Gwilym's Adventure Blog

  Ben    Boarders skiing under the Gondola With the avalanche forecast still up at high and with walking and climbing options pretty much no go, I headed up to Nevis Range with Ben (the landlady's son) who has never skied before to have some sliding fun. As I am not a ski instructor I was very relived that Ben was able to pick it up quickly and more importantly would laugh if he fell over. By the end of the afternoon he was able to ski a green run in control and without falling over. I have heard reports of avalanches on Ben Nevis and in Glencoe today so the snow pack is still hazardous and needs to be treated with care

  The snowy walk in    The route    Me on Pitch 2 After being defeated by snow for the last two days, Campbell and I made a last minute decision this morning to head for Eas Anie IV 4 on Beinn Chuirn near to Tyndrum. The drive through Glencoe was OK though there is still drifting snow. On arrival at Tyndrum we walked up through the forest in knee deep snow and up past the mines into thigh deep snow! However the route was OK and we completed it in two pitches and a third 3m pitch just to get off. It was busy with 5 teams on it and with the current avalanche forecast it will probably be busy for the next few days.

  Diffiicult driving conditions in Glencoe The snow has been falling since yesterday morning and is making access to the mountains difficult. My climbing plans for the last two days have been scuppered and the current snow falling on the exisiting pack had led to a high avalanche risk in places. Today I turned round in Glencoe just before Rannoch Moor as the road conditions were becoming very difficult. Not wanting to waste the day, I headed into the forest at the bottom of Nevis Range for some ski touring. The snow was wet and deep meaning I was averaging 2km an hour and at times it was quicker and easier to walk. This has to be one of my more physical trips out this winter.

    Me on Quartzvein Scoop IV 4     Gary on the 2nd Pitch of Quartzvein Scoop   View after topping out Today Gary and I headed to Beinn Udlaidh for some ice in the sun. We climbed Ice Crew III with a variation finish at about IV 4, Quartzvein Scoop IV 4 and Sunshine Gully III. The ice was great and the screws were going in perfectly once you found somewhere amongst all the old screw holes.

Today I had to spend the morning doing domestic stuff but once all the washing, shopping and cleaning was done I grabbed the opportunity and the board I have been lent and headed up on the Gondola for some sliding action on the slightly icy slopes. As far as I see it, snow boarding is very easy to learn. Moving and turning is relatively easy (maybe because I can ski) but the stopping without falling over is somewhat harder. The main issues for me was having to keep taking my back foot in and out of the bindings for the tows. Although I don't think this will take over from skiing I am likely to go and give it another go soon.

  Looking up at Nevis Range Me, Dom and Julie on the Summit Runs Today I took Alex, Dom and Julie skiing at Nevis Range . Although I am most certainly not a ski instructor I know my way round the slopes so was more than happy to take them to all the best runs both on and off piste. The mornng was fantastic and particular credit to Dom and Alex who before this weekend had only been on dry ski slopes. The afternoon started well but took a less pleasant turn when I came across a snow boarder who had taken a fall and needed treating for a spinal injury. Fortunately ski patrol arived shortly afterwards and evacuated him from the hill. I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery

    The back corries T Bar     Skiers dropping in     Alex and I on Aonach Mor  Today I was supposed to have 3 clients but 2 opted to go skiing instead (not a bad choice in the current conditions) so I took Alex, the remianing client up onto Aonach Mor for an introduction to Winter Walking. We looked at foot placements, using crampons, an ice axe and self arrest before continuing up Nid Ridge to the summit at 1221m. On the way across the hill we saw a large number of skiers and borders making the most of the extensive off piste skiing and dropping into the back corries by Easy Gully (a grade 1 climb).

  Low flying Hercules   Looking at Gear Aonach North East Face   On the first mixed step   Anna and I on the summit ridge Today I took Richard and Anna to the Zig Zags on Gear Aoanch in Glencoe. The idea of the day was to undertake a mountaineering route using direct belays and end up with a ridge walk along into Stob Corrie nan Lochan. The weather was amazing with the sun on us most of the day and still cold enough for the snow to be dry and powdery.

Anna practicing self arrest   Richard in his bucket seat      Still lots of snow about   Bum sliding the descent Today I was working for Irish Adventures and took Anna and Richard to Aonach Mor on the first day of their Winter Mountaineering Course. The idea of the day was to revise basic skills for Richard and learn them for the first time for Anna. We covered foot placement, self arrest with and without an ice axe, bucket seats and ice axe belays, going up, down and across slopes, snow pack awareness and crampons techniques. Both Richard and Anna picked these skills up well and are looking forward to tomorrows visit to Glencoe. The day ended with a coffee in the Nevis Range Gondoal Station before joing the long ques to get down. The slopes were busy today and the 30cm on fresh snow on the hard base made for ideal skiing conditions but hard work for us as we had to keep clearing the soft stuff before we reached a workable layer. The weather started with b...

  Snow back down to road level   Looking up  and down the slopes   A lot of snow fell overnight on Ben Nevis Today, after a night of heavy snowfall Campbell and I headed up onto Aonach Mor following reports of 30cm of fresh powder. It was great skiing on some of the unpisted black runs in knee deep snow but the muscle pain from yesterdays crash was getting stronger so I had to call it a day after a couple of hours.

  Looking at a very Snowy Ben Nevis    Looking down into The Great Glen Today after a night of snow fall with an increase Avalanche Risk, Campbell and I decided to make the most of the fresh snow and went skiing. The day was so good as we enjoyed some fresh unskied poweder on some unpisted Black runs and it was soft and fluffy. I did however manage to take a pretty spectacular tumble on one of the runs involving a face first landing in (fortunately very soft) snow. I skiied away from this one unscathed but about 50m further on clipped a covered rock, tumbled and landed on another rock. I will not post the pictures of the bruises (as they are on my backside).

 Looking down on a cloud inversion Today Cambell, Jo and I headed up onto Nevis Range to get some skiing in. I was going to take a snowboard  up and try to learn but the underlying snowpack was very hard and icy so I decided in the interest of not getting an excessive number of bruises to take skis. The snow higher up the mountain was better but visibility was poor, lower down the mountain had better visibility but poorer snow conditions so we really couldn't win. After about 4 hrs on the hill it started to rain and visibility got worse so we called it a day and went shopiing in Fort William.

  Snow coverage looking good     Looking across at The Ben     Terrain Park After a week of paddling I decided to break myself gently back into the mountains by going skiing for a couple of hours on Nevis Range . Snow coverage initially looked good but actually was just thin layer on top of ice so quite hard work. Unfortuantely one of the bindings kept releasing itself so I cut the day short and took them into the ski shop to get sorted.

  Me about to shoot a drop     Looking down the gorge    Me after a drop     Today Andy, Dave, Andy and I headed off to the River Meig near(ish) Inverness to try and find some water. This is not a traditional paddle more a gorge walking experience with Kayaks, We paddled, scambled and waded our way down through the Gorge which varied from almost dry to deep pools. We managed to shoot most of the falls including Tea Cup Falls (Grade 4) and some others drops at around Grade 3. A good finish to the week but not to be attempted unless you are prepared for some hard work and interesting portaging. This is the end of my paddling week and I will be headed back up onto the mountains in the next few days. Strange how it hasn't rained all week when I need it to. I predict it will start to rain again on my first day back in the mountains.

  Negotiating Rhododendrons to get to the river  The one and only large rapid on the river Today Andy, Andy and I went for a hopefull look at The Roy Gorge (which was too low to paddle) so we returned to The Arkaig as we thought it would still be ok as we paddled it a few days ago. The water level had dropped by at least 6 inches if not more. The only explanation for this missing water (other than the lack of rain) is that the locals have been stealing it for their whisky production! We had a quick blast down through the low volume Grade 4 rapid (probably only 3+ today) and were back in the van in under an hour. This afternoon was spent doing rain dances and drinking coffee vaguely hoping some precipitation overnight. This week was ment to be about running big volume Scottish rivers and this hasn't really happened.

   Eas a' Chathaidh (Grade 5)   Looking up to Beinn Udlaidh  Today Andy, Will, Andy and I (Dave took a day off) headed onto the River Orchy in the hope that there would be enough water to get down it. It was a varying trip from scraping on the bottom, breaking ice and shooting larger rapids. I think there are only 2 rocks I didn't scrape on the way down. The Orchy is an amazing river and gave us views up to the climbing venue of Beinn Udlaidh as well as the classic Grade 5 (though maybe only 4+ today) rapid of Eas a' Chathaidh (see picture and video above). No swims by anyone today so a good day all round.

  A very low Etive River Awe with some water in Today we headed out to paddle the River Etive but on arrival at the get in we relised that there was in no way enough water to make this a viable paddle (we would have had to walk bit as so shallow). Next we looked at the River Orchy but again it seemed very low. Third and final choice was the River Awe a Grade 2/3 river that took a couple of hours. I do hope it rains overnight as these rivers need some serious filling up.

  The 2 Andys Headbanger (which was dangerous today)   so we walked round it Today the same posse as yesterday set off to do battle with The Spean Gorge a classic grade 4(5) gorge trip through amazing rock walls and rapids. I certainly set the tone of the day with two capsizes within 50m of each other on the same rapid!!!  Due to being pushed up against rocks on both capsizes I was unable to roll and took a swim. Nice (and very cold). However things got better and we continued on down the gorge and I was able to stay in my boat through all the remaining rapids. We had to portage the Headbanger and the Constriction as the water levels were so low the first was running through undercut walls which is very dangerous and the latter was too narrow (a boat wouldn't fit through). Hopefully heading off to The Etive tomorrow for some more Grade 4/5 action on some BIG drops. I am actually feeling a bit nervous on this one as it has been some time since I have paddled at t...

  End of River Roy     The big drop on The Spean     Andy showing us the way The Grade 4 rapid on The Arkaig Today, Andy, Andy, Will, Dave and I headed off to paddle The River Spean just outside Fort William. We started with the last rapid of the River Roy before joining The Spean. This is a grade 2/3 river with a 5-6 foot high fall of grade 3+ which in todays water level was a clean chute with a reasonably clean landing. We were on the river for a couple of hours and egressed at Spean Bridge. As it was only 13:30, 3 of us decided to run another river so Andy, Andy and I headed off down the River Arkaig which is a short trip with a significant grade 4 rapid shortly after the start. I employed the paddle like stink and get some serious air technique which saw me fly off the edge of the drop and avoid the stopper on landing (I might use that technique again as it worked so well). At only 3km the trip lasted less than an hour so we were soon back at the van ...