Central Left Hand - Cairngorm Conditions

We had grand plans today to go somewhere more interesting than Cories. However, lazyness won out in the end and we headed in to Snechda to do Central Left Hand (II). It was busy with climbers again, but most seemed content with the more popular gullies. I think The Runnel must have had something approaching 20 people in it at the same time. Conditions have improved as there is slightly more snow and icing than a couple of days ago.

Central Left hand was relatively quiet in comparison and was good fun with great hard snow.

Adding to the enjoyment there was a wee ice pitch near the top, which luckily was my lead. At least some screws had survived the unintentional gear-rationalisation i.e. we forgot it, which had left us with only two large hexes (along with some slings and ice-screws) for a rack. The ice was fantastic. With the brisk wind it was chilly on the top. A quick reminder of what winter is 'really' like up on the plateau. Just when I was getting used to all that Alpine weather.

Loch Morlich is still frozen by the way.

Chatting to some guys in Aviemore it seems as though there is some icing low down on Lurcher's but the top 100m or so is completely bare. So it was probably a good thing that we wussed out and opted for the safe option.

Conditions East and West!

Yet more good weather! I am sure we are going to pay for it soon , but as long as the weather is good you may as well use it.

Tuesday 30th December saw myself and Kenny heading over to the Ben following reports of okay climbing conditions. I had something easier in mind than Thompson Route IV,4, but Kenny was keen and as long as he led the hard pitches I didn't mind. In fact it was a route I had been contemplating in a kind of it-would-be-nice-to-have-done-that . The narrow chimneys were well iced up, but the rock was dry allowing good rock gear placements. Embarrassingly I dropped my crampon from half-way up the first pitch. Miraculously, it stopped only 100m down on it's way to the CIC hut. I hopped precariously down No 3 Gully to collect it, but I was soon back up to the first belay. The first two pitches were nicely sustained and after an easier pitch (my first lead for ages), we got on to No 3 Gully Buttress which was rather bare.

Topping out to glorious sunshine again! The tourist track down was icy and tiresome and on reflection we should have dropped back down No 4. However, the lure of the sun and the views was too great on the day.

On the last day on 2008 I headed in with Juan to the 'gorms and climbed Spiral Gully with the direct finish (which I would really recommend) at III. It was extremely busy in the corrie, but the routes are holding up well. The footsteps in the gullies certainly make everything a wee bit easier than normal. Once again the skies were blue and there was no wind. A very nice way to round off the year!

With cold conditions set to last, the climbing will stay for a while yet. The paths are really icing up though : (.

Streap - an Alpine day out

Looking back from Streap along the ridge.

The settled weather conditions have continued pretty much all week, with most areas enjoying consistently cold weather and clear skies. On Wednesday I headed over to Streap to take advantage of a day off. The true summit of Streap is hidden at the far end of a long ridge bristling with knobs and knolls. Several summits have to be climbed over before the final ridge of Streap is reached.

There was ice on the path from the start and it seemed to take a long time, and only after a hard slog up a very rough hillside and corrie, before I reached the ridge proper having followed the route indicated in the SMC Corbetts book. The bright sun had softened the snow on the lower reaches of the mountain, but higher up some freeze-thaw had been going on. For the most part the snow was ice hard, yet soft enough on the surface to make crampons un-necessary. The ridge was complex, with much to-ing and fro-ing to find the best line.

The summit of Streap is on the left-hand side of the picture.

I was stripped down to my thermal top and enjoyed the sensation on being on a mountain in the middle of a sea of sharp ridges and soaring peaks. After a couple of hours I reached the final ridge up to the summit which was steep but not hard. The trickest section in fact was dropping down off the top, but soon enough the continuation ridge eased and walking along the edge of the hard-frozen corniced ridge was spectacular, but secure.

Back down in the glen it felt colder than on the tops and the frost on the trees hadn't melted all day. Even though it sounds melodramatic, today felt pretty alpine to me. Sun, blue skies, frozen snow and a long ridge... Who needs the Alps?

Glas Bheinn - gully climbing - Loch Arkaig

Another great day out in the northern highlands! I headed out with Dave to the start of Loch Arkaig to do a walk over Glas Bheinn, Geal Charn and Meall na h-Eilde. Glas Bheinn has a steep east face and is more craggy than indicated on the 1:25 000 map. We headed up the forest trails up Gleann Cia-aig until we could cross over roughly in line with the summit of Glas Bheinn. Just to the left of the highest point a gully cut through a broken buttress and from a distance looked like a easy romp. Getting closer, there seemed to be a steep icy step leading into a fairly well defined gully. The upper slopes of the gully had avalanced previously so the snow was hard packed and although water was still running behind the ice, there was enough to get over the 70 degree section. The gully continued with a few easier angled steps with a mixture of ice and frozen turf, before the final sopes were reached. From my experience about Grade I would be fair under the conditions, and with heavy snow fall could easily bank out. The buttresses to either side could offer up some fun, short routes in the lower grades.

The rest of the day was spent wading through snow around the two Corbetts. The views were some compensation to the hard work, but I certainly haven't felt that tired for a long time.

A perfect Cairngorms day - Andromeda

I really wasn't that convinced by all the positive reports on the web going on about the fantastic winter conditions. So, I wasn't that fussed to be running a XC race on Saturday, which can only be counted at best as training as it was more a trail run. The weather didn't follow the forecast and it remained cold, grey and overcast. I was even less convinced when Steve called me about his and Kenny's climbing plans for Sunday. Going to the extreme of packing a book just in case the trip to the 'gorms degenerated into session in the cafe drinking coffee. We didn't even leave Inverness until 8.30. Sometimes it pays not to be so negative and when we arrived at the Corrie Cas carpark, it became rapidly apparent that the bloggers hadn't just being trying to justify their actions and drum up undue excitement. The only problem was there was too much snow for easy walking. I can never be happy!

After a brief route discussion in Corrie Nan Lochan we headed up to Andromeda (IV,4), hoping that previous climbers had cleaned off much of the loose snow. I was a bit apprehensive as I haven't really done that much climbing this year at all. The first pitch was scrappy and not well protected, but as soon as we headed to steeper ground the climbing and the protection improved. We took the very leftmost groove and the main pitch was probably the steepest climbing I have done in winter and I was over-joyed not to have taken any tension on the rope. There is something just so fun about mixed climbing and the weather, the company together with the sheer unexpectedness of getting some climbing done all made this into one of my most enjoyable days out.

The plateau was sun-drenched and still and for once there was no mad rush to pack all the kit away and get down. We ambled down Fiacaill Ridge just to stay in the sun. The easy climbing adding to what had already been a fantastic day.

Glover's Chimney - the video

That's my climbing holiday come to an end. Neil and myself managed one final route in a very blowy 'gorms on Saturday. We shelved our orginal plans for Fiacaill Buttress as it looked it be covered with snow. Hidden Chimney II/III on the Mess of Pottage has always been in the back of my mind so we joined the hordes and headed over there instead. Despite a long wait for the second pitch it was a great route and well worth the two stars it gets.

Earlier in the week Neil took some footage of me seconding on Glover's and has now posted it on You Tube so the world can see how not to climb it here. In my defence my hands were absolutely numb, but still I must make sure my axes stick next time ; ).

Castle Ridge

Another fantastic day on the Ben when the forecast was completely wrong. Neil and myself had Castle Ridge (III) to ourselves and fresh snow had covered all tracks of previous ascents. We spent a couple of very enjoyable hours climbing in the sun in thermals. With nothing too hard climbing-wise, great rock gear and belays it was perhaps the most pleasant days climbing I have had for a while. Getting off the top down to the halfway lochan was a bit of a chore due to soft snow overlaying ice and rocks catching crampons.

Glover's Chimney

Winter really has come back to the Highlands and it has snowed, snowed again and snowed some more. After a brief thaw on Thursday, when I climbed a thoroughly dripping Goat Track Gully (II), the artic conditions returned. It was another wild day in the 'gorms on Saturday when I did my annual ascent of Fiacaill Ridge (I/II). The conditions put me off the corries so on Sunday we went into Beinn Bhan on the Applecross penisular. The route we went into to do, Suspense Buttress (II/III), looked improbable for the grade and the impressive surroundings of Coire Na Feola were intimidating.

Ice was forming on the harder lines but the buttress were bare and whipped by spindrift. We headed up the scenically impressive Easy Gully (I) which is split into two runnels by an impressive rib. The snow in the gully was deep so we kept to the side walls and the last pitch was a great turfy groove at II. The route is definetly worth a couple of stars. The place has an easy walk-in, a safe descent and a real mountain feel.

After being snowed out on Monday in the 'gorms where we went XC ski-ing instead after an abortive attempt at climbing, we headed into the Ben on Tuesday to do a classic - Glover's Chimney.

Glover's (a those in the know call it) was a route I had heard alot about. It is an obvious gully and chimney line up to Tower Gap. It goes at III,4 with the crux at the very top. Given a guidebook length of 150m we expected a fairly easy day. The first ice pitch was steady III and after a bit of a rope stretch a block belay was reached. More icy grooves followed slightly left of the main gully to avoid deep snow. After two pitches in the gully, there was an icy steepening before the final chimney. Some hard back and footing lead up through the chimney to the gap after significantly more than the stipulated 150m climbing length. The gap was startling for the drops off to either side. I was man-handled over the far side of the gap and we went up Tower Ridge for a couple of hundred meters until we finally reached the plateau as the light began to fade. On reflection the route felt much more sustained, even the lower pitches, and technically difficult than the other classic IVs I have done recently on the Ben. Maybe this is just a reflection on the conditions we experienced and my inability to thrutch efficiently! Anyway it was a 13h day and today was a well deserved rest day.

A truely mixed week

My holiday has really started well. On Monday myself and Juan headed into the Ben to do Green Gully (IV,4). Unfortnately another party had the same idea and got to the route ahead of us. The gully is pretty narrow, so due the amount of snow that was lying on the ice we got a fair battering from above. Nothing too bad though. It was a great route and the steep sections were fairly short-lived and protection was okay. Some of the peg belays have seen better days but the ice, when dug out, was great. Less snow would have been better and some freeze-thaw can only improve matters.

Time: 9H

Tuesday saw us on Curved Ridge II/III,3 which was our first route on the Buachaille. Somehow I started up the right hand side of Crowberry Basin and climbed a nice rock chimeny pitch before easier ground and a traverse back across the Basin lead back to the route. The first two pitches were nearly snow free, but the route got more snowy and better the higher up we went. Although nowhere hard, it did seem quite a long route. Again the weather was superb aside from a number of squally snow showers.

Time: 7H

Wednesday's weather was excellent again, so after a quick run up and down the Pap of Glencoe (1h 20 from the Youth Hostel)we decided to go rock climbing in Polldubh, Geln Nevis. Juan's foot wasn't doing too well so I ended up doing some climbing on my own. The routes were polished, but the rock was warm and I can see why this place is popular. Perfect rock slabs set amongst Caledonian pine forst, ringed my snowy peaks. Just a great place to be.

Thursday was a proper Corries day. A thaw was forecast along with 70M and hour gusts, and we got it. The corrie was deserted when we got there for about 9am and even after we got down there were only a few other parties around. Visibility was initially great, but then the wind picked up and the higher up we climbed the worse the snow got. Goat Track Gully (II) was just about in and there was a decent amount of ice on the crux. A lovely short steep corner with superb rock gear just where you need it. Some kind soul had even left some in-situ. Belaying above in the wind-driven spray from the rapidly melting snow was less fun. Al, up from Bristol, lead through and we traversed off on to the Goat Track back to a full breakfast in the Mountain Cafe. A truely Scottish experience.

Sron na Lairig

With heaps of snow and a good forecast for Saturday it seemed an ideal opportunity to head to Glencoe and so avoid the hordes who would be trooping into the Corries. I headed in with Steve for a great easy mountaineering day on Sron na Lairig, a three star II. The walk-in, described in the guide as long, was only an hour to the bottom of the route.

We soloed up mixed ground and short gullies to the second steepening and then moved together for the rest of the rocky crest. The narrow top section of the ridge was superb with large drops on both sides and, with the bright blue sky and soft snow, the route felt almost Alpine.

Time: 5.75h

North East Buttress - Ben Nevis

NE buttress (IV,4) is the most obvious of the ridges that are thrown down from Ben Nevis on the eastern side. It was first climbed in 1895 and a tale of a subsequent ascent also in 1895 by Tough and Brown in horrendous weather makes a fine read. Our (Kenny had been persuaded to take a day off work too) journey from Inverness was much less epic, and less memorable, but I suppose we only had one day off work. Notwithstanding the fact that they don't make mountaineers like they used to.

Snow was lying from near the bottom car-park, but it was only until we reached the base of the route that we had to break trail. A long traverse above the First Pinnacle from the left-hand side got us on to the ridge proper, where the real climbing began. Deep drifts lay on the easier angled sections. In contrast, ice was plastered into all of the cracks and gullies. Great for climbing on and in the lower half thick enough for screws. Expecting a rocky ridge we had nearly neglected to bring along any ice-specific protection. The three rather blunt screws we had were put into use on almost every pitch.

After a series of excellent steep ice gullies the snow field was reached. An energy-sapping slog up waste deep powder ensued before belaying under an overhanging wall. From now on it all got a touch harder as the ice thinned and the protection more spaced. Even after cleaning, the cracks were verglassed and flared. At one point I got myself totally commited about 15m above any gear before I could make an uncomfortable traverse into a niche where I found myself a block to wrap a sling around. A couple of pitches further on I somehow missed out the 'inescapable' Man-trap and ended up on the Tough-Brown Variant. Forty foot corner was unprotectable, although ice hooks may have helped, but gave fine climbing.

Finally, we topped out to a glorious sunset, relieved and elated to have finished the route about 5hs after starting. The climb was excellent, although totally different to what we expected. The length of the route and the spaced nature of the belay and runner placements (under the conditions we experienced I hasten to add) made it a commiting outing of a sustained nature with no real crux standing out in my memory.

Time: 11hs

Ben Alder

The weather can today (Sunday) be best described as frustrating. An early morning start to get into Ben Alder to have a look and do one of the ridges was pretty much a waste of time. Our attempt fizzled out about 5km into the inital 15km bike approach to the bothy due to a mixture of heavy showers and wind. Judging by the number of cars at Dalwhinnie station the bothy would have been busy. I was surprised to see how much snow was left as Carngorm was pretty much stripped. To save something from the day we went up a Graham on the east side of the A9. The blizzard showers continued all day and the wind remained high. In between the horizontal waves of snow brief glimpses of Ben Alder down the glen teased us and by the time we had dropped off the hill it looked considerably whiter than in the morning. Hopefully we have enough of a winter left to go back up for a second go.

Good Friday

Some times following the masses is the right thing to do. After a week of good reports from the Ben (Nevis) and high pressure I headed out with Kenny to see what was there. There was more snow than I had expected, however most of the routes weren't in great nick and the likes of Tower Ridge and Observatory looked more like rock climbs. Up high there was a decent amount of ice and we resigned ourselves to queuing on Good Friday (III). Tower Scoop was busy and we took a direct line over a couple of ice bulges up to the start of Indicator Wall. A bit of a calf burner on superb neve and more entertaining than traversing all the way in from Gardyloo. We then traversed into the gully of Good Friday and found only one other party on it. The gully lead to the base of stepped ice fall on the right. It felt longer than it looked and was superbly protected by ice-screws and I set up a screw belay after about 40m with the last of them. Two futher icy pitches at a fairly easy angle lead to the sun and a top out on to the plateau. The views were fantastic. After lingering on the summit we down-climbed No. 4 Gully whilst a Royal Navy helicopter was busy rescuing a walker who had ventured up Gardyloo Gully without axes. We definetly need some more snow to bring moer of the routes back into condition.

Time: 7Hs

Red Gully - Cairngorms

Today was an absolute cracker. The wind was, as forecast, high and there was a bit of spin-drift but the skies clear. All buttresses were plastered and the Goat Track was a sheet of ice covered in a layer of wind blown snow. The orginal plan for Western Rib was soon shelved and we decided to have a go at Red Gully (II/III) as it was out of the wind.

I had the first pitch, the only pitch with any real climbing in it, which was in alright condition just bordering on III rather than II. There was some ice on the steeper sections, but not enough to keep me completely happy. The gear was good in the side walls and near to where you needed it. Unconsolidated snow covered much of the cracks (plus easier angled ground) and gear did need some excavation. The rest of the gully is typical I/II territory, but good fun all the same. I finished with frozen eyebrows and serious hotaches, but once on the plateau it all seemed worthwhile as the visibility was superb and less wind.

There were plenty of people out today ski-ing and climbing before the predicted thaw which is threatening to strip the place for the weekend.

Time; 5hs

Western Grooves - Shelter Stone

Just back from a superb days climbing. The snow was great and made the 2 hour walk to Sheltre Stone Crag a joy. The 220m long climb basically goes up the face opposite to the camera and in the new guidebook is IV, 5 (IV,4 in the old). The cruxes were all short and well protected, but I can say that I was being belay bunny for the day! Conditions on the route were good with some ice and well frozen turf. Some of the snow wasn't particulary good i.e. not consolidated and the winds had stripped much of it off the steeper rocks. The wind picked up through the day and was irritating towards the top. However, the air temperature was relatively mild which helped keep the experience relatively pleasant. It was my first real mixed (basically climbing on rock with crampons and axes) route and I loved the techincal problem solving nature of the whole thing. As we were climbing in a three (thanks Kenny and Steve) it took a bit longer and we finished at 4:30. The walk back over the plateau wasn't too bad and the bit down Goat Track in the dark was a sublime experience, almost Alpine.

Time: 10h of which 4h were walking with a heavy bag.

Post Box Gully -Sgorr Ruadh

On Saturday the waether forecast was amazing and with the snowy and cold conditions of the last week it was decided to head to the North West as the more usual stomping grounds would be heaving. At Achnaschellach the ground was crisp and frozen and the snow line was about 600m. Everything looked very white and imposing against a picture postcard sky. The walk-in the Sgorr Ruadh was straight-forward on a well-made path, but thin smears of ice were present even at low levels. When we finally reached the snow we found it was not quite as good as expected, sometimes bearing your weight whilst a few steps later depositing you into several feet of powder. Under the insulating layer of snow the turf was unfrozen and we soon decided to back off Academy Ridge, our objective, in favour of something easier. Pox Box Gully, just round the corner seemed to fit the bill and I was soon engrossed in the first pitch, which involved climbing a rock tunnel behind a chockstone. Somehow I managed to get in a very good Warthog and summounted the very steep unconsolidated snow that barred entry into the cave. Due to the size of the chockstone very little snow had been deposited underneath it and the ice that was there was too brittle or thin to be useful. After a couple of false starts I hooked my way up to the top of the tunnel and squeezed through back out to the gully on top of the chockstone. In the gully the snow was deep and good to climb on. It was only on the steep sections, where you had to put force on your axes, that it began to fail. Kath, up from Edinburgh to get back into climbing, did a brillant job of seconding the pitch, but she left my Warthog in situ. Apparently it was my fault for placing it so well. All in, the first 40m had taken over an hour and if it didn't get easier above we were in for an epic. The next pitch was less steep and I quickly belayed 45m higher beneath an almost vertical wall of snow about 3.5m high. Once Kath came up and took over belaying I headed up and after floundering nearly to the top, a 1.5m section of snow slid off taking me with it. Kath by now had a sense of humour failure, but I was all up for having a second look. My falling had removed much of the snow and consolidated what remained. I was able to hook and scratch my way up over the bulging rock and completed the rest of pitch much more easily. At the top we came across footprints from our friends who had perservered with Acadamy Ridge. Kath again seconded with much more style than I could muster and lead off up following the footprints. It was now nearing 3 o'clock and I was getting worried as the guidebook mentioned meeting Acadamy Ridge. Did you meet the ridge where it was easy or below the harder section? If it did the latter we were stuffed. As I neared Kath's belay I could see a large rock tower up on the left. The footsteps, however continued straight up and on the sky line I could see our two friends waiting for us. Their lack of urgency and packed bags reassured me they had finished their climb. On my final belay I looked across to the Torridon hills in the distance and reflected on a climb that had pushed me physically and mentally.

As an aside I wore my heart rate monitor all day and to my surprise found out that I was working pretty much in my endurance training zone (70% of my max heart rate) all day. I didn't have the presence of mind to measure it during the route though ; ). Still, the 8 hour day should have done my endurance some good.

Sea King-tastic!

Despite the tone of my last post I managed to get a couple more days in before the end of the year. On Saturday I ran a superb of two Grahams and a Corbett on the west side of Glensulaig near Fassfearn returning down the glen track. The weather slowly improved all day although the decent off the southerly most hill was significantly steeper than I wanted My aging fell shoes really weren't the most suitable tools for the job and I was very relieved to get out of the snow line which was at about 400m. The rest of the run went really well despite getting very numb feet on some of the climbs. The track in the glen was mostly there but degenerated into bog shortly before the bothy, which was a bit dank but looked fine to stay the night in. It was a good hard run and I definetly felt it in my legs on Sunday.

Dist: 20km Time: 3hs

On Sunday I headed out to Creag Meagidh with my wife and some friends from Uni. The new path up to the lochan is superb and Easy Gully (I) was in good climbable condition with a suprisingly good depth of snow. Much of the harder routes were not quite there yet and have probably been stripped by todays thaw. The day ended up with an interval session as I mislaid my wife in the white-out conditions on the summit plateau. The RAF were on a training mission in the area and were happy to come back to look for her and she was soon located on the path about 10 minutes from the car park. Several lessons learnt there!

Dist: 16km Time: Lots!

After yesterdays epic it was decided that a nice easy day was required. Up to the corries by Carngorm and we found some good icy bulges The routes looked thin and the snow was slushy so we were quiet happy to just link up icy weeps up the Goat Track at about Grade I but very escapable. We finished up over Carngorm to help Lisa get her Munro count up. The Ptarmigan station was busy with skiers and I left with the impression that only in Britain could a ski-centre open with such bad snow conditions! Yet again the forecast was wildly wrong with lower winds and much better visibility.

Dist: 6km

Fun in the sun

The high pressure is still sticking with us and the frost is so heavy in places it is almost snow-like. It has been hard working in the office when the skies have been blue all day (well at least when we have daylight). Long lunch beaks with mountain bike rides (about 1h10min in duration) over in Ord Hill and Culloden Woods have helped keep me sane.

On Tuesday I went up for a quick run around Meall Mor, a superb little hill that is prominant on the east side of the A9 just before Daviot about 10min from Inverness. The deer have been busy and there are a whole host of narrow tracks once you manage to get above the forestry belt. With the good weather we have been having, the views from the cairn stretched from the granite tors on Bheinn a'Bhuird in the south to Caithness in the north. Another reminder that size doesn't (always) matter. The 5km run was suprisingly tough and took me about 40min.

On Friday I couldn't stand it any longer and headed out past Garve to Strath Rannoch, and did a bike (10km) / run (7km) up to the Graham of Carn Loch nan Amhaichean. The weather was superb and the ground so frozen that my feet stayed dry even in running shoes. The stalkers track from the farm marked on the map wasn't quite as good as expected but the heather was managable. I sat around on the top for while and enjoyed the views over to Scaraben and Ben Wyvis. The run down the SW ridge was very quick and was followed by a very cold bike as the sun had left the glen. Back at the car parked by the bridge at Inchbae it was -7C despite it being just above freezing in Inverness.

On Saturday I headed out to Torr Breac just past Garve and climbed a couple of short (10-15m) easy pitches on a frozen waterfall. I was surprised that it was in such good nick despite being only at 100m AOD. All good fun. I am feeling fairly bushed after all the biking, but the weather is forecast to hold so no doubt I will be headed out tomorrow.

First Winter Route of the Season!

Winter has arrived with some furry on the high mountains up here! After a wet and windy mountain bike ride round Glen Feshie (again) on Saturday it was an early start on Sunday. We left Corrie Cas at 8.00am and walked in to Corrie nan Lochan. The snow started properly at about 700m and got progressively deeper. An annoying mix of super hard neve and knee deep powder. I was trail breaking too, but all good training I suppose.

As the clag was down and it was bloody freezing we decided to do an easy gully so headed up to Y Gully Right Branch. There was plenty of snow and the first pitch was a mix of superb snow ice, soft powder and crusty ice. Nowhere too hard but protection not easy to come by. Finding a belay took some work but I got an excellent hook in after extensive excavation. Juan led the second pitch while I stood on a small perch freezing, at least I thought at the time, to death. Everything was coated with a thin layer of ice and my toes and fingers took it in turns to go numb.

After a while I got the tugs on the rope and I set off up the snowy groove, front pointing and loving every minute of it. About 20m up I looked up and saw that the next 10-15m of the groove was filled with what looked like pack ice. My climbing partner, in the process of trying to maintain upward momentum, had transformed the goove into a raft of snow-ice tiles. The tiles were stacked at crazy angles to each other on a bed of soft snow. I made my thoughts light and levitated my way up avoiding any downward pressure. A couple of meters further my partner looked down at me and very quietly said that the belay was bad and I shouldn't fall. I believed him. As I climbed on past him I inadvertently destroyed the belay. At least I was leading and I could do something about the situation rather than watch nervously as I cautiously climbed further. A few more moves on the same bad ice saw me on to steeper ground and I carefully climbed up to the cornice. Making sure my feet were well placed.

The snow here was deeper but the angle pushed me back. Knocking off the cornice, the wind blew the snow back into my face smoothering me. At last I could reach up over and get my axes planted into the firm neve of the plateau. I rolled on the flat ground and crawled away from the edge. As I did so I heard a shout of alarm from below as a large 6 foot slab above my belayer sheared and hurtled down the gully. After my hotaches subsided I brought my partner up and at last we were on flat ground, albeit in a white-out. The walk back to the car was pretty uneventful apart and as always dragged along the built path that winds through the rather drab and deary landscape. Hot chocolate in the flesh-pots of Corrie Cas and then back to Inverness for tea and medals!