Gwilym's Adventure Blog

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

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

  On Day 1 of a Wet and High Adventures Ltd Winter Climbing course, Ben and Tim (both Rock Climbing Instructors) climbed a wet and drippy Jacobs Ladder under my guidance where we looked at gear placement, snow belays as well as managing to top out and get a great view of the Cairngorm Plateau.

 I have just got back from a Lowland Leader Assessment in Lincolnshire. Thanks to Darren for working with me and well done to the 5 new Lowland Leaders who copes with some very wet and windy conditions over the two days. One of the best things about doing courses out of my immediate locality is that the candidates always teach me things about their local area.

I switch across to the Mountain Leader Training course today to work a day with them. It was wet, and by wet I mean very wet! After a morning inside talking all about weather, route planning, remits and hazards we headed out into Cwm Idwal to see what the reality was like. Swollen streams and rivers, difficult walking conditions due to wind and so wet underfoot. Still, a bad day outside is better than a good day inside.