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From Snowy Lakes
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From Who needs a compass?
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From Grotto Falls ice climb in the Canadian Rockies
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From Cascade du Dar Revisited - Seven Years On
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From Worth a punt?
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From A Quick Ice Fix in Cogne
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From Three fantastic winter days in Scotland
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From Ben Nevis, Point Five Gully
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From The Pumpkin, Creag Meagaidh
Category: Ice Climbing
Ice (and mixed) climbing. The type of climbing normally done with axes and crampons.
Yesterday we went for a bumble up to Stickle Tarn to see what the winter conditions were like. It was very windy. But there were plenty of people out, including a team on Jack’s Rake. We weren’t wearing winter boots, and didn’t have axes or crampons with us, so we stuck to the trails. Today, …
Steve and I had a great day on an easy winter route on Great End today.
Ice climbing Grotto Falls with Canmore friends, Doug Nelson, Everett Fee and Terry Kenny (UK). Throughout the year this spectacular grotto is visited by many for the pictographs and for the unique topography. I had the good fortune to climb with these three seasoned ice climbers during mid January in ideal conditions.
It is exactly seven years to this very weekend that Terry, Pete and Tish stood under the Cascade du Dar in fresh falling snow.
There’s a lot of guesswork involved in Scottish winter climbing. Making decisions about where to go, and whether conditions will be amenable to climbing. It’s been even more of a gamble this year, with a lot of stormy, wet and much milder conditions than we’ve been used to in recent years.
We took a little time out of Chamonix and headed over (or should I say under) the border to Cogne for some ice climbing.
We’ve just had three fantastic winter days in Scotland. Blue sky, hardly any wind, and lots and lots of ice.
Another night sleeping in the back of the car, another 4am alarm call, and another world-class classic Scottish winter route. This time on the mountain that some might consider to be the “crucible of Scottish winter climbing”, the north face of Ben Nevis.
It’s a long way to the West Highlands, even from the Lakes. However, with such a great weather forecast and the recent days of cold weather the conditions looked awesome, so the long drive and not inconsiderable fuel costs was well worth considering. But we wanted to go somewhere new to us – Creag Meagaidh …
