Scafell 31st Jan

Early start this morning. Me and Scott drove to the end of Wast Water and met up with Liam.
Plenty of people climbing on Scafell Crag today. Sunny, no wind and -4 deg
We had to wait a while on Pisgah Buttress Direct V,5 *** with two other teams above us.
But it was well worth the wait for this excellent route.

Top day out.

Creag Meagaidh 24th Jan

With reports of Creag Meagaidh being busy during Saturday, we set our alarms for an un-welcome 04:30 start this morning! As it turned out, me and Liam were the first people on the hill.

Light snow and no wind -3 at 900M.

Having visited the foot of Smith's Gully V,5 **** on two previous occasions, I was determined we'd get up it today! The first pitch looked in good nic, but it turned out to be very cruddy.

Pitches 2 + 3 weren't any better, and we had a real fight with some of the cruddy, un-protectable sections.

The 4th pitch (crux) turned out to be the easiest of them all.

Got to be the best Scottish Gully I have ever done.

Brilliant Day.

Weardale Boarding 10th Jan

Me and John had another great day at Swinhope. Weather was nice and clear, but the winds were pretty stiff.

Lifts were busy, so after a few runs we hiked our way in search of some steep, off-piste gullys in the distance; nice lines but the wind was a killer. Due to the high winds, the access road got covered in snow drifts, so it took me 2hr 50 mins to get home, normally a journey of 45 mins!!

Karl and Graham report having a good but windy day in the lakes. Staying low, they Climbed Launchy Gill III *** then moved onto Shoulthwaite Gill V 4 **
Apparently Graham fell through the Ice into the stream, chest deep!! Brrrrrr. I wish I'd been there to witness it Graham (snigger)

Devils Kitchen (Cwm Idwal) 09 Jan

What goes up must come down, that included people, ice axes, screws and even a leaders rope!! It was Manic at Devils Kitchen today. There must have been 100+ people climbing today.
Me and Steve got started with South Gully IV,5 *** nice route and entertaining watching people F@%K up in every manner.
John and Glenn did the Nameless stream III
We then got onto the excellent Devils Kitchen IV,5/6 ***

On our way out, I witnessed a guy soloing between 4 teams on The Ramp III * He fell off and some how ended up entangled in another teams rope after falling about 15M. Lucky guy!
Heading back there soon, but it will be a week day.

Beinn Udlaidh 3rd Jan

-13°C at Crianlarich this morning... Electronic handbrakes are gash !! especially in these low temps.
After freeing frozen brakes, we drove to Bridge of Orchy, then headed down the single track to Glen Orchy.
The west doesn't have much snow for now, so our walk into Beinn Udlaidh was easy going. Excellent sunrise.


Me John and Scott did 3 excellent routes with good ice.

Quartzvein Scoop IV 4 ***
Peter Pan Direct V 5 **
South Gully of The Black Wall IV 4 **

Nathan and Steve did :-

Peter Pan Direct V 5 **
Quartzvein Scoop IV 4 ***

Finished our last route with a great sunset.

Another fantastic day to remember.