank you!
Strava from day 1, with the crown record from Am Basteir to Bruach na Frithe (under 10 minutes). Not sure how legit it is, could just be my GPS going haywire, but I’ll take it!
I’m still riding the high from yesterday, I can’t quite believe a day where I thought we were doing 3 Munros, maybe 4, turned into THAT 😂
I particularly liked the evolution of Dave over the day. On the walk in saying “I’m really not sure this is the best plan for today” changing to “yeah, just three more, let’s smash it” off the In Pinn and “I definitely won’t forget this day” at the bottom. 😂
A thanks for being so epic and really going above the call of duty on a wild day to help us get the most out of this experience. Obviously, we were capable of that day, but just needed a guide mad enough to lead us on it! I hope you enjoy your rest day.

www.westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk

[email protected]




Fairhead climbing meet

Dave: Ken, Myself and friends have just been way for a week climbing at Fairhead in Northern Ireland. I would like to give a massive thanks to Sean McBride for allowing camping and access to his land, and for making our stay so fantastic, we enjoyed the many interactions and chats all sharing similar values and views of the world today. If you want more luxury than camping, he does have a nice cottage recently converted for hire, ideal for climbers.

I would also like to thank the Dal Riada Climbing Club & Mountaineering Ireland for organising the meet, the atmosphere at the crag was brilliant, being able to chat to fellow lead climbers to your sides makes the venue feel a lot less intimidating and people to help you identify the tops of each crag makes for a more efficient day.

The climbing is like all the best coastal crags of Skye (Neist’s Financial Sector, Rubha Hunish, Staffin Slips and Kilt Rock) all packed into one even higher mega crag, I was impressed! I would recommend being happy climbing E2 or above on the Skye crags before a visit, we did some easier routes, but HVS felt like E2 and a few E1’s felt like E2. There is gear almost on demand if you have a big enough rack for the 40m pitches so none of routes felt bold, but they were all steep, long and some very sustained.

For me the route of the trip was An Bealach Rhunda, it wasn’t the hardest or steepest climb, but every pitch was outstanding adventure climbing, any route accessed via a 90m abseil is going to feel adventurous. The first pitch for me is what dreams of made of, 37m meters of jamming between volcanic columns whilst bridging between the cliff and a free-standing tower. Some large hexes or a big cam could have been useful but despite the sustained climbing it never felt insecure. The second pitch was sensational, climbing on top of the pillar and climbing steeply up to a mega party ledge to belay, the final pitch was the easiest but was a true adventure pitch weaving a way to the summit behind another pillar with a great crack in the head wall to finish.
Grivel
2pure

www.westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk






I’m more of a stalker than a poster these days, but today was one of the best da

I’m more of a stalker than a poster these days, but today was one of the best days of work I’ve ever done and I had to share. Guiding Bludgers Revelation on the Slime wall in bone dry conditions under perfect blue skies. My awesome client for the day was Chris, 70 years young and with 46 years worth of of climbing experience. All full of tales and misadventures. Absolutely class. Hope you all enjoyed your day as much as I did, wherever you found yourselves!
Working for West Coast Mountain Guides and loving life!






First Cuillin Traverse of the year

Dave: Last year was 100% success on all traverses and this year is off to the same great start. On Saturday and Sunday, myself and Ivar completed a Cuillin Traverse with a 12 hour day 1 and 9 hour day 2 with a bit of lying down resting in the middle.

Day 1 was misty and damp all day, but we made quick work of our ascent onto the ridge and Ivar found his choice of footwear perfect for damp rock, he was also well prepped with the smallest traverse bag I’ve seen for a while. Another guide even asked if we were a 1 day team looking at our bags. The damp weather was ideal for moving light, we never carried more than 1 ltr on day 1.
Day 2 and from or bivi in An Dorus we made quick work of the morning peaks arriving on Bruach na Frithe with plenty of time to enjoy some food and rest, we felt like we had so much time in the afternoon we relaxed slowed down and chatted to lots of other teams we met on the hill.

We have availability this weekend 21st of May for Aonach Eagach traverse, get in touch! The Aonach Eagach is great prep for a Cuillin trip.
[email protected]

Grivel
2pure