March 13 Conditions

Sunday 10th March 2013

Point Five today on Ben Nevis

I was out with Tim today climbing on Ben Nevis. Point Five was at the top of his wish list and we were fortunate enough to get on it today.

The morning was clear with a cold wind from the north east. There were teams on Vanishing, Zero, Hadrians, Sickle, Pointless, Orion, Observatory Buttress and Tower Ridge.

It was -7 °C on the summit and as we descended it started to snow quite heavily.

Friday 8th March 2013

Great week in the CIC hut on Ben Nevis

Just down from 5 days in the CIC hut. It was a week of two halves with pleasant conditions for 2 and a half days and then a little more windy and wild for the second half of the week.

On day one I climbed Point 5 with Gareth and Simon. There was a cloud inversion on the summit. Day 2 we climbed Orion Face Direct and it wasn't too busy and was still in good condition.

On day 3 Simon and I climbed Central gully Right Hand on Craig Coire na Ciste. Simon and Gareth headed down on Wednesday and I climbed with Pete the last 2 days. On Thursday we climbed both the left and right versions of Central Gully and finally today in the strong easterly winds we climbed 2 pitches of Compression Crack and abseiled off.

Sunday 3rd March 2013

Back on the Ben

Willie and I headed up Ledge Route on Ben Nevis today. It was a busy day with parties on many routes even though it was warm and drizzly.

Mark and Brendan also climbed Ledge Route but found a much faster way down by flying. They both paraglided off the summit in a break in the clouds.

I am heading up to stay in the CIC hut for the next few days so I'll try and Tweet now and then to keep you updated.

Saturday 2nd March 2013

Cloudy and Drizzly in Stob Coire nan Lochan

Today I was out with Willie in Glencoe. We headed up to Stob Coire nan Lochan where the cloud was low and we only occasionally glimpsed a view. It was also warm; about 7 °C.

We ventured up Forked Gully and then joined Dorsal Arete just before the Dorsal Fin. This made a good combination with snow and ice in Forked Gully before the best bit of Dorsal Arete to finish.

Friday 1st March 2013

Route Major on Carn Etchachan

For Ian's last day out climbing we decided to head to Carn Etchachan in the Loch Avon Basin. We climbed the classic Route Major.

What a great route it is and we had it all to ourselves. Although it has had lots of traffic over the last couple of weeks it is still in good nick.

It was not cold today with temperatures above zero all day. The wind from the north west picked up in the afternoon.