Snow Fun on Ghreadaidh!
Matt’s Report, Thurs 3 March
I was out with Andy today, climbing the Eag Dubh (Black Notch) on Sgurr a Ghreadaidh. The warmer weather has made the snow contract in the gullies, leaving ridge like features to climb up. As the snow is up to ten feet deep in places it makes the snow ridges feel quite exposed, which is an unusual feeling when you are in the depths of a Skye gully! The ridge is a good mixture of ice, snow and rock at the moment, giving a very alpine feel to the crest. There is still a fantastic depth of snow in An Dorus, giving a simple step down into the gap instead of the usual steep scramble.
Approaching the Eag Dubh
Andy adopting unorthodox gully climbing tactics
And more conventional tactics higher up
Gullies, Ridges and Sea-Cliffs
Matt’s report.
WEDNESDAY 16th
Dan and I ventured into the Great Gully on Bla Bheinn, I have been up here a few times in the last week and this has given me plenty of time to look around at new route possibilities. This time I could not resist investigating a route on the left hand side of the gully. We found a line at grade II that weaved around a lot of steep ground but did take in a couple of nice steeper steps.
Dan Mackenzie down-climbing the short gully to gain the col connecting the north and south summits of Bla Bheinn on his first winter day out.
THURSDAY 17th
Beth and I explored the Flodigarry area yesterday, trying to combine fishing and climbing activities. This is a stunning part of the Island with the wonderfully shaped landscape of the Quirang dominating the skyline. I managed to sacrifice another portion of fishing gear to the sea-gods but success (and a fish supper) will surely come on another visit!
Looking north from Flodigarry
Looking back towards the Quirang
FRIDAY 18th
I continued the Alpine skills course with Peter today. We traversed Sgurr nan Gillean going up the Tourist Route and down the West Ridge.
A view of Clach Glas from low on the Tourist Route
On only his second winter mountaineering day out Peter looked relaxed and comfortable on the mountain and conditions meant it was pretty fast going.
Abseiling off the West Ridge of Gillean
The freezing level has been up and down and with a cold moist wind blowing there is some fantastic hoar and rime developing on the hills. There is some powder lying on top of the rock and old snow that requires some caution but, overall, conditions are good, winter scenery and low avalanche risk compared to the mainland make Skye a good bet for the weekend.
Sunshine and Snow on Bla Bheinn
Matt took Beth up Bla Bheinn today. We had a footwork coaching session at the bottom of South Buttress before ascending Great Gully. There was no scree showing and the snow was reasonably firm despite the sun beating down on us. The top three hundred feet was excellent neve which bodes well for conditions on the higher crags such as the Bhasteir face of Sgurr na Gillean.
Looking down the Great Gully
At the top we popped our heads over to see the entire Cuillin Ridge spread out before us. The air quality was excellent and it felt like you could reach out and touch the mountains; it also made the drops look enormous.
The northern end of the Cuillin Ridge lying the far side of Glen Sligachan
We visited the North top first and then enjoyed the exposed col and the short crest leading to the South top.
Poise and elegance above the precipice! The awkward step is behind Beth.
Climbing the awkward step from the col to the South top. This can look intimidating from below but the difficulties are very short-lived.
Winter Storms forecast & Skye Winter meet
After a quiet mild period it is good to see some weather back again. Howling lashing storms with a dose of Canadian arctic air thrown in from Thursday onward looks good to me. Westerly gales like this tend to be a lot better news for Cuillin mixed than the dry powdery stuff we’ve had last year and early this season so I’m optimistic just so long as the arctic air wins out as Unysis is suggesting. http://www.weather.unisys.com/gfsx/index.php?r=eu
The Skye winter meet starts on Thursday too so the change in weather is pretty handy. 20 of us will be based in the Glen Brittle Memorial Hut with an aim to tackle as big a variety of winter routes as possible. This could leave me with quite a bit of apologising to my guidebook editor if the developement of new routes continues at the same rate as the pre-christmas period.
Reports will be posted on the Skye Guides blog whenever we manage to get out of Glen Brittle but may not be too often.
Creag Meagaidh Ice
Matt met up with Gillian early on Friday morning at Spean Bridge. We had our sights set on climbing The Pumpkin (300m, Grade V,4). The ten vehicles already at the car-park convinced us to set a fast pace on the walk in and we managed to catch a few teams on the way through.
Gillian near the top of the first pitch.
There was a team just starting on The Pumpkin as we arrived at the bottom but their fast pace persuaded us to set off behind them. The ice was in fantastic condition giving great protection and providing good axe placements from every swing.
Gillian leading the second pitch
After five enjoyable pitches of climbing we topped out at about 2.30pm. We needed a swift bout of navigation to get off the summit plateau and then had an enjoyable walk back through The Window and down the Glen.
Looking back at the Post Face of Creag Meagaidh
