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.