Waiting, waiting...

Well the child to be is now 14 days overdue with no induction date set. I know the NHS do a great job, but they do seem to be so disorganised and the lack of information they give you is shocking. One minute they say Emily is going up to labour suite and the next they don't have a clue when she will be induced. Not good for Emily who has now gone 2 days without meaningful sleep. I certainly wouldn't want to embark on Ramsay's or the Bob Graham with a preparation like that!

Anyway, I am a wee bit stressed out so have had to resort to exercise to knacker myself out so I can get some kind of sleep. Fortunately the snow has arrived so I have got out for a couple of very early morning short cross-country ski-ing sessions (all close to Inverness for that possible dash back to Raigmore).

I also had a pretty decent run at the weekend cross country race. Although I didn't feel fast, I posted a good time (113% of the winner) on a fast course.

Off for a nap now : (

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.

Roadside ice bouldering

As I only had a couple of hours to get out today, I checked out the ice formation up in Torr Breac on the A835 north of Garve. The waterfall I climbed last year in the woods was in nick again and I had a quick boulder on some roadside ice alongside the A835. Not quite La Grave though ; ).

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 : (.

Beinn Dearg - A very dry North West

The cold, clear, calm conditions continue and what snow that has survived the thaw is bullet hard. Up in the North West there is very little left and even the gullies in north faces are generally not complete. Despite the lack of snow, the traverse of Beinn Dearg (of the recent re-measurement fame) in Torridon was good fun. The rock was warm, in complete contrast to the baltic conditions in the glens, and the easy enjoyable scrambling added a bit of spice to the day. Less fun were the steep grass and heather slopes up to and back down from the ridge.

Sgur Mor - Fanniachs

We went over to the Fanniachs today for a Boxing Day run. I haven't been back for a while as I have already bagged all the Munros, but I have realised the error of my list-ticking ways. The running was superb, helped by excellent weather. Snow cover was extremely patchy and varied between soft and bullet-hard depending on the aspect. A temperature inversion was forecast and it did seem warmer on the summit. Sitting around in a thermal in December just isn't normal behaviour for me.

The main face had plenty of snow in the gullies, but unfortunately I have no idea if any of the routes were in nick.

Beinn Fhada - West Ridge

A bad weather forecast in the east and heaps of snow in the west lead me to the conclusion that a walk or a scramble in the west would meet with the best chance of success. Seen from the bottom of Glen Shiel, the west ridge of Beinn Fhada is enticingly jagged and it is something I have wanted to do for a while now. According to the books there is one section of the ridge that can be problematic in poor conditions. So I decided to be prudent and packed a 20m rope just in case.

From the car we headed up steep grass slopes of Beinn Bhuidhe before we hit the snowline at 450m. Beyond this the snow rapidly became deeper and once up on the crest it was proper winter conditions. The ridge was fantastic. Long, surprisingly narrow, sinuous and with superb views both to the north and south. With about 4 inches of fresh snow covering everything, the slabby 'bad step' lived up to it's reputation. However, using the rope as a backup, the difficulties (about a 10m section of steep slab) were soon down-climbed and the remainder of the ridge was uneventful, although spectacular.


The way back was via a very well constructed stalkers path down into Coire an Sgairne, and then Gleann Choinneachain, continuing all the way back to the car. The glen was surprisingly steep-sided, much more like the kind of glen you see in Glen Coe with deeply carved ravines. The crags backing the coires were well plastered with snow and looked like they could offer up some good routes - once the snow has consolidated.