Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time Scotland Style!

 For the second year running I spent Christmas in Scotland and out on the Scottish mountains, unlike last year Santa brought myself, Simon, Cat & Rich some excellent winter weather!

Tuesday - After a 'bit of an epic' getting to Scotland due to the M74 being closed we met up at the Fort William Back Packers Hostel where we would be based during our stay. Tuesday morning we travelled over to the Cairngorms where I had arranged to meet Mick of mickhunter.com who is a qualified Winter Mountain Leader and had generously offered to spend some of his time helping me prepare for the WML assessment, it was also a good opportunity for Simon, Cat & Rich to refresh their skills too.

 We headed into Coire an t-sneachda we spent time looking at movement in snow, cutting steps, movement on crampons whilst Mick also gave me advice on coaching techniques. All the time I can spend preparing for the Winter Mountain Leader assessment is extremely valuable and I appreciate Mick giving his time to assist me, good man!

Fitting Crampons to boots

Wednesday - Christmas Eve and with strong winds forecast we looked for a route which would offer us some shelter for most of the day. We opted to head into Glen Nevis and take a route up to Stob Ban which is in the Mamores range as the surrounding peaks would keep the worst of the wind out of our faces until we reached the final stages of the ascent.

 Rain fell steadily at lower levels until we reached the snow line at around 600m where signs of the strong winds above also became apparent in the form of wind transporting loose snow around. The last  section of the ascent to Stob Ban from this direction rises fairly steeply on a short ridge line so we stopped to put on helmets and crampons and to carry our ice axes, it was at this point that skies suddenly became obviously darker and a flash of lightening crossed the sky. Being on the hills during a lightening storm can obviously be problematic and to add to that we were carrying metal axes and wearing metal crampons on our feet so we made a somewhat hasty retreat and descended quickly! 

Rich, Simon & Cat.

We used the day to introduce Rich to some navigation  skills.

Thursday - Christmas Day and after exchanging mountain themed presents at breakfast and with an excellent weather forecast we made plans to head up Ben Nevis, unfortunately the avalanche forecast wasn't as favourable as the weather so we would be avoiding the bully's on the 'back' of the Ben and using the 'Pony Track' for our ascent. 

 As the track passes Lochan Meall an t-Suihe we climbed into a patch of low cloud and for a short while there were thoughts that we may not get summit views but these were allayed as we climbed the 'zig zags'and through the cloud to be greeted with stunning views of the surrounding peaks.

Friday - My final day on the Scottish mountains for this trip and with another favourable weather forcasts plus an avalanche forcast predicting stable conditions myself and Rich set off on the route of the 'Ring Of Steall' in the Mamores. The route begins and ends in Glen Nevis with a river crossing over a wire bridge which is a good way to check you are switched on for the day ahead! 

 At around 16km with 1676m of ascent and traversing four Munros along narrow and rocky ridges this would be an extended day, especially under winter conditions. Climbing out of the Glen to get on the ridge is an effort in its self due to the steep gradient of the terrain though the views that greeted us distracted from the suffering a little. Crossing snow line at around 600m we continued on until the ground started to rise steeply as we started the ascent of Sgurr a' Mhaim, at this point we stopped to fit crampons and take out our ice axes to assist over the terrain. The ridges of the route were corniced so care had to be taken with foot placement and there were sections of scrambling as we followed the route in an anti clockwise direction over the Devils Ridge, Am Bodach, Stob Coire a' Chairn and An Gearanach. Darkness fell at around 16:15hrs which meant us ascending the last Munro of An Gearanach using our head torches to light the way, before descending back down into Glen Nevis to make our way back to cross the wire bridge in the opposite direction and head out of Glen Nevis and for a much welcome meal!

 The route took us approximately 11hrs of which 3 were spent in the dark. Rich declared that he had been out of his comfort zone since we had left the car that morning but concidering he had little experience of using crampons or ice axe on this sort of terrain, ridge walking, scrambling, the extra elements of extended winter routes or being out on the hills in the darkness he did excellently. His movement over the terrain and his confidence grew over the day as he pushed beyond the boundaries of his previous experience which great to see, though it meant I had carried the unused rope in my rucksack all day!!

Winter in Morocco - Oi Geldof, I Reckon There Will Be Snow In AfricaThis Christmas Time!

 The end of November saw me travel to Morocco with intention of climbing a few 4000m peaks, including Toubkal, and get my winter 2014/2015 season under way. I would be joining members of the Llanberris Mountain Rescue team and some of their friends as well as an expedition led by my 'mountain mentor' and friend (despite 4 years of unflattoring remarks about my weight!) Rob Johnson of Expedition Guide and Bryn Williams.

 Due to a deep 'kink' in the Jet Stream Morocco had experienced exceptional levels of precipitation in the weeks before we travelled  which had led to some roads having been washed away in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains and the unfortunate deaths of some people washed away in flood waters, it had also led to approximately 4 metres of snow fall high up in the mountains.

 Arriving in Marakech on the Saturday afternoon we were told travelling to Imlil would be impossible that evening as rainfall had again washed part of the route away and so we headed to a riad in Marakach and spent the evening looking around the food market and medina. Travelling up to Ilmlil on Sunday morning damage from the recent weather was obvious though the road had now been repaired and we arrived after a couple of hours, as there had been a further half a metre of snowfall forecast for the mountains during Saturday it was decided that we would spend Sunday night in Ilmlil to give the snowpack time to settle before starting our walk up to the refuge Monday morning.

Monday - leaving Imlil after breakfast we set off to make our way up the mountain track that would take us to 'Refuge Les Mouflons' which would be our base in the mountains for the next week. Rising from Ilmlil at 1740m to the refuge at 3200m we would take the journey slowly to hopefully keep any symptoms of altitude sickness at bay. We found the snow line at around 2200m and the amount of snow on the ground quickly increased until we were following a track which was knee deep at the sides. The path took us under some terrain where there had been obvious avalanche activity with snow pack mainly in the form of 'sun balls' or 'point releases' ( where the sun had warmed rocks which had then led to a warming of the snow pack causing small slides) and we kept some distance apart from other member of the group whilst we passed these areas.

They had had a spot of snow at the refuge!

Tuesday - Myself, Stuart and Mountain Rescue Rob headed up following the gorge that runs through the high valley above the refuge to gain some height for acclimatisation and also to look at the snow pack. We found an area where we thought would be good to dig a snow pit to see if we could find any obvious week layers and dug a snow pit down to ground level some 2.5metres below! We found a top layer some .55m deep of fairly soft but compacted snow followed by a layes .6m deep of harder snow, below this were several layers made up of hard Icy layers and some of weak layers containing large rounded snow crystals. 

I then followed this by practicing building an emergency shelter as I will have to do during the Winter Mountain Leader assessment in February next year where a shelter big enough to provide protection from the elements has to be made within 20minutes using only an ice axe, I hope the snow is as soft in the Cairngorms as it is here this week and I have a willing client like Bob to try it for size. This simple scrape to 7minutes.

Imperial Bob gets cosy.

Bit of a snow pit!

 Wednesday - rested and acclimatised myself, 'Mountain Rescue Rob' and 'Rock Bottom Stuart' decided to head from the Refuge up the valley to the 'Tizi n Ouagane' col at a height of 3735m if possible. We would put a track in on snowshoes that we could retrace the following day if we were to attempt the summits of 'Ras' and 'Timesguida', this would also give us further benefits in relation to acclimatisation. Heading out at 9am the weather was crisp to say the least though as we continued up the col we soon began to warm up. Taking note of what was happening around us with the weather and snow we continually discussed our route and plan of action. On reaching ground which was steepening beyond the use of snowshoes we switched to crampons and ice axes before ascending up a rocky outcrop in the middle of the ascent to the col after which we found ourselves in deep snow which we all had reservations about. We were on a slope of not much over 20 degrees but the gradient ahead of us was noticbly increasing, after doing a couple of quick snow stability tests which failed easily we decided to forget making the col and return down the slope.

Mountain Rescue Rob and Rock Bottom Stuart battling the wind - I took that pic!

Thursday - with a weather report predicting a further 20cm of fresh snow to fall over night Thursday the desicion was taken to head back to Imlil later that afternoon. A fresh 20cm of snow on top of the snow pack which was starting to consolidate and form a surface crust due to being subject to the strong Moroccan sun through the day and sub zero temperatures overnight could have caused us concern if walking out the following day. We spent the morning in two groups, one looking at and practicing ice axe arrest whilst the other group built a snow shelter. Leaving the refuge at lunch time we descended along the valley following the track through the deep snow and over sections of avalanche debris until we left the snow line at approximately 2350m near the shrine at Sidi Chammharouch and reaching Imlil 4.5hrs later, unfortunately our kit would be arriving the following morning!

Siany practicing ice axe arrest.

Al gets cosy in the snow shelter.

Mountain Rescue Rob with compulsory 'man leg' pose!

Descending back to Imlil

Watch for this pair of characters in the mountains!

Over all another great trip. Despite not making any summits and in fact deciding to retreat from an acclimatisation col I took lots from the week. Summits are great and the main objective of most trips but I am at a stage where I need to be learning and experiencing the variables that can contribute to create avalanche conditions, reading books is fine but some of it actually sinks in when I'm seeing it in real time!

It was pleasure to spend the week with Rob (Expedition Guide), MTA Bryn, 'Imperial' Bob, 'Rock Bottom' Stuart, Ady & Amy, Mountain Rescue Rob & Siany, Rich & Jo, Al, Dan and Steven.

White Out and Dig Out in Lochnagar - A Tale Of Motion Sickness And Rough Accomodation!

 With the rare opportunity of a few days available to spend on the hills I joined up with Matt Dawson of Trekking Skills to grab some precious Winter Mountain Leader & International Mountain Leader Award log book days.
 Following on from our recent IML Winter training week spent on snow shoes in France we headed to the Lochnagar region of Scotlands Cairngorm mountains where we could again put the snowshoes to use.

 After a much later than planned arrival in the Lochangar region due to a mechanical breakdown we headed to the bothy at Callater Lodge where we arrived at approx 4am!

Beginning our walk to the bothy in the early hours!

 With a full moon in a partially cloudy sky we walked without head torches until we reached the bothy at approx 4am.

Matt gets ready for a spot of well needed shut eye!

 After a few hours sleep we had breakfast and packed up our kit, the rucksacks were heavier than we would have liked but we had to carry food and cooking equipment, plus sleeping bags and bivi's as well as all the usual extra kit that should be carried for winter conditions. The weather hadn't lived up to the bright forecast and cloud hung around 700m on the sides of the Glen and as we made our way up 'Carn an t-Sagairt Mor' we were soon hit by strong winds, driven snow and low visibility. From here on it was snow goggles on and head down looking at the compass, visibility was now minimal and it was impossible to see the difference between the white of the low cloud and the snow laying on the ground - white out conditions!

Matt navigates through continuous white out.

 Discussing our options we opted to alter our original plan of walking to the summit of Lochnagar as there would nothing to see but the inside of a cloud and our time would be better spent navigating our way to the 'Lunkard Bothy'. Previously planned objectives often have to change as conditions on the ground develop in my opinion.
 Using features in the terrain along with compass bearings and pacing we walked on to 'Broad Cairn' before deciding to head in a southerly direction to intersect with 'Jock's Road' which we would then follow to the bothy, of course 'Jock's Road' would be under the snow pack so we would be relying on our navigational skills.
 It was during this leg that I experienced a sense of complete disorientation! Whilst following only the compass bearing and with no visible reference points I began to think I was walking in a circle and began to feel dizzy and sick, I would liken it the feeling of the room spinning when drunk (so i'm told). I had to ignore what my senses were telling me and believe in what my compass was showing me, though I could also have followed the sound of Matt's stifled laughter at my confusion!!
 We continued as darkness descended, though this made little difference as we had seen nothing but a few metre's in front of us all day, until we found the 'Lunkard Bothy'.

 We could of easily missed the bothy as it is dug into the hillside and not the tallest of structures, it was also fairly well covered in snow.

That'll be the bothy under there!

 Not exactly what we were hoping for when we found the bothy with only the top 8inch of the door showing above the snow, we broke out the shovels unaware that worse was to come!

It seems there a 'bit' of snow may have got in!

 After digging away the snow that was blocking the door we opened it to be greeted by a wall of snow inside! We had to tunnel nearly 2metres until we broke through into the bothy, which was grim to say the least!

Matt tunneling into the bothy!

 After eventually getting into the bothy we quickly got the stoves going to make some well needed nourishment before setting up our sleeping bags and bivi's for the night in our 'basic' accommodation.

I didn't see this in the brochure.

 Getting out of a warm sleeping bag into the cold interior of a winter shelter is not the most enjoyable experience but we were keen to get out of the cold, damp bothy/snow shelter and get moving. Quickly making breakfast whilst packing up our kit we were soon ready for the off and decided make our way back towards 'Glen Clunie' around the hills to the South of  'Loch Callater'.

A second day of navigation without visual references, bonus!

The view we had for the best part of 2 full days.

  As we ascended from the bothy we were soon in familiar 'white out' conditions and again had to rely on our compass bearings and contour interpretation as we made our way to 'Carn an Tuirc' before descending down to Lochcallater Lodge.

Matt pleased to be back at Loch Callater.

 Summary - We had an idea of what we wanted to do over the couple of days before we set out but were both happy to change the plan as we assessed the changing conditions and I believe we made the best of it by using the 'white out' to our advantage to practice our navigation skills in challenging conditions that we could easily encounter at any time whilst out on the hills in winter.