Cairngorms

Wintry in the Cairngorms at the moment - with low temps. and a lot of snow - good skiing conditions attracting a lot of mountain visitors over the festive season, and very pretty to look at.

Climbing conditions were not so good with recent powder snow burying everything and making getting to the climbs hard work, however, we managed to get out on Monday and Tuesday but were caught up in the huge traffic jam leading up to the Coire Cas on Wed. and decided to call it a day, especially with another windy day forecast suggesting an increased avalanche risk - fingers crossed for next week though as I'm back up to the West Coast for some more of the white stuff.

Thanks to Anish and Raksha for their company and enthusiasm in the poor conditions.

Brecon Ice Climbing

The cold snap has brought some limited roadside icefall cragging to S.Wales, with a number of short routes just about in condition, the truck was reluctant to brave the icy roads up to Torpantau Falls, so Craig -y-Fro was visited, with some ice bouldering right out of the layby, and the main falls within 200mtrs of the road, we weren't surprised to find at least three teams chipping away at the brittle ice - all good fun at this time of the year; however, the trip home became a bit of an epic with roads blocked and very slow traffic after a couple of hours heavy snowfall took everyone by surprise - hopefully the climbers from Somerset made it home O.K

Northern Corries Climbing

A visit to the Cairngorms this week for the start of the winter season - and as last year, it has been pretty good - snow pack and ice have built up to give some good climbing conditions as the week progressed, and although blue skies were limited, and the buttresses were black at the start of the week, by Thursday things were pretty good, with ascents of The Runnel, Spiral Gully, Red Gully, Goat Track Gully , Crotched Gully and Alladin's Mirror providing a good warm up for the season ahead . Thanks to Mark, Don, Stuart and Ian for their enthusiasm and company.

Autumn mountains

After the fantastic weather in October, November's rains have been a bit of a shock, a trip to Skye had to be postponed with 80 mph winds and horizontal rain and rock climbing days, few and far between, however, it has been good practice for poor weather navigation, with courses in N.Wales and the Brecon Beacons - and I certainly need the practice with my MIC assessment due Feb. next year, off for more practice in Scotland this week, with hopefully some winter snow and ice climbing in the Cairngorms.

SY Climbing Courses

Just about making the most of the excellent late summer conditions on a few learn to lead and outdoor rock climbing courses lately - it's going to be a bit of a shock when the winter season starts - but with an MIC assessment coming up for me in Feb. '10 I'm having to start planning for it, in the meantine the beautiful autumn colours are coming out and with even just a little sun make the Wye Valley a lovely place to climb.

Alps Trip

Last week saw me and a friend of mine - Rob Johnson - in the Alps, forecasts for the week and reports of thin conditions ( with lots of serac and rockfall reported ) had us a bit concerned, however, despite our arrival day being showery and overcast, the rest of the week was superb with blue skies and brilliant sunshine - allowing us to tick off a few routes - Cosmiques Arete on Aig. de Midi , the Chere Coulloir and Contamine / Grisolle route on Mte Blanc de Tacul. With a two day adventure to the Tete Blanche , with the crevasses on the Glce. De Tour giving us a lot of stress - due to a combination of the thin conditions and my complacency in the early hours !!

Headaches, handshakes, aching calf-muscles and lots of fantastic photos !!

Outdoor Courses

"Outdoor" and "Learn to Lead" courses have been busy this month - making the most of the late summer weather - my camera has been playing up , so apologies to everyone I promised snaps to, I hope your photos's came out better !
Thanks to Andy, Jane, Chris, Rachel, Tim, Alex, Craig, Paul, SJ, Mike, Steve, Bryn, Lucy and Hayley for some entertaining climbing days - a few 1st leads, some challenging climbing and hopefully some good memories of the Wye Valley - probably better than my photo's anyway !