Happy birthday to me......

Celebrating a certain age over this weekend I thought it would be a good idea to get out on the hills, so I headed up to Fort William on Thursday afternoon to meet Steve Holmes from Vertical Fever .  After a quick meeting that evening the decision was made to celebrate my birthday on Friday with a ascent of Castle Ridge (Grade 3S) on Ben Nevis before coming back down Ledge Route.  So an early start on Friday saw us heading towards the north face of the Ben.  It didn't take long before we where at the base of Castle Ridge and gearing up. Steve led off and it was a fine ascent up a classic Scottish ridge - and the midges even stayed away.

At the top of the ridge Steve and I had a quick council of war and decided that we should actually summit the Ben and then head down the CT Arete - this was good news for me because I will be leading a party up the arete in August and had never done it.  So Friday turned into a very long, but excellent day on the mountain.

Sunday morning saw us heading into Glencoe to have a crack at North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor, which is another Scottish classic at Grade 3S.  This ridge is certainly longer and more sustained but it was another cracker of a day and I felt comfortable and confident throughout the ascent.  Once again, at the top we had a council of war - a ropey walk over scree to get off, or Curved Ridge (Grade 2/3).  No contest, Curved Ridge was always going to win and it gave me some much needed practice and experience at down climbing on scrambles.

So an outstanding weekend to celebrate my birthday.  Massive thanks must go to Steve Homes of Vertical Fever .

Nice short video clip....

During my trip out in Glencoe on Saturday, I met Ian and Fergus on the summit of Stob Coire nan Lochan and we hung around chatting.

Fergus was using a contraption that allows him to send his GoPro into the sky to take aerial video of the surrounding areas and you can see the results here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGrHPKyArLo&feature=youtu.be

I must admit it has tempted me to consider buying a GoPro, but so far I have resisted because there are other things to spend my money on just now but I have a feeling that I might eventually end up with one at some point.

Getting hot & high in Glencoe.....

Saturday saw Caroline and me making an early morning dash from Edinburgh to Glencoe to have a crack at the Zigzags (Grade 1 scramble) onto Gearr Aonach before heading off along the ridge and climbing Stob Coire nan Lochan.  This was my second lead on a scramble as I build my confidence but to be honest, Caroline is very confident, so we ended up just having great fun on the Zigzags and then a great day out on the very rocky ridge.

We had discussed moving on and bagging Bidean nam Bian but the route out going that way was still carrying a fair amount of snow and from where I was standing it looked ropey at best and neither of use had any winter mountaineering kit with us, so we decided early doors that we would leave that route for another day.

We where on our way at 9.15am heading off into the Lost Valley before breaking right and heading up to our scrambling objective.  The rock was really dry and both of us really enjoyed the scrambling even if I did take us a bit to far to the right so we ended up on less sure ground - note to self, learn more about route finding on scrambles.  The sun was high as we moved up the Zigzags and along the ridge - in fact it was very warm indeed and both of us applied factor 50 more than once. 

The push up towards the summit of Sob Coire nan Lochan presented us with a bit more easy scrambling and a weee bit of exposure but soon enough we had made the summit.  We enjoyed fabulous views in all directions and even Ben Nevis was cloud free and making an appearance.  We lingered on the summit for a good 20 minutes chatting to a couple of other folk on the summit before deciding to head off towards Aonach Dubh to look for our route down into Coire nan Lochan. 

Thankfully it was a bit cooler on he tops and the clouds had come in to make it a bit more comfortable.  We enjoyed the trip around looking at some of the amazing rock formations and gullies - none of which you would want to wonder into by mistake.  I imagine your navigation would need to be spot on if you lost visibility up there.

We meandered down the valley enjoying the view of the surrounding mountains and waterfalls - and stood watching a climbing team on one of the walls for a wee while.  After a great 7 hours on the hill we arrived back at the car feeling tired but in high spirits.  A stop at the Good Food Café for some much needed sustenance before heading back to Edinburgh.  A long day but one which has left great memories and wetted the appetite for more of the same.

Scrambling about....

Just back from a great weekend in the Lake District which say us go after Helvellyn via Striding Edge on Saturday.  This was going to be my first ever lead on a planned scramble and I'm pleased to say that everything went according to plan.  The weather was just about right - in other words not to warm, in fact on the tops it was pretty cold.  One we got onto Striding Edge proper the fun started.  We where moving along petty well but then one of the team started to lose her head for heights, so I resorted to some of the skills that Steve Holmes had taught me the previous weekend and in particular the sling trick.  After that we worked well as a team and before we knew it we had made the summit.

I'm pleased to say that I felt comfortable throughout the whole scramble despite there being dozens of people on the ridge and, it has to be said, some of them had no clue whatsoever especially the guy at the end who insisted on pushing past people - not the brightest idea in the world considering were we all where!!

Once we had grabbed a snack on the summit we moved onto Swirral Edge and made short work of that scramble.  We then joined the rest of the group who had opted not to attempt the scramble but to walk into Red Tarn instead.

So feeling pleased with myself.  Roll on 25 May when I'm taking some folk on the Zig Zags in Glencoe - another Grade 1 Scramble. 

For accommodation we stayed at a brilliant bunkhouse which I would highly recommend.

Rock & Rope

Finally getting around to pulling my blog together after a great weekend of scrambling and climbing under the watchful eye of Steve Holmes of Vertical Fever who I can firmly recommend to anyone wanting to enjoy the great outdoors in Scotland or anyone who want to step up from walking to a bit of scrambling or climbing.

On Saturday I wanted to refresh my scrambling skills and in particular look at how I can manage friends and peers when they are on a scramble.  Steve took me through a whole range of skills on the Zig Zags (Grade 1) in Glencoe.  We covered skills ranging from spotting to a simple belay using an Italian hitch system as well as covering how to lower someone if they "froze".  It was an excellent day and the weather was not too bad, although we had started the day in rain and wind.

On the Sunday, Steve had decided to get me back onto the end of a rope and to do some climbing routes in Glen Nevis.  I had been here a couple of years earlier but I also knew that my skills had faded a wee bit since then.  No matter Steve quickly ran through the fundamentals and then we where of on the first climb which was Three Pines (VDiff).  I coped with this one well, so Steve took us over to the next buttress which was the Flying Dutchman (Mild Severe).  This was a slabby route and I had a real episode of not wanting to move.  Steve was ever patient with me and got me down to a grass ledge and gave me time to compose myself.  I have to admit it took a bit of "talking to myself" to get me back onto the rock, but I am so pleased I pushed on to nail my very first mild severe route.

We then moved on to Spike Wall (VDiff) which was a two pitch route which included a hanging belay which was all new to me - and was a pretty nervous experience.  We finished the day with a descent of Scimitar Ridge (Grade II).

It was a brilliant weekend and Steve was really encouraging - I always felt safe with him and the wobble was down to my head not Steve.  I'm already booked to go back out with Steve at the end of May and I can't wait.  Also, I will be putting my refreshed scrambling skills to good use this weekend when I take a group up Striding Edge in the Lake District.