The problem with Scotland...

...is that its too good! So I know I'm repeating myself but again I wasn't sure what to do this last weekend as I had offers to winter climb with Shaw and Kelly, rock climb at Reiff (too early season for me I'm afraid), paint, ski or go for a remote munro.

A nice problem to have I guess.... I was certain I would ski.... but then the latest weather suggested that the far North was the sunniest spot and I haven't been able to get the ridge I'd spotted with Tom and Sheddy out of my mind.

The dramatic ridge and Seana Bhraigh to its right

So I packed my van and set the alarm for 5.30am thinking I'd go for Seana Bhraigh one of the more remote Ullapool munro's. Its a really interesting area and again for the second time in 2 weeks coaxed the van up the rough track from Oykel Bridge. From the parking out came the mt bike for the long ride up the valley and I quickly passed the school house bothy I stayed in last weekend.

At this point I changed the plan as the ridge looked uncertain

I'd slightly underestimated this ride and it took 2 hours with the river crossings, taking pictures and carrying the reasonably heavy rucksack. As I got closer to the ridge I started to think that soloing the North Ridge of Creag an Duine may be silly as I was on my own and from this perspective it looked quite steep at the top. I wondered if I could get boxed in on the top rocks...

ditch the bike

In the end I abandoned my bike before the last river crossing that goes to Magoo's and Loch a Choire Mhoir and set off up the North ridge of Seana Bhraig. This actually proved a great option and was a lovely walk.

Oh.... the ridge isn't actually steep! :-) 

It paralleled the other ridge which provided great views for the whole day, and I then realised that actually it wasn't steep and I could (should) have just gone for it. Och well.

Seana Bhraig - the final section (ahead) was lovely

Beautiful untracked snow lead me up Seana Bhraig and had plenty of interest with cornices, steep neve and lots of ptarmigan. I even scoped out some possible new winter route potential (need to ask Martin Hind about this area - he'll know).

the top

I lingered on the summit before returning to the bike and the cycle out, which was now mainly down hill and very welcome. A great day, but to be honest with today's weather I think that any option in Scotland would have been great. Can't wait to return to Magoo's bothy and climb the ridge.. but maybe I'll leave it a few weeks before my return...

The school house bothy (again)

Boys weekend!

Sheddy informed me that it had been 2.5 years since we had all last met, he's good at this sort of thing, where has the time gone?!

Originally we planned a reunion in Spain riding road bikes (out of my comfort zone), drinking beer and getting some winter sun, but when Tom enquired about this he was told that the area's he thought of visiting were all shut down for the winter so the plan was hatched for the softies to come North and visit the Highlands.

Waiting for them to arrive on the Friday flight I got in a couple of hours sunny bouldering at Tom Riach watching for their flight to come over. Luckily it was slightly last and so was I! (note - missed the best ski day of 2018 on Friday... thanks guys!)

I shouldn't have been surprised that when I picked them up just after lunch they had already had beers... but I was a little surprised that when I took them to Rosemarie beach (on the tour) after a quick dip in the sea they demanded the pub..... this set the tone of the trip..

Shed on the beer at 1pm - Inverness Airport

Tom wanted to stay in a bothy and Sheddy, well more on this later.. Originally we planned to go to Magoo's bothy below Seana Bhraigh one of the Ullapool munro's, but a combination of herding cats and the long drive meant that really by the time we got to Oykel Bridge we didn't really have time to walk the 7 miles to the bothy...

The Old School House bothy

We drove up the East Coast and there were various enquiries about food establishments along the way from the city slickers (they aren't really), or more to the point lack of them.

Sheddy delivering his lesson

Tom has lines

Our backup plan worked well and we went to the Old School House bothy, which as expected used to be a school until the 1930's. It was nearly demolished, but rescued and renovated by the MBA. They have done a great job, and although no stove or fire it is well laid out and one room is still dressed as a classroom with desks, blackboard and books.

We explored the immediate area before the ubiquitous beer and whisky. Sheddy likes a rant and its always difficult to determine how much he actually means but he tried to express his displeasure to the art of Bothying numerous times during the night. It wasn't particularly cold, maybe 5-6 degrees, but after eating and drinking our supplies it seemed fitting to go to bed at 7.30pm to keep warm...

Again at various points during the following 13 hour slumber Mr Shed ensured that we were well aware of his displeasure at this pastime. I think he was joking as its cathartic and nice going away from technology and being ruled by the natural cycle of daylight and dark even if only for a very short time.

exploring an old steading

I feel I must add in at this point that the wind was horrendous and on Saturday you could barely go out of the bothy without being blown over, and Saturday night the bothy shook and moaned most of the night.

As forecast the wind dropped a little the following day and after our milkshake breakfast (guess who food shopped!?) we went for a walk up a big hill.. Well it was a tiny hill, but a nice 8-9 mile walk with great views of the bigger hills. The plan was perfect, because even on this 'beag meall' the wind was trying to blow us over.

To get to the small hill did involve a river crossing which would have been comical to watch, 3 guys, 2 poles, boots off, bloody cold water all holding hands to safely navigate the wide river. Sharing is caring!

The summit of our tiny lump!

They said that they were (very) happy to leave the following day as I dropped them back at the airport bar so that they could get back to the South of England, but I know that they enjoyed it really as I did, and they will be back... even Sheddy, but maybe in another 2.5 years when the memory of the cold water and bothy has faded slightly!

A wee bit icy

Ski or bike....... bike or ski, ski or bike... bike or ski.... My tiny little brain was going around and around with these thoughts all night and in the end I didn't get much sleep! The forecast was for a blue bird day and I so wanted to ski but Mark at Orange Fox Bikes  was fixing my mountain bike and offered a demo plus bike to try today.....

charging in the forest

Its all a haze but I think that in the end I dithered so much that I left it too late to get over to the west coast to ski (best weather) and I decided that biking was the sensible option, besides this would also be slightly better for my ankle, which is improving and save lots of travel time.

So I picked up the Orbea Laufey plus bike and hit the local trails... It was pretty icy and snowy and I again wondered if I'd made the right choice but the views were stunning and the warmth from the sun restorative.

beautiful loch side riding

I've always secretly wanted to try a fat bike, but the new plus size bikes seem a better compromise. The Laufey is a hard tail with 650b/27.5" wheels with 2.8" tyres (that's the plus bit if unsure). Wow... as Mark had said it was super fun, with an incredible amount of grip and it didn't feel too draggy even though the tyres are run on a much lower pressure (15psi I think).

It gripped and flew on the snowy and forest trails and I (?almost) fell in love with it. On very rough terrain you do realise that its not got rear suspension, but only just and its the most fun bike I can remember trying and felt a super balanced (much more than my current trek!).

Come on fatty lets get home...

So did I make the right choice... Well I think the pictures capture some of the magic I felt today so.... maybe (hehe)!

Land and Sky merge

The plan was to go winter climbing but I wasn't sure what state Loz would be in on his arrival as it had been his Birthday party the night before.

The Mess of Pottage area

He arrived and respectably requested that I drive as he felt a wee bit delicate and hadn't slept well...

land and sky merge

Again we headed to the Northern Corries as it seemed a safe bet. We had a rough plan of climbing 'The Message, IV, 6' on the Mess of Pottage but this plan looked in doubt until the very last minute as lots of teams (well maybe 6) were swarming the area.

Loz on the top corner

But leaving the route choice to the last minute it all worked out with only one team ahead and the other teams on neighbouring routes we got on it as planned.

Another team topping out

I lead off in a wild frenzy of a Blizzard, but the weather settled for the remaining pitches. It was never particularly good weather as you will see from the pictures and my camera got pretty wet on the rare times it came out.

Happy on top!

The route was amazing! Every pitch was good, and the 2 corners were just a joy to climb on great hooks. A thoroughly enjoyable day, only slightly marred by slipping on the icy path in the dusk 1/2 a mile from the car and spraining my ankle :-(. I'm hobbling today but don't think its broken and it was worth it to get the best route on the Mess of Pottage in!

Exploring the Monadhliath

After a fun Christmas day at Contin and a late cycle back home after a day of excesses it was difficult  to get up early on Boxing day, but with work the following I was (mildly) determined to get out and head up a hill.

The road to redemption!?

I settled on the Monadhliath as the weather looked better in this area and surprised myself by getting to Garva Bridge by about 9am!

Looking back down the broad ridge

The top comes into view

The walk up Geal Charn was very pleasant, with a dusting of fresh snow, clouds blowing in and out and not another soul on the hill today - bliss.

Mince pie time

Pretty cold at the summit and I sheltered on top for what felt like awhile taking in the views and eating mince pies. But I couldn't have been too long because I was back at the van in less than 5 hours.

Playing with the shadows

Bye for now beautiful mountain

A nice easy day blowing away the cobwebs.

The Jury's out....

I used to winter climb a little..... but I kind of 'retired' from it when I lived in England. On reflection this was for a few reasons, notably that there's a lot of suffering, type 2 fun and also I think I got sick of the 6-8 hour drive from England, nights sleeping in a car, before suffering all day on a route, then a ubiquitous other uncomfortable night and day, before the long drive home... And that was fun right!?!

And then there was the last time I winter climbed on the Ben when after the long drive etc we didn't actually complete a climb as it wasn't in condition, we bailed, had no time for another route as we'd been so slow on the approach and when we set off driving home my car turbo blew up and we had a 12 hour AA return journey home and a £3000 car bill.. yeah I think that's when I stopped winter climbing for a while.

Nice walk in

Then I discovered skiing and whenever it was snowy and I had the chance I opted to ski, which was great but included ditching a winter climbing trip/stay in the CIC hut to ski - sorry Shaw but the skiing was very good in Glenshee that particular weekend!

Many options

So after maybe 5 years of not winter climbing (that's a guess) last winter I did one winter route (Golden Oldie, II) with Shaw and it was brilliant fun. Because I prioritised skiing and last winter was a poor winter that was it and I didn't really think much more about it.

I was belaying honestly!

After 2 tech pitches Loz on easy ground

So I wasn't really sure if I'd do much winter climbing again but I live in the Highlands and winter is here! Whats a guy to do when Loz invites you out for climb!?

We headed to the Northern Corries on a beautiful cold day (-10) and climbed 'Ordinary Route - IV, 5' on Alladins Buttress. With fresh snow and little consolidation it was mixed climbing season.

topping out at sunset

The route was quite technical climbing (for me) with lots of hooking and torquing of the axes. Again there was suffering as I lost feeling in my feet and hands as Loz made meticulous progress on the first pitch searching for gear, and I felt like I was going to spew when I got the hot aches following the pitch, but yeah this was starting to be fun!

Another team topping out

Looking to a bare shelterstone crag

My pitch was technical but I was totally absorbed in the climbing and loved every meter of it! Loz said that he could hear me talking to myself the whole pitch, not sure what I was saying! We topped out as the sun was setting (we'd had a leisurely morning start) and it was beautiful and clear.

Down we go

Being on the plateau in the evening light after a day in an icy corner system was magical and we savoured it as we headed back dropping down into the ski area. So now I'm confused, because I loved the winter climb, how will I now choose between skiing and winter climbing...?!

Quick winter fix

After a long 6 day work stint I wanted to play at the weekend, but was also tired so the thought of an early start wasn't appealing. When I checked the weather it looked the best in the South Cairngorm/Monadhliath area so I packed my bed and alarm for a leisurely 8am..

I did have a few ideas and options, but looking at the weather and snow on the drive South I opted for the Drumochter area. I parked up and headed for Meall Chuaich via Loch Cuaich in the fresh snow. There were 4-5 other people heading the same way, and ended up walking most of the route a nice guy called John.

John on top

The weather and cloud rolled in and out, the light was very flat, but it was wonderful to be out in the winter weather and wilds of Scotland. Its a short walk, so after 4-5 hours I was back at the van, swapped numbers with John (climber!) and headed back via soup at Ralia (very good!).

Flat light, great day