Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Another great day out climbing with Charlie and this time on Ben Nevis. Number 2 Gully Buttress a little bit challenging to find gear and belays but otherwise a nice route at Grade III. 

Out with Charlie for a personal climbing day in Coire an T'Sneacha where we climbed Trump Towers and some mixed grade II ground a but further along.

Day 1 of a Winter Mountaineering course for James and we headed into Coire and T'Sneachda to look at crampon and axe skills as well as lots of chat around safe travel and avalanche avoidance. Working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd  

Today I was out with Jonny and Stanze (who had already done one day with Charlie yesterday) to take their winter skills a notch higher and introduce some snow anchors and emergency shelters. Staying out of the wind again we headed for the Ciste gullys and didn't get too blasted.

Even though things winter is slowing thawing, we were able to get into Number Two Gully high up on Ben Nevis where conditions are hanging on. The whole days was spent in mist and the route was a little soggy in places but that didn't stop lots of learning taking place Working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd

With high winds and rain forecast up high, I headed into Glen Nevis with Ben and Robin to look at some ropework and mountaineering skills on The Gutter (Diff) and some other simple mountaineering ground. This has set us up well for whatever adventure we can get on tomorrow Working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd

Mustafa wanted to finish the week with "a nice walk" so we headed up Fiacaill Ridge and stayed to the side (not the scramble bit) before topping out into sunshine. A wander over to look into the Lairig Ghru and then back down to the vehicles for coffee, cake and a review of the week. Another successful week working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd

Back into Coire an T'Sneachda today with Mustafa to climb Jacob's Left Edge which was a little harder than normal due to lack of build up in places

Today I took Mustafa up Jacob's Ladder (Grade 1) as his first experience of a proper winter route. 5 pitches looking at Mustafa becoming a competent second. A pretty sociable day bumping into loads of people I know all along the route from in the carpark through to on the route itself. A little bit of a battering up top from the wind but nothing a pair of googles didn't sort out and then it was down to Tiso for coffee and cake. Working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd

Day 2 and Mustafa and I headed back to The Morraines to look at all things snow anchors.  We dug (and tested) snow bollards, buckets seats and buried axes as well as re-visiting footwork and cutting steps. Working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd  

With an amazing forecast for Day 1 of Mustafa's bespoke Winter Week, it was all about getting up high.  With just enough time spent in Coire an T'Sneachda to make sure he was safe on his feet and happy in crampons, we made our way up The Goat Track and onto The Cairngorm Plateau to be greeted by blue sky low wind and sunshine. A little bit of a navigation refresher and a nice bimble round the coire rim before descending back to the vehicles. Working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd

With summer in full swing in the Cairngorms, today we looked at Mountaineering skills and Tim and Ben took themselves up Fiacaill Ridge with me coaching along the way looking at all things mountaineering including taking coils, direct belays, pitching, moving together, using spike and thread runners and generally trying to move quickly and efficiently. Tim even managed to use his ice axe (but only to get a nut out so it doesn't count as winter). Wet and High Adventures Winter Climbing course Both Ben and Tim are up in Scotland for another 10 days so they elected to postpone the rest of the course for a week to see if winter returns. Lets hope it does.

On Day 2 of a Wet and High Adventures Winter Climbing course, with a major thaw in progress, we choose some snow banks and spent the day looking at different snow anchors including Buckets Seats, Snow Bollards, Deadman, Buried Axe and even tried a Buried Rucksack. Ban and Tim then tested the anchors to see what a difference both size and snow quality made