Monday has been a great day with the weather and the climbing. With there being so much snow in the Cairngorms, Kathryn and Myself headed over to the west, Glen Coe. Both of us have always wanted to climb the ultra classic Number 6 Gully (IV,4) on the west face of Aonach Dubh. With its relatively low altitude (by modern times) it hasn't formed readily the last 10 years or so. People have been climbing this route for the last couple of weeks so we hoped there would be some ice left. It was a good route but definitely showing signs of being hacked up and the very bottom may fall off if the next thaw lasts (Elliot's Downfall VI,6 fell down on Saturday). It gave us two nice ice pitches and a bit of snow plodding! Having finished the route at midday we walked over to the base of Stob Coire nam Beith (picture - right) to have a look at Deep-Cut Chimney (IV,4). This route gave us 4 good pitches of ice and mixed climbing. Pitch 1 had a overhanging block crux,with good hooks and good gear. Pitch 2 was ice (below).
The crux of the route for us was the third pitch with a left variation. Ice was thin and precarious, gear wasn't very satisfying (below)! After about 200m of climbing you can traverse off left across the mountain at mid-height following your nose between the gully lines and ledges.
Scotland has returned starting yesterday, a slight thaw has started and there was wet slushy snow falling at about 800m, windy and claggy. This was the last day of a MIC training course and we headed into Stob Coire nan Lochan. We looked at teaching leading and climbed NC Gully II (Tim leading - photo above), descended Broad Gully I, then went up Dorsal Arete II (busy), descending an easy gully on the right hand side of the corrie then ascended another head wall of snow further right. A busy day and a lot of ground was covered, the snow is starting to become a little slushy and there was wind slab pockets developing with the strong westerly winds. Today we heading up to west face of Aoanch Dubh in an attempt to climb The Screen IV (photo - right), before it melts away, but unfortunately we were a little late. Freezing levels have been at about 900m for the last few days and this has affected the thickness and stability of the ice. It looked big in places but as you topped out it would be thin and there was a waterfall clearly visible between the rock and the ice. So we decided the risk was not worth it and headed down. There were a few teams climbing Number 6 Gully, but even that won't last very long if the freezing level doesn't drop soon.
