Winter Skills

I spent the weekend working on a Winter Skills course at Glenmore Lodge. We had a real mix of weather conditions and underfoot things are shaping up nicely for the rest of the winter. The snowpack has had a bit of a thaw which should stabilise things but also stop it getting blown away! Climbing conditions are still a bit thin but everything is frozen. There is a new resource available this winter which has been funded by SportScotland and is called " Be Avalanche Aware". Its in the form of a leaflet and its also available via the link below. Id recommend having a look at if your planning on venturing in the mountains this winter!

http://beaware.sais.gov.uk/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CIC Hut

A great couple of days staying up at the CIC Hut on Ben Nevis, Glenmore Lodge staff training/climbing. Very early season conditions but maybe not for long with this weeks weather forecast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End of Summer Work

Autumn has well and truly taken over and the hills are now getting a good soaking, great for winter. I finished the last of my summer work last week at Glenmore Lodge working on a Summer Mountain Leader assessment. It was a great summer, weather was fantastic and the work very varied, thank you, Glenmore Lodge. A few photos below with lots of blue sky, here's hoping for a great winter!

Learn to Lead refresher

Great weekend climbing with Rosie and Ian who were looking for a lead refresher come confidence booster. We spent Saturday at Cummingston looking at placing gear, building anchors and eventually some climbing and abseiling. Sunday was spent at a very busy Craig y Barns at Dunkeld running through looking after yourself on multi pitch climbs. Great company and very lucky with the weather.

Spring/Summer Update

Its been a busy time since the end of the Winter. Rock climbing, Summer MLs, DofE Supervising, Safety Work with University of Bradford Archaeologists,a bit of kayaking work and some staff training at Glenmore Lodge for working on MIA courses. The weather has been great so far long may it continue! Variety on photos below.

WML Training week

A few pictures from last weeks Winter Mountain Leader Training course, i was working for Glenmore Lodge. It was a mixed week weather wise which is always good for folks going through the scheme giving them the full experience of potentially being a leader, or what you can expect or put up working on the hill in winter. The week was rounded off with a broken shovel after 5 mins of digging a snow hole and then i found a hole in my thermarest..... i was glad of having a very warm sleeping bag, its amazing how much insulation you get from a couple of hill ropes, an empty rucsac and a group shelter, thanks to the team for their donations.

Ben Nevis CIC Hut

Ben Ice climbing course with Glenmore Lodge staying in the CIC hut, great company but challenging conditions on the hill which required some good safe route choice. Very windy, mild for a few days and then more wind and alot of new snow.

Castle ridge, Tower ridge, skills around the the CIC hut, SW ridge Douglas Boulder, Tower Scoop and Tower Cascade.