Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Today after watching the winter fall apart over the last few days, Mandy, Jake and I decided it was now offically the summer (we had seen a few midges) and went rock climbing at Polldubh Crags in Glen Nevis.

For the last two days we have been out on The Cairngorm Plateau for the overnight part of the Winter Mountain Leader Training Course. Yesterday Steve and I took the candidates out through Corrie an T'Snechda and up the lean Goat Track onto the top where we dug a snow hole in Corrie Domhain. We took them back out in the dark for some more navigation training before getting a good (for some of us) night's sleep. This morning we packed up and navigated our way off. We had some strong gusts of wind over the two days a even a bit of fresh snow.

Today with a wild forecast showing "ferocious gusts" and "mobility extensively tortuos" I took the candidates up to Drumochter to look at navigational stratagies. Although we were beaten back by wind once it reached 70mph (we had a hand held anenometer) we managed toget a fair bit done and the candidates appreciated being exposed to such force and realised it made it difficult to stay on a bearing in those conditions. Tomorrow night I hope to be in snowhole so next update will be on Saturday.

Today Steve and I took the Winter Mountain Leader Training candidates to a steep corrie rim just below Glas Maol where we looked at rope work in descent and ascent. We also took advantage of the better weather in the afternoon and dug emergency shelters.

Today Steve and I were back out at Glenshee with the Winter ML Training Candidates. We were looking at snow anchors today and included Bucket Seats, Snow Bollards, Buried Axes and Stomper Belays. We also looked at an Avalanche Test Pits. A considerable amount of snow had thawed over night but there was still plenty to cover what we wanted to achieve.

This week I am working with Steve Spalding running a Winter Mountain Leader Training Course over in The Cairngorms. Although the forecast was not great, we got out onto some snow and looked at footwork and ice axe skills and how to teach them. The wind was nowhere near as fierce as expected and there was very little rain. The evening was spent looking at ropework and refreshing the candidates knotting ability.

Me Mark After a late finish last night at the Fort William Mountain Festival, Mark and I opted for a late start and a nice walk in Glencoe. We headed over Stob Mhic Mhartuin (via The Devil's Staircase), over the unnamed 903m summit and onto Sron Gharbh. A quick skirt round the front of Am Bodach saw us dropping steeply back into Glencoe and back to the car. The views were stunning all day and we meet only a handful of other people out on our route. The trench from Am Bodach down to the road suggests there has been a fair amount of traffic on the Aonach Eagach. I am heading east tomorrow morning to work in The Cairngorms for the next week

Today was a rest day so all I did was eat, wash clothes and generally relax until the evening when I attended the Fort William Mountain Festival and had a nice 20 minute chat with Johnny Dawes before watching some films and listening to Johnny's lecture/slide show.

    Given the choice of an early start and going up high or a lie in and an easier walk, the students selected the latter and we had a great wander into Glen Nevis to see Steall Waterfall. The last time I saw this was back in January 2010 when I climbed it. All the students have had a good week and achieved alot. They are heading off tomorrow morning at 5am for the long drive back.

Today we had a bit of a winter experience on the summit of Ben Nevis, although it was nowhere near as bad as forecast. The compasses were out along the plateau as we headed for the summit cairn. Of course once we had returned and looked back up the hill, the cloud had cleared and we had a view back up to the top.

Today we were up in Stob Corie nan Lochan, Glencoe looking at snowpack analysis and snow holes as well as different types of ice axe arrest and some more navigation skills.

Today I took the students to The Ice Factor for a rest day and some skills coaching on steep ice on the indoor ice wall. All did really well and enjoyed the experience.

Today we were back up on Aonach Mor to consolidate some of the skills from yesterday and to look at navigation in poor visibility.