The arrival of snow coinciding with our return from Kalymnos couldn’t have been more perfect and allowed me to get out in the Scottish mountains both days at the weekend. On Saturday I was in the Northern Corries with Duncan Patterson where conditions where good on Melting Pot, the top pitch of which was really fun and thought provoking. Today I went out with Pete Benson to Lochnagar with a view to doing something a bit more meaty. However we found the turf on Lochnagar pretty soggy biscuit so dropped the grade somewhat and did Ghost Dance which has a fairly rocky main pitch and is a good choice for a short day. The main pitch is fun with cool moves through an overlap onto the wall above.
The light and views are amazing at this time of year, the sun still with a little power and the contrast between the snowy hills and the autumnal valley colours.
The first 3 photos are Duncan’s. Check out his blog at : http://www.duncanp.blogspot.co.uk/
Dave, James and myself went up to Plan de l’Aiguille for an alpine route with a couple of objectives in mind. The drooling ice on Beyond Good and Evil had a strong draw so we went up for a look. The scorching evening sun kept temperatures high late on and a walk up to the base revealed lots of ice falling down. We decided to see what the temperature did overnight and found a huge flat boulder to get some kip in, but kinda resigned to go down in the morning. I dont think I’ve ever been so warm at a bivi and in the early hours we were treated to spectacular ‘Mer des Nuages’ illuminated by full moon, a good chance to take some photos. With no freeze, it was a pretty quick decision not to climb, and the first ascent of the year went to Perkins, Blakemore & Helliker team the following day. It looks really fun so get out and blast it while its there.
Ross Hewitt Guiding 