Scottish Winter Courses 2015
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A plan so cunning......18:07 GMT, 22/Mar/15
Dave wanted the opportunity to have a go at his first lead. Jane was on the Winter Mountaineering course in preparation for Mera and Island Peak and wanted some steepness and to have a go at both jumarring and abseiling, so we came up with a plan. Dave led Dorsal Arete, then I zooted down the rope turning Dave's runners into fixed anchors, so that Jane could jumar.It worked a treat. Dorsal Arete was very quiet; only two other climbers on the route and hardly anyone in the coire, with many routes in excellent condition. Max and Adam did Twisting Gully and then NC/top half of Raeburn's.On Friday, the last day of courses, Dave and I climbed The Gift (III,4) on the right hand side of North Gully. The ice was fat - in keeping with conditions all around the upper reaches of Ben Nevis. March is often such a great month on The Ben and often very quiet as climbers south of the border put their ice tools away when they see that spring has sprung. For anyone thinking of heading north, conditions look like they're going to last for quite a while. And for anyone thinking of 2016, never forget March. See you next year we hope. Thanks to all who came up to make it a great winter.
Tony Halliwell
Ben Nevis Picnics21:34 GMT, 18/Mar/15
It seems to have got quiet in March over the last few years, which is a shame, since March is traditionally the Ben "ice" month; longer daylight hours, (so you can linger and have picnics en route) warm in the sun, but cold in the shadow of the north face.
Today, Jane and David (on the Winter Mountaineering course) and I climbed the four star Ledge Route in amazing conditions. It has been like this for the last 6 days. Conditions are about to get a bit more changeable, but still ok, and it's expected that the snow and ice on the Ben and in Glen Coe are going to hold out for some considerable time.
Tony Halliwell
Buachaille Cotopaxi Beag17:46 GMT, 17/Mar/15
Yesterday was the final of 3 days for a group of 16 patients from Harefield Hospital. All are either heart or heart and lung transplantees who are planning to go on an Ecuador Volcanoes trip in 3 months time, culminating in an ascent of Cotopaxi, 5897m - and showing the world what transplant patients are capable of achieving. Along the way they plan to raise money to purchase machines which will extend the in-transit "life" of these vital organs from 2 hours to 12 - see Climb for My Donor on Just Giving. They also have a Facebook page you can check out.The team spent their 3 days getting used to crampons and ice axe, climbing Buachaille Etive Beag and practising for their roped ascent of Cotopaxi and its final steep ground.The weather was suitably alpine. Well done to the two Pauls, Alan, Tony, Mick, Justine, Vicki, Mimi, Alex, Graham, John, Richard, Emily, Amanda and James
Tony Halliwell
Scotland "showing off"; this week's courses end on a high22:13 GMT, 13/Mar/15
This week we had Introductory, Winter Mountaineering and Snow & Ice courses running.� It has been pretty stormy, though Tuesday was a truly grand day.� However, the creme de la creme was saved until today - one of those very special days in Scotland; blue skies, white mountains, sub-zero, no wind.
Tony Halliwell
Stella Summits07:19 GMT, 13/Mar/15
Sun block and dark sunglasses were essential equipment for the Scottish mountaineering teams team today. It was a magical day in the highlands, the panoramas were breathtaking and the only way I could get Carol and Chris to stop admiring them was to take them up the steepest and most exposed route we have been on this week. All of the movement skills and ropework that we have been focusing on over the last few days came in very useful and had to be applied practically. They were soon up and on the ridge with me, big smiles and more admiring of the views took place. We then had the splendour of the walk along the ridge of Anoch Mor to the summit, a great day with a fine mix of learning, excitment and appreciation of a world class mountain environment.
Samantha Leary
Sunshine, snow and smiles18:23 GMT, 10/Mar/15
What a difference a day makes? Light winds, blue skies and a strange bright orb hanging in the sky. Chris, Carol and I were out the door fairly sharpish this morning to make the most of the stunning day. It was the first time up into Coire Nan Lochan for the two of them, the steep approach caused no problem and we were soon in spikes and sunglasses as we headed onto the East ridge. It was in Stella condition and they were able to lead themselves up most of it with me just gigging around giving advice and making sure all their route decisions were safe and appropriate; they were. Standing on the summit the views were breath taking and we did not really want to come down. We had put into a bigger more exciting context many of yesterday's skills and I continued a steady imput of information to help them develop their judgments in the mountains in winter. An amazing day in an amazing place.
Samantha Leary
Wild in Glencoe21:03 GMT, 09/Mar/15
There was every type of JG winter course going out today. It was the last day for a long weekend Intro team, and then first day for Snow & Ice, Winter Mountaineering and Intro to Winter Mountaineering. We had 100mph winds on the weather forecast which made for some intensive planning at the start of the day. Using the bulk of Glencoe to provide shelter from the winds, three out of four of the teams headed into Corrie Na Tulaich. Andy Chapman's weekend Intro team even managed to summit on the v fine Munro Buachaille Etive Mor 1022m and get back before the winds went ballistic. Good effort chaps. The rest of us were on day one so we had a very productive day on the snow, ice and rock introducing and refreshing all the key winter skills and techniques we were going to need for the rest of the week. A great day out despite the forecast.
Samantha Leary
Busy, busy busy21:59 GMT, 17/Feb/15
It's a busy half term week for JG. It started well, with continuing good ice conditions. The Snow and Ice course climbed Crowberry Gulley yesterday and Vanishing Gulley today, whilst the Introductory Winter Mountaineering course and the Winter Mountaineering course have spent their days on Aonach Mor, then the Wee Buachaille and Stob Lochain respectively.
The weather looks warm and windy tomorrow, but with a return to sub zero temperatures on Thursday. Friday is starting to look good, good, good.
Tony Halliwell
Snow and Ice course18:47 GMT, 12/Feb/15
Tomorrow is the final day of this week's Snow and Ice course. The week started warm, but as the ice on Beinn Udlaidh had been so thick the week before we risked a quck hit there. Routes were still climbable, though a little drippy.
Tuesday saw us on Ben Nevis. With Andy Owen, Scott and Simon climbed The Curtain, which, despite above freezing temperatures, was still incredibly fat - fatter than it has been for a long time and receiving multiple ascents. With Tony, Mo and John, who've come over from Hong Kong to sample Scottish winter, climbed Vanishing Gulley - which was not at all vanishing, but in fact very palpably present i.e fat; the ice theme for this week.
Yesterday John and Mo took a leaf out of Scott and Simon's book and climbed the Curtain, whilst the Andy O/S&S team climbed Point Five. Today they were on Typhoon at Aonach Mor, whilst Mo and John got to grips with their first winter leading in Coire an Lochain. Temperatures dropping, so hopefully the ice is going to be fat for a while longer.
Tony Halliwell
Out of the clouds, into the sun07:12 GMT, 11/Feb/15
The mountaineering team had a thorough refresher day on Monday and brushed up on their rope skills. We also looked at cunning ways of winterising some of the existing summer climbing skills that one or two of the group already had. This allowed us to climbed Broad Gully on Corie Nan Lochan yesterday, a great grade 1 climb. Four of the team led their own way to the top utilising snow and rock anchors on the way. We climbed out of the cloud into the most amazing views and even had the very rare Brocken Specture phenomenem to greet us. Amazing.
Samantha Leary
Ice action on 'The Ben'11:45 GMT, 31/Jan/15
Wednesday's storm saw the mountaineering team in the Ice Factor for an intensive session on steep ice climbing. This was linked with lots of movement coaching, winter climbing protection and more advanced rope work. We had a great opportunity to put it all into practise on Thursday, blue skies and blue ice beckoned on the CIC ice falls of Ben Nevis. The fresh snow made access to higher routes too hazardous but we found some challenging lines lower down. Gary and Dave followed me up a grand three pitch grade 3, while Mark's team had their new skills put to the test on a slightly harder top rope route. A fantastic day consolidating and adapting new techniques and most of all enjoying the challenges of some fine winter climbing in a truly awesome setting.
Samantha Leary
The calm before the storm07:23 GMT, 28/Jan/15
Four keen gentleman have joined us for the Winter Mountaineering course this week. After a great refresher day on Monday making sure all their key movement techniques and basic rope handling skills were up to scratch the decision was taken to head up into Glen Coe and climb Dorsal Ar�te on Tuesday.This is a fantastic first winter route as it has a bit of everything and gets steadily more challenging with height. Both teams had a great time on their first roped winter climb and had soon adapted to doing everything in big gloves and using feet rather than becips to ascend. Dave and Gary choose the Dorsal finish to spice things up at the top, which it certainly did. We topped out and were back down in the corrie just as the stormy weather started to arrive. They are hinting lots more snow and super low temperatures for the next week so things should be stella once it settles down.
Samantha Leary
Snowy Scottish Summits18:37 GMT, 26/Jan/15
Day three and another Munro ascended, Meall a Bhuiridh, we made the most of the mixed ground in descent, continuing the coaching and consolidating of footwork. This allowed us to aim higher on day four and we had a fine time on the East ridge of Stob Coire Nan Lochan. A classic day out that totally lived up to its reputation. Just the right amount of strong wind, odd snow shower, exposed ground and challenging sections for me to have all the chaps grinding like Chesire cats at the top. Fantastic effort.
Samantha Leary
Snowy Summits in Scotland18:20 GMT, 26/Jan/15
So the third day and another Munro ascended. The views across to the Mamores and onto Ben Nevis were amazing.
Samantha Leary
Fun in the sun.10:46 GMT, 26/Jan/15
The White Corries proved to have everything we needed. The team really took to the challenges of the more technical sections, they were soon quite literally hanging out on the front points of their crampons. Good effort for only day three.
Samantha Leary
Sunshine and snow.10:41 GMT, 26/Jan/15
Another stunning day, there were some tired legs in the team but also a keen interest to get onto some more challenging terrain. Andy Stotesbury and I decided to take the team to the White Corries. The chair lift would help the tired legs but there is a lot of smaller steeper sections to move on.
Samantha Leary
Himalayas? Alps? Nope it's Glencoe and 2 hrs from Glasgow.10:37 GMT, 26/Jan/15
The main summit was reached without any problems despite the intimidating view of the ascent. Everyone was moving well in their equipment and we were down to the car park just before it started to snow heavily. Back to the warmth and comfort of the hotel for a well deserved cup of tea. A grand day out.
Samantha Leary
A very wintery Buachaille Etive Beag10:30 GMT, 26/Jan/15
We ascended steadily up onto the first false summit and then had a fantastic journey across the exposed ridge to the true summit. The team did really well coping with the odd gust of wind and the super cold conditions, everything had to be done in big gloves.
Samantha Leary
Day two: Intro winter mountaineering.10:24 GMT, 26/Jan/15
not so much blue sky today but good and cold and a team keen to go Munro bagging with their new skill set.
Samantha Leary
Up, down and sideways.10:15 GMT, 26/Jan/15
The rest of the afternoon was spent journeying around the great mixed angles and obstacles of the Nid Ridge, the team were soon looking and feeling very at home in all the technical kit and I was happy for them to venture into some smaller steeper sections to get the feel of scottish grade I ground.
Samantha Leary
First steps in crampons.10:09 GMT, 26/Jan/15
We had a good session on self belays and self arrest but to then progress any further around the terrain crampons were needed. Anoach Mor can be an excellent place for introducing moving in spikes as it has everything, snow, ice, rock and heather! All the things you need to be able to negotiate when out in winter.
Samantha Leary
Day one: Intro to winter mountaineering. Anoach Mor in superb weather and even better snow condi10:05 GMT, 26/Jan/15
The intro team had a brilliant first day in the West Higlands. It was very cold and clear with incredible views of snowy mountains in every direction for as far as we could see.
Samantha Leary
A fine week.10:51 GMT, 24/Jan/15
It has been a fine week of winter mountaineering on the West and there has been an early return to classic conditions on the Ben with The Curtain looking very fat and classic routes coming into condition, including The Shield and Gemini. Beinn Udlaidh was good on Thursday.On the Winter Mountaineering Course, after a day of gaining snow legs on Aonach Mor on Wednesday, Deborah and Brad got straight into climbing, with routes on Stob Coire nan Lochain, the West Face of Aonach Mor and Ben Nevis. Friday saw the winds return and temperatures rise, but after a thaw, the forecast is now for a return to sub-zero. It's a recipe for great conditions.
Tony Halliwell
Classic?22:39 GMT, 19/Jan/15
Folks are looking at each other, hardly daring to voice an optimistic opinion for fear of tempting fate - but - tons of snow from summit to sea (and it's consolidating), the strong winds which were forecast are now forecast much less strong, the temperatures are forecast below zero up to Thursday and possibly beyond, could the conditions become.........?
Today was an excellent shakeout day for the Introductory Winter Mountaineering and the Winter Mountaineering groups. Cold, but dry and with little wind. Time to layer up, plus softshell.
The Winter Mountaineering group revisited self-belays, ice axe arrest, snow profiles, hasty pits, bucket seats, a bit of stance management and stompers. A good set-up for the coming week.
Tony Halliwell
Today's view from the hotel restaurant; nae sae bad.16:43 GMT, 18/Jan/15
Start of the second week. Two courses running; Introductory Winter Mountaineering and Winter Mountaineering - and the forecast is grand!
Tony Halliwell
End of the first week19:42 GMT, 16/Jan/15
As the UK has been zapped by winter weather, we've just come to the end of our first week of courses - and the weather has been consistent with the rest of the UK's, yet we've had good days out every day.
Yesterday was the worst of the five. With mountain top forecasts of gusts up to 100mph, and rain below 450 metres, we couldn't go high and didn't want to stay low. So we had a morning of theory in the hotel - navigation, route choices and escapes in poor visibility/extreme conditions, then we set up an indoor fixed rope system for our team to practise on, as all had intentions of going on climbing expeds. With an improving forecast, in the afternoon we went out into Glen Nevis and practised for real at the bottom of Scimitar Ridge.
With large volumes of snow falling again overnight, down to valley level, today was a Zig Zags day, under more snow than Max or I have ever seen. The forecast wind speed had dropped to a moderate 40-50, gusts 60 mph, though it turned out much, much lower than that. We went up and down to/from just above the technical pitch, breaking trail in very deep snow. Mike, Angela, Zoe and Sophie got a proper introduction to steeper snow. We missed Ram, who had to go home a day early. A great week in good company with lots of enthusiasm about what has been experienced and learned. And thanks to Max Hunter who worked this week.
Tony Halliwell
Getting blasé about wild winter weather.22:49 GMT, 14/Jan/15
Winds today were forecast to be considerably less strong than the last couple of days. If anything, they felt stronger, but Ram, Angela, Sophie, Mike and Zoe have been getting blas� about coping with whatever Scotland has to offer.
We wanted to use Aonach Mor for our day in the hills. There has been so much fresh snow - down to sea level - we knew that access to most other locations would mean a lot of very time consuming trail-breaking. The Nevis Range website offered the possibility of opening. When we arrived the Gondola wasn't working, but there was hope that it might open after around half an hour. Knowing that foot access would be laborious and take much longer than usual we opted to gamble on the wind gods being kind and we used the 30 minutes to make use of the cafe wifi and a short classroom session on avalanche forecasts and what they meant for safe sectors of the mountain. We were rewarded with being whizzed up to the top station at the alotted time and much shorter trail breaking to our training area, where we spent time looking at snow profiles, safe route choices,economy of effort route choices and a session on ropework.� All in all, lots more experience and skills tucked away.
Tony Halliwell
Wild start to the season!20:29 GMT, 13/Jan/15
Jagged Globe's season has started with folk experiencing - and learning how to cope with! - some extreme Scottish conditions.
Sunday night's forecast for Monday was for winds in the range of 60-90mph, with constant precipitation.
On Monday morning the forecast had lowered to a balmy 50-60mph and we headed up to beyond the CIC hut, under Ben Nevis, with everyone learning very admirably to just look after themselves in such conditions and we managed to do some practice of self-belays, footwork on hard snow and cramponing. Getting comfortable with donning and doffing crampons, in gloves, was a significant investment for this week.
Today the forecast was for only slightly lower winds - and again heavy snowfall, down to glen level. We had to negotiate a number of stranded lorries on our way up Glen Coe to park under the Wee Buachaille. We made our way up and onto the saddle between the two peaks, where the main gain was more practice of self-belays, leading on to ice-axe arrests from all imaginable positions. But there were gains too in appreciation of navigation, snow-buried terrain and route choice under snow. All really good experience in the bag for the upcoming, very "Scottish" weather.
Tony Halliwell
JG Winter Courses Start this Weekend17:00 GMT, 08/Jan/15
Welcome to our lecture theatre.
We're looking forward to our courses starting next week and Aonach Mor was co-operating today in showing off very different snow conditions, evaluation of which make up a big part of the Introductory Winter Mountaineering Course which clients will be arriving to take part in from Sunday onwards. At around 850m on the end of the Nid Ridge (north facing) there was a layer of very soft windslab overlaying old, firm snow, yet 150m higher up there was a distinct layer of graupel under the slab. Lots and lots to learn about for safe travel in Scottish mountains. Pictures show a hasty pit, cornices,
Tony Halliwell
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