Wee adventures in the Highlands.

 Rubha Carrach, not a bad cliff, not a bad setting. There are only two routes in the section of cliff shown in this picture. 

Last weekend reminded me how good adventure climbing in the Highlands can be. It did look that promising early on Saturday morning with heavy drizzle and low cloud around Fort William. Myself, Iain and Tony decided to head out to Rubha Carrach, a sea cliff out near the end of the Ardnamurach Peninsula where we hoped for some better weather. I expected it to be adventurous given the guidebook description "terrain adventure", and the fact that picture in the guide shows Storky (Paul Thorburn) wearing a helmet. I have never seen Storky in life or in photos wear a helmet to go rock climbing.

Iain on Nostromo. The rock was very featured and interesting to climb on, and a quick clean, the rock was generally  solid. Much better than some of the choss found at Gogarth. 

Anyway I was not disappointed. The weather cleared up as we headed West away from the mountains, and the crag turned out to really impressive with some very featured and unusual rock as well as a cave. We did a number of routes, all of which were quite adventurous, with probably the best one being Nostromo (E5 6a) after Iain had given it a quick clean on abseil.

One final route at the end of the day.

After a late finish (got back to the house around midnight), it was up early the next morning to Stob Coire nan Lochan in Glen Coe where Iain and Tony had a wee project they wanted to finish off.  Their line goes directly up the pillar to the left of the Extreme rock route Scansor. Iain wanted to do a bit more cleaning, so myself and Tony climbed Scansor, with Iain abseiling off after the first pitch to a bit more cleaning.

Iain on the first pitch of Gecko wall. The route climbs the pod and crack to his left, to pull out left before the most prominent overhang. It then pulls back right a little higher up, and climbs direct up the wall and over the top left end of the top overhang. 

After a quick abseil and it was Iain's turn to give his route a go. His pitch was hard and varied with some tricky back and footing up the initial crack/fault, and then after a slightly easier section, further hard thin wall climbing. This led to the Scansor belay. Tony seemed to have no problem seconding, but I was definitely having up huff and puff a bit. A short second pitch directly up the wall above was then then easily dispatched by Tony to complete Gecko Wall E6 6b,6a. If you are wondering where the name comes from, then find out what Scansor means, and you should be able to work it from there.

Snow Patch Survey

Every year, around the 20th of August, a small band of snow geeks take to the hills to seek out and record how much snow remains in the Scottish hills. This year was no exception with various teams out in different areas. Why do people do this? partly for science; the data forms part of a paper on Scottish snowpatches published each year in one of the weather journals, partly as it is an interesting subject which is shown by the popularity of threads about snowpatches threads such as this one  http://www.winterhighland.info/forum/read.php?2,154638 and partly for a nice day on the hills. There is even a Wikipedia page on Scottish snowpatches  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_patches_in_Scotland

Snow is an material that I am very interested in myself, and it is a subject that I have written on before http://blairfyffe.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/snow-cover-in-lochaber.html. Therefor I was keen to get involved. On Sunday (18th) myself and friend Tony Stone decided to have a wee wander up the Ben to see how the patches were doing. It was a cloudy day, and we could not see how much snow remained up in Coire na Ciste.  We headed round into Observatory Gully where the largest patches tend to be, and were suitably impressed. The scale and depth of the remaining patches is quite evident in the pictures below. I suspect that there has only been one year during the past decade or so when there has been more snow here on the 20th of August, and that was 2008. Survival of these patches to next winters lasting snow seems very likely.

 Myself standing by the patch below Point Five Gully (photo Tony Stone).

 Another view of the point Five Gully Patch (Photo Tony Stone).

Considerable depth in the Observatory Gully patch. This is almost exactly the same location as the picture in the Wikipedia article I linked to near the start of the post. (Photo Tony Stone)

We found all sorts of bit and bobs on the Ben including this Welsh Dragon. I found a single Grivel crampon in Observatory Gully and an almost new single ME glove just down from the CIC hut. Get in touch if they are yours (Photo Tony Stone).

On Tuesday (20th) I was working. Since my last blog post I have manged to get a part time job as a countryside ranger, which has been good. Fortunately my boss allowed me to do a day snowpatch surveying as part of my work which was greatly appreciated (countryside ranger events and information can be found here https://www.facebook.com/LochaberCountrysideRangers).  This was partly because Mark Stephan going to come along to do a piece for the Out of Doors program and was keen to speak to me. Joining myself, Tony and Mark was another snow geek Iain Cameron, and his wife Claire.

We took the gondola up and went and had a look at the remaining patches on Aonach Mor.  Although not as impressive as those on the Ben, they were also looking pretty healthy. Myself and Tony then made rare summer ascent of Easy Gully (very green), and headed over to see if we could get a view of the Aonach Beag patch. Unfortunately cloud prevented us from seeing anything, so we turned round and rambled back done.

Overall it is currently looking like a promising year for snow patches, especially in Lochaber. Marks program will probably form part of this weeks Out of Doors to be transmitted on Saturday (26th) morning.

On the Protalus Rampart patch. Mark interviews Iain, while I try and look wise. (Photo Tony Stone)

All the time In the world.

Due to a continuing broken camera, I have not taken any photos for months. This is one of Guys pictures of me enjoying one of my favourite activities, prodding snow, on the way back from a route on Shelterstone crag  on the 13th of July. Photo Guy Steven.


It is usually the case that the more you have of something, the less efficiently you use it. At the moment I have time, lots of it. Despite various attempts and interviews I currently don't have a job (I even missed a trip to Pabbay and Mingulay for an interview for a job in Antarctica, didn't get the job). Although this has given me plenty of time to climb, I don't feel that I have been using this time particularly efficiently.  Don't get me wrong, I have had some great days out, and done some fantastic routes.  Some of the routes that stand out include a traverse of the Cullin Ridge in a day, Stairway to Heaven on Blaven, Cave Route Left at Gordale, Elderado and Repossessed on Aonach Dubh, El Passe at Lochan Dubh crags and  Beastmaster at Ardmair.

However, I do feel that I have lost the focus a bit. Last year I got into a good routine, I would go to work, then go to the wall, or go on my finger board or go running in the evenings,  and would climb every weekend. As I knew what I would be doing a few months ahead I found it easy to organise various trips away. By this time last year I already had had a week in Fairhead, ten days in France and had a trip to Pembroke well planned.

This year I have found it hard to get into any type of routine and despite some great routes, I don't feel like I have been pushing myself to get stronger and better at climbing. As for trips I have had a few days in Yorkshire, and that has been about it. As you have probably noticed this blog has been a bit neglected, as I always have plenty of time the next day to update it, it always seems to get put it off until the next day. My camera which I broke back in April or May is still sitting on the shelf waiting to be packed up and sent away to be fixed.

However, this post might get me back into the habit of updating my blog more regularly, and maybe I will get my camera sorted so have some pictures to put up. In the meantime the forecast is looking good, and the hills are quite dry, time to use all that time I have (in a probably not very efficient manner).

Ebony Face Beyond Communication

The cold-blooded moon.
The captain waits above the celebration
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
Whose ebony face is beyond communication.
The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid.

Projects: aren't they great? What I like about projects is the journey. From what first is often an exploratory peek, a non-committal feel of the holds, through the stages of working out what will actually work. Doing some moves; the realisation, "this might go." Doing some short links; the realisation, "this will go." To the final successful ascent when everything is put together. 

I have just completed a wee bouldering project of mine. 

The Ruthven Stane is on the south side of Loch Ness, about 55 miles from Fort William. It is a nice spot and I have bouldered there on or off for almost ten years. A long time ago my friend Trev had mentioned something about doing a traverse in, then finishing up the classic Font 7a of the Stane; The Big Lebowski. A few years later, after staring from progressively further left, I did this from the big jug at the left hand side of the main face. Project complete, or so I thought at the time. 

Fast forward a few years, I was again pottering about up at the Stane and started wondering about a traverse rightwards from the Big Lebowski. There are a few crimps here and there, and after a bit of brushing I could just about move between a few of them. Another project, another year. Sporadic attempts, half remembered sequences. I finally gave it a bit of conserted effort and got it done. 

The obvious challange then was to link the two problems to create a long traverse problem. Again over the next couple of years I tried this on and off, but jobs, weather and moving to Wales all got in the way. The years were ticking by and it wanted to get it done, so this year with little current employment, I decided it was time to put some effort in rather than just dablling with the project.

After numerous trips over this spring, each time with my fitness and knowledge of the sutblties of the moves increasing, I finally managed to get it done.

I think what I particularly enjoyed about this problem was it is essentially a route, except one where you are not (other than the final easy top out) more than a couple of feet off the ground. It is about 20 metres long, quite sustained and contains lots of interesting and varied moves. If it were a sport route, I reckon it would be f8b. It felt harder than Stolen at Steall Hut Crag, which I did a few years ago. Having said that I have been on a couple of f8a's recently which have felt harder than Stolen. Anyway, it is not a sport route, it is a boulder problem, and is perhaps Font 7C. However, I am not really sure, and have not done much at that grade. Perhaps someone who is stronger than me (Dave Mac?) would like to go and give it a go.

I hope someone does go and do it. It climbs from a natural starting jug, to a natural top out. A sitting start could be added, or it would be possible (but hard) to extend it at either end. I will have a closer look at those options next time I am pottering about up that way, perhaps the project is not quite over for me yet.....

However, I think what I climbed is worthy of a name, and have called it Ebony Face Beyond Communication. This is what I have known it as, in my head, for years. There is no particular deep meaning behind this name, just a couple of nice lines from Dylan's song Changing of the Guards.

Note: The photos are old ones, I broke my camera the other day, and have yet to get it fixed. Until I do so however, there might be a lack of nice new pictures on my blog.

Ebony Face Beyond Communication. Font 7C? *** A big long traverse that stays relatively low. All the holds can be reached from the ground. Start on the big jug just right of Barry Manilow, and traverse right to a triangular block, then across and down slightly to the ramp of The Big Lebowski. From the end of this make a long move round the arete to some crimps. Continue along a thin crack to two horizontal cracks. Continue round the corner into an overhung bay, to finally top out via a good crack in the slab on the right. Yeah! 

Start at the big jug (difficult to see) on the very left of the picture. Traverse right past the figure to the right arete.

 

Continue round the corner, and along parallel cracks and into the overhung scope. Top out via a crack in the slab on the right. If you do all this without falling off it will make you happy and weary. That is certainly the effect it had on me.

Scores on the Doors

Last week I had six days off in a row. Due to the changing rota that we use at work I did not actually know that I would have six consecutive days at the start of that period, but that was the way it turned out. Here is a wee summary of what I got up to, or tried to get up to, and how it turned out.

Day 1. Bouldering. Feeling pretty tired from a long stint at work, so rather than have a hill day, do some jobs and then head up the Glen Nevis for a boulder with Dan. We start by going up to Sky Pilot. It was windy and cold here, but I did manage the slightly more sheltered problem of Tinderbox again. I first did this problem in about 4 years ago after a couple of months of intensive work on it (I was unemployed at the time). Since then I have tried it on and off when I have been up that way, but up until this point never again managed it  After that we headed down and spend a few hours trying various links and combinations the much warmer at Heather Hat boulder. Success score 8/10. Loses a couple of points for being so cold and windy at Sky Pilot where I had hoped to make a bit of progress on Beetle back.

Day 2. Four tops on Skis. Got up early and headed over the Cairngorms where I got the first lift up to the top of the ski area. Met and blethered to school friend who works of the ski patrol over there. Then skinned to top of Cairngorm, over the Ben Macdui, skied down into the Lairig Ghru, up the other side to Braeriach, over to Cairn Toul, back over Braeriach, down Coire Gorm, back across the Lairig Ghru, and past Chalamain gap to Cairngorm car park. The weather was lovely, and I had wanted to do the four tops on skis for a while.  However, the loses half a point as I kept my ski boots too tight on some of the walking sections, and wore a hole in my shin. No more ski touring for me for a couple of weeks. Success score 9.5/10.

 Looking south from the Lairig Ghru to Cairn Toul.

Day 3. Job hunting. Had planned to go climbing on the Ben, but my mates car is broken and he has to bail. Instead I spend the day looking for a job of the summer. Fail to find one. At least I have a rest. Success score 1/10.

Day 4. Trad climbing. Head up the North West with Nona. Again the weather is lovely. We go to Ardmair, where I do three routes between E2 and E4. Nona leads her first E1 of the season. However climbing is cut short by approaching darkness. Our plan to stay in the Elphin hut falls through when we discover it is full. Have no bivi or camping kit, but find a bunkhouse near Ullapool to stay in. Success score 8/10. Loses two points due to he dark/cold stopping climbing at the crag, and the accommodation situation.

Day 5. Sports Climbing The weather is a a bit cold and drizzley so we head down to the sheltered venue of Am Fasgadh. Try a few routes there, the grades feel desperate, but we have fun trying. Success up to this point 7/10. 
Drive South, towards the Ling hut. I had meant to fill up with fuel in Ullapool, but due to the faff with accommodation I had forgotten. The petrol station at Dundonnell is closed, as is the one at Laid. Breath a sigh of relief when we see a sign for 24 fuel in Gairloch. Pull into the petrol station, and discover the 24 hours fuel is a slight misnomer. It is now 6.30pm and the garaged closed at 5.30pm. Drive on to Kinlochewe, stop and try and decide what to do. Get a text, Iain and Murdoch have just done a new route on the Ben. I live beside Ben Nevis and yet am sitting in Kinlochewe in the rain with almost no petrol while they have done a new route.. Success for the evening so 0/10. Head to Ling hut.

Day 6 Go Home. Get up early, the plan was for a winter route on Ben Bhan. However, it is snowing and windy, and the psyche is low. Drive to the car park for Ben Bhan, and fall asleep for an hour. Give up on winter climbing and make it to Loch Carron on vapours where we find a open petrol pump. Fill up the car and then head home. After a wee snooze have a good bouldering session down the wall. Success 5/10.

The view from my car (the one with very little fuel) on the morning of day 6. It is not inspiring me to go winter climbing.

Multi Activity Season

Spring in perhaps my favourite time of year due to variety of outdoor activities that you can partake in.

Since returning from Canada I have had some good days on the hill. First up was Kings Ransom VI,6 on Aonach Beag with Nona. Nona was going through a stage of dropping things, so I kept hold of my camera, so no pictures I am afraid. This gave two good long pitches, the first being an icy gully/chimney, and the second a good icy mixed pitch, followed by some mountaineering to the top. After that a nice stroll back over Aonach Mor, we had a tasty cup of tea in the Nevis Range summit ski patrol hut before heading back down.

High up on Astronomy. Good ice, but not much gear. Photo Iain Small

The next day Iain Small joined us to do Astronomy on Ben Nevis. This is a route that I had always been keen to do, partly for the line and style of climbing and partly as my dad had done the first winter ascent. There is a film of the 1st ascentionists re-climbing the route couple years later. They bivi on the face, and Ian Nicholson dropped their breakfast. We didn't bivi on the face, and thus had already eaten our breakfast by the time we got up there. However, in homage to the film Ian Small did drop his belay plate. It is quite a long route and as we were climbing as a three were not super fast. However, it did mean that we toped out to a beautiful sunset.

The summit of the Ben looking not to bad.

After that I was busy with work for a while, but did manage Observatory Buttress on a particularly unpleasant day. The forecast had not been great, but on the walk in it looked like it might clear up so we pushed on. It didn't clear up however, but at least I got another three star route ticked.
Last week I had a few days off.  Nona and I headed up to Torridon for a few days. There we did Salmon Leap (VI,6) on Liathach. I had not been into that area since I had a wee incident with an avalanche in that area twelve years ago. Salmon Leap gave some good steep interesting ice climbing, with generally good weather except when I was on the crux, when a constant stream of spindrift started flowing down the route.

Good ice on Salmon Leap, and as a bonus nothing was dropped.

The next day was pretty driech in Torridon, so had a wee bouldering session at the Ruthven Stane near Inverness. After that it was time to get the skis out, and had a good couple days skiing at Nevis Range.

Tony showing off his finest disco moves when dropping into Summit Gully. The snow down this gully was lovely. From the base of summit gully a quick 15 minute skin took us up to the top of Stob an Chul Choire, the north face of which gave another lovely run.

Leading the first pitch of Edge of Beyond in less than optimal weather conditions. Photo Iain Small.

Finally a couple of days ago I headed back up the Ben with Iain Small. The weather was not quite as good as we had hoped, but we had a good day doing a route called Edge of Beyond (VI,6). It gave three good long pitches of icy mixed climbing up onto Tower ridge. 

Altogether an enjoyable few weeks pottering about on the hills. Lets hope for more of the same, and perhaps a few rock routes.

 

Upside Down Icicle

I recently saw this pretty cool picture that a friend took on an icicle which has grown upwards out of a small pool.  It is no trick, it really has grown upwards. The surface of the pool freezes first. As the rest of the water freezes and expands, the pressure increases within the remaining liquid. This pushes out the liquid up through the weakest point, which will generally be somewhere near the middle of the surface ice layer. As soon as some water gets pushed through that hole it flows out slightly building up a small circular wall. As the pool continues to freeze, more water gets pushed out, building up wall further and so on to finally produce an upsidedown icicle.

However, conditions (in terms of temperature, shape of pool etc) have to be correct for this process to work. I have only ever seen one picture of one of these before, and it was not quite as good as this example.